IKEA Here we come!

Friday night "momma bear" and "papa bear" went out for dinner while Aunt M and cousins came over to play with "Kaykers". It was nice to eat out without a one year old! :) We were going to try to catch a movie as well but the one we wanted to see, Mr. Woodcock, didn't start for at least an hour and a half. So we went to Wal-Mart and picked up the movie "Knocked Up"!
Saturday we headed first out to Bolingbrook, IL where we caught up with our beloved old neighbors and watched their little one's flag football game. It was great to catch up with them again and see their beautiful children! From there, we headed North to Schaumburg, IL to IKEA! We hadn't been to IKEA since living in IL. It was a fantastic as ever! We found some great things that we couldn't resist! For dinner we went to Weber Grill- that was the BEST meal we've had in a long time! After dinner we headed home in an effort to get Kaykers to bed at a decent time.
For breakfast on Sunday we tried some jam we picked up at IKEA (some kind of Swedish thing). It was great on toast! Can't wait for tomorrow morning! :) This is Kaykers toting around her blankie and Elmo. It's so cute to see her drag them around with her! Here Kaykers is in action demonstrating "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" (She jumps and shakes her finger) Sunday morning after playing "monkeys" we headed off to momma bears parents' place. We had lunch with them and then papa bear and grandpa were off to catch the game. Kaykers took a nice long 4 hour nap and then momma bear and grandma went shopping. We were able to find Kaykers some great fall outfits and boots for this winter- great deals out there! :)
Tonight we headed home early enough to get Kaykers to bed and then watched some SNF. Now we have cleaning to do that we've neglected all weekend and some laundry of course!
CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Brett Farve! 422 touchdown passes- he surpassed Dan Marino's record!!!! Go PACK Go!

FYI: If you try to reach us via our cell phones- please know that we do not carry them with us at all times. If we don't answer, leave a message. About the message issue- our phones do not always aleart us that we have a new message, especially if there is more than one. Please forgive us if we do not get back to you right away. We are really busy during the week with school and work and lately we've been on the go during the weekends. (As you would know I'm sure from reading these blogs!) We are going to be busy a lot this month with trips to our dear friends next weekend, a trip to Minneapolis later in the month and a few small trips in between. Maybe things will slow down- oh wait! Then there's the holidays...nevermind!

Getting some zzz's...

Many are amazed, puzzled on how and unfortunately some don't appreciate the advantage...What am I talking about? The fact that our daughter goes to sleep now between 6-6:30pm and wakes at about 7 am. There are many studies and evidence of the importance of quality sleep in young children. I'd like to give you some insight on the importance of what we are doing with K. My goal is to have more appreciate the life long benefits that we are instilling in her now.

Realizing that lack of sleep affects mood and behavior is easy because it is tangible. We can feel it in ourselves and see it in others. Lack of sleep also has a clear impact on learning and processing of memory. Mothers of newborns have a unique window into the effects of this. Many can tell outrageous stories of going to the grocery store still wearing slippers or completely forgetting a conversation that occurred minutes ago! It is very similar for babies and older children. Overtired children have greater difficulty concentrating and are less alert than their well rested counterparts. Children learn by watching. Research consistently shows that overtired babies are not able to keenly observe and process what they are watching as well as rested babies. Some parents have reported a noticeable acceleration in reaching developmental milestones once their child was “sleep trained” and no longer overtired.
Because overtired children are easily bored they are less likely to play independently for as long as well rested children. Learning to play independently is an important life long skill. During this type of play children become more creative, more resourceful and develop emotional maturity. Studies conducted on infants as young as five months old found that those children who slept longer during the day had longer attention spans. The studies looking at seven to eleven year olds reported that those kids who experienced poor sleep exhibited more communication problems and intellectual deficits than those without sleep problems.
It is important that parents understand the link between sleep and the development and maintenance of learning and processing of memory. For our children, regardless how young, we need to ensure they receive adequate sleep in order to optimize their ability to learn.

In order for children and adults to function at their peak performance, both must be getting adequate, consolidated sleep. Children who sleep 10 to 12 hours a night awaken well-rested, ready to cope, attentive, cheerful, and best able to learn from their environment. Parents too, will feel better equipped to perform the demanding tasks of work and family life. K is the "happiest baby in class"- per her early childhood teacher. I attribute this to the consistent routine and sleep we allow her to have. We hope you will understand our passion of caring for K! We wouldn't short her in any other part of her development- so why deprive her of one of the most essential elements?

Also see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20955442/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIECE O!!

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear O!
Happy birthday to you!

GO PACK GO!

Earlier this week little Miss K got busted in the act!

This past weekend we went to a fantastic birthday party. The theme was perfect- Mexican Luau~ Luau decorations (our favorite for a party!) and delicious Mexican food with all the trimmings! Niece O received some great gifts and had a great cake/cupcake dessert! It was fun to watch the kids play in the yard and the little ones interact with one another. Aunt E has a nephew who is about K's age and it was wonderful to see them try to figure the other one out! Here K is all about her treat bag from the party! She got some stylin' sunglasses! E's family was there and it was great seeing them again. We celebrated the Forth with them and they are such a pleasant, fun and thoughtful family!

K took a super long nap before the party so we weren't sure if she would still go down at her normal time- but sure enough, she was asleep by 6:40pm. It's a fabulous schedule! Then she slept in until about 8:30am Sunday. Life is good!

Sunday was the big game- Packers vs. Chargers- PACKERS WON! Here's the # 1 and #2 fans! Best of all, Brett Farve tied the all time touchdown record with 420 TD's at home! Beautiful.

The best time of Year!

We love fall! We love the colors, we love the smells, we love the birthdays and we love the crisp air. What we don't love are the colds! G and K have been fighting nasty colds and M picked it up this past week. G went to the doc late last week to find out that he has an ear infection on top of sinusitis. He was to follow up a few days later so last night we had had enough of the colds and aches so we ALL went to the doctor and got some meds. After what felt like 18 hours, we managed to get out of there at about 8:30pm. It made for a short night, but we are all feeling better this morning. Not great or good for that matter, but better. Hopefully we will be on the upside for the big birthday party this weekend.

On a great note! We went up to G's dad's this weekend and took K to his pumpkin patch. He has lots of great looking pumpkins this year! It was hard to choose! K and grandpa found one of the largest ones out there for her. She loves her pumpkin and gave it a big hug! When we got back to his veggie stand K had an apple to snack on. Then she thought that she could take a bite out of anything..so we ended up bringing home an extra apple or two and a tomato! She had lots of fun with grandpa and fell asleep in the car before we hit the expressway! Sunday we went to M's parent's house to celebrate a bunch of birthdays. It was fun to get together with everyone again and the kids had a great time playing together. K's cousin M who will be turning 5 tomorrow didn't quite get the whole idea of celebrating his birthday early and almost wasn't going to open up his gifts because "it isn't my birthday". Too cute! His teacher told him that he could bring treats in to his class for his birthday and he said "No, I'm going to grandma's this weekend to celebrate my birthday!" He's going to be something else when he gets older! :)

Here are the fall decorations that we set up in front of the house!

Happy fall!

Go Juniors!

This week was Homecoming at M's school and as Junior class sponsor we had a lot going on! Here are some pictures of our float, the hallway we decorated, the parade and the pep rally.
Tonight the Portage Indians play the Crown Point Bulldogs! It's been fun gearing up for this week since M graduated from CP!

Beautiful Weekend

It's started out a little crummy as Greg had travelled to Madison late in the week last week and didn't get home until after midnight Friday night. But Saturday morning we met up with K's Aunt E and Uncle G and cousins C, O, and I and went up tot he Children's Museum in Chicago!

It was sooooooo much fun! K loved it! Cousins O and I drove with us up there and they thought for sure we were going to a HUGE K-Mart and were very excited about that! Then when we got there they were even more excited! K definitely loves her Aunt E and cousin O! They became quite the little buddies! K decided to push her own stroller at times! It was too funny!!! We all had so much fun and we are looking forward to taking K there again soon! We were surprised how much she really got into- it was neat to watch her get excited about different activities.

On the way back to the car she fell asleep in the stroller. We put her in teh carseat and then head to M's parents house. They had watched Molly (our golden) for us for a couple of weeks while we were travelling here and there. It was great to see them on grandparents weekend. We ate dinner with them and then headed home.

Sunday we went to church in teh morning and then came home where K took a FOUR hour nap! She was exhausted from the fun day on Saturday! We cleaned around the house and did loads and loads of laudry and mowed the grass just in time before the sun set.

This week will be a bit busy. M is the Junior Class sponsor at the high school and Homecoming is this week. So there is a float to build, a parade, hallway to decorate and pep rally to prepare for! The kids are great though so it should be lots of fun. M was asked by several of her students to be the sponsor and the administration caught wind of the students and asked M personally if she would do it for them. So of course, M can't say no, so she will be undertaking the task. The other big project for the Junior class is planning Prom. Should be fun!

This coming weekend we are going up to grandpa's in WI on Saturday and then to M's parents again to celebrate September birthdays. There are 4 in all- 2nd, 13th, 15th and the 18th! Crazy! It will be great to get together with everyone again to celebrate birthdays!

Winding down...

This week we have been winding down from the fabulous weekend in St. Louis. We had lots of fun, but unfortunately we didn't take a lot of pictures. We drove down Friday evening/night. It worked out well because the 4 kids ended up sleeping most of the way down! (We drove with M's sister, 2 nephews and niece.) Saturday we were up bright and early with K and we all went to the Airshow to watch the Blue Angels. They are remarkable! It's absolutely breath-taking to watch! Talk about great communication and teamwork!!!
Sunday we headed off the Grant's Farm. It's an amazing 80 acre farm that was given as a wedding wedding to U.S Grant's daughter. There was a little petting zoo and K fed a camel! She thought that was so fun! Lots of giggles! Then of course there were the Clidesdales there in all their glory. They are beautiful creatures! After breakfast on Monday we headed back home. It was a long trip but well worth it! Monday night K was out by 6pm and M was out between 7-7:30! We were exhausted!
G travelled up to Madison this week for a couple of days. He is on a short business trip. It reminds me of his extensive travelling days. Although he is only out for ONE night this time. So K and i had a little girls night and had some fun. K had her first school pictures this week...we'll let you know how that goes when we get them back! Unfortuantely G and K have a yucky cold. Stuffy nose and a little cough. We're hoping they both get better soon.

Have a great weekend! We have a few things planned...hopefully I'll get more pictures!
Miss you all!!