Two for Tuesday and $20 later.

Wendi is still off in CA but that didn't stop me, in fact it probably encouraged me a little bit to take a giant leap that needed to be done months ago. Reed and Carter were in dire need of a haircut, Reed more so than Carter. As you can see in the before photo:


Since we didn't have anything else going on I drug the crew off to Great Clips to see about a trimming. Fortunately they weren't busy and within a few minutes both boys were in the chair and at the mercy of a professional. I would have been more than happy to do it with the clipper but then they would have really looked like me...and Wendi's not prepared for that just yet. I think the results speak for themselves, two fine young gentlemen:


I had other motivation for the haircuts; this Thursday is going to be a busy day. Wendi will be returning to Marshall and hopefully earlier than scheduled. Carter has his last day of pre-school which includes a short musical theater program. Daisy has Girl Scouts. Reed has his 1st grade concert which we hope Wendi can be home to attend. As for Aidan and I, we just have to be bystanders for the whole lot of it. Fortunately none of these things overlap, but it could be a late supper night.

Maybe Not

So, we thought the boys were healthy.

Last night Reed was sick again. He didn't make any messes this time, no funny stories to tell. But, he was just fine today, and went to school.

We're not sure what's going on with him. This is the third night he's gotten sick during the night, but not been actually 'sick sick'.

We're taking him to the doctor tomorrow.

The Puke-Ups Again?

Again? Sunday night both Reed and Carter spent the night with the 'puke ups' (their term, not mine). Reed did pretty good about making it to the bathroom at least.

Carter - not so good. Several 'piles' on the bedroom floor (carpet, clothes, blankets).

We still aren't sure what would have caused it. Nobody else at the birthday party seemed to be affected. It's quite the coincidence they got sick on the same night. And, right after I put the comforter I had to have cleaned from last time - back on Carter's bed. Guess what - he hit it!

They were good sports about it at least. Reed woke us up a few times, but didn't need help. Carter didn't come in at all, we didn't even know he was sick too.

Reed was actually pretty proud telling Kelly

I puked up 10 or 20 times last night. I got most of it in the toilet, just a little on the carpet, and a big splash on the bathroom floor

Carter decided to have fun tricking Daisy. After last time, when Carter puked all over, we were checking out the damage downstairs. I asked Carter if he had went to the basement at all. He said yes, and led us down to the basement bathroom and proceed to tell us he puked under the rug. Daisy and Reed bought it! I couldn't believe that the kid that puked on his bedroom floor would make it to the basement bathroom while Reed was using the upstairs toilet.

Well, we kept them home, but they were just fine. Played LEGO with Dad all day, not sick a bit.

Hopefully we are through for a while

Update

Well, I was informed today that it's been 5 weeks since the last post - wow, time has sure gotten away from me.

We have been busy, but just the regular stuff. The holidays were good, it was nice to visit with everyone. The kids finished the second quarter of school yesterday, the school year is half over :)

Daisy can start selling Girl Scout cookies today - so let us know if you're interested.

Also today, Reed started the community rec basketball program. He was really shy at the first session (big second graders) and didn't play, so we tried again at the second session - and he wasn't shy at all. He really enjoyed himself.

Yesterday I was the mystery reader for Reed's class, they guessed who I was but still enjoyed the stories. I think all kids like the "Froggy" series.

Tomorrow Kelly leaves for a week in the cities for training. We have been planning how I will survive the meals, but I'm not sure about anything else! Hopefully it will be a calm week for us.

My travel to NYC was canceled, so that is a bit of a relief for Kelly.

I'll try to keep you all updated a little more often...

Sick week

Well, this has not been a fun week! We started out the week with Daisy having a flu bug on Monday. I stayed home with her - and got a lot of work done.

Then Tuesday night - in the middle of the night, Aidan was really super crabby. So I brought him back to bed to cuddle - guess what - he was unhappy because his tummy hurt - he threw up on Kelly's pillow. And then on the middle of the bed. So - we cleaned him up, and sat with him in the bathroom - waiting to see how much more would come. He was determined that both mom and dad be there with him. Kelly got in some good play on the iTouch at least.

Carter woke up and came in to join us, saying his tummy hurt too. So - we told him to stay in the bathroom so that if he got sick, he could do it in the toilet, right?! No, he was going back to bed.

About an hour later, we decide that Aidan is okay now, and to go back to bed. So, we put down clean sheets and bring him back to bed with us to fall asleep. I found Carter on the loveseat and carried him back to bed too. We all fall asleep, and a few hours later - Kelly heard him get sick again. I reached for the bucket, but it was too late, he threw up all over our bed again! Back to the bathroom... We get him cleaned up, and the dirty sheet off. The top sheet was okay, so we slept on that and a towel - just in case for round three.

About 5:30, Reed comes in and said he just threw up in his bed! Kelly just sent him to the bathroom - we were so exhausted.

So in the morning, we start getting ready for the day - and I see puke on the floor in the hallway.
Then on the steps, and in the living room. Wait - there's more in Carter's room too! He threw up all over - all on carpet! Kelly was not happy!

We had agreed in the middle of the night that he would stay home with Aidan. He ended up staying home with all three boys and cleaning up the carpet messes. I did (am still doing) the laundry.

But it was a short bug, thankfully - and everyone went back to work/school/daycare today. Kelly's even starting to get over his cold - thank God!

We hope that you're all staying healthy - and happy.

Halloween Pictures

Reed was Batman

















Aidan was a sweet little puppy




Daisy was a vampire (no pictures)



Kelly was a tourist (and the birthday boy), still no pictures - he was supposed to be the one taking them



Wendi was a black cat (again no pictures)



Carter was Optimist Prime (from the Transformers)

Hole in My Smile

Both Reed and Carter are now missing their front tooth! Carter lost his a long time ago, and Reed finally caught up with his little brother!

For those of you who don't know the story (or have forgotten it), Carter lost his when he feel off Kelly's motorcycle. Kelly was in the garage packing for our first week long family vacation, and Carter was sitting on the bike in the garage. He was about 16 months old, so he was pretty mobile. When Wendi pulled into the driveway, Carter turned to see - and it made the jacket on the seat slide. When it slid to the floor, so did Carter. He was a pretty tough sport, we went into the bathroom to clean him up. Then we talked to the 'baby in the mirror' and he calmed down right away. He probably only cried for 5 minutes. But, the next day (on vacation) - his tooth was sticking straight out. I pushed it back into place, but it kept going out. By the next day, it was out. He is saving it until he loses another tooth, and will put them out for the tooth fairy together, and hopefully earn double the rewards!

Summer's Close

As summer draws to a close, I sure enjoyed the warm weather today. I thought I would share a few pictures from the end of this summer. Enjoy!

1st Day of 1st Grade

Reed started First Grade today! The morning started out rainy, so Daddy gave him a ride to the bus stop and waited for him to board. His teacher is Mrs. Hess, and she's very nice. Although, he did have a complaint that there is no play time, just learning! Lunch was cheeseburger on a wheat bun. Overall he had a good day and had fun with his friends. He has a few kids from his class year and several new ones as well.

In honor of his first day, he choose speghetti for supper, and it received a thumbs up. Then Dad and Reed went to the park to register for fall soccer.

Watch for the update on Daisy's 5th day of 5th grade next Monday....

Last one out shuts the door

We implemented a new rule in our family last weekend, last one out, shuts the door. After the Schwan's employee picnic, Kelly and I were both pretty beat from the heat. But, we needed to get some groceries, so we took naps (Aidan and Mommy) and then headed to the store. Wendi opened the side door for Reed and Carter, since it no longer opens from the inside, and Kelly got Aidan. Wendi then proceeded to get the 'green' bags from the back of the van, and we went into the store. Shopping took a while, due to our exhaustion. About an hour or so later, when we leave the store, we notice a van with the side door - still wide open! Aparently neither Reed nor Carter knew to shut the door. We're just thankful that we live in such a safe community - Wendi's purse was there, untouched! So, last one out - shut the door.

Room Swap Progress

We have started! The room swap is underway between the children in the Schuerman household.

We started on Saturday with moving everything out of Daisy's room. A gray primer worked nicely to cover Daisy's bright pink and purple. We went with a dark (navy) blue on three of the walls, and a dark red and off white stripes on the fourth wall.

The next step of the swap is new beds for Reed and Carter. Tonight we assembled the new bunk beds. We need all the extra floor space we can get with having three boys in the one room.

Next on the agenda is finishing the strips, building Aidan's new dresser, and moving the boys into their new room. We are also hoping to get Daisy's room prepped and primed so we can paint when Daisy is home this weekend. She just needs to pick her bedding and colors first, so we can choose the colors.

Stay tuned for updates...

LEGO class

The first Schuerman family LEGO class was a fun time for all! Kelly worked with the boys on free building cars. They started with a basic framework and then built a car based on their imagination. Kelly helped reinforce basic techniques such as crossing their lines and color coordination.

Reed and Carter thoroughly enjoyed the class. So much in fact that Reed has tried having his own class with Carter.

New Jetta?

Anyone think my boys would look good in a new Jetta? I'm accepting contributions...

Reed's Big Fish

While fishing during the family vacation, Reed landed his first big fish. He had to fight with it for quite a while before landing the 14" large mouth bass. He did release it though, deciding that as much fun (and work) as it was to land, he wasn't interested in eating it. He declares now: "I am a fisherman".

Family Vacation

The annual week long family vacation has come and gone for 2008. It started at the Schuerman family reunion in Benson and continued to Games Lake County Park 6 near New London.

It was nice and low key, a little shopping, a little hiking, a little fishing and a lot of resting. We also took in the Little Crow ski show again this year. Everyone enjoyed it, except for Aidan, who would have rather been down crawling around and getting into stuff.

On the beach, Aidan loved to play in the sand. He did pretty good at keeping it out of his mouth. In the boat, he wanted to jump into the water! I enjoyed it most when he feel asleep and then I could fish too.

Daisy met a friend at the campground and enjoyed doing her own thing. She also kept busy playing with Playmobil. She was a huge help with Aidan, who adores her.

Reed had a great time fishing, once we got him out there. He has a big fish story for the summer, landing a 14 inch large mouth bass. He also enjoyed playing bean bags against mom, although he was happiest when he won. He talked us into a game of kick ball, which was tough with 3 three people (Daisy and Carter didn't play and Aidan wasn't much help on the field). Kelly and I got our workout!

Carter enjoyed everything we did, always up for an adventure. Otherwise, he was content watching movies on the zune.

Kelly enjoyed the time in the boat and learned that when he wants to go fishing, he should just go and then everyone else will come. He also learned to bring along LEGOs, as he was really missing having the bricks along.

As for me, I just tried to enjoy the time to relax and enjoy the kids and time with Kelly. They are all growing up way too fast.