SEVEN

Carter is SEVEN! For some reason, seven sounds old to me. I can't say " he's only 6" anymore when trying to defend some of the crazy stuff he does! Carter's birthday was last Wednesday so it was a school day, but good news was it was early out! He started the day off with a special breakfast of Lucky Charms! This really is a special breakfast as usually his dad has him eating nuts and a protein bar for breakfast. I was off that day, so was able to take a very special treat to school for him to share with his friends, Krispy Creme donuts! Since it was early out, we took him and two friends to spend the rest of the afternoon at Incredible Pizza Company. He choose his friends Hunter and Duke to join him. The boys had a blast playing video games, bowling, riding bumper cars and stuffing themselves with pizza!

 After we dropped the boys off, Carter opened the rest of his gifts at home. Thanks to everyone who sent a card, gift, or left a message for him! He is blessed with such great friends and family. 

 So for some reason the only two things he asked for was a Harry Potter wizard wand ( he has never seen any of the movies) and an Italian flag? Who knows why, but if any of you know Carter, once he gets an idea in his head it is impossible to shake it. So, wizard wand and Italian flag it was. Jeremy was in charge of buying both, I think he went a little overboard on the size of the flag! 

 Sunday evening we let him choose a special place to eat for supper. He chose Jethros BBQ and Jambalaya and ordered chicken strips and FF!!! Crazy kid! 

Once again, I interviewed him and this is what he came up with this year! 

Favorite food? Chicken nuggets

What do you want to be when you grow up? Football player

What is your favorite thing to play with? IPOD, but I wish we had an IPAD because that would probably be my favorite. 

What is your favorite color? Orange

What is your favorite movie? Charlotte's Web ( he just started reading that book) 

What is your favorite team? Huskers ( boo)

Where do you want to go on vacation? Hawaii

Who do you play with at school? Everyone, but mostly Alex, Joelle and Kpealbaeri

What is your favorite sport? Football

What is your favorite book? Any Skippy Jon Jones book

Why are you special? Because I am a good friend. 

Happy birthday buddy! We thank God daily for you and can't wait to see what the next year brings for you! 

Bits

1. Football season is here and no matter which team you root for, you gotta love cute kids all dressed up. Let's just say, this is what happens when dad is in charge of dressing the kids...

but mommy has much better taste and think the kids look much cuter in these outfits! 

2. Beaverdale fall fest was this past weekend so while Jeremy was working ( yes working on a weekend..he wants everyone to know he had to work on a weekend) I took the kids to this great festival on a gorgeous day to boot. They had one of the best parades I have ever seen and lots of great shows and activities for the kids. We can home with two heaping bags of candy which I am tempted to recycle for Halloween! 

Case enjoying his first sucker!

3 Dance class!  This is Claire's first attempt at any organized activity. She was SO excited to start both tap and ballet this past week at Charlee's Elite School of Dance. I was able to watch her from an observation window and she did a great job. Most of the girls in her class have had a year or two of experience already but she kept right up and was an awesome listener. Needless to say, I think she will have her tap shoes worn out before the recital as she taps all day long around the kitchen! 

4. Grandma Mehlmann turned 96 on Sept 4th. I had the day off so was lucky to spend some time with her that day. She is truly an amazing woman. She kept telling people at the restaurant we took her to " I didn't expect to live this long but I guess I God still needs me here" She raised 6 kids with my grandpa on the farm, has 15 grand kids and 17 great grand kids. She loves quilting, reading, and putting together puzzles. She always remembers every one's  birthday and anniversary. Isn't she the cutest?

5. Crash/head wound Harry, I think my mom should fit me for a helmet, I will be the first child to end up in the ER..

So you would never know this sweet sleeping baby is a monster! Last Friday he came home with 3 accident reports! I think he nearly gave his poor Joy and Vicki a heart attack! Joy calls me around 2:00 Friday afternoon to let me know Case had some extra paperwork to show me! He bumped his head on a bookshelf leaving a nasty mark,  fell face first reaching for a toy and bruised his nose and believe it or not, pulled a rocking chair over on top of him! Funny thing is, the chair didn't leave a mark on him! To top it off, the gate was left open to the stairs Friday night and he managed to tumble down them. I might need to take out some more insurance for this guy! 

Part of his problem is he is too smart for his own britches! He threw his little orange ball up into the computer chair a few nights ago and couldn't reach it. So he pushed this box up to it, crawled up and grabbed the ball. He proceeds to turn around, sit down in the chair and clap for himself! Stinky! 

Boy oh boy!

Our stinky is 11 months! As much as I try to for go calling him by his nickname it is so hard! It makes him smile when we call him that and he is often stinky, standing true to his name! 

Here's what I have been up to the last month! 

Climbing the stairs any chance I get and looking so proud when I reach the top! 

 Bye bye baby food! 

 Inspecting the lazy Susan for any new finds

 Getting closer to walking! 

 Play date with my friend Callie!

 Cupboard surfacing before I pull everything out of it! 

 Waiting for Carter to come home from school! 

Playing in his FAVORITE thing! Charlie's dog food! 

This kid has quite an arm! He loves this little orange ball and spends a lot of time throwing it to no one in particular and if no one throws it back, he retrieves it and throws it again. His aim is really good too! 

He's also sprouted his one year molars already making for one grouchy baby lately. So that makes 10 teeth all together! He has learned to throw some great temper tantrums as well! He spent his first night away from mom and dad this past weekend and did great! He continues to be the most vocal of the 3 and the most curious, leaving toys lie still to play with any non toy item he can find! Happy 11 months buddy! 

10 years!

THEN...

AND NOW!

So I forgot my camera at home and had to take this snapshot with my phone...looks like one of us has a little more hair, one a little less hair than 10 years ago! 

Flamingo Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas Nevada

9-7-2002

As many of you know, we have been able to take some pretty exciting vacations for our anniversaries, Mexico, Italy, Greece. So when our 10 year anniversary was approaching we began thinking how and where we wanted to celebrate this special achievement. Sure there are lots of places we would both love to see together, but when we heard that Bruce Springsteen was going to be in the Windy City on the day of our anniversary, well let's just say it was meant to be. I think we can both honestly say this little get away trumped any other plans that may have been running through our heads. We are total Boss groupies and jump at any chance to see him any time we can. The best part was he was playing at Wrigley field, another place close to our hearts. Doesn't get much better than this. Once again, he put on an AMAZING show. I mean, come on, how many 62 year old men can sing their hearts out for 3 and a half hours and act like it is just another day.  It doesn't hurt he is easy on the eyes too! He had a special "unexpected" guest perform a couple of songs with him....Pearl Jam's front man, Eddie Vedder! Seriously, I felt like I had won the lottery!  If you haven't seen him in concert, this is truly a bucket list item. I promise you, he will deliver. See ya in Omaha in November buddy! 

Saturday we slept in! I woke up and looked at the clock and couldn't believe my eyes! 10:15!! I think the last time I slept that late had to have been in college! We had a yummy brunch at a local restaurant and walked through an art show that was just down the street from our hotel. It was a gorgeous day out so we spent most of the afternoon sitting outside on the hotel patio with a bottle ( or two or three...I lost count) of wine. It was so nice to have an adult conversation with your spouse without being interrupted and not having to yell over all the noise! Later in the afternoon we saw the Blue Man Group at Briar street theatre. I had seen them years ago in Las Vegas and once again it was a great show. 

After the show, we had a great dinner at one of our favorite Chicago spots, Harry Carry's. It was so nice out, we walked the 3 miles back to our hotel taking in all the sites. We found a bar along the way to catch the end of the Nebraska game which soured Jeremy's mood and headed home. Our hotel was about 10 blocks from Wrigley and we could hear Bruce again (playing a second sold out show). We sat outside the hotel and got a little free concert! 


It was such an amazing weekend. Although I missed the kids, getting away just the two of us was just what we needed. It does wonders for a marriage! We spent a lot of time reflecting on the last 10 years, how blessed we are, and how we couldn't be happier how the first 10 years turned out. Neither of us ever dreamed our life would be so complete and we wouldn't change a thing about it. I can't wait to see what exciting things the next 10 years brings! It is so important to spend alone time with your spouse! Every time we get a little time away we promise each other we will do it more often!  Of course we couldn't have gotten away without the help of grandma and grandpa and Aunt Darcie and Jill!