No, I am trying to be a doggie.

As I was trying to wash the pen marks off Owen's face, this is what he told me. It was probably more like "NOOOOOOOOOO", but you get the point. He said the marks were like spots on dogs.

Jer left yesterday and took the camera with him. I thought you'd be stuck with stories and old pictures for a bit. Well, it might be more than a bit now as he called last night and told me he accidentally tossed the camera in the lake. Yes, our camera is at the bottom of Lake Kabetogama. Oh well, its just a camera! They were going to go try fish it out today; Wade saved the location on his GPS. We'll see.

Here's a photo from about a year ago - Rachel, Tracy, Maija (Rachel's daughter), Lindsay, Me (& Walter). My college girlfriends and I get together monthly for our GNO, Mandy didn't make this one. We went shopping in the quaint shops of downtown Northfield on this trip. Normally I would have loved that. I did enjoy it still, however, I remember sitting quite a bit while they shopped. I can't believe my belly was ever that big...and got bigger. Wow. The funny thing is, I actually tried on a regular shirt in one of the shops. I imagine the worker was thinking, she better buy that now that she stretched it out so much.

The boys & I successfully rode our bikes over to Fat Lorenzo's for dinner tonight. This was our second attempt; last night we were about 100 feet from the restaurant and sirens started going off so we turned around and had dinner at home. Luckily, too, as we got hit by a pretty big storm, hail and all.

Owen rode his bike all the way to and from dinner. He got lots of cheers, looks and 'neat bike's along the way. Dinner was interesting. I must have been desperate to go out with the boys by myself. Walter tried to grab everything constantly and I couldn't get his food in front of him fast enough. I think I had about 4 bites of the spaghetti and he ate the rest. I did manage to sneak in half of my salad. Owen got to get a gelato after dinner and choose Banana Monkey Boy. Walter and I split a chocolate one. I ended up just undressing him down to his onesie for the ride home as he was covered in spaghetti. We left quite a mess as you can imagine and I still feel hungry, hmmm. (the photo is from 4.07)

Once Walter was in bed, Owen & I played a game of Go Fish. He won 14-10. Good night.

Did you get to pick out a sticker too, Daddy?

After a couple weeks of being called Chippie and Snagle-Tooth and of being ridiculed about dental insurance and who knows what else, Jer got his front tooth fixed this morning at 7 a.m. Owen answered the phone when Jer called to let us know he was on his way home. When he said "I'm done at the dentist!", Owen replied with the question above. Pretty sweet.

Fishing was in the air today. Jer leaves for his annual Lake Kabetogama fishing trip with his college buddies in the morning. Although the boys didn't go fishing today there was sure a lot of talk about it. I got away for a few hours of alone time to gear up for a few more days of flying solo as a parent and came back in time to go over to Joanne's for dinner with the Hipps's. Jon, Rachel & Isabelle arrived this morning from Tennessee. It was so great to see them and see how Isabelle is growing. Although still a little peanut, she is really getting strong and anxious to be on the move. Walter was pretty intrigued by her. He poked her in the eye once and during a photo shoot, just wanted to keep staring at her. We got one good one - quite impressive when you think of it. Owen was very proud to be big enough to hold both babies.

Since he wasn't able to fish today, Owen had to at least get some baseball in. With Jer, Jon, Moogs & Grandpa Monster together, it was a pretty easy lure after dinner. Unfortunately a storm rolled in and cut the game short. Owen said he still managed to hit two homers.

There were beavers chopping down our house.

That is the dream that provoked Owen to crawl into bed with me sometime in the middle of the night last night.

Jer comes home tonight - hip, hip, hooray. Somehow I am always a much better mom on Thursdays.

We had Mandy & Myles over for a playdate this morning. We made blue-goo(even though O made his purple), which is just cornstarch, water & food coloring, and is super fun. Basically, when you grab it in the bowl it is like a solid but as soon as you take it out it turns to liquid. You can even punch it and its like punching a punching bag. Weird science. We all had fun with it.

The two boys get along quite well. They were downstairs playing hide & seek, trading off batting & pitching to one another, and playing trains together. Its been a nice find. Mandy & Jer grew up together in Chaska, then Mandy & I became good friends at Augsburg. Now she is a nanny to a little 3 year old boy, Myles. I've been surprised at how similar our parenting/nannying styles are. Its wonderful really.

Walter enjoyed watching the big boys play and was crawling into the toy bins left & right today. He dives right in and pops up with a big grin on. One of his favorite games to play is taking a ball and putting it in a box, then tossing it out of the box, getting it, putting it back in, etc. He also loves the dishwasher. The dude's got ears for that thing. As soon as I open it, he is there, trying to climb in. And, yes, he enjoyed his bath tonight...in case you can't tell.

Owen wanted to paint a painting for Daddy before bed. Its a lake, with a fishing boat in it. Surprised?

Um, sure, if you're serious.

This was my response when my neighbor, Summer, called me and asked if she could watch Walter while Owen & I went to t-ball! How lucky am I? She read my blog about not being able to pay much attention during his practices and decided to lend a helping hand. So great, we're not leaving 24th Ave anytime soon - these neighbors are gold. Also, I'm realizing this blog is pretty sweet, too! Did I mention that I'm really having a hard time finding time to go shopping for a new pair of jeans and fitting in a pedicure??? Anyone???

Owen & I biked to t-ball separately, yes, separately. He rode his bike the entire way there, about 2 miles. We even made it there early and he was able to do a little climbing on the playground before hand. In the interest of time, Summer watching Walter again someday, and Walter's bedtime, I talked Owen into putting his bike and himself into the burley for the ride home. It was fun.

Walter got a thumbs up from the Cagle's and I got some sweet smiles when I picked him up. He is precious. We are lucky to have such darling boys.

Mommy, now you're a worm hunter, too.

This is what Owen told me when I found a worm for him while working on our landscaping this evening. He's quite the eager helper - between the bubbles, chalk and worm collecting that is. Here he is planting an anemone for me. And here is one of about 15 photos he took of a worm.




We had a nice day. The Cagle ladies all came over this morning and we did some art projects and playing. The afternoon was a bit more intense - Owen woke up on the wrong side of his toddler bed and Walter decided not to take a second nap, but he's so cute, who cares.
I just got Owen down so I'm going going to sign off and have some alone time - awe.

Daddy, should we rock out?

I've decided to start my posts with a quote from the day whenever possible. I'm always struggling with what to title these, so here's an answer. This is what Owen said in the car to Jer as they left Grandma Joanne's today. They proceeded to rock out to Wilco.

I think we'll be doing a fair amount of fishing this summer. Its all Owen wants to talk about right now. He looks through a fishing pamphlet and tells me all the different types of fish, his favorite right now is a Tiger Muskie. They are in Lake Nokomis and as big as him. He tells me about the Coho Salmon that Jer & I caught in Alaska about 8 years ago. He tells me about all the different tackle and what each is good at catching. I grew up on water and was way more interested in swimming and skiing than fishing. Somehow when your 3.5 year old talks about it you want to listen. My dad gave us our old boat a few years ago and I think we'll be hauling it around more this summer. Although little squirm worm Walter will make it interesting...

Owen & Jer managed to go fishing every day this weekend. Yesterday we couldn't get Owen to eat dinner as he just wanted to get to the lake. Jer couldn't say no to O's constant requests for one more fishing spot as they biked around the lake to different fishing holes so they were out until nearly 9pm. Today they were back at it and Owen caught a bull head, Jer's favorite fish.

We spent some time watching the horses out at Canterbury yesterday. There was a nice breeze and we found a great spot in the shade, both welcome on an 80 degree day.

I have been on a mission to turn my thumb from red to green and am working hard on our front landscaping. Its a big hodge-podge of plants with no plan and it drives me crazy. People say, oh its not that bad...well it is. It is unsightly. I've taken on the south side and plan on making a pathway for the boys to walk through and hopefully a small vegetable garden in with all the perennials. Once I get that done, I'll go to the other side, which will be more work as there are several large evergreen bushes to dig up. We are home bound a lot these days as I like to respect Walter's naps, so this has been a nice thing to get Owen & I out in the yard. He got some new gardening gear from Grandma Harala in the mail, so now he looks like a pro-gardener! We planted a few perennials today and have more to do tomorrow. I'll take pictures then.

Jer made a nice dinner tonight that we all enjoyed, even Walter. He's getting more teeth so chewing on the cob seemed to be a relief. I hope you all enjoyed your nice long weekend.

New Poles

Weekends are seriously the best. Maybe being apart 3 nights a week helps me appreciate family time more, but hopefully when we are all together full time again I continue to enjoy it so. Jer ended up staying an extra night in 'the Point' this week as he had a huge deadline that he met (& did really well with!). Lucky for us, its a long weekend so it won't be so bad. We kept saying to one another today, "it really feels like Friday today." (He generally is off Fridays.)

After a few furniture rearrangements around the house and a trip to a sporting store, we all set out on a bike ride over to Mother's Lake. Jer & Owen tried out their new fishing poles, but the fish there proved to be a bit trickier than those at Nokomis. Jer landed 3 and Owen got skunked. He had quite a few bites but the fish somehow managed to get away with the worm every time.

We stopped by SuperTarget on the way home for a few groceries and barely fit them all in the burley. Thankfully, Jer got me a new bike in Steven's Point this week so he got to tow the extra ~70 lbs around today! Biking suddenly has become a breeze for me. Jer said his legs were feeling a bit like Jello when we got home.

Owen picked out a small watermelon at the grocery and was anxious to have some after dinner. He read a story recently in one of his magazines about watermelon seed spitting so he was ready to give it a try. He pretty much was just spitting out chunks of watermelon. The squirrels will enjoy that tonight.

Bikes, Burleys & Scooters

We had some ups and downs today. Owen biked while Walter & I walked over to the little beach at Lake Nokomis in the morning. It was such a lovely morning and a great way to start the day. I decided to try running again while Owen biked, but there are just too many ant hills, "flowers" (dandelions), and other distractions that we stop so frequently it doesn't feel like much of a workout. We threw many sticks in the lake and Owen found a school of minnows that would swim to anything he threw in. Very entertaining.

After naps we decided to head over to the library to get some new books. I strapped the kiddos in the burley and we were off. If you would have asked me before today, I would have said it was a flat route to the library. Well, its not. Its pretty much a gradual incline the entire way there. I guess it wasn't so bad I didn't really run earlier! The ride home was a piece of cake. I took my feet off the pedals down one hill and was yelling excitedly, but Owen quickly told me "Be careful, Mommy!"

So the big bummer of the day was when we got home. As we parked the bike Owen asked to do a scooter ride. I said "sure, but just around the block once and then we have to go in and get dinner." We made it 3/4 of the way around and Owen fell hard. He scraped his elbow badly and was bleeding. Although I tried, I couldn't carry Walter, the scooter, and Owen, so my poor sweet little Owen had to walk home hurt. I felt horrible! Luckily we were pretty close to home, but it stunk making him walk. Once home, I set Walter down (who was very ready for dinner) and picked Owen up and brought him in the bathroom to clean up his elbow. He was sitting on my lap crying, then Walter came crawling in, pulled himself up and was crying, too. Neither wanted anything to do with the other, just mom. It all worked out, I had some good laughs about it after, but still felt bad about poor Owen walking home hurt. I don't think Owen cared much in the end, as he ended up getting a popsicle BEFORE dinner because of my guilt! :)

Wednesday = T-ballday

We woke up this morning and Owen said, "Is it t-ball after quiet time today, Mommy?" When I said yes, he responded with an enthusiastic "YES!" He quickly changed into his t-ball pants (which later became shorts), jersey, socks and belt. Before the climax of the day we had lots of other fun, too. Today was playgroup over at Maggie's. We are generally late (who me?) these days to these events as I like to let Walter take his full morning nap. So we showed up 2 hours late, but were still able to get some good playtime in. Its so great to have a social network - for both Owen & ME! Hopefully next time I can remember the camera so you all can get a glimpse of the fun...or is it chaos?

The Wildcats had a great practice and the smile on O's face during it was just priceless. He is truly in his element there. It is as genuine as a smile can get. I'm often focused on feeding and entertaining Walter so I don't get to really watch Owen as much as I'd like, but when I do, it really is heart warming. It is so fun to see the joy and happiness in him; he radiates.

After t-ball was bath time, Walter's favorite part of the day. I honestly think he loves the water because of all that extra amniotic fluid I carried with him. He gets a bath every night after dinner and if you saw him eat, you'd know why. (I'll get a picture of that someday.) Tonight the boys bathed together and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. There was lots of splashing and giggling going on. Walter's favorite move is to pull himself up to standing and then basically free fall back onto his butt. It nearly gives me a heart attack every time he does it, and of course, he just laughs.

After Walter went to bed, Owen and I watched some of the American Idol finally. We did a fare amount of dancing during it and were quite surprised to see Cook crowned. This is the one bit of pop culture I'm up on. Now what?

Buds

Owen & Walter are becoming quite the friends these days. Walter follows his older brother around the house which receives mixed reviews from Owen. Sometimes he can't get enough and other times it frustrates him - like when Walter destroys his lego tower! Today was a day of both, but the sweetest thing was when Owen decided he was the "best soccer player in the whole wide country" and got in his soccer gear. He then got out some (hockey) elbow pads for Walter to wear and be the goalie in! However, Walter was mainly interested in grabbing the net from his Johnny Jump-Up instead of trying to block it.

Lindsay came over for dinner tonight, as Andreas is in China for work. It was so great to have some company (& help) during a very hectic part of the day. She brought over a food dehydrator and some fruit so after dinner she & Owen were busy cutting up and arranging fruit while I bathed Walter and got him into bed. How did I get so lucky to have such a kind, fun friend?! They also worked on spelling different names (she is a teacher after all!). Owen is really interested in how words are spelled and trying to write them. He won't let you write an example - he just wants a description of the letter and does amazingly well. I know everyone seems to think he will be an athlete, but I think he has some visual talents, too. Here he wrote "Owen, Lindsay, Tricia & Walter" - just not quite in that order!

My brother-in-law, Moogs, has little faith in the longevity of this blog, so I'm out to prove him wrong. I'm not sure I'll be as aggressive as I've been, but I will commit to at least an update a week. So far, I have to say I'm enjoying it. I hope someone else is, too! Love, love, love. TKHH

Tad's married & GD's 83!

We had a full weekend of celebrations.

Our dear friends, Joe & Dyneil were married on Saturday! We celebrated into the wee hours of Sunday morning and are still recovering. I realized its not such a bad thing that I don't get out much when Walter got me out of bed at 6:30 after a 2:30 bedtime. Luckily he is a cute and happy little man.

Today we had another party, this time with the Hipps family to celebrate Donna's 83rd birthday! They just returned from Santa Fe and are off to Florida in a few days, then back to MN, then Seattle, then, well, I lost track! I think they've found the fountain of youth: air miles!


Jer heads back to Steven's Point in the morning, so that's all you're getting out of me tonight. Sweet dreams.

Beautiful Day

This morning started out with Owen telling us "Walter's awake - see!" Then Owen handed us our digital camera to show us this picture he took of his brother.

We did some yard work, planted some flowers, dropped off Owen's registration at Sunny Hollow Montessori, had a family lunch and after some quiet time for everyone we got ready to go fishing over at the dock at Lake Nokomis. Owen's pole wasn't in the water for more than 10 seconds before he'd caught a little sunfish. I lost track of how many he caught tonight, but here's a photo of the fishermen and a sunny Owen caught.





I ended the evening celebrating my dear friend Rachel's graduation from Law School (hooray!) while Jer and the boys had a little man time in the house. Life is good.

Let the blogging begin

Welcome to the Hipps family blog!

Keeping people updated is not my strong point, so I thought I'd follow suit of my neighbor and try blogging. I'm already at a loss for words, so we'll see how this goes. Somedays you'll get photos, somedays stories, somedays both - generally, if I had to guess, they will be of and about our little guys, Owen & Walter.

Enjoy.