Childhood clothes

I have done a post like this before when Callan was about 6 months old, but I thought it was time to do another one since Callan is older.  I absolutely love putting the boys in Chad's childhood clothes.  I like to compare how they looked at a certain age and how the clothes fit all the boys different.  I just think it is so cute to see them in his clothes.  I am so happy my mother in law saved some of his clothes and shared them with me.  I might add that the boys think it is super fun too!  Callan had a blast trying them all on.

Martin's Apple Orchard

Today I got the pleasure of going to Martin's Apple Orchard with Camden, on his school field trip.  I absolutely *love* that field trip and I really love the orchard.  It is such a sweet little farm that is quiet and just puts me in the fall mood.  The only down part of the day was that I only had 2 hours of sleep prior to the field trip because I worked the night before and had to get up to drive the carpool.  Thankfully my friend Britni offered to drive Camden and I so that I wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel.  It was a beautiful day and Camden got to pick a few apples a small pumpkin and I bought two caramel apples for our family to eat tomorrow.  Here are some pictures of our day.

Camden and his friend Eli

the boys eating their snack

holding on to one of the seeds Mrs. Martin passed around for the kids to see

walking through the garens

hayrack ride

my little apple picker

with his friend Nyla

he found his pumpkin

playing on the hay bales 

true corn huskers!

Brotherly Love

The boys have been doing this thing at night where they both climb into the top bunk and fall asleep.  It used to happen if one of them was upset before bed or got in trouble the other would climb in bed to comfort the other, but now they do it a lot more often because I think they really like it.  Most of the time when we go in and check on them we try and move them to their own beds, just so that they get a good nights sleep.  But every once in a while we let them stay that way and they are so happy when they wake up and they are in the same bed.  The other night, this is what we walked into...

This is *true* brotherly love

A fire breathing good time

We had Callan's birthday party today.  It was a great time with nice weather so the kids could play outside.  I did a dragon themed party which Callan seemed to like.  My mom made him his shirt which turned out super cute.  We just got together for cake and ice cream, gifts, a pinata, and of course the yearly video.  Callan got a lot of fun toys but most of all he got money to go into his college fund and his savings.  He will be so happy some day when he wants to buy something big, like a car, or a TV or something fun, and he will have that money he got when he was little.  My mom made the rest of Callan's bedroom bedding for his birthday and it turned out so cute.  I found this really cute robot material that was the same colors as the rest of his bedding.  He was also happy to have a pajama eater of his own.  All of the boys played with the new toys and were pretty quite until it was time for bed.  I think they were all exhausted.  Here are some pictures of the fun day!

The invite

Cake table before everything was out and before the wings were on

treat bags

ready to blow out the candles

the birthday shirt

the boys enjoying the new bedding

The comforter and pillow shams

aunalie and camden

pinata time

he loved doing this

they were having a lot a fun and running off some energy

opening presents with the help of big brother

the birthday boys table

the other table

playing with their new dinosaur toys and imaginext

they are now all proud owners of a pajama eater (they each got one on their birthday)

Thank you to all our family that came to celebrate Callan's big day. He had a great time and loves all his gifts and money you gave.  

Callan is 2!

Today I was at the hospital for an educational symposium which made the memories of this day more real.  Today is the day that baby Callan was born!  He was very excited about all the attention and everyone telling him he is now 2.  When I told him this morning he responded with "oh?"  Since I was at work all day he got to spend the day with Grandma Ellen and she made sure she made his day pretty special.  She made cupcakes and they waited for Carter to be out of school and they ate birthday cupcakes.  They also walked down to get a balloon for his special day.  We will have his party on Sunday so there will be more cake and some gifts then.  I think he had a pretty good day with a little extra love!  Here are some pictures of his day.

we took home some extra cupcakes and let him have a second one after dinner

but not until we sang. carter insisted we sing!

blowing out his candle

enjoying his cupcake!

with his birthday balloon from grandma

In the swing of things

Well the new school schedule is underway and I think everyone is adjusting nicely.  I am amazed at how fast my days go now with all the dropping off and picking up of kids.  Thankfully we have started to carpool with our neighbor to and from school so that is going to help some of the driving.  We have stayed pretty busy the last few weeks with family gatherings and little outing here and there.  A few weeks ago we had a Scribner birthday celebration at Chuck-E-Cheese and then two weeks ago we had a Fiedler family reunion that included a lot of overnight guests.  This past weekend we went to Brian and Erin's for the Husker game and then the kids went with Dale, Ellen and Oma to the Frieden's church picnic.  Lately our kids have become more and more independent with playing outside (everyone but Callan)  We have been letting Carter and Camden play outside, even in the front with little supervision.  Carter is at a good age that he knows what he can and cannot do and that is very helpful.  It is so nice to go over to Erin and Brians and just let the kids play out front while the adults enjoy some adult conversation.  I feel like we are entering a new phase in our parenting life and I love it.  I think the kids like it to.  No parents watching them and intervening into their play.  The only problem is that Callan always wants to be with them and he is not quite ready to be trusted that he won't run into the street or just wander away.  This little glimpse into the future has made me quite happy.  Here is some pictures from Chuck-E-Cheese

playing games at chck-e-cheese

more games

the younger boys enjoyed standing up on the game and throwing the balls

camden and his best friend aunalie

hey carter, you have something on your face!

Carter is definitely in the swing of school now.  We have a little white board on the fridge that reminds us if he is taking hot or cold lunch and which special he has for the day.  Keeping track of library books, homework, lunch bags, specials, papers, and jackets has really kept me on my toes.  I also have to remember things for Camden's school such as snacks, show and tell and his backpack.  We are getting a handle on all of it and things are working out nicely.  The carpooling is another big help.  Carter has been enjoying school and tells me a lot about his day.  His favorite things are art, PE, recess, lunch and "stations" (where he chooses art most days)  We got back a lot of his work last Friday in his Friday folder and it was neat to see his work.  He seems to be keeping up with the work and really likes to apply it at home.  I don't think a day has passed that he hasn't asked to do some sort of art work/book making/coloring.  He is bringing home homework a few times a week and it is pretty short right now.  He usually knows what he has to do, but to be honest he doesn't really care to do his homework.  He always wants to wait until after dinner but that is usually a hectic time at our house.  They also sent home an assessment that they did with him and he did really well.  He also had another first this last week, and that was his first piano lesson.  Aunt Erin is teaching him piano.  I think he was a little apprehensive at first but he did a good job for his first lesson.  Of course he was a bit antsy since all the other kids were outside playing.  We were surprised when he wanted to show Chad what he had learned and he doesn't mind practicing yet.  We are trying to get him to do it in the morning before school.  Our only major problem is the other two boys want to play too, and it is hard to keep them away when we are busy getting everyone ready in the morning.

liam and carter

a playdoh masterpiece

playing with the toys from the Friedens picnic

he wanted flames as his face paint

don't ask

husker football game party

superhero fun

hard at work on homework

at his first piano lesson

Camden has also been enjoying his school.  He likes to tell me about the snack and what his role for the day was, such as line leader, or caboose, and today he was the table cleaner.  He took his job very serious and told me that only himself and Mrs. McClintock were able to wipe up the table and no one else.  He always walks right on in and starts playing.  Unfortunately the combination of no naps, him being 3 and his personality have lead to some undesirable behaviors.  He doesn't like to do any of the chores he is suppose to do and really despises picking up toys.  This leads to whining, crying, screaming and fit throwing.  I really hope he learns quickly that no amount of those things will get him out of doing the things we ask of him.  The fact that he is slow at everything doesn't help the situation.  God love him, he is a sweet boy, but ask him to do something he doesn't want to do and you are in for a world of pain.  He has lost a lot of privileges and had to go to bed early a few nights as well.  I am trying to find a cute chore chart that has pictures that he can manipulate and keep track of what he is doing in hopes it will eliminate us getting frustrated and he can see exactly what is expected of him.  

at times he falls asleep while playing in the afternoons

he was proud of his fruit loop necklace he made at preschool

he wanted to be a cat

enjoying pizza

iron man

Callan is enjoying his time with just mommy.  He can be such a sweet kid when it is just him and I.  I have been taking advantage of that time and running errands with just one kid.  He enjoys me talking to him and letting him have a little more independence as well.  He is still a handful most days but watching him learn the world around him really is fun.  The other day I told him he need to finish his sandwich if he wanted dessert and so he promptly got down off his chair grabbed what was left of his sandwich and threw it in the trash.  He looked at me and said "all gone".  He still tries to do everything his brothers are doing which is good and bad.  He started drinking from a regular cup of water during the day because the older boys do it.  This is great, but he can barely reach the cup on the counter and he has spilled it numerous times.  He can also fill it in the fridge but isn't the best judge of when it is full, which has also led to messes.  I love that he wants to be big, but I don't love the messes that come with it.  He is talking a little more and growing more and more frustrated when we don't know what he wants.  I love it when he says something to me and I will say "oh, do you want a drink?" and he will promptly say "no" when I have guessed the wrong thing.  The funniest part is the attitude in which he says it.  It is like he is saying "no, you moron I don't want a drink, I want a dessert, duh, everyone knows that is what I was saying." He also does not like to be left behind when the boys go to swimming or if I let them play out in the front and he can't go.  The amount of drama that comes from that little boy is amazing!  I have been finding him playing very quietly on his own a lot more now and he is really taking a liking to lining his toys up in rows.  The biggest thing about him is that he is going to be two tomorrow!

playing with his second cousin austin

showing callan how to play the leapster explorer

my boys

i broke out some of the boys fall clothes for church on sunday

he was also a cat

learning to hula hoop