Ethan's 1st Day of Work (and Trevor's Day with Mom and Dad)

The Friday after Thanksgiving was a monumental day for Ethan. It was his first day of work. Work? What do you mean? A youngster had to go to work? Are we shipping him out already to pay his own way around the house? Well... No. This day, this very special day, he got to be Grandpa Diener's side-kick and right-hand man in an 18-wheeler! Grandpa Diener is a truck driver and on this particular Friday he only had to drive around town doing some shorter delivery routes. Ethan was elated when Grandpa asked if he could go along for a ride in his big truck. What boy wouldn't be, right?!?

It was 6am Friday morning and I was up getting some snacks put together for Ethan's big day. Not much later, Ethan came stumbling and sleepy-eyed into the kitchen asking, "Is it time for me to go with Grandpa?" I answered, "Yep, it's morning time." The smile on his face was priceless. He immediately wanted to eat breakfast with Grandpa and then got dressed without a fuss, brushed teeth and checked out his snack bag to see what goodies he had for the day. Here's Ethan and Grandpa eating their breakfasts so they had enough energy in their systems for the big day.

Around 6:45am Ethan was off for his first day of work and had a smile from ear to ear as he walked out the door with Grandpa. Later in the morning we got a phone call. It was Ethan. In an excited voice, he said, "Hi, Mom. It's Ethan! Guees what, Mom?" I barely had time to get out "What, Ethan?" and he had started in on his story. "Mom, you know what? Grandpa had a flat tire! We had to have it fixed." "A flat tire," I repeated? "Yep," Ethan answered, "and we got to go to Denmark." Denmark is a little town about a 20 minutes from Green Bay. And the best thing and the thing that made us laugh... "Dad, guess what we had in the semi. We had Cheese!" go figure that he would be delivering cheese of all things. Ethan got to help out during the day: checking tires, watching and learning what the sounds meant in the truck (the truck beeps if Grandpa got too close to the center or side line of the road), he honked the horn once back in the truck yard, he sat in the back of the truck and watch a little cartoon on Grandpa's tv during a break, and even told Grandpa, "this getting up early and driving is hard work!"

Overall, it was an amazing day that Ethan will forever remember. Thank you, Dad, for asking Ethan to go with you and spending the morning with him. He still beams with excitement when he talks about "going to work with Grandpa in his big truck"!

(Unfortunately, the batteries in Grandpa's camera were dead so we didn't get any "in action" shots of Ethan during the day, but we were able to meet them back at the yard at the end of the day to get some photos. You can see the excitement in Ethan's eyes...even though it was tough work.)Now, while Ethan was "working", Trevor was able to play with Mom and Dad. We had a relaxing morning and then ventured to the Wildlife Sanctuary to look at some of the animals. The bobcats were playing, the ravens were squawking, and the deer came right on over after they heard the clink, clink, clink of the food bin with a quarter in it! It was a bit cooler outside so we didn't a ton of pictures, but it was a great morning with Trevor. Not often to Rick and I both get to spend time alone with just one of the boys. Typically it's either both of us with both of them or just one of us with one of them, or one of us with both of them...but rarely both of us with one of them (got all that? Whew.... I almost confused myself writing down all those combinations!)

It was fun day had by all and after having lunch the boys took a great nap. Ethan tired from his hard day at work and Trevor tired from the fresh air meant that they rolled over and were fast asleep in no time!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving for us this year was a bit different that it has been the past 3 years. We were actually home with our family. It was nice to be with family for the holiday but it made us remember how "crazy" the holidays can be! We woke up Thanksgiving morning and the boys had a wonderful treat from Grandma Carol after breakfast. Beaters full of whipping cream. These pictures show just a fraction of how much they loved the early morning treat!We hung out at my parent's place with my mom, dad, brother, sister and her clan, and my Aunt Bev and Uncle Russ. My cousins didn't make it so the crowd was a bit smaller this year, but it was very nice to just hang out for the holiday. However, I do have to mention that we were missing one very important person... Granny. It was strange to not have her there with us. I can remember just watching her during day as she would smile and watch every move the great-grandkids made. Hoping that they would run close enough to her so she could grab them for a quick hug (whether they wanted one or not). They were everything to her! Needless to say, it was hard to not have her there.

Following a wonderful lunch the boys went down for nap. And yes, Mom it was wonderful even if you didn't like the way your dressing turned out this year. After naps we ventured over to Rick's brother's house for some more Thanksgiving visiting and fun. The kids played well and Jil and I even got to enjoy a glass or two of wine while the kiddos were entertaining themselves! We managed to get a couple pictures of the kids... first one is all the grandsons on the Heck side and the other includes Keelie - the lone granddaughter.Brody, Ethan, Trevor, Ruari

Keelie, Trevor, Ethan, Ruari, Brody

Thanks everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We couldn't be more thankful for all of you and the moments that we do get to spend together!

12th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 12th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Twelve years of school left, (thankful because that means my kiddos are still little and have a long way to go before they up and leave us for college!)

Eleven hours of driving,
Ten Smiles a-day,
Nine rooms to clean,
Eight ways a-communicating,
Seven hours a-rejuvenation time,
Six nieces and nephews,
FIIIIIIIIVE years of college,
Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

11th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 11th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Eleven hours of driving, (so much better than the 24+ we had in the past!)

Ten Smiles a-day,
Nine rooms to clean,
Eight ways a-communicating,
Seven hours a-rejuvenation time,
Six nieces and nephews,
FIIIIIIIIIVE years of college,
Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

10th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 10th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Ten Smiles a-day (there's definitely more than that most days...I'm just thankful I have things and people to make me smile and little smiles looking at me each day!)

Nine rooms to clean,
Eight ways a-communicating,
Seven hours a-rejuvenation time,
Six nieces and nephews,
FIIIIIIIIIIIVE years of college,
Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

Another Step Towards Independence

It's fun to watch Ethan (or any child for that matter) learn to do things that they "NEVER" thought they'd be able to do. Ethan's recent accomplishment is tying his own shoes. And not just flipping the Velcro over far enough to make the shoes tight... actually tying his laced shoes. All. By. Himself. He's been trying for quite some time and for some reason it just clicked and all came together yesterday. And the smile on his face the first time he came out of the attempt with two loops that stayed together was --- PRICELESS!

Here's a video of his tying attempt the day after he figured it all out the first time. After watching this, I honestly have NO idea how he came out of it with a tied shoe. But he's getting better with each attempt so I'm sure he'll get faster, and hopefully a bit more efficient, as he keeps practicing.

New Ice Skates

This morning Ethan informed me that he had some new ice skates. I said, "Ice skates? Where did you get them?" He came from around the corner with a huge smile on his face, and started ice skating around our kitchen in these! Empty Kleenex boxes. I love his imagination...

9th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 9th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Nine rooms to clean (ok, not that I like to clean the rooms, but I'm thankful that I have a home that I can call my own.)

Eight ways a-communicating,
Seven hours a-rejuvenation time,
Six nieces and nephews,
FIIIIIIIIIVE years of college,
Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

8th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 8th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Eight ways a-communicating (email, webcam, phone, live-chat, facebook, blogging, face-to-face, snail mail)

Seven hours of rejuvenation time,
Six nieces and nephews,
FIIIIIIIIIIVE years of college,
Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

A 3-Year Old's View on Christmas

Last night as we were getting done with dinner, Trevor decided to show Rick all the cool stuff in a new toy magazine we got that day. Here's how the exchange went...

Trev: Daddy, look at all dis stuff!
Rick: Oh, there are a lot of toys in there, aren't there?
Trev: Uh-huh. Daddy, I wan dis, an dis an dis an dis an dis.
Rick: That's a lot of stuff Trevor. Can you pick just a couple things?
Trev: Yep. I wan dis, an dis, an dis, an dis, and dat! (all the while pointing to each different thing on the page)
Rick: Trev, did you know they say it's "better to give than to receive"?
Trev: Yeah.... I wan dis, an dis, an dis, an dis an DIS!

Ok - so we have to work on the idea of "what Christmas is REALLY all about", but we couldn't help but laugh at Trevor's sheer excitement and complete misunderstanding of what Rick was trying to say!

7th day of Thanksgiving

On the 7th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Seven hours of rejuvenation time (aka - sleep each night )

Six nieces and nephews,
FIIIIIIIIIVE years of college,
Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

Potty Training Update

It's been awhile since I've talked about Trevor's battle with potty training... Yes, that's what it's been. A Battle! He was doing great before we ventured home to WI for Rick's grandpa's funeral. The key word there is BEFORE! We came back and it was like Trevor has never seen a toilet, had never heard of the words, "let's go potty" nor did he know that he could go potty/poop in some place other than his diaper! UGH. It was frustrating.

We struggled through it though and we are finally on the uphill. It took a couple days of being in "big boy undies" and getting wet to convince Trev that he didn't like that feeling. Had one instance at the park. Full emptying of the bladder and he had to ride home in the wetness of it! One instance of bladder emptying in the sun room while playing. I was helping Ethan with a project at the time so Trevor had to stand in the bathroom in his wet pants and wait for me. By the time I got back to him (not even 5 minutes later), he was already trying to take his pants and undies off! He didn't like it! Not ONE BIT!!

But that was a good thing.... since then we have had 2 accident-free days (during the day). I can only hope that we've turned a corner and it will continue in this fashion. Keep your fingers crossed that his success continues especially with our journey home again coming up soon!

6th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 6th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Six nieces and nephews

FIIIIIIIIVE years of college,
Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live ,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

5th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 5th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
FIIIIIIIIIIVE years of college, (remember to sing the long drawn out 'five'!)

Four immediate family members,
Three different and wonderful places to live ,
Two crazy boys,
and a husband that loves me dearly.

Trying to Be Better

I know it's usually at New Year's time when people say they're going to start to do something (and then normally stop 1 month after and forget all about it), but I am going to start something new today. Maybe not something "new" but I'm going to try to do something better. Why now?? Now, because I realize how extremely lucky and blessed I am. Now, because I want to be better. Now, because I AM thankful for everything I have. Now, because I am tired of being stressed, I am tired of being frustrated. And now, because I want my boys to remember the fun, the laughs, the giggles that I share with them and NOT the mom with a raised voice, not the mom saying "do this and do that", and NOT the mom that doesn't have time to play a card game because she's doing something, some non-important, something else.

So starting today, I am going to be better. I am going to try to be better. I am going to make time for crafts again. I am going to schedule time for reading books during the day (and not just the book before they go to bed). I am going to eat breakfast with them rather than being in the bathroom getting myself ready for the day while they're sitting in the kitchen eating ALONE. I am going to think before I raise my voice (are they just being kids or does it really warrant me yelling?) I am going to sit and watch the cartoon WITH them rather than doing my own thing as they stare blindly at the television. I am going to work with them on their writing, their letter recognition, their decision making and cooperation skills. I am going to work WITH them. I am going to love them. I am going to discipline them. I am going to hug them. I am going to make them laugh. And I will probably make them cry at some point too, but I am going to try to be better.

I have two beautiful boys who have a world ahead of them. They have time to learn what is good and what is bad. They have time to learn how to think for themselves. They have time to learn how to be polite and to respect others. They have time to be kids. And they have time to learn that I can be one of their best friends. (ok, who am I kidding, it may take a long time for them to figure that out especially during those teenage years!) But I want to teach them all these things in a positive environment, full of love and laughter, so they can grow up to be wonderful, respectful, and successful individuals. I have had an amazing example of how to do just that (thank you Mom & Dad) and I want to do the same for my boys.

Therefore, starting today, I am going to try to be better.

4th Day of Thanksgiving

On the 4th day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Four immediate family members, (what would life be without parents and siblings??)

Three different and wonderful places to live,

Two crazy boys,

and a husband that loves me dearly.

3rd Day of Thanksgiving

On the 3rd day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me
Three different and wonderful places to live, (and who knows when that will become 4...or 5, or 6... )

Two crazy boys,

and a husband that loves me dearly.

(now you'll notice that you may need to sing some of the lines a bit faster to fit into the rhythm of the song... minor detail but I know you can do it!)

2nd Day of Thanksgiving

On the 2nd day of Thanksgiving,
my True Love gave to me
Two crazy boys

and a husband that loves me dearly.

12 Days of Thanksgiving - The 1st Day

We're trying something new this year. I was going to write a list of all that I'm thankful for in my life; however, the list would go on and on and then because it was so long, if I forgot something I would feel terrible. So, I'm going to do it in a little sillier way...to the 12 Days of Christmas tune. And yes, I'll miss some, well...more like MANY, things because there are definitely more than 12 things that I am thankful for, but this will give a glimpse of my thankfulness this season. So, day by day we'll add on to the 12 Days of Thanksgiving. Get out your singing voices. You know you're gonna want to sing the tune to get the whole effect (and I'm not quite crazy enough this morning to start doing it by video and singing it for ya so you're on your own.)

And off we go.... Day 1

On the 1st day of Thanksgiving
my True Love gave to me,
a husband that loves me dearly.

Meet Bob and Joe

As a means of making potty training "fun" we decided to get a "surprise box" for Trevor. If HE told us that he had to go then he would be able to pick a prize out of the surprise box. He loved it and was so excited to go dig in there each and every time. This particular night, he ended up with some silly glasses that came in a pack of 4 so Ethan got to join in the fun as well. Rick came home just as they were putting on their glasses and along came the names Bob and Joe. Rick was looking for Ethan and Trevor, but could not find them anywhere. The only other people he could find in the house were Bob and Joe.

So without further ado... Meet Bob (on right) and Joe (on left).

Are they not just so darn silly (and cute!!)

Feeling Sorry

....for the kids that are growing up with parents that are not showing them "the good things in life". Now, I am by no means saying that we are perfect parents. We are far from it. But I'd like to think that we are raising our children with manners, respect for others, and the knowledge of what is right, wrong, proper and improper. (I know we may not see it every day from their actions, but we are trying...)

And that is unlike two examples that I saw yesterday. These two instances are still in my mind today so I figured I would write about them to remind myself of what I never ever want to do or say to my children.

Instance #1
I was at Wal-mart yesterday getting some grocery shopping done while Trevor and Ethan were at school. Minding my own business walking down aisle 5, I saw a mom and her daughter (probably age 7 or 8). The mom was looking for something on the shelf and the little girl was just walking around the cart. Not running, just walking around it trying to occupy herself while mom was shopping. I walked by, gave the little girl a smile and she gave me the biggest smile back. So sweet. As I passed them and had my back to them, I heard the mom say, "Get the hell out of my way. I am trying to get our shopping done!" I turned around and saw the light in that little girl's eyes just disappear! My heart sank.

Instance #2
As I was walking out to the car, there was a lady in front of me with her daughter (probably 5ish). They were walking towards a car near ours and there was a guy waiting by the car for them. I'm assuming it was the dad or significant other of the woman. Upon getting to the car I hear her say in a raised voice, "It's because of this kind of s%#t that she is doing so fu*%ing terrible in school!" (sorry about the language, but that is the whole basis of the story) The little girl got in the car along with her mom and the man. I have no idea who they were talking about, but that should have NEVER been said in the first place and especially in the presence of that innocent little girl! If that wasn't bad enough, I ended up behind their vehicle when leaving the parking lot and I could see that the lady was still ripping into the man. All the while a little girl sitting in the back seat with nothing to do but take in everything that mom is saying and doing. And we wonder why cycles of families continue.... kids learn from what they see and what they grow up with.

That was my morning yesterday. I hope I don't have to experience that again for quite some time and I'm just glad that my boys were not there to see and hear it! I hope those two little girls were able to have wonderful, happy afternoons with laughter and hugs; however, I am highly doubting they received that. I pray that I am wrong.

Fun Fall Fotos

We had a lot of fun this fall around the house.  Not much in terms of vacations, but just fun playing in the yard as a family.  Just a few pictures to show you some of the fun and some of the scenery.

illustrated by: Ethan

At Rick's work they put together an annual safety calendar with pictures that are drawn by child relatives of the employees. This year was no different. They only difference is that Ethan was able to participate this year. We told him the "rules": it had to be drawn by him and him only, it had to be drawn on a certain piece of paper that Daddy brought home from work, and it had to have a safety theme to it. We told him a couple theme examples such as "look both ways before crossing" or "always ask the owners before petting a strange dog", and then asked what he wanted to draw. He thought for a little bit and then said, "Make sure to get outside if there is a fire." Great idea.

We gave him his crayons and let him go. He started drawing a large, spiky haired person and we had no idea where he was going with it being that the person was just about "life sized"! But in the end he did a great job on it! We wrote his "theme" on a different piece of paper so that he knew how to spell the words without getting frustrated. When the frustration sets in it can be a struggle to get him to finish things and we didn't want that to happen since he had done such a superb job on the picture. And he finished it... all on his own! We were so proud of him and he was proud of the job he had done as well. Rick took the picture to work the next day and it was displayed by all the pictures other children had drawn. Typically, it is a contest and only some of the pictures get chosen to be in the calendar, but this year because of lower numbers all the pictures will be in collages as part of the calendar. As a reward for the great job the kids did, all the 'winners' received 2 movie passes that include popcorn and drinks. Ethan was so excited to know that he "won" and gets to go to the movie theater (of which he has never been)!! Now we'll just have to see if he picks Mom or Dad to go with him....

Church Role Play

Lately, the boys are on a roll with doing things at home that we do in church. Shaking hands for the sign of peace, pretending to receive communion and the latest, being part of the procession into church. They took on the role of bringing in the "Testament Book" (as Ethan calls it) and setting it on the alter. Since Trevor wanted to join in the fun, Ethan decided that he was going to carry the "New Testament" and Trevor had the "Old Testament". You'll see that they have very believable books in their hands... They have done this rendition over and over and over for a couple days in a row and we just have to laugh. (yet at the same time we are so proud that they are actually paying attention in church...)

(and I have to tell you that this was not scripted at all... they really were being this quiet on their own and I just happened to catch them during their role play. Those of you that know the boys, wait til you see, you'd never believe that they can be this quiet unless you saw it with your own eyes!!!!)

Look What I Found

When you move, sometimes thing just "go missing". Not that they are lost forever, but they just get put someplace you wouldn't have put them or get stuffed on the bottom of a strange box. Such was the case with our power cord for our computer during our travels to Missouri. We had unpacked all the computer related boxes and there was no power cord to be had. Not that it's a big item and couldn't be packed in the same box with all the other stuff, right!?! Well, apparently it was. We looked and looked and couldn't find the original power cord that was with our computer. We just used another one for the time being and found it at a later date.

Along with our power cord, we were missing a couple other, more important, items.

Our Web Cam

A Clifford computer game that Ethan loved to play in Utah

and

our 3 hold punch that we used quite often for our bill filing stuff (this one really is not that important).

Where in the world could they be? We had no clue and I was convinced that they REALLY were lost, stolen or thrown out somehow. However, after almost 3 months in our house, I am happy to report that I HAVE FOUND the missing items! Here's my proof....
Where where they you ask?? They were found in a box (naturally) with Kleenex boxes, paper towels, and dress shoes of mine that were in our storage room in the Utah house. Don't all those items seem related enough to be in the same box?? Man, oh man.... having someone move you is great; however, there are some things they do that I will never understand! So, the hunt for those things is over, now all we have left to find are some movies that we're missing. UGH. Maybe in another 3 months we'll find them...

Catching Up....

I know I already posted about Halloween; however, I am going to be making up some ground on the rest of what happened in September/October with us. And in order to make my job easier at the end of the year while I am trying to put together the 2009 blog book, I am going to back date and embed some of our happenings. So to help you out (in case you want to read about all this other stuff)... here are some of the Post Titles that will be included, but aren't at the forefront of the site when you open it up. I may not have them all done yet, but if the post title has a link with it, it is done.

So, here's the list that I'm working on.... one by one we'll get them done! (maybe not in this order...)

- Our 1st Visitors
- The New Toy
- My Players
- Getting Back in the Game
- New Sunday Tradition
- Ethan's Birthday Cake
- A Loss in the Piotraschke Family
- Our 1st DRIVE Home
- Occupying Their Time
- Fun Fall Frolicking
- Our New School