Tag: kids

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Happy birthday!

My view of birthdays changed a few years ago.  I’ve reached a point where I really don’t keep track of how old I am, but still enjoy having a birthday.  (As I’ve mentioned before, I love cake!  Especially birthday cake!)  I’ve come to realize that once you’ve hit the “milestone birthdays” – 16 (driver’s license); 18 (voting); 21 (legal consumption); 25 (insurance rates go down) you don’t need to necessarily make as big of a deal about your specific age.  Birthdays become more about celebrating with family & friends and reflecting back on the year God has given you, with thanksgiving.

Today, I’m specifically thankful for the disappearance of the migraine that plagued me most of the day today.  I was hoping to get out of the house with the boys this morning, but instead, laid on Nolan’s bed while the kids played in their room.  We only had one casualty in the form of the barnyard lamp that was on their dresser.  Jake came home at lunch armed with Tylenol and a Coke so I could try and combat the pain while resting.  It seemed to work.  When I woke from my nap 3 1/2 hours later, most of the migraine was gone.  Unfortunately, so was most of the day.  But we made the most of the few hours we had left before the boys went to bed.  The kids had been waiting since Saturday to give me the presents they wrapped, so I had them help me open them .  Before I could open my 3rd gift, Nolan said, “It’s an iPod!”  He actually slipped up and mentioned something about it a while ago, but I had forgotten until that moment.  He was SO excited for me to remove it from its packaging.  I think it’s crazy how at 3 1/2 he knows what an iPod is.  Maybe I should have him teach me how to use it.

After we opened presents, we had dinner as a family and had birthday cake again.  Thanks, Larissa!  Nolan even sang the Happy Birthday song to me 🙂  Here’s to another year of good times with family & friends!

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OTW – nature, family, scrapbooks & cake

We met friends of ours at Springbrook Nature Center on Friday morning.  There is a visitor center with live and formerly live animals that the kids enjoyed looking at.  I’m not much for snakes, but they had some pretty cool ones that were native to MN.  Maybe I didn’t mind them so much because they were contained in their aquariums.  Once we were done with the inside part of the visit, we ventured outside to walk one of the trails.  The older boys had fun running ahead of us while my friend Brooke & I pushed the little ones in strollers.  It was a beautiful morning to be outside.  We ended up finding a grassy clearing and hung out there for a while so the kids could explore, play & eat a snack.  They had so many animal crackers I don’t think any of them needed lunch.

Side note…Nolan has a book called Help’s on the Way! It’s about rescue vehicles.

Firehouse Tales

In one part of the book, Red, the firetruck helps rescue Milky, the ice cream truck.  Milky is a big, white, boxy, truck.  On our way to the nature center, Nolan said from the back seat, “Look at all those Milkys!”  I paused for a moment, wondering what in the world he was talking about.  When I looked in my mirrors, I noticed that we had just passed the RV sales lot with all of the big, white, boxy, RVs.  I couldn’t contain my laughter 🙂  To his credit, the RVs DID in fact resemble Milky.

Friday night & Saturday I was able to spend time with friends organizing pictures and putting together a scrapbook with pictures from our engagement & wedding.  This has been a project I have been meaning to start for quite a while, but just haven’t gotten to it.  (I wonder why.)  Now that I have things organized and also have a scrapbook to put the finished pages into, I’m hoping to be able to complete the book some time in the next year.  We’ll see…

While I was doing my thing on Saturday, Jake took the boys to Hastings to see Auntie Kari (who was in town for the weekend), Grandma & Grandpa.  From the looks of the pictures, they had a good time playing outside!  They also helped wrap my birthday presents, which was pretty cute to see.  I made sure not to look closely at those pictures until after I opened the gifts.

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Sunday evening, Jake’s parents came over so Jake and I could go out to dinner (a day in advance) for my birthday.  We went to Biaggi’s and had a fantastic meal!  Our server was a friend of my brother’s, so it was fun to catch up with him a little, too.  We ended the evening with pumpkin pie and funfetti cake (made by Larissa).  It was a great birthday-eve!

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Gophers with ribbons

This is one of those posts that my boys will probably ask me why I did this to them, but it was too funny to not record.  For some reason, we have a gold ribbon that has floated around the house for quite some time.  It has been many things – a belt, a string of xmas lights, a fishing line.  Today, Lincoln finally “asked” for his own ribbon, so I pulled a blue one out of the stash of them I still have from when my mom used to put them in my hair as a kid.  Both boys were playing with their respective ribbons tonight when Nolan asked Jake to tie it around his head.  I think he was asking for more of a bandanna on the forehead look, but both kids ended up with bows in their hair.  Sorry guys, I couldn’t resist posting these.  (I swear Lincoln looks like our friends’ daughter J in the 3rd picture.)

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Grandparents’ Day

In honor of Grandparents’ Day, the preschoolers invited their special loved ones to come to school and enjoy cookies together.  Nana & Papa and Grandma were all able to join Nolan for the special event.  Afterwards, we all went out for lunch at Paninos.  Yum!  Once Nolan and I returned home and put Lincoln down for his nap, we headed outside for yet another beautiful afternoon.  I really wish the weather would stay as nice as it has been for at least another week.  We’re hoping to participate in the Turkey Day 5K and warmer temps would be preferable, especially since Jake and his mom are planning on walking with the boys (they’ll be in wheeled vehicles) and I’ve never ran (or walked) a 5K event before.

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Tonight I spent a few hours at my parents house going through old pictures.  My friend Michelle is organizing a scrapbooking/craft weekend and I am hoping to get a start on a book of engagement & wedding pictures.  I had a lot of fun remembering the different things we did to get ready for 10/18/02 as I flipped through package upon package of photos.  Little did I know just how many pictures my mom was able to take during the 11 month time period .  I’ve really got my work cut out for me.  It should be fun!

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Thank goodness for visitors

Today got off to a bit of a rocky start – I had to raise my voice and ask God for patience too many times. I was happy to have visitors this morning that brightened up the day and took my mind off of the fact that I was feeling like a crummy mom. My good friend from college, Heidi, and her son J, came to spend some time with us. It had been a while since we last got together, so we had a bit to catch up on. Little J is now on the move, so it was fun to see him crawling and pulling up on things. He is getting so big! My boys enjoyed the company. They’re always captivated by other people their size, but especially when the kids are younger than they are. Lincoln takes an extra special interest in the wee ones – so much so that I need to keep a close eye on him because he tends to think the babes are sturdy like he is. Not to fear though, I’m sure J will catch up to my boys soon enough. It will be a fun day when all 3 of them tear around the house 🙂

I’m writing this entry at work tonight.  I had to come in to take care of a few things and now I’m heading home to try to finish the workbook chapter for my moms’ group study tomorrow morning.  I feel like I’m in college lately – trying to keep up on my reading, but not having much success unless I have a deadline staring at me.  Some habits are just hard to break.

One more tidbit for the day.  On the way home from the grocery store, Nolan said to me, “I’m not a boy anymore.”  I questioned, “So what are you?”  He replied, “A preschooler!”  In a way, I guess he’s right.  He is no longer a “little” boy who needs his mom all of the time.  He’s definitely becoming an independent, preschool boy.

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Reading, sleeping, dinner & movie

Jake was the “Mystery Reader” for Nolan’s class today.  To add to the surprise every week, the kids cover their eyes once they are seated on a rug on the floor.  Once the mystery reader comes in, the kids uncover their eyes.  Nolan was pretty happy to see his daddy 🙂  Jake read the kids Harry the Dirty Dog.

Lincoln fell asleep on our way to pick up Nolan from school.  He stayed asleep while I unbuckled him, brought him into the building, picked up Nolan, re-buckled him into his car seat and drove home.  I was hoping I’d be lucky enough to complete the trifecta and bring him up to his crib for a nap, but no such luck.  Instead, we all had lunch and THEN took naps – all 3 of us.  I feel guilty taking naps lately, because it seems like when we wake up, there’s so little light left in the day.  But at the same time it is difficult to fight the urge to sleep when I’m tired.  I suppose I should just take advantage of the fact that I can still get both kids to sleep (if I sleep too) and just go with it.

After a trip to Sam’s Club and Cub, we joined friends of ours for a delicious lasagna dinner at their home.  It was so nice to have a chance to eat a warm meal (the kids had their own little table, so they weren’t reaching/asking for food off my plate) and adult conversation.

We put the overly-tired boys to bed once we returned home from our dinner & visit.  Lincoln was so tired he didn’t even fuss when I put him in his crib.  He is usually not quite ready to lie down, so there are generally at least a few tears/whines from behind the crib rails – but not tonight.

Once the boys were in bed, Jake and I watched UP.  It was a cute movie & good way to end the day.

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OTW – full of fun

Friday night was summersault practice in the living room.  They are one of Nolan’s favorite things to do and little brother Lincoln (who loves to do everything his big brother does) is getting close to figuring it out too.   Check it out the form the kids have!  This clip makes me laugh every time I watch it!

Saturday was a busy day.  We had a little visitor in the morning; she came to play for a few hours before we headed to an Eagle Scout ceremony for a young man we know from church.  After a celebratory lunch (with cake,) Nolan and I headed downtown.  A friend of mine invited us to join her, her son and another friend & her two daughters at a Baby Loves Disco pj birthday party complete with lots of music, bubbles, fresh fruit treats,  juice boxes and of course birthday cake.  It was a fun afternoon with my favorite 3 ½ year old.  We came home and had pizza & chocolate cake (Nolan & I ended up having 3 pieces throughout the day 🙂  I consider it a tasty way to practice again for my upcoming birthday – I’ll gladly take one (or three) for the team.

Nolan wanted to wear a tie to church this morning.  Lincoln of course wanted to wear one too.  We put one on him for the 7 minute drive to church, but I took it off  when he went to the nursery, just to be safe, since it clips around his little neck.  When we got home, he insisted on wearing Jake’s tie and posing for a picture with Nolan.  Then he attempted to share a hug or a take-down.  From the picture Jake took, it looks like it could have gone either way.

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Makin’ Manicotti

Last week when I went grocery shopping, I actually went with a plan in mind.  The list I brought only contained items that I needed for the meals I was planning on preparing.  What a unique concept!  I know this should come as no surprise, but it was really nice to cook with a menu already laid out.  Now I just need to keep myself motivated and plan out my next set of meals.  Cooking, I don’t mind.  It’s figuring out what I want to prepare that I really loathe.

Tonight’s main course was manicotti.  I’ve never prepared it before, but Betty Crocker made it sound easy enough for me to figure out.  While the boys were napping, I put together the sauce and filling.  Then, when the sleeping mini-men awoke, I put them to work.  Actually, asking them to stand on the booster chairs and help me cook doesn’t take much arm twisting.  I armed them with spoons and had them help me fill the manicotti shells.  Nolan stayed on task pretty well.  Lincoln lost interest quite quickly once he realized how tasty the filling was – I didn’t really try to stop him.  I figure if he wanted to enjoy the spinach & cottage cheese mix, that was fine with me.  The meal was a success – both boys cleared their plates and we now have leftovers.  I love leftovers.

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Typical Wednesday night stuff

When Lincoln was born, my Aunt Alice & Uncle Jerry sent a package containing a soft brown bear that sings Barry White’s “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything.”

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Nolan has loved it since day one, (here he is right after he opened the box with the bear inside)

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and Lincoln has enjoyed dancing along to the music ever since he figured out how to press the button on the bear’s arm to start the song.

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The boys have pushed the red button so many times, I now have brain cells that are permanently dedicated to keeping the lyrics in my head, ready for me to sing along when I hear it start.  Tonight I was given many chances to sing karaoke with the bear.  It was actually very fun watching Lincoln get so excited about the music, even if it was Barry White.

Before I headed out for the evening (Wednesday night is my volleyball night,) Nolan had me put on a “cape” and we ran around the house.  The boys and dogs all chased me.  It was crazy!  The boys were laughing and shouting with excitement and the dogs were both barking loudly.  Just one more example of the nutty stuff that goes on within the Sheck house on a regular basis.  I said to Jake tonight that our kids will never be able to say their mom was afraid to act silly – and then publish it for the world to see 🙂

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Silly faces

I picked up a game at a church kid/toy sale that we store under the love seat in the living room.  I’m not sure why it ended up there, but it’s convenient – the kids can get to it, but the dogs can’t.  (The dogs like to eat cardboard & game pieces just about as much as they like to eat books.)  We never play by the rules, but have fun putting together silly faces.