Sunday, June 13, 2010
NO WORDS NEEDED...
For those of you who asked to see pictures of the incident that happened on thursday night... you asked for it. Here is the unmistakable holes in G's beautiful hair. 
Summertime To Do List
WOW! I cannot believe it is already June 13th! So before the whole summer gets away from us and me and the kids waste our summer away just doing the same thing everyday, (which as I write it isn't such a horrible idea if that includes laying out by the shark pool all summer) I thought I would put together a "wish" list of sorts of things I would love to do this summer. I know alot of the things I would love to have Nate there with us, but that just isn't going to happen with him at work 5 days a week. So many of these "to-do" activities will have to be done with just me alone with the kids. Which I think will help me not be afraid of trying to tackle new things with them where their are unknowns and possible situations that could be tough.:::
Here are just a few things I have thought of:
1. Visit the Covered Bridge Park in Keokuk county (not sure what is there but I thought it would be an AWESOME picture opportunity perhaps)
2. Go to a Waterpark and splash in the water
3. Pick wildflowers
4. Catch Lightning Bugs
5. Camp in a tent in our backyard
6. Go exploring in the woods
7. Collect bugs and insects ..... and try to get the kids over their ENORMOUS fear of any thing that moves
8. Play in the rain... well this sounds fun in theory, can I be one of those moms that don't get mad that they are getting filthy dirty playing in puddles? To be determined :-)
9. Have picnics outside where we have story time and sit quietly (might be asking to much)
10. Go to a baseball game
11. Visit the Hot Air Balloon festival in town and see the wonderfully beautiful balloons high up in the sky
12. See fireworks in the sky and the reflection in the kids eyes of the wonder of it all
13. Eat Popsicles
14. Go to the zoo and see all the animals
15. Visit a beach and build a sand castle
There are lots of other things I would LOVE to do with Nate and the kids, but this list seems the most practical. Based on our budget and mommy being very pregnant we are a little restricted to what things we can do this summer. We had planned on going to Florida in August this summer and visiting my brother Kurt and his family and going to Walt Disney World.. but that just doesn't seem to work out anymore. I also would have loved to go to the coast somewhere but traveling that far and budgeting for a vacation like that just isn't going to work anymore. I will have to put those things on my bucket list to do in the future. Someday we can wish in the future to do those things but in the mean time we have to settle for enjoying days like this....
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Happy Birthday Grandpa Bob!!
Happy Birthday to Grandpa Bob!! We made a banana pudding pie in your honor today and will be eating it later thinking of you! (Sorry i don't think it would hold up very well shipped UPS! ;-) The kids helped me make it and we sang happy birthday to grandpa bob while cutting up the bananas and licking the spatula full of vanilla pudding. Sometimes the words came out grandma bob ... but we tried! We all hope you have a great day and hope the weather today was sunny enough to get outside.
The kids have created many memories with their grandpa, even with only being around for 10 1/2 months! I asked them today what their favorite thing to do with grandpa was and here were their answers:
R-- My favorite thing to do was get all those FISH.. and we saw frogs and those ugly things (crawfish) that snapped! Oh Oh and I also liked riding in the wagon by the pond.. and Oh Oh....... {she could have gone on and on if i didn't stop her!!}
X -- um.... I like playing pool with the balls and THE STICKS when there is a grown up there, right mom!! :-)
G-- I like feeding fish and throwing the food in the water and in the green wagon where i got blue all over my pretty shirt. { she got aquashade all over a white shirt.. and the stuff is NOT coming out, thank goodness for bleach}
I don't even have to ask what Nate's favorite thing to do with Bob is because he would hands down say playing cards... I don't know if he enjoys being on the same team or being on the opposite team and beating dad. That you would have to ask him!
And I, of my 29 years, have many favorites with my daddy. He has played many roles in my life.
As my Protector -- who could forget when I was bike riding with dad and stuck my foot in the wheel of his bike and sheered the skin off the back of my ankle and dad put me on his shoulders and rode fast all the way home to get something to make it feel better. (i do vividly remember that i couldn't go anywhere and was sitting on the couch having to endure through many reels of Africa trip slides!! :-)
As my moral compass -- I learned from example on how to behave and act like a caring compassionate person from my parents and learned what to do and what NOT to do. My parents were perfect... wait my parents ARE perfect and I only wish I could be 1/2 the parents they are.
As my guidance counselor -- Dad was the one who I called when I was debating whether or not to move back to Ohio after being in Philadelphia for the summer and to shorten my year internship. NOW don't get me wrong dad never told me to come home and I was really really home sick... but dad made me feel like I wouldn't be giving up or disappointing him if i did decide to move back early.
As the date police -- Okay I made this easy on my dad I do have to admit... since the only person I really ever dated was Nate. But dad was there to meet Nate the first couple of times and to watch out for his little girl. Nate must have passed with flying colors... I only think that is because he is so much like you!
As my Hero -- You have built such a secure foundation for me and shown me love and given me values to live by. The life lessons you have taught me have helped me become the woman I am today. You are my superhero!!
So Happy Birthday Dad! We are sorry we aren't there to see you blow out some candles but know we are thinking of you and wishing we were there with you!
Love,
Lynn
The kids have created many memories with their grandpa, even with only being around for 10 1/2 months! I asked them today what their favorite thing to do with grandpa was and here were their answers:
R-- My favorite thing to do was get all those FISH.. and we saw frogs and those ugly things (crawfish) that snapped! Oh Oh and I also liked riding in the wagon by the pond.. and Oh Oh....... {she could have gone on and on if i didn't stop her!!}
X -- um.... I like playing pool with the balls and THE STICKS when there is a grown up there, right mom!! :-)
G-- I like feeding fish and throwing the food in the water and in the green wagon where i got blue all over my pretty shirt. { she got aquashade all over a white shirt.. and the stuff is NOT coming out, thank goodness for bleach}
I don't even have to ask what Nate's favorite thing to do with Bob is because he would hands down say playing cards... I don't know if he enjoys being on the same team or being on the opposite team and beating dad. That you would have to ask him!And I, of my 29 years, have many favorites with my daddy. He has played many roles in my life.
As my Protector -- who could forget when I was bike riding with dad and stuck my foot in the wheel of his bike and sheered the skin off the back of my ankle and dad put me on his shoulders and rode fast all the way home to get something to make it feel better. (i do vividly remember that i couldn't go anywhere and was sitting on the couch having to endure through many reels of Africa trip slides!! :-)
As my moral compass -- I learned from example on how to behave and act like a caring compassionate person from my parents and learned what to do and what NOT to do. My parents were perfect... wait my parents ARE perfect and I only wish I could be 1/2 the parents they are.
As my guidance counselor -- Dad was the one who I called when I was debating whether or not to move back to Ohio after being in Philadelphia for the summer and to shorten my year internship. NOW don't get me wrong dad never told me to come home and I was really really home sick... but dad made me feel like I wouldn't be giving up or disappointing him if i did decide to move back early.
As the date police -- Okay I made this easy on my dad I do have to admit... since the only person I really ever dated was Nate. But dad was there to meet Nate the first couple of times and to watch out for his little girl. Nate must have passed with flying colors... I only think that is because he is so much like you!
As my Hero -- You have built such a secure foundation for me and shown me love and given me values to live by. The life lessons you have taught me have helped me become the woman I am today. You are my superhero!!
So Happy Birthday Dad! We are sorry we aren't there to see you blow out some candles but know we are thinking of you and wishing we were there with you!
Love,
Lynn
Growing Up.... is never easy
So this week is a testament to how quickly our three kids are growing up. We had alot of firsts this week and one LARGE milestone.
Yesterday we had an crazy morning full of excitement. We started our first day of summer (the first day with no school that we had to leave for and we could set our own schedule and eat lunch when we wanted and not at 10:30 in the morning!) very relaxed and the kids wanted to be outside so we decided to take a bike ride... and then after sweating during a small bike ride, we got our swimsuits on to run through the sprinkler. It didn't take long before x and r run into each other and there is blood coming out of R's mouth. Her tooth is gone!! Many of you who know me know that I handle these situation with ease.... NOT!!! I start freakin' out and looking in her mouth seeing a hole where her front tooth used to be. Luckily our neighbor and her kids were over playing in our sprinkler too, so i called the dentist and headed off with r and a paper towel wrapped ice cube in a panic. Now before this she has had 3 teeth pulled. So this is one more she would be missing. We get to the dentist and get rushed right in and the assistant looks at the tooth and then calls over the dentist for an exam. At this point I am sooo nervous.
Then the dentist asks r "how old are you?" R replies "5". Then comes the embarrassing moment ... the dr. turns to me and says .. "you know she will lose these teeth right?" Well duh! she still has her baby teeth. But apparently the tooth came out root and all and was just loose and popped out. There was alot of blood though ... so I think I was just in thinking something was really wrong. The dr. informed me that the both teeth beside the one that fell out are loose too, so i am not to be startled when they come out. Well, thanks doc for making me feel sheepish. So our little has lost her first tooth by "natural" ways, if you can call running into your brother's head natural. :-)
Today was X's first day of golf lessons. We decided to pick one thing for the kids to be in this summer so we are not tied down to so many activities that we aren't able to relax and just have fun. X was soooo excited to go to golf like daddy. Since finding out that Mommy signed him up, he has talked about golfing with daddy. I thought this would work better than basketball since it was not with as many kids (which i was shocked to see that there were 8 kids in the lesson) and more of a one on one atmosphere. Not so socially stimulating! A friend of ours was the teacher and X trotted off with the rest of the kids without even looking back at mommy to say "BYE" :-(
He had a blast. The girls and I stayed the 45 minutes to make sure he was okay and he was SO good. He sat and listened intently and I even saw him raise his hand to answer a few questions that Susan asked.
He came running to our picnic table after the lesson with a smile from ear to ear. He said he was so special for getting to do this and he was SUPER good for the teacher. He can't wait to go back next week and mommy is so glad.
Yesterday we had an crazy morning full of excitement. We started our first day of summer (the first day with no school that we had to leave for and we could set our own schedule and eat lunch when we wanted and not at 10:30 in the morning!) very relaxed and the kids wanted to be outside so we decided to take a bike ride... and then after sweating during a small bike ride, we got our swimsuits on to run through the sprinkler. It didn't take long before x and r run into each other and there is blood coming out of R's mouth. Her tooth is gone!! Many of you who know me know that I handle these situation with ease.... NOT!!! I start freakin' out and looking in her mouth seeing a hole where her front tooth used to be. Luckily our neighbor and her kids were over playing in our sprinkler too, so i called the dentist and headed off with r and a paper towel wrapped ice cube in a panic. Now before this she has had 3 teeth pulled. So this is one more she would be missing. We get to the dentist and get rushed right in and the assistant looks at the tooth and then calls over the dentist for an exam. At this point I am sooo nervous.
Then the dentist asks r "how old are you?" R replies "5". Then comes the embarrassing moment ... the dr. turns to me and says .. "you know she will lose these teeth right?" Well duh! she still has her baby teeth. But apparently the tooth came out root and all and was just loose and popped out. There was alot of blood though ... so I think I was just in thinking something was really wrong. The dr. informed me that the both teeth beside the one that fell out are loose too, so i am not to be startled when they come out. Well, thanks doc for making me feel sheepish. So our little has lost her first tooth by "natural" ways, if you can call running into your brother's head natural. :-)
Today was X's first day of golf lessons. We decided to pick one thing for the kids to be in this summer so we are not tied down to so many activities that we aren't able to relax and just have fun. X was soooo excited to go to golf like daddy. Since finding out that Mommy signed him up, he has talked about golfing with daddy. I thought this would work better than basketball since it was not with as many kids (which i was shocked to see that there were 8 kids in the lesson) and more of a one on one atmosphere. Not so socially stimulating! A friend of ours was the teacher and X trotted off with the rest of the kids without even looking back at mommy to say "BYE" :-(
He had a blast. The girls and I stayed the 45 minutes to make sure he was okay and he was SO good. He sat and listened intently and I even saw him raise his hand to answer a few questions that Susan asked. 
He came running to our picnic table after the lesson with a smile from ear to ear. He said he was so special for getting to do this and he was SUPER good for the teacher. He can't wait to go back next week and mommy is so glad. This week was also R's last day of preschool. She had a Moving Up party/ presentation on Tuesday afternoon that the younger kids and I came to.
Her class sang two songs and then we watched a slide show. After the slide show, each teacher presented each student with a certificate. The best part (the three kids would say) was the cake and juice after the presentation. 
Daddy wasn't able to make the party, but he didn't come home empty handed. He brought his little girl home a balloon and a single rose for her huge achievement of graduating preschool.
Daddy wasn't able to make the party, but he didn't come home empty handed. He brought his little girl home a balloon and a single rose for her huge achievement of graduating preschool. What an awesome daddy!!
R was in heaven and couldn't stop smiling!!
The kids have been super energetic and full of spunk this week... must be summer in the air!!
Look at our kids growing like weeds!
Speaking of weeds.... our kids are not the only thing growing... so is my garden!
We have tomatoes started to grow on our tomato bushes, our sugar snap peas are at least 14" tall or higher, and our carrots our coming in great!
Our kohlrabi is almost ready to harvest.
And to top this week off with all the things going on, nate and I were initiated into parenthood earlier this evening when one of our kids made the ritual of cutting their own hair. (every kid does it right, UGH!) G didn't want her hair to look like a boy so she decided to cut her own hair in the bathroon while mommy was getting dinner ready. I don't think she thought this one through because the bald spot on the front of her head and the short cut she gave herself on the one side does not scream femininity! Even knowing that every child does it, does not curb the irritation in knowing your daughter messed with her beautiful hair!! Oh well, we are just going to have to do a little comb over for a while! ;-)
R was in heaven and couldn't stop smiling!!
The kids have been super energetic and full of spunk this week... must be summer in the air!!
Look at our kids growing like weeds!
Speaking of weeds.... our kids are not the only thing growing... so is my garden!
We have tomatoes started to grow on our tomato bushes, our sugar snap peas are at least 14" tall or higher, and our carrots our coming in great!
Our kohlrabi is almost ready to harvest.
And to top this week off with all the things going on, nate and I were initiated into parenthood earlier this evening when one of our kids made the ritual of cutting their own hair. (every kid does it right, UGH!) G didn't want her hair to look like a boy so she decided to cut her own hair in the bathroon while mommy was getting dinner ready. I don't think she thought this one through because the bald spot on the front of her head and the short cut she gave herself on the one side does not scream femininity! Even knowing that every child does it, does not curb the irritation in knowing your daughter messed with her beautiful hair!! Oh well, we are just going to have to do a little comb over for a while! ;-) So that in a nutshell has been our week... oh wait... our last 3 days. I hope the weekend goes much more lowkey. Here's to hoping!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Grandma Schulte
GRANDMAGod needed one more to fill the empty space,
he looked around the hospital and saw your sweet face,
when you stopped breathing,
we knew you were gone,
you went so peacefully,
so we knew you chose the right home,
we knew your skies weren't so blue,
and the roads were getting too tough for you,
but you fought that fight,
and you did the best you could do,
the best part was you didn't die alone,
the day God sent you home.
~anonymous
That picture at the top was taken at Nate and I's wedding in 2004. She looked so pretty that day, that blue dress she wore is a dress she wore to many of the cousins weddings.
This picture was taken this past Christmas 2009 with our kids.
Grandma Schulte lived a very full life
She had 11 children, 40 grandchildren, and 59 great grandchildren, and 5 great-great grandchildren. You can only imagine how packed church was with all the family there. All the grandchildren made it home for the funeral, Nate was actually (by a few seconds) the last grandchild to walk in to the funeral home Sunday night. And the grandkids are spread out from Texas, to Japan, to Us in Iowa.
We will forever remember Grandma Schulte.
Born March 7, 1913
Died may 27, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Memorial Day Vacation
So I haven't blogged in 2 weeks and BOY! have alot of things happened. 2 weekends ago me and the girls headed to a baby shower for my friend Lexi, and the boys headed to buy our new car! The first day we went to look at minivans was at our first ultrasound back in march, knowing at that point 4 carseats were not going to fit into our Envoy comfortably (unless we created a device to toss the two older kids into the back seat) So that was the start of buying a ..... can i say it... a minivan! I have really pushed the minivan thing to the back of my mind, Nate was always adamant about getting one but I still really wanted a SUV. It just makes me feel younger, no comment Neil! But since I am turning 30 this year and having 4 kids.... it is much more practical. So after looking at a few different minivans and test driving and checking them out for months, we made the decision to buy one. (The pregnancy was still pretty early and we wanted to make sure we were farther along before doing anything too drastic like buy a minivan! :-) Here is the new addition to the family.
The kids LOVE it. R loves sitting in the back and having all her books and activities close to her that she doesn't have to share. X loves that he finally gets to sit in the middle closer to the action... he does know once the baby is here he once again is booted to the back. And G loves the new CUPHOLDER!! Seriously it is the little things that count!
This is the girls playing around in the car when we got home.
We got the car just in time to put some big miles on it!
We started our memorial day weekend a little early. Nate decided to finally use his last 2 days of vacation so we headed down to Tennessee to try and get away and relax a little. We left for Tennessee last Wednesday when Nate got home from work and R got home from school. I had the car packed, which was amazing to fit that many things in it and still see out the back window with NO problem. Nate had even packed his golf clubs. We made it to Indianapolis Wednesday night and decided to stay the night half way in between TN and Ohio. We had also heard Nate's Grandma Schulte was not doing good after breaking her Femur on Friday and she had surgery on Saturday. They sent her home to Hospice care on Wednesday afternoon, so we thought if we needed to be in Ohio, Indianapolis was a good place to stop. We did get a text in the very early morning hours that Grandma Schulte had passed away. :-( After talking with family and finding out that the funeral was going to be on Monday we decided to head to Tennessee for a few days and then head up to Ohio on Sunday. The kids did terrific in the car. When we got to Norris Lake they were ready to run!!!
Our kids had been to Tennessee last year in August for the first time to meet both sets of grandparents. We didn't swim in the lake alot that time because we focused on more the attachment and getting to know one another. But they did remember the boat and jet skis... and the playground. 
We couldn't ask for better weather!! WOW! It was hot and the water was the best I ever remember for Memorial Day. The kids loved the lake and R & X even jumped off the dock into the water a few times. They are getting better at floating by themselves and kicking around to get from one place to another. They are pretty comfortable in the water and I hope to get them all in swimming lessons this summer. Aunt Beth, Uncle Scott and Baby Lincoln was able to make it too!! The kids just love babies!! 
Daddy took all the kids on Jet Ski rides. They loved it and daddy said they giggled the whole time. We even got Lincoln in the lake for his first dip! 
We had quite the crew: Our family, mom and dad, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Beth and Uncle Scott & Lincoln, Uncle Scott's parents, and our good friends from back home in Ohio Ann rea and Keith. We had a full house!!
On Saturday night we had Lincoln's first birthday party. He turns "1" on June 5th. Lincoln was not a very happy camper. It was extremely close to bedtime and he was a bit cranky.
This is the cake which didn't even have enough time to cool before we put icing on it.
We all sang Happy Birthday to Lincoln... and then he started crying. He didn't even like the dairy free cake and dairy free icing his godmother had prepared!! ;-) But someone like it!! G was all over the cake and drooling over the cupcakes I had made for everyone.
Uncle Scott ate Lincoln's piece. Yum Yum
The kids LOVE it. R loves sitting in the back and having all her books and activities close to her that she doesn't have to share. X loves that he finally gets to sit in the middle closer to the action... he does know once the baby is here he once again is booted to the back. And G loves the new CUPHOLDER!! Seriously it is the little things that count!
This is the girls playing around in the car when we got home. 
We got the car just in time to put some big miles on it!We started our memorial day weekend a little early. Nate decided to finally use his last 2 days of vacation so we headed down to Tennessee to try and get away and relax a little. We left for Tennessee last Wednesday when Nate got home from work and R got home from school. I had the car packed, which was amazing to fit that many things in it and still see out the back window with NO problem. Nate had even packed his golf clubs. We made it to Indianapolis Wednesday night and decided to stay the night half way in between TN and Ohio. We had also heard Nate's Grandma Schulte was not doing good after breaking her Femur on Friday and she had surgery on Saturday. They sent her home to Hospice care on Wednesday afternoon, so we thought if we needed to be in Ohio, Indianapolis was a good place to stop. We did get a text in the very early morning hours that Grandma Schulte had passed away. :-( After talking with family and finding out that the funeral was going to be on Monday we decided to head to Tennessee for a few days and then head up to Ohio on Sunday. The kids did terrific in the car. When we got to Norris Lake they were ready to run!!!
Our kids had been to Tennessee last year in August for the first time to meet both sets of grandparents. We didn't swim in the lake alot that time because we focused on more the attachment and getting to know one another. But they did remember the boat and jet skis... and the playground. We couldn't ask for better weather!! WOW! It was hot and the water was the best I ever remember for Memorial Day. The kids loved the lake and R & X even jumped off the dock into the water a few times. They are getting better at floating by themselves and kicking around to get from one place to another. They are pretty comfortable in the water and I hope to get them all in swimming lessons this summer. Aunt Beth, Uncle Scott and Baby Lincoln was able to make it too!! The kids just love babies!! Daddy took all the kids on Jet Ski rides. They loved it and daddy said they giggled the whole time. We even got Lincoln in the lake for his first dip! We had quite the crew: Our family, mom and dad, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Beth and Uncle Scott & Lincoln, Uncle Scott's parents, and our good friends from back home in Ohio Ann rea and Keith. We had a full house!! On Saturday night we had Lincoln's first birthday party. He turns "1" on June 5th. Lincoln was not a very happy camper. It was extremely close to bedtime and he was a bit cranky.This is the cake which didn't even have enough time to cool before we put icing on it.We all sang Happy Birthday to Lincoln... and then he started crying. He didn't even like the dairy free cake and dairy free icing his godmother had prepared!! ;-) But someone like it!! G was all over the cake and drooling over the cupcakes I had made for everyone.Uncle Scott ate Lincoln's piece. Yum Yum
Lincoln didn't mind opening up his gifts and then all too quickly it was time for his bed time!
Bedtime for the Birthday Boy!!
The kids did lots of things down in TN: swim, jet ski, play with squirt guns, bubbles, played on the playground, and ate lots of good things!!
It was a very nice few days before heading to Ohio.
We headed to Ohio Sunday morning and made the 6 hour trip North. Mommy was doing great before that but apparently my feet hanging down in the car for a few hours causes swollen pregnancy feet. Putting those swollen feet into a pair of heels was pure fun! We pulled into Kalida and dropped the kiddos off in good hands with Uncle Neil and pizza, and then headed over to the funeral home.
Bedtime for the Birthday Boy!! 
The kids did lots of things down in TN: swim, jet ski, play with squirt guns, bubbles, played on the playground, and ate lots of good things!!
It was a very nice few days before heading to Ohio.
We headed to Ohio Sunday morning and made the 6 hour trip North. Mommy was doing great before that but apparently my feet hanging down in the car for a few hours causes swollen pregnancy feet. Putting those swollen feet into a pair of heels was pure fun! We pulled into Kalida and dropped the kiddos off in good hands with Uncle Neil and pizza, and then headed over to the funeral home.
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