Terrific Two

Howdy all! Zach had a fun birthday weekend. Him and Mom had a nice quiet morning yesterday. He got his pictures taken and cooperated for them, which made Mom ecstatic! He hasn't had photos taken since he was 6mo old because of him being afraid of the photographers. After that and some errands, he dined on a lunch of cheesy puffs and blueberries -- a rare treat for him. Mom had to pick me up from school at lunch time because I was pretty sick -- bad head cold. After we both took naps, Nana arrived. We stayed home for the night and got an ice cream cake for Zach. He opened his presents from Nana and I got a few, too. Nana always makes sure I have a little something to open each time she comes to visit. She had to leave for bowling today, but we're glad she could make the trip, if even just for the day.

Today, Grandma and Grandpa D, Aunt Cindy and Todd came over for a birthday lunch with us. We had raclette and cake. Zach didn't dig the raclette too much, but he loved his tractor cake. He opened some more gifts and took a nice long nap. Grandma D and Gramps stayed for awhile and played some Wii. I also showed Nana how to play Wii the night before and she had lots of fun! It was a good day. Zach got a new combine, auger wagon, tool bench and some clothes. We're grateful to have family to come and spend the day with us. I am feeling much better today and hope no one catches my nasty germs!

Hard to believe ol' Zach is 2. Seems like just yesterday he was a tiny, helpless little baby and now he is such a big boy. He can say so many words and do so much for himself. Mom misses those little baby days, but she's proud to see what a good boy he is.

Have a Super-Super Bowl Sunday! We're laying low and watching the big game at home.

HERE are a few pics from this weekend. He is such a busy body (and so is Mom), that we didn't take a lot, but a few goodies.

Later!
Katherine

The Final Moments

Hard to believe that after tomorrow, the days of the 2 and under gang are pretty much dunzo in our house! Zach was extra goofy today, we think he knows that he's growing up a bit tomorrow into a big boy. He was rockin' a funky fauxhawk today...Mom kind of hacked his hair up the other day, so we're experimenting with new styles. He was a little chocolately from his banana chip muffin this morning. He got his butt kicked again at playgroup, but he's getting better at holding his own.

See you on your 2nd bday Zach! It's been a fun, wild trip so far...never, ever a dull moment -- unless your sleeping, which you're really good at, and Mom thanks you for that. We love you lots Zach.

Love,
Katherine

Precious Moments

No, I'm not talking about those creepy little porcelain dolls that used to live in everyone's curios cabinets. I'm talking about us! Mom hates to jinx it, but Zach and I have been getting along very well lately. We've been playing more organized type games together, sharing and showing a lot more compassion towards one another. Hopefully, it is not just a phase. Here, I was reading Zach his favorite car book. We read a few more before his attention drifted elsewhere.

Sorry there's been so little blogging as of late, but there hasn't been too much going on here. I think I remember what that is called...there's a special name for it....um, January. Yeah, that's it!

Z-man has his birthday coming up on Friday. He can very proudly tell you he is going to be TWO!!! Nana is coming for the day and she's going to help Mom with getting Z's pictures taken. After that, I promised my bro some Chuck E Cheese action. Awfully generous of me, don't you think?

School is going well. I received my quarterly report card this week. I am doing well in all areas -- just need to work on my pencil grip and the occasional distraction. I'm loving full-days, but I am pretty tired by 5p.m. Mom and I have been working on my dinosaur scrapbook in what little free time we have. It is turning out really cool, I'll share it when it is done.

Speaking of quarterly reports, there was some bad news at CAT this week. But for anyone concerned, Dad isn't going anywhere anytime soon. We just hope this mess works itself out soon and that all the good people here can get jobs.

Have a super week. More birthday deets to come later.

Katherine

WALL-E Mania

For some reason (probably, me), Zach has become obsessed with Wall-E of all things. He really hasn't seen the entire movie and doesn't sit still long enough for that anyway. He has a Wall-E shirt which he asks to wear every day and fights with me over the Wall-E plate and bowl set. It is his favorite word to say, next to combine and tractor, of course. So last week, Mom made him a play doh Wall-E, but much like the over affectionate boy that he is, he kept crushing his little Wall-E into a mushy, doughy heap. He decided to climb out of his crib last week, so we're trying to decide the next step for him. He also has been more aware of his "bodily functions", so toilet-training may be on the horizon in the next couple months.

Now, back to ME! I have had a second Christmas break of sorts. We had 3 days of school canceled last week due to inclement weather. Combine that with my sick day and I've missed quite a bit of school. We tried to keep busy around here with a host of projects around the house, and it is a lot more fun now that Zach can be trusted with crayons and play doh. I received a post card from Buddy the Elf last week. You'll be happy to hear he made it home safely and is enjoying the company of his elf family.

We went to the farm last weekend to celebrate Grandpa D's birthday with him. Zach even got a tractor ride out of it. They went out to Uncle D's field and did tractor donuts in the snow. Hopefully he won't be too upset come spring.

That's it from here! Our basement just needs some paint and new carpet and it should be back to working order. Mom and Dad are looking forward to having their living area back instead of being shoved in the playroom part with us.

Oh! I was hoping to watch the inauguration at school today, but we'll see. Mom recorded it just in case. I told her the other night it has always been my dream to meet Obama. I was pretty saddened to find out that may not happen anytime soon. It is hard to grasp the scope of things.

Have a groovy week!
K

Seeing Stars

Long time no bloggy-blog, eh? Well, we've been extra boring around here lately with very little to report. I have been transitioning to full-days really well. I was extra tired and snippy the first couple of days, but I got used to the long days pretty quickly and am having lots of fun. I've been doing a snazzy mix-up of both hot and cold lunches. I like to keep my teacher on her toes.

We had a mostly fun weekend. Mom and I left for WI on Friday, hoping to dart up there in between waves of wintry weather. The trip went pretty well and we made it up in good, safe time. Unfortunately, I must have had a stomach bug, because I was up most of the night throwing up. I'll spare you the details, but it was a mess. Fortunately, I was puke-free for a good 10hrs, so we decided to go to Tyler and Tori's baby shower. It was loads of fun and I am the master of baby shower games! You know it's a Wisconsin baby shower when the game-prizes are mostly booze. I had to forfeit one of my gifts because I lacked the proper ID.

So we got back on Sunday and it wasn't too long until Mom started feeling the queasies as well. We were hoping it was just random food-poisoning, but it appears to be viral. Gee, maybe exposing myself to the 8 month pregnant lady wasn't the greatest idea? Although I wasn't actually expelling any germs at the moment and had a bath, so I think we're safe.

So Mom has been under the weather today and I woke up with a sore throat and very quickly announced I was too sick for school. Mom was trying to talk me into giving it a try, but Dad didn't want to pick a fight and just let me stay home to catch up on some rest. Zach was the only healthy one of the bunch and he did a pretty good job being nice to us. Zach and I like to play "spies" and he loves to put on the pink glasses and yell "scramble"! I was asking to go back to school by lunchtime and was very upset Mom wouldn't let me go. Mom was stating that I have now tarnished my perfect attendance record, but I was quick to remind her that our little vacay to Disney cost me a couple days as well...oh, snap!

The contractors are supposed to start piecing our basement back together again. Hopefully we get some insulation up this week before those wicked windchills start!

Hope you are happy, healthy and having a good start to your week!
Katherine










Kate and Katie










This is what happens when Mom is laid up on the couch all day....pink glasses, pink shoes and a spy book.

Never Fear, 2009 is Here

I was really upset Wednesday night that 2008 was all done -- lots of tears were shed. I have a hard time letting go of things lately. I cried pretty bad as we took down the tree yesterday as well. Probably because Mom always sings the "Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree" song with sad lyrics! Mom let me keep one ornament to put on our indoor tree/plant. Unfortunately, I dropped my most favorite ballerina ornament and her head snapped off, but we're hoping a little super glue will do the trick. I've actually kind of had a bad day! My brother wouldn't nap, so therefore he got into all my stuff while being extra whiny about it. And then I kept getting in trouble for not letting him play with me. To top it off, my Dad is up having fun with my cousins the past couple days, but I couldn't go because one of them is sick and Mom is a super-big worry wart and wouldn't let me. On the bright side, I finally played Wii today. I was really afraid of it at first. I understand it is all pretend, but I can't really handle the games where you crash or lose in anything. Mom never in a million years thought she would be talking one of her children into playing a video game. So we started slow with a little skeeball today. The carnival game for Wii is the coolest ever! In skeeball, you win dinosaur prizes, so that sweetened the pot. I was nailing the 100 pt rings and pretty proud of myself. I attribute my success to the super-K cape from Nana. Too bad we have to take it back to the video store tomorrow! Mom's really good at most of the games and stayed up too late last night.

Our basement situation is still in limbo. As you can see, the wall is ripped apart on the one side. We have to let it all dry out before they can fix it. In the meantime, it is barricaded off and even though it is chilly, we're lucky the weather hasn't been too cold.

I did have a pretty good Christmas break. I've slowly been playing with each new toy. Mom's been organinzing the closets, the playroom, making trips to Goodwill and getting the house back together slowly but surely. I've been helping a lot and even got to have a friend over on Tuesday. Remember my pal Nicolo? He came for a playdate and played dinos with me all day. We had a Dinosaur Christmas party -- he even brought a few of his own over.

I am very excited to go back to school on Monday. I will be an official full-day kid then and even though Mom will miss me, we know it will be for the best.

That's all from here! Hope your New Year is off to a splendid start!
K








Wii-hee!