July- A month on the go!

July for us was a month on the go and we had so much fun!  It all started as we were crossing back over the International Data line from our houseboat trip my phone started to go crazy and Nate realized something was up.  After reading the messages we knew we would be heading back home that day...a BIG storm had hit Olivia the night before.  After dropping the kids off at my parents house we returned to Olivia to see one heck of a mess from the storm (glad we were not here)!  We had great people who watched our house for us and so we were left with little to do so the next morning we got up and headed back to my parents for the 4th of July festivities.

Nate and I were home for a couple days then we took at Twinstrain trip to Chicago.  This was a GREAT trip!  Twinstrain is a bus that takes people to Twins games.  This was my first time to Chicago and I will definitely be going back!  We got to go to 2 twins games, a pre-game patio party and enjoyed the nightlife in downtown Chicago!  The Chicago White Sox fans were GREAT! 


Andy's Summer Rec Baseball Tourney was the week we got back...well it was supposed to be.  They got their first game in and won but then because of weather had to wait 4 days to finish the Tourney.  What was really cool about this was Andy got to play a game against his cousin Austin from Granite Falls, that was a little extra special for him even if he did lose.



The following week both Andy and Kaden got to go to golf camp.  This was a really big deal for Kaden.  Kaden is getting very frustrated with the fact that he is not quite old enough to do things.  The golf club was nice enough to take Kaden even though he was not six.  They both really enjoyed this camp and learned a lot!  This also gave Derrick and I a chance to have alone time.  The first day he missed his brothers but after that he learned to love having his mom's full attention!

This week we also went to Games Lake.  This was the first time we had been to this "local" beach area.  The boys LOVED it and we will be going back for sure next summer!  We had to leave their a little early because that night I was driving to the cities for my DC trip.

Heidi Gross and myself went to DC to visit our friend Becky Marquez.  We had a GREAT time and we did tons in the short time we were there.  We flew out early Thursday morning and Becky picked us up from the airport and took us to the place she works.  We spent the afternoon looking around.  After work we went and cleaned up then went out for supper to a Spanish restaurant that was fabulous!  Friday was a big day for us not to mention the hottest day ever in DC.  We went to the Supreme Court, ate at the old Post office, toured the White house, Toured the Capital (met up with a former student who gave us a more in-depth tour), and went to the library of congress.  After all this we were exhausted!  On Saturday we went and toured the monuments... Lincoln, Korean War, and Vietnam.  That day we also went to Ford's Theatre (this was actually one of my favorite things we did...they do a very good job here! ).  Sunday we drove over to Mount Vernon (again another GREAT tour) and went to Old Town.  We had such a nice time and Becky was an awesome hostess!  

I get back from DC in time for Corn Capital days (I did get a couple days rest).  On Thursday night Andy did the youth Triathlon.  I was so proud of him, he did the entire thing--swimming, biking and running --- all himself, he was exhausted but had fun!  
On Saturday morning I did the 5 mile run...this was our longest run yet and so we were really proud of this accomplishment!  Then we did the usual Corn day events with my parents...corn feed, parade and Lions Fly-in breakfast!

What a great July even if it was SUPER hot!  

June- Let the Crazy begin (good crazy!)

Summer has begun (and almost gone) and I have been so busy I have not had a chance to write my blogs.  So before I go back to work in a couple weeks I need to get caught up!

 We started the “summer” by celebrating Derrick’s 3^rd birthday as a family at Fort Ridgley.  We had a picnic lunch, went hiking and learned about local history.  We all had a GREAT time.  He also got his own set of golf clubs this year so he can golf with his brothers.  Derrick started summer rec this year and did very well.  He was in the same class as Kaden so that helped a lot, there were only a couple days he threw a fit about going.  “The Brothers” are still Derrick’s heroes and usually he wants to spend all of his time with them.  Kaden also enjoyed summer rec this year but is ready to move on to the next level.  He is not too happy that he is not going to kindergarten for another year. 

Andy had a very busy month.  He won an award from the Renville County Historical Society for his picture of Abe Lincoln.  He got a really cool prize bag that included a military cap, Gettysburg set, train whistle and many other goodies.  He also got to meet “Abe Lincoln” himself.  Andy took swimming lessons, went to basketball camp, and summer rec again this summer.  This year he also added a Stingers Baseball camp and Summer Rec baseball.  He really enjoyed being able to start baseball this year.  He was able to travel and play neighboring towns.  For the most part he played third base.  For his Friends party we took them to a Willmar Stingers Baseball game, some of his friends had never been to a game before so this was a lot of fun.  At times Nate and I got lots of looks from people when we were walking around with 6 boys 7 and under. 

I have continued running…well I prefer to call it distance jogging.  During the month of June (and last weekend in May)  I have done three races (they are what I enjoy the most)  I did a 5k Memorial Weekend run in Willmar (very nice), a 5K in Redwood (that was a little disorganized) and the Foot lake 4 mile in Willmar (very pretty).  I have a great running partner and could not do it without her.

Nate and I once again played in the Wing Ding Day business volleyball tournament.  It was a rainy muddy mess but a lot of fun.  RCC won so that made it more fun!

As a Family we have been very busy.  We have been gone almost every weekend.  We had

-          Kacie and Bryant’s wedding:  The boys like weddings and seem to have a lot of fun at them till one of them crashes (gets too tired).  Most stand- out memory for us was Kaden hustling for money.  He would go tell people these sob stories about how he wanted to go fishing but had no money for tackle or wanted to start a lawn mowing business but had to buy a lawn mower and people would give him money.  Most of the people would start to recognize me and see me coming and warn him he was going to be in trouble with his mom.  That same weekend we celebrated Andy’s 7^th Birthday and Derrick’s 3^rd Birthday with family. 

-          Another weekend we went to Detroit Lakes to help Sam and Chad with projects around their new house.  It was a lot of fun for the kids and adults to have some time together.  We got a few projects done but did ruin their entryway for them L oops…..

-          The biggest adventure of the month was a weeklong houseboat trip on Rainy Lake (International Falls) with Nate’s family.  WHAT A BLAST!  The kids made so many memories on this trip...they will talk about it for years to come.  One of the coolest parts of the whole trip was visiting Kettle Falls, where Phil and Vicki had visited on their honeymoon!  

What a GREAT start to the summer… a lot of good memories were made and a lot of family time! 

" I Hear You"

Quote from Kaden Bahl

Wow what a busy month we have had (a lot of fun too)!

My sister had her baby on Easter Sunday; Hayley Jo.  We got to meet her the following weekend.  She is such a good baby and beautiful with her thick dark hair.  

On Mother’s day weekend I got to meet my mom and my sister (Hayley too) in Alexandria for lunch and pedicures.  The pedicures were quite the cultural experience for us.  The boys got to spend this time at the cabin fishing, I don’t think they caught anything but they still had a great time. 

One of the highlights for the boys this month was our garage sale.  Even if the weather was miserable it was still amusing to watch them.  Andy was the money man; he added up their totals, took their money and gave them back change.  It was a really good math lesson.  Kaden he was the seller.  If nobody was there he would go outside on the driveway and try to flag people in.  He also would talk to all the people who came and would help people carry stuff to their car if necessary. 

I ran my first ever 5K race.  This has been a long time goal of mine and I am super excited that I accomplished it.  What made me more proud was the support of my family.  They have been so supportive the whole time I have been training and the day of the race sat along the route and cheered me on, Kaden and Andy even ran in with me the last block!  The training continues on; I am signed up for 2 more 5K’s and a 4 mile run yet this summer with the possibility of more. 

Right now the boys and I are trying to survive without Nate who is in Chicago for the week (work-related).  So far so good (except for getting up at 5:30 and wanting to play…not mom’s idea of fun)

Derrick:  In less than a week he will be turning three (hard to believe).  He likes to use this to his advantage depending on the situation.  If he wants to be a big boy he tells you that he is almost 3 which is a big boy and we should let him do it.  If he wants help with something or doesn’t want to do something (which he can) he will say that he is not a big boy yet,  he is only 2.  Along with the age of 3 comes the whining and he has def. gotten good at that L He has been really testing his boundaries lately, seeing how much we will let him get by with, it also depends on which brother is influencing him at the time.  He is very excited for summer to come so he can spend time with his mother and time at Summer Rec. (we will see how this goes).  Derrick’s new favorite hobby is riding his trike ALL OVER!  He also loves naming the colors of everything (red is his favorite), naming shapes and wants to know how to spell everything. 

Kaden:  He has such split personalities.  He can be the most helpful and loveable kid of them all and the next second he can also be the naughtiest kid of them all.  Lately it has been more of the naughty kid (who likes to bring Derrick down with him).  He has also taken up the habit of talking like a baby at home UGH! 

He has become very inquisitive and asks MANY MANY MANY questions about everything.  Favorite topics include: Death, Devil, Jail, God, marrying etc.  He is also very worried about kindergarten already (even though he is not going for another year) because he does not know how to read yet and has asked me to teach him this summer. 

Kaden has finished preschool for the year and I am very proud of him.  The last 2 weeks he managed to survive 4 day school weeks (they were trying to make up snow days).  He also had his end of the year school program that was super cute and he did a GREAT job!  At his conference we were impressed with how much he learned throughout the year and we were so happy with how well he behaves in school. 

Andy:  He has had a VERY VERY busy month!  He did loose another tooth this month, while he was eating an apple in the car.   The tooth fairy was too busy to come the first night but did manage to come on night two!  

I got to once again help with Andy’s field trip. Even though the weather was terrible we still managed to have a good time at Prairie Wood’s Environmental Center.  They got to learn about mammals, insects and ponds. 

Nate got to go over for the school's annual picnic. I know Andy really enjoys when Nate comes to eat lunch with him and his friends.   

On May 21^st Andy and I got the opportunity to go with some friends to Lego fest in the cities.  That was a great time, there was so much to see and do there we were exhausted by the end of it all.  I think what Andy enjoyed the most was being able to build whatever he wanted without his brothers immediately destroying everything.  Andy got up very early the next morning to put together the Star Wars Lego sets that I got him.  I think he has played with his Legos every day since. 

On Sunday May 22^nd Andy had his first ever piano recital.  He was so nervous he made himself sick (for awhile I didn’t think he was going to make it) but he did and he was AWESOME!!! We took him out afterwards for ice cream to celebrate! 

His last accomplishment that he is very proud of is he once again got “first” for boys in his class running the mile.  What I was most proud of was last year he did it in 12:06 and this year did it in 8:49!  He can now beat his mom who runs on average a 10 min mile. 

School is almost done and summer is going to be here!  We have so many fun things planned for this summer I can not wait!!

Family Time

So this past month has been about quality time as a family.  Here is the run down-

We had a family date night at the beginning of the month.  We started with supper at Pizza Hut then took the kids to the movie Hop!  The kids loved it and they were so good.  Kaden's favorite part of the movie was when EB (Easter Bunny) pooped out jelly beans.  Derrick cried when it was over, he didn't want it to end.  It is so nice to be able to go to the movies as a family now.

 

Next we took the kids back to Duluth to the Edge water park.  This was a great time for the kids because Grandpa (Phil), Grandma (Vicki), Aunts (Katie and Val) Uncles (Matt and Chris) and cousin (Paige) all were there too.  When we pulled into Duluth we were waiting for everyone else to get there so we can eat dinner together.  We decided to go to canal park and wait.  Just as we got there the lift bridge started to go up and we got to watch a HUGE ship leave harbor.  The boys were very excited to see this!  They also got to play a game of tag at the park too.  The water park again was a hit and the boys got to play at the arcade too.  Great memories were made for the kids, especially with their extended family....priceless! 

The following weekend we went up to Battle Lake to celebrate my Great Uncle Kenny's 90th birthday.  This month we have spent some quality time in the car together.  The boys love listening and singing music...their favorites are Dynamite, Stuck Like Glue, My Chick's Bad and Working Man. 

This weekend we have spent a wonderful Easter weekend together.  We dyed eggs on Friday night.  On Saturday we took the kids to the Minnesota Zoo.  We had not been there in 5 years.  The boys had a lot of fun.  The funniest line of the day came from Derrick...an animal was cleaning himself and he said "look mom he is smelling his peanut" .  We also took the boys  the mono rail and they really enjoyed that! 




On Easter Sunday we went to church at 6:30 then came home so the boys could find their Easter baskets and Easter eggs.  We also had a nice dinner together.  Biggest surprise of the day came when we skyped my family who was at Sam's house and while we were talking to them her water broke! So as I am writing this another baby is on the way!

Individual updates:
Andy- has been very busy between open swim and practicing piano ( he has a recital coming up) .  He also made me feel very stupid with one of his million questions.  This is his exact question he asked in the car one day.."mom how do you know which vowel says its name if there are two adjacent vowels and a silent e at the end"...umm mom's response was the first one (by the way it was a lucky guess but it was right)

Kaden-  is always cracking us up.  Because Nate has a noon meeting or things like that there have been a couple of times where Kaden has had to sit in on one of my 9th grade classes.  He adds to the topic no matter what we might be talking about that day and has no problem telling a class of 30 9th graders to sit down and be quiet.  Even when he is in my room after-school he has no problem talking to any student who may be there for help or taking tests.  He actually never stops talking to them.  I actually looked at him one day and said - you know most 4 year old are scared of high-schoolers.  He looked at me just amazed and said "Why mom they are
 just kids"

Derrick-  Keeps reminding me that he is almost the 3 kind (like I need an hourly reminder that my baby is getting older).  I actually signed him up for preschool next year and cried (my BABY is going to preschool next year :()  Mostly he just loves hanging out with his brothers as much as he can!

Nate and I also got to go to our first Twin's game this year at Target Field.  What a nice unexpected surprise from some great friends of ours.  It was early in April and the weather was wonderful and the Twins won.  Great night! 

"Blah Blah Blah......"

 

I figured since I am home for ANOTHER snow day I would catch up on the last month!  The title of this post is "Blah Blah Blah...this is a direct quote from the Bahl boys (we hear this line A LOT- from all of them).  Update on the boys

Andy:  In the last month he has been obsessed with puzzles --- he likes to make his mind work.  His reading has improved greatly and he loves to do double digit math!  The funniest story of the month happened during his lunch bunch group at school.  During lunch bunch they were playing pictionary and Andy was drawing his picture (which happened to be of a chicken) and one of his friends guessed that it was his mom...Andy could not stop laughing he thought it was so funny. 

Kaden:  has continued his streak of deviant behavior...he likes to be the "bad boy" of the group and tries to influence his baby brother to do the same.  He also likes to to say bad words (poopy and shut up) and draw scary things in his beautiful book.  HOWEVER in school he is so well behaved I have to go watch just cause I don't believe it, and at home he can also be the sweetest kid helping both us and his baby brother out.  Kaden has started swimming lessons, this time he is swimming by himself for the first time.  He is doing very well and after the first lesson told us he was so good he would never have to wear a life jacket again.

Derrick-- oh my oh my...he is not quite three yet HOWEVER his attitude is all three.  We have never had too big of problems with two year olds in our house but threes have always been rough...and Derrick is def. acting three already.  We hear things like "It's not yours", "NOOOOOOOOOOO" and many other phrases talking back to us.  He has also started swimming lessons again (he gets to swim with dad).  Last summer he had a minor incident at the Redwood waterpark and has not liked going in water over his head since.  But after a couple swimming lessons we are back to having a great time in the water again!  Derrick is also spelling his name and when you ask how old he is-- he hold up two fingers and says this kind.  But he does remind us by putting up three fingers that he is almost that kind.  One of my favorite things is the way he says he loves me...each one of my kids has had a special way of telling me they love me:

Andy:  "I love you up to the moon, stars, clouds and sun"

Kaden::  "I love you to God and back"

Derrick: " I love you so so so so so so bunches".

Family:  The flu did make its way through our family this month (well the boys)..that was no fun.  We also took the boys bowling one night for a family fun night!  We had a great time...it was Derrick's first time and he had a blast. 

Nate and I took our annual trip to Laughflin Nevada and had a very relaxing 4 days (Thanks Phil and Vicki).  This trip always gives Nate and I to reconnect!   

Feb- the month of love and no school

So there has been a lot of quality time this month as a family; partly because of the simple fact that the weather has caused school to be out WAY too much.  Even President's day which was supposed to be a make-up snow day was cancelled due to snow.  We did get one nice week of weather...it was like Spring was teasing us.

Derrick-  his biggest accomplishment of the month is he is getting more independent going potty.  He can do most of it himself and usually just needs a little help getting redressed.

Kaden- he is still keeping us on our toes and guessing at all times.  He actually (by his own choosing) actually went to the RIGHT sunday school class.  Noone was more amazed than me.  Again what comes out his mouth worries me more than anything.  This was once again proven to me this weekend.  Over the weekend we had a wedding (Steph and Chad's), while on our way to the church we were following Chad and they were a little bit ahead of us, Kaden turns around and tells Nate "You can go faster there are no cops behind us".  Man did I get a glimpse of the future.  He also told everyone that Saturday is his "drinkin" night and when we got home he was handing out drink tickets to his brothers. 

Andy has also amazed us this month.  He actually (after many months of Sarah, Matt and myself asking) has started to go to WOW (Wed. Church group for kids) and is LOVING it!  He also had his 1/2 time basketball game and did very well.  I am just amazed and how much better he has gotten in a year- he is really starting to understand the game. 

We have also continued some traditions-
Superbowl is when we each make our own pizza.  This year the boys added sprinkles to theirs.  
Valentine's day- Nate did get my flowers again (thanks so much) and I made a beautiful meal for the whole family (Cesar Salad. Cheese Ravioli with Garlic/Cheese Ciabotta Bread and mini cheese cakes for dessert) 

We also got a couple nights with friends (both as a family and also just Nate and I)
The Bahl/Ridler night was a blast- our kids are all the same age so they just go play together!
We went to a Superbowl family party and had a GREAT time! (The team I was cheering or actually won!)
Nate and I along with Matt and Diane got to go to a Wild game! This was one of the most fun games we had been too- lots of fights (which I try to discourage at home so felt a little bit like a hypocrite), Cameras down by us and the mascot. 

We also got a wonderful opportunity to watch our niece Paige over night- she was such a Good girl!  The boys love her so much....they waited on her hand and foot!  .

Family-

We have continued to make great progress on our basement.  Ceiling up in big room, started working on walls in office and we have gone through and organized all the toys (that was a BIG job!)

On the sad note there have been some family health problems including my grandpa and uncle.  Hope all is well with them soon!

The start of a new year!

Another year has started and we have already lots of exciting things planned as a family.  The boys are growing up so fast and they remind me of  that everyday with things they say and things they do. 

Andy:  He has learned some important lessons in the last month.  The most important lesson he has probably learned is not to give up (especially on himself).  This past summer he did not pass level 2 swimming lessons on his first try and he flat out refused to go back no matter what I did (he actually ended up working off the amount it cost me to register him).  This was one of the first times in his young life that something did not come easy for him and he did not know how to handle it.  Well this almost happened again this month, but this time I REFUSED to let him give up on himself.  He has been taking Piano lessons since October and he had to memorize Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  I found him laying on his floor crying that he could not do it.  I let him calm down then asked if he was going to quit this too or was he going to let me help him and prove to himself he is capable of more than he knows.  So he let me help, and we broke it down bit by bit.  The smile on his face was priceless when he had it mastered.  I was so proud of him and more importantly he was proud of himself!  The next night though he was reading to me and came to a word he believed was too big for him.  I asked him what did we learn.....his response "don't give up and break it into small chunks".  AND HE NAILED IT!!! He has even promised to give swimming lessons another try this summer!

Once again he has started basketball camp and is doing very well.  It is a passion of his and I am so proud of the improvement he has made in the last year--- he is starting to understand the game and has gained confidence in his game- he has become aggressive!

Kaden-- This kid never ceases to amaze me.  He is such a go-getter and will not let much stand in his way.  One night Nate was tired of him coming out of his room so he shut the light off by the little string on the light in the ceiling.  Instead of whining or complaining he moves the table in his room underneath the light, puts a chair on top of the table and climbs up there and turns it back on himself.  Now we were not too happy about the fact that he could have gotten hurt but at the same time there was a part of us that was like--- Good for you for figuring out the solution to your problem!  

He is also our negotiator of the family.  He will negotiate extra treats for himself, extra cuddle time, or whatever his little heart desires that day.  He has made many deals with Nate regarding the dropping off at school.  Nate usually does not even walk him in the school (which Kaden wants to do himself but has some how gotten Nate to agree to give him licorice if he does it all by himself.)

Kaden has also decided that he wants to marry himself.  He idolizes his Uncle Jerry and in his mind Jerry is married to himself and Kaden thinks this is totally cool.  (Now unfortunately Jerry did not see it that way) 

Derrick-  aka Big D
He has adopted this nickname and at times that is what he prefers to be called.  He is also getting bigger by the day...the other day he was trying to convince me that he was going to be 10 and I almost cried.  I am not ready for my oldest to be 10 let alone my baby.    He falls asleep reading his books nightly, its so cute and every one of my kids has gone through this stage.  He also likes to sleep on his bedroom floor, again another stage that each of my kids has gone through.  However he is a little smarter about it- he lays down two pillows to sleep on. 

His phrase of the month was "I will!"  Every time we asked him to do something we always heard "I will" even if that is not exactly what he meant!  I have a feeling we will hear this phrase a lot when he is a teenager too!!!

He has also been talking a lot about girlfriends and kissing girls.  YIKES!  When I would ask him who his girlfriend is the answer is always KTP- no idea what that means. 

Family-

This last month has given us a lot of family time.  We have gotten the opportunity to celebrate Natalie's (3rd) and Paige's (1st) Birthday's with them.  The boys love their cousins and can not wait for the next one to arrive. 

2010 Holiday Moments

So once again another busy Holiday season has come to a close.  There were many GREAT memories that were made during the weeks. 

• Starting with picking out and cutting down our own Christmas Tree
• Andy's Christmas Concert (we actually saw his lips move a couple of times)- Super Cute program

• Kaden joining the Kindergarten Class at Sunday School and doing the program with them

• The wonderful family moments- our family of 5, our families and even our extended family had quality time together
• Chad pulling the boys on the sled behind his snowmobile

• The boys learning to snowboard with their new snowboards
• Christmas Eve service is always a special time for me this year it was extra special for 2 reasons: watching Andy handing out the peanut bags to all the kids and saying Merry Christmas and the Pastor who did the Christmas Eve Service at my small country church was the same one that baptized me many years ago.
• Playing Family Feud with my Grandparents/parents and sister
• Playing P and A with Phil (FI), Vicki, Kate, Nate, and us outlaws (Val, Chris and myself)
• Meeting Nate during his lunch hour so the boys can ice skate and play some Hockey on the BI hockey rink

• The WHOLE family going to see Yogi Bear in theatres and making it through the whole thing! (HUGE milestone)
• Letting the boys stay up past midnight on New Years Eve for the first time ever
• Bringing in the New Year with some great new friends
• I also had a girls day to the cities to see Billy Elliot (ranks up there as one of my favorites) and ate brunch at Hell's Kitchen (AMAZING!)

The true gift for me during the Holiday season is being able to spend quality time with my family and friends.  This was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable Holiday Seasons in many years.