A week of Firsts

This has really been a week of firsts around this house. Jasmine started off the week by counting to ten all by her self while she was gathering her clay back into one pile. Each piece she counted carefully as she smashed it back in to the collective pile. Then today my little man Kai learned he could roll himself over from his stomach to his back and now he is having fun avoiding tummy time.

Kai 'sir' rolls

Just over 2 months old kai has been setting some records, at least in comparison to Jasmine. Not only does is he off the scale weighing in at 15.5 lbs, he just decided to figure out how to roll already.

Check out the video!

1...2...........10

Jasmine has been counting for quite some time now, however we have only had a number of times she has actually counted to 10 and every time has been with us counting along. Today while she was playing with some clay she started counting her pieces and went straight through to 10. Maybe we are just overly proud parents but it was very awesome and very cute.

Check out the video clip

How big is he?

We took Kai to the doctor this morning for a routine check up and to get his shots and he is 24 inches long and 15 .5 lbs. That puts him above the 95% for both, which translates to he is a chunker. I can't believe he has grown that much already.

Jasmine has quite a love of her little brother. I have so many stories to tell about those two already it is scary. She is very protective of her brother as an older sister should be. If anyone besides family tries to hold Kai she often very firmly says "No don't touch". She wants to help as much as she can with little Kai, if he is crying in the car she tries to put his nuk in his mouth and if the nuk isn't around she is totally willing to donate her finger for him to suck on. Now I don't like this much but she thinks it is one of the funniest things in her little world. Unfortunately she has been totally willing to steal his nuk if her own isn't around.

Soooo many things to do.....

It never seems to fail, I go home to Rhinelander and I find another set of hobbies to get into. Mom started to paint using the “one stroke method” and got me addicted to it. What I am going to paint with it I am not sure, but I am addicted. Then after that exciting venture one of Chris’s relatives gave me a rather old stamp-collecting book that got me interested in starting a collection of my own. Never in a million years did I think I would pick up that hobby. As a matter of fact, I remember after my grandmother passed away on Mom’s side, there was a tin of old airmail stamps sitting in a tin on the steps down to our basement, and I remember thinking “why in the world would someone keep used stamps?” Mom answered something to the tune of “grandma was a pack rat I am sure she had some use for them.” Oh well, I now wish I would have known more about stamp collecting then when I found that tin. So it goes.

As I sit here writing this, I am struck by a conversation I had with my cousin. I happen to share many personality traits with this particular cousin, which makes it fun to compare notes about our quirks. One specific trait that I find applies to me and hobbies (or anything for that matter) is I, like my cousin, obsess over a subject until there is nothing left to learn about it. That is why I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, and that is why I have so many hobbies I enjoy doing. There are two main problems with having as many hobbies as I have: the first is I have no room for the plethora of junk I need to have these hobbies, and the second is I have no spare time for the plethora of hobbies.

On a different subject I have been living at home with my parents for the last two weeks along with my two children because Chris was on a guys vacation with our good friends. It was very nice to see all of the family around here I miss them a lot. I am very thankful to my parents for being willing to put up with the three and when Chris got back four extra bodies around the house. I am sure it puts a little stress on them to have us here so thank god for parents who love me and are tolerant of their grandchildren. They gave me a very large sanity break from having to be home alone for the past two weeks. I wish we could live up north closer to everyone.

I was happy to see Chris got back safely I was worried he was going to be eaten by a bear or something but I am a paranoid person in that way. I was glad to hear that they all had a good time, and there were no major mishaps. I will be happy when the kids are older and they can go on trips to the national parks also. I hope they will learn an appreciation for nature and the beauty of what is out there in other areas along with the beauty that is within our own state. I think kids are often too interested in TV and increasing their “hand eye coordination” now days. It is a shame that it has come to that. Of course I can’t say that every child goes through that fate but I know a ton of them that do, and I am determined not to allow my children to fall into that trap of mindless entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment Chris and I got to go to the movies this past week (thank you Mom) it is so nice to get out just the two of us every now and again. I wouldn’t trade my children for the world, at least not most days, but I do sometimes miss the time Chris and I used to have. I understand that is the way it goes and I look forward to the future when we can include our children in going to the movies and what not, that is a way off though.

The Path to Enlightenment Leads to the Holy Goat

Our epic journey began Wednesday evening in River Falls, WI as Shaun and I departed his apartment searching for true enlightenment. With over 1200 miles in front of us we knew it would be a long journey, luckily the further west you travel the faster you can drive. Apparently there seems to be a magical equation for Speed Limits. I haven't fully proofed my work yet but I think it works out something like this.


Speed Limit = (Corn proportions)^(Education Level) / (population density)


Actually I don't think these states really have the equation correct so Shaun and I took the liberty of adding another 10 to 15 miles an hour buffer to their speed limit. I still feel we may need to add state size to the equation for that little extra speed needed to cross in a timely manner. Of course Montana is so large that they cannot possibly patrol much of it, instead they throw in the random factor called the Jack Rabbit. Able to move at fast speeds and appear out of nowhere these "little" things, which are almost tall enough to look at you over the hood of you car, work like natures speed bump. They bump hard enough that I actually stopped to look for damage...


The locals obviously have adjusted to the local fauna and had even added them to their breakfast menu. As we walked into the local Casino / Diner it took me a few minutes to realize that Jack Flaps where actually pancakes and not those furry little speed bumps who have been causing my average speed to be lowered by 10 miles an hour.


About 5 hours later Shaun and I arrived at Glacier National Park earlier than expected which worked out well since we seemed to time it with Dan's arrival. We decided to make the most of it and headed out for a nice hike.


About halfway into the walk we noticed a thunderstorm pushing through the pass moving directly at us. Now most hikers would turn away, but after watching too many Scifi movies we figured this was nature trying to hide some secret treasure we were not supposed to view with our naked eyes.


So rather than being fooled by the threat we pushed on, let the weaklings turn around. We figured once we reached said "treasure" the lightning would work well as a natural flash for our cameras. When we reached our car again I am proud to say we were the only brave hikers to been seen anywhere on the pass. The other fools don't know what they missed!


The next day we broke down camp heading over the pass into Avalanche Creek campground. Expecting Kim and Owen later that day we grabbed two campsites next to each other.



Since it was still early in the day we took a great hike which lead to Avalanche Lake. The walk roams through an old forest with trees spaced wide apart and the ground is carpeted with a lush green moss.


When you finally come out to the lake the fist thing you notice is how the mountains form a natural bowl around the lake feeding it with a number of waterfalls.



Returning to camp we settled in, ate dinner, and enjoyed the fire with some tasty smores and beer while waiting for Kim and Owen to show up. Somewhere around midnight we decided to call it a night and hope they would show up before sunrise. The next morning their site was still empty so we decided to leave the park grounds seeking an area cellphone reception was possible. Around 10am we found out the transmission on the Possum Van had given out and they were stranded in a small town in Montana. We decided to continue on with our planned hike for the day and call Owen later that evening to see how his progress at the shop was going.


Around noon we arrived at the beginning of our hike. This 12.5 mile hike was truly the "Path to Enlightenment". Whether it was the low oxygen levels or a kind of enlightenment it didn't surprise us while walking on a path wide enough for one person about 3/4 of the way up the mountain when we ran into the "Holy Goat".


I cant tell you what was learned on that hike it really is something you just have to experience for yourself, but I can tell you it will leave you very sore but the pictures alone will be worth it. So if you are "brave of heart and strong of feet" you can experience this by simply searching out the highline trail.


One other note about this hike, somewhere along "The Path" my cellphone became MIA. It has been close to two weeks now and though I hope it is slowly hitchhiking its way back to Wisconsin I have a feeling I may have to change its status from MIA to POW or possibly Dead :(


Arriving back to camp we gave Owen another call this time with no success. As it turns out we reached him the next day. Owen had managed to bring the Possum van back from dead into a zombie like limp, at least enough to slowly make it back to Utah. We certainly were sad to lose the chance to see two other friends from college but figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

So we made the best of it and decided to risk the journey into Canada. Armed with only our drivers licenses we somehow fooled the "authorita" into letting us enter their country... "Fools" We signed ourselves up for a boat tour out of Watertown which actually crosses back into America where you where allowed to walk along the shore, however if you wished to hike had to go through customs again. We decided to temp fate and somehow were allowed entry back into our own country. The 2.5 mile hike led us to the beautiful Kootenai Lakes where a cow and bull moose where feeding out in the water. After enjoying the serenity of it all we headed back to catch the return boat.


After returning to our campsite that night, we realized we would have to eat for 5 after purchasing enough groceries before learning the fate of Kim and Owen. I don't know if it is something in the air there but you just cannot get bad food in Montana, we made fajita and even after reaching my limit and then having another two for the team it still tasted great.


We finished the rest of the groceries the next morning for breakfast and parted ways shortly after. Having great success testing our speed formula we decided to use it on the way home. However, as luck would have it we were not even two hours into the drive when a state trooper heading the opposite way spun a "U" turn behind us. Shaun looks over to me and says "I think we just earned our first speeding ticket" doing 80 in a 70 mph zone. I told him to quickly pull over before the police officer had a chance to catch up, he looked at me like I was insane but followed my advice. A minute or two later the officer caught up walked up to the window chuckling and told us that never in his career had someone pulled over before he had the chance to turn the lights on and for that he would give us a verbal warning.


So the moral of the story is... While seeking true enlightenment the higher path will lead you to your goal, but never try to reach it too fast unless you are ready to think quick and try something new. Or something like that :)

Check out the pictures from the trip here.

My husband has left me......

for four other men and a bike. Ok, I will admit, it isn't as bad as I am trying to make it sound. Chris is participating in the MS 150 mile bike ride. This is a cherity ride for multiple sclerosis which runs from Millwaukee to Madison. I give the guys lots of credit for doing it, not only because it is for a great cause, but because they are willing to be on a bike that long for two days.

I had to laugh this morning at Kai, at six weeks old he has already mastered the pouting lip. That lip sticks out far enough a bird could land on it. He is just starting to learn he can copy some facial expressions and smile. He is huge already compared to when he was born, and I just can't believe how fast the time has gone. That applies to Jasmine too, she has grown out of being a chubby baby into a lean toddler, who usually can communicate well enought that at least I can understand what she wants.

Mom is coming down with Mel so it should be a fun weekend for the two kids. They are about five months apart in age so it is great to see how they play with each other or I should say play parallel to each other. I am not sure either really knows how to play with the other unless they are just chasing one another around. Perhaps we will take them up to Devils lake and let them swim today or find some other outside activity to wear them out. Jamsine stopped sleeping through the night when Kai was born and I am faced with the delema of how to deal with it. She wakes up and asks for milk( and it had better be milk you bring because she will accept no substitues). Luckly she does go right back to sleep after drining the milk but it seems to me that still waking up at almost two years old isn't the norm.

Why am I doing this????

I am a stay at home mom who really doesn't have much to say about the world. Ok, well for those of you who know me, you know I have a lot to say about the world, but nothing of interest for the most part. So, I am stuck with the question, why am I bothering to blog? Perhaps it is because I feel I need some sort of outlet for my thoughts. We all know it is impossible to have a deep conversation with a two year old, although I have tried to no avail. Dear daughter just looks at me, blinks, starts repeating words I say every now and again while nodding her head, and as cute as that is, it doesn't leave me very satisfied that I have gotten any new perspective with the quandary I was pondering.

I can say for sure that I am not writing this to say in style, since blogging seems to be all of the rage right now. I usually have fought whatever was in style just because I could, but for once maybe what is in style is what I really need. If you have come to read my blog purely to find out what is going on in my life and with the kids that is fine, and I am sure I will be writing about that too, but I think the main purpose for this will be to get some thoughts out of my head. If you want to comment on them great if not that is fine to, I am doing this for anyone but myself. On a side note, if you are bothered by poor grammar stop reading now. I am not going to go through this with a fine tooth comb like I would a college paper; frankly I don’t have the time.

Why am I doing this????

I am a stay at home mom who really doesn't have much to say about the world. Ok, well for those of you who know me, you know I have a lot to say about the world, but nothing of interest for the most part. So, I am stuck with the question, why am I bothering to blog? Perhaps it is because I feel I need some sort of outlet for my thoughts. We all know it is impossible to have a deep conversation with a two year old, although I have tried to no avail. Dear daughter just looks at me, blinks, starts repeating words I say every now and again while nodding her head, and as cute as that is, it doesn't leave me very satisfied that I have gotten any new perspective with the quandary I was pondering.

I can say for sure that I am not writing this to say in style, since blogging seems to be all of the rage right now. I usually have fought whatever was in style just because I could, but for once maybe what is in style is what I really need. If you have come to read my blog purely to find out what is going on in my life and with the kids that is fine, and I am sure I will be writing about that too, but I think the main purpose for this will be to get some thoughts out of my head. If you want to comment on them great if not that is fine to, I am doing this for anyone but myself. On a side note, if you are bothered by poor grammar stop reading now. I am not going to go through this with a fine tooth comb like I would a college paper; frankly I don’t have the time.