Weekend photos

Here are some pictures from last weekend. We headed down to southeast Iowa, and filled our weekend with a lot of fun activites. Lynne and I took the boys down to funcity to swim Saturday morning. This was a pretty good time, but you can't put little kids on your lap for the big slides. This isn't posted anywhere. Just a note, that is something that they should put on a sign at the BOTTOM of the stairs to the slide. Saturday night we met most of the Wright/Stigge clan for chicken at Mt. Hamill. LOVE LOVE LOVE Mt. Hamil chicken. Sunday, the boys got to get some four-wheeler sledding in. They loved it! Enjoy the pictures!

Hair cuts

Okay, so I have a problem taking the boys to get haircuts. Owen is especially hard because I am always convinced that they will cut his curls off. It had to be done, his hair was way too long. He was really starting to look like a little girl. I took Owen in while Aidan was at school. I sat him on my lap in the chair, and the little terd didn't even move the whole time. No tears at all...well, at least not from him. Luckily, they didn't cut it too short and he does have a few curls left (mostly in the back.)

Aidan's hair was getting pretty bad too. I took him in for a cut this afternoon. He had to sit on my lap, and he's getting used to setting up a pretty sweet bribery deal for himself before he lets the stylist touch him. Today, he wanted a new train...well, the hair got cut, and he got a new train.

Now, both the boys have new do's, and Gpa doesn't have to get the clippers out at Easter.

First Day of School

Aidan had his first day of school last week, and it went very well. It has been a change for us to be out of the house so much (hence the lack of blogging,) but it is worth it. Some background information:

Aidan's first day at the old preschool in Denver ended with his teacher telling us, "he's just tired. It will get better." That is something that every mom wants to hear the first day she lets her baby go to school. Anyway, don't want to get myself all fired up about the old preschool.

After the first day at the new school, the teachers gave Aidan rave reviews and sent him home with his own certificate to show how well the day went. He very proudly picked a spot for it on the fridge! The handful of days that he has gone to the new school all have had the same result! So far...so good!

Blogging with buckets and bandaids !

Well, its been an exhausting and trying couple of days! The weekend started early with some impromptu packing and hotel arrangements. Wade's Dad had been fighting an infection in his leg for quite awhile now, and it had gotten extreme. He was admitted to a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado late last week. The prognosis wasn't great, and we expected that his lower leg would be lost. We made all the arrangements and were about thirty minutes from taking off on the LONG drive to Colorado when we got the call that Lyle would rather not have visitors. We reluctanly understood. Having to be extra careful about bringing in other infections, the boys wouldn't be able to go to the hospital. This would put them in the hotel with me for the majority of the time. We thought that having Wade there to help in the hospital rotation would give Delores and Angie (Wade's older sister) a break. So, instead, we unpacked and got to normal weekend stuff.
We have heard that Lyle did in fact have surgery, and it went well. He will be in the hospital for a couple of days, and hopefully he can start physical therapy in six weeks. Anyone who is lacking on their prayer list could throw him (and Delores) on it. It is gonna be a long road to recovery, and if he is anything like his son--it will be a trying road! We are still planning a trip out there. Our Christmas trip was delayed by weather, and we want to make sure that he is comfortable enough for a visit with our two terrors.
Onto the rest of the weekend. We spent Saturday and most of Sunday putting finishing touches on the new and improved play room. I can't wait to show everyone! It is truly a joy to watch the boys walk into the room every morning and find something new. We have found that by making a TV accessible to them we have also made buttons accessible to Owen. We have to work on that. Sunday we did get to go to church, and while we took a lot away from the sermon Aidan took a tummy bug home from the kids wing as well. And then the real fun began on Monday.
Buckets came out before dawn on Monday. Wade and I flipped for who got which son. Wade was off work on Monday. If it is ever the case where one kid is sick we tend to split them up. I got Aidan and Wade and Owen got to spend some much-needed alone time together. They went to Home Depot and the Pizza Hut buffet. Only Wade could come up with an itinery like that. Aidan seemed to breeze right through it this time, which is great because he starts his new school (finally, and weather permitting) tomorrow. Unfortuneately, somehow Wade was the next to fall. He is not the best sick patient, but hopefully he'll get through this bug as quickly as Aidan did. HOPEFULLY, Owen and I won't get it this time!
So, while I am up typing my house is collectively sick: Aidan is better, Owen has a bit of a cough/cold and Wade is down for the count. I guess this is just part of being the Mom--blogging with buckets and bandaids!

Pictures from the lock in

So, this is what we have been doing all week: playing with trucks, playing with trains, playing with tractors, drawing/coloring trucks trains and tractors, and reading books about--you guessed it--trucks trains and tractors. Thomas Herbert (Rochelle's little boy,) got to come and play yesterday. The boys are finally getting to the age where they play together instead of fighting. I really should've taken advantage of the time that I gained from the boys being occupied, but I just couldn't wrap my head around what to do first! So, we are still stuck at the house, but we should be (no, we WILL be,) getting out sometime this weekend! Here's hopin anway!

Okay, now I really know what cabin fever is!!!

It is shortly before midnight on Thursday night, and I am still at the computer to check cancellations for tomorrow. I don't really want to take the boys out tomorrow, but I am anxious to get Aidan to start this school!! Aidan didn't get to go to his new school Monday because of snow, yesterday because of snow, and ... Well, now I have just found that tomorrow's classes at his preschool are cancelled due to the cold. I guess he'll just have to start next week...Wednesday I think because the schools have Monday off...I probably should check into that.

 Anyway, here are some pictures of what we do have on the ground. I was talking to Dad and I don't think he believes me when I tell him how much snow we still have. Wade had to go and buy a snowblower this year, and so far it's been worth its weight in gold.

So, keep warm, stay inside and send me any creative ideas you can come up with to help me keep these boys entertained (and me sane!)

Validation

So, Wade will be thrilled that I tell this story...

Aidan has been getting himself dressed everyday. I really need to be there to lay out his clothes otherwise we end up with some nice outfits. Today he asked if he could wear a "Daddy Shirt." This just means that he wants to go and get one of Wade's white t-shirts. I said he could, but that meant that he would have to be "daddy" for the day. He stopped dead in his tracks and said, "but, I don't want to sit on the couch and watch football all day." I asked him if he wanted to be the mommy for the day and he said no because he didn't want to do chores. I guess I might get some help with the 'chores' this weekend.

In Wade's defense, Aidan was referring to January 1st, and only January 1st as the day that Wade sat and watched football!

He wore his own clothes today, and the pants were on backwards.

Owen's version of wheels...

Not to be left out of anything, Owen has practiced his "wheels on the bus" song too. He only knows one verse, and only sings "all...the...toooowwwn." He'll get better!

The Log Song

I think everyone will enjoy this song from Aidan that his Dad taught him...See how long it takes before you realize what he is singing. Sorry about the wiggly camera, this was a hard one to pay attention to!

Static playdate

Here are some pictures from a playdate last week. It was the first one for Sayla and Aidan (getting back together after Christmas.) They had a hard time adjusting to each other as Aidan was pretty tired and cranky. Owen, however took to Anders. He helped feed him his bottle, pet him and made sure he stayed warm. No, we will not be giving him a baby to play with, but maybe a dog or something...

And, yes we very much need to get a humidifier going in the downstairs!

Preschool Problems!

Well, not surprisingly it's still cold up here. We are pretty much house-ridden until it warms up or we start to have things to do again. I haven't been great about keeping up with the blog, but we have been pretty busy. The play room is almost done. All the painting is done and awaiting the 'furniture' to be done. Wade is pretty close, and he is making the best of his time. It seems that with Aidan getting older he knows when Daddy is down 'building stuff,' and the tools are too loud to get much done after the boys go to bed. We are very happy with the way things are going. Pictures are on their way! Until then....
So, I haven't been too terribly quiet about how I felt about Sonshine Preschool. Aidan started there in the fall, and he was having a few problems. Mostly my gripe was with the teacher and how she dealt with things (or, more importantly, how she DIDN'T deal with things.) Wade and I spent a lot of time discussing the situation and late last week we decided to pull him from Sonshine. We talked to Aidan about it, and he was just worried about getting to spend time with Sayla and not so much about not going to school. We had looked into another preschool last fall, but hadn't gotten word that they had room for him yet.....That all changed this afternoon!!!! WOOHOO! Aidan starts his new preschool next Monday. This school is the one on a farm, and the kids all start their day by doing chores. I wish I would've taped his reaction this afternoon when I got to tell him he was going. He was so excited! I will definately have to update everyone after he starts school, but for now we are thrilled!

Wheels on the Bus with Uncle Fean

This is Fean's newest hobby...guitar playing. The video is small b/c I had the camera turned and had to edit it to the right size. He is really quite good at it, and Aidan loves watching this clip over and over and over again. He knows how to run my computer, so on the days that he gets up at five and sneaks into my office this is what wakes us up. Owen has even started signing along. They'll be ready for a better performance the next time he's around with his guitar. This probably won't be until Easter. I love the end of the song...

Did you know it snows in December?!?

So, whoever wished for a white Christmas might have overdone it this year. Here are some pictures of the snow that we got to deal with. The reason I say 'got to deal' with it is because there was too much snow to even get outside to play. I took the boys outside for about ten minutes (after dressing them for 25 minutes.) Neither of them could even take a step. I cleared a path for Owen, and that kept him contained. Aidan kept getting stuck. Maybe next year they'll be a little bigger and ready for a foot of snow. And, yes they have socks on their hands instead of mittens because I can find their socks and I can't find their mittens....sometimes you just look for other solutions...

Wright/Stigge Christmas

Christmas began a little this year for the Kelley's. We started Christmas Eve up here. The weather was a little frightening, but we had planned to go to church up here (Cedar Falls) in the afternoon. The timing worked out great, as I needed every second I had to finish up all the projects I had going. Aidan's Christmas party at school was the 23rd, and I spent a lot of time getting that together. Anyway, we loaded up and headed to church. We had planned on pulling a trailer to bring a freezer down with us, but didn't want to deal with that on the roads. After church we headed out, and were actually running on time. There was quite a bit of ice on the roads, and mix that with dozens of other families who are in a hurry to get somewhere and you get an interesting driving experience. We made it safely to Mount Pleasant only to find that there was a house in town there that had their xmas lights set to music. That's really when we ended up running late....we sat there and watched that display for awhile. The boys and I really enjoyed it, and Wade was trying to figure out how they did that (I think so that he can do it next year to annoy the neighbors.) 

After the light display we headed down to Gpa Bob's and Gma Pat's. They weren't kidding that the roads were icy. We made it there without putting us in the ditch. Traditional soup and snacks followed with a quick visit from Santa. He didn't have time to stop, but we got to hear the bells from his sleigh. He left behind way too many presents for everyone, and the unwrapping began. A nice touch this year was that Santa sorted through the toys that he expected the boys to play with, and assembled them!!! 

Christmas morning, we headed down to Stigge's for dinner. I can't really explain what Mom's house looks like at Christmas, but I imagine that the North Pole would be jealous of all the stuff they have up. Owen learned to say 'Santa' from all the pictures they had of him around the house...not to mention the signing five foot tall version of him that they had on the front porch....More presents!!! The boys got a riding combine that has inspired us to create a toy room just for them (pictures to come in a future blog.) Mom and Ray got a tire/horse swing for the kids...I hope the tree they put it up in can hold Aidan's weight a little better than Gpa Buddy did. 

Wagner Christmas

I am trying to get caught up on all the blogging, so here's the lowdown on the Wagner Christmas. For as long as I can remember, Christmas Day has been reserved for the Wagner side of the family. We usually take a detour to Mount Pleasant at some point, but the day begins and ends with Wagners. Christmas morning began by sitting on the boys until Uncle Fean got there (to Dad and Lynne's.) Surprisingly he was on time, and even early. Maybe we should have a little more faith in him. After breakfast it was time for the presents to be torn into. This year a lot more fun than years past. The boys were old enough to unwrap for themselves, and little Macie was new to the Christmas fun. She kinda got lost in the paper at one point, but she enjoyed it. Everyone was very much spoiled...I know for a fact that we weren't 'that' good.

After Christmas dinner at Mom and Ray's in Mount Pleasant we headed back down to Burlington to eat yet ANOTHER meal and spend time with relatives. It was nice to have all of the cousins there, as Sharla and her husband were back from France and Londa made it down from Wisconsin. The boys were very much spoiled down there as well. Gma Zerlan got them a puzzle that still hasn't stopped making noises. We're hoping that the batteries die pretty soon. It was a wonderful Christmas, and the boys are still recovering....It will be awhile before Wade and I catch up!