The Little Ones

I realize I have not updated in a while other than Joseph's phone calls from girls. They still call and some even walked home from school with him this afternoon. From what I can tell there are four different girls interested in him based on who calls and who has come by the house. I think we're in for it...




This picture of Parker was taken tonight...right before bed. I think he was really tired. Parker tends to get excited about going to bed. When he knows were preparing for bedtime (getting bottle ready, picking up his stuff) he actually starts to smile and flail his arms. It's almost as much fun to put him to bed for him as it is for us!

Kallsen has not been feeling well. Sara took him to the doctor this morning and he has sinusitis and bronchitis. You can see in this picture, also taken tonight, that he has some discoloration in his upper lip and his face is a bit swelled. His eyes were very droopy yesterday and this morning. The medicine has already made a difference. While you could see the effect of the illness is Kallsen's face, you wouldn't know by the way he was acting. Full of energy the whole time. But when it was nap time he slept good. Real good.

This is a giant windmill or turbine, as they're called, and you'll see hundreds of these in Emmet County in the next couple of years. It was announced at the recent Estherville Chamber of Commerce annual meeting that a contract has been signed that will lead to hundreds of these turbines being built in Emmet County between Estherville and Superior. The turbines will be stretched over eight miles between the two cities and will will be placed on the North side of Highway 9.

While lots of folks are excited about this bit of economic development, I don't like the idea of the landscape being dominated by giant turbines.

He's a Busy, Busy Man...

Joseph was talking to a girl on the phone last night. When I walked through the dinning room, where he choose to sit while talking on the phone, I over heard him tell the girl..."I was outside...you know me, I'm a busy, busy man."

He's only 10. Ten years-old. And he has girls calling him and he talks like he's some kind of player. This isn't going to be easy...raising a pubescent boy...makes me wonder what the teenage years will be like...

More Kallsen Stories...

Last night when Kallsen was out of the bath and I was getting him dressed in his pajamas, he insisted on wearing his Choo-Choo pajamas and not his Dinosaur pajamas, which were the ones I had gotten ready for the night. You see he had worn the Choo-Choo pajamas the night before and those were in the dirty clothes. So I told Kallsen that Dinosaurs always use trains to get from one place to another. So while all Choo-Choos don't have Dinosaurs on them, all Dinosaurs rode on Choo-Choos. So when you hear the train rolling down the tracks and right after you hear the whistle blow if you hear something roaring in the background, that mean Dinosaurs are on that train!
And with that I now relize I need to purchase Kallsen this book...

-18

Yesterday morning when leaving the house to take Joseph to school and for me to head off to work it was -18 degrees and the over night low hit -22. That's just the air temperature. That's not the wind chill, that's the actual temperature. Sara talked with her Mom last night. The high in Jonesville (10 miles from where we lived when we got married) was 75.

Why did we move to Iowa?

Undercover Nemo

I wish I had a picture to go with this post.

On Sunday morning Kallsen wanted to wear his Nemo shirt. Well I couldn't find his Nemo shirt. He insisted by yelling, 'NEMO!!!, NEMO!!!' I then located an 'undercover' Nemo shirt. Yep, a camouflage shirt. Which he insisted on pointing out to his Mom and brothers that he was, in fact, wearing a Nemo shirt. It was really cute.

AJ

A new program...

This is a picture that Sara took of me tonight before I got ready for the Estherville Chamber of Commerce annual dinner. This will be my official 'before' picture. I've lost 10+ pounds since Mid December.

I started a new health program on December 18th. I'm doing protein shakes in the morning and for lunch and doing only one regular meal a day. I'm also taking vitamins everyday and working out two to three days a week. Sara joined me on this program a week or two ago.

Working out has been the most interesting of the program. We take the kids to the Wellness Center. The first half hour to 45 minutes we're there, Sara will work out while I watch the kids in the block/children area and then we switch. She'll watch the kids while I work out. I'm not sure what burns more calories, the workout or the playing with the kids in the blocks area.

In February we're signing up Kallsen and Parker for tumbling. Each will need a parent with them for the program. Both boys love to somersault and do flips and things. So hopefully it will be a nice time together. My guess is while we're doing the tumbling Joseph will be swimming.

AJ

Parker...

Being that I haven't posted in a while and my other two post were about Joseph and Kallsen, I couldn't leave Parker out. Parker has decided to stop growing. Not really, it's just that I can touch my thumbs and middle fingers together when I put my hands at his waist. The boy is just skinny compared to where Kallsen was at the same age.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. Parker spends most of his time here at home trying to get more than a moment to play with something before Kallsen decides it's his and Parker can't play with it anymore. Lately, Parker has starter sticking up for himself and will hang on for dear life or start pulling Kallsen's hair. This is one of those on-going battles these two boys will be having for years. Not having a brother, I'm not used to watching or seeing two brothers at each other. One thing is for sure, while Kallsen has no trouble messing with Parker, Kallsen doesn't let anybody else mess with his brother.

Girls Calling...

I mentioned several months ago about girls coming by the house to see if Joseph wanted to go uptown with them for a parade last year. Now girls are calling the house just to talk to Joseph. One of the girls is in his class at school while another one of the girls is a couple of years older than he is. I think Joseph may end up being a heart breaker.

Pee In The Potty

Kallsen has started peeing in the potty. And he is to the point where he wants to go to the potty anytime he feels the need to go so we have graduated to Pull-Ups. He was very excited about getting to wear Pull-Ups. He was so excited that he thought it best to wear his snow boots with his Pull-Up this afternoon.

I think this is one of those picture that Kallsen will hate us for in the future. But how can you not get a picture of him showing off his Pull-Ups while wearing his winter boots?

Old Drive, New Drive, Added Drive

For Christmas my Mom and Dad got me an encasement for my old hard drive so I could now access all the files on the computer I replace in January of 2006. As you can see in this attached photo, the process of getting the old hard drive from the old computer was a bit of a challenge for me. Needless to say, I have no real knowledge of what I was looking for or how to find the hard drive. Without the help of Sara Beth, I bet I'd still be trying to figure out what is what.

The good news is the project is complete. The bad news is I cut my thumb while trying to extract the hard drive and lost more blood than one would think you could from a cut on the thumb.

After getting the old hard drive linked up to the new computer, Sara Beth and I spent a long time looking at photos from when Kallsen and Parker were born and other pictures of our live together through last January. It's always fun to look back and compare looks, styles and hair colors. Maybe I'll post some of those photos...

Two Nights Sleep

For the first time, at least in my memory, since Parker was born, both Kallsen and Parker slept through the night in their room. No late night bottle making, no late night visit from Kallsen. And this meant no stubbed toes, not kicks in the head and no diaper needing changing at 3:00AM.

Let's just hope this continues...

Snack Time, Dinner Time

As I was fixing dinner tonight, Parker was fussing. He was ready to eat now, not later. So Sara suggest I give him some broccoli. And guess what? He LOVED IT! Every time he finished the little bit I gave him, he fussed for more.

Kallsen at one time loved broccoli and then when stopped at a Chili's Grill and Bar in Greenville and order Kallsen's meal with broccoli because he just loved broccoli. Well the restaurant brought the broccoli covered in salt and Kallsen hasn't eaten it since. Hopefully that won't happen to Parker.

Some of the other food that both Parker and Kallsen have really been enjoying lately is pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe, and oranges. I believe in the past I have posted about their love of bananas. Kallsen really likes carrot sticks while Parker doesn't.



Another favorite of all three of my boys is Sloppy Joes. We used to call them Sloppy Joseph's but Joseph seems to get a bit embarrassed when we call'em that. As you can see in this second picture, Parker really enjoyed his Sloppy Joes tonight. While Kallsen made a mess while eating when he was Parker's age, Parker tends to always wear as much of his food as he eats. Lots of times his hair will be just as much covered as his face is. Sometimes, while getting him undressed for bath time, we'll actually find food from dinner hiding in his diaper.

Always an Adventure

Tonight I was washing dishes when Kallsen walks into the kitchen carrying his porta-potty with him. He sets it down next to my feet and starts hollering for help as he tries to take his cloths off. I tell him to wait a moment, that Daddy's hand were wet and full of soap suds. Well I wasn't fast enough. By the time I dried my hands off and helped him get undressed (he needs to be fully naked to use his porta-potty) he had already gone. He then picked up this porta-potty (still naked) and carried it into the living room where Sara was watching TV and announced he had just gone boo boo.

Getting Kallsen to use a porta-potty has been an inter sting experience. He first took an interest in using his porta-potty before he was one and actually has used it successfully between turning one and turning two. Since turning two he has had no interest in using his potty until tonight. And I was too slow helping him get his cloths off.

I'm excited that he is ready to begin using it again. It will be nice to not have to change as many diapers.

AJ

Confessions on a Snow Covered Plain

I must admit while shoveling snow (for the first time in 12 years) this morning that this is one thing that didn't weigh into my decision to move to Iowa. I also must tell you I decided to get the Suburban out and trek through the snow wall blocking our driveway. That made things a bit easier. I confess I like four-wheel drive.

While I have always loved winter and have enjoyed winter sports, I confessI don't like shoveling snow. I don't like creating new dance moves on my driveway when slipping on ice. I don't like the snow falling off my shovel half way to where I plan to dump the snow while shoveling. I don't like snow in my shoes.

I do like the way things look all covered in white. I enjoy playing in the snow with my children. And I confess that the things I like could be taken care of in one trip each winter to my parents in Minnesota. At least winter waited until the last day of the year to show up. Hopefully it will leave early and come in late again next season.

AJ