Thursday, March 10, 2011

Happy Birthday to Kellen!!

Well today was a fabulous day - Kellen's 1st birthday! I can't believe how time has just flown by - I think back to...
*my not so fabulous labor
*my anxiety of 'how am I going to spread my time between 3 kids'?!
*having Tyler want to hold him all the time after we got home from the hospital
*my 4 months off with Corey also taking 6 weeks...while spending tons of time as a new family of 5 both here in Casselton, in Bismarck or the lake and in the motorhome - even Kellen's 1st trip to the new Twins stadium!
*Crawling between 4-5 months
*Him laughing and thinking the funniest word in the world was 'ouch' ;)
*Kellen just lighting up whenever his big brothers would play with him
*Lots of teeth and super cute smiles and laughing (sorry Ty and Colt - Kellen has been the best baby of the 3...hardly ever cries
*finally for the 1st time - knowing I am outnumbering most people in how many kids they have, so their opinion really doesn't matter unless I'm wanting it - and finally admitting, I love sleeping with all my kids and for anyone who has a problem with that -they can take a long walk off a short dock!;)
*First steps and taking off walking between 10-10.5 months
*Being a great eater of any food we give him
*Loving to play basketball and shoot like his big brothers
*And finally having his first cupcake ever this morning for his birthday breakfast!

Time certainly does fly by. It's sad to think that he isn't a baby anymore, but it's so fun watching him grow and thinking we may have more of a handful than even Colt on our hands! He walks around and shakes his hand and yells at Brutus (in-laws dog), he shoved Colt with 2 hands this morning just because he felt like it and his favorite thing is to do a belly flop on anyone who may be laying around the ground. He also enjoys throwing laundry into the bathtub full of water and threw some toothbrushes in the toilet last week. Ty is still pretty shy, but Kellen and Colton will be sure to ruffle some feathers if anyone messes with their big BRO!;)

2 quick updates on Ty and Colt - Tyler had his Kindergarten screen this morning and it went just awesome. We could have NEVER made a better decision than to give him an extra year to play and learn and explore and mature. He got 7.5 points higher this year (85 last year and 92.5 this year) and Mrs. Holland was extremely impressed with his motor skills (said most kids flail their arms around and things when walking backwards or standing on 1 leg and hopping - but NOT Ty, he did it all with his hands in his pockets!!)...he also did great with his simple addition and could just look at a picture and know how many of something was on the page. He did really great drawing a pic of himself - last year it was a stick man, this year a full fledge star wars looking kid and even drew teeth on himself! He knows his address and can get his phone number right about 60-75% of the time! These are just huge changes from last year!! Ty also just completed another Fargo Basketball Academy session with 6-8 year olds and was solidly in the middle of the pack - and now it's time for 10 weeks of swimming for both Ty and Colt...holy crap. Can you stay 'driving from work to Casselton, back into Fargo and back out to Cass every Mon, Tues and Weds for 10 weeks?!'

Colton is just as hilarious as ever! He and Ty have majorly gotten back into baseball and Corey plays with them almost every night. Colt's favorite movie is The Sandlot, and he calls himself the Great Hambino and Tyler is the Great Bambino. He is actually sleeping right now with his ball and glove;) This kid is a firecracker, but hilarious and great natured. he is always making the girls at PlayCorner laugh like crazy. He told me he wanted to get his teacher Nicole a special valentine...'Celery';) He also wanted to bring a sucker for Alyssa when she started working there again. He likes to knock Tyler's block off if Ty messes with him and loves to help cook. He just loves making his own pizza! He talks and sings constantly and he could care less if he knows the words - he just goes with it;) His latest 'Colton Classic'...he wanted to take a bath Sunday night and I said no, you already took one earlier...he screams 'FINNNNNNE!' and stomps away and started stomping up the stairs. I ask him where he's going and he screams at me 'I'M GOING TO PEE IN MY BED SO I CAN TAKE A BATH!' OMG. Seriously. THAT is Colt;)

Other than that - Corey and I went to Mexico for a week and had a blast with some friends from DC and are looking forward to the weather around here getting nice some day so we can start playing outside more!!

Ok that's all for now - lots of ramblings and randomness!

Have a good one,

Kelly

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Five (5) lessons about the way we treat people (LOVE THIS!)

Five (5) lessons about the way we treat people
1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor

Gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student

And had breezed through the questions until I read

The last one:

"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the

Cleaning woman several times. She was tall,

Dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name?


I handed in my paper, leaving the last question

Blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if

The last question would count toward our quiz grade.


"Absolutely, " said the professor.. "In your careers,

You will meet many people. All are significant.. They

Deserve your attention and care, even if all you do

Is smile and say "hello.."

I've never forgotten that lesson.. I also learned her

Name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American

Woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway

Trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had

Broken down and she desperately needed a ride.

Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally

Unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960's. The man

Took her to safety, helped her get assistance and

Put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his

Address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a

Knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a

Giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A

Special note was attached.

It read:

"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway

The other night. The rain drenched not only my

Clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.

Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying

Husband's' bedside just before he passed away... God

Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving

Others."

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole.


3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those

Who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,

A 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and

Sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in

Front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and

Studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the

Waitress was growing impatient..

"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on

The table and walked away The boy finished the ice

Cream, paid the cashier and left.. When the waitress

Came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the

Table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,

Were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had

To have enough left to leave her a tip.


4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a

Roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if

Anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the

King's' wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by

And simply walked around it.. Many loudly blamed the

King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did

Anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of

Vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the

peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the

stone to the side of the road. After much pushing

and straining, he finally succeeded. After the

peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed

a purse lying in the road where the boulder had

been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note

from the King indicating that the gold was for the

person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The

peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve

our condition.


5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a

hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who

was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only

chance of recovery appeared to be a blood

transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had

miraculously survived the same disease and had

developed the antibodies needed to combat the

illness. The doctor explained the situation to her

little brother, and asked the little boy if he would

be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a

deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save

her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed

next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing

the color returning to her cheek. Then his face

grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a

trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away".

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the

doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his

sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A few funny stories from this week!

1. Corey and Ty were working out together the other night – doing situps, arm curls…all of it…and he and Ty were laying in bed later and Ty had rubbed his stomach and said ‘yeah, I think I lost a little here (and patted his belly)’ and then he flexed and said ‘and I think I got a little more muscle here – right where I wanted it (and rubbed his bicep)’ – so funny! He was totally serious;)
2. Colt and Ty were going round for round the other night and Ty was really pi$$ing him off – then Colt and Corey were heading up the stairs to goto bed and Corey tells him to say goodnight to mom…’goodnight mom!’ – say goodnight to Kellen …’goodnight Kellen!’…and say goodnight to Ty…’NO!’ ----SOOOO funny! Then they were laying in bed and Corey said, you are sure a good boy, daddy loves you…and he says ‘yeah, but not Tyler, he’s a nerd!’ and he was serious;)
3. Ok – 1 more…tonight they come inside and I heard Colt kind of crying and Ty came in 1st. I asked why Colt was crying and Ty as cool as a cucumber says ‘oh, he just fell on the ice’ and he kept on walking in. Then Colt comes in kind of sniffling and I look and see a cut over the bridge of his nose and it’s a bit bruised and swollen and I’m like ‘what the heck happened to colt’s nose?!’ – and corey says Ty hit him in the face with a hockey stick. Nice, for 1, Colt’s nose is probably broke and 2…we are raising a fabulous liar!
4. Ok 1 last one – Kellen can stand and I bet he will walk in the next few weeks!

Later!

Kelly