John 3:16

I hope you can understand him! We're pretty proud of our little guy!

ShutterFly

I have been using Shutter Fly to order prints for the past year after my mom recommended it. I love all the discount codes I get in emails - and you can enter as many as you want for each order! I have also enjoyed creating photobooks. I created one that showcased all of our mini-trips last summer, and Caleb just loves paging through and reliving those memories.

This year Shutter Fly has a special deal going for bloggers. They are offering 50 free Holiday cards to bloggers. I am so excited for this opportunity! I always struggle to find a nice photo card to send out without spending an arm and a leg. Shutter Fly has some amazing and classy cards, and I am pumped to start creating out Christmas photo card!

So check out Shutter Fly for great deals on Christmas cards or Christmas gifts!

So my brother-in-law reminded me today that it's been a month since I last blogged! Oops! Life has been pretty crazy around here lately. Joel just finished teaching his fall Driver's Ed course, which means very late evenings. We have also had a solid two weeks (at least) of sickness in our house. It started when Caleb and I both got ear infections at the same time. Then Caleb and Micah got the flu from daycare. One day was spent puking, and thankfully it was a Friday, so my mom was able to be here with them. The following Monday Joel and I both stayed home with the flu. Again, mom was a lifesaver - taking care of the kids and bringing us Sprite and crackers. Then on Wednesday Caleb had diarrhea all day, Micah had it Thursday, and mom caught it from all of us. Goodness...that was probably more than you probably wanted to know. Anyway, keeping up with school and youth group and worship team and teaching Sunday school has been a challenge with everything else going on!

The boys are ever growing and changing. Caleb's speaking is getting clearer and he's stringing more words together into sentences. Of course he comes out with random funny things often! I just love to sit and listen to him talk, especially when he's playing on his own with some people or animals and having a conversation with them. His prayers are also precious, and he's getting very good at reciting John 3:16! Which reminds me, I need to work on getting that on video! But he did say it to Uncle Josh today! His current favorites are football (playing and watching), Veggie Tales, looking at pictures, Hi Ho Cherry-O, and pumpkin bars (taking after Daddy!). He idolizes Joel. He loves to talk about Dad, pretend to be Dad, wrestle with Dad, call Dad, etc. But anytime he talks about Dad, it's not just Dad, it's MY Dad. Every time. Adorable.

Micah is growing quickly also. In the past couple weeks he has really become very mobile. He has gone from army crawling to all-out crawling in a hurry. Today we quickly realized we needed to put up the babygate by the stairs! He pulls himself up to standing next to everything now too. He's babbling and experimenting with finger foods. He has delighted me by babbling "ma ma ma" quite a bit lately! I don't think Caleb said the "M" sound until he was around 18 months! Micah loves to chase after his brother, and Caleb has been very cute about playing with him (most of the time!).

So that's the update on us. I'll leave you with a couple of videos. The first one was a quiet night while daddy was working, and I just loved how Micah was catching on to how to use the toy microphone! The second one is actually a very short video that Caleb took. He loves to grab the camera and snap pictures of us, but this time it was on video mode, but he did a pretty good job showing everyone the snow we got last weekend! Check out my facebook for a couple other new videos.

Autumn

This fall has been crazy busy around this house! Here is a bullet list of what we've been up to:

• Lots of Behind-the-Wheel hours for Joel, as well as time spent planning Homecoming
• Higher expectations at school as we're a "Transformation" school
• We're soaking up this nice sunshine while we have it!
• The boys and I have all had pretty nasty colds that have lasted way too long, we're looking into mold testing for our house. If you have any ideas, let me know!
• The boys are starting to interact more - their first bath together was so cute, and they continue to love splashing each other.
• Husky football games are Caleb's favorite - he and his little buddies play their own game off to the side of the big field.
• We went bike-riding when the leaves were beautiful, the boys were adorable in the bike trailer - Micah fell asleep on Caleb's shoulder!
• Our firehouse had an open house on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Caleb loved sitting in the driver's seat of the fire trucks and spraying the big hose!
• Youth group has kept us very busy as well - last weekend was our fall retreat to Trout Lake Camp. It was a blast, but I also felt a big sigh of relief when it was over.
• My favorite fall activity so far: Dunsmore Family Farm! We went on a hay ride, corn maze, pet the animals, pumpkin bowling, and picked out our pumpkins to bring home! And the weather was perfect!
  
• Caleb is getting closer to being potty trained, but is boycotting the potty at home. Apparently he does really well at daycare!
• Micah is very close to all-out crawling. Currently he scoots around pretty well.

So I guess that sums it up. Check out my facebook page for pictures of all of these!

Target Field

Thoughts

Summer is quickly coming to a close, but I wanted to update to let you know what we've been up to lately.

We've really been enjoying our wonderful summer days together. Joel has been working on projects around the house. Currently he is repainting our kitchen cabinets. It's a little bit of a mess in the kitchen, but sometimes it's handy to not have any cupboard doors!

I have spent two mornings this week getting some last things done before the craziness of school begins. I spent one morning at school working. It's a funny feeling right now because I'm totally ready to begin the scheduled life again, and I'm excited to teach, but the reality of leaving my boys is setting in. I'm enjoying them so much!

Caleb is so cute at this age. He's starting to use more full sentences that are easier to understand. I just love hearing what that little mind is thinking about. He loves to pretend, and loves to make his little brother giggle! But my favorite part of Caleb right now is his singing. He is obsessed with the singing group Go Fish right now. They are an acapella group that turned into a kid-band, and they do fun songs that don't drive parents crazy! Our church just did their VBS program a couple weeks ago, and Caleb also has their DVD of music videos from grandma. So he bounces around the house singing the Bible Book Bop, the B-I-B-L-E, 10 Commandment Boogie, and a few others. He asks for them every time we get in the car too. I love it!

Micah is growing like crazy! He rolls over every time I put him down now, just so that he can reach some toys and play with them on his tummy! We tried rice cereal for the first time last night, and it went really well.

I'm trying to soak up each minute of these last couple weeks of summer. We've almost completed our summer wish-list! We made a list of the fun things we hoped to get a chance to do this summer as a family, so here are the things we've done:

Children's Museum
MN Zoo
Como Zoo
Mora Pool
Playdates
Rides at MOA
Fishing/Boat Ride
Strawberry Picking
Duluth overnight
Pool in backyard
Parade
Fireworks
Grand Forks to visit family
Bonfires in backyard

And the only things left on our list:

Burger Night (schedule for the end of August!)
Camping

We hope you are all enjoying the end of your summer as well!

Caleb-ese

Singing!

If you know Joel or I at all, you know that we're both pretty musical. Therefore, music is a very important part of life with our boys as well. We sing lots, play guitar and piano, and dance around the house to any random tune.

A couple weekends ago we took a quick trip up north to visit Joel's extended family, meet some new baby cousins, and introduce everyone to Micah. It was about a 5 hour car ride, which made me pretty nervous because Micah has not been the greatest traveler. But actually it went very well! When we hit that after-supper crabby time, I sat in the backseat and we sang! It was a blast - Joel and I were thinking of every camp song and Sunday school song we ever learned!

Caleb did eventually request our before-bed song - How Great is Our God. So enjoy a bit of our singing car time!

Training Wheels

I know every parent says this, and I didn't think I would find myself saying it so often, but Caleb is growing up so fast!

We didn't think he would be using his mini bike with training wheels (second hand from some friends) until next summer. But he has been pulling out lately and attempting to ride it. And now, he can do it pretty well!




Also, sorry I tend to blog so many posts together with long breaks in between! Keep reading the next few new posts!

Fourth of July

We had a very fun celebration of the Fourth. Joel's parents, brother, and grandma came over in the afternoon. The guys went fishing for a little while, and then we had a delicious meal together.

Caleb didn't get to go fishing this time, but he enjoyed sitting in the boat parked on the street just as much!

My hot hubby at the grill!

Yummy food!

(check facebook for many more pictures)

Strawberries!

The boys and I went strawberry picking with some great friends last week. We had four adults and six kids, but we still managed to get two bucketfuls for each family! We had such a fun time, and the strawberries were delicious! I even tried freezer jam for the first time with some of our berries, and it turned out great! I'm thinking this should be a yearly tradition!

Fishing

The week of June 21st was deemed Fishing Week. Monday Joel headed up north to a cabin on Hunter Lake with two high school buddies for some fishing. The boys and I joined them for a few hours Monday evening to take Caleb on a boat ride and let him swim a little. We had dinner together and Dairy Queen cake to celebrate Joel's birthday. The guys stayed until Wednesday.

Father Son Fishing = Priceless!

Then on Thursday, after bring Caleb to see the ENT (he will most likely get his tubes replaced in August), we headed up to Lake Vermillion to join Joel's parents at the White Eagle Resort. Unfortunately it rained quite a bit while we were there, but we still enjoyed time together in the cabin.

Micah enjoying the morning view of the lake out the front window of our cabin.

When the rain let up later on Friday, Caleb enjoyed the playground. That evening, Caleb and I joined Dave and Joel on the boat for a little while before bed.

Joel caught three walleye - 16, 21, and 22 inches! Too bad he had to throw the larger two back - they were in the slot. (I have a lot to learn about taking pictures of fish! Joel was quite disappointed that I didn't capture the whole fish!!!)

Caleb loved being in the boat, and did very well, but was a little nervous with those big fish flopping around in the boat!

Caleb couldn't be happier!

Beautiful sunset as we drove back to the resort!

And a beautiful full moon over the lake our last night there!

Five Years

Our five year wedding anniversary happened to fall on the Friday of our week at camp. Joel was such a romantic - he planned a wonderful day! As all the campers were lined up outside the dining hall waiting for breakfast, he got everyone's attention and had my dad read from 1 Corinthians 13 and say a few words. Then Joel pulled me up and said some vows in front of everyone! I cried! It was so thoughtful!

Then during naptime, Joel arranged for my grandma to stay at the cabin while the boys were sleeping, and the two of us went kayaking! It was a beautiful afternoon to spend on the lake!


Then he arranged for his parents to watch the boys for a couple hours so that we could go out for supper together (just the two of us!!! eating!!! not cutting anyone's food or entertaining a baby or trying to keep a 2 year old from having a tantrum in the restaurant!!!).

We ended the night with these Betty Crocker microwave delights in our cabin. The bobcat definitely added to the romantic atmosphere!

It was such a perfect day to spend celebrating our anniversary at the place where Joel proposed. Thank you Lord for 5 amazing years together!

Who Knew?!

Once upon a time, I attended summer camp for the first time following 1st grade. I absolutely loved every minute of it. The games were great, the music was fun, the lake was cold, I adored my counselors, and I grew closer to my Lord. I returned to Grindstone Lake Bible Camp every summer after. When I was almost 15, I applied to work in the kitchen, just for an excuse to spend more time there. Then I moved on to be an assistant counselor, and finally a core counselor for several years, spending entire summers at my beloved camp. I grew by leaps and bounds in my faith each summer as a result of the speakers, director, fellow staff, and campers. So many wonderful friendships began there and will continue for a lifetime. Joel and I met there, became friends there, fell in love there, and got engaged there. There are so many memories wrapped up in that land, I can't even begin to tell.

When Joel and I got married, we both felt disappointed that our time as counselors was ending. We really felt the Lord somehow telling us that we would return there one day, but it was hard to see how. Well, I really never imagined it would be like this. I probably would've laughed if someone told me that I would be returning one day as a speaker's wife taking care of her two young boys. God is so good.

That's my son on the tire swing I spent hours swinging and singing on with my best friend.

That's my son on the teeter totter where we ate our canteen.

And there he is at the same lake I spent every afternoon swimming back when I didn't care what my hair looked like.

Micah Smiles

Mini Vacation

Joel and I took off for a few days in the Twin Cities to enjoy some of the sites with the boys (obviously more for Caleb than Micah!). Sunday we went to St. Cloud to my cousin's graduation open house, and then headed to the cities. We were hoping Caleb would sleep on the way down, but he fell asleep only 15 minutes before we arrived. We met some great college friends and their families at a playland to catch up with each other. Then we headed to Burnsville to our motel. Fortunately there was a park within walking distance of our motel, so we could run some more energy out of Caleb before bed. Then came the interesting part. All four of us were sleeping in one room with two beds and a pack-n-play. Caleb normally goes to bed at about 8:30, Micah goes to bed at 10. We tried putting Caleb to bed around 9, turning the lights down low, and playing his bedtime music while we got ready for bed. He didn't settle down until we were all in bed after 10! And of course, he was up bright and early at 7:30 the next morning!

So we packed up and headed to the Minnesota Zoo for a beautiful sunny day. We slathered on the sunscreen, put Caleb in the stroller, and Micah in the Moby Wrap. It was a fun morning, but very busy with many school groups at the zoo.

Caleb loved the farm area where he got to touch a few animals!

We took a little break late morning to let Caleb play on the playground, but he was too engrossed in these tractors to even look at the slides!

Being so close to the airport, Caleb really enjoyed seeing airplanes all throughout the day - almost as much as seeing the animals!

We did all the outdoor long walks in the morning while the weather was wonderful. Then we grabbed some lunch and headed out to see if we could get Caleb a nap. We had no idea how it would go, or even what we should try, but we headed toward the motel in the van. Caleb fell asleep within 5 min of leaving the zoo. So we thought, Perfect! We'll just pick him up and lay him in his bed!

No sir. He woke up when we pulled into the parking lot, and stayed awake through an hour of quiet time on his bed. Grrr....

So we headed back to the zoo, arriving at about 4pm, when almost everyone else was leaving. It was glorious! We enjoyed two hours exploring the indoor exhibits in an almost-abandoned zoo. It was so quiet and enjoyable!

I loved the Minnesota Trail!

Goofy boys! And Micah loved the Moby Wrap! What a great investment!

Sound asleep for the second half of our afternoon visit!

Monday evening we had a late supper at Famous Daves, and then decided to try something different for Caleb's bedtime. We reasoned, he's completely exhausted from two days of no naps, late bedtime last night, and two full days of sun and activity. So we put in the movie Cars and hoped that Caleb would fall asleep before the 2 hours were over. No sir! Still awake and active! So he again went to sleep after we were in bed at 10.

Tuesday morning we woke up to heavy rain and dark skies. We headed to the Children's Museum. We brought Caleb there for the first time last summer, but this year he could enjoy so much more! Our first stop was the room with the water tables because he loved them last year. He spent lots of time here, and even though he was wearing an apron, he ended up so soaked that we had to change his whole outfit before moving to the next room!

We grabbed some lunch at Subway just outside the museum, and then headed back in to check out a few more rooms. We didn't get to see everything, but Caleb had a great time!

Our new plan for naptime was to drive around the cities while the boys slept. They both fell asleep fairly quickly, so we breathed a sigh of relief. We decided to take a loop through the campus of Northwestern College to check out the construction going on since we had time. During all of the stopping and starting and slow driving, Micah woke up, and in turn, woke Caleb up. Grr... only 30 minutes of sleep! Oh well!

We met Joel's aunt Marilyn at the Rosedale Mall for the evening. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen (which was delicious!) and then let Caleb play at the mall's playland since it was still rainy. It was very clear that Caleb was getting very worn out, as he got whinier as the hours past, but he still would go strong physically all day long! That night we didn't even bother trying to put Caleb to bed early. He just went to bed at the same time as us.

Wednesday morning we packed everything up at the motel.

We headed to the Mall of America for just a couple of hours. Caleb enjoyed a few rides at the park - especially this one where he got to drive trucks! He loved it so much that he begged to go on it again and again - 3 times!

Micah snoozed the morning away happily.

We stopped at LegoLand to play a bit, and then enjoyed lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

After lunch, we packed up and headed home! Three days was plenty for this family! We loved our time together, even through the challenges. These are wonderful memories we will treasure. And finally on the way home, there was 90 minutes of this:

(Check out facebook for a few more pictures!)

Music to My Ears

"Read it Mama!"

"I hold it!"
translation: Hold me!

"Sing Mama!"

"Watch Mama!"

"I Lav Yoo!"

I just love these days with Caleb, watching him grow and learn so much. I'm so glad I have a whole summer to look forward to spending with him!

Puddles

This was a few weeks ago...when it was warmer than 45*!