The Ledges

  Sunday afternoon Tate and I traveled to the Ledges State Park with my parents while Aaron had to stay home to grade 70 seventh grade papers about their favorite authors.  I felt so bad for him, but couldn't resist getting outside for one of the last warm days of fall.  So we packed a lunch and headed towards Boone.  

   When we first arrived Tate was really intimidated by a large log in the middle of a grassy area, and he kept calling it a fish and wouldn't go near it until I walked on it and helped him do a little balance beam routine.  After we overcame our "fish " fears, the fun began. We started by hiking up, up, up to the top of an overlook.  Sad to admit, but shortly after doing the up and down of the trail, I was having a little shaking leg problem, realizing: crap- I'm out of shape.

   So we hiked, walked, threw rocks and "waded" in the water.  Since the water was pretty cool, Tate didn't care to wade very much, so his feet got dipped into the water a few times and then they proceeded to throw more rocks.  An A+ day in Tate's eyes.

Hiking with Grandpa

22 wks profile.  I feel way larger than this photo depicts.

Way cuter semi-profile :)

At this point, Tate was telling me not to take anymore pictures.

On your mark . . . get set . . . GO!

Throwing rocks in the water

This will be one of the only times you'll see my Dad's teeth when he smiles for pictures, cause he didn't know I was taking a photo.

Tate was in 7th heaven, throwing rocks, outside, and got to "wade" in the water.

Prepping for Halloween

A few weeks ago we started preparing for Halloween and the fall season.  We got a few pumpkins, got the mini hay bales out, the mum is was in full bloom and got out some other autumn decor indoors.  Tate has loved seeing the pumpkins on everyone's doorsteps, loves the glowing skeleton heads at our daycare provider's home and really really loves watching the "itch" on youtube with Daddy.  

A couple weeks ago Aaron, Tate and I got home after dark and had parked in the driveway.  As I got Tate out of the truck he looked out across the dark yard and he said to me, "ooh look at that "itch" Mommy!"  At that time I had heard him say "itch" a few times, but hadn't yet figured out what the meant.  Oddly, I thought maybe he had an actual itch or scratch.  By the time I picked him up from daycare the next day, I figured out "itch" meant witch to Tate, or at the point, anything Halloween related.  So we showed him some videos of the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz and he's been so obsessed with witches ever since.  Since then Tate has also learned some other Halloween characters: witches, ghosts, skeletons and monsters.  It's so fun hearing him say these new words and what his imagination can conjure up.  

Next battle: actually wearing his Halloween costume. To be continued...

There they are Mom, I'm not smiling about these pumpkins again.

Helping me decorated and rearrange with outdoor decor

The "itch"

Happy Birthday #2 to Tate!  Last month we celebrated Tate's birthday with a Thomas the Train party.  We had a gorgeous day, great guests and yummy pizza.  Tate received a lot of great Thomas toys, a trike, a new table and chairs for activities, a tractor, a helicopter, clothes and cars.  So many new big boy toys to keep him busy.  We heard a lot of "Oooh, Thomas!" and "Oooh, look at that!"  from Tate.    

Aunt Cami and Tate had fun throwing the ball onto the roof, then having it bounce off Tate's head.  Don't worry, it was very soft and didn't actually hit the mark too often.  But fun stuff!

On Tate's actually birthday he learned how to blow out the candle and has been obsessed since.  At first the aim was difficult but we got it nailed down.

 

The entire day was so fun, but finding this picture on the camera was a bonus.  Aunt Cami was in charge of some photo taking.  Apparently our neighbor was needing to move the dog house. :)

We love the Iowa State Fair!

   Last week during the Iowa State Fair Tate and I drove down to take in the sights and eats.  Aaron wasn't able to come since he'd already started teacher inservices. 
   Tate really loved seeing all the different animals, eating a corn dog, but hands down, his favorite part of the day was getting to check out all the "big tractors."  We were also able to visit Wade and Carson in the horse barn and watched Wade get his big horses cleaned up and ready to show.  By 2 o'clock Tate was sacked out in the stroller, I was full of grease and cookies and it was getting warmer than necessary.  So we headed for home, Tate slept the whole way home and when we got home I was able to snuggle him into bed with me for another two hours of naptime, a dream come true!



Snacks

Tate liked this size horse. . .

better than this size horse. Hi Wade!



Daddy needs one of these

Hiatus. . .

 

      Sorry for the hiatus folks!  The summer kind of took over and suddenly there was no time for uploading photos.  Also, our computer crashed and was "completely corrupted" in the words of the computer repair guy.  Fortunately: it's working for the most part now, unfortunately: he completely wiped the computer, so we lost all photos that have been on here for the past 4 years, all documents and videos.  No- I did not have it backed up, I didn't cry, but came pretty darn close that day.

 

     Since the last time we talked:

 

-  Aaron has started football, which included  equipment checkout, high school and junior high camp, 2-a-day practices, meetings, Powerade scrimmage and they've also already had their first game(loss)!

 

-  My parents took Tate up to Clear Lake on a Wednesday afternoon to visit the Vierkandt family, and luckily I was able to join them the next day. Sounded like Tate enjoyed his camping experience and he definitely loved being outside all the time, throwing rocks in the lake, swinging and boating.  As you can see by the pictures below he started his day with a nap on the beach and ended the day with a quick snooze on the way in.

 

-  Aaron started his new teaching career at Roland-Story Middle School with some in-services and classes last week.  He'll be teaching 8th grade English and P.E.  We're both so excited to be able to be a part of this community and for him to finally have his own classroom.

 

-  While Aaron has been busy with football Tate and I have been visiting family and friends around Story City, trying to keep busy and keep cool.  We went to the fair, saw tons of animals (literally), ate some great fair food and tuckered ourselves out.  We both had a 2+ hour nap that day, the best! (more pics to follow)

 

-  And another reason for the hiatus in posting is my recent issue of exhaustion.  I've been falling asleep with Tate most nights for the past 8 weeks because the little baby in my tummy has demanding a lot of my energy.  Yes!  Aaron and I are expecting a new baby coming February 2013.  We are so excited, blessed and thankful.  It'll be so fun to see Tate as a big brother. 

 

     That's all for now, that's a quick update and I'm sure I've left a lot out.  But I believe my tired phase is mostly over, so hopefully we can keep those interested more updated.  Thanks for reading.

  

 

 

Great nap on the beach, cool breeze and shady for the babe

 

 

Levi and Tate "tubing"

Tired baby and Momma

Grandma and Tate "kissing"

"I love boating!"

Karleen (or Katie as Tate was saying) relaxing after a fun day

Nuptials!

     On July 14th my brother Chad got married to his lovely bride Brittni in Nevada at Indian Creek Country Club.  Aaron, Tate and I were all in the wedding party and we couldn't have asked for a better day.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so all of my photos were stolen from Facebook.  Tate was the ring bearer and he did a great job.  He was responsible for pulling a wagon down the aisle with the 3 1/2 month old flower girl.  He performed like a champ, pulled that thing like he'd been born to do just that.  I'll have to locate a few of those photos from Facebook as well.
     Of course, have a July wedding outside could be a gamble with our recent heat or risk of showers.  Fortunately the heat chose to bear down on us only during pictures, then about 15 minutes before show time the clouds gathered, we got a breeze and even a few cool rain drops towards the end to make everyone present much much happier.
     Chad and Brittni looked so beautiful and it was a great day.  They got married, we had a great supper, fantastic cake and a good ol' time dancing the night away.  These pictures don't do the day justice.

Scandy Days 2012

Scandanavian Days were the first weekend of June in Story City, so we tried to take part in some of the activities.  Friday night Aaron, Tate, Chad, Brittni and I went down to the park to play.  They had a lot of different inflatables for the kids, food, dunk tank, a band, the carousel and a few carnival games.  Tate was still a little too small for the inflatables, especially with all the other kids.  I kept imagining their little top heavy bodies conking heads together and becoming concussed, a bad image in my head.  So we steered clear of the bounce houses and headed for the good ol' play equipment.  Unfortunately some 10 year old boy decided to growl/scream in Tate's face when he was in the tunnel.  I had a very unhappy boy for a few moments, and as a Mom, I wanted to growl at that kid too. 

Saturday morning Aaron, Tate, Brittni and I all went to the fitness center to register and race in the 5k run/walk.  Chad had to work, so he missed out on some cardio.  Aaron and Brittni ran the entire race in 27 or 28 minutes and Tate and I finished around 37 minutes.  None too fast for us, but I did jog the majority of the race, so I consider that a success.  Except when the soreness settled in Sunday.

After the race we got ready for the parade.  We went to my Aunt Lisa & Uncle Kent's house to watch the parade.  Aaron's parents, sister and her kids also came down for the parade and candy-palooza.  On the way home, Tate fell asleep, so we missed out on carousel rides and Aaron in the dunk tank, but I heard he got dunked quite a few times by a lot of people.

Later in the evening, Grandpa came over to watch Tate while the "big kids" went down to the band.  All in all we had a pretty good weekend. Sunday was a lazy day spent at home, the park and a picnic supper outside.  My kind of Sunday!

Please note the 3 suckers Grandpa was allowing.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm goin, goin, goin on a trip . . .

 

Mother's Day at Grandma's

So, let's see . . . a few weeks ago was Mother's Day and since I've been behind with uploading my pictures and posting, here's the dish.

After church we went to the farm for lunch with Grandma Lori.  And I just realized I didn't get any pictures with Grandma Lori on Mother's Day, sorry Mom.  Mother's day was beautiful outside.  Chad and Brittni were there, so while Tate took a nap we all lounged around outside, got some sun, played with the dogs and enjoyed the day. 

Mother's Day at Nana's

Mother's Day was such a gorgeous day a few Sundays ago.  We spent the entire day outside, which was perfect for everyone, especially for that special little boy that made me a Mom.  After nap, we headed up to Iowa Falls to spend the evening with Nana Molly.  We played outside some more, had supper and planted flowers with the cousins and Nana. 

We also attempted to get some pictures suitable for framing with Nana and the grandkids.  Tate wasn't interested, so Papa tried to help.  Here's how that went:

 

Nana and girls smiling.  Drew staring, and Tate upset.

Nana and girls still smiling, Drew doing ok, Tate mad.

At least everyone has their eyes open.

And finally. The girls holding on to their smiles and now BOTH boys have had enough! hahaha

This kid was a lot happier with a bit more freedom and space.  Just strolling with his favorite Papa!

Let's go guys