First Snow

The entire family was excited to see the snow we got this weekend. Isaac and Ethan have spent almost the entire weekend playing outside. We had to force them to go for carriage rides and Christmas crafts in LeClaire yesterday. Great Grandma Arlene and Great Grandpa Wayne gave them snow brick molds last weekend, and we were excited to try them out already. They work GREAT! The boys made a brick wall yesterday, and today we used the bricks as bowling pins and the boys on sleds as bowling balls. They thought it was hilarious to crash into the bricks.

Building the wall with Daddy.

Its so nice to see them working together. They have really played nice together lately. They are good buddies.

Isaac threw that snow ball at me right after I took the picture. He likes to get me with the snowballs. Ethan is doing his famous crazy laugh in this picture.

We also had fun breaking the bricks over eachother's heads and pretending that we were karate chopping the bricks.

Climbing Trees

Here is Scott showing the boys how high he can climb the tree. This is the best climbing tree.

Ethan was not going to get in the tree. He is perfectly happy hanging out on the ground.

Four Month Pictures of Owen

These pictures were taken when Owen was 4 months old. He is such a cutie! He is an easy going little baby. He LOVES to be outside. Whenever we are outside he is so happy just to look around and see everything.

Caramel Apples

After two trips to the apple orchard to pick apples, we had lots of apples to eat up. We tried to make our own caramel apples. Isaac and Ethan's apples turned out really good. Here we are enjoying them together.

Ethan is talking in this picture. He always has something to say, even if it is in his own little made up language.

Owen is such a cutie!

Ethan's apple was better than mine, so I am trying to steal some of his. He is always good at sharing and had not problem giving me a bite.

Dance Party

Ethan likes to have dance parties. He started dancing with Owen, who absolutely loved it! He was smiling with his big wide open mouth smile. Ethan thinks it is really cool when he can make Owen smile and laugh.

Boys will Be Boys

Isaac and Ethan love to play outside with our neighbor Scott. We call him Scottie. Their favorite thing to do this fall was to make "Slop Soup". They would gather anything they could find in the yards and mix it up in their soup. This particular batch was full of rotten apples. Yum! We were on a walk the other day and found a small dead snake in the middle of the road. Isaac says, "That would be perfect for our slop soup!" Ewwww!

The boys are very serious about their slop process. They have rigged up a pulley system on Scottie's swingset.

Visit from Traci

We are so lucky that Traci wanted to spend her vacation with us. We got to do lots of fun stuff with her.

Of course Traci showed up with a bag full on clothes for Owen. Here Owen is showing off his "My Auntie is Awesome" shirt.
We went down to the river to look at boats and ducks. Ethan had a lot of fun looking through the binoculars.

A million ducks showed up when Ethan got the bread out. He thought it was hilarious. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the river.

Traci and Ethan feeding the ducks.

We also got to go to the zoo. Here are Isaac and Ethan on the train. That is their favorite part of the zoo.

Traci and the kids waiting for the train to get going.

We also tried the merry-go-round. The boys waved at us every time they went around. It was so cute!

Ethan thought a long time to pick his animal and settled on the tiger.

Owen really enjoyed the zoo. He loves to be outside, and is always content when we are outside.

We had a wonderful week with Traci. We also went for several walks at Duck Creek, made tons of yummy food and picked apples at Stones Apple Farm. They boys love Traci so much, and she really loves them.

Tricky Ethan

Ethan decided that he was ready for the two-wheeled scooter a couple weeks ago. He is now a little pro at it. He even has a couple tricks. He can ride for a long way with one foot extended behind him.

This is his second trick. This kid has no problem keeping up with his older brother.
Ethan wanted to go to Germany with his Dad for work. He climbed into the suitcase while Scott was packing. Someday we will be amazed that he could fit into a suitcase.

Owen Visits Some Great Grandmas

Owen visited his Great Grandma Wiegmann and Great Grandma Korte on Labor Day weekend for the first time. They both had presents for him. He is enjoying his quilt handmade by Great Grandma Korte and his new puppy "Dottie" from Great Grandma Wiegmann. Grandma Korte makes a quilt for each great grandchild and Grandma Wiegmann is great at buying stuffed animals. Isaac and Ethan carry around puppies from her everywhere.

Here is Owen with Great Grandma Korte.

Here is Owen with Great Grandma Wiegmann.

Grandma Korte has a wild side. We celebrated her 91st birthday by playing Euchre and...doing Jello shots! Dad's cousins Jim and Ruth said they had made jello shots. It thought they were just kidding, but they weren't. We had a big laugh about it.

Owen is 2 Months!

We are so blessed to have Owen in our family. He is such a good, happy baby. He fits right in with the rest of the group. He started smiling a couple weeks ago. Now every time I go get him from a nap or whenever anyone talks to him he gives a big gummy grin. Isaac and Ethan can almost get him to laugh. We love him so much.

Here are a few photos I took of him outside the other day.

Future Plans

Isaac and Ethan have picked out their future homes. We always go for walks in the neighborhood next to ours. One day at dinner Isaac told us he was going to buy the house with the "3 normal garages and 1 huge garage". He needs the space in the huge garage for his future monster truck. He plans to also have a convertible, Toyota FJ Cruiser and a Zoom Car (he plans to invent this, it is a super fast car, "the fastest car ever"). That boy loves his machines. He has come home with 4 books from the school library, so far they have been about Fighter planes, backhoes, aircraft carriers and big rigs.

Not to be outdone, Ethan decided to choose a future home as well. He picked this lovely home because it has a pool in the backyard. Ethan loves to play and have fun, so this house will suit him. He may be our party boy.

This is a picture of Isaac doing a wheelie on his bike.

Isaac's First Day of Kindergarten

Isaac's first day of kindergarten was today! Scott and I were very excited for him. He was excited and a little nervous about it.

We wanted to make this day special. Scott stayed home from work in the morning, so he could eat breakfast with us and walk Isaac to the bus. We made mickey mouse pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast. Then it was off to the bus stop. The bus picks the kids up at the end of our court. There were four kindergartners at our stop. All the parents were there capturing video and snapping pictures. We had about 10 cars held up behind the bus. Isaac sat with Danielle on the way to school. She is such a sweetie, she is starting 6th grade, so that was very nice of her to sit with Isaac.

Ethan, Owen and I had a fun day, and 3:25 came before we knew it. I met Isaac at the bus stop to come home. He flew right by me, hopped on his bike and rode home with the other kids. I think he had a GREAT day. It was difficult to get him to share what happened at school, but a bowl of chips and a glass of orange kool-aid got me some information. Here are some questions and answers.

Mom: What do you think of your teacher?
Isaac: Cool.

Mom: Did you miss your brothers?
Isaac: Well, I was kind of having too much fun to think about them.

Mom: Who did you play with today?
Isaac: Mara

Mom: What are the names of the other kids in your class?
Isaac: Ummm...I don't know. There is one named Libby. (That is Traci's dog's name.)

Mom: What did you have for lunch?
Isaac: Ummm...I don't know. Well, I do know what I had to drink. They had strawberry milk, plain milk and chocolate milk. Which one do you think I picked?
Mom: Strawberry Milk
Isaac: Yup, for snack and lunch!

Mom: What did you learn today?
Isaac: I don't know.

Mom: What do you think of kindergarten?
Isaac: Cool.

Isaac waiting for the bus.

The sun was too bright for him to smile.

He is so handsome. I am so proud of my big boy.

Isaac and Mara are in the same class. Their birthdays are 1 day apart. I think they will be good buddies.

This is the point when I almost started crying, but I am SO HAPPY for Isaac. He is going to have a ton of fun at school.