Future Cobber??

Eli and I went to Concordia last night to watch Katelynn. She was a crown bearer for Homecoming Coronation (something her mommy did when she was little too). She was so cute!!! Her Auntie Rachel was the escort for the winning queen candidate.

The program mentioned how everyone was tied to Concordia. Katelynn was listed as...... granddaughter of Penny '75 and Bucky Burgau. Eli was reading it and said, "So, Grandma Penny is 75?".

Makes Me Laugh!

Eli got his first basketball hoop from Aunt Jennifer for Christmas when he was 9 months old. It was a Leapfrog toy that said the alphabet letters or counted after you made a shot. Eli played with it all the time, but he mostly just pushed the button inside the basket to hear the letters and numbers instead of actually throwing the ball in there. He got a Little Tikes basketball hoop for his 2nd birthday. While Jake (who is 3 months younger than Eli) perfected his jump shot, Eli only used this hoop as something to decorate with bugs and other animals. The Christmas before he turned 3, Eli received a little Leapfrog basketball hoop that hangs on a door handle called 100 hoops. Again, this toy was loved by many, but Eli preferred pushing the button to count to 100 over actually trying to make a basket. When Noah turned 2, he got a new basketball hoop. Here is Eli today.

This child (who did not have school on Friday and has this whole week off) spent most of the morning playing by himself in his room. I asked him if he felt like he was getting sick to which he replied, "no, I just miss school". Later, I sat down to check my email, and I had a message from Baby Center. The subject was "Your 5-Year Old...Gimme Space".

Boring, Boring, Boring

That's what we have been lately. I thought I was going to have a new picture last night. Joel took the boys to the pet store, and they came home with NOTHING!!! Joel was willing to get fish, but Eli only wanted a hamster. Could you imagine Noah and a hamster under the same roof???

FAMILY UPDATE

*Joel got home last Friday night after TWO work weeks in Des Moines.
*Every day Eli says kindergarten was "great".
*Erin and Ella stopped by one night last week to pick up blankets that were left during the day. The boys were in the tub but jumped out to say hi. Eli put his pj's on while Noah did 5 minutes of naked gymnastics for them. As they were leaving, Noah slipped out the door and ran around the house NAKED. I guess I could've posted that picture.
*We spent Saturday night at my parents' so we could check out the newly remodeled kitchen which looks fantastic!
*Oh, and Eli was asking for a Nintendo DS for Christmas. I told him they cost a lot of money, so I'm not sure Santa would get that. He said it doesn't matter how much things cost because Santa doesn't need money.

breakfast of champions

While Eli and I were eating cereal and chocolate chip pancakes, Noah chose frozen blueberries, frozen peas (strange, I know, but I couldn't refuse) and a banana.

More pictures

The boys played at their favorite park for over 2 hours this afternoon.
Much of this time was spent climbing trees
which may have been the cause of the hole in Noah's BRAND NEW pair of jeans!

Fall Festival

Funny by Noah

After preschool yesterday, Noah was telling me about something he did with one of the teachers.

Me: Which teacher was helping you (there are 3-4 in the room)?
Noah: I don't know.
Me: Was it Mrs. Ystebo (the lead teacher)?
Noah: No. She had silver hair.
Me: Was it Mrs. Nelson (one of two gray haired teachers I've seen there)?
Noah: No.
Me: Was it Mrs. Grosz (pronounced Gross)?
Noah: She didn't look gross.

Eli's BFF

Eli was soooo excited when I told him on Wednesday that Jake would be coming to visit for the weekend. Chad's cousin got married in town on Saturday, so they decided to make the trip from Iowa. They also brought along their newest addition.

MEET 3 week old AVERY
Eli wanted to keep her.

Chase, Jake, Eli and Noah with baby Avery.

Thanks for coming guys! We had a great time!

stolen from Jen's blog

Lindsay's Wedding

I took two handsome dates to my cousin's wedding last night. Drew and Katelynn were the Ring Bearer and Flower Girl. They were so cute! Drew changed his clothes before the reception, and I bribed him with a dollar to put his tux back on for the dance.
At one point I was dancing with Eli and lost sight of Noah. When I saw him a few minutes later, his face was covered with chocolate. He had been under the head table eating hershey's kisses.

waiting to dance

I'm not sure who had more fun dancing...the kids or Grandpa Steve!
The next family wedding is in May. That means I have all winter to teach the boys The Electric Slide!

first day of preschool

The big map at preschool is a hit! We had to stop and look at it every day last year!
Ella told me all about their first day today. I'm sure these two won't cause any trouble!
After Kindergarten and Preschool, we had a picnic at the park. What a great day!

First Day of Kindergarten

I thought it would be fun to walk, so Ella and Noah rode in the wagon, and Eli and Jack tried to avoid puddles. I was really second guessing myself by the time we got to school. However, a teacher walked in behind us and said "I wish the school kids walked this good", so that made me feel better!
Eli was VERY excited for school. He was not excited about my camera!
I was greeted with this sad little face after school. Someone REALLY wanted to ride the bus home.
Later he told us that school was great: they sat at circle time for a LONG TIME, Mrs. Henning showed them around the room, they got to drink milk from a carton without a straw, and the boy named Owen who has glasses like Noah actually has black circle glasses, not oval like Noah.
Then, he was telling me the names of the kids, and he said there is an Allison which kinda sounds like Allosaurus. I said, "Don't tell her that". He said, "I tried to tell Mrs. Henning, but she didn't hear me".
How's that for day one?

And so it begins....

We needed to be in two places at one time today.

The boys both had orientation this morning. Joel took Eli to Kindergarten while I took Noah to Preschool. The day was a crazy one at our house, but it went much better than I anticipated it would!
Eli said Kindergarten was "great", and Noah did not want to leave Preschool!!! They both insisted on wearing "pocket shirts".

Too much fun!

Krista and I spent Saturday night out with our cousin Lindsay for her bachelorette party. We were thinking that we're a little too old to participate, but I'm glad we decided to go!

Labor Day Weekend

It was our last lake weekend of the summer, and thankfully, we had great weather!

Highlights included:
spending time with cousins
fishing
watching the sun set
exploring the woods
enjoying a campfire in the woods
turning the slide into a water slide
having a water fight with Grandma

and playing with the puppies next door.

The Pond

I took the kids for a walk to the pond today. This will probably be the last morning we'll be able to do this for a while! Next week the craziness starts. Ella and Noah have preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jack has preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Eli will have morning kindergarten. Unfortunately Eli's school starts and ends a half hour before preschool does, and since the schools are less than a mile apart, I'm not really sure how this is going to work....but it will. (Wow. Mrs. Strubble is frowning upon me after that run on sentance!)

dilemma

So, do I buy him thin socks that he has no prayer of ever being able to put on by himself, or do I go with the thicker socks he can manage but don't fit as well in his brand new size 10 extra wide stride rite shoes?

CUTE

Noah picked out his own clothes today.

Schwantz Bash

Joel was gone over the weekend, so the boys and I spent a couple of days with Krista & family. Saturday was the annual family get together at my Aunt and Uncle's which is always a good time.

Hay Ride

Yard Games

Followed by an evening campfire

Surprise

The big boys (and Brady) got to go to Como Zoo and Como Town on Tuesday. We met one of Krista's friends and her 6 year old boy there. Of course it had to be the hottest day of the summer so far, but we had a lot of fun (and the boys couldn't wait to tell the others all about it!).
Eli's favorite animal was the corn snake, and Zach liked the Zebra. They both loved all of the rides but were VERY disappointed to find out that they needed to be 7 to drive the bumper cars.

Camp Connie

I think we've been teasing my mom about "Camp Connie" since Krista was pregnant with Zach. Maybe we'll have to change the name to "Cousin Camp" so Dad can get a little credit. Since Grandma and Grandpa were pretty sure that they didn't want all of the grandkids at one time, we sent them in shifts. After Austin's party on Saturday, Eli and Zach went home with them. They went to the Prairie Wetlands Center in Fergus for a little while and weren't home 5 minutes before Zach fell and hit his head on the coffee table which required 4 stitches above his left eye.
Krista and I met at Mom and Dad's on Monday to deliver Noah, Drew, and Katelynn (Children must be potty trained prior to going to Cousin Camp, so Austin and Brady got left out). We spent the afternoon at the lake before taking Zach and Eli to Krista's with the promise of a big surprise in the morning. Craig and Jen spent Tuesday night at Camp, and the rest of us joined in for one more day of fabulous lake weather yesterday.

Highlights from Cousin Camp
- swimming under the pontoon at the swimming hole
-fishing
-eating fish
-making a "cherry pie" with Grandpa (playdough crust, berries from a tree, and napkins as whipped cream)
-campfires with smores
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Happy Birthday Austin!

Could he be any cuter?