Snow, snow, snow

December is nearly gone, so it seems there is a lot to catch up on. After being in Lincoln for almost 10 years now, we finally went to the Star City Parade. It's usually too cold, or snowing. This year it was cold, but not horrible. The kids enjoyed it a lot. After the parade we met up with friends at Spilker's Tree Farm to get our Christmas tree. And then last week brought Lincoln 11" of snow. Jonathan ended up having 3 snow days. Mom and dad got 1 1/2 snow days. It's hasn't warmed up much, so most of the snow still remains on the ground. We're looking forward to staying at home for Christmas this year and being visited by family from Kansas.

The kids enjoyed playing at Spilker's tree farm and picking out the perfect tree.

A few pictures of the snow storm.

With Christmas a week away the kids are ready and waiting to be Santa's lil' helpers.

Merry Christmas!

October 2009

October was a busy month for us. We had a chance to visit the pumpkin patch at Rocca Berry Farm before the seasonal sickness kicked in for the kiddos. Jonathan finished up his fall soccer season. The boys were all given medals for their soccer talents. It was about mid-October when mom got in gear and made this year's Halloween costumes-ROBOTS. It was a challenge, but great fun. (I'm not sure what we'll come up with for next year). The kids both had fall parties at their schools with fun games and a few yummy treats to enjoy.
We went to the annual pumpkin carving party, held at the Erb home this year. Boo at the Zoo followed just a few days after. Jonathan had fall break the last week of October and Gramma Wally was kind enough to come down and hang out with Jonathan and Johanna the whole week. They had a blast! And finally, Halloween arrived. Mah and Pops came up from KS to join in the trick-or-treating fun. Jonathan and Johanna enjoyed sifting through all their Halloween treats and spending some time with Mah and Pops. October is always a fun fall month. Enjoy the pics!

'tis the season

to be jolly? to be happy? nope. . . to be sick. Two weeks ago Jonathan was diagnosed with strep throat. Thanks to the yummy "pink stuff" medicine he felt great 12 hours later. And now just one day after finishing his 10 days of antibiotics, he's sick again. It isn't confirmed yet, but we're pretty sure his strep has returned.
We're just waiting for the other shoe to drop, when Johanna gets sick. We found out today that there are two confirmed cases of H1N1 at her daycare. Sometimes I wonder if we should just put them in a bubble from September -June.

We'll do our best not to infect anyone.

The Langfald's Visit Nebraska

Our annual visit with the Langfalds took place in Nebraska this year over labor day weekend. They arrived Saturday morning and left Monday afternoon. We had a fun time playing around the house, going to the park, grilling out, and visiting the childrens museum. Jonathan and Dani were so excited to see each other. We were so glad they got to come visit. Johanna enjoyed the extra attention from Jack and playing with Dani's baby doll.

We're so proud of Daddy!

Daddy completed his first triathlon at the end of August. He trained this summer with the kids. Jonathan would ride his bike on the bike trail, while Daddy and Johanna followed behind with the running stroller. He did awesome and we're so proud of him.

1st Day of Kindergarten

So we're a little behind on posting the 1st day of kindergarten. But I'm happy to report that after almost two weeks, Jonathan still loves kindergarten. We have multiple questions for him every day after he comes home from school. He likes his teacher, is meeting some new friends, and enjoys lunch time.

I was sure that the tears would flow on the first day (for me), not Jonathan. But I actually did really well. My goal was not to cry in front of Jonathan and I succeeded. He's doing great and seems to really be enjoying it. He picked out a really nice KC Chiefs backpack.

Lost tooth, Saltdogs game & camping

I'm trying to cram in all our recent activities and events into one post, so bear with me. Jonathan recently lost his first tooth. It was loose for a few weeks and eating corn on the cob one day for lunch did the trick. Jonathan was very excited. The tooth fairy visited while we were camping.

Last week we got to go to a Lincoln Saltdogs game. Jonathan participated in Lincoln's Summer Reading Program. All the kids who participated got to be in a parade before the game and walk around the edge of the field. We had a fun time and captured a few great moments.

We took the kids on our first camping trip to Waubonsie State Park located in Iowa about an hour from Lincoln. We spent the afternoon setting up camp and exploring the area around us. Daddy made some wonderful burgers over the campfire and we enjoyed s'mores afterward. The kids didn't wind down and go to bed until about 10:00. One of the best parts about camping was looking up at all the stars. You just don't see stars in city, like you do out in the country-it was so wonderful. Daddy made breakfast on the camping stove we borrowed the next morning and we headed out to take a hike. The hike ended up to be quite an adventure. We ended up on a trail that was much longer than the mile long hike we thought was ahead of us. There was grass two feet taller than Jonathan and we used a stick to avoid running into spider webs. Johanna fell asleep about half way through the hike, mom and dad got to take turns carrying her up and down hills. At last we reached a paved road and daddy ran back to the car so he could rescue us. All and all our first camping trip was a success and we hope to do again this fall.

Here, There and Everywhere

In July we took a trip up north to Minnesota to visit Papa and Gramma Wally. We took a nice long hike on one of the bluffs that overlook the city of Red Wing.

Jonathan and Johanna have been taking swimming lessons this summer. They both enjoyed it a lot.

Goggles are fun.

Daddy, Jonathan and Johanna spent much of the summer participating in Lincoln Safari, which involved driving all over Lincoln looking for small posts that had a "rubbing" on it. They found 31 posts and discovered many great parks in Lincoln.

Assorted Photos from a Busy Summer

We've been busy. All of these were taken within the last two weeks.

Watching the Omaha Royals play.


Jgirl running around one of the outdoor sculptures in Mommy's museum's collection before Jazz in June.


Swimming in the Pomona mud hole with cousin Amy.



Taken at cousin Scott's 4th of July party.



Playing chess in the tent before backyard camping.






Cannonball!


Potty training is going slow, but we're working on it.


On a bike ride at Pioneers' Park, moments before the accident (see below).



At the Zoo with Ernie.



Jman's last T-ball game. He didn't let his injuries keep him out of the game.



Walking back to the car after visiting the Nature Center to learn about turtles.

The Accident

The kids and Daddy loaded up our bikes and headed to Pioneers park for a scenic trek. I pulled Jgirl in her trailer while Jman was riding his new bike from cousin Jake. The trail leading into the park is wide, straight and flat. However, once you get into the park the trails become a bit too treacherous for someone who has only been riding for a few months.

At first, most of the downhills were followed immediately by steep uphills. Then we passed the area that is used for sledding in the winter. In retrospect, that should have been a huge clue that the trail was about to get steep. We were behind Jman and before I knew it he was out of sight. I don't think he touched his brakes at all. There were about three seconds where I knew he was going to crash, but couldn't do anything except wait.

Crash.

Scream. (I found out later that he screamed because he had just seen the playground and now wouldn't be able to play there.)

I'm not sure what exactly how he fell off the bike. It looked like he caught most of his weight on his left hand and then rolled onto his back. He clearly couldn't ride back to the car, so I hid his bike in some trees near the road, rinsed his wounds with my water bottle, and had him ride in the bike trailer with Jgirl. I pulled them the two miles back to the car and then drove back through the park to get his bike. At home, I got him bandaged up. He spent most of the afternoon watching Animaniacs. Mommy took these gory photos later in the evening.

He missed his swim lesson that afternoon. But he was able to play in his T-ball game on Saturday, which made Daddy feell a little better. He is more or less back to normal now. We will be spending the rest of the summer inside wearing suits made of bubble wrap.

Happy Families Wear Matching Shirts

For our Art Project this week we decorated some white T-shirts with fingerpaints. Jgirl got a bit messy, which is part of the fun.

We then put the T-shirts on and went to the Sheldon Museum to check out some art and have lunch with Mommy. We got lots of comments from her coworkers. On our way to the museum, some girl took our picture and then pretended like she hadn't.

This Sunday was Lincoln's big city bike ride, Trail Trek. We road ten miles in mid-70's weather. Mommy pulled Jgirl in the trailer while Jman rode the contraption pictured below.

When you sign up you get a water bottle and a T-shirt, which was blue this year. It's incredible to see several hundred people on bikes wearing matching shirts. The only downside is it's really hard to find your kids on the playground after the ride. Thirty running kids, all in blue. Here's a picture of us after the ride.

And here we are in matching outfits getting ready to play Shea Stadium in 1965.

Other thoughts from week 2 home with Daddy:

- The trips to the Grocery store are going to take some practice. Jgirl won't sit in the cart unless she has a snack. Should I chase her around the store or spoil her dinner? And for some reason Jman always has to poop. He seriously has dropped three number twos at Super Saver this year.

-Jman's T-ball game went well. He got to play first base one inning and had two putouts. One unassisted and one where the pitcher threw him the ball. Here's a picture of the unassisted out. It's a good action shot of both Jman and some little kid in the background who decided to take a tumble right when I took the picture.

-We've got a kiddie pool, sandbox and hammock set up in the backyard. It feels like summer.