Half Way Point...

We all miss Daddy around this house... but we are at the half way point of his 6 day trip to Dallas and things are going pretty smoothly. Kids have been in great spirits and have been really patient with me interviewing people to try to find just the right match for someone to watch them when I start coaching at U-High next month part time.

Uncle John, David and Aubrey came over today to play and for lunch and the kids had a blast. They played so hard that I had to wake Jack up from his 3+ hour nap at 5 just so that he would fall asleep before 9 tonight! It was also go good to have a little grown up time with John and visit - or so we thought. And then we hear some splashing noise and discovered all 4 kids had broken into the bathroom and were playing games in the toilet water. SICK. Reality check - there was no grown up time, just visiting over lunch!

I must admit as well....I have discovered life's most perfect food this past week too. Spiced Pecan Pumpkin Pancakes from Williams-Sonoma. Seriously good! Flo will attest to my obsession with pancakes in general but these take the cake. We have had them for at least 1 (usually 2) meals since Flo left Sunday morning. They make not being able to eat all the other good foods I'm missing out on a distant memory and the fact that the kids love them too is icing on the cake!

We miss you daddy!


The boys were clowing around tonight, running around laughing and hugging. It made me laugh and Jack declared "My mommy is so happy today." I was.

Our Motley Crew from today. Funny funny kids.

Jack posing with his new toy from Auntie Connie "just because we ran into her at wal-mart"

If you have seen Cooper in the past month then chances are he looked like this pose... one hand down his pants. He pretty much assumes the position every minute he isn't eating or sleeping. I have to break this habit!!

Rocky Start to the New Year...

We've had a little bit of a rocky start to the new year around our house with me getting my wisdom teeth taken out on the 28Th of December. What should have only been a couple days of pain or discomfort has turned into almost 2 weeks of pretty intense pain and filled with lots of meds and pudding and jello. 2 dry sockets later and 2 impacted wisdom teeth which had one that had roots going right through my nerve caused a little bit of trouble for the surgeons and I have had the pleasure of dealing with major nerve pain on the right side of my face along with numbness that won't seem to go away...super swell when I am trying to take care of these two little balls of energy! Flo has been AMAZING with helping out and being patient with me but I think I am wearing thin on eating only soup, pudding and jello and slowly killing my kidneys with Advil! On the upside, this whole experience has allowed me to discover the differences between chicken soup brands, practice a little on mario cart and not totally over indulge in all the amazing Christmas treats! I am just hoping that every morning I wake up it will be a little better so that we can enjoy this new year we are blessed with and the adventures that await!

Since I have been such a slacker with blogging, I thought I would post some pictures from the past 2 weeks - note: please ignore the dishes, laundry or mess in the back drop - with Flo having to still work all the time, our priorities were more along the lines of having them fed and happy!


Cooper enjoying one of his favorite Christmas presents...

Side profile of Jack's POOF, after Flo blew dry it one night....

Front view (that thing has bounce!!)

Naked bed jumping time - all rules were out this past week!

Cooper enjoying his kalua cream pie...just a little...

Thats a happy boy!

Testing out their new table set from Grandma and Grandpa - its a hit!

First time leaving the house after 6 days in - costco run, what else?

Post cereal sale... Jack is so proud of our loot!
Watching Daddy leave for work

Cooper testing out his pound a ball toy...he is sort of good seeing as he is freakishly strong for a 13 month old!

Aaaah the men in my life!

Merry Christmas!

We had a fun filled two day Christmas extravaganza that we are currently recovering from by staying in and watching movies and playing with the boys and their loot. We basically spent great time with family, ate our way through the holiday with our favorite foods and goodies and got to experience the holiday through our kids' eyes - it was magical.

On Christmas eve we had some of Flo's family over for the breakfast of champions - my delicious orange rolls and Cinnamon. Made me proud that my orange rolls were devoured and there were only a couple of Cinnabons eaten! We had such a good time visiting and relaxing with family the whole day until we Celebrated with the Grenz side of the family that night. I think Jack and Cooper were amped up for the event and giddy about all the decorations, presents and family there that just a few crocodile tears were shed when the Santa made his appearance that night!

On Christmas Day we had my side of the family over to our house to open gifts and nosh on the huge brunch I spent Christmas Eve making. It was a little crazy with 6 little ones (who's combined age was 14) but we had a lot of fun with the help of our dear friend Mr. Coffee.

All in all it was an amazing Christmas to get to start to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas and how we celebrate Baby Jesus' Birthday. I think we definitely got more things from our kids this year than the reverse. Although Flo makes fun of me snapping pictures of everything I wanted to remember how excited and innocent our kids were. It really helped us to just count our blessings and live in the moment! I hope everyone else enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did. I am sad the season is over...I guess only 11 months to enjoy before we get to put up another Christmas tree and listen to Jingle bells over and over again. I can't wait.

Cooper and Monkey taking a ride in his new ride after his Christmas nap.

All the kids on Christmas morning (minus Cooper who was napping) right before the festivities began.

Opening presents on Christmas eve....they definitely LOVED to see the paper fly!

Taking a minute to say thank you with a hug for his new super soft stuffed cow.

Posing with Potato Head.

After Santa handed him the ONE thing he has been asking for for months...he decided he was O.K. and even gave him a high five and a hug.

Cooper got a new Monkey to join his crew...

Family picture moment (amazingly all of our eyes are open and smiles on kids!)

Hanging out with cousins on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve morning...I would like the think the big smiles are because of the yummy orange rolls!
Jack and coops hanging out with THEIR boys T and Travis

These smiles made it all worth it. Merry Christmas!

We miss you Daddy!!

So Branden has been in Santa Barbara since Sunday at Noon and I have been left to the two wild wolves we call Jack and Cooper for the week! Knowing that it was going to be a really long 6 days, so close to Christmas and being cooped up in the house - since so many people we know are sick - I have pulled out all the stops to entice good behavior and make the time go by more quickly since the combined age of my sounding board is 47 months old!

I know Flo is hard at work with training and studying for a huge exam but it has been a test of sorts to see what I can pull out of the closet to amuse the short attention spans... bubbles in the bathtub, blowing up balloons and kicking them around the living room, obstacle course in the family room, jumping on the bed, new books, Christmas light looking with corn dogs and popcorn and the crowning glory tonight we had a dance party to jingle bell rock and grandma got run over by a reindeer. Those boys have moves!

On Monday when we had the fresh fallen snow, I spend a full two hours shoveling the walk and building a massive 5 1/2 ' tall snowman as a surprise for Jack. I labored away in the snow while neighbors honked and drove by and inquired what I was doing....it was all my my boys. I couldn't wait until they woke up and I could show Jack my surprise and then he woke up and I showed him and he was about as excited as I pictured and then hugged me and said "thank you ho ho for bringing snowman to my new home." I didn't have the heart to tell him Santa didn't bring it for him, so Santa took my credit. And about 20 times a day, Jack looked out our front window and said "hi snowman, I love you!" But, due to warmer weather and rain, Mr. Snowman now looks like a blob (see above) and is going away. Its sad.

This was my / Santa's pride and joy...

$1 treat that I made the boys from Wally world = hours of fun. They are like Christmas Gumbys with their faces.

We've had a great week, and I didn't pull all my hair out, but late late tomorrow night when Flo's plane gets in cannot come soon enough! We miss you and can't wait to start more Christmas activities next week with you! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Snow!!

We woke up this morning to about 4 inches of fresh snow in our front yard and Jack couldn't have been more excited! His excitement rubbed off because Cooper was running around the living room giggling and we decided to get dressed before breakfast and head out to enjoy the morning snow.

It might have lasted only 30 minutes but as a mom, it was the first time Jack was excited to go outside and be in the snow, much less play! I am sure it was all those snow balls he saw Daddy pelt our cars and windows with last year...because all he wanted to do was make "no balls"

started out making snow balls and then he was just laying in the snow and sort of flopping around with pure joy!

We took a mini walk around the neighborhood. It was perfect. Not a soul up yet and the street was pristine!

Cooper was starting to get in the action as well...

I guess its time to go get snow pants and boots for the two tikes which is a good thing! I was holding off because I wasn't sure if it would be a waste like last year but I think we will definitely be venturing out in the snow this year! It just makes everything feel more festive with the covering of white that during cooper's first nap Jack and I are watching The Polar Express.

My baby's 1st Birthday Party

He's one?!?! Really? Where did the year go? He no longer wants to sit and snuggle in my lap but is constantly on the go, never stopping and always exploring. It is so fun to watch him discover everything within his reach and sight and see Jack and him play together and interact.


We had a big family party full of 3 grandpas, 4 grandmas and looooots of cousins and aunts and uncles. Pizza, presents, hotwings galore and cake to boot. He's really one I guess.

Posing for a pictures before Grandma and Grandpa left to drive back to Fargo.

He enjoyed his cake just a little...

This was the party table!

This was before the cake, before the chaos of the presents and before video games which is why we all don't have frosting in our hair or pizza on our clothes. Happy 1st Birthday Coops!

Date Night

We went out alone at night (without the kids) for the first time in almost 3 years...both pathetic but exciting to us! We didn't know what to do with ourselves... we could hold hands (not juggling kids in our arms), have a conversation that got finished (no yelling melting down) and didn't have to spell anything out either and managed to eat out without having to get on our hands and knees to wipe up the floor with wipes and leave a huge tip! S-U-C-C-E-S-S! Only mishap of the night was right when we sat down next to a couple and their little baby and I said "Ohhhh how old is he? He is so cute!" and got the response "she is a girl and 9 10 months old" Parents, a word to the wise : DO NOT DRESS YOUR LITTLE BALD BABY IN GREEN CAMO. Other than suffering through the rest of dinner hiding my face from their table we had a great time! We had dinner and a movie and became Flo and Jenny for a night again instead of Mommy and Daddy. Although we missed our kids so much, it was well worth it especially considering we went to bed at 12:30 am and were woken up to sick kids with temps and puking. Reality check. We spent a pretty relaxed day just nursing the two bruisers back to health. They seem to both have better color and some food in them so things are looking up.

Here are a few pics from the week that I missed posting because I was too busy drinking coffee to get myself through my sleep haze due to Coopers teething...he is up to 6 teeth now!

Eating oreos after dinner...he really got into them!

Jack was a little neater and LOOOOVED dunking!
Jack's chart: he gets stickers for good behaviors (like not getting out of bed during nap time) to work towards the toy on the fridge. He finally got it on Saturday and is working toward his next toy...for $3.99 a week he is willing to share his favorite stuffed animals with his little brother and we have a little more peace around our house. :)

Nightly bubble bath. I think there was a 1/2 inch of water after this one if I remember correctly....

I love themPosing with his backpack full of cars to play with. He was so proud.

The boys were playing so good while I was doing dishes this day. I was so thankful!