For Brett… good luck!

In light of Brett’s recent news, I thought this video was very fitting.  Any time you want to practice, feel free to stop over.  We promise not to video tape any more of it!

Gumming up the works…

I took a vacation day yesterday. Woohoo!  Well, not quite… it was to try and unclog our kitchen sink.  And yes, this time it was the kitchen sink and not the TV that was clogged.  So, after breaking my own plumbing snake trying to get it, and $25 to rent a power snake at Home Depot, I finally gave up and called a drain cleaner.  Well, ok, Kathie called the drain cleaner while I showered off the gunk that I had all over me from trying to fix it.  And if it weren’t for the ‘gunk’, I think I’d go into the drain cleaning business… $125 for 20 minutes of work.  Nice take home!

Braden had his IEP review yesterday and he has done so well in his speech therapy that he no longer qualifies for services through the school district!  We’re so proud of how he’s done in the last few years and the progress he has made.  At this point his really missing only things like ‘L’ at the end of words and that’s pretty typical for a boy his age.

We also bought a new kennel for the coming puppy.  I don’t think the size of this dog had really sunk in with us until we saw the kennel put together in the store.  Kathie didn’t believe that was the size we’re supposed to have.  It’s 54”(D) by 37”(W) by 45”(H).  We’ll probably use our current kennel until the puppy is a little larger.  The plastic crate will give her some more privacy and it’ll give us some room to give her a play area too.

Science Night

Last night was Science Night 2009 2010 at Trinity.  I crossed out 2009 because I figure I can just use this post again for the next 5 years as we’ll have someone in preschool at Trinity for that long!  Next year it’ll be both Braden and Emma!  Good thing it’ll be Kathie’s turn to take them.

It was another fun night.  Braden loves science night.  His favorite experiment last year was blowing up a baloon with carbon dioxide.  His teacher was oddly impressed when we told her we do this one at home all the time.  She also asked if we're going to make paper airplanes for the class again this year, since that was so much fun last year.

I think Braden's new favorite experiment is the baloon rocket.  It's all about speed in these things... the faster they move, the more fun they are!

I also ran into an old friend.  Well, an old friend's dad any way.  Richard Ash, who taught at Manitowoc Lutheran when we lived there, saw my name on the sign in list and sought me out.  I was good friends with his son Allen in grade school.  His daugher is a member at Trinity and her daugher, Lucy, is in Braden's class.  Talking about a small world!

Monday

Kathie thinks I love Monday because it means I get to go back to work and escape the hustle, noise and general chaos that exists in our house on weekends. 

While she does have a point in that I do lose some of the general chaos and screaming, I have to say that I’d rather be home.   Dealing with some of the crap that goes on at work is just painful.  Doing it with a bad headache is even worse. 

On a more positive note, I actually got my fat ass on the treadmill last night!  I even remembered how to plug it in and turn it on.  To work into it and hopefully get my knee back in shape, I only walked.  But I walked at 12-15% inclines the whole time and did 2 miles in just over a half hour.  So, all in all, it was a pretty decent workout.  I feel so much better today and think I can stick with it going forward. 

Dog Prep Continues

We went and hit 3 pet supply stores today looking for needed items and starting to figure out what food we’re going to (can afford) feed our new dog.  We’ll stick with Eukanuba Large Breed for at least one 40lb bag’s worth, as that’s what our breeder has been using.  We don’t want to introduce any more shock to her system on top of moving in our house with three kids and a cat.  But at some point we’ll probably switch to something a little better quality.  High quality food is important in a large breed dog to help promote solid joint, bone and muscle development during their very rapid growth.

We also picked up some bells to hang by the back door for training her to ring the bell when she needs to go out.  Braden picked out a chew toy that looks like a monkey and Emma chose a pink Kong.

All in all, we’re getting closer to being ready, but I think the big challenge will be getting the kids to understand that they need their toys picked up, or something is going to get eaten.  Of course, the same applies for my shoes and Kathie’s purse!

Breaking News

As I finished writing the latest Alex Updates blog post, I witnessed Alex climb two stairs to get by his brother and sister on the landing.  Then I saw him pull himself up to standing on the couch.  I attribute this rapid development to our upcoming consultation with Birth to Three.

Alex Updates

Haven’t really said too much about how Alex is growing/developing lately, so here’s a quick update.  He’s growing and developing. :)

But seriously, his second tooth (bottom, left) has not poke through.  It looks like the top two are pretty close too, but who knows when they’ll poke through.  He’s still army crawling like a mad man, but has started getting up on his hands and knees.  He can also crawl up on top of a couch cushion if we put it on the floor. 

He loves to dance and any time you sing or play music he rocks back and forth like disco never went out of style.  His favorite past time these days is grabbing the cat and eating his tail.  Sterling seems to almost enjoy it, as he keeps coming by Alex, even after he gets his tail pulled.