Flight Attendant doing raps!! (complete ed.)

This was pretty cool.

I just discovered this new flavor of Ben and Jerry's. It was very very good. Definitely worth the $3.65. Rolling Stone must have been inspired by the new flavor as well, because they decided to write a little article with all the interesting things that you always wondered about Ben and Jerry's flavors but never thought to ask. Click on the carton to go the the Rolling Stone article.

Texas Trip

We flew back from Texas on Tuesday after five nights in Fredericksburg. We had a good time, even thought it was cold and rainy most of the time and I was stressed-out and depressed about my potential (probable?) job loss. I should find out about the job next week.

Brief Fredericksburg info: The German aristocracy thought it would be good to have some Germans in Texas, so they sent some very green pioneers over, many of whom died or became completely broke very quickly. I guess they were a bit too trusting of swindling surveyors. However, Fredericksburg did end up getting on the map and is now a very nice community in the hill country. Incidentally, Lyndon B. Johnson is from this area. There are a lot of gift shops, restaurants, and fun stuff in the town of 10,000, including a cocktail bar called "Proof", music festivals, and great historic parks and living history villages. There's quite a bit of German culture still alive, including restaurants, bakeries, shops, and museums.

My mother and father-in-law have spent six weeks of the Wisconsin winter in Fredericksburg for the last three years, and it was with them that we spent our days and evenings touring and playing cards.

Here are some pics with comments:

Me learning the fine art of hatchet throwing at the living history village (my favorite place on the trip).

A shot down the Fredricksburg mainstreet.

Sarah at Cranky Frank's BBQ Shack. Definitely my favorite place to eat with incredible ribs, brisket, and chicken.

Me at the Fredricksburg Brewery sampling the local dark. Very good beer and the sausage plate was also quite delicious.

Braden with Grandma and Grandpa in front of something very historic.

Braden at the Wildseed Farm looking at a fountain.

An Interesting Observation

Braden's favorite stories and song are from 30-40 years ago. I don't really know what this means, except he knows what he likes! He absolutely loves the book "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.

He needs it in bed with him at night, he loves to talk about Peter, and the little boy walking with Peter on the last page is definitely Braden (or so Braden says). In fact, he calls one of his winter coats "the snowy day coat." I think this was written in 1962.

His other favorite book right now is "Corduroy." We stumbled upon a video of this book just this week on a scholastic video series I got at the library, and he loves that now, too. Unfortunately, I have to return the video this week! He would probably love a corduroy bear. I believe Corduroy was written in the late 60's.
And finally, his favorite song right now is "Peter Cottontail." We have to sing it every night. I don't really know any verses or anything, so we sort of make something up. But the chorus must be sung when we lay him in the crib and he's ready to go to sleep.

I guess the classics still hold true!

Life with a Two Year Old Talker

We get the biggest kick out of "Bradenisms" these days. One can never be prepared with what comes out of a toddler's mouth! Here are some of our favorites these days...

• Hitting in frustration has been a bit of an issue lately, so now he says right away, "I not really hitting you mom. I just patting you really really fast."
• We're prepping him for his big boy room, but somehow he got that turned around in his head so he calls it his "cowboy room." No, the decor is not the wild west!
• We've been teaching him how to say "I love you, too" after we say it to him. So now, even if he says it first, he says "I love you, too, momma."
• I think for a two year old, this is pretty smart. He's using his coping skills about two things that he is really afraid of - shadows and crows. So he says, "Shadows love me. Shadows are my friend. Crows love me too. Isn't that so nice!"
• When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he says is "you don't REALLY have to change my diaper mom."
• After Christmas, he would come up to me and say, "I think I need a present today, momma."
  

Long time coming

I know I know...we really haven't posted anything here for a long time. Sorry! I'm not exactly sure what the problem has been, but I'll give a few updates and a few photos...

Sarah: feeling great one day and then completely lousy the next. Looking forward to second trimester. Life is good since they finally gave me Zofran. Work has now completely changed, and I'm not sure if I like it or not. I'll stick with it for now, as I do have a job and the schedule is still wonderful (no weekends or holidays, every friday off). Just returned from a long but good choir tour to South Dakota. Drove the entire length of the state of SD yesterday, and then home at 2am.

Joshua: teaching two on-line classes, and taking one class at Adler. This is the last class for his Master's in Psychology! Rejoice everyone! Still needs to do internship hours to complete School Counselor program, but can (and WILL) graduate with the master's in Psychology. Having fun with his new macbook. That leaves the lovely desktop for Sarah!

Braden: working on potty training, had a great time at the waterpark today, loved the Children's museum with Anya on Saturday, missed Mommy while she was gone, but had a great time with Dad "fickn" stuff. Translation = Fixing stuff. Not sure what was fixed, but I trust they worked hard on something!

Reilly: Diagnosed with a heart murmur a few weeks ago, and we're starting to notice symptoms we hadn't before. Will probably call the vet to see about medication.

Here are some Valentine photos! Enjoy!
Mom home with two of the three boys who missed her - the other was taking the picture!

Fun to see Braden play with Reilly. Great new stage!

More playing with Reilly

Smile for mom after he opened his Wall Drug pen with a moving car!

A little South Dakota bag from mommy, which he promptly turned into storage for his new tonka cars from Grandma Zaiser

He's no Easter Bunny

For the unintiated among us, Goosebumps is a very successful series of juvenile ficiton horror books. Something about the title of this one, Bad Hare Day, struck me as very witty and funny.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Or at least Braden thinks so! He looked at me recently and said, "Mom, I need a present." What have we started? Oh well! Christmas only comes around once a year, so live it up I guess! We had a great time with both families, but especially seeing Christmas through Braden's eyes this year. One of the most priceless moments was when he bit into Grandma Dawn's peanut butter blossom cookies. He had never really had chocolate like that before, and his reaction was priceless. Made me rediscover chocolate all over again! Here are a few pics...

Opening Golf Clubs from Gma and Gpa Zaiser Christmas morning

At Grandma Zaiser's house, opening his Christmas jammies on the 24th

Family photo- but we absolutely could NOT get Braden to look at the camera. Stinker!

All dressed up for Church. Isn't my boy so handsome? He had little black corduroy pants for the bottom. So cute!

Sabotage!?

Well, this was supposed to be Anya's Christmas present. Braden got to pick out something for her this year, and has been just dying to give Anya this "baa-cum". He loves it so much, that I haven't wrapped it yet because he plays with it whenever I'm working on other wrapping downstairs.

I guess the inevitable happened - it completely broke. Of course he doesn't really know it, but I certainly do. An entire bottom piece is now completely broken off. We obviously can't give Anya a broken gift, so I guess it has become one of Braden's unofficial xmas presents. Sorry, Bear! We already have something else (and even better I think!) picked out for you. This time, Auntie learned her lesson and it's already wrapped and put away. So yes, Braden ends up with a bright pink, sparkly, little vacuum thingy. And he loves it. Hmmmm...wonder if there was some quick thinking on his part in how to keep it for himself?!?

Advent at the Koepp House

In preparation for Christmas, here are a few pics of us in the past few weeks.