When can I get an outfit like yours?

Owen asked me this a few days ago, I don't remember if I was going to yoga or for a run, but I obviously was wearing work out garb. I'm still getting used to the fact that I own work out clothes and can't say I'd ever think anyone looks cool in work out gear, but my son sure does think so! Today we were at a store and he saw some Nike clothes (he knows the swoosh from my shirt) and got so excited. I let him pick out a shirt and pants and he asked if he could just wear it home. He did put it on as soon as we got home and we went for a run by the lake after nap.

Owen didn't have school today - his school is in a Temple which is busy ringing in Rosh Hashanah. It was nice to have a bonus day with both my boys (and I get one more tomorrow). It did make me appreciate preschool, though. Not that I was tired of Owen at all, but that it gets us up and moving in the morning. I found us lazily eating breakfast in the back living room instead in the dining room and sitting in our pj's until around 9. I'm not telling when we finally got around to brushing our teeth. Enjoyable every once in a while, but everyday wouldn't be good for any of us.

You won't believe your eyes.

Owen was washing Walter's bike tonight and told me I wouldn't believe my eyes at how shiny it was.

Owen had soccer this evening. Great Grandma Donna & Grandpa Bruce came to watch. It was a chilly afternoon...fall has arrived.

After dinner Walter was munching on a banana and Owen decided to show me how he does banana work at school. It was a very precise process that involved:

• washing his hands
• putting his apron on
• getting a fork, knife, cutting board and bowl
• peeling the banana and tossing out the peel
  
• cutting the banana (he showed me how to properly hold the knife)
• placing the cut pieces into the bowl
• eating the banana
• washing his dishes
• taking off and folding his apron before putting it away

He then gave me a lesson on folding an apron like he does at Sunny Hollow. It was pretty cute. He showed me and then undid it so I could try. He told me he could help me along the way if I forgot any steps. As I re-folded it, he had the biggest, proudest smile on his face.

As soon as Walter saw his brother in an apron, he took his out and handed it to me, eager to get his apron on, too. He walked over to a full length mirror and gave a huge smile. He then went over to put shoes on. Walter loves handing people shoes and saying shoe, which really sounds more like 'ish'. As soon as I say we have to go here or there, Walter goes and grabs shoes to get ready. He understands so much more than one would think.

I like to tie things up.

This morning the boys and I made banana bread. Owen smashed the bananas, poured the flour mixture and eggs in, folded in the bananas and then washed all the dishes. He's a great helper. After he took his apron off he used it to tie Walter's bike to the rocking moose and then he told me that he "likes to tie things up". Of course, I actually knew this as he is always asking for string and tying all sorts of things together. I think if he ever joins boys scouts, knot tying will be his first badge.

This weekend was our 10 year Augsburg reunion. Joanne was nice enough to babysit for us Friday night while we celebrated downtown. On Saturday we attended more festivities on campus with the boys. The highlight was the jumping contraptions. Walter is so brave with a big brother to keep up to. He gives me about 10 heart attacks a day. It was fun to walk around campus and see some familiar faces. I don't understand how the students look so young now though.



We met Donna and Bruce for lunch today. Walter kept me on my toes, chasing him all over. The only time he sat still was when the food came. Donna and Bruce are leaving for England on Wednesday and then will be back briefly before they are off to Kauai. Can you say Jet-Setters? (or Jealousy?)

I know that.

Kindi got off work early today and we all headed out to the Arboretum to see the beautiful gardens. Owen was running from garden to garden showing us all the flowers, plants and vegetables. As Kindi explained about a few plants, Owen would tell her "I know that." A month of preschool and he's got it all down! Walter tried his hardest to keep up with his brother. I forgot how many falls kids take at this age. The poor boy took digger after digger, once he even got a mouth full of dirt. He doesn't cry long when he does get hurt though...he's got to catch Owen. Here he is smelling a flower he picked, hopefully the Arboretum doesn't ban us from coming back!

Here's a photo from Owen's soccer practice on Monday. He's really enjoying it. We played on the playground for a while after practice. After four big Walter tumbles we decided to head home.

I went to my first yoga class last night and did another one today. (I'm taking full advantage of having my mom here.) I'm going to try to weave this into my weekly schedule. It will be tricky to do with Jer traveling, but hopefully I can figure a way to get to a class once a week while he's gone. Its time to get some time for myself in and to firm up this baby belly.

My favorite was the circus.

My mom took Owen, my sister and me to Madeline and the Gypsies at the Children's Theatre yesterday. Owen enthusiastically clapped throughout the show. It was put on in collaboration with Circus Juventas and was quite spectacular. Owen was very intrigued by the whole experience and asked when he was going to be in a play.

We ended the day with a visit from Grandma Joanne and Grandpa Monster. Owen loved bringing Joanne all over the house and yard to show her all his forts and projects.

Walter is on the mend. He is no longer feverish, now he just has to kick this cold.

BINGO!

Jer has a fundraiser for his softball team tonight. Before he, Moogs and Eric left, they made time for a couple games of Diego Bingo with Owen. It made Owen's night.

Jer spent some time working on our front landscaping today. He did some reading on how to terrace and built a rock retaining wall for us. Unfortunately he ran out of rocks, so for now we will just have one. Luckily we have a landscaping resource in the family! Its exciting to see some change happening out front. I will be (hopefully) booking our painter this week. Then we will work on getting a deck designed and built. We will slowly but surely get there.

Walter's still not quite himself. My poor peanut. I think tonight will be another rough night of sleep for us. I wish there was more I could do for him. He is just cuddly and content being in our arms...a guilty treat as normally he is such an active little explorer.

Want to see something serious?

My mom brought clams from the Menominee River for Owen to share with his friends at Sunny Hollow. His teacher told me he had a captive audience at their collective as he told his classmates about jumping on a clam shell at Grandma & Grandpa's, what eat clams, why they are special to him, etc. He was very excited about taking care of his new pets and after his nap yesterday he decided they needed more sand. We walked over to Lake Nokomis to get some sand and ended up playing at the shore and in the trees for a few hours. As we were leaving, Owen found something 'serious' for us all to see...a hole in a tree. He found another hole in a tree, which quickly became his rocket ship.

Today was Walter's 15 month well-child appointment. He is very healthy and all the 'big-boy' comments are true - he weighed in at 25lbs 15oz and was 31 inches tall, putting him in the mid 70th percentile. No wonder my arms have been getting sore lately. He must have hit a descent growth spurt since his 1 year appointment, as he was generally around the 50% up until now. Unfortunately he had 4 shots today and was pretty tuckered out from them. He fell asleep in my arms tonight at 6 p.m.

Want to see me climb this tree?

Owen wants to climb every tree he sees. Its his new kick.

Walter and I had playgroup today. It was a lovely morning at our friend Sarah's. She's pretty much a rock star hostess. She made us a delicious lunch and then sent me home with lunch for Owen and dinner for later. I can't even try keep up with her, I'm just thankful to have her in my life! She also made delicious cupcakes for Deb's birthday. Yum!

My mom arrived this afternoon and will be here for a week. I already put her to work as I had a picnic with my GNO girlfriends tonight. We had a picnic in Murphy Square at Augsburg, where we all met 14 years ago! Wow.

You're supposed to drive, Mommy!

As you know, we've been doing our fare share of rocking out in the van lately. Well, I like to try make Owen laugh and I do a few dance moves in the car, some of which require two hands. Whenever I do them however, he promptly reminds me that I'm supposed to be driving.

Walter and I had our first day of music class today. It was fun to have something special to do with him that was all about him. He was pretty interested most of the class, until he found a mobile white board that he could play peek-a-boo behind.

After nap we decided to make the most of a beautiful day and headed over to the Como Zoo. We haven't been to a zoo in a while, the boys both really enjoyed it. Owen was running from animal to animal and was really interested in having me read the information about them. Walter was making noises at all the animals and finally got to see some real primates. He did his monkey noise for them. On our way out we enjoyed the huge lily pads out front. Owen loved seeing the snails in the water, while Walter loved splashing in the water.

Excuse me Mommy, can we rock out?

I know I've used a similar quote before, but it always makes me smile. We have been 'rocking out' to the Doodle Bops in our van every day on the way to and from school...and plenty of times in between, too.

We had a nice visit with Jer's aunt and uncle, Jan and Roger, yesterday. They live in Dallas and were in town with Roger's work. Owen was busy showing Jan all his toys and had her making kites with him. Walter was just busy being cute and showing off his new walking abilities.

Owen had a great day at school today. He told me he had snack with the boy that speaks Spanish and that he had brought a shark tooth to school that his brother found on the beach. He is very anxious to bring something to school to share, but they are pretty particular about what you can bring (no toys, pretty much just stuff from nature). My mom is coming Wednesday and they have lots of clams by their dock. Owen is going to ask her to bring one so he can bring it to school to share with everyone.

Tonight was soccer. We decided to head to the park early to play a bit. Walter was all smiles on the playground. He loves being able to get down and explore when we are out of our house. He doesn't get free range often, so he was loving it. He has a new found love of slides. Lindsay joined us for soccer practice, followed by dinner at the site of Jer & my first date, Davanni's.

Shrimp, please.

We went out for dinner last night and as I was reading Owen his options, I intentionally skipped over shrimp because I knew he'd want it and wouldn't eat it. He noticed I skipped one (there were pictures of each item) and so I told him shrimp. He said, "yeah, I want the shrimp one." I tried to talk him out of it, but when the waitress came, he asked for shrimp. He tried to gag one down, but pretty much ate french fries, crackers and grapes for dinner. I think he learned his lesson.

Jer's been busy all weekend digging out bushes in our front yard, where we'll be putting a porch soon. He's had two eager helpers along the way. Owen has been digging and digging and talking Jer's ear off. Walter would like to be in the thick of it, too, if his mother would let him. He's been watching mainly through the screen door.

We've been enjoying our new basement more and more lately. I think it is the weather change that has us down there more. Walter loves the playroom and the two of them have a great time playing together down there. We've been hearing a little more arguing lately, to which we usually say "here we go..." Hopefully they won't fight too much as they grow, but I do remember pulling Kindi's hair now and then, so, I think this is just the beginning.

On Friday Jer brought Owen to & from school. They got to go have a special lunch after, too. Owen had been looking forward to this for a good week. As they were leaving the restaurant, Owen told Jer he saw a pop can outside his classroom while he was up in the loft. He decided they needed to head back to school to pick it up. When they got home he was very excited to show me it and recycle it. That's my boy!

Safe and found.

Walter was a monster trying to get Owen & me tonight. Owen told me we were "safe and found."

I didn't think I had any new photos yesterday so I didn't post. I had forgotten about soccer on Monday. It was a great time. I was super impressed with the coach. We've been in a few other park & rec programs that were a little hokey, so it was a breathe of fresh air seeing it start on time and have the kids all running around and involved throughout practice. Owen was very excited and has asked at least 5 times if soccer comes again tomorrow.

Today we had the pleasure of the company of Atticus for most of the day. He is a 2.5 year old chatter box that we picked up after dropping Owen off at school. (not just on the side of the road...his mom is on bed rest expecting baby #3!) Walter loved having a companion a little closer to his size to follow around all morning. We were joined by a few other friends as we hosted playgroup this morning, too. Its good to get Walter socializing these days! Owen was super pumped to see Atticus picking him up at school - normally I get a huge hug, today I got jipped as Atticus stole the show! The three boys played for a while at home and then they all took a nice snooze while I cleaned up from the morning.

The day ended with the usual wrestling around in our back family room. It seems to be what we do from about 6-6:30 every night.

Do you want a drink of water, Wonder Woman?

Owen told me he played superheros with a boy on the playground at school today. Yesterday he found a picture of Jer & I from Halloween a few years back...and found my Wonder Woman costume in the Halloween bin. We also played superheros last night.

Yesterday Kindi came over and watched Walter so Jer & I could spend some special time with Owen. We took him fishing and he told me all about the lures, how to fish, etc. the whole time. I said, "look a frog bait" pointing down at a frog-looking lure. He said "No Mommy, that's a hula-popper." Sounds like a made up name to me, but Jer confirmed that's what its called. Jer spent the majority of the time putting minnows on Owen & my jigs and unsticking my snags. We were out for a couple of hours and he probably had his line in for a half hour! I'm not sure if I'll be invited back on the boat anytime soon.


Walter & I did our morning walk after dropping off Owen. He almost made it around the lake, but fell asleep at the end. We spend the rest of our time playing and running a couple errands. Tonight is the first night of soccer for Owen. Walter & I will be his #1 fans.

Saturday I spent the day staring at my new washing machine. It puts our old one to shame, spinning out the water like crazy. It cuts an easy 20 minutes off of my drying time. Gotta love those Energy Star appliances!

Dream about what you want me to make you for breakfast.

Owen gave me my breakfast options for tomorrow morning this evening. PB&J on toast or honey on toast. I get to tell him my answer in the morning.

Owen finished up his first official week of preschool without a hitch today. As I was putting him to bed he asked for a story about going to Sunny Hollow. As I talked through all the steps of getting there and the things he does there he told me "sometimes I just want to be with you when I'm at preschool." Talk about a heart breaker. I told him I missed him, too, and am always so excited to pick him up and hear about all that he did. He said, "yes, but its really just hard to wait to see you." Its good its Saturday tomorrow. I didn't get a picture of him today, so here's one from a year ago. We were at my great-uncle's farm and he was super excited to be up in the tree.

Walter and I had a busy time together during preschool. I finally caved and ordered a new washing machine. Ours has been getting stuck, not letting the water out for quite a few months now. I had figured a way to jimmy around with it to where it eventually worked, so I put buying a new one off. Today it was time...long overdue. After, we decided to go get Walter's first official haircut. He'd been called a she one too many times lately, so I caved again. I asked the stylist to keep it a little long as I think it reflects his personality, but it was time to tame it a bit. For our remaining hour, we decided to hit up a park and were pleasantly surprised to run into the Swenson's from our playgroup. Walter doesn't quite appreciate the company yet, but I sure did. We are going to Chicago together in about a month (just a few of us moms from playgroup) so Melissa & I were getting excited anticipating that!

Jer came back this afternoon and we enjoyed making and eating dinner together. Owen peeled all of the carrots for the stir-fry.

I'm watching the sunset.

This is what Owen said last night as he was looking out towards our backyard...which faces east.

Owen is still going strong at Sunny Hollow. I'm the one having the harder time adjusting I think. Around 11 a.m. I'm ready to get him, but wait until noon. It just gets so quiet around here without him. Today, he came home excited to tell me about the tortoise in his classroom and a little boy who he played with outside (something about rock treasures) and inside (a matching sensory game with a magic wand). I spoke with his teacher this afternoon and was relieved to hear things are going well from her perspective.

Walter and I are enjoying some special time together, but I think he still finds his brother more entertaining. One adjustment the little guy has had to make with preschool is his naps. 11 is his ideal time, so he has been taking a small snooze on the way to picking Owen up everyday. Luckily he is so laid back and has no trouble waiting until 1:00 to get the full snooze in.

Look, Walter's biking!

Owen has been wanting to go for a bike ride around the block with Walter on his little bike for a while now. Timing has never been right, however, until today, so we attempted to go for a ride. First, Walter's shoe kept falling off, eventually followed by a sock. Then, Walter kept wanting to steer his bike into the street. We made it about half way down the block and back with lots of encouraging words from Owen and redirecting from me. They are buds.
Today was Owen first full day of school with all of his classmates. We were there 5 minutes early and there was quite a buzz in the school. It was exciting to be there, but I said good-bye quickly so I wouldn't cry. Owen was just fine, of course. When I picked him up I got a huge hug and we went out for lunch to celebrate. He told me he got to play outside and downstairs. He also told me he did the pink tower (again) and read a book about tails. Slowly other details leak throughout the day, I sure am anxious to observe someday...

Its probably the fish eggs, Daddy.

Jer was reversing the boat trailer into our garage and having a hard time getting it to angle in correctly. Owen decided it was the algae on the back of the boat (or according to him, fish eggs) causing the problem.

We've been enjoying every second of our vacation together. On Friday we took a day trip to Taylor's Falls. We raced down the alpine slides and drove go-karts at Wild Mountain. To make the toboggans go you push forward and then pull back to stop. Both Jer and I were pulling back at times while Owen was pushing forward with all his might! He loved it. Walter was too little to ride, but enjoyed watching and exploring. After we got home, Jer and Owen took the boat out on Lake Nokomis. Owen caught a Sunny that was just eating his worm, it wasn't even caught on the hook!

Saturday morning they took the boat out again, this time joined by Josh McMahon. Owen got skunked, but Jer & Josh both caught a few fish. Jer said Owen talked the entire time.

Sunday was a barbeque with the Hipps family at Grandpa Monster's house. I've been craving a nice yard for my boys to run around in, and they definitely had their chance there. We had a great time playing golf and football in the yard, talking and, of course, eating delicious food!

Today we had a cook-out at Kindi's complete with hotdogs and beans grilled on the fire, followed by s'mores. Hmmm...the diet starts tomorrow, right?!

Tomorrow is Owen's first full day at Sunny Hollow. I'm not sure how we'll all be fed, dressed and out the door by 8:15, but we'll figure it out. Tomorrow is also back to reality for Jer...its been a nice relaxing time at home.