Kale's Christmas dancing moves

Kale likes dancing to the Elvis bear almost as much as Nolan - and in really short bursts of time! Nolan also loves turning on the Christmas ornaments that flash different colored lights, even when he's not supposed to touch the tree:)

Sharing popcorn

Nolan sharing the free popcorn he got at the hardware store with Kale.

Thanksgiving (and some other misc. ramblings)

Talk about a lot to be thankful for… we have two awesome little boys who continue to crack us up with the new things they say and do on a daily basis and we’re able to spend a fun holiday with relatives! Here’s a brief update of what we’ve been up to-With our daycare provider, Jane, being on vacation I took the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off and got to spend some quality time with the boys. Of course this meant taking the boys to go see Tricia and Grandma Ellen at work. We stopped at McDonalds to grab a Happy Meal to take to see my mom, and talk about hilarious…you forget that if you’re a normal person that it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to talk into a wall with pictures of food on it, drive to a window and give them a credit card, then pull 10 feet further ahead and end up with a bag full of food! Nolan and Kale were chit chatting in the back, until I had to order and get the food-you could tell they were amazed. We had a nice lunch and the boys showed off for all of Mom’s co-workers, then we went home, did naps and by the time Tricia got home I was ready for a break. Thursday morning I got to sleep in until 7! We got the boys and potatoes, green beans, and rolls packed up in order to spend the day at my folks’ place. Everyone in my fam was able to make it except for Dave (who was sleeping after his night shift) but the boys did really well. They both took naps and we enjoyed watching them wolf down the Cool Whip, like father like son(s). Friday wasn’t spent shopping. Tricia had to work, so Daddy Daycare was open once again. I must’ve done something right though, as the boys both took 3 hour naps which allowed me to get the new icicle lights put on the house and the other outside decorations put up. The boys are doing really well playing, both together and separately. Nolan will take something, like a car or food from the play kitchen and go do his own thing while Kale will find something else and work on it for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. But, if you start wrestling with one of them, well they’ll both be jumping or hopping on you in a second. Later on that evening Tricia and I got the tree and other Christmas decorations put up-we’ll see how long it takes the boys to pull the tree over…Saturday we pulled together the green bean casserole to take to my cousin John’s place to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Mom’s side of the family. We had 35 or so adults and 9 kids at the house, all under the age of 6. It was awesome. As I washed dishes with my Mom it was amazing to realize just how loud the house got. The aunts had some wine in them and began they’re cackling/laughing. And after all was said and done the Tricia/Adam Sequence team came in 2nd in the annual tournament. The boys both took naps, and we all enjoyed a fun afternoon eating too much and getting caught up. Afterwards, Chris and Sasha brought Jackson and Maya back to our place to spend the night. We fed the kids a delightful last minute meal of grilled cheese and baked beans, then the adults had chicken tacos, beer and a dessert of fudge brownies with ice cream…we figured we might as well enjoy the WHOLE day-right?Sunday was spent keeping the boys out of the Christmas tree and watching the darn squirrels eat all the bird seed from the feeders. After the boys, and Tricia, went down for a nap I went bow hunting over at my parent’s place. There’s a big buck running around there, and since Dad kicked it up on Thanksgiving it gave us a little glimmer of hope that we’d see it!So far the Christmas shopping is on track and if the Holidays are anything like the last couple of get togethers we’ve been to, I think the boys are going to be hilarious! This week we are again daycare-less, so Tom is watching the boys Monday and Tuesday, our friend Jackie has Wednesday, I’m taking Thursday and Tricia has Friday…whew, it’s going to be fun!


Mom's top 10 list from the Thanksgiving holiday:
10. Asking Nolan what his favorite thing was at the end of the day on Sunday and his response of "TJ's store", which meant his trip to the hardware store with Adam.
9. Nolan wanting to shake our hand and say "nice to meet you", repeatedly.
8. Hearing from Grandpa Tom that he and the boys played kickball with the Santa decoration in the front yard.
7. Asking Kale what Santa says - "ha ha ha", instead of "ho ho ho".
6. Asking Nolan what Kale's last name is - and saying "baby".
5. Having all my boys stop in to visit me at work. One of my co-workers wondered if we ever get asked if our boys are twins (which happens quite a bit). The first thing a woman asked us in the elevator on our way out was if our boys were twins!
4. Nolan watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and being amazed at the floats. His favorite was Buzz Lightyear.
3. Nolan seeing a tweeted picture of Mariah Carey during the parade and asking "is that Paulette?"
2. Kale saying "Christmas tree" when he saw the tree.
1. Nolan and Kale running to see the Christmas tree with the lights on first thing Saturday morning. Nolan happily announced that "I like lights!"

It is going to be a fantastic holiday season!

Highlights

This month is flying by! Updating the blog has been on my to do list all month, but I just haven't gotten to it. I've been sidetracked by busy weekends and sickness - for both me and the boys! I'm finally on the mend after a week and a half, but now Nolan has pink eye in both eyes and Kale looks as if he's next. I have to say I'm glad I'm headed out of town for the weekend for a little shopping therapy with my mom and sisters! I wish Adam the best of luck - I'm sure they'll do just fine without me:)

Here are a few of the highlights/lowlights from the last 2 weeks:

November 5th: Drive up to Moose Lake to celebrate Maya's 1st birthday. On the way out of the cities see a minivan on fire on I694. Nolan is in awe of it. Stopped at the local muni in Moose Lake to pick up some beverages. Have I mentioned Nolan loves going to the liquor store? Load up the car with our purchases and Nolan announces he has to go potty. I ask him if he can wait, and he says no. We had back in to the muni and find the women's restroom. Me, Nolan and Kale head in to a stall. I get Nolan on the potty and am holding on to him, while Kale bends over to look at the poor woman next to us. I have flashbacks to my sister Gina making friends in the bathroom on our childhood family camping trips. We finish up and head back to the bar area. Nolan spots the popcorn on the floor and asks for popcorn. I say no. Nolan puts his hand on Kale's back to lead him through the bar. I feel like mother of the year.

November 6th: Nolan had so much fun shooting hoops and playing with a huge Thomas the Train set. Kale enjoys doing acrobatic moves on the Little Tikes truck. THey both have fun playing with their 2nd cousins. Nolan finally gets to celebrate Maya's birthday with cake. He's thrilled. I'm happy because both boys slept well, except the darn time change meant that Nolan was up at 4:53 a.m. Luckily he laid in bed with me until 6, when Kale woke up. We had back home after dinner, and after a stop to get a Diet Coke in Hinckley Nolan sees a deer strapped to the roof of a car. He says cool. He asks when Daddy is coming home from hunting, and I tell him tomorrow. On our way around Lake Minnetonka I see 3 houses with their Christmas lights up and plugged in for everyone to see. It's too early for that!


November 8th: My body finally wears out on me and I come down with the fever, aches, chills that the kids had in October. Bummer. Turns in to a cough that is just starting to subside.

November 10th: Celebrate Claire and Mara's birthdays. Nolan and Kale are both thrilled to be able to take home a balloon. Nolan is also thrilled to enjoy 2 pieces of cake, with ice cream. He begins talking about how his birthday is next year, again. This kid loves birthdays!

November 11th - 13th: The boys and I drive to Mankato for the weekend. It's nice to have a little extra help with the kids, since I'm not feeling well. Christianne and I go to her friends house for a personal garage sale of awesome boys clothes. We're pretty well set for clothes through size 5/6! Nolan announces at lunch that he misses his dad, which is totally unprompted and impressive. He then continues to tell Brian how Adam is hunting deers, and that they are does and bucks. He also asks me when he can go hunting. I tell him when he's bigger. Nolan thinks it's fun to play with the Barbie stuff, especially the cars. He races them. Nolan and Kale also played crash with the baby strollers. Lola and Lalayna have 3 strollers, so there were plenty to crash. Nolan and Lalayna helped Brian shovel leaves, and then played in the them with Lola and Kale. We made our first trip to the library. Both boys thought it was great. Nolan's favorite part was seeing the fish. Kale just liked running around. Before we left the library Christianne let all the kids throw pennies in the fountain. We love cheap entertainment! The boys were nice and worn out Saturday night, but so were the adults. Everyone was in bed at 9:30.

November 13th: I got to work with about 25% of my normal voice. Not a huge deal, except that I'm facilitating new employee orientation. Nolan starts wearing pull ups to bed. He has been dry overnight all week! He has an occassional accident, but all in all he's potty trained. It's only been 7 weeks since we started the big potty push, so we're happy with the results.

November 16th: Kale is talking more and more. He is saying versions of: I love you, Rielle (one of the girls at daycare), and brother - which is what he calls Nolan.


November 17th: Nolan woke up at 4 a.m., upset because his eyes were stuck. He also kept telling us he had dirt in his eye. We take a look and are not so pleasantly surprised that he has pink eye. Adam stayed home with him. Nolan went to the dr. and got his eye drops. He also got a haircut. The stylist asked him if he wanted a combover over a fohawk (fake mohawk). He wanted the fohawk, and he looked adorable! Adam kept his lunch plans with some old co-workers, so I got to stop by and see them. At dinner I asked Nolan if he was a bunny, because he was eating a lot of lettuce. He said, "no, I'm a big boy".

Hard to believe we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving next week, and then pulling out the Christmas decorations right after that. I'm looking forward to a fun and busy holiday season with all my boys!

Out to eat

I was a little late picking up the boys from daycare tonight. Adam is out of town hunting for the weekend, so instead of rushing home to make dinner I decided to take them to the local restaurant. I told Nolan on the way there that we were going out to eat, and asked him what he wanted. He stated "chicken and ranch". That cracked me up, because last night we asked Nolan what his favorite meal was, and he said the same thing! The boys behaved themselves perfectly while we were there. I am always so thankful, because I'm sure other people at the restaurant get a little nervous when a mom with 2 small children sits down next to them. I ended up giving Nolan 3 options for dinner - pancakes, grilled cheese or chicken and ranch. He picked pancakes for himself, and chicken and ranch for Kale. While we waited for our food they both colored. Kale even kept his coloring on the paper. Nolan and I carried on a nice conversation about the man in the moon, fire engines, stars, cars, milk and football. Kale even piped in, talking about me (mama) and bananas! Both of the boys ate like champs - pancakes, chicken strips, fruit and a few french fries. I even got to enjoy my meal, which doesn't happen at home that often! A couple sitting in a booth in front of us stopped by on their way out to compliment me on how well behaved they were. I know I've said this, but it make me so proud as a mom to see my boys behave, and to have it get noticed. Hopefully it will continue, even as they get older!

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Moose Lake with the kids to attend a 1st birthday party. We're leaving after lunch, so hopefully they'll both nap. 95% of the time they do really well in the car, so I'm not too worried. It will be fun for the kids to have a few playmates. I'm not nearly as fun as other little kids!

Come in

D (Dad): Nolan, let's go read books before bed.
N: Ok
N runs in to his room
D: I'll turn the light on.
N: No, I've got it.
N proceeds to get his stool and turn the light on
After light is turned on and his stool is put away, N looks at us
N: Come in now

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was really fun with the kids this year. It's our first Halloween that we celebrated on a weeknight. It's a lot more rushed, but we managed. We were home and had the kids fed by 5:30, were dressed and on our way to Jane's house by 5:40, back home at 6:10, and home by 6:45. Before we went to Jane's we tried to get some pictures of the kids. Kale sat as still as he could, so we were able to get a few pictures. Nolan refused to put his cowboy hat on - until we told him he had to wear it or his head would get cold.
He's a good listener (for the most part), so he kept the hat on the rest of the night.
We took them up and down our street in the wagon, which they thought was great. They both held on to their orange pumpkins, and were excited when we put candy in it. Nolan practiced saying trick or treat and Happy Halloween and had it down great. But, he ended up being a little shy and instead of saying trick or treat he said please. At least he's polite! Both of the kids held on to a dum dum sucker the whole time. Nolan actually got to eat his. Kale tried to get a lick of it, but I told him he was too little - and that we would talk about it next year.
Nolan is really big about things happening next year - his birthday, Kale's birthday, fishing with grandpa. He's now added a sucker for Kale next year! Kale was in bed a little after 7, and Nolan followed shortly after, at 7:30. I am still so thankful that they go to bed so easily!