The Good, the bad and the ugly plus tid bits

Ok, there isn't a lot of ugly, but there are some hints of bad here and there. Here is a picture of the boys sitting on the "naughty couch" since this the place we send them. They weren't really being too bad, just not listening. When I took the picture we were at the end and they were hamming it up a bit. Nate was trying to give me a sad face.This is a look we see on Will's face (he's on the right) quite often. He tends to wrinkle up his face with all types of expressions. Its funny because this is so Will, Nate never does it.

Now here is a good. This is a picture of Nate making me coffee. They have refound their Starbuck's barista aprons and having been going around the last couple of days making coffee. This morning, Nate actually brought down my almost finished latte cup telling me he had made me coffee.
And my last story that just made me feel good just happened earlier this afternoon. I had waited and waited to get on the treadmill while the boys were napping and I finally got my rear in gear and got on. I only had 3 minutes left when I saw Will peek his head out the back door. He just stood there and waved at me (I'm in the garage). Then I yelled(not angrily just loudly - sounds bad) at him to go inside and watch some cartoons and I would be right there. So he waves one more time turns around and off he goes. Then right after that, Nate comes out and waves and smiles at me. Then Hunter comes out and wants me to know that the boys are awake. I tell those two that I'm almost done and I'll right in. Off they go without a fuss. How nice was that? It was tremendous.

One other story for you. The other night, Will wakes up and says that he is scared of dinosaurs. Who knows where that came from. Kevin told him that dinosaurs are all gone and he didn't have to worry. So then he went around for several days asking us "dinosaurs all gone?"

And one more update. The boys are still working through the potty training thing. Will is proceeding ahead and doing great. He generally doesn't have any accidents and I've got him back in underwear and he always tells us when he wants to go. Nate on the other hand has regressed. In fact, I've got him back in diapers for right now because he was using the pull ups like they were diapers. He will still ask to go occasionally, but doesn't really have the initiative at the moment. Que sera sera.

Okie dokie that is all for now, unless I think of more....

Moving along

Well, the boys decided they wanted to sleep in Hunter's room for the first time. They did just fine on the bottom bunk. According to Hunter though he got up twice with one of them to go potty. What a good brother. I was thankful that the boys did not get into our bed at all - wow.

Aren't their little bottoms the cutest!!


The next night they wanted to sleep in Hunter's room again, but they ended up all on the top bunk with Hunter. He didn't seem to mind so....

GRRRRR.... What is up with people????

Guess What??? Kevin walked out the door this morning only to find out that someone/somebodies had stolen our BOB Bright Red Double Jogger off the front porch. Yes, I realize we didn't have the think locked up, but really....

What is up with that!!!! I am so PISSED really. Anyway, we did file a report and I will be calling consignment and pawn shops today, but even if it were "kids" what does that say about them and their upbringing? And I do realize that even kids who have been raised "right" still do "wrong" things but I am still allowed to be mad.

Last spring, somebody went and stole the twins' push toy and that was during the day at some point. And again it was in the front yard, but for pete's sake they were playing with it throughout the day.

Ok, that's my gripe for the day. Thanks for reading.

Some time at the Park

One of the best aspects of living where we do is the fact that we are surrounded by parks. Today, we chose to go to the one that is at the end of our street. Its usually very quiet and that was the case today. Here are some pictures of the boys.

This is Nate
Here's Hunter looking a little squished in the tube slide.
Here's Will
Here's Will having a jolly good time putting rocks into the play structure. This actually occupied him for quite a while. At one point, a little boy joined him. Very fascinating, I'm sure.
This is Hunter and ? either Nate or Will (haha). Its amazing how versatile rocks can be.

And last one. This is Nate saying that he was a cat. The picture doesn't quite capture it all, but he was meowing and scratching at the log. Don't know where he gets that one.

Oh Yeah Baby!!!

Today I have a little tidbit is all. I want to record Will's latest phrases he has been sharing with us. The first one is "Oh yeah baby!", except for the fact that Will cannot say yeah, rather it comes out as "lah". So it actually sounds like he is saying "hola baby" :)

His other phrase he's been using is "I don't know" in regards to EVERYTHING. No matter what you ask it is "I don't know".

Otherwise, not much is going on here. It looks like it is going to be a cloudy day here.

A Leisurely Morning and don't leave the plums out!

When it was just Kevin and myself we would often go out for afternoon drives just for fun. Even with Hunter we would just cruise and look at areas we didn't visit regularly or whatever... Obviously with today's gas prices we don't just drive for the sake of driving, but we sort of did this morning. We headed south and visited an area that has a lot of houses for sale. We aren't looking to buy, but it is fun to look at prices and new houses.

While we were there we saw LOTS of deer. Here is one that Kevin was especially impressed with. I won't go into details as to what was going through his head! They are all very tame and this one was right at the side of the road.

Now the next part of our day has to do with plums. We went to Costco yesterday and bought a package of plums. Needless to say, the boys love them. Last night, we caught Will poking his finger into the plums from the outside of the container saying "ooohhh nummm". Not too much damage until today.

Kevin came in and there was the container of plums on the floor and this what I took out of the container.

Please don't ask where I was, because I don't know. Now we have to hurry and eat the rest of them. :)

The Twin Invasion and Potty training

The picture looks like it was taken in the middle of the day, but in reality it was taken last night in darkness. The power of that flash!!! Anyway, the boys have been getting into our bed after we put them into their bed. They aren't really all that sneaky about it either. Because their room is attached to ours, almost every night when I check in on them, they have both climbed and and are snoozing away in our room. Luckily, they are quite easy to move back into their room when its time for us to go to bed. What little stinkers!!!


And on the potty training front, things are going pretty well. Its a bit crazy now that both of them want to use the toilet. It was weird when the other night, they both wanted to go at the exact same time. Today, Nate decided to leave a little surprise for Hunter in Hunter's room - ooohh lucky kid huh? Obviously, its been a while since Hunter went through potty training and I remember him practically training himself. It definitely seems more challenging with two of them.

Sorry, if I'm over sharing :)

Fun in the Sun

We went looking for a small swimming pool and there wasn't a lot of choices out there, but we did find this little one. It was on sale and only cost $7 and change. What a bargain!!! Here are a few pictures of them having fun today!

This is Will

Potty Talk

For good reason, I don't have any pictures to share that relate to today's title. But, I was sitting in the bathroom conversing with Will while he was sitting on the toilet doing his business and realized that once again, potty talk is what its all about. Will is quite chatty (in 2-5 word sentences) while he's sitting there describing to me how he's feeling, what's coming next, will he fall in, and finally "all done." Then we stand up, say "good-bye" and flush the toilet.

I enjoy these times and think how in other circumstances "potty talk" is just not appropriate but realize that in my world talk of the potty and all the subtopics related to it, are quite the norm and are filled with humor, excitement, and wonder.

Just things to ponder I guess. I am grateful that Will is the only one that is truly interested in it at this time and I will wait for Nate to join us when he is ready.

I got my memory card reader and card - thank you my wonderful sister - so I might throw in a cute and appropriate picture at some point :)

-Katie

4th of July, update, and lots of pictures

We spent 4th of July my sister's this year. We had a wonderful time, but it wasn't without some interesting curves. As many of you know, I have had quite the time this past week. Nothing traumatic or anything, but it does seem to continue and am hoping that this week brings complete and total calm.

Any traveling is to say the least a routine buster. We traveled for 7 hours on Thursday in 2 vehicles to get all of us over to the Southeast corner of the state. We arrived safe and sound with no mishaps whatsoever - no complaints :)

We continue the next day with lots of treats, great food, fireworks, etc., but.... the day was interspersed with not 1, not 2, but 3 of the children from my household getting sick and throwing up. Of course, I won't go into the nitty gritty details, but I know most of you know what its like dealing with up-chucking children.

As I said, I hope this week is CALM, so without further ado, I would love to share some photos:

Here is the view of the left side of my sister's backyard.
And the right side with some of us visiting.
Hunter, Kevin, and Will
Bryson and Will playing at the side of the pool.
Nate and Will
And traveling always disrupts nap schedules so this is Will falling asleep on the couch while eating crackers.
Bryson, Jordan and Nate
Afternoon yard games. This one was new to us and a lot of fun. Similar to a bean bag toss with some fun rules.
And Nate cuddling up to Emylee during the fireworks.

List of Players:

Renz Family - Me, Kevin, Nate and Will (2 1/2), Hunter (8 1/2) and Jordan (14) - Kevin's sister's son who had been staying with us.

Gobel Family (hosts) - Mira (my sister), Mike, Bryson (12), Emylee (14)

My Mom (Karen), my sister (Eden), one of my brothers (Miles)

Mike's parents Walt and Gwen

Until next time...

Life goes on...

Well, most of you regular readers know what has been going on during this past weekend so I thought I would add a picture for you. Mind you, the picture looks much worse than in real life. Hunter's arm is all wrinkly looking becasuse of the bandage they put around it. Now, we just have a large bandaid - less butch looking but better :)

So here's the recap: Jordan (Hunter's 14 year old cousin) apparently grabbed a couple of balloons that Hunter said were his, ran down to our basement and locked the door. So picture 14 year old on one side of locked door looking at 8 year old boy and 8 year old boy staring at 14 year old boy. Also take into consideration that 8 year old boy has a quick temper then picture 8 year old boy banging on door with fisted arm.... The end result is a broken window, a 4 1/2 hour visit to the ER, and 5 stitches.
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On another front, I am just kicking myself because I had every intention of taking my camera yesterday to the dentist's, but I forgot of course. Yesterday was actually the 2nd visit to the dentist for Nate and Will. The first visit was just an introduction to the office, the Dr., etc.

Yesterday's visit was a "real" one. I take the kids to a pediatric dentist in town who is awesome. The office has a huge play area and all the chairs are scaled down to kid size. Nate was an angel. When it was time to go back, he followed the hygienist, got right on the chair, went for his little ride in the chair, got himself all reclined, put his sunglasses on and went to town. He was so cute and calm as a cucumber. I just looked from afar while I was dealing with Will.

Will on the other hand just didn't want to get into the chair at all. No persuasion of any kind helped. We will wait for the next time.