We had a busy weekend again.

Friday we went to Red Wing. Matt and Kristin and all of us drove to my cousin Jenny's house. We met my other cousin Katie (Jenny's sister) and her family there. The men left and went golfing at the Hastings Country Club that Jenny's husband Brent works at. The women and kids stayed behind and had a great day. I had to add this picture of Connor swinging from their rope swing because it's just something that we didn't think he would do. He's so timid and cautious most of the time, but he didn't even hesitate. I was so excited that he did it and wasn't scared a bit. ;)



Saturday my mom and I had a Skala and Ebeling baby shower for Kristin. Thanks to everyone who came. Can't wait for baby Skala......ooooohhhh.....another baby to cuddle. Mattey and K are going to be such wonderful parents.

Sunday was our anniversary. We've been together (yes, with a couple of breaks) for almost 12 years, but have been married for 6 of those lovely years! Time flies by when you're having fun! We went to the Twins vs. Brewers game. It was a great game - Go Twins! Thought it would be fun to put these pictures in - feels like this was a long time ago! Unfortunately people remember our wedding because it was so hot. (not unfortunately that people remember our wedding, just that they remember it probably only because it was so hot) People were drenched with sweat and we went through so much beer. It's all we ever hear about!

Love our life together Matt!


Few Connorisms from the weekend:

---"Mommy, think (as he's looking up to the right and pointing to his brain) in your imagination what three beats one by would look like?"

"Well, three beats one by two Connor because three minus one is two."
"No mommy, I mean what would that LOOK like?" (I won't even add the rest of the conversation ;)

---Sometimes to save time or to make things easier Connor will take a shower with Matt, but we don't do it all that much. Saturday night Connor wanted to take a shower with daddy. Matt asked him "Are you sure you want to take one with me and not by yourself?"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure! We can just hang out, talk, and relax in there!"

---We went for a walk today and on the way home Connor asks me, "Mommy, when we get home can I go to my room and have some private time?"

Funnies by Connor

We were watching Nashville Star (showcases country music singers) last night and after a few songs Connor said "Mommy, these sound like farmer songs."

"What do you mean?"

"You know those cowboy songs..."

"Do you mean country songs?"

"Yeah, those".



He was telling me about something one of the other boys did at daycare. I asked him why the boy did what he did. He said "I don't know, I'm not him, I'm me." Dah mom.


We were playing checkers today and all he had left were his kinged checkers (quite a few of them). He says out loud "Watch out, here we come to do a lot of damage".



No fears about Nolan being afraid of going down the slide because of his last incident. We went to feed the ducks after the library today and of course had to stop at the park. I swear the boys have a radar for them! Nolan went flying down the same slide he got hurt on......laughing and all. Whew, I was worried he might actually be afraid of something and a little more cautious for once. ;)

Taking full advantage of the nice weather!

What a busy weekend we had - the weather was beautiful and we took advantage of every minute of it!

Friday we played outside all day in the pool and slip n slide. Poor Nolan didn't have a chance with the water guns, so he finally gave in and just smiled! I couldn't have posed this picture if I had actually tried!

We have big belly bottomless pit Nolan, ribs and all Connor, and goofy my way Jacob.

Saturday we tried the pool and slip n slide, but it was a little chilly. Matt had to work quite a bit this weekend - he has a big meeting on Tuesday. The boys and I went with my parents to the Straight River days in Medford. They had a mini fair with rides and games and the boys had a great time. They also had an Amphibian traveling zoo there that Connor loved. He was soaking up all the information and wanting to know about each and every animal there. He then told grandpa word for word about one of them.

We thought the dinosaurs looked fun, but when they got on them as you can tell by Jacob just chillin', they were VERY slow - or in Connor's word - Boring.


Sunday we went to church and breakfast. After the boys woke up from their naps we went down to the path by Lake Kohlmier and Morehouse park. Connor rode his bike and grandma and I pushed Jacob and Nolan in the stroller. Good little walk. We had to stop and play at the park of course. Nolan again went flying down the slide head first - did a face plow into the ground - could have really hurt himself, but was fine besides the wood chips in his mouth! We'll see if he goes down one next time or if he'll be scared now.

Few funny things:

You can tell whether Jacob likes what he's eating because after his first bite he now says "mmmm, gooooo" (mmm, good). If he really likes what he's eating he'll say it after EVERY bite and make sure you acknowledge it!

We had supper at my parents' house tonight (Matt had to work again). Uncle Natey bought a couple of Reese's Peanut Butter cups for the boys for dessert. Connor finished everything on his plate (it's amazing what a little chocolate or candy can do to motivate little eaters!) and I asked him if he was full and he said, "No, I have just enough room for a candy bar!". Smart answer.

We were saying our prayers tonight and got to Uncle Matt and Aunt Kristin and their baby. Connor prayed that the baby is born safely and healthy and of course finished off with again asking me how babies come out. I just point blank said the baby comes out from where girls go potty and quickly went back to saying our prayers. I could tell he was really thinking about it, but we kept saying our prayers. Is he truly supposed to be asking that already?

We came in from swimming and I was trying to change Jacob, but he ran away and I gave in to the fun little game. I found him in Nolan's room reading a book in the a la nude! Then, I finally got his shirt on him and he ran away again. I found him with his slippers on (still no diaper or shorts) jumping on his bed. The pictures in this entry really sum up Jacob's personality!

Here we have Connor smiling, always wanting to please, hardly eating (as you can see in the swimming picture up above with his ribs showing)!
Jacob wearing his hat being his goofball self.
Nolan feeding his face - yes he has a spoon in the other hand, but why use that - it's not nearly as fun or messy!

Catch up stories - obsessive or sentimental?

I know, I've been babbling a lot lately on here.
I love writing these blogs and much of it is for keeping family and friends up to date with what's going on in our chaotic house, however a good portion of it is selfishly for me so I remember all the things done and said by the boys. I don't even know how long this blog site will be around for or how much room I have - not sure how it works (probably should look into that), but part of this is like a memory book for myself. I'm really not as obsessive about my family as it sounds. I just don't have that great of a memory and a million things going on at one time. Like I said, I wish I would have started this or at least some sort of journaling when Connor was a baby.
Here's a few things I thought were worth writing about in the last few days:

Connor:
---"Mommy, do we live on the earth, in it, or around it?" (anyone know the correct answer to that one? Let me know so I can tell him!)

---"Mommy, why is a garage called a garage?" (not sure about that answer either! - I better start doing some studying!)

---As we were driving by some baseball fields I told Connor to look out the window at all of the kids playing Tball and said how he'll get to do that next year...
"Mommy, is there a number of sports you can play?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm going to play all of the sports. Can I do that?"

---He is our Mr. Mom. I can hear him repeating things that we say to Jacob and Nolan when we're not in the same room. "Jacob, you do NOT do that!", "Nolan, no touch!", "Jacob, say your sorry to Nolan", "Good job, Jacob"! Too funny....I think I could probably leave him in charge for a little while already and things would be more under control than when I'm in charge!

---We went to the Little Theatre production of Puss n Boots tonight. Mary, our daycare provider is the technical director for many of the productions and tonight was family night so it was free and she invited her daycare families. Connor got a kick out it. He was a little nervous around the Ogre at first, and was astonished to find out that it was only a high school student acting. "He's only a kid? He's really good!" Also, a little girl was playing Puss n Boots and Connor was surprised to find out it was a girl in that costume. He asked my mom, "Even in real life Puss n Boots is a girl?" Meaning, real life as in the story (not just who was acting). His only exposure to Puss n Boots is from Shrek, where he's a boy.


Jacob:
---Repeats everything you say now....or at least gives it his best effort! He loves telling you what happened either to himself or someone else "fall dooooown", "hit head", "Nole bieee (Nolan bite)" and then he shows you like hits his head really hard, shows you his toes that he stubbed, shows you where Nolan bit him and opens his mouth really big as if to bite something. It's hilarious and he has to keep saying it until you acknowledge him. He also has this face and says "Ugh, grooo" (Ugh, gross) when Nolan or himself have a dirty diaper.

--He has this Winona State football hat that he really likes to wear and these sunglasses that he constantly puts on upside down. At night time, he for some reason has to where his hat and he wears it so the rim is down really low past his eyes. It's so funny going in to check on him and see his hat covering his face. He's got something about bringing something to bed with him - it was his goggles the other night, or a car.....whatever works I guess.


---Right now, Nolan and Jacob are really into wanting what the other one has. Jacob is obviously stronger, so many times gets his way, however Noley holds his own. It's funny, Jacob will be playing with something and Nolan will come and take it away. He knows what he's doing too because he starts running away and Jacob chases after him screaming and having a fit. It looks so planned out because as soon as Jacob gets close enough to Nolan to do something to him, Nolan turns around and gives it back to him without a peep. It's so entertaining .....is it sick and wrong that I think that?! ;) ;)

Nolan:

---He is a pig. It's no wonder he has so many dirty diapers a day. The kid is an endless pit for everything and anything. He is ALWAYS hungry.

---We went to the park on Monday evening and I had to hold on tight to Nolan because he would just go diving down the slide. He went head first down all of them, no matter how high or how curvy...he just went flying and laughing down them. I had all of these other moms gasping every time at him and getting all nervous. I would hate to know what some people think of me as a mom and what I all let the boys do. ;) I thought Jacob was our dare devil - Nolan might give him a run for his money.

---He's finally understanding the concept of going down stairs safely and doing it every time. All you have to say is "turn around" and he does. However, sometimes he turns around and gets on his belly too early and in the wrong place and it takes him awhile to actually find the stairs. Again, entertaining!

OK, enough for tonight! I might lose some readers due to all of my babbling.

Only one in diapers soon? Telling it as it is.

So for awhile now Jacob's version of going "potty" has been sitting on the toilet without his diaper for about 2 seconds. We were happy with the fact that he was just putting two and two together and would try to do it at least once a day. However, last weekend while we were in Vegas he actually went potty on the toilet for my parents and today he did it for me. Before we went down for nap I asked him if he had to go potty and at first he said a loud NO!, but then stopped to think about it and said "Uh huh"! We headed to the bathroom and sat him down. He started going, looked down, and was just beaming from cheek to cheek. He was so proud of himself and it probably didn't help any that I was jumping up and down, kissing him, telling him good job, and saying "What a big boy!". As we went back into his room for his nap he looked at me and kept repeating "good boy, big boy....."! I'll keep everyone posted as to whether these were a couple of fluke times or if it's the start of something.

I just added this part tonight - Jacob went on the toilet again tonight for Matt when he got home. Before bath time Connor and I talked to Jacob about showing daddy how he was such a big boy. He got right on and went. It was awesome!

Pretty cute -we had coed softball tonight so while I took the babysitter home after our game Matt put the boys to bed and they tried with Jacob one more time. I guess he sat there for quite awhile really trying to go (he understands now what he's supposed to do, but I guess he didn't have to go) and Connor kept telling him "push Jacob push". Connor has been so great with it and is excited about trying to help out. When Connor would tell him to push Jacob would put his finger down on his "boy part" and actually push it in- thinking that was what Connor meant by "push". Ha! Too cute.

Two times in one day - that's a successful day for our two year old in training! ;)

I forgot to add this little moment that made me stop and think. Yesterday Connor and I went to go help paint some rooms in Matt and Kristin's house. Mattey asked Connor how much he charged and Connor with a big smile said $1. Sure enough, they paid him his $1 when we were done. He was all excited! Today we went and helped put one more coat on one of the rooms and before we went over there Connor mentioned something to me about wondering if uncle Matt was going to pay him $1 again. I know him getting $1 was harmless, but we also want to instill in the boys that it's good to help do something without getting something for it (I know Connor knows this - he is such a giver and a helper, we are very blessed with that with him - he understands this concept better than many of us adults). So, before we called their house to have Kristin come to ours while Jacob and Nolan were taking a nap, I told Connor that I didn't think he should say anything about the $1 and today we were going to help out because it was a nice thing to do. He said OK (with a small sigh and some contemplation) and he called Matt to tell him that the boys were sleeping so Kristin should come over.

Before he hung up I heard him tell Matt, "Uncle Matt, you don't have to pay me $1 today for helping if you don't want to".

When he hung up I looked at him and said in kind of a stern voice, "Connor, I didn't think we were going to say anything about the $1. You weren't supposed to say anything about it. Remember, we're going to go help because we want to. If you don't want to go paint, it's OK you don't have to, you can stay here with Aunt Kristin, but I don't want you to get another $1 today".

He looks at me, puts his head down, and trying to hold it in started to get teary eyed. He looks back up at me sadly and says, "Mommy, I was just trying to be nice and telling Uncle Matt he didn't have to pay me."

My heart melted and I felt awful. I grabbed him and gave him a huge hug trying to make up for it, and said "That was really nice of you to tell Mattey that he didn't have to do that".

He truly didn't understand what he did wrong. He didn't - I just assumed and it was only the way he worded it. Here I took it as though Connor was trying to persuade Uncle Matt to pay him again, but he sincerely was point blank telling Matt in his own way he didn't have to pay him. Lesson learned - do not assume with a 4-1/2 year old with a huge heart. They can't help it that they are honest and just say it as it is.
Like today when he told me that my banana bread was not good. ;) ;) Gotta love it!

Happy Father's Day and Vegas trip

Happy Father's day to all you father's out there. We had a good day. We went to church, went to lunch with my parents and Natey, Matt went golfing with Natey while the boys took a nap, and then Matt and the boys and I went miniature golfing. I was going to just hold Nolan while Matt, Jacob, and Connor golfed, however it was "Fathers golf for free" and "kids 5 and under" golf for free with a paid adult - so we had to pay for me just to get everyone else free! Connor got a hole in one on hole 11 - he was so excited! This picture was taken in the garage. They all look almost angelic-like with the light in the background don't they?- Ha!

Matt thank you for being the father that you are to our boys. You are a wonderful buddy, playmate, teacher, and father to them. I love watching you all wrestle on the floor and play in the yard, I love listening to you during your "teachable moments" with them, and I love the way they get excited when you come home from work and run to you. The boys are truly blessed to have you as their daddy! I can't wait for the years to come.

Happy Father's day to our dads also! Thank you for the great lives we've had.

Our Vegas trip was terrific. I was a little nervous for the beginning because even though I've flown by myself a few times, lately when I've flown it's been with Matt and he is so used to flying it's a breeze and he takes care of most of it. I was also nervous because his phone slipped out of his pocket on Monday night so we had no way of getting in touch with each other when I got to Vegas Wednesday morning (which is funny because we all survived when cell phones weren't around yet!). We were planning on just hooking up sometime in the morning at the hotel. It turned out Matt was waiting in the lobby for me when I got to the hotel. We ate at a great restaurant each night (only because we bought discount tickets). We did Italian, Brazilian style where they came around with skewers of 10 different meats and you can eat as much as you would like, and our favorite - a Steakhouse. We were able to get some sun (it was very hot) and hang out by the pool. Matt got a little too much sun the first day, so the second day I went to the pool while he played some poker. We did a lot of walking along the strip which is fun, but when it's so hot you sweat like crazy! The show "O" was amazing!

The show wasn't until 10:30 and I was in the sun for most of the afternoon, so in between supper and the show I went and took a little nap. You know you're getting old when you're in Vegas and you go take a nap at 8pm so you can stay up for the show! Pretty sad - I'm embarrassed and not sure why I even shared it! We really didn't have much of an agenda the whole time except the show and dinners. It was so relaxing. We even did some shopping for the boys and got to meet the M&M's. The boys love M&Ms so we thought they would get a kick out of it.

Our view from our room was superb - we could see the Belagio fountain show. This is a picture of the view one night.

Matt likes to play blackjack and poker, but I only really do the slots. He was a good sport and did some with me. We had a lot of fun and great luck with this huge Wheel of Fortune game.

It was a blast when we got the big wheel in the middle to spin! We even came back a few dollars ahead (well only counting gambling - we definitely spent money on eating and drinking)! All in all it was a perfect get away, but we were both ready to get home and see the boys! We missed them. Now it's back to reality. It's funny - it's nice to get some time away together, and be able to relax a little but it's always even better coming home to them. It sounded like they had a blast while we were gone. Connor still had a few days of Adventure camp, Jacob went potty on the toilet, Connor loved playing checkers and getting "kinged", Nolan imitates his brothers with everything, they ate like pigs, and lots of other great stories.

Have a great week everyone!

Weekend of family, rain, princes, and more rain

Matt's uncle Bob and Sharon from California are in Wisconsin for a little over a week and were able to make a trip to come see us on Saturday. I had only met them once on a trip I got to go on with the Ginskeys to Reno when Matt and I were Juniors in college. This was actually the last time Matt had seen them also. Saturday was a short visit, but great to see them again and on different terms - as family not just as "Matt's girlfriend"!

We had a couple of graduations to go to Friday and Saturday night. One of the graduations was for my cousin Ashley. Connor was having a blast playing with the other kids, especially my cousin Katie's daughter Melanie. I didn't see any of it, but was told that Connor and Melanie got married a few times by dancing and falling down. I was also told that she was the princess and he was the prince. She would go on top of the swing set and say "Oh prince, come up here and save me prince".....to which Connor would say "I'm coming princess". Oh boy!

Matt left this morning for his trade show in Vegas and I leave Wednesday morning to meet him out there. I am really looking forward to it. We don't really have any definite plans except for the anxiously anticipated "O" show.

This morning as I was getting ready for church in our bedroom I noticed a moment when it was all of a sudden awfully quiet, there was no laughing, shouting, crying, clinging or clanging of cars, or talking - only the sound of Pinky Dinky Doo from the TV. A little nervous about what I was going to find or not find, I came around the corner and found this...... boys stuffing their face with Wheat Thins (No, it wasn't their breakfast -they got them all by themselves - we really need to childproof that pantry door!) and eyes glued to the television. Yes, just like their father.

Connor has Little Adventurers camp this week from 9-12 everyday and he's so excited. In the letter we got in the mail the itinerary sounds like a blast; making nature scrapbooks, going on hikes, making and following treasure maps, making fishing poles and using them to fish, etc. Hopefully the rain holds up or at least cooperates so it all works out. He's in a Sports camp in July and August and swimming lessons. I think I went a little overboard with signing him up for Park n Rec activities because he was finally old enough, oh well, he'll have a great time.

Random Thoughts by Connor

I have a feeling this is going to be a regular entry title!

-"Daddy (or mommy), I think I feel like some snuggles tonight." - trying to get us to lay in his bed for awhile

-My grandpa was cremated and Connor was curious about the box. He asked if everyone used the same box.

-When we were driving to the cemetery Connor thought that we were going to watch him get "fired" as he called it. He got a little mixed up with the whole cremation thing and burning the body and when it happens. When we got to the cemetery he was asking what was going to happen there. I told him grandpa was going to get buried and we somehow got talking about him going to heaven. He said to me, "Mommy if they bury him now, do they have to unbury (I don't think this is a word) him later so he can get up to heaven?" It was all too precious.

-We were saying our prayers and we would always pray for Great -grandpa Ebeling. When it came to saying his name I mentioned that I bet Great grandpa Ebeling is watching down on him from heaven because they were such good buddies. Connor asks me, "Mommy, how does that all happen - I mean, how does he turn into an angel and get up to heaven?"

Well.......so I actually went into the whole soul thing with him trying to put it into his terms and I kept telling him that I know it's kind of hard to understand because we can't see it......and he looks at me and says "Actually mommy, it makes a lot of sense".

Seriously? The whole intangible concept is really hard to understand. I'm anxious to hear some of his questions about it as he thinks on it some more.



I've always wanted a picture like this taken of the boys.

We will miss you Grandpa

There are so many forwards out there about making the most of each moment and cherishing those that you love and I always get choked up reading them. This story really hits home now more than any of them because tonight our Grandpa Ebeling (my mom's dad) passed away. We were able to see him for a little while on Monday at the Memorial Parade - we've been meeting him for the parade since Connor was born. Grandpa lived through his 80th birthday and according to this story below he had about 4172 marbles in his jar and just took out his last one. We love you grandpa and will miss you so much. Don't give Grandma too hard of a time up there ok - dance away though!





3900 Saturdays

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I 'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's 'dance recital; Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities - the thousand marbles theory. You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. 'I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.
There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time. It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band."

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."

"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh.