4 Years Old and Counting

To start off I want to comment on this picture - I think it is now my favorite picture of my little girl, what a beauty she is.

Can she really be 4 years old already? I look at Junior and then at Katelynn and think back to when Katelynn was his age, it seems ages ago and at the same time, it has gone by so fast and it's hard to believe that I have a four year old daughter.
I think that this will be a pretty good year for Katelynn. Our goal as parents is going to be keeping her busy and entertained (I guess this has not changed from the day she was born)! She is constantly on the move and definitely has her moments when she gets bored, but when we are playing and doing projects she is an absolute joy to be with.
She is truly enjoying her dance class she is taking. Last week we were a few minutes early for class and sat in the lobby area while the previous class was finishing and she stood and listened to the teacher and was even practicing in the lobby the steps that they were doing knowing that it would be her turn next and she wanted to do a good job. I really wish that we could have gotten her into a preschool class this year with the 4 year old's that will be attending kindergarten next year. She is going to be ready next year, but because of the cut off dates will have to wait an additional year to get into kindergarten. She currently knows all of alphabet letters and their sounds, is doing really well with rhyming and knows her numbers and has been counting everything! She needs to work on her writing skills a little more, but I figure if we work with her this year that will come. Katelynn got a new bike for her birthday and is determined to learn how to ride it and keep up with the neighborhood kids. We had a couple of great weather days and were able to go for a couple of rides and she's catching on quick, hopefully this weekend we will get some more practice time in!

So here is to another year of learning for myself and for Katelynn - year four here we come!

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New Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters come in four easy-to-crave flavors: Nut Lovers, Roasted Almond, Roasted Cashew and Honey Roasted Peanut.

I received a prize pack (shown above) and they will provide one additional prize pack to give away to one of my readers. Comment on what you would like about Natures Clusters and I will pick a winner!

We thought they were pretty tasty. Dan thought they would be good for a hunting trip or hiking. Probably more suitable for adults than younger children, but a great snack for us to have at work or at home.

This was provided from www.MyBlogSpark.com

First Night of Labor Day Weekend - Time for Fun

Golf Tourney 2009

My dad has come out the last 3 years and John the last 2 years for a golf tournament that Dan's wholesale shop puts on. We have such a good time when they come out to visit. They got here this year by plane, which I'm sure was so much more relaxing then driving for 2 days and then turning around and driving back to Minnesota. Friday they started off their morning with a "Mulligan" breakfast for the tournament and then had to go shopping for their "outfits". Due to them having matching attire last year for their team the tournament added a new category of "Best Dressed Team" this year and the guys were determined to win. They went and played a round of golf to practice for Saturday. Upon returning from golfing and the store we determined that the green socks they bought to match their shirts just didn't match and my dad decided to bleach them all to try and get to the right shade of green (his efforts paid off on Saturday). The rest of Friday was pretty low key,we grilled out for supper and did some visiting and off to bed. The guys left the next morning around 6:30am. After the tournament they headed over to Joe and Paula's for some victory drinks because they did win best dressed and everyone was commenting on the socks. They stopped at a biker bar on their way to our house and got home around 9:30pm. Our neighbors came over to visit as well that night. Upon their return I found out that they did very well in the raffle drawings too that day. My dad couldn't have been any higher on cloud 9 - he won a 22" flat screen samsung TV and he hung on to that TV most of the night. Dan also won the grand prize of a 3 day, 2 night stay at a Spa Resort in Estes Park - now that is something that we are both looking forward too (and I heard that Paula and Joe already offered to babysit for the weekend! Woohoo). It was a pretty fun night and last late into the wee hours of morning. I wanted to get pictures of all 4 of them together, but it didn't happen. Dan had tried to scamper off to bed at some point in the night before I had taken any pictures and the guys chased him down and made him put his shirt and socks back on because they did want pictures. This is why Dan is missing a sock, he couldn't find it when he went back to change into his clothes. Sunday we lazied around the house, went out for some Mexican food and the guys flew home Sunday night.

My dad and his prize - the TV!John and his prize for the day - a hat.

Dan and my dad and their prizes.

Junior - 6 months

Junior had his 6 month baby check-up on Aug. 10th. He was such a good boy and took his shots like a little trooper with no real side affects.
Here are his stats:
Height: 27 1/4 - 75%
Weight: 20.2 oz - 90%
Head: 45.3 - 85%

There is no double that he is a big boy. A lot of people ask how old he his and get this surprised look on there face when I tell them and the first comment is always "wow, he's a big boy", yes, that is how we like them! He is still such a joy to have in the family. He loves his sister probably the most and is always looking around for her (because she doesn't sit still for long) and always has giggles and smiles for her. Anytime that Dan walks in the room his face just lights up, he is definitely going to be a daddy's boy. He is now eating the #2 foods and some of the puffs that you can buy. Last week we discovered that he had cut through his first tooth and now today his second bottom front one cut through as well. He had no complaints about the teeth and loves the teething biscuits, but man are they messy, it's straight to the bathtub after chomping on one of them. He is loving the excersaucer and the jumperoo now as well. He now is going to bed by 7:30pm. We start bedtime at 7:15 with a nighttime diaper, pj's and 4 oz. and then he is content to be put in the crib and turns the side and gives the thumb some sucking and is snoozing away a few minutes later. What more could we ask for!
At Juniors six month appointment the doctor noticed that he still had a slight heart murmer and decided that for precautionary reasons we should have an ultrasound done to check it out. We went to the Greeley hospital this morning bright and early. When I made the appointment they told me that it was pretty much in and out, so I didn't even bring a diaper bag with me, I just figured we'd be in and done and I'd drop him off at daycare and head to work, this was not the case. We get there and the ultrasound tech tells me that he has to lay still in order to take the pictures and that I was supposed to bring a favorite "lovey" or toy with and a bottle and such to keep him still, well, that wasn't going to happen. Another tech/nurse came in and tried to keep his attention so they could take some pictures, but after awhile he had enough of her and me and Junior are laying on the gurney and he's tugging at the wires and the ultrasound tool. The tech was none to happy with us, but Junior started to fuss and it was his nap time so they left us in the room alone for a little while and he finally curled into me and fell asleep. The tech came back in and was able to complete the pictures and told me that I should probably take a rest too with him (hmm...did I look tired?) well, I did anyways, what else was I gonna do? So, now we await the results from the doctor on that.

Car Seat and Booster Seat Change Up

Junior has reached the weight limit of 20 lbs. for his infant carrier, so it was finally time to go out and buy Katelynn a booster seat. She had been so excited for weeks on end to get to be a "big girl" and ride in a booster seat. We went shopping, the entire family, to the store to help Katelynn pick her new seat. She couldn't wait to have daddy move her old seat over to Junior's side and put together her seat. It was an all afternoon activity and every time we see anyone that hasn't seen it yet, she tells them right away, "I'm a big girl, I have a booster seat, want to come see it!" She is so proud.

Junior on the other hand was not so excited to be moved from the comfort of is infant carrier. It took him a little over a week to feel comfortable in his new seat, but now is riding around like a trooper. I think he likes that he can turn his head and check out Katelynn anytime he wants to. When I look at him in her seat I wonder how Katelynn even fit in that thing? He makes it look so tiny even though it is good for up to 80 lbs.

Some Katelynn funnies

Here are a couple of conversations that Katelynn and I have had recently:

We signed Katelynn up for a dance class for this fall and Dan, Katelynn and I were talking about how it was getting ready to start and talking about listening to the teacher and that preschool (at daycare) would be starting.

Katelynn: Mom, when does Church start again?
Mom: (a little dumbfounded) Honey, church doesn't really end, we just haven't gone recently. Some people go to church every week.
Katelynn: Who does that mom?

On a car ride home from daycare:

Katelynn: Mommy, where do the poor people live?
Mom: (again, what?) How do you know that we are not the poor people?
Katelynn: Mom (completely exaggerated), we have a ton of blankets, we are not the poor people.

Hot Air Balloon Ride

Last weekend was Beef N Bean Day. Being from a small town growing up (both Dan and I) we like to take part in small town day events and enjoy. The morning started out with the fire truck siren coming through the neighborhood around 5:30am to wake up everyone for the fireman's breakfast. We went to the breakfast about 7am, it was pretty good, they always get you through the line fast, you get lots to eat and it's only $5 and Katelynn is still free (the only drawback is that the milk delivery company is there supplying the drinks and tries to sell, sell, sell). We walked back to the car and saw that they had the Remax hot air balloon set up and decided that Katelynn and I should take a quick ride on it, when were ever going to have the chance to try this again and for free?! So into the line we went and waited and waited and waited and waited. The wind kept coming up and getting gustier and gustier and they were having some trouble, but at the end of our hour wait we were one of the last people to get to go up in the balloon and Katelynn loved it, it was well worth the wait. Later that day we enjoyed the town parade and went to the park to eat lunch and check out the booths and then finished up the night watching the fireworks from our backyard.

Katelynn Goes to The Dentist

I have been putting this off and putting this off, probably in fear that there would be an episode in the dentist office and/or because I thought Katelynn would probably have a ton of cavities, but the day did finally come and it was time to schedule and taker her to her first dentist appointment. I debated back and forth and had a lot of conversations with the other moms about where they took their kiddo to the dentist and then ended up just taking her to the dentist in town where I go and skipped the places that have all the hoopla. Katelynn was pretty excited for the most part, she wanted to get the free toothbrush. I talked to her a little bit a couple of days before her appointment about some of the things that the dentist may do and then follow-up with "they probably have a treasure box that you can pick a free toy from when you are done if you are good" - that sealed the deal and then I prayed that this dentist would be like most and have a treasure box.

We got the dentist's office a little earlier than I wanted to, but they had a movie playing and a little area for kids in the waiting room so Katelynn and I went and colored pictures and she looked through their toys. Then she was called in. The 2 hygienists that worked with her were awesome, so patient and explained everything to Katelynn. I don't think Katelynn was scared at all, she thought the chair was "cool" because it went up and down and she asked lots of questions about the tools and her teeth. She passed with flying colors! and had no cavities, whew, dodged that bullet. She got to pick a colored new toothbrush and they did have the treasure box and she got to pick out a toy.

Katelynn brushing her teeth before her first dentist appointment.

Katelynn and the Finger Trap

I brought home this chinese finger trap from a gift bag we got at work and I honestly gave it to her thinking that it was just a prop. I guess even the toy one's really work. This was hilarious and then she continued to put it on her fingers or thumbs and get it stuck, eventually it broke that night from all the tugging and pulling, but it was fun while it lasted!

You will be missed my Friend.

Ryan, thank you for so many laughs and good times. It was great growing up with you. Your time here was too short and you were taken away from us too quickly. Everyone is going to miss your great smile. I don't think there was a time that I came home to visit that I didn't run into you somewhere and had a drink with you for old time sake. You will be missed deeply by so many people. Your parents and brothers and family are in my prayers and in my heart.

Hawley man dies after crashing in Becker County
- The Becker County Sheriff‘s Office is investigating the death of a Hawley, Minn., man whose car went off a Becker County road Sunday afternoon, crashing into a lowland area near Audubon.
Emergency crews responded to the scene on Highway 15 near Highway 10, but resuscitation efforts on the unresponsive 32-year-old man were unsuccessful.
The victim was traveling northbound towards Hawley when it crashed.
An autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death

Update from a Detroit Lakes paper:

Hawley man found dead in car on County Road 15 after it veered off
highway
- 07/27/2009
Authorities have released the name of a 32-year-old Hawley man who died
Sunday after being found unconscious by authorities on Becker County
Road 15.
Ryan Daniel Leister was found unconscious at 1:23 p.m. after law
enforcement, fire and rescue, and EMS crews from several agencies
responded to a call that a vehicle, a 2002 Oldsmobile Alero, had driven
off the road about a mile south of Highway 10 and come to rest in a
lowland area.
The Becker County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota State Patrol, Detroit
Lakes Fire and Rescue, Detroit Lakes EMS, and Audubon Fire and Rescue
responded to the call.
Rescue workers attempted to resuscitate Leister, but efforts were
unsuccessful. He was later pronounced dead at St. Mary's Innovis in
Detroit Lakes.
He apparently was heading northbound on County Road 15 and was believed
to be heading back home towards Hawley.
Due to the lack of damage to the vehicle, an autopsy was conducted by
the Ramsey County Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.
A provisional autospy report indicated that Leister died from a
pre-existing heart condition.

The Craziness of July

July has proven to be my busiest month so far this summer. I cannot believe packed this much stuff into one month. It was a little more than I could almost handle. I will post a little update on everyone and then off to bed I go.

Dan and I
We have been going out on our date nights and it has been going really well. We have only gone out to each and then had a couple of drinks, but have enjoyed the time together.

Dan is staying relatively busy with work considering that things are slow, but there is some work out there to be done. He is bidding on a lot of jobs that are supposed to be coming eventually the contractors are saying.

My work has been insane this month, as it has been the last 3 summers. I have one project that is always due the first week of June that has a huge impact on our budget for services. I am now done doing some overtime and the project is done. I have been doing some training on Crystal Report writing, but mostly working on report bugs and fixes with our current report writer and trying to set up a new report to complete the project I just finished for next year so it doesn't have to be done manually, it's going to be a long process to get all of this data into one item and to try and verify that it is correct. I have been doing some project management and then just trying to work with fixes with the other clerical staff that seems to have been sucking up a lot of my time. I am hoping after a couple of meetings with some supervisors that we can find some sort of process to eliminate some of this work from me. I do in fact have an ulcer just to update from a previous post. I have been taking pills as I see fit and dealing with it.

I also did a blast from the past night and went to the New Kids on the Block concert with some girlfriends from work in Denver on a Wednesday night. We had a blast. It was hard to believe that I loved that group so much in 6th grade and we even remembered all the words to the songs they sang.

HOA
The HOA has been crazy this month, what the hell was I thinking having 2 events back to back?! The Subdivision Block party took a lot of phone calls to the town clerk and town administrator and finding loop holes to have alcohol at the party. We did get flyer's out and had a DJ and did Karaoke and a Porto potty delivered. Tiki torches and pretzels and tents. Whew, after all the planning and the week from hell at work I cut loose at the party and definitely had my fair share of fun. The party did go good and we had a good turn out for the first year of it.
Next is this weekend - Movie Night in the Park. Another board member was doing all the planing and everything was pretty set until we had a board meeting this week and she is not going to be able to attend this weekend, she has MS and is going to be in the hospital, so it falls back to the president, me. I have now taken that over this week and have been calling this guy with a dog that does tricks that is coming and the people that are bringing in the projector for the movie and getting the popcorn and such. I was supposed to go to a bachelorrette party in Denver Saturday night, but can't go now (not too heart broken over this after drinking last weekend). We also have a wedding to go to in Golden on Saturday so we may have to drive 2 vehicles so I can get back in time for all of this. Then just the annoyance of trying to work with the town on getting some of these lots mowed and the normal meetings and all of that. I also think I have a board member that is going to get canned because he hasn't been coming to the meetings and really hasn't done anything at all, so I need to find a replacement (I want to find the person so that I can be sure they side with me on issues, I know how political of me huh, oh well). Dan is getting really tired of all this HOA stuff, but summer will soon come to an end and some of the stress should be gone.

Katelynn
Katelynn is Katelynn, what do I say?! Some days she is my best friend and I love spending time with her and other days I want to stick her in her room and tell her when she is ready to be nice to me and other people and listen to her parents then she can come out and join society. I think that she gets bored a lot if there isn't much going on and then feels that she is then entitled to watch a show/tv (which daddy usually lets her). The neighbor girls come over and knock on the door usually after I get home and ask if she can play and we usually let her play in the front yard with them until we eat supper. She really loves to have friends and it's nice to watch them play. We also get along with their parents so sometimes it's pretty fun to just hang out at home. I cannot believe that in September I am going to have a child that is 4 years old, where did the time go? Katelynn has her first dentist appointment on Monday morning, wish us luck.

Junior
Junior is now 5 1/2 months old - can you believe that. We weighed him at the beginning of the month and he weighed 19 lbs. 1 oz - unbelievable, you should see the pipes I have from carrying him around in his car seat and just in general. He is such an enjoyable baby. He gives you the biggest smile when you make eye contact with him and he really only fusses when he's really hungry or tired and wants to go to bed. He is still sleeping through the night, he goes to bed by 7:30pm and up at 6:30am. He is rolling from his back to his tummy now and for the most part prefers his tummy. Dan went and got him up this morning and he was sleeping on his tummy for the first time. He loves Katelynn and watches and watches her every move. She can get him to laugh and giggle and he loves when she really takes the time to play with him. He is using his excersaucer now and his jumperoo. I think that he would be pretty close to sitting up on his own if it weren't summertime, we have been busy watching Katelynn out in the front yard or all of us hanging out in the backyard that by the time he goes to bed we haven't really sat anywhere with time for him to get enough practice and balance to do it. I suspect he will be sitting on his own in another month.

One more week of July and then the month of August. Summer is flying by and I am not ready for it to end yet even with the business it brings.

Cozy Cow Dairy

Katelynn's daycare provider has a great summer schedule of tours and outings this summer for the kids. They have already been to the Fire Station and are taking the reading program at the local library and once a week head to a water park in Loveland. They are definitely a busy crew, God love the woman because I couldn't haul that many kids around. They do a lot of their outings with a friend of Amy's that also runs a daycare and has some older children in the summer to help keep an eye on the kids.

This outing was to a place called Cozy Cow Dairy in Windsor and once I heard that they were going to go and watch how milk is made and actually watch a cow get milked I figured this was one outing I couldn't miss.

I woke up that morning and dropped the kids off at daycare and then turned around and drove back home to do some training on my laptop for a couple of hours. I then drove to this little dairy tucked away off the highway and met all the kids there.
I was so excited to see Katelynn's reactions to everything. It started off with a video and then a mechanical cow that explained the many stomachs of a cow and how they chew their cud. Very interesting to have this explained to me and watch the kids reaction (obviously they didn't tell me anything I didn't already know from growing up on a dairy farm). Then everyone got to sample some of their fresh milk and cheese curds. I haven't drank milk in a very long time, but thought it would be rude to not at least taste the small sample. Surprisingly Katelynn, a huge cheese lover, did not like the cheese curds, so I ate the rest of hers.
Next was a short walk over to the barn where they had 5 cows in stalls and the tour guide explained how they wash the cows and put the milkers on. They had a window so the kids could view it all and then had see through tanks to watch the milk collect before it went into the bulb tank. I really thought the kids would get more into this piece, but they liked the next two stops the best.
Off to feed and pet the animals was next. Each child got some grain and was able to feed the goats and calves. They called over the cows and as you can see in one of the pictures below one of the cows was trying to lick my hair while I was taking a picture with Katelynn.

The last part of the day was to get a bowl of fresh ice cream and every kiddo loved that. It was pretty good ice cream, but I had heard such raves of its greatness I think I thought it would taste a little like gold or something?! Each child then got a goodie bag to take home with information about cows and some toys and such.

It was great to be able to take the time to go and experience this with Katelynn. Junior slept most of the time. I think that in 2 more years she will really pay more attention to the process and ask more questions. This time round it was all about the ice cream.

The Spectacle

I picked up the kids from daycare on Wednesday and had to run into the small grocery store in town and pick up a prescription. I decided also to pick up some chicken strips and popcorn chicken from the deli for supper, with summer being here finally I have been getting lazy on the cooking department. I haul both kids out of the car and into the store, Junior goes into a cart since he is still in the infant car seat and Katelynn has to walk along side me. We stop at the pharmacy counter and get my prescription (I had called it in earlier) and it was going smoothly until Katelynn sees the bowl of suckers on the counter. Katelynn had just received a sucker at daycare for having a great day and had already enjoyed the sucker on the way to the store. I told her she could take a sucker from the bowl, but she had to wait for another day to eat it, this was my first parental mistake. She held onto the sucker for awhile and then slowly started to unravel the bottom of it around the stick and I repeated to her that she could not have the sucker now and we continued at our walk to the other end of the store to the deli. As we were walking she continued to unravel the wrapper and then tell me that she had done it, I gave her another warning that I would take the sucker away if she took the wrapper off, here is the second parental mistake - too many warnings - I should have taken the sucker away and stuck it in my purse for later. As we are standing at the deli patiently waiting our turn I start chatting with another lady getting some food and Katelynn continues to unravel the wrapper and then tells me, another sterning warning goes out to her, I am going to take the sucker away if you unwrap it. We order our food and as they are wrapping our food up Katelynn unwraps the rest of the sucker and gives it a lick. I tell her again, put the wrapper back on that sucker and I am now taking it away. She gives it another lick (are you kidding me). My hand flies to her mouth, takes the sucker and the wrapper from her and stick it in my purse and explain to her why. Let the spectacle begin. She immediately is pissed and starts screaming, loud. We are now making our way to the checkouts and it's right after work so it's packed. Here I am pushing Junior in the cart and Katelynn is wailing at the top of her lungs behind me and I just pretty much ignored her. What I couldn't ignore was the 30 people at the checkouts including the checkers and baggers all turning to see what the commotion is all about and why this child is so damn loud. I check out my items and pay and get the hell out of there, how embarrassing. This was horrible, an almost four year old trailing behind me, I can almost hear the whispers of those people and there looks. Normally, I would have drug her butt outside and left, but I needed my prescription and we needed the milk and food. We get to the car and she has the guts to ask me if she can have the sucker now - WHAT!? Not a chance kid, we are going home.

4th of July Weekend

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fabulous 4th of July weekend. On Thursday night after work the kids and I went over to a neighbors house and Katelynn got to jump on their trampoline and play with their kids, she hadn't seen them for awhile so she was in her glory. Junior and I hung out with the adults and did some visiting (aka gossiping) and headed home around 8:30pm, way past Junior's bedtime, but he took a catnap while we were there. Friday we just hung around the house and Katelynn and I finally decided that we needed to run to the store because I figured we wouldn't have time or want to on Saturday, so off we went. We stopped at Lowe's first and picked up some PVC pipe and supplies so Dan could make us the Lawn Golf game and then we swung by Target for a couple of things. It didn't take Dan long to make our game and we were playing that afternoon, we normally just sit around in the backyard so it was fun to have something that Dan and I could play with as well and Katelynn likes it too. We were tired from Thursday night so we went to bed at a fairly decent time. We invited friends over for Saturday to BBQ and hang out, so Saturday morning we were cleaning the house and checking over what we may need. Dan ran and picked up beer and we decorated the backyard with some flags and got the lawn golf game out for people to play. People showed up around 2:30pm or so which actually worked out nice because it gave us time to hang out and enjoy the excitement of the day as a family. Junior hung out in his swing and we just played around the yard. About a month earlier I had picked us up all matching 4th of July shirts, so we were all sporting them for the day and took some pretty cool pictures. We didn't get a complete family picture though because when people showed up Junior was napping and then we were visiting and such when he woke up. Katelynn and I made Red and Blue jello cups and had cool whip for our Red, White and Blue treats which all of her friends really enjoyed (and of course with each group that stopped by Katelynn had to have one with them). We did get hit by the rainstorm and made due with having the kids play in the basement and us hanging out in the house and in the garage, but it did clear up and then drizzled here and there throughout the night. Dan cooked steaks and brats for those that stayed for supper. The kids were waiting and waiting for it to get dark enough out to light off fireworks and finally we just started lighting them off and letting them light some sparklers. We did have to retreat to the house and hide all evidence at one point during the night because our city has a no fireworks law and the police heard one of ours "screaming", but all was good and we lit off the rest and then put the kiddos to bed and hung out with our company for a little while longer before heading to bed ourselves. It was a really good time. Sunday was another relaxing day. We got up (both of us) with the kids in the morning and cooked breakfast, cleaned up our mess from the day before and then played outside. When the kids were napping I went out and tanned outside for awhile and then I took the kids to the outlet mall shopping for some clothes so Dan could get a nap in. Junior was basically just along for the ride. We stopped at a Cafe' and I got a coffee and Katelynn got a smoothy, she thought she was pretty cool. It was back to work on Monday morning. Here are some pictures of our 4th of July. I think we look pretty darn good in our matching attire!

(Katelynn took this picture for us)