A Day of Firsts

Pre-School

Today was Lainey's first day of Pre-School at Wee Lambs here in Gretna. It's her second (and last) year there. (Thank goodness she's not in Kindergarten yet!) I get to have one more year at home with my babe. :-) She goes three mornings a week...Mon-Wed-Fri...9-11:30. She was SO excited to get to school and ran out of the room when I picked her up exclaiming, "Mom, I had such a super fun day!" I am so very thankful that she loves school and learning.






Haircut

Today was Sawyer's first haircut as well! He did SO well. I just had her scissor cut it. I wasn't quite ready for the clipper-cut. I'm heading to Colorado this week for 7 days for a friend's wedding with Sawyer and will have the kids' pictures taken when I return so wanted to get everyone cleancut and ready now. There's something about the first cut that immediately transforms the little babes into kids. It did that with Sawyer too. And...as evidence by the pictures...he had his first sucker too since he was such a good kid. Boy...he grabbed hold of that and DID NOT let go! What a sticky hairy mess we all were when we left. :-)

Before......

During....it was a long process, but he did well

After!




Yummy 1st sucker



Lainey's & Sophie's cute new do's



First Car Ride with Buddy Nolan

Sawyer took his first solo car ride without the girls with a little neighbor buddy, Nolan, who lives right across the street. Nolan is almost 15 months old. Sawyer had a best friend right away. Nolan was a little shy and might need a little warming up to the idea, but I definitely see some future trouble-makers!

Nebraska State Fair 2008

What is there better to do on a hot (91*) windy Nebraska Labor Day than head to the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln, Nebraska? It's only a 45 minute drive for us, and we thought the kids would enjoy it. We were right. Although the day got MUCH longer than we intended (thank goodness Sawyer can now eat table food!)..they were troopers...all three of them, and we all had a GREAT day! (Oh...by much longer...I mean, we got there at 11:45AM and were heading home at 8:30PM!) We'll head to Lincoln next year for sure. After that it will be in Grand Island...not as easy to get to for a quick day-trip...but maybe more of a little family 'vacation'...we'll see. Someday the girls may have things there for 4-H...or at least Open Class???? We'll see how ambitious I am. :-)



The girls enjoyed several shows (and honestly, we enjoyed them too). There was the stunt dog show...featured on Letterman and several other nationally-known shows. We saw The Pirates of the Caribbean diving show...quite impressive! And (in the air conditioning!) the traveling Moo-Man Comedy Kids show...very cute! Lainey was even picked out for the ventriloquist dummy to talk and sing to her!



Speaking of Nebraska...I mentioned it was a hot and windy day. We made our way in and out of the air conditioned buildings to give the kids a break from the heat. (We'll probably all come down with summer colds again!) But...I just had to take a picture of the pivot they had set up in the street misting people to cool them down. ONLY IN NEBRASKA! :-)



The had several 4-H buildings full of different animals. This happened to be the small animal building with roosters, chickens (one duck that we saw), and bunnies. (As you can see...Sawyer was not fond of all the cock-a-doodle-dooing that was going on.) The larger 4-H animals were the cows and horses which the girls found quite impressive. The exotic petting zoo was interesting...they got to touch a zebra, alpaca, emu (well...he didn't come close enough to touch..thank goodness!), itty-bitty baby goats, a tortoise, antelope things native to Africa (can't remember their real names), water buffalo, and lots of other animals. They saw camels (you had to pay to ride them)...but we only did the free things today. :-)



The Ag department of UNL had an animal birthing building...quite interesting. No large animals were giving birth when we entered (thankfully)...in fact, unfortunately, several of the animals had already left to go home to the farms they live on (this was the last day of the State Fair). But, we were able to see the triplet lambs born just this afternoon at 2PM. There were also twin lams born yesterday. There were piglets and calves born yesterday (but those were gone)...much to the girls disappointment. :-( As pictured above though, they did get to hold the baby chicks. They had a rotating incubator on display with chicks hatching constantly. It was really neat to see. THEN...I had to act like I enjoyed showing the girls the display of 10 plexiglass mice cages with varying stages of baby mice inside ranging from minutes to a day or two old. As I type it the visual makes my blood run cold and me want to gag. But, I showed them and explained it..then let Matt take it from there. Notice, no pictures. I think there should be a reduction of that species...not showing the production...man they have A LOT of babies in those litters too! UGH!



On our way to the car we saw the sand sculpture display...very cool...but the girls were beyond the point of being impressed. :-) (and Sawyer just wanted the rope) Oh...we also watched a man carve an amazing sculpture out of a block of cheese. (How do people think of doing these things?)



Of course we had to eat some of the food at the State Fair. If I had a metabolism of a freight train, I would have had fried pickles, fried snickers, fried cheesecake, (do you see a trend)... :-) (OK...it wasn't the metabolism...it was the fact that a small slice of fried cheesecake was $6 and a tiny fried pickle that I really wanted was $5...seriously?) Instead I had a walking taco for lunch and a potato sundae for dinner...just let your imaginations run. :-) Matt had a brat for lunch and prime rib dinner for supper, sharing a rootbeer float with the girls for dessert. We fed the girls before we got there for lunch, and they had treats of snow cones, samples of full-sized granola bars (score!), fruit snacks (score again!), then their first corn dogs for supper. I'm sure what we ate took a couple minutes off our lives (and hopefully nobody wakes up with bellyaches)...but hey, you can't go to the fair without some of the food, right?!



We walked through exhibits, and the girls made name bracelets and played on playground equipment. Matt saw on old baseball friend and his cousin and I an old highschool/college buddy. We ran into our neighbors and two of the girls' good friends down the street. The girls practiced milking a fiberglass cow and watched real honeybees busy working in their hives. At one point Lainey told me "This is the funnest day of my life!" (Oh...how nice it is that the simple things are still wonderful at this point!) Oh...and one more point I have to say because those of you that I talk to frequently know this has been a struggle as of late...I was brave and let Sophie wear panties all day to the fair...and she kept them dry! So, all in all it was a good day...no, I take that back...it was a FANTASTIC day!

Reminiscing

Over the past couple days I have found myself listening to the girls' conversations and wondering...where do they learn this stuff???? It takes me back 25 years or so to when my sister and I would play.

The girls were coloring at the table Friday afternoon, and Sophie dropped a marker cap on the floor. I asked her to please get it before lightning fast Sawyer would zip over and get it and cram it into his mouth. She promptly looked at Lainey and said, "Please, Nainey you get the marker cap off the floor? I'll be your best friend." Whoa...I seriously paused and smiled...take me back in time. I know the girls haven't heard me say that. Is that just something that sisters (or siblings for that matter) are born with? That could just as well have been Kim and me.

That same afternoon after they were done coloring, I asked the girls to please clear off the table and put their stuff away. As usual, Sophie was trying to get out of doing her share. Lainey told Sophie to put the coloring book away and when Sophie said no, Lainey asked why. Sophie looked at her and matter-of-factly said, "because I am precious." Are you kidding me? Where does this child come up with this stuff? :-)

I watch the girls play (and fight) and see myself and my siblings so many times. The way they pretend, the things they say and do, and their competitiveness....especially their competitiveness. They race up the stairs....they see who can get into the bathtub first....they see who can finish their carrots the fastest....they see who can jump higher....who has had more turns driving the monster truck (future blog)....who has more teddy grahams.

I also see the girls help each other...both of them...Lainey helping Sophie (obviously) and Sophie helping Lainey. I see them love each other when one is sad. I see them cheer each other on when the other accomplishes something exciting...Sophie going potty or Lainey practicing her soccer. I see them give encouragement when one is anxious about something...Lainey's first day of summer College for Kid's Preschool or Sophie going to a doctor appointment.

My sister and I are almost 4 years apart, and she's definitely one of my best friends; Lainey and Sophie are 18 months. I watch them now playing and fighting and am so glad for the relationship they have and the relationship they will have throughout their lives. It's so fun to see them grow together and watch a little of me as a child, now that I'm an adult. Many smiles are yet to come, I'm sure. :-)

Fun on the Farm!

Well, I am finally getting around to updating my blog! I have had Whooping Cough this week, and it has definitely put me in my place. Yeah, I know...I thought it was extinct too. :-) Thankfully, the kids are immunized against it, so it's just Matt I need to worry about. Hopefully it'll miss him. I must admit, it has been nice being in bed by 8PM and napping during the day so hard that I awake with the kids completely disoriented. However, I am warning anyone that stops by my house to beware...it truly is a disaster! I did buy two industrial size cans of Lysol at Wal-Mart when I stopped by after my doctor appointment and have gone through the entire house...door knobs, trash cans, etc. Enough about me...on to the blog....

My last blog was all about Sawyer because the girls made a trek to Matt's parent's farm for a little vacation. They had a GREAT time! They went swimming, played, baked with Grammy, checked pivots with Grandpa, played with the dogs and the new baby kitties, dressed up, pretended in the playhouse, jumped on the trampoline, ate ice cream, and numerous other activities. They were also able to visit their little cousin, Aldyn, Aunt Wendi and Uncle Mike, as well as Great-Grandpa Hersh, Great-Grandma Edna, and Great-Grandma Elaine. They also saw Aunt Mollie and her boyfriend, Adam (Sophie's biggest crush if you remember from previous blogs). They got to finish off the week with a night spent at Grandpa Marv's and Grandma Ellen's and a ride to Gretna with Uncle Russ in his pick-up truck. The girls came home with lots of pictures on their disposable cameras and many stories to tell. Talk about a fun-filled week!

Here are some pictures (courtesy of Grammy & some from the girls' disposable cameras)...and lists from the girls of their favorite things while they were on vacation...in no particular order.

Lainey

• swimming
• holding the baby kitties
• petting the puppies and baby kitties
• jumping on the trampoline
• making a tent with Grammy
• riding the tractor with Grandpa (Lainey told Grandpa Monte after riding with him for an hour, "This sure is hard work! We're going to be hungry and thirsty after this!")

Sophie

• puppies & kitties
• riding in the push thing (wheelbarrow) with Grandpa
• I love to go play with Madge & Opal & Nina & Nina's baby kitties
• I like to play with Hope & Cleo (the dogs)
• I like to drink apple juice (ahh...the little things)
• I like to play in the playhouse (an old fertilizer tank)
• I like to hold Opal (one of the cats)

Great-Grandpa Hersh & Great-Grandma Edna ; Great-Grandma Elaine

cousin Aldyn

All About Sawyer

This week has been all about Sawyer. After the Air Show last Sunday my parents took the girls back to Kearney and met Matt's parents on the interstate. The girls hopped in their car and headed to Wallace to spend the week on the farm. What fun! I'm sure I'll have a blog soon updating you on their vacation, but this blog is about Sawyer and my week with him.




With the girls gone, it has been very quiet around here. The first couple days, Sawyer looked for them constantly. I didn't realize how much they entertained him...or at least occupied him with all their busyness. Here's an update on Sawyer...what he does, what we did this week, and just some stuff about this little amazing boy in general...


*snuggled together

*says, "Ma, Ma, Ma"

*napped whenever he wanted...we didn't work around anybody else but him




*giggles and laughs so easily

*copies me every time I cough...little faker :-)

*played on the floor together LOTS



*played with his friend Samuel

*climbs stairs

*waves bye-bye and says, "Bu, Bu"



*blows kisses

*went on wagon rides



*ran errands in 1/4 of the time it normally takes

*I missed a couple appointments I had on the calendar. I guess I totally forgot about looking at my calendar this week...slacker!

*gives hugs and open mouth kisses

*couldn't care less about walking, but pulls himself up on everything and army crawls faster than I can keep track of him...can crawl on all 4 but soon decides it's faster the other way and down on the belly he goes




*has a smile that lights up the whole room and brightens my heart and day




*waves bye-bye to paci & blanky when he gets up from night-time or nap as he throws them back into bed because he knows that's where they stay

*gets into EVERYTHING


The girls will be home soon, and both Sawyer and I have missed them LOTS!!! It's been fun this week having just one kid and getting so much done. But, as much as I have really enjoyed this quality time alone with my little boy, it will be wonderful to have everyone home again.

2008 Offutt Air Show

Sunday we took the kids to the 2008 Offutt Air Show. It took some out-of-towners (my parents) to tell us it was even happening. They were coming up Saturday to see my uncle who had double by-pass last week (and is doing great!) and thought they might come to the air show on Sunday. Offutt didn't list a schedule for various reasons, so we really didn't know what time to go. We packed everything up and headed down early afternoon. We had no idea we would wait in a very long line just to get to the parking lot on Offutt. Then, we walked a good couple miles until we plopped our chairs down to watch the show amongst MANY people. It had been going quite awhile before we were settled.



We wondered how much the girls would get into it when my mom was pointing out a low-flying acrobatic plane to Sophie as we were walking, and she said, "I know. I already saw that one." Never mind that it was flying straight up in the air and doing and loop before coming back down.

Another highlight for us was watching the Fagen Ethanol powered stunt plane. Matt's cousin's husband and his family actually own this plane and the Fagen company, so it was a treat to watch the acrobatics...and they were unreal!



Nevertheless, the show was amazing. Of course, the finale was the Thunderbirds. Need I say more? Too bad my batteries died...and I hadn't recharged the rechargeables I carry in the case to take some pictures of them and one of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. Augh!

Overall the show, what we saw of it, was INCREDIBLE! I'm not sure next year if we'll make it onto the base or watch from our chairs on the shoulder of the highway...but we'll be back.

A Good Time Was Had By All

We hosted a Back-to-School BBQ Wednesday night for our little neighborhood group of kids we've been getting together with all summer. We are so fortunate to live on a street of kids. It's not uncommon to see driveways lined with swimming pools and bikes, sidewalk chalk drawings, lawnchairs, beverages, parents and kids. And, the best part is...we like each other! We enjoy getting together, letting the kids play, and hanging out. The girls could hardly wait for our little BBQ. They worked diligently on making invitations and delivering them to everyone's mailboxes. They helped me plan the menu and do the shopping. Lainey planned out exactly in detail how the evening would progress...oh, how she takes after me! :-) It really was just the perfect night. Parents and kids showed up, lawnchairs and swim towels in tow. The pool and swingset were soon alive with laughter and games. For once, there wasn't the Nebraska wind or really any mosquitoes to speak of, and everyone ate and drank and visited throughout the evening. The kids' sundaes had more toppings than parents even knew about as they dressed their own up on the deck and sat on the stairs to gobble them up. A good time was definitely had by all...and a tradition was definitely started. The girls are already talking about next year's Back-to-School BBQ! :-)



Bottom Row: Hunter (Kindergarten), Tyler (1st Grade)

Middle Row: Lainey (4 years, preschool), Alissa (Kindergarten)

Top Row: Sophie (almost 3), Parker (almost 4 years old)

not pictured...getting ready for bed...Nolan (14 months) & Sawyer (10 months)

Sweet Sleep

I've been catching a hard time about what time my emails often get sent out at night...and I don't blame people. It's pretty ridiculous sometimes if I must say so myself. I'm a night owl, always have been. However, the problem is...three little people now force me to also be a morning person. The two don't really go hand-in-hand. It's not that I don't like sleep. Quite the contrary. I LOVE sleep. Left to a quiet house, there really is no telling what time I might awaken. Just ask Matt. Really, I just enjoy my quiet time at night. I enjoy the peace and the uninterrupted time to myself. And, often times, after the kids go to bed, it really is the only time that I can get things done. All of this got me thinking about one of my most favorite things though..and that's watching my kids sleep. They are so peaceful, so angelic, so worry-free, so innocent, so perfect.

Lainey still takes a nap after lunch. It's usually an hour, but she will ask to lay down. She'll crawl right into bed after lunch or for bedtime, cuddle up with her lovey, Mr. Bear, and snuggle in for her sleep. She needs it too, or she can be a grouch. She's so good though, staying in bed and laying there until she falls asleep (quickly if she's really tired...not so quickly other nights)...but never getting out of bed unless given permission (even when we try to tell her it's OK)...our little rule-follower.

I just had to take this picture of Sophie the other night when I walked in to check on her before going to bed because it's just so typical. Sophie does not take a nap during the day. She does go into her room with the expectation that she should be taking a nap, but 98% of the time that does not happen. Instead, she runs, jumps, plays, hoops and hollers, pretends, and does...well, honestly, I don't know because I have taken out just about everything that was in there because she was destroying her room otherwise (those are stories for another time). So, at night, when it's time for bed, this little girl crashes hard. She crashes so hard that once in awhile, we will hear her fall out of bed, and she will not wake up. When I walk in to check on Sophie, there just is really no telling where I might find her. She probably had to check on something or was "talking" to someone before finally giving up for the night. I guess, I'm probably most like her in this department. We push it to the max, and when we finally give up...we're gone!

This is rare for Sawyer to be asleep anywhere other than his bed, but when we came home the other day from playing at our friends' house, he was just too exhausted to keep his eyes open any longer. So, when I put him on the floor to get his bottle ready before I took him upstairs, he simply rolled over and went to sleep. He is a good sleeper for us though. We don't need to rock him to sleep...although I do get to rock and cuddle him. But, I can just lay him in bed, and he will grab his blanky and go to sleep. Often, if he is really tired, while I'm trying to burp him, he will reach for his crib and just want to be put to bed. However, if he is not in his bed...forget it. He will not just fall asleep anywhere. If there is anything going on...this little guy will stay awake to see it. He is not going to miss a thing!

As I'm approaching another late hour, I'll sign off this post and head to check on my precious little ones...and treasure the quiet peaceful babes they are right now. Then, I'd better hustle and jump into bed because morning will approach all too quickly...and those peaceful quiet babes will have recharged their energizer batteries throughout the night. Thankfully, I find I really love that side of them as well...

Take me out to the ballgame...!

Although the high today reached 101* with heat index values up to 110*, Matt took the girls to the Omaha Royals baseball game at Rosenblatt stadium. It was supposed to be a family outing, but poor little Sawyer had a high fever yesterday and still wasn't feeling quite himself today. Hmm...fever + temps as high as his fever = well, not a good combination. So, he and I hung out at home this afternoon. Of course, I sent Matt with sunscreen, a gallon size ziploc with wet washcloths wrapped in ice packs and sippy cups with ice water even though the girls really wanted water bottles with Crystal Light packets because no security guard is going to disallow sippy cups on a day like today, right!? Thankfully, they went with the Knights of Columbus group from church, so they were able to float in and out of the air conditioned suite, so that helped some. The girls loved sitting outside though. Matt bought them all drinks including a 24 oz. beer for $8 for himself...which Lainey accidentally kicked over. "Sorry, dad! Sorry! Sorry!....Dad...That's why we don't put our pops on the ground." Yep...my little mother. :-) The highlight of the game had to have been catching a foul ball! It was Matt's first time getting a foul ball at a game as well and what a better time to get it than at a game with his girls!?! They had a great time with their daddy, and everyone should sleep well tonight especially since the neighbor kids were out swimming when arriving home so the girls promptly swapped clothes for swimsuits and played outside for another 4 hours. Ahhh...gotta love summer!

(I forgot to send the camera with Matt, so a before and after photo will have to do.) :-)