First Day of School 2013-14

 Thor had his picture taken by this sign the first and last day of the school year when he started school. We are making it our tradition to take one for each school year beginning and end.

 Our Bean-ie Baby is officially in school. Today I was able to take her to her open house to meet her teacher. She was not thrilled about going to school, but she changed her tune when she got there. She found that one of her good friends from church is in her class, and they have lockers right next to eachother.

                                                              Ready for school!

                                                             She found her locker!!!!

Memory Wipe

On Friday Thor had a consultation with an oral surgeon. He has to have a tooth extracted before it becomes and issue for his adult teeth. While discussing pain management options during the operations, we opted against Novocain and laughing gas, in favor of a liquid drug that will make him forget the whole appointment.  I was very forthcoming in the steps of the process and he seemed to be at peace with what was going to happen.

The following evening I was talking with my mom and told her what was going to happen. Thor came out of his room and was hysterical. He explained through his tears and snot bubbles that he was scared about his surgery. I had no idea why he was so worried, until he said he had heard what I said to grandma. He said he heard me say he would not remember anything and he didn't want to lose his whole memory. He wanted to know about animals and stuff! He was so sincere it was heartbreaking. I explained that the only thing he would not remember would be the surgery. That seemed to calm him enough to allow him to go back to bed.

It was just too funny of a story not to share.

Quick Learners...Long Summer

This summer has been full of first for the kids. A few weeks back Baleigh learned to tie her shoes all by herself in an afternoon. She has become even more proficient and confident in that skill since then.

Both kids are reading (slowly but surely) easy reader books to us instead of the other way around.

Last week Thor and Bean decided they wanted the training wheels off their bikes and away they went. Thor was the first to take off, and Baleigh, not to be left behind figured it out by the following day. They are tooling around the neighborhood with the other kids now.

Early in the summer the midgets took swimming lessons at the public pool. After 10 days of lessons we have two little fish. Thor is confident going down the giant water slide and Baleigh is jumping off the diving board into the deep end - WITH NO LIFE JACKET!!! I am so proud of how much they learned and practice when they are in the pool. I know I was not that fearless at their age and it makes me proud to have such active, gifted children.

The summer has seemed long and short all at the same time. Starting a new job mid summer was unexpected and it has made it seem longer. I am excited for the kids to head back to school and see old friends and make new ones. Baleigh will have the same teacher as Thor had last year and Thor is excited to meet Mrs. Kryder his 1st grade teacher. I am pleased that I work across the street from their school so they don't have to ride the bus anymore. They will go to school with me and then walk across to the elementary school when it is time, and come and hang out with me for 40 minutes in the afternoon, when I get off work. It is really ideal for our schedule at the moment and Baleigh is especially glad that I will be close to her for the first few weeks. She was very apprehensive about who her teacher would be and riding the bus was a stressful thought for her. Now she knows who her teacher is and she doesn't have to ride the bus if she doesn't want to.

In other big news, Thor is having oral surgery the end of this month. He had X-rays at the dentist last week, and we discovered he has an issue with his baby tooth in the back by his 6 molar. The baby tooth has not fallen  out and it is dissolving the adult molar. He has to have the baby tooth extracted and a spacer put in. So thankful that my job offers GREAT dental insurance. We would have had to dig into our emergency fund to cover this one. Also, thankful that we found this issue before it became a painful thing to fix - the dentist said it could abscess at any moment and it was an urgent issue to resolve.

Cave of the Mounds

Family Photo - Cave of the Mound, WI

The kids were being especially kind to each other on this particular outing. They had a good time walking the cave system. It was really nice to see them getting along so well.

This was a picture of the kids with some flow rock, nic named the painted waterfall. Baleigh was overjoyed to find out that there were no bats living in this cave. She was worried some might get caught in her hair.

A beautiful column formation in the cave

We went to the Grumpy Troll for lunch. WE were sitting on the patio but we got rained out. By the time we finished lunch it was sunny and beautiful out again.

He was supposed to be giving me a grumpy look but he was taking conflicting instructions from our friend Donnavan. We explored the caves with Kathy and Donnavan and they went with us to Mount Horeb, WI for lunch and to tour the art festival going on there. Baleigh was in 7th heaven because they had bouncy houses and a trampoline to keep kids occupied. It was a really great day out with friends.

Creeping Up On a Year

I am quickly approaching the one year anniversary of coming off active duty. I can hardly believe it has been a year already! Here we are in the midst of summer and I just started a new job! I started the day prior to my 33rd birthday. I am officially the book keeper for the Lena-Winslow High School.

On July 3rd we went to Freeport's Firework display and got together with my whole family. It was fun for the cousins to get together and watch the show together.

The 4th of July was different than it has been in years past. Originally we had intended to go and visit friends in Michigan but as the time got closer, family obligations took presidence...that, and now I have a different work schedule so I can't take off like we thought. Instead, Jake's parents  came up on Thursday and we took a little family bike trip. The kids hung out with Grandma for the day and Grandpa, Jake and I took a ride to Balltown, IA. We cooked out in the afternoon and even hit up one the the neighboring town's fireworks displays.

Usually we spend the 4th with my family at my aunt and uncle's farm in Wisconsin but we deviated from tradition to spend time with part of the Nielsen clan. We had invited more Nielsen's but they were unable to make it ... however, we will see them in a few weeks at the annual gathering of the Nielsen't in August.

The kids started swimming lessons today and I am going to make the valient effort to get a million things done while I am off of work for that week. I have flower girl dresses to make, a bachelorette party to plan and send invites out for, meal planning and shopping and prepping for a few weeks, a wedding shower to attend, and its also the week of the county fair!. Sounds pretty relaxing to me.

Here are a few pics from the first annual Nielsen Family Bike Trip.

 This was Bill's favorite picture from the weekend. For being a spur of the moment photo I have to agree - Cori did a nice job of taking it.

Bean in her element with PeePaw

Jake and his dad at a scenic overlook in Iowa

Taking a ride with his daddy

Jake and I taking a break from the ride.

She couldn't get enough of taking motorcycle rides. She asks for a ride every night before bed now.

Father's Day 2013

We traveled down to the New Lenox for Father's Day so Jake could spend some time with his dad. Here is a picture of the two of them headed out for a fun ride. Baleigh has also caught the bike bug from her daddy and peepaw. She got her first motorcycle ride from Grandpa last week and can't get enough of it. I think she just clinched her spot as favorite grandchild at that moment.

A Memorial Day Weekend To Remember

Watching Hippos eat is AMAZING!

 

Enjoying some Gate's BBQ

Out at BWW for the UFC fights

Jake at the WWI Museum in KC, MO

Posting with his 2ID patch from WWI

Jake's Division Patch

Heidi's Corps Patch

Waiting outside Arthur Bryant's BBQ (best BBQ we had had - to date)

My amazing pulled pork sammy -YUM

Full rack of DELICIOUS ribs!!

Poseidon Fountain

Jake and I spent the Memorial Day weekend on a little trip through the midwest. My parent's kept the kids from Friday night through Monday so we could go on a romantic holiday weekend. We headed out for Kansas City on Friday after Jake got off work. We made it to KC by midnight and crashed at our hotel. In the morning we hit the ground running with a trip to the KC Zoo.

I give this zoo a big thumbs up for an adult trip but if you are taking kids, be warned that it is a HUGE zoo and could easily take all day to see everything. The best part was getting to experience informational talks by the zoo keepers while they interacted with the animals in various ways. We were able to watch hippos being hand fed as well as watching the orangutans paint pictures (we bought one for Thor as a surprise).

After the zoo we headed out to take in some local cuisine at Gate's BBQ. The food was delicious but their baked beans are really what made the experience awesome! All the little bits of meat that fell off when being cooked are added to their beans and it is pretty delicious. I would give this place a 4 out of 5 stars. The location is nothing to write home about and I felt very rushed when ordering but the food was delicious and  plentiful, while not overly expensive.

We then made our way to the Crown Center. This is a HUGE mall like complex. It is the home of Hallmark and boasts a Crayola store (kind of lame in my opinion). We spent about 4 hours just walking around there and took a tour of Halmark while we were there. Jake found a new fancy hat and I snagged a few gourmet chocolates to keep my blood sugar up. : ) That night we went out for dinner at a sports bar so we could watch the UFC fights. This was a rare treat, since we rarely get to see the fights together (because they are on too late).

The next day we toured the WWI Museum and Monument and spent the entire morning there. It was a beautiful day and we were able to take our time soaking in all the information at this wonderful monument. During one of the films that was running a quote came up on the screen that rang true with me. It read, "Hell is not fire, it is mud." because quite literally the men in WWI were drowning in mud. They were being sucked down and it sucked the spirit out of them. Jake and I both had experiences in the Army with mud (not even close to what these men saw) and we agreed with the statement.

We took in some more local flavor in the afternoon at Arthur Bryant's BBQ on the recommendation of a friend from the Army. It did not disappoint.Jake got the ribs and I ordered the pulled pork. You get in line cafeteria style and you take the food to your table yourself. The place is obviously its original location as it is very dated and simple. That did not detract from the deliciousness of the food in any way. This place comes highly recommended and as a bonus, when you are standing in line (because there will be one) you get to see pics of all the famous people (presidents, governors, celebrities etc) who have stopped in and enjoyed some amazing KC BBQ.

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Plaza ( an upscale outdoor "mall") downtown. It was fun to walk around and we took in a movie while we were kid free as well. Iron Man 3 was an excellent flick and I think I liked it better than the first two - which is really saying something since I enjoyed both of those immensely.

We got up Monday morning to a torrential downpour and loaded up the car and headed back to reality. The whole weekend was amazing and we are so grateful to my parents for watching the kids.  ITs not something that will happen often because we love hanging out with our kids, but maybe once a year we will plan on taking a long weekend away from them. : )