Happy Birthday to ME!

Happy 30th birthday to me! So somehow Billie, along with my mommys help and the quiet secret hushes of everyone else...I was thrown a wonderful suprise party for my 30th birthday this last weekend! Normally Im pretty observent and pick up on everything and ruin suprises...but I have been SO busy latley and so overwhelmed with our schedule that I really honestly was suprised! Infact a few weeks ago I told Billie that she had "badly hinted" about throwing me a party a few months back and so I was telling her that I was just so busy latley to please not do anything for me and that we would do a small dinner sometime. Well luckily she is a GREAT friend and didnt listen to me, because I really needed this party as a pick me up and a re charge in my mood latley. I walked in and it took me a second...I saw my mother in law Rita and thought "why is she here? am I really seeing her? am I really THAT tired?" and then I realized that it was a party for me..and almost slipped a bad word (which I dont ever do, but was so shocked it almost came out anyways!!!). Then of course, I bawled like a baby...happy baby of course. It was wonderful to be surrounded by all my loved ones, sitting and eating and celebrating my big 3-0. I even had a couple corona...tiny little baby ones, they were soooo cute! (thanks to Pat for that one..hehe). So again, thank you everyone who was a part of my big special suprise. You are all one in a million, love you all!
Walking in to Billies backyard for a "bbq" with her and Pat....
And realizing it wasnt that at all...but was a suprise party for ME!
Wiping away the "happy tears".
All the gang eating up the yummy food and enjoying the company.

Opening my wonderful gifts! Thank you everyone.

But, I decided that since my party was 2 weeks before my birthday that this means I get to have a celebration month instead of just my birthday. hehe

Ive been asked a few times by people if Im sad about turning 30. Here is my answer...2 years ago, I awoke at the Hertel campout on my birthday turning 28. I quickly found out that I really was getting old because all day long I was so upset because I thought I was 29 instead of 28 (see, getting so old I couldnt remember my own age!) and in my mind that meant I only had ONE MORE YEAR until the big THREE-ZERO. Then Jake figured it out and let me know, that no honey you have two years to go. I was so excited! It was the best news I heard that entire day!!! haha So now here I am, actually turning thirty (for real this time!) and Im totally excited. Im at a point where I love every aspect of my life and wouldnt change a thing, Ive gone through things that have brought out the best in me and Im comfortable with the completley open me, and I feel like Ive come full circle to adult hood. So am I sad about turning 30?...definatley not. Im enjoying it more than I ever expected I would. I guess I had my "30 depression" two years ago, which Im so thankful for now! So here's to me...and my birthday!

Almost empty nesters....

I figured I better announce that this blog is not about our children. hehe Our children are not almost all grown up and moving out. But our baby frogs are! Im guessing this will be our final post about our frog adventure as they seem to be in the final phases of metamorphasis. Its been so fun for the boys to watch as they went from the big loud frogs in our yard at night, to the eggs all over the pond, to these worm looking creatures, then to tadpoles, growing tiny legs, and now some are at the "lizard" phase.....when I showed Eli the ones with tails and leggs for the first time he asked me where I got the lizard at, and he now understands its not a lizard at all. funny stuff. We actually hadnt seen any tadpoles in a couple weeks and our pond was pretty nasty because we hadnt cleaned it since late winter because we were afraid to hurt our baby frogs. So I decided yesterday that since we hadnt seen any signs of them, that I would clean the pond. As I cleaned the muck I found about 8 little guys still hanging around. So I put them in a bucket until the pond was clean and then put them back in the clean pond. The LOVED the fresh new water and you could just see how happy they were in their new home. I know Im silly, but seriously you could tell they were smiling and happy! We did take a few pics of them before placing them in the water. Ive decided there are definatley numerous species because there are all very different sizes and shapes to them. I would say we have three that I can tell of, from my NON biology knowledge.
This is my favorite little guy. He's almost done growing, I think he just needs to lose his tail...or whatever happens to the tail! He's so long and cute and green. He just hung out on our hands forever...I think Eli loves him too.
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This guy isnt quite grown yet. He's just starting to get his hind legs, and he is HUGE compared to the rest of the little guys we have left

And then Im not sure whats up with this crazy one. It actually freaks me out a little, but I didnt tell Eli that because he kept picking him up. He's MUCH faster and stronger than the rest. And he seem to be much thicker all around than the rest body and tail, more like a lizard for real. Who knows, maybe its a comono dragon. haha.

So our frog friend adventure is almost at an end, its been fun documenting it and we'll have fun for years looking back on it. Who knows, maybe we'll get grandchildren next year. ;)

Hertel Campout

So the annual Hertel campout had some bumps in the road this year due to mother nature, fortunaltey for some last minute scrambling, we were able to pull together a few of us to still go and a new campground that mother nature was being nice to this season...Detroit Lake. A few family members were in town from out of state and were able to come along so that was wonderful, but we definatley missed all those that could not make it. I was VERY nervous about this trip, because from Tuesday until Friday Jake would not be joining us because of his work. I had always been a very independent and adventerous person before getting married and having kids, but since those wonderful steps in my life Ive definatley become more cautious and also more dependent on my wonderful husband on a daily basis. So deciding to go alone without Jake, this trip to me was an opportunity to prove to myself that I am still that independent and adventerous person I used to be, I just dont practice the traits as often. I packed up the boys and we headed out on tuesday afternoon at lunch time. The boys ate lunch on the way, and then crashed for a good nap and gave me a nice quiet peaceful drive to the campground. We got to Cove Creek Campground by late afternoon, and were the first ones there. I had the task of finding enough sites for everyone, and was very lucky to find 4 of the most perfect sites left. They were shady, quiet, huge sites, close to the bathrooms for all our little ones, and had the best wooded area behind for the kids to play, which they quickly named the "Underground" (or was it "Underworld"???I cant ever remember!).

We had a great week, and I had quite a few proud me moments I have to admit. Setting up our huge tent on my own, when Ive never even helped put it up in the past with Jake. Not being afraid of the big boogy man in the dark at night (yes I have an overactive imagination I admit it!). Being able to be the good guy (playing and being fun and crazy to entertain) and the bad guy (setting and enforcing the rules and dissapline) as a single parent all week long to my boys (man thats hard work playing both roles!!). And then my final one is making it to the top of Independence Rock and staying longer than a second. I have a HUGE fear of heights, and am also blessed with severe panic attacks...mix the two together, like up on Independence Rock and its no bueno. The hike was beautiful, but the last 5 minute incline was awful. I was so afraid to be close to the edge, and kept visioning my kids plumeting off the edge. So after sitting maybe 10 minutes tops, I snapped at my husband through panicky shallow breaths...."Get the kids, I need to go down!" I was proud I went up it, but it was time to come down now...and as soon as we were off the rock I was back to good. So Im proud, I didnt conquere the fear..but I definatley faced it a little bit.

Eli and Josep in their "volcano"
Claudia, Julia, Zach, Eli and Josep...getting ready to hike.
Poor Zach was so tired that two nights in a row he passed out on the table durring dinner time.

Our first morning there we woke up to chipmunks running all over our site, even across our tent. You could see their little feet prints as they ran over our tent above our heads. So Eli, smart little boy he is, made a chipmunk trap out of glowsticks and fruit loops. His plan was for them to bite the glow sticks so their mouths glowed at night! But they just kept stealing the entire thing.

We went around the group on our last night asking what everyone favorite part of the week was. We included Eli and Josep in this. Eli's answer was the Underground and making new friends. Joseps list kept growing, but the ones I really liked the most that he said were the volcano, meeting new friends, and his cousin Eli. How stinking cute is that! And then Julias was the treasure trunk...I think all of us agree on that one! Thanks Aunt Joan and Uncle Paul!!!

It was a great week and Im very glad I took the boys down for the entire trip. I faced some fears, and they played till their hearts were full. We swam, hiked, visited with family, the boys slept in for me every day until atleast 10:30am and came home covered in bruises and scratches to prove the fun they had. We cant wait until next year when there will be more family there to enjoy it with.

Hayden and Evans 3rd birthday party

The Spencer family always have the coolest backyard toys. In addition to the bouncy house from last year, this year they added this really cool bouncy water slide/pool to the fun at their twin boys' 3rd birthday party. The kids had a blast! Zach was forced down it once by Daddy for mommys camera addiction, but that was all he was interested in and the rest of the time ran around playing other things. Eli on the other hand LOVED the slide. He was on it for hours! Its too bad our yard isnt big enough for something this fun! He loved to jump up...yeah maybe not the rules and safest way to play on it hu?...and catch some serious air before sliding. It was pretty funny. A few of the Daddy's couldnt resist the fun and joined in for a couple turns sliding down as well. It was definatley a fun sunny afternoon for a party. Happy birthday Hayden and Evan!!

Hertel Farm Memory Walk

On sunday we attended a very nice family farm reunion/walk/potluck at the Hertel Farm. Its the farm where my mother in law and all her siblings grew up. We ate a very yummy potluck lunch and visited. Then we went on a memory walk around the farm. Uncle Dick set up a hay trailer for some of us to ride instead of walk, so the boys and I chose that route of transportation...what boy doesnt want to ride on the tractor? As we stopped at different locations throughout the farm, all the family told different stories and memories about that area of the farm and the kids ran free through the feilds. It was fun to hear what all their experiences were growing up there. It taught me, as a inlaw, more about the family and it was the first time Id ever been around the entire farm. It really is a beautiful place. It was a very nice day and fun time seeing everyone. Eli had a great time playing with the older boys on the walk, talking to the "Georges", and then playing with Martha on the hammock aftewards. Its so fun to see his personality and friendship capabilities as he's getting older. He's such a little man now. The only set back of the day was Zach chasing after the tractor when it parked and thankfully one of the cousins (it all happened so fast I am a little blurred..I think it was Tom?) snatched him up before he became one with the tractor and rock wall. Yes, mommy is still having nightmares. :(

4th of July

Every year we meet up with all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins and such on the Waibel side of the family at the Hillsboro Parade. Its just another thing I enjoy every year with our boys and the entire family. Having kids lets me be a kid again too! We chalked and hung out before the parade, and then really enjoyed all of the parade as always. And of course, all our surrounding parade watchers probably wondered why we were all chanting "poop poop...tail is lifting...oh man!" We chalk a big board on the road with our names in squares and hope for a horse to poop in our square. Im still not sure what the winner gets other than to gloat about the horse pooping on their name. After the parade we went up to Mom Waibels and worked around the yard for her and visited. That evening we went to a suprise party for Uncle Paul where we ate yummy food and played some more. Then we went home and joined our neighbors in setting off fireworks. Eli had a great time, loving every firework especially the sparklers. Zach on the other hand was afraid they would blow up (hmmm...wonder why he thinks that Uncle TJ?? hehe), so he sat in the living room eating a snack and watching from the window. About half way through Jake went to check on him and he was getting his pj's on and said he wanted to go to sleep. How cute is that, he was so scared he'd rather go to bed! My little cautious man. It was a long busy day, but we had so much fun seeing so many family and enjoying the 4th together.

Zach watching fireworks from in the house.

Boys!

So I just found this on my camera. I did NOT take this picture. Apparently the boys must have been trying on mommys shoes and Daddy snapped a shot of it. Which suprises me because he had a fit when Aunt Jen gave mommy lots of new purses and they each latched on to one and carried them around for the day. See I dont need a girl, boys can play dress up too! haha

Paint chalk = the devil

Ok so Im pretty sure it was a school friend that gave Eli the paint chalk for his birthday, so I hope not to offend anyone with this blog. haha Crayola has come out with some really crazy chalks latley. Eli recieved alot of the new types for his birthday. He got some 3D chalk...very cool...and some really BIG chalk...also very cool....but then he got some paint chalk...not very cool. So we busted it all out and played for hours with it, not knowing how devilish the paint is. They decided, because boys are crazy, to paint their bodies entirely with paint chalk. Seconds after Zach is completley covered he starts screaming "it hurts my skin!"...so I rush him to the kiddy pool and begin cleaning him off, which does NOT come off easy. Then that next day, Im walking so gracefully across our porch and WAM! I hit the pavement. It all happened so fast I have no idea how I landed but both inner knees were bruised up, and the top of my left foot totally tore up with roadrash. Both boys ran over with different concerns. Eli's was "you mesed up my chalk mommy!"...Zachs was "oh, mommy are you ok" (choking back on his own concerned tears for me..what a sweetheart!). Then when they both saw the blood oozing out of the big hole in my foot they were both VERY concerned about mommy and tried to help me up. 2 weeks later I still cant wear shoes because the devilish paint chalk made me fall. So future warning to all....My children do not accept Paint chalk as presents. :)

Goodbye nasty old carpet...hello beautiful soft carpet!

So our flooring in our house has been an ongoing process since we purchased the house just over 5 years ago. The previous owners didnt take very good care of it, and really it was cheap carpet to begin with. So a couple years ago we did pergo through the living room and hall. This last month we took on the bedroom challenge. We had Home Depot come out and install carpet but chose to save money here and there by removing all the old stuff ourselves. Boy was that a job! For a week we lived with all three bedrooms contents, beds toys dressers etc, piled in our living and dining rooms. We painted and cleaned until our bodies ached. At night the boys layed on their mattress's on the wooden floor in their empty rooms and Jake and I slept in the living room. (of course his computer stayed put in our room for his Warcraft time until the very last second) It was a very off schedule chaotic messy week...but the beautiful soft clean new carpet, new paint, and totally cleaned up rooms we have now was all so worth all of the stress that came along with the process. Our next adventure with floors...tile in the kitchen, dining room and both bathrooms.

Drive Inn Season

In the winter, every time we pass by the Drive Inn theater Eli asks to go see a "big big movie". So when its actually Drive Inn Season we are one happy family. A family of four out to see TWO movies in one night, and it only costs us $14. We always pack up a dinner and lots of snacks and toys to play with and get there about 6:30pm and then the movies start at dark. This time we saw Kung Foo Panda..which was super funny to the boys. Then we thought for sure they'd be asleep by the second movie like normally which starts close to midnight. The second movie was not really a kid movie, Indianna Jones to be exact. I thought they were asleep and then I hear Eli mumble on his pillow "wow! That was soooooo cool. I want to do that!" right after one of the many action packed tricks in the movie. I had to chuckle because even though it wouldnt be my first pick of a movie for my children to watch, I do remember watching Indiana Jones movies growing up and thinking all the fancy tricks were so cool. Here are my favorite guys hanging out in the back of the suburban before the movie....and a video of Zach beating everyone up.

Homemade summer treats!

With this warm weather has come the constant asking for popsicles. So after nap time I usually give in and let them have one for snack outside by the pool. Well one day we were out, heaven forbid! So I got the great idea to make healthy popsicles on our own before naptime and we could enjoy them after nap. So we blended up some yummy mango, boysenberries, yogurt, and ice. We poured them into some paper cups we had and covered them with tin foil and then stuck stir sticks through the foil to make the popsicle stick. And down for nap we went. When they got up it was the first thing they asked "can we have our popsicles we made!??" So we tore off the foil and paper cup and WALAAA it was yummy treat time. I have to say, I had one myself too and they were pretty good and who can complain about a healthy summer treat? Eli enjoyed them so much that he ate 3 of them. On a normal store bought popsicle this would have not flown with me, but it was all fruit and yogurt so it was good for him....but I didnt tell him that part, he thought he was just getting special treatment. hehe Zach ate only one, he's our slow mouse. So over all our recipe was a success and we even made enough to last a while, we have more left still! The only thing I didnt take into consideration was those darn boysenberries...the pictures explain it all...

Froggy friends are getting legs!

So our little tadpole babies are getting so big. They are really interesting to look at right now. The pictures dont do them any justice, but I took the best ones I could. They are getting nice and fat now and have big eyes. Their tails are still there, but just at the base of their tail ("at their bottom" Eli says) there are two tiny tiny little back legs starting to form. My favorite part of them right now though is their tummies. They have this crazy swirly goldish rainbow design on them, its really cool. I have to say though Im a little dissapointed in the ratio of tadpoles we have now vs all the eggs that were layed. I dont know if they eat eachother or if some just dont hatch, but we had millions of eggs and really not that many big tadpoles to show for it. Or maybe they are just quicker swimmers now and are dodging our net when we try to catch them to see them. So here is a few pics...the first one is showing a top view of one, and the second pic is a bottom rainbow view of a bigger one.