Adventures wtih the Christmas Tree

We arrived at the tree farm at 4:25, just a few minutes before they shut down the "cut your own" area of the farm - the only option according to Nick. With just a few minutes to select, cut and drag the tree back to the bundling area it was actually a very stress free event. No wondering through the woods trying to remember if this tree was as good as the first tree (or was the first tree).

Owen was a big helper. Here

Timberrrr!!!!!

Mission accomplished.

And then the tree sat in the porch for three weeks in a bucket of frozen water.

Literally a huge chunk of ice. All weekend we were telling our Owen how much fun it will be to put up the tree. For several days we were telling him. He was excited. You would think Nick would bring the tree in to defrost. Of course he didn't.

So when it came time to bring in the ice bound tree Nick came up with some "great ideas". First he poured hot water on the top of the ice ... this worked until the water cooled and started to turn into more ice. Then he put the portable heater next to the tree to defrost it. Since this plan was going nowhere and bedtime was approaching he moved on the plan three - the chisel. With each swing of the hammer ice went flying until a sudden plea for towels was made - lots of towels! There was water flowing everywhere, right out of the hole he punched in the side of the bucket.

Eventually the ice was removed and Christmas was saved (except for the bucket).

Luckily I shared this story with his co-workers and they bought him a new bucket ... and laughed at him.

We have a basement!

We finally broke ground on our new home. Here are a few pictures of our progress.

Owen felt we were falling behind schedule. Fortunately his Fisher Price keys didn't fit in the ignition.

this is a funny place to put a swimming pool ...

With the forms in place, Owen thought the house looked like a castle.

We have a basement!

Cole 8 month update

At 8 months Cole:

Can sit unassisted
Rolls and rolls and rolls
Is eating solid foods including meat and other yummy stuff.
Loves to watch big brother, even when he isn't getting in trouble
Will smile at anyone
Still has spiky hair
Requires no rocking at night, in fact rocking him makes him more awake
Loves daycare
Falls asleep easily in the car
Is a long baby (over 90% for height) but continues to be just a little bit shorter than Owen at his age.
Is the only one wearing Christmas outfits in the middle of September (thanks for wearing hand-me-downs Cole!)
Enjoys chewing on Owens puzzle pieces.
Enjoys chewing on just about anything else.
Loves getting a hug from Owen each morning during daycare drop-off.
Is generally on his own since Owen takes up so much time - thanks for being an easy baby Cole.

Pumpkin Farm

It's that time of year again ... pumpkin picking!

This year we took Owen and Cole to a local pumpkin farm to find the perfect pumpkins. Cole was a little young to pick out his own, luckily Owen was there to pick one out for him.

Little monsters is right

Owen had a lot of fun going down the slide. Who knew burlap bags were so much fun?

Go-Carts? Not much pumpkin picking going on here.

So many pumpkins! This is harder than I thought.

Search for a lawnmower

Owen came to the realization that Daddy will need a new lawnmower next summer to take care of the lawn. The push mower will not be enough on a 2 acre lawn.

Obviously we need to bring his expectation in line with reality ... below is the big guy's recommendation.

But Daddy, it will only take 5 minutes to mow the lawn!

From House Trained to Potty Trained

It has been a long road, but Owen is nearly fully potty trained. He still wears pull ups at night and has an occasional accident (sometimes I think he's just being lazy and doesn't want to bother walking to the toilet) but is well on his way.

During the summer we struggled for weeks until we introduced him to "outside peeing". As all guys know peeing outside is far superior to peeing inside. Owen quickly picked up on this. This led to the first breakthrough - "House Trained". Just like a puppy, Owen knew to go outside. This was for number 1's and number 2's. So Melissa spent a fair amount of time walking behind him with a plastic bag. The house trained phase was fine when we were at home, separated from our neighbors by half a mile of corn ... public places was a different story. Several instances we had to whisk Owen away after he pulled down his pants in the middle of a park, or busy zoo.

After a few inappropriate public displays we moved on to bribery. Owen quickly racked up an impressive collection of matchbox cars, toy farm machinery, and Cars paraphernalia. Luckily we were able to use some of Nick's old toys to supplement or this endeavor would have been quite costly.

Today Owen is down to one or two accidents a week and has even gone in public restrooms. We figure another month of nighttime pull ups and we'll be all set.

Who is training who exactly?

First Day of School!

It was the first day of school for Mommy today. Owen and Cole have been braving their new daycare for several weeks while Mommy "gets ready for the school year".

Mommy tries out a new teaching technique she is excited to try out on her students.