Just Felt Weird...

This morning I left and my ring felt weird. I couldn't figure it out. My hands couldn't be swollen already. I haven't gotten to school yet and today is suppose to be cool. (the lack of AC in my class has caused my hands to swell)

After 3 classes I finally asked - what hand is my ring suppose to be on? If you know me well - you would know that I struggle with my left and right. I make the "L" to figure it out - I like east and west instead.

I had my ring on the wrong hand. You would have thought after wearing it for about 11 years that I would remember which hand to put it on. Oh well I am 31 and my memory is going.

Just Like His Daddy

Tonight at supper, we asked Drew to take off his hat. His response - I don't want to get my ears dirty. hummmmm

And yes this is his gankster look....

Our way of surfing in Iowa - there is water in the wagon.

A Few More First Day Picts

I have been a terrible blogger lately and isn't all because of lack of stuff but energy! Hopefully as things settle down here I will have more time to get some things down, but for now you must enjoy some picts from school.

Drew's "locker"

Ally's big girl locker

Standing my the dark kindergarten room before everyone got there!

A New Year - With a Big FIRST

Our precious little princess started Kindergarten yesterday. She was so excited. She has been counting down the days by crossing them off the calender since the beginning of August. On Tuesday night we went to the ice cream social and dropped off both of their supplies in their rooms. Ally got to meet her new teacher, Mrs. Glanz. Drew got to give some shy hugs to his old teachers who were thrilled to see him!

We got up early to head out on Wednesday - as you can tell by the picture Drew wasn't going to be nice to his sister. Not sure I am ready for all of this! No tears were shed by anyone - probably too busy to worry about it. We got to school and hiked in since our parking lot is under construction and we have to park A LONG WALK AWAY! We got Drew into his room and headed down to dropped Ally off for breakfast. We got close and she told me that she could do it by herself. There is no doubt in my mind that she could - but this one was for Mommy. Today I did let her go down by herself when my copies were taking a little too long. I can't believe she is so big.

Her first day was so EXCITING she said. She loved learning about being a good friend, going to music, eating in the cafeteria, recess and after-school program. She is definitely not shy. When I walked by I saw her in the middle of the group with her hand up to ask a question or give an answer. I am sure that she will have many stories and things to continue telling Mrs. Glanz.

Drew by the way is not shy anymore to his teacher. He has broken back out of his shell and has already starting fluttering his eyelashes at his teachers. He told me that only one teacher had to rub his back and lay with him at rest time.

For this mommy - she is tired and worn out. I am trying to use all my new technologies and try to get things off to a positive start. This group is great and I am excited to get to know them. Man I wish I could get their names fast though!

Poor Babysitter

Since I have gone back to school and the preschool isn't open yet, we have had to find sitters to come to the house. Our lucky Friday winner was Hannah (Pastor Scott's daughter). She is in 7th grade at the school that I teach at. Our kids absolutely love her. They have wanted her to come back so bad that Ally has been planning dates for Jason and I - to go to Taco Bell. Ahhhh I'll eat with a fork if I am going on a date.

I got a call at about noon from Hannah's mom - Don't worry Brenda but I just went and picked up all the kids and took them home with me. A policeman came to the door and said that the lot next door hit a gas pipe while they were digging. At first they told them to evacuate but later thought they would be okay since the wind was in the wrong direction.

Ahhhhh - they came back later that afternoon, but Hannah got broken in good. She is awesome and they kids' are already asking when can she come back!

But I'm a...

We were on our way to a wedding a couple weeks ago when the kids wouldn't BE QUIET. I shouldn't be surprised, but I was tired and just wanted them to rest. And here is the rest of the conversation....

Jason - Ally you need to quit talking.

Ally - But Dad I can't - I'm a talker

Mom hides her giggles in her shirt and Dad is left speechless. How do you come back to that?

French

Here is the conversations from Monday making lunch....

Ally: what kind of bread are you using?

Mom: Weird bread ally

Ally: Oh so it's name is "weird."

Mom: Noooo it is actually called Artisian French Bread.

Ally: Why?

Mom: Because it is long and skinny

Ally: Oh I must be french because I am long and skinny....

Mom: Goodness....

The Dells

On the spur of the moment we headed to the Dells with Chris and Amy and girls. We had a lot of fun but wish that the weather would have been a couple degrees warmer - the water at the park was COLD!!! We typically head to Noah's Ark but we switched parks since the other park had an indoor area and a few roller coaster rides. I am not sure that I am willing to admit yet that I was a traitor to my favorite park.

Tom (our GPS) took us on a crazy route in Wisconsin but we got there a little nauseous and excited. My little girl is growing up and is tall enough for the mid-size roller coasters which she rode on with glee. Four more inches to get to the big stuff! Actually Drew is tall enough too, but my scared of flies boy was too chicken to take the plunge. He was content to ride on the kids roller coaster for hours - and would have if we'd let him. Ally was also went on some of the bigger waterslides with us. She was bummed though when we told her that she couldn't ride on some because she was too short. They did let us take both kids on a couple on our lap on a tube. Ally is in the first yellow slide on the right. Jason and Chris flew right on by her at the end.

We also went mini-golfing in the morning before we left. Drew struggled remembering how to hold his club and continually came up for help. Such a sweetie! He has been practicing in the basement since we got home - I hope he doesn't break the tv!

Give Me A Break Mister!

I can only imagine what Lauryn is thinking....

Man - this weirdo is back. I thought we left him a long time ago and he shows up here while we are on vacation. Then he tries to smooch me and Aunt Brenda lets him. I gotta talk to my mom and see who she is letting watch me.

I'm Not Stupid

If you have been around our kids recently you would know that if I said this I would be quickly shot down by Drew. "You can't say 'stupid' Mom!" ARGGHHHH Jason is much more talented than me, he is able to think on his feet and use a synonym so he doesn't get in trouble.

Below he is being Cody the surfing Penguin. Some new "hand me downs" from our neighbor Chase - who is going to be in 2nd grade. Hope he didn't wear these last summer! Because that makes Drew HUGE!

A couple nights ago we were getting ready for bed. Drew was missing his cow - Googie - that he sleeps with. He asked if I would go look for it and then continues to explain that it is black like Shadow and white. It isn't red and yellow Mom.

Jason is snickering in the other room. Good grief - was I born yesterday Drew? This lovely cow (whose real name is Ribeye) has been in the family for four years. I know what he looks like. Below is Googie sitting on Buggy his blanket that also goes with us almost everywhere.

For Andrea

Here is Ally's name on her wall that I was telling you about. Also her ballarina pictures are by Emma Thomson called Felecity Wishes. I got them on posters.com.

Jason's Dream

One of my cousin, Matthew's friends had this lovely bike. Jason thought he looked cool in it. Can't you see him driving to work on it everyday in his tie?

Like Father Like Son....

Drew also like to play on the 4-wheeler. I think he can see himself going really fast someday. Hummmm I think I will let him drive when he is 42!

What do you think Jared - you wanna buy a motorcycle too???

Doggy Duo

These two are quite the pair. Trouble if you ask me! I guess at the end of the day Aunt Lou's toys were getting boring, they weren't allowed to touch the fish, the fish in the backyard were in hiding, and they couldn't walk the dog down the street by themselves. So they decided to play puppy and took Wenoah's cage as their own house.

Whatever it kept them busy. I wonder if I had one of these if my house would stay cleaner????

The Beta Killer

Our kids had a lot of freedom this weekend at the party. The rule - just don't let the dog out. They enjoyed playing with all of my aunt's toys which were some of our toys from Grandma Klaassen's house. I love dress up.

We tried to check on them periodically. Since my kids are so very old - I don't worry about them much - HA - they did walk the dog down the street by themselves. But Kaylee that is another story. She is dangerous! Jason walked into the house and found her and another little culprit (not my kids) trying to feed the fish. She loves the Dr. Suess's Fish out of Water book. Jason just laughed and Amy wasn't smiling.

The fish didn't die. He was still alive the next morning.

Side note: The boys (aka Dads) did take a turn "watching" the kids. This consisted of laying on a couch on another floor with their eyes closed. I was more effective outside at the party.

Worms

Is my princess really suppose to be playing with worms? I was working on changing the blog background last week - instead of cleaning when Ally came running in and said they caught a worm. Great. She asked me if I wanted to see it. Being as estatic as I could I muscled out a Sure with a smile. She brought her prize into the house.

Later I look out to see that they had made it a nice home in a bucket with dirt and water. The kids checked on their dear friend on Monday after being gone all weekend. Drew told me the worm pooped his pants - ummmm probably not Drew you guys killed it. No holes in the bucket.

Bold or Crazy?

Or just too tired to make rational decisions???? I was out to save us some money today. In the end, I saved us over $30 - so how did I do such a thing? I cut my kids' hair myself. A feat that I haven't ever done but really it shouldn't be that hard - can it?

I started with Ally. It takes them less than 5 minutes in the salon so really how hard is it? I just wanted to cut off about an inch. I was leaving room for error in my part so that I could humbly head to salon if need be to get it fixed. We got it done. I think that it looks alright, but it ended up being about 2 inches. Good thing I started with 1 inch. If you noticed in the previous post her hair was WAY below her shoulders. It is a little longer than shoulder length. Still is cute in pigtails - her style of choice to keep it out of her eyes.

Drew was going to be hard. The poor boy is so ticklish that they mess it up in the salon everytime when he wiggles. For me though - after getting over the intial shock of mom cutting his hair - he sat fairly still. I was going to use the clippers on it. I thought #4 would be too long so I went with a #3. HOLY COW a lot of hair came off with the first swipe. Drew's hair was a much faster masterpiece and is MUCH shorter than usual, but who cares it is summer and is cool for our sweaty boy. He still has more than Chuck! With each haircut he looks older and older.

New Exhibit

When I go out, I like to head out and get all my errands done at once. Which means that typically we are out for a very long time. We gathered all the returns from the basement and I set out last Tuesday to get it all done. We left at 10:00 and finished just after 1:45. I promised my well-behaved kids a trip to their favorite yellow arches and the children's museum after we were done. They were incredible!

To our surprise they added a new exhibit which could have been there for months for all I know! Dinosaurs. Like most young boys - Drew was facinated! I love this station probably more than Drew. I love to figure out what piece goes where. I am worse than the kids when others come. I DON'T WANT TO SHARE!

Here are the kids' footprints with respect to a dinosaur one. I thought Drew had big feet!

Hummmm they do look like twins. Ally still holds strong with a half inch lead in height but Drew has still overtaken her in weight with about 5-6 pounds! But the dinosaur is still quite a bit larger. I would never what to fight it!

Jason's Charm

Lauryn was not into Jason. She wouldn't let him look at her or touch her. She warmed up to him this weekend in South Dakota but probably because she was holding her bottle.

Don't come near me again or I'm going to punch you!

Smile Please

On the garage rising day, the kids played together very well. Especially for several kids who take naps everyday and didn't get one on this special day. Drew and Kaylee were the ones who played most of the day together in the sand pile. All four kids are strong-willed and nobody can figure out where that might come from.

I was hoping to get some good pictures of them altogether, but as you can see I got nothing.
Kaylee's growl....

Drew's you got to be kidding and Lauryn not happy about being naked. Ally was the only cooperative one!

Amy read the tired crew their bedtime books which was the quietest they sat all day - except Lauryn who wasn't into the Tooth book.

Ally - 5, Drew and Kaylee - 3, and Lauryn - 10 months

Garage Rising

What are the benefits of having a son that owns a framing compant, a son-in-law that has a ConEng degree and building experience, a newphew that loves to build, a brother that is handy and his wife that is all around servant - a good crew to build a garage! A couple weekends ago we put up a much needed garage for my parents. Okay - I didn't do much but sit back watch kids. Here are the boys comparing their stomachs - I mean muscles!

Lauryn barking out the orders.

Trusses going up! Chris is on this end and Jason on the other. Andy is in the middle. My dad is on the floor.

It is a small house if you ask me, but he has to put the tractor somewhere. My Dad slipped on the ice a couple time this past winter and that was the end of that. It seems that as us kids get out, the home improvements start.

Andy up high putting the last one in place.

They had the walls up mid-morning and the trusses were up in the middle of the afternoon. They got all but one side of the roof sheeted, but a NASTY thunderstorm came in about 9:00 to stop them short. From what I understand that by now it is shingled too.