Saturday, July 18, 2009

Dog Days of Summer

Wow, this summer is flying by at warp speed. The kids and I have been staying extremely busy with playdates, trips to the zoo and museum, swimming, bowling, playing outside when the heat allows, going to ball games, and the list goes on. We have been spending many of our days with my friend Rene and her two kids, Madison and Ethan. Maddison is about 9 months older than Katelyn and Ethan is 1 year older than Cooper. The four of them are inseparable and get along really well. It is awesome to have someone to hang out with who is in the same boat as myself and really understands where we are at in our lives. I would have to say that this week has been, by far, the busiest of the summer. Monday, Ryan had to go to the hospital for some tests when he had severe abdominal pain at work that morning. They thought he had appendicitis but his CT scan was normal. Then they thought gall bladder but after running a couple scans for that, it is also checking out normal. We have yet to find the culprit but are hoping to see a surgeon soon since we strongly feel it is his gall bladder (even though the tests didn't show it). On Wednesday I took the kids to the movie Surfs Up that was playing at Southpointe in the morning and then after lunch at Mcdonalds we went to Woods pool to play and swim. Daddy worked late so we had a waffle and sausage supper and built a new train track on the train table.
Then it was off to bed to rest up for another fun filled day on Thursday. We took the kids bowling at Sun Valley Lanes and out for ice cream. Then the kids and I went to the library to take some books back. Which brings us to Fri. Ethan and Madi came over to play in the afternoon and then we were off to "Park and Beans." Our neighborhood association and a new church that is going up around the corner threw a small carnival at the park with games, food, and entertainment by the String Beans (a kids music group). We had a lot of fun and were exhausted by the end of this fun packed weekend.

Woods Splash Park:


Bowling:


Park and Beans:

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Swimming lessons

One of the activities that we have been enjoying this summer is swimming lessons at the YMCA. The kids have never taken them before but have grown so much in their abilities. We just had to get over the initial fear of the water. It is now so much easier to take them swimming by myself with their life jackets on because they don't cling to me and are a little more self sufficient in the water. Here is a video montage of their lessons. Its a bit lengthy but I'm not good at editing photos. I also apologize for the background noises. I call Cooper my "reluctant swimmer" and you will see why in the video. He is convinced that he must be holding someones fingers to jump in and tries to manipulate his teacher many, many times into holding his hands. Its pretty cute if you watch close. I think he is actually trying to bribe her. I would have loved to be in ear shot to hear what he was saying but I did catch his teacher smirking at times. Katelyn is my "slightly less reluctant swimmer." She has improved by leaps and bounds!! Soooo proud of her. She was even more scared of the water initially than Cooper was.

Kids say the darndest things!!

So Monday night we went down to Beatrice to watch my nephews ball game. We went out to eat after the game at Amigos. Cooper ran to the bathroom. I went to help him and this is the conversation that ensued:

Cooper: I need help Mommy, I pooped.

Mommy: OK, are you done.

Cooper: No.

Mommy: Well there is poop in the potty, do you need to go more?

Cooper: No.

Mommy: So you're done.

Cooper: NO MOMMY!

Mommy: Well what are you waiting for?

Cooper: I'm waiting for the pee to come out and be friends with the Poop?

Where do kids get this stuff?

So, now for Katelyn's latest. We went to scooters tonight so Mommy could pick up an iced coffee. We literally walked in the door and here is what Katelyn had to say:

In the most enthusiastic tone you could imagine "YUM-MY, it smells like coffee in here" That's my girl!!

Katelyn's latest quirk is when you tell her something she doesn't believe she says "You have GOT to be kiddin me!" Very cute to hear coming out of her sassy, little mouth.

Coopers latest quirk is that when he says or does something funny and you laugh at him he replies "Now its your turn to say something funny" You can then say one word, ANY word to him and he will bust out in a belly laugh! I LOVE IT!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Our new wheels...







4th of July went off with a BANG!



We had a fantastic 4th of July this year! My family all came over for a BBQ and we lit off fireworks that evening. Our neighborhood had a great show. In fact, we probably didn't even need to purchase our own fireworks. But, we did and had a great time setting them off. The weather was quite chilly for July so we cuddled in sweatshirts and blankets. I'll take that over the heat any day though. There was a nice breeze so bugs were not an issue either. It made for a great day and evening. Sunday night we took the kids to Oak Lake to watch the fireworks. Its so fun now that the kids are older and enjoy the fireworks so much. Now, if we could just get back into a normal routine. All of those late nights have completely thrown off the kids' sleep schedules. Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th. Thanks so much to those serving our country and protecting our freedom.

Prayers answered!!



Cooper did an awesome job with his MRI last week. We had to get up at 4:30 in the morning to take him to the hospital. He was so sweet and allowed the nurses and anesthesia to do whatever they needed without pitching a fit. He did absolutely wonderful with the anesthesia. It made him VERY sleepy but he never got sick or had any respiratory issues. The recovery room nurse said he was the calmest child he had ever had in the recovery room. WHAT?! My child and calm in the same sentence. Can I get some of the anesthetic for home use? He left about 1 1/2 hours after having the test and was good as new. The Dr. called me a couple of hours later and gave us the good news that the MRI was all clear. It showed a little bit of sinus thickening but nothing to be concerned about and nothing to explain the vomiting. We were so relieved to hear the good news and were so proud of Cooper for being such a trooper! That night we went and celebrated by purchasing a new minivan which I will post pics of later :) Thanks so much to Grandma and Grandpa Neumann for keeping Katelyn for us so that we could be with Cooper and for keeping her an extra night while we made our big purchase before vacation. You guys are AWESOME!

GO BIG RED



A few weeks ago Saint E's had our company picnic at Memorial Stadium. We were able to take a self guided tour through several areas of the stadium including the practice field and weight rooms. The tour ended on the track field next to the stadium where we had pizza and dessert. It was an absolutely gorgeous summer day and we had a lot of fun.