Travels, Tater Tot Hotdish and Tonsils

Hello!....I'll start off this post with some more Kate quotes:

I told Kate that Grandma and Grandpa went to a wedding:
"Whose wedding was it?"
"A woman that works with Grandma"
"What is her name?"
"Rachel"
Pauses to think.."What is the name of the boy that she picked for her wedding?" 
"I don't know:)"

We have attempted to explain to Kate why it is dark in Japan when it is sunny here. The other morning I mentioned how beautiful and sunny the day was and Kate said, "Tony and Tara have the moon right now. Then they will see the sun and we will get the moon." Cool, that stuck!

I was on the phone and Kate asked who it was. 
"Beth"
"The Beth with the kids at her house? (in North Liberty her in-home care provider was named Beth, though we haven't spoken of her in a LONG time)
"No, Beth from the store in Mauston"
"The Beth that has Ivy?"
"No honey, a different Beth" :) 

As we drove through town, many houses had been TPed during homecoming. She asked,"Wow. I wonder how they got all those white vines up there..."

I was on the interstate and she will occasionally comment on my driving. Go faster, Mommy, pass all these cars. You are going too fast! Slow down, Mommy, the police will give you a speeding ticket (I'm not the parent you need to worry about my sweet...:) But the other day, she asked why I wasn't going faster, "Why can't you go 'on plane' in your van?" This is so hilarious...we get up "on plane" on the boat.  Yup, she is Dave's daughter. 

As you know, our neighborhood has a lot of seasonal homes and many people just come up on weekends. When we meet people we often say we live her full time. This has creeped into her play, I overheard her playing with her dolls and she was saying, "Oh yes, we live here full time...." :)

Recently, I took the kids to Decorah for the weekend as Dave was in Des Moines for the Iowa Association of Nurse Anesthetists Fall Meeting. I am home alone enough, the thought of a full weekend without any help was NOT appealing:) Luckily, my parents are always willing to take us on and we had a nice mix of doing things and not doing things;) We stopped in to say hi to Mom and Dad at Sunflower and Tritech and then grabbed a late lunch at Culvers and went to Phelps Park to eat and play. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I really enjoyed being there. Kate loved the new playground (well, it seems new to me) and the fountain.  I almost tried to take both kids hiking on the trail, but decided against it. Another time. When I have another adult:) This was a small victory for me. I definitely don't just sit at home with the kids because it is difficult at times to take them places. I usually go for it and it usually goes well. To a point. And then sometimes it is a disaster. And I vow never to leave the house again. So, I have really been trying to keep a good gauge on how we are doing and cut our losses at the right time - before I decide to go to that last store and do that last item on my errand list, etc. I have been doing well! On numerous recent adventures, I have had the urge to push on, but corrected and made a better decision to go home and kept us all much happier! Who cares if we didn't make it to the post office today, there is always tomorrow! Which brings me to my next goal of not feeling like I am endlessly running into town for errands every day....ah well. 

Back to the weekend! Saturday was cooler and rainy, we relaxed at home, I went down memory lane while sorting through some tubs from the basement:), watched the Hawkeyes and then we had supper out at Pizza Hut with Grandma Rosendahl and went back to her place and hung out for awhile. Lots of fun. She let the kids each pick out two little stuffed animals from her bingo winnings:) She'll have to keep cleaning up at bingo and get some more! I told her that I am dying to stop by and play with her sometime soon, I need to learn from the master!

Sunday came early for me and I didn't make it to church with Mom and Dad, I wanted to, but my beautiful son decided I should spend my awake time with him. Between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Mom did steal Collin a little before 7 a.m. and he got to say hi to Tony and Tara:) Sunday was lazy too, we had lunch with Andrew and Kylie (tater tot hotdish:) and played outside. I could write more about the fun I had going through the tubs from the basement, but I'm too tired right now! Pictures, homework, awards, report cards, souvenirs...it was quite the blast from the past, including some pictures from Miller Hall at Luther from basketball camp when I was somewhere around 8th grade??? I just had to show Kylie so she appreciates how nice it is (in both halls) now:) 

Monday started our week with a sick baby. I know this might be crazy, but Kate was HARDLY ever sick. Dave and I don't know what to do with a sick baby! She maybe had one ear infection and had mild RSV when she was 3 months. She threw up for the first time this year. Yeah. We've been lucky. I know.

Collin has been fussy, burning up, not interested in eating...very unhappy. I thought it was possible it was teething and so wasn't rushing in to the doc, but when his temp spiked, I called. I couldn't get into the pediatrician (a great friend of ours) until Wednesday morning. He has some sores in the back of his mouth near his tonsils, they are calling it Herpangina, a viral infection that will just run its course, we need to keep on top of his pain control so he will eat. It is contagious, so our play date the next morning (at our pediatrician's house no less:) was cancelled. I am so happy that I am able to be home to comfort my sick child. But, it is hard! He will start screaming and screaming and (I imagine) that irritates his throat and so he screams more. I can't really do anything to help him! I hold him, rock him, try nursing him  -  but he won't eat...uff da. You can just see in their eyes how miserable they are and they don't understand why:( I'm so glad Kate has a super immune system so far and pray Collin is not sick very often. 

Kate has started dance again and LOVES it. It is so different than last year, she is eager, runs in and is way more participatory in class. She is also enjoying school a LOT. She is going three days a week and asks to go every day, gets super excited to go, gets up much easier....so fun to see. She is also very attached to her bible. She loves all her different bible story books, and children's bibles but of course the one that she wants to drag around is the Precious Moments bible that has the super fragile pages! New words in her repertoire that she uses...usually correctly:) include...dramatic, sensitive, impressed, upsetting, delightful...(ex: this color is very sensitive??? When I lost my phone- oh mom, that is upsetting:)

Collin hit another milestone over the last weekend - he has started clapping! I forgot about this one, but it is so fun! It is also fun to hear a whole room of adults yelling, "Yay!!!!!! Yay, Collin!!!!" Pretty comical, just like anyone trying to get kids to smile for a picture, I love the circus behind the camera:) He is pushing himself up more and more, like a pushup, and moving around more too. I sat him on a blanket in the living room, with Kate playing around him. I was in the kitchen, when I came back around and checked on him, he was up under the coffee table pulling magazines down and trying to eat them. OKAY! Time to baby proof better! How did we get here already?!

We are heading to Sheboygan (Shipwagon according to Kate) this weekend. Because we like saying Sheboygan. Kidding, Dave has the Wisconsin anesthesia meeting and we are all going! Ron and Bobbi are coming up for it as well. Excited to see new places and explore more of Wisconsin! Peace!