This past weekend was an unusual one for us. It started out with my going out with some girlfriends on Friday night (that in itself is unusual), but the night ended pretty early as I had to get up the next morning and be at work by 7:00am. I was scheduled to work until 11:00am, but because our store keeps putting up the numbers, I was asked to stay and work until 2:30pm. I liked the idea of getting some extra hours, which equals extra money, but the thought of working an almost 8 hour day was frightening. I haven't worked for a whole eight hours in over a year, I wasn't really sure my body could handle it, but I went with my gut, and put in the extra time. Because of this decision, Trav would be alone for the majority of the day with the kiddies - good idea, or not? As it turns out, our neighbors were taking their kids to a nearby indoor play area and they invited Trav and the kids along so it worked out great for everyone. By the time I was done working, both kids were asleep and Daddy was kicked back in the recliner - a job well done if I have to say so myself. After naps, we just spent the rest of the day playing in the house hanging out together. On Sunday, I got another call from Target asking if I would come in early (does this mean I am a valued employee?). After a brief discussion with Trav, I agreed and got ready for another long day (6 and a half hours) of work. This time I worked the late afternoon/night shift which meant Trav would have the kids all to himself for supper and bedtime. Again, when I got home, both kids were sound asleep and Trav was laying in bed himself. As usual, I had to comment on the greatness of his ability to handle everything so well (a little encouragement goes a long way with him) while I was away making some money (albeit, a little money) for the family. After the long weekend for both of us, we were both ready to get things back to usual which meant Trav was out working, and I was home with the kids, just the way I like it! I will say though, he must really wear out the kids when he has them to himself as they are both taking naps right now and have both passed their usual nap times - Lauren is going on 2 and a half hours and Ryan is going on 2 hours - just means a little more blogging time for mom!
I am counting down the days until the big 3-0! In less than one week I will no longer be in my twenties - kind of depressing, but the party to come is sure to brighten my outlook!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Meet Dave
Ryan has a history of coming up with some unusual names for some of his toys and stuffed animals. For instance, he has a dalmatian which he named, "Dalmatians", and a snake he named, "snake", and best yet, twins robots he named, "Rex" and "Dave." So I was surprised today when he introduced me to yet another one of his buddies, "Dave", the turtle. I don't know what it is about the name "Dave" but he really seems to like it. Lucky for us, the robot and the turtle look nothing a like so it should be pretty easy to figure out which "Dave" is which. Having "Dave" as his new best friend today was great for Ryan and he was really happy, but the day got even better when he was picking out clothes to wear. He opens his drawer and grabs a gray shirt he has never worn before. I take it and get ready to put it on him when I notice that it is a turtle neck and I'm not sure he will like it. So I tell him, "this is a turtle neck, are you sure you want to wear it?" He says, "a turtle what?" I explain that the shirt is called a turtle neck and that it will cover his neck higher than his other shirts do and it might get kind of itchy and hot. He doesn't care and insists on wearing the "turtle shirt" cause Dave will like it and they will both be turtles - of course, I should have guessed. I wish getting dressed was that easy everyday.
Yes, that itty-bitty little thing in Ryan's hands is Dave the turtle. He is so small he fits in Ryan's pockets that way he can never lose him - what a deal.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Here he goes again . . .
It seems every so often Ryan will come up with a new set of sayings. For instance, he was real big on using "terrible mess" for a while. When anything happened, it didn't matter if just a speck of food was dropped on the floor, or someone knocked over a cup of juice, everything was a "terrible mess." And just so you know, Lauren usually made at least three or four "terrible messes" a day which Ryan would point out immediately - such a good helper. Anyway, it seems he has picked up on a couple of new phrases lately and is putting them all to good use. A couple of examples . . .
"Pokey" - I am constantly telling Ryan he is "pokey" because he takes sooo long to do stuff - pick up your toys, brush teeth, go potty, or the worst yet, eat - I can literally start his meal about 20 minutes early than the rest of us and he is still the last one at the table. Anyway, he apparently got sick of hearing me telling him how "pokey" he is so he tried it out on Lauren the other day. So there we were playing a little "ring around the rosy" when Lauren apparently takes to long to fall down so Ryan gives her arm a good tug and whips her to the ground (she of course thought it was fun, I was not happy). So I ask him why he did that and he says, "she was being pokey, I just helped her." Funny how he manages to see himself as the good guy in that instance. Anyway, I told him Lauren can be a little pokey still because she is still a baby so he agreed not to do it again. We'll see how long that lasts.
"Dog dang it" - I know I've written before that Ryan said "dognamit" instead of "god dang it" or worse, "god damn it", but now he is getting closer to the real thing and I'm sure it is just a matter of time before he figures out the real saying and starts using it - I can hardly wait for the day. Anyway, we (the kids and I) were getting ready for lunch the other day when I ask Ryan to give Lauren her sippy cup. Being the good helper he is, he takes the cup from me and sets it on Lauren's tray. About 30 seconds after he sets it there, she drops the cup on the ground (this is a fun little activity she does at almost every meal). So Ryan turns around and picks the cup back up and puts it back on Lauren's tray. She of course takes the cup and immediately drops it on the ground again (by this time she is all smiles). Ryan picks up the cup again and puts it back on the tray. Lauren grabs the cup and drops it for a 3rd time. By now Ryan has had it. He stomps over to the cup, bends over to pick it up, and says, "dog dang it Lauren stop it!" (I would like to say that he was not mimicking some of my previous actions, but unfortunately that would not be true). Instead of giving her the cup back, he sets it on the table just out of her reach (another trick he has learned from me). I just had to stand back and laugh as I witnessed what I must look like everyday - such a strict little man he is becoming.
And finally, "any bear can be broken" - this is a little different than the other two phrases because at first, I had no idea what he was talking about. One day, completely out of the blue he says to me, "I need my gloves mom, any bear can be broken." I'm like, okay, so what does that mean. So I ask him what gloves he needs - "my camouflage ones", and then ask what he is doing - response, "any bear can be broken." So I get his gloves and sit back and watch him "break the bear" still having no idea what he is talking about. As I am sitting there watching him, he says, "Sargent, Sargent", oh, that must be me, so I respond with "yes sir." Ryan says, "watch, any bear can be broken" as he walks around in circles. We go on like this for a couple of minutes with me still confused and not really sure what we're doing, but heck, Ryan is having fun so who cares. Finally he says, "look it's Spirit and the good Indians." What the heck is he talking about now? Then it hits me, "Spirit" is a movie that Grandma Connie has, which has horses, Indians, and Army men in it. As I'm thinking about this, I remember a scene (hard to forget when I've seen the movie a couple hundred times) where one of the army men is trying to ride a horse and can't do it. Then another guy tries it and says, "any mare can be broken." Apparently in Ryan's world, mare became bear, and there you have it, any bear can be broken (only if you are wearing your special camouflage gloves mind you). Now that I know what Ryan is talking about, we get to play this little game almost daily - yet another made up game Ryan has managed to come up with.
"Pokey" - I am constantly telling Ryan he is "pokey" because he takes sooo long to do stuff - pick up your toys, brush teeth, go potty, or the worst yet, eat - I can literally start his meal about 20 minutes early than the rest of us and he is still the last one at the table. Anyway, he apparently got sick of hearing me telling him how "pokey" he is so he tried it out on Lauren the other day. So there we were playing a little "ring around the rosy" when Lauren apparently takes to long to fall down so Ryan gives her arm a good tug and whips her to the ground (she of course thought it was fun, I was not happy). So I ask him why he did that and he says, "she was being pokey, I just helped her." Funny how he manages to see himself as the good guy in that instance. Anyway, I told him Lauren can be a little pokey still because she is still a baby so he agreed not to do it again. We'll see how long that lasts.
"Dog dang it" - I know I've written before that Ryan said "dognamit" instead of "god dang it" or worse, "god damn it", but now he is getting closer to the real thing and I'm sure it is just a matter of time before he figures out the real saying and starts using it - I can hardly wait for the day. Anyway, we (the kids and I) were getting ready for lunch the other day when I ask Ryan to give Lauren her sippy cup. Being the good helper he is, he takes the cup from me and sets it on Lauren's tray. About 30 seconds after he sets it there, she drops the cup on the ground (this is a fun little activity she does at almost every meal). So Ryan turns around and picks the cup back up and puts it back on Lauren's tray. She of course takes the cup and immediately drops it on the ground again (by this time she is all smiles). Ryan picks up the cup again and puts it back on the tray. Lauren grabs the cup and drops it for a 3rd time. By now Ryan has had it. He stomps over to the cup, bends over to pick it up, and says, "dog dang it Lauren stop it!" (I would like to say that he was not mimicking some of my previous actions, but unfortunately that would not be true). Instead of giving her the cup back, he sets it on the table just out of her reach (another trick he has learned from me). I just had to stand back and laugh as I witnessed what I must look like everyday - such a strict little man he is becoming.
And finally, "any bear can be broken" - this is a little different than the other two phrases because at first, I had no idea what he was talking about. One day, completely out of the blue he says to me, "I need my gloves mom, any bear can be broken." I'm like, okay, so what does that mean. So I ask him what gloves he needs - "my camouflage ones", and then ask what he is doing - response, "any bear can be broken." So I get his gloves and sit back and watch him "break the bear" still having no idea what he is talking about. As I am sitting there watching him, he says, "Sargent, Sargent", oh, that must be me, so I respond with "yes sir." Ryan says, "watch, any bear can be broken" as he walks around in circles. We go on like this for a couple of minutes with me still confused and not really sure what we're doing, but heck, Ryan is having fun so who cares. Finally he says, "look it's Spirit and the good Indians." What the heck is he talking about now? Then it hits me, "Spirit" is a movie that Grandma Connie has, which has horses, Indians, and Army men in it. As I'm thinking about this, I remember a scene (hard to forget when I've seen the movie a couple hundred times) where one of the army men is trying to ride a horse and can't do it. Then another guy tries it and says, "any mare can be broken." Apparently in Ryan's world, mare became bear, and there you have it, any bear can be broken (only if you are wearing your special camouflage gloves mind you). Now that I know what Ryan is talking about, we get to play this little game almost daily - yet another made up game Ryan has managed to come up with.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Holy blood!
So I went to get Lauren up from her morning nap today and this is what I saw . . . 
Doesn't she look like she just went through a tough battle and came up on the short end? In reality, she just had a nosebleed - no big deal. This of course had to happen about 20 minutes before we were leaving to get Ryan from school so we had to do a quick bath, strip the bedding, and gather all of her goodies (her big blanket, her little blanket, and her stuffed animal, "Ruby") and throw them all in the wash as she somehow managed to get the blood everywhere. My guess - she saw some blood, stuck her fingers in it, and then proceeded to touch everything she could think of - typical Lauren. After the bloodbath, we picked up Ryan from his first day back at school since Christmas break. Boy was he ready to get back there! His teacher told me he spent half of his time at school trying to catch her up on the events of his life during the past two weeks - she said he managed to cover the big highlights, Santa, presents, and more presents, and mentioned a few other things in passing whenever he could get a word in. I'm sure the kid has been dying to talk to someone else besides Trav and I, after all, we usually know everything he tells us so it isn't as much fun. After school, it was lunch and then naps - thank god we are back to our normal routine, it was getting crazy there for a while with the kids eating and sleeping whenever we got around to it with all the holiday parties and gatherings we've had lately. But, now things are back to normal and the kids seem to like it that way. After naps, we took advantage of the mild weather and headed outside to build a snowman Ryan named "Frosty." I don't think "Frosty" will make it through the night as his head is a bit wobbly, but we'll see.
Another day down, just a little over a month until we are laying on the beaches in Mexico - I can hardly wait to get out of this cold weather!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
2009 - The Year in Review
Lots of big things happened during the year for the members of the Quast family so I thought I'd run through a few highlights for everyone starting with the oldest, and most mature member of the family - Travis.
Let's see, for starters, Trav is continuing to hone his skills when it comes to household duties and projects. For the first time since we have lived in this house (which is going on 4 years) I can honestly say he has done more yard work than I have. To make his life a little easier, we installed a in-ground sprinkler system this past spring. I find it kind of ironic that when I used to do the watering, I was just being a baby when I complained about having to lug the hoses around, but when the responsibility becomes his, we get a sprinkler system. Oh well, whatever works I guess, at least we have nice soft grass for the kids to play on. Aside from the yard work, Trav has also taken on a few minor household projects and accomplished most of them in a timely manner. He still has his issues though and I usually know when he starts dropping the f-bomb, it is time for me to step in and help, or run for dear life - I'm never really sure what he wants so it is always kind of shaky territory. Regardless of how long things take him, or how grumpy he gets when accomplishing his tasks, we still appreciate his effort and would probably live in a ramshackle house without him.
Moving on to me . . . I continue to be a stay-at-home mom and would like to think I have mastered the art of multi-tasking. Seriously, I can wash laundry, dust, and play a board game all at once - how many people can say that? I also find myself pregnant again (although I guess that was a joint effort so I maybe should give Trav some credit on that as well). Pregnancy this time around has been a bit more difficult than the previous two, but is still manageable and we are all very excited for the arrival of the new baby girl in May. Aside from my motherly duties I am the Quast Family accountant, interior designer (although I'm not all that impressed with my abilities in this area), taxi driver, and maid (and pretty much anything else you can think of). It may not be a glamorous lifestyle, but it is one that suits me well and one that I am becoming more and more accustomed to each day.
Let's move onto the real interesting people in the household . . . the kids. Up first, Ryan. Ryan continues to be our social butterfly. Put him in a group of people and he'll have told them all our life story in the first fifteen minutes of meeting them. He continues to make new friends at school and enjoys getting out and about. Although he is only half way through school, he is already excited about going to kindergarten next year and riding the bus all by himself (too bad his mom isn't as excited about that idea as he is and might just ruin it for him by insisting on driving him to school). Ryan has adjusted well to the idea of being a big brother again. Apparently he was so excited when he found out that he felt the need to share the news with pretty much everyone he ran into - that made our job of spreading the news that much easier. His biggest, and newest accomplishment this year is moving into his new bedroom in the basement. So far he loves it and isn't sad about leaving his old room. I'm hoping these feeling continue when finds out that we are going to paint the old room and move Lauren in - we'll have to wait and see.
And finally, the babe of the family (although not for much longer), Lauren. The older Lauren gets the funnier she gets. Too bad funny and naughty sometimes get mixed up at this age, but for now, we'll just enjoy it. The other night Trav was giving Lauren a bath. All was fine until she started getting carried away with her splashing. Pretty soon she is taking cupfuls of water and pouring them over the edge of the bathtub. Trav tells her to stop or she's going to timeout - her reaction . . . stare him right in the face (never breaking eye contact), fill up her glass with water, and casually pour it all over the floor. The best part is, the more he tells her to stop, the more she keeps pouring the water, all the while she is staring him down waiting for him to make a move. He said he finally had to laugh because he couldn't believe she just kept doing it - such a good little listener. Seriously though, Lauren is truly a riot to be around. She is always happy and pretty much keeps herself busy with her babies and whatever else she find lying around. I would love to live in her happy little world and find the most dull and boring things so interesting. And I have saved the best for last, Lauren's biggest accomplishment of the year - drum roll please . . . she finally talks! She may not say much, but at least she is trying now. Pretty much everything we say she'll try and repeat. Granted it doesn't always come out right, but at least I know she is capable of speaking. I guess this is like everything else is with Lauren - she does it on her time, when it works for her, not when I want her to - just a little bit stubborn. Here is some video of the little lady in action.
I hope everyone had a great 2009! We look forward to everything to come in the year ahead and can't wait to meet the newest member of the family come May (early May please).
Let's see, for starters, Trav is continuing to hone his skills when it comes to household duties and projects. For the first time since we have lived in this house (which is going on 4 years) I can honestly say he has done more yard work than I have. To make his life a little easier, we installed a in-ground sprinkler system this past spring. I find it kind of ironic that when I used to do the watering, I was just being a baby when I complained about having to lug the hoses around, but when the responsibility becomes his, we get a sprinkler system. Oh well, whatever works I guess, at least we have nice soft grass for the kids to play on. Aside from the yard work, Trav has also taken on a few minor household projects and accomplished most of them in a timely manner. He still has his issues though and I usually know when he starts dropping the f-bomb, it is time for me to step in and help, or run for dear life - I'm never really sure what he wants so it is always kind of shaky territory. Regardless of how long things take him, or how grumpy he gets when accomplishing his tasks, we still appreciate his effort and would probably live in a ramshackle house without him.
Moving on to me . . . I continue to be a stay-at-home mom and would like to think I have mastered the art of multi-tasking. Seriously, I can wash laundry, dust, and play a board game all at once - how many people can say that? I also find myself pregnant again (although I guess that was a joint effort so I maybe should give Trav some credit on that as well). Pregnancy this time around has been a bit more difficult than the previous two, but is still manageable and we are all very excited for the arrival of the new baby girl in May. Aside from my motherly duties I am the Quast Family accountant, interior designer (although I'm not all that impressed with my abilities in this area), taxi driver, and maid (and pretty much anything else you can think of). It may not be a glamorous lifestyle, but it is one that suits me well and one that I am becoming more and more accustomed to each day.
Let's move onto the real interesting people in the household . . . the kids. Up first, Ryan. Ryan continues to be our social butterfly. Put him in a group of people and he'll have told them all our life story in the first fifteen minutes of meeting them. He continues to make new friends at school and enjoys getting out and about. Although he is only half way through school, he is already excited about going to kindergarten next year and riding the bus all by himself (too bad his mom isn't as excited about that idea as he is and might just ruin it for him by insisting on driving him to school). Ryan has adjusted well to the idea of being a big brother again. Apparently he was so excited when he found out that he felt the need to share the news with pretty much everyone he ran into - that made our job of spreading the news that much easier. His biggest, and newest accomplishment this year is moving into his new bedroom in the basement. So far he loves it and isn't sad about leaving his old room. I'm hoping these feeling continue when finds out that we are going to paint the old room and move Lauren in - we'll have to wait and see.
And finally, the babe of the family (although not for much longer), Lauren. The older Lauren gets the funnier she gets. Too bad funny and naughty sometimes get mixed up at this age, but for now, we'll just enjoy it. The other night Trav was giving Lauren a bath. All was fine until she started getting carried away with her splashing. Pretty soon she is taking cupfuls of water and pouring them over the edge of the bathtub. Trav tells her to stop or she's going to timeout - her reaction . . . stare him right in the face (never breaking eye contact), fill up her glass with water, and casually pour it all over the floor. The best part is, the more he tells her to stop, the more she keeps pouring the water, all the while she is staring him down waiting for him to make a move. He said he finally had to laugh because he couldn't believe she just kept doing it - such a good little listener. Seriously though, Lauren is truly a riot to be around. She is always happy and pretty much keeps herself busy with her babies and whatever else she find lying around. I would love to live in her happy little world and find the most dull and boring things so interesting. And I have saved the best for last, Lauren's biggest accomplishment of the year - drum roll please . . . she finally talks! She may not say much, but at least she is trying now. Pretty much everything we say she'll try and repeat. Granted it doesn't always come out right, but at least I know she is capable of speaking. I guess this is like everything else is with Lauren - she does it on her time, when it works for her, not when I want her to - just a little bit stubborn. Here is some video of the little lady in action.
I hope everyone had a great 2009! We look forward to everything to come in the year ahead and can't wait to meet the newest member of the family come May (early May please).
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!!
We rang in the New Year with our neighbors, some of their friends, and a bunch of kids. I love hanging out with the neighbors; no driving, no travel, easy to pack up and walk the 20 feet to their door, plus they are fun - what could be better? There were four couples, each of us having two kids, so it was a busy house! Luckily we all had kids roughly around the same ages so everyone had someone to play with which meant the adults got to have some uninterrupted (okay, mildly uninterrupted) conversations. As the night progressed, the kids started going to bed until only Ryan and Jack (a new friend) were left. The boys made it all the way to midnight and helped ring in the New Year before they crashed - this was the first time I can ever think of that Ryan has been up that late. Oh well, I guess New Year's only happens once a year so letting him live it up wasn't such a bad thing. It was close to 3 am before we all made it back home and into bed - yes, 3am! I can't remember the last night I was up that late. As usual, the next morning came way too early, but somehow I managed to crawl out of bed and not feel like crap - yeah!. Ryan and Trav both slept in until close to 10am while Lauren and I were up and at 'em bright an early (7:30am). When everyone finally managed to wake up, we had a lazy morning just hanging out. After a while, I was feeling energized so I headed to the gym for my first workout of the year. With my workout done, I headed home, showered, made lunch for everyone, and that it was nap time for the entire house, and nap we did! It was apparent how tired we were when I finally woke up around 5pm (went to sleep around 1pm) and realized Ryan was still sleeping. Trav and Lauren were already up (he owed me as I took the early morning shift) so I headed downstairs to join them. After a while we had supper, and then got ready to give Lauren a bath. It was during this time that we heard Ryan getting up. He came walking out of his room and looked at Trav and said, "I lost my pajamas, and look at my clothes, why do I have them on?" He thought it was morning and couldn't figure out how his jammies got off and his clothes got on - talk about confusing. It took a couple of minutes and some talking before Ryan realized it was still the same day and he just woke up from a nap, and not a night of sleep - poor kid. Apparently the night took its toll on him too. After a couple hours of being awake, we're all headed back to bed again - this time to sleep for the night. Just another lazy day at the Quast household.
I hope everyone had a great New Year's celebration and will have a great 2009!
My resolution: be more patient and try to enjoy everything instead of always looking ahead to the next project, or day, or week - it will all be here soon enough and I can deal with it then.
I hope everyone had a great New Year's celebration and will have a great 2009!
My resolution: be more patient and try to enjoy everything instead of always looking ahead to the next project, or day, or week - it will all be here soon enough and I can deal with it then.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Loken Family Christmas
And finally, round #3 - the Loken Family Christmas (my side of the family). With Lauren still is tough shape, we loaded up the kiddies (and a whole bunch of other stuff) and headed to Buffalo to spend Christmas Day with my family at Auntie's new house. And yet again, lots of people, lots of food, and lots of presents! By this time, Ryan has become a pro at opening presents, so good in fact, he usually ends up "helping" Lauren open her gifts as well - just another "brotherly duty" he is more than happy to help out with.
And yes, the kids are wearing the same shrits they had on at the Quast Family Christmas - I paid for them, and they are going to wear them as much as possible before the holidays are over! The highlight of the day for Ryan was a snowmobile ride with Mike (Auntie's boyfriend) around the lake. Before the ride, Ryan didn't even know what a snowmobile was, after it, he wanted one - pretty sure that's not going to happen, but lucky for us, we know when Mike lives. Here are some pictures of the boys getting ready for thier big ride.
Christmas 2008 is officially over. I'm kind of bummed as it was really fun to watch Ryan this year as he finally started to figure out what Christmas was all about. He was so excited about everything; Santa, reindeers, snowmen, etc. - it was like being a little kid again myself. It's over for this year, but it can only get better in the years to come as Ryan starts to share his Christmas wisdom with Lauren - I can only imagine the stories he will tell. I hope everyone had as much fun this Christmas as we did - Merry Christmas!!
And yes, the kids are wearing the same shrits they had on at the Quast Family Christmas - I paid for them, and they are going to wear them as much as possible before the holidays are over! The highlight of the day for Ryan was a snowmobile ride with Mike (Auntie's boyfriend) around the lake. Before the ride, Ryan didn't even know what a snowmobile was, after it, he wanted one - pretty sure that's not going to happen, but lucky for us, we know when Mike lives. Here are some pictures of the boys getting ready for thier big ride. Christmas 2008 is officially over. I'm kind of bummed as it was really fun to watch Ryan this year as he finally started to figure out what Christmas was all about. He was so excited about everything; Santa, reindeers, snowmen, etc. - it was like being a little kid again myself. It's over for this year, but it can only get better in the years to come as Ryan starts to share his Christmas wisdom with Lauren - I can only imagine the stories he will tell. I hope everyone had as much fun this Christmas as we did - Merry Christmas!!
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