The Adventures of Ang, SuperHank, and Curious George

Valentines prep

2012-02-14T12:17:00.001-06:00

Georgie making his valentines this weekend...

Super Bowl 2012

2012-02-11T20:24:00.001-06:00

We held our annual Superbowl party this year with a new addition- a stadium constructed from guacamole, chips, salsa, and goal posts made from slim jims.
If only I put this much energy into more productive, worthwhile endeavors...

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Future Sheldon Cooper?

2012-02-10T09:09:00.001-06:00

One of the interesting differences in boys and girls is the books that they read. When I was Henry's age, I could not get enough of Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and any fictional series like Sweet Valley Twins or the Babysitter's Club. When Henry learned how to read I was so excited to share some of these with him - I bought copies of SuperFudge, Ramona Quimby, and a host of others in preparation of the reading fun that we would share.Unforunately, no one told me that boys aren't really into that kind of book. You know what Henry likes to read? COMIC BOOKS. And comic book style books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants, etc. When I picked him up from school the other day he was waiting in line with his friends and they were all crowded around another one of these books, giggling and reading. (I had a flash forward to Henry and these other boys' futures as extras on the "Big Bang Theory". But you know what the most important thing is? That he's reading. And he remembers and comprehends what he reads in these books (perhaps a little too well). So I have shelved the Judy Blumes and Bevery Clearys for now. I'm going to try to trot them out again in the future, but for now I'm going to accept that Greg Heffly, Captain Underpans, OOk and Gluck, and Lego Batman are here to stay.

Rex vs Bambi

2012-02-10T09:01:00.000-06:00

The deer in the backyard usually scurry away when Rex comes at them barking. They must have realized that he is not a real threat because yesterday he was yapping away at one and the deer just stood there, like "Who is this crazy squirrel and why is he all up in my business?" It was only when Rex actually started jumping on the deer that the deer decided to walk away to a more peaceful spot. The picture is terrible but it was 6:30 in the morning and I had neither the speed nor energy to go running for my nice camera. You get the idea.

2012-02-10T09:00:00.001-06:00

Obsessed with Webkins

2012-01-25T21:33:00.001-06:00

Henry told me that I should put his Webkins on the blog, so here they are. Both he and George are very into Webkins right now.

This year's valentines

2012-01-23T11:10:00.001-06:00

I found out about this idea last year when our friend Lorinda over at Fishin Fields posted the one she made for her daughter. I filed that information away and made some for the kids to hand out this year- they turned out so cute!
Kodak going under is sad for me, especially since I have used their site for all of my pictures the last 7 years, but it may be a blessing in disguise because it introduced me to Picasa and the photo editing awesomeness that is Picnik (you access it through Picasa). That's how I got the text and hearts on the pictures. You can do so many awesome things on there and it's FREE! Then I just saved my new picture and uploaded it to my Walgreens account to take advantage of their 50 prints for $5 deal.

Meditation

2012-01-23T08:24:00.001-06:00

Henry participates in an exercise program after school one day per week. They do all kinds of different fitness activities like yoga, martial arts, jumprope, and they are also learning about meditation. Henry demonstrated this for us the other day.
We've had a busy couple of weeks around here - this month is busy for me for work and I feel like we've had a million other little activities to do. I am co-chairing an event in the community called "Celebration of Women" that is monopolizing some of my time as well. I checked my email the other day and let out an audible sigh. Henry said, "What's wrong, Mommy?" I answered, "I'm just a little stressed out." Henry thought about this for a minute and said, "I can show you how to meditate. That helps with stress." So we meditated a bit. It was kind of nice. Then he went to bed and I made myself a martini. Because some days, meditation can only get you so far.

Finally, some snow!

2012-01-16T17:26:00.001-06:00

Don't get me wrong, I am not missing the arctic temps we usually get this time of year but I did miss the snow! We got a little last week so we busted out the snowshoes on Sunday for a hike. Rex comes along as well- he always gets lots of laughs from those we pass on the trails.

They're coming...

2012-01-09T18:15:00.000-06:00

I blame Mike for the zombies.

Last summer he brought an iPad home from work that had the "Plants vs. Zombies" app already loaded on it. So began a now 9 month saga of this family's obsession with this game, and with zombies in general. Mike had to give the iPad back, but then we found the app for our iPhones. George really took to the zombies, and walked around the yard chasing neighbor kids while uttering such adorable phrases like, "I'm coming... I want BRAINS... I'm gonna eat your braaaaains...." I'm sure the neighbors were less than enthused with us over this behavior.

While Mike, Henry, and George all got sucked into the zombie obsession, I steered clear. Oh, I got a giggle out of some of the zombies but never played the game myself. (I do, however, religiously watch "The Walking Dead" on AMC. Great show). Then we got the iPads from my parents, and I made the mistake of "I'll just play one game to check this out."

And now I'm also hooked. My evenings are spent planting pea shooters, sunflowers, walnuts, mushrooms, and any other plant that will kill the zombies. I found myself driving around town today plotting a strategy to get through the next level. It's pathetic. I am looking into 12 step programs for all of us.

To demonstrate the power of Plants Vs. Zombies, Mike bought the game for George for his Nintendo Ds. It was easily George's favorite Christmas present. He even wrote Mike a special thank-you note for it. (I do all of the decorating, shopping, wrapping, prepping, and he walks in with a $15 DS game and is the king of Christmas. Not fair). Anyway, here is a picture of George with his beloved game.

Someone is excited to get the millennium falcon

2012-01-05T18:34:00.001-06:00

Video of Christmas morning - I don't think he was very excited, do you?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T20:01:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T21:21:00.001-06:00

All ready for Santa! Merry Christmas blog readers!

Getting ready...

2011-12-23T09:45:00.001-06:00

Enjoying the Charlie Brown Christmas app on the iPad during breakfast this morning.

A Hanukkah miracle!

2011-12-23T09:42:00.001-06:00

A case of whoopie pies from Dana and Marlon! (we also received pears from Grandma and Grandpa and citrus fruit from Aunt Ilene, but the whoopie pies stole the show). Henry just stood and stared at the box when he got home from school.

Our ferocious guard dog Rex...

2011-12-21T18:46:00.001-06:00

Wishes you all happy holidays. He went to the groomer yesterday and came home sporting this green bow in his hair, which coordinates nicely with his Christmas sweater. The other men in this house are not amused and feel sorry for Rex but the bow is staying in because this is really my only opportunity to use hair accessories in this house. Plus, is he not the cutest thing ever with that bow? Cut me some slack people, I am the only female here.

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Early Christmas presents

2011-12-21T18:40:00.001-06:00

Both boys brought home ornaments they made at school- I love getting these!

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Happy Hanukkah!

2011-12-21T18:37:00.001-06:00

Last night we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah. We twisted the candles on our snazzy new electric menorah from Grandpa, Mike sang a prayer, and the kids opened their first gifts. we had a chat about what it means to be Jewish and the members of our family that are Jewish. Henry all of the sudden got a strange look on his face and said, "But the Jewish people killed Jesus!" Thus began a complicated religious history lesson, a rite of passage shared by all dual-religion families.
Then we gave them both gold coins made of chocolate and all was forgotten. Ahh, the peace-building qualities of chocolate.

This picture is from tonight- the second candle is lit.

More George Quotes (a.k.a. Tall Tales)

2011-12-20T10:28:00.001-06:00

Here's a couple of recent gems from our pal George:

He told me that his school was on a commercial (actually, the local news had just run a story on the UWEC Children's Center). I said, "Oh really? What was the commercial like?" George replied, "Well, they showed the classrooms, and then they showed me on there. And underneath it had writing that said, 'George is a special kid.' "

We were talking about what happens at his preschool when someone is naughty. George started to explain, "Well, if you're naughty then you get a 'sit card.' " I asked, "What's a sit card? What do you do when you get one?" George went on to explain, "Well, you have to go sit in a chair for awhile, like time-out. Then Ms Michelle will go over to the chair and talk to you about what you did that was wrong. Then she punches you."

This is just a sliver of the stuff that comes out of his mouth on a daily basis. It is so scary because he says these things with a straight face. Henry's a terrible liar - he has about a million signs that he's lying. It's one of his best qualities. But George is just so good at making up the stories. I am not sure whether to be proud of his brilliance or horrified.

Go Pack Go

2011-12-11T17:58:00.001-06:00

Mike headed to the Packer game today - here he is in front of Lambeau.

And a pic he sent us from the game:

Apparently it's a bit chilly there today - he was all braggy before he left about how it was going to be a "balmy 37 degrees" and that he didn't need long johns on under his jeans. Haaa.

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My super cool cousin...

2011-12-11T17:56:00.001-06:00

Kristin Turk (former Drake University standout) signed a contract to play professional basketball in Sweden about a month ago - she just played her first game for her new team today and did awesome! We are all having fun reading about her in the Swedish newspapers - I think a little gets lost in translation but you can get the main idea!
http://www.bt.se/sport/succestart-for-turk(3068994).gm
Hit the little British flag at the bottom of the article to translate the article into English.

The awesome thing is that our family is actually from Sweden, and my aunt found out that the region they are from is the same area where Kris plays. How cool is that?
Also, why didn't I get these athletic genes? Seriously, I can't even walk around the house without tripping over myself.

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St Nick?

2011-12-07T13:35:00.001-06:00

I usually have a decent working knowledge of most holiday traditions, but I have to say that I had never heard of St. Nicholas Day until I moved to Wisconsin. Apparently a lot of Wisconsinites celebrate this day (Dec. 6) due to their German heritage. Kids put out their shoes at night and St. Nick leaves a little treat (or coal) in their shoes the next morning. Henry came home from school the past 2 years asking why St. Nicholas didn't come to our house, so this year I caved and ahem, arranged for St. Nick to visit. They both laid out their shoes on the fireplace before they went to bed - see the finished product below. I feel like the boys get so many gifts this time of year anyway between Christmas and Hanukkah, so St. Nick just left them little buckets with mini-marshmallows. They were thrilled.

Also, The Elf on the Shelf has been out in full force this year. Our elf's name is Peanut and he has been hanging out on on various perches around the house. This morning when we woke up he was on the cuckoo clock.

He's kind of creepy. But I like it, because he's just creepy enough to keep Henry and George in line.

See? I told you he was creepy.

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Does Hazelden have a program for this?

2011-12-06T17:41:00.001-06:00

Mimi and Grampy gave us all the coolest presents this year - 2 iPads for our family. One is for the boys, the other for Mike and I. With the way my boys handle electronics I made the decision that the smart cover from Apple wasn't going to cut it, so I bought this "iGuy" for the boys' iPad - it's super cute and sturdy.

George is hopelessly addicted to the iPad. And frighteningly good at it. He knows all the lingo now (apps, iTunes, download, etc.). For instance, this came out of his mouth yesterday. "Hey Mom, can you launch AirPlay? I want to see this app on Apple TV. Or did it already sync to your iTunes?"

I wish I were making that up, but sadly, I am not.

The iPads are amazingly cool and very addicting. So now I have to set a timer for George to monitor iPad usage. I never have had to do this before in our house (for some reason, my kids have never really been into watching a ton of TV or movies) but I think George would literally play on the iPad every waking hour if we let him.

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First big snow!

2011-12-06T17:34:00.001-06:00

I like the snow. I don't LOVE it, but I don't mind it either. Especially in December. (Snow in March-April - not so much). We had our first big (about 4 inches) snowfall over the weekend and little flurries the last couple of days. This is probably the prettiest snow I've ever seen - the trees are flocked, it's sparkly, it's not bone-numbingly cold yet. I am hoping it stays like this for awhile!

Henry in the driveway this afternoon.

The view out our back door...

The view from our front porch.

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This is why you don't discuss politics in front of your kids

2011-12-06T17:30:00.001-06:00

Henry's obsession with all things Titanic continues. We recorded the movie "Titanic" when it aired on the ABC Family channel last weekend (they take out all the naughty bits), so he has watched it and cross-checked the new information with information he had in his library books. Yesterday he asked, "If we were on the Titanic, what class would we have been in? First, second, or third?"
Mike replied, "Probably 3rd. Maybe 2nd. Definitely not 1st."
Henry thought about this for a moment, then said, "Daddy, if Governor Walker hadn't taken our money, would we have been in first class?"

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Snow!

2011-12-03T19:04:00.001-06:00

It's our first snow storm of the season! We are snuggled up inside.

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Good babysitters

2011-12-02T15:09:00.001-06:00

Henry had a day off of school today and I had to work, so I got a sitter for both boys. When I got home they had tons of crafts laid out for me that she had helped them do. I feel so lucky to live in a town where we have found so many awesome college girls who are awesome babysitters! (way better than I ever was!)

She took their pictures with her phone and printed them for these reindeer crafts. Cute cute cute!

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Henry's Day

2011-11-28T15:58:00.001-06:00

Last month Henry came home and said, "I think I am going to be on the lunch menu next month." we didn't really believe him, but lo and behold he was right! Apparently the food service director for the catholic school system was visiting with some of the kids at lunch when Henry asked when they were going to have hot dogs again. She had him make up a menu right there, including dessert. He is so excited for tomorrow!

2011-11-22T14:28:00.001-06:00

I know, I should be thrilled George is learning how to write and spell, but when I find these kind of things written randomly around the house I begin to wonder if we should hold off on any more early literacy activities around here.

His letters are really coming along. That's a positive I guess. And I know for a fact that he spelled these on his own because he did them this afternoon while Henry was at school. Again, I should be proud of his phonetic skills but I'm struggling here.
In his defense, he also wrote more benign words like cat, hot, dog, mom, dad, Henry, George, pan, etc. It's just that the poop and toot words were displayed most prominently.

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Dream house

2011-11-22T11:18:00.001-06:00

Henry draws lots of pictures of his "dream house" - I found this one this morning. Note that this is a dream RV- which he has been begging us to buy. You know, because buying an RV is as easy as picking up a gallon of milk.

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I stand corrected

2011-11-20T18:09:00.001-06:00

So today I went to see the new "Twilight" movie with my friends and while we were watching the previews guess what trailer came on? The re-release of the Titanic movie in 3D, coming to theaters in April 2012.

And the new Twilight movie was as expected - corny and terrible but I loved it anyway. Who doesn't love the birth of a baby vampire?

You missed the boat

2011-11-19T09:06:00.001-06:00

I have no idea how Henry first got interested in the Titanic, but he has been really interested in it lately. We went to the library to check out some books and he brought a book home from the school library on it. We looked up some You Tube videos on it, and on there were some reenactments using Legos, which he loved given his Lego obsession. He was watching more videos on You Tube and got very excited- he must have run across one of the trailers for the movie "Titanic" because he called out, "Mom! The Titanic movie is coming out April 14!!"

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Sup, Gdog?

2011-11-15T17:34:00.001-06:00

George started signing his schoolwork "GDog," the gangster nickname we jokingly call him at home sometimes when he wears his pants too low and his boxers stick out.
What a proud moment for us.

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Henry's artwork

2011-11-13T18:19:00.001-06:00

Pumpkin Patch Perspective

Turkey

Jesus and Mary at the stable

Henry has a new art teacher this year and she posts the kids' artwork online - here are some of his creations!

School pictures

2011-11-07T13:08:00.001-06:00

Note the shiner on Henry's eye.

I love this picture of George!

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We should have named him Snoopy

2011-11-06T14:54:00.001-06:00

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Got milk? Or a cookie?

2011-10-29T11:02:00.001-05:00

Trick or treating at the grocery store today!

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2011-10-27T14:04:00.001-05:00

That last post was authored by Henry.

Guest post

2011-10-27T14:03:00.001-05:00

I made this Lincoln Log cabin and it's really awesome. I took these pictures with my mom's phone.

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It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2011-10-27T14:01:00.001-05:00

When Menards puts out its winter wonderland. George LOVES it!

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New friends

2011-10-26T14:48:00.001-05:00

Upon seeing this display at Menards, George said, "hey, those people go to my Sunday school!"

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Look out piggies

2011-10-26T10:06:00.001-05:00

George and I parlayed our family's Angry Birds obsession into pumpkin painting yesterday.

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Get out the soap...

2011-10-23T20:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we were in the car when out of the blue, Henry says, "Hey, do you know what the worst word in the world is? It's the f-word. F&ck." Mike sat stone-faced while I was all hyperventilating and spazzy hand-flapping motions. "Where did you hear that word??" I squeaked, then started to pray, Please don't say Mommy, Please don't say Mommy... Thankfully he heard it from a kid at school in the context of a conversation about what the worst words in the world are, which is bad but preferable to just hearing random kids drop f-bombs on the playground or the bus. Then we had a nice little discussion about how horrible the word is while fending off Henry's logical questions of "Well, who made up the word? Why does anyone use it if it's so bad? What does it mean?". Yikes.

Fall Soccer comes to an end!

2011-10-23T20:18:00.002-05:00

The soccer season came to an end (well, until spring anyway) last weekend. Here are a couple of pictures of George and two of his fellow Prairie Dogs.

Pull up a trash can

2011-10-12T07:21:00.001-05:00

Because we don't have any other seating options in our house.

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The saints need an IT consult

2011-10-08T08:47:00.002-05:00

Henry is doing his first school research project - this week, he was assigned a saint and he has to write a few sentences about his saint and make a sculpture out of clay or some other likeness of his saint. He was assigned Saint Francis of Assisi and was excited about getting started since he already knew that Saint Francis of Assisi loved animals. This morning he was on the computer, frowning.
ME - Whats the matter Henry?
HENRY - Well, I am trying to find some information on St Francis of Assisi, but I typed in "saints dot com" and also "saint francis dot com"and he doesn't have a website.
ME - Um, yeah, I don't think St. Francis probably maintains a website Henry.
HENRY - (Sighs.) He doesn't have any YouTube videos either. (Shakes head). I just can't believe that he's not on YouTube.

This was an actual conversation. I am scared for this generation. Scared.

Back to the orchard

2011-09-28T21:04:00.003-05:00

On Sunday we took Mike out to the orchard since he has not gone apple-picking with us in a couple of years. This time we loaded up on Macs, Gala, Empire, and some other kind that was NOT Honeycrisp, because they are apparently the Cadillac of apples and cost twice as much as the others ($1 per pound vs. 50 cents per pound). So I told the guy, "Point us in the direction away from the honeycrisps." We picked a huge box full of apples and our grand total was $11. I need to channel my inner Martha and get canning this weekend.

September - its almost over!

2011-09-26T21:18:00.002-05:00

I can't believe we are coming up on the end of September... I feel like it just started! Where has the month gone? I have been busy with work and I am hoping that slows down next week or the week after - I am only working half-time and I feel like I am scrambling to get everything done that needs to be done. Add that to soccer, homework, reading preschool notes and teacher emails and school updates and its no wonder the month flew by.

Last week the boys were playing outside and I had the camera out so I caught a few decent shots of the two of them - a rare treat! Henry is always good about posing but George is a tough one. When I get him to stand still and look at the camera he usually makes a silly face. I didn't do too bad with these though.

Fall festival

2011-09-22T17:41:00.001-05:00

On Saturday we went downtown for the International Fall Festival Parade. It's quite a strange conglomerate of floats and entrants- kind of a hodgepodge of downtown businesses, ethnic groups, dance studios... Weird, but fun and they throw candy to the kids.

-

We were right on the river bridge, so we also watched the Children's Museum's annual rubber ducky race. We didn't sponsor a duck this year but it was still fun to watch.

Future astronomer

2011-09-22T05:56:00.001-05:00

This week is George's "All About Me" week at school. When it's your week, you bring in pictures of yourself, favorite toys, books, trinkets, etc. To put in the display case outside the classroom. Naturally George was excited for this week as every day is "all about me" for him. He selected lots of space things to put in the window- he has been obsessed with the planets and outer space since early spring. Mike took him to the UWEC Planetarium kids' show on Saturday and George was in heaven! For those of you in EC, the planetarium is definitely worth checking out!

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Soccer

2011-09-20T19:46:00.002-05:00

Fall soccer is underway. Henry is enjoying himself and, while he doesn't do much on the field but stand around, he does have fun. This is George's first year playing, and he is in the U5 division. The first game he played for about 3 minutes and had control of the ball the entire time - he's actually pretty fast. But the second the ball got out of his control he stomped off the field. I made him go back on, which was a mistake, because then ran up to the kid from the other team who got the ball away from him and George yelled at the child, "LOSER!" It was horrifying. I was mortified. MORTIFIED.

Then the next game he decided to not give up so easily. He took it a bit too far. I don't know if he thought he was playing football or what, but he started tackling the other kids. Like, arms around knees, dragging them to the ground tackling. Again, I was mortified. MORTIFIED.

Game 3 went a bit better. Still a bit of an attitude problem, but no physical violence. We called that a victory in our house.

Don't let the adorable face fool you. This child is a menace.

Henry, our big 2nd grader.

1st Day of School

2011-09-20T19:41:00.005-05:00

I managed to get the pictures uploaded from my actual camera and forgot that I had some shots from the first day of school on there! Here is George outside his preschool. All business.

And here he is in front of his locker. He is really enjoying 4K, there are a few buddies in there from his class last year and the teacher is amazing.

And here is Henry, on his first day of school! He ran for the bus - this kid was ready to go back to school. So far he is really enjoying 2nd grade. He adores his teacher, has some good buddies in his class, and is overall just a really happy kid right now.

Piano Man

2011-09-20T19:03:00.001-05:00

Henry started piano lessons this year- one nice benefit to his school is that they have a piano teacher on staff that does lessons during the school day- no hauling back and forth to lessons! He just misses a bit of religion class on Thursdays for his lesson. Here he is at our new-to-us piano (circa 1941, no joke).

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George quotes (a.k.a. whoppers)

2011-09-13T08:32:00.003-05:00

We got an email from the assistant director of George's preschool - apparently she was helping out in his class the other day. George had a few scratches on his arm and she asked him how he got them. He responded, straight-faced, "Well, I was swimming with some jellyfish and stingrays and they scratched me." Then he shrugged and walked away.

When driving near campus we saw cars of college students with their inner tubes hanging out the windows - they were getting ready to take advantage of the summer-like weather the past few days to go tubing down the river. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Eau Claire, the Chippewa River runs right through the UWEC campus, and the students tube right through campus on hot days. It's actually pretty cool). George said, "Yeah, Daddy and I went tubing with the college kids the other day. It was pretty fun." I raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah," George answered, "You and Henry were gone somewhere, so Daddy and I went. But don't tell Daddy that I told you."

When asked what he did at preschool the other day, this was his response: "I looked out the window and a giant banana was walking down the street. It tried to get on the bus, but it wouldn't fit. The policeman came and threw it into a giant garbage can."

And finally, "Mommy, I think we should move our house down here (we were in the campus area) because then we would live near all the college kids. And I could be friends with them." (So Kate - maybe we should buy your house?)

Privacy Issues

2011-09-10T15:28:00.002-05:00

I have decided to make this blog private. If you'd like to keep reading, send me an email with your email address and I'll add you to the list of readers. Like my friend Christy over at "The Deal Life" I have decided that I need to have a little more control over who is reading this thing! I'll give everyone a few days to get me their email address, but I plan on making the switch next week!

Apple picking

2011-09-08T19:21:00.001-05:00

On Monday I took the kids up to Niblett's Apple Orchard in Chippewa Falls. It's a smaller orchard than many around here, but the owner is super nice and the apples are always tasty. I forgot my nice camera so I got a few pictures with my phone.

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A nice day for a hike

2011-09-08T19:16:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we took the boys for a hike up in New Auburn. Fall weather has arrived!

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George's 1st day of 4k!

2011-09-08T19:15:00.001-05:00

I am so behind on posting- this week has been a mess. Anyway, George had his first day of 4k on Tuesday. He walked in there like he owned the place.

Mr Serious. He walked in and strolled around, nodding his head, like he was thinking, "yeah, this will do."

Making his nametag with his new teacher.

Enjoying a snack with his classmates.

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And he's off...

2011-09-01T08:13:00.001-05:00

To 2nd grade!!

Without the dog, of course.

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Last day of summer vacation!

2011-08-31T14:47:00.001-05:00

There's 104 days of summer vacation, and school comes along just to end it...

That's the theme song to Phineas and Ferb, and fitting for today since Henry starts (gulp) 2nd grade tomorrow! Plus George has 4k orientation tomorrow and officially starts the school year on Tuesday.

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2011-08-31T09:01:00.001-05:00

Got my hair done yesterday. I brought in a picture of Brooklyn Decker's bob and my hairstylist got pretty close; however, unfortunately I still don't look like Brooklyn Decker.

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Location:New hair

Goodbye, Charlie-dog

2011-08-28T13:11:00.003-05:00

My parents' 14-year-old yorkie passed away this weekend. Even though he had lived a good, longer-than-average life, we are all still heartbroken. My mom took this picture of Charlie when he was about a year old and submitted to a calendar company, who used the photo on the calendar! We'll miss you Charlie-dog.

Farmers Market

2011-08-28T12:47:00.001-05:00

One of our favorite things to do in Eau Claire is go to the downtown Farmers' Market. Here's a picture of the boys after they enjoyed the cookies we bought there.

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Forgotten photo

2011-08-28T12:45:00.001-05:00

Found this one on my phone- Eli found this frog on the beach and George enjoyed playing with it.

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Goooooo Prairie Dogs!

2011-08-26T22:39:00.001-05:00

My neighbors and I, in a moment of temporary insanity, agreed to coach our 4-year-old sons' soccer team this fall. We picked up our coaches' packets the other day and found out that our team is called the "prairie dogs". (it could have been worse- we could have been the Voles, Squirrels, Meerkats, or Bunnies). Anyway, my fellow coach was kind enough to make us these coaching binders for our information:

I giggle uncontrollably every time I look at it. Thanks, Mary. :)

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Goofy

2011-08-19T10:33:00.001-05:00

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Who has the force?

2011-08-16T18:10:00.001-05:00

This little gem was taken at the cabin in Maine. The set up: Mike was lying on a bed that was in front of the electrical outlet that the lamp was plugged into. When he rolled forward the lamp would become unplugged and the light would go off. The kids didn't know this though so he and Eli tricked them into thinking that they could control the light with "the force."

Just like our Canadian friends...

2011-08-14T10:42:00.001-05:00

We enjoyed Tim Horton's while on our trip. When we stopped at the gas station this morning Mike instructed me to run into Tim Horton's and "get me some Little Timmy's or timtoms or whatever they call them." um, actually they are called Timbits. Anyway, this is a pic of the Timbits for Eli, a Tim Horton's hater.

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More CN Tower pics

2011-08-14T10:35:00.001-05:00

Looking out...

The glass floor of the CN Tower- boys thought this was the best part. Here he is giving me his "super cute" (his own words) smile.

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Back on US soil

2011-08-14T10:32:00.001-05:00

Took a blogging hiatus while visiting Canada/Toronto and didn't have wi-fi or cellular data, so here is a pic of the CN Tower, taken yesterday morning.

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Attitash

2011-08-11T11:01:00.001-05:00

While driving through the White Mountains of New Hampshire we stopped at a ski resort called Attitash, where they had alpine slides and a mountain coaster. Here's a pic of the view going up the coaster!

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A little brisk

2011-08-10T20:03:00.001-05:00

Mt Washington is said to have the worst weather in the world, with the strongest wind in history recorded here. When we got to the top it was about 50 degrees, and we needed sweatshirts. We all enjoyed some hot chocolate at the visitors' center at the top if the mountain.

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Mt Washington!!

2011-08-10T20:00:00.001-05:00

We made it to the top! Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and the visibility was not great, but it was exciting nonetheless.

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Gulp

2011-08-10T12:16:00.001-05:00

On our way up Mt Washington!

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Location:Pinkham Notch Rd,Glen,United States

So long Axelrod Drive

2011-08-10T12:15:00.001-05:00

Left the cabin this morning!!

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Tooth Fairy

2011-08-08T20:53:00.001-05:00

Henry lost a tooth on our trip, so the tooth fairy had to make a special visit to Maine. We helped her out by activating the "tooth fairy beacon" on my phone (it's a cute little app you can download). After Henry scanned his tooth with the phone the TF knew where we were and paid a visit, then sent him this message the next day.

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Location:Fontaine Ln,Monmouth,United States

Because you can't have too many pics of your kids with lobster sculptures

2011-08-08T12:24:00.001-05:00

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Location:Cliff Rd,,United States

Oatmeal whoopie pie- who knew?

2011-08-07T18:07:00.001-05:00

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Wicked whoopies

2011-08-07T18:06:00.001-05:00

Eating whoopie pies from Wicked Whoopies in Freeport.

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Fun at the cabin

2011-08-05T09:43:00.001-05:00

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A quick post

2011-08-03T19:30:00.001-05:00

A quick post before I turn in- it's been a long day!! Here's Georgie getting ready to go night-night in cousin Eli's old bed.

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Almost there!

2011-08-03T08:01:00.001-05:00

Amazingly the kids are still behaving well and enjoying the road trip. It helps that we have tossed aside many of our rules that we have at home regarding ice cream in the morning, bedtimes, and copious amounts of Cartoon Network in the hotel rooms. We stopped for lunch yesterday at a Quaker Steak and Lube, thanks to a free app called Kluckr that zeroes in on your current location and directs you to the nearest chicken wing restaurant. No joke. Seriously, we have technology that assures you that you can always find a wing joint, yet we can't solve the world's water shortage crisis or global climate change???

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Wow, driving across Ohio is really boring

2011-08-02T10:57:00.001-05:00

Checking in from somewhere in Ohio. We got a good nights rest at our hotel last night. George wanted to sleep with Henry but after about 15 minutes of shennanigans a game of musical beds was played and georgie and I ended up together in one bed, Henry and Mike in the other. We ate breakfast and hit the road, and although Clark Griswold (aka Mike) wanted to stop at such exciting places as the pro football Hall of Fame, we are making good time. Here is a pic of the boys at a rest stop in Ohio, enjoying some ice cream, which as it turns out is the official food of our road trip.

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Greetings from South Bend

2011-08-01T16:55:00.001-05:00

We are back in the Hoosier state! We arrived about 4 pm local time. The boys are positively giddy to be in a hotel- at first I was thinking that we should maybe take them more often but then I remembered how exciting it was to stay at any hotel when I was a kid. After a quick swim in the pool we headed back up to the room for a picnic dinner and some relaxation! Next stop: Eerie, PA.

And before I forget, here are some recent George quotes:
"Rex is small because he's a New Yorkie." (I thought he called Rex a new Yorkie because he was a new puppy, but he calls all yorkies "new yorkies."

He is really into planets and being an astronomer, and his favorite planets are Saturn and Uranus because he likes planets with rings. However, he is very concerned that our sun is going to explode. Mike tried to soothe him by explaining that if the sun exploded we'd never know it because we would die instantly. Um, a little too much information for a four-year-old. So he changed his story to "the sun cannot explode", which is false but he's not taking his SATs for awhile so I think we will just live with that little white lie for awhile.

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Dekalb oasis

2011-08-01T12:27:00.001-05:00

Stopped at the DeKalb Oasis for lunch. So far both boys are doing great! Didn't ask "are we there yet?" until 3 whole hours into trip. This is a new record, as this question usually happens as soon as we get on the interstate.

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Picture

2011-08-01T08:44:00.001-05:00

Watching Phineas & Ferb - I copied my friend Amy and packed the boys' backpacks with some new games and DVDs and didn't let them open them until we got on the road.

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Just call us the Griswolds

2011-08-01T08:39:00.001-05:00

Road trip day 1! I uploaded this app that will hopefully let me post regularly from the road. First stop: the flying J truckstop in black river falls, where mike and I picked up giant sodas for $1 and the kids got a rare treat: frosted Hostess mini donuts! Every kid's dream, we try to save these kind of treats for vacation. I remember as a kid the only time we got Funyons was on road trips.

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Happy Birthday to Henry!

2011-07-31T20:35:00.002-05:00

Henry is 7 today!! I will probably post the pictures in a couple of weeks. I can't believe he is 7 - he is such a character. Here are his favorite things right now (according to him):
Star Wars "The Clone Wars"
Star Wars Legos
Pretty much any kind of Legos
Harry Potter books
Diary of a Wimpy Kid books
Gogos (he just got those for his birthday but they are already his favorites)
Phineaus and Ferb television show
Plants versus Zombies on Daddys iPad
Angry Birds
Swimming
Soccer

Happy Birthday Henry! We love you LOTS!!!

Recent Reads!

2011-07-31T20:22:00.003-05:00

Here are some of the books I've read lately:

To anyone who has ever worked even a single day in retail - THIS BOOK IS AWESOME! It's a memoir of one woman's two-year stint working retail (at a North Face store) and her experiences there with rude customers, bosses who are idiots, weird corportate policies, etc. I was laughing throughout but also thinking -she puts a lot of research into this book as well.

Pretty good. Very teen angsty. A quick read.

So depressing that I had to stop reading it on my Aruban vacay. I picked it up again on my way back home and had a good conversation with the flight attendant about how depressing it was. It's good - it makes you think - but wow. Depressing. Did I mention that it was depressing?

Okay, I know everyone is reading this one but its true - its awesome. I hope they make it into a movie. I loved every page. SO GOOD!

I'm back!

2011-07-28T16:13:00.002-05:00

I got back from Aruba early this morning, got about 2 hours of sleep (if that), and then helped run Vacation Bible School for 11 three-year-olds from 8:45am-12:15pm. I'll post a better update later, but in the meantime here's a pic of me drinking a gigantic margarita (actually, I believe its proper name was the "Mother Margarita") out of a "yard" glass at Senor Frogs. Brought me back to my younger days. :)

A Hot Mess

2011-07-20T08:07:00.003-05:00

I haven't been posting much lately because I have been running around the last week or so preparing for the end of our summer - yes, that's right, I said the END of our summer! I feel like this is my last true week of summer. On Friday night I leave for a girls' trip with my mom and sister. I get back late Wednesday night and then we have Henry's birthday next weekend, then we leave for our big trip out to Maine for 2 weeks (to anyone who is thinking about robbing my house while we are gone, we have a house sitter staying there, a security system, and nosy neighbors so don't bother; also we don't have any good prescription drugs so unless you want to load up on allergy medication you're going to come up short). When we get back from Maine I have a training to go to for work, then new employee orientation (I'm working 4 mornings per week for the school district this fall), then the next week school starts. Yikes! So this week I'm trying to get all of Henry's birthday party preparations done.

George went to Camp Veggie Tales last week and LOVED it. Henry has been doing the UWEC Summer Institute last week and this week and he loves that as well. It's been a nice diversion since it's been too hot this week to do much outside. Henry's t-ball games were cancelled on Monday and today, so I think we are going to hit the pool this afternoon to cool off!

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-11T19:47:00.004-05:00

Henry out on the driveway waiting for Daddy's fireworks to start.
At the lake

We had a pretty low-key holiday weekend. The weather was gorgeous, so we spent a lot of time outside, at the pool, and up at a lake about an hour north of here. The boys tried to stay up to watch the big fireworks but neither of them made it up that late - they were actually asking to go to bed at 9pm. Maybe next year... in the meantime, we've always got Mike's fireworks display to enjoy.

Who needs a pool?

2011-07-03T19:09:00.002-05:00

With our finally summer-like temperatures, the boys have had fun at the pool. On Thursday afternoon it was hot, hot, hot here and the neighbors got out their hose and um, Rubbermaid container. This was apparently too much fun for my kids to resist so they grabbed their bathing suits and headed over. Seriously - they played with the hose, the "sprinkler from the olden days," (ahem, the olden days are 3 years ago, before we had a house with a sprinkler system) and the big bucket for an hour. Those of you with fabulous backyard swimming pools, eat your hearts out.

Berry Fun

2011-07-03T18:54:00.003-05:00

Georgie getting ready to pick.

One of my favorite summer activities is berry picking - we went out twice this year. I went once with Georgie and then again with our friends. We still have tons of berries left even after making strawberry bars, strawberry shortcakes, and a dozen jars of strawberry jam!

Catching up....

2011-07-01T07:03:00.003-05:00

I feel like I'm always trying to get caught up on here! I guess I am in summer mode now. Also, I got an iPhone (early birthday present from my in-laws, thanks!) and I've been obsessed with trying to move my CD collection into iTunes. So far I'm on the Bs. I've got a long way to go but it's also been fun digging out some of my oldies but goodies again.

Anyway, onto the updates...

Grandma and Grandpa were in town last week so the boys were in seventh heaven with the extra attention and 2 extra playmates. One of the highlights was seeing Cars 2 and discovering that one of the characters is named Miles Axlerod. We were fortunate enough to see the movie at a special screening sponsored by our State Farm agent. State Farm Insurance is one of the movies sponsors so they hosted a special screening for their customers. We arrived at the movie theater and our agent handed us a goody bag with Cars 2 t-shirts for both kids, stickers, pencils, and other fun stuff.

Henry had golf lessons last week and enjoyed that, and we also wrapped up swimming lessons. I have pictures of all of this on my camera but have yet to get them out of there. The music transfer and the new Scrabble app on my phone are sucking up all of my time. What can I say, I lead a exciting life over here.

I've read a ton of good books lately and of course I keep forgetting to write them down, so here's a partial list of what I can remember:

History of a Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life by Jill Bialosky This book was a deconstruction of the years and events leading up to the author's sister's suicide in her early 20s. It was heart-breaking but not in an exploitative way - I got the feeling the author really wanted to understand why her sister committed suicide and in her personal investigation of her sister's life she also weaves in research in the field of suicide and interviews with experts, and the result is a personal yet very informative book.

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner I like pretty much everything Weiner has written, and this one is no different. If you like her other stuff, you'll like this. A quick read.

Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust by Diana Henriques I've been fascinated by Madoff since his arrest in 2008, and this book is a good biography/expose on the events leading up to his arrest. A little technical when she talks about the details of trading but I just skipped over those parts and got to the juicy stuff.

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman I adore Ayelet Waldman because she is just so freaking smart. This book is told from the perspective of the "Other Woman" - but she doesn't make her into some sort of hero. Loved it.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain I skipped around a bit, but if you like his humor on his travel show, you'll love the book.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein I don't have girls, but if I did, I would have liked this book more. At first I thought it was going to be a slam on princess culture, but it's not - the author's daughter is princess-obsessed herself so that prompted the author to look into the marketing behind all this pink, pink, pink. A little dry but you could skip around if needed and still get something out of the book.

Adventureland Pictures

2011-06-22T14:47:00.000-05:00

On the little boats - Henry is humoring me with this picture - he was not happy about going on "baby rides."

They did this on their own. How cute is that?

Henry once again being a good sport on the little truck ride. He got to drive his own bumper car this year and was SO excited!

While in Des Moines we made our annual trip to Adventureland. Henry was off riding the big rides with Grampy while Georgie had his buddy, cousin Emmie to hang out with. They loved the Frog Hopper ride and must have ridden it 10 times!

First T-Ball Game

2011-06-21T13:53:00.009-05:00

Yesterday was a busy day. We had swimming lessons in the morning for both boys, tennis in the afternoon for Henry, and then Henry's first t-ball game in the evening. It was odd to be at a t-ball game in the middle of June with sweatshirts and blankets but it was breezy yesterday! Henry loved the game - he was very excited to put on his uniform and hang out in the dugout with his teammates. He got to play 3rd base and bat first, so he was extra-excited.

Finished kitchen pics

2011-06-18T07:18:00.004-05:00

For those who may be arriving via GardenWeb, here is a link to the finished kitchen pictures!

2011-06-17T15:53:00.003-05:00

We busted out the slip-n-slide at my parents' house last week - they have the perfect little hill in their backyard for it.

Sometimes I really hesitate when someone asks what my husband and I do for a living. But since having kids, I tend to not share the information unless I'm asked point-blank "what is it you/your husband does?" (For those of you who are unaware, I am a school psychologist and my husband is trained in clinicial and behavioral pediatrics). I don't avoid it because I don't want people asking for advice; actually, I like to help when I can. I avoid it because inevitably my kids end up doing something crazy and it's kind of like the old adage of the cobbler's children running around with no shoes. Except in this case it's the psycholgists' children running around like crazy people.

Here is an example of something I did not want to share on the blog initially, because it is quite embarassing and also because I do not want our reputations as psychologists to plummet. But at the same time I feel like my blog does not depict the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Let's face it - child-rearing is messy. I have a degree in educational psychology, but they don't teach you how to parent in grad school. For example, yesterday the boys were fighting, and one of the things they were doing was sticking their hands down the back of their pants and then wiping their hands on each other spreading "butt juice." Also, George was trying to pass gas on Henry's head. Just another day in the life over here.

The end of 1st grade

2011-06-16T16:10:00.003-05:00

First, the obligatory Rex/Georgie photos - these two are always up to something. And it is rarely good.

Henry had a fabulous 1st grade year, mostly due to his teacher, who I cannot say enough good things about. It is wonderful to have a child who literally runs to get on the bus each morning with a smile on his face because he loves school so much.

He also wrapped up the soccer season with a beautiful night for the last game. It was quite a change from the terrible weather that plagued the rest of the season - we were out there in SNOW at one point, freezing rain at another, and a downpour at another game. I think this was the only game that they didn't have bulky sweatshirts on under their jerseys. Go Crickets!