Bibical Virtues and Children of the camera

I have decided that the month of October I will be posting the 31 Bibical Virtues to pray for your kids by Bob Hostetler.

We all have or know of a child and all child need prayer so please pray along with me for these 31 days.
Day 1

And now onto one of those little precious children. How do you tell that you have a child who's mom loves to take pictures?(I have told some of you this story already) Let me tell you....Colton was in the kitchen and I was in the office. In comes Colton and makes his little noise that I'm suppose to follow him. I follow him and he shows me that he is hiding in the pantry cabinet. I say "yes, I see you are in the cabinet." I then proceed to go back to the office. Little Mister follows me and does the little noise to follow him so I go again and see the same thing as he climbs into the cabinet. I go back to the office and sure enough here he comes again and this time he makes his noise but also points. I follow the pointing and my eyes land on my camera. So I take the camera and we go back into the kitchen, Colton climbs in and smiles. I guess he thought this was a moment we should be capturing for the future..........

keeping busy and picture proofing

Well the first week of pre-school is done and over with. Last Friday Caden woke up and asked if he had school. I said no so he replied maybe we should sign up for it. I'm so happy he likes school. Although last Thursday after school I asked him what he learned and he said nothing . I said you said you learned nothing on Tuesday also. He replied "well I guess I don't learn anything in school so I should just go to gymnastics, I learn a lot there." Hmmm ... I hope that isn't saying anything bad about our school system here. I have heard very good reports about the elementary school. We were on the local news the other night because we are implimenting a new security feature. Now if you want to get into the school you have to be buzzed in by the office. There will be no doors unlocked after the morning drop off. It is nice to know that they have control over who comes in but it is a pain to buzz, sign in, get a sticker, pick up Caden, sign out and leave all in under 7 minutes. Oh well it's for the children.

We started an ECFE class today. It is a class where the parents are with the children the first half and then we leave and do a parent discussion and the kids play. The nice part is that both Caden and Colton are in the same class because it is a birth to 5 class. Caden said Colton didn't cry once when I left. And since it's held in Caden's school he felt pretty comfortable also.

Last weekend we attended my sister Amy's wedding. It was a clear cold day with the bride and bridesmaids shivering but smiles where all around. The boys loved swimming in the pool and spending time with daddy while I took pictures. We also tried to get a family picture but with 2 little boys who seem to have their attention everywhere but focused at the camera is very difficult.

Stay tuned for the next post where I tell you how you know you have a child that is very used to a camera being in front of his face all the time.

Every good and perfect gift is from above.
James 1:17

First Day of Pre-School!

Well my first born baby did it! He went off to his first day of pre-school. He was so excited the night before he couldn't sleep. I think he fell asleep around 10:30. I walked him into the classroom, he opened his locker, hung up his back pack and went on his. So Colton and I walked out of the school and headed to MOPS. When we went to pick him up he said "School is fun. I want to go again!" I wonder how long that excitement will last? Here are a few pics of him before we left this morning.

Looks like someone wants to go with Caden to school!



Caden and his teacher Ms. Heather

Beep, Beep...Backing up....

OK Miss Jackie this post is for you! The days are just passing by and before you know it a month has ended summer and a new month brings in the Fall season. LOVE this season! Okay let us go waaay back to the beginning of August shall we?
The first week of August was spent at Lake Osakis with the Braun side. Caden was so excited to go fishing. He had fun fishing as long as there was a fish to reel in. He has informed me that he caught a total of 6 fish.

Caden also got to make jewelry and bake cookies with aunt Vicky.

Colton had fun running around-he really started moving at the lake. He loved being in the water and trying lake es cargo!

We also celebrated Colton and Gracie's 1yr birthday at the lake. Caden kept saying I love sugar! And yes he did have his fair share of sugar that week-as did the rest of us!

Caden also enjoyed his first season of soccer. It was fun watching him.


He spent more time watching the other kids than playing soccer but so did a few of the kids.

If they weren't playing with each other they were all on the field surrounding the soccer ball.

On August 15th I picked up my sister Amy at the airport. She flew in from Alaska. She spent a few days with us that included watching Caden play soccer, shopping, hosting a bridal shower, shopping, hanging out, shopping...well you get the idea...Bethel Alaska does not only have limited shopping it also has a triple price tag on everything. Amy would laugh as we strolled down the aisles looking at the cheap prices. I guess I wouldn't want to pay $8 for a bag of Doritos either.We also went swimming at Lisa's house. Caden had fun in the pool and Colton spent his time trying to get away from Luci, Lisa's dog. Colton has a "thing" with dogs-doesn't really like them. Although by the end of our time there he was getting better-less screaming. Caden also walked away with some great little gifts from Lisa. Some NASCAR 3M merchandise. Lisa is a flight attendant for 3M so she was heading out to a race in a few days but had some goodies for Caden.

On August 28 Caden got to meet his teacher Ms. Heather. She seemed really nice and Caden is excited to start school.
So there you have August not a lot happened but we kept our days full with soccer, lake, MOMS club, MOPS meetings, and playing in the backyard.

O Lord my God, I take refuge in you.
Psalm 7:1

Flying by.....camps and birthday

July is coming to an end..does that mean summer has to end too? Caden is done with camps. Last week he finished his water water everywhere summer sizzlers camp at our church. Miss Lois is awesome. She has everything planned out to the littlest detail and that is what makes the kids want to stay and want to learn. Caden learned a new song so if you want to hear it ask him next time you see him. I might try and get it taped also-it's really cute. No pics of water water everywhere so I'll leave you with this.......

What is this you ask? Why it is the new 4 year old American Turtle

Caden had brought me a teenage mutant ninja turtle and said he wanted to dress like him....so we did a little improvising and came up with a better turtle...who wouldn't want to be an American Turtle. Especially if you look this cute doing it.
Oh yes....we cannot forget a very big event that happened on the 22nd. Our little Mister baby turned ONE!

This year went by too fast. Colton is such a happy little baby. Our little 1 yr. old is tottering around, more steps each day-although he prefers to crawl, his favorite foods are blueberries(takes after Caden!), grapes, strawberries, any fruit really and oatmeal-oh we cannot forget chocolate teddy grahams. We are introducing more foods each day.The only dislike we have found so far is peas-he actually gags when you put them in his mouth! He also lets you know which foods he prefers. The other day I had blueberries and Cheerios on his highchair. He was putting in the blueberries and accidentally grabbed a Cheerio-it went in and came right back out! He no longer has the bottle and really had no problem giving it up. The nuk on the other hand could give us a wee bit of a struggle. He loves napping in his crib and car seat. The baby toys don't hold his interest much anymore.

Even in the church nursery they opened up to the 1yr. room and that is where he climbed, walked, pushed and pulled-he loves that room.He can scribble with a crayon on paper. He thinks he is really a big boy when he does this-loves paper and pens. We had his 1 year check up. He did really well until the shots came, the nurse got the evil eye after that. Colton weighs 18 lbs 14oz (so no forward facing yet little guy-gotta pack in the protein and gain some weight!), he is 29 inches long and his head is 18.25 inches. Caden at this age was 21 lbs 7 oz and 28.75 inches long.
Happy Birthday Little Mister! Heidi from the Retro continued our new birthday tradition and put Colton's name on the sign!

"And God himself has said that one must love not only God but his brother too."

1 John 4:21

Where does the time go?

Can anyone answer that for me? It's the middle of July with one more month to go before fall starts. I love Fall but.......I know what comes after that.

Well I guess this will be a mish-mosh post of a little bit of this and a little bit of that catch up.....

On June 30 we headed over to Green Lake to visit Randy, Donna and Noelle and Kate(Amber had left the night before to go to a friends cabin) Keith, Jill and the kids also came up. It was a fun day. Caden brought his digital camera and took some pics of the day but that is a post all to itself:). He had a great time tubing until he and Doug bumped heads-then he wanted off.

Caden spent most of the day at the beach and "pool" otherwise known to most of us as-the lake.

Colton loved his freedom and crawled all over the place-still a little unsteady on his feet but going farther each day.

One of Caden's favorite parts was making smores or should I say roasting the marshmallows because he did not like the smores! He needs to keep his food separate not smooshed together-unless it Reese's PB cups!

July 4th- we headed over to Delano to watch the parade. Caden was so excited-he again took his camera and I think ran out of pictures before the 5th float went by. He wanted me to take pics of everything! We were at the end of this 2 mile parade(one of the longest routes in MN) so there was either no candy left or we got the rest of the bucket dumped by us. Caden came home with enough to rival trick-or-treating-a few days later it ended up in the garbage-he ate all the tootsie rolls. We then headed over to the carnival. Caden is one for fast rides-just like his father. So glad I don't have to go on those anymore. Daddy finally found his partner-now if Caden would grow a couple more inches he could actually go on the rides he really wants to:) (sorry I looked for July 4th pics and either downloaded to an odd place or erased before I downloaded! oh I hope not!)

July 9th- we started VBS this week. I say "we" because I volunteered a few days and Colton got to spend time in the nursery and Caden had loads of fun. I'm so happy he is enjoying his camps. We did take off thurs. and headed to the Sonshine Festival in Wilmar. I went to shoot some photos for my friend Amy's husband's band. We all had a great time. Caden and Liv got to play together and share a slushy and Cheetos-how much better can your day get?

July 14th-We headed out to A-maze'n Farmyard by Eden Valley.

We saw this place a few weeks ago when we were headed out to Green Lake. It is a small farmyard with mini golf, animals, a giant maze and slide.

Colton's favorite thing was the bouncy house. He was laughing so hard every time I jumped or stepped.

All three boys liked the giant slide. Colton preferred trying to crawl up rather than sliding down.

Caden got to ride another pony. He loves pony rides.

Caden gave the day a thumbs up with a wink! Must have been a great day!

July 17-My friend Dayna from Texas came up to visit family and spend time with friends so I hosted our 3rd annual girls and munchkins luncheon with her and Amy and the girls. It was great to see her again. We all met at Normandale when we were doing our teaching degree. Dayna was our center link-she introduced Amy and I. We all have teaching degrees but right now 2 of us are SAHM and Dayna went back to get her librarian degree-much better than having a classroom full time:)

The night before I put together little favor bags-who does love little treats:) I got the bags at the Target $1 spot(which is now 1/2 off). Inside I put in some B&BW lip gloss, B&BW lotion and a beaded bookmark I made that night:) I also glittered the tag with their initials. For napkin rings I used Martha Stewart's mini pom poms. I also did a huge one to hang from the fan. I love crafty details!

I got Caden and Liv lollipops from Target $1spot also. Caden was in charge of their places setting. He wanted ribbon around the boxes and had finding nemo napkins, spiderman plates and napkins. He did a great job!

He also made our center piece:

Here is the gang-I cannot wait until next year!

Well I think that gets us caught up! Whew! Colton's birthday is in a few days so another post should be up after that:)

"The Lord is gracious and compassionate."

Psalm 145:8

Visit to the farm, another sharp feeling and a waddle waddle here and there...

Last week we spent time in South Dakota visiting Grandma and Grandpa Gronke along with Uncle Nick and Stacie, Levi, Trevor and Little Miss Averie. Both of the boys had fun on the farm. They got to "drive" the tractors.

While out there Little Mister had another tooth pop through. Well almost pop through- I can see it but it doesn't seem to be through that layer of skin yet. He also performed four steps for us. Yes- he did his little waddle-waddle all by himself. He is still unsteady but thinks he's pretty cool walking. He is really good at walking with the little push toys. His walk kind of reminds me of a stiff march! I'll have to video record that and put it on here. Colton also discovered his like for Rice Krispies. It is so cute to watch those little fingers try and grab the puffs of rice and then gum it down. Of course I did take pictures of that-who can take 40 pictures of a kid eating Rice Krispies? Why his mother of course!!

Trying to get the puffs in between your finger and thumb is the trick-never mind the 20 that are already stuck to your hand and arm.

Now into the mouth-with all that are stuck to the hand and arm at least one in bound to get stuck to the tongue.

The farther you push your hand in the better your chances are that one will stick.

Okay now gum it to the front and gnaw it until it is dissolved.

Caden was very patient waiting for his turn at picture posing. I believe we got about 20 of him and his toys.

Caden and one of his favorite type of books. "I SPY"-he loves to spy things. He chose this pose by himself.

This week we have MOMS club meetings, strawberry picking, church meetings for VBS, and on Thursday I get to be the reader at the Retro Fountain and Roast in Loretto for MOMS club. Caden always enjoys going there. They have the best grape soda and biggest chocolate chip cookies ever!