Weekend of fun and more fun

Fun was the key word of the weekend for all of us. My fun was with my girlfriends at a lake cabin- talking, laughing, cross-country skiing, movie watching, and of course eating!!! Andy and the kids hung out with some friends Friday night and then headed down to Des Moines to KidsFest on Saturday morning with some more friends. At KidsFest Connor and Kaelynn got to be news broadcasters with one of the news personalities in Des Moines. Connor did a great job- I think he might have a future in it :) We got a video of it and hopefully will be able to put it on here this weekend. Stay tuned! They came home with many goodies and tired eyes!!!
On Sunday we took in Arthur Live at the theatre on the campus of ISU. Vicki (she watches the kids on Tuesday afternoons) gave us tickets for Christmas. The boys had a great time. There was a lot of dancing and singing and the story was about Arthur losing his first tooth.

Connor showing off his cotton candy mustache. Honestly I think they were more excited about getting cotton candy than they were about the show :)

Arthur and the gang in school.

I did get some pictures from Jan and Luther from the kids' visit to North Dakota. Here were a few of my favorites.


Sledding with grandpa!!!!! (Only one minor injury occurred :)


Great Grandma time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to normal

Okay, so it's been a while, but I haven't had a whole lot to write about because the kids were in North Dakota for a week with grandpa and grandma. We went to Minneapolis first to spend the weekend with grandma and papa and katie and her boyfriend Rusty. The boys got to spend the day with Brendan and they all went tubing. They had a great time:

Then it was on to North Dakota- I don't have any pictures from that week, but believe me they had a great time! I've heard all kinds of stories!

You may wonder what I did with all of my free time :) Well, Abby still came Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday so I wasn't totally void of children. I did get some scrapbooking done, and I painted one of the walls in the living room to match the curtains. I did get some of the downstairs organized and some of the our closets that had gotten out of control too. I was completely caught up on laundry and it was a wonderful feeling to get up in the morning and not have a full day of picking up toys, dishes, and laundry ahead. I loved the freedom, but I really missed them too. The house was way too quiet! I can't say it was way too clean, because I absolutely loved it clean!!!!!

On Sunday evening after dinner, we took some time to cuddle and watch out favorite show (Extreme Makeover Home Edition). Here we are, four on a couch:

Who's The Boss???????

I had a good chuckle when I read Matt and Laura's website about how Julianna likes to be a boss over Lydia. I chuckle, because I had planned on telling you about how bossy Kaelynn can be before I read about Julianna. It must be a two-year old thing. Kaelynn is a little more bold in that she is trying to boss around her BIG brothers. Right now they are pretty patient with her, but I have a feeling there will come a day when it might backfire on her and she will be put in her place. The funniest times is when she gets in their faces and says, " Listen to me boys." Hmmmm, I wonder where she has heard that???!!!!!!! She loves to repeat what I say, especially when I am having a "bad mother" moment and don't want her to repeat what I say or the tone I say it in. God is using her to help me watch the volume and tone of my voice!!!! :) It's amazing how He does that!!!!!

Fishing, fishing, and more fishing

It seems that Andy's passion for fishing and hunting has definetly rubbed off on the boys. At least 3 times a day there is some sort of fishing or hunting expedition. Today's first expedition was ice fishing- The picture shows Connor with his gas-powered ice auger (the black CD tower) and his ice fishing rod (the broom) rigged up with a lure to catch crappies. (You'll have to excuse the mess in the background. Our downstairs storage area has gotten a bit out of control. Cleaning it up is one of my projects when the kids are in North Dakota with Grandpa and Grandma :) The fish pillows they got for Valentine's Day have provided hours of entertainment. They've been catching the biggest fish of their lives for the past week.

Kaelynn's newest phrases are "I do", "I will", or "I'll get it". She's into singing all 10+ verses of The Wheels On The Bus and we have to read every book she picks out at least twice if not 3-4 times. Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

The anticipation of this day has been great in the Kvernen house. It started when the Cabela's package arrived two weeks ago. It came when they were home and it had Cabela's plastered all over it. Of course I had to tell them it was their Valentine's gifts and that we couldn't open them. Since that day the speculation has taken us to many places- a deer truck and trailer, a shark pillow, a fishing video, a gun, and a bow and arrow. They did guess the right one- of course I didn't let them know it at the time. They were pleasantly surprised when they opened it this morning. I could tell by the way Connor was dancing around the room singing, "I love my shark pillow, I love my shark pillow. " Carson's is a Northern Pike and he loves his as well.

The boys has a blast making Valentine's cards for all of their friends at school this week. They got a lot of practice writing their names. They had a party at school and were so excited to show me all of the Valentine's they received.

Kaelynn received a Boz video which she has already watched. In case you were not aware, Boz is Kaelynn's absolute favorite character. She asks to watch the video at least 5 times a day even though she knows she can only watch it once. I am looking forward to learning some new songs as the old ones are great- but I've heard them a few too many times :) Kaelynn loves the chocolate Grandma from Mpls. sent. Here she is letting mommy know that I was not allowed to have a bite.

Andy and I are going out for Mexican food and a movie tonight. The kids are eating a heart-shaped pepperoni pizza with the babysitter. We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day. We love you!!

When will it end?

The boys are out of school again today!!!!! This is the 5th time since the middle of January. We got 3 inches of snow last night and the world has come to a stand still in Ames. It's crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, I've vented enough :) It has put a little damper in my day as I am having a Pampered Chef cooking show tonight and was hoping to keep the house picked up for at least half the day. The boys and Andy are going to go to the Veggie Tales movie "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" at the dollar theater tonight. They are so excited. There are three very exciting events for them in the next two weeks and they have been trying to keep them all straight. Going to the movie, Valentine's Day, and a visit to both Grandma and Grandpa's houses. I'm not sure how many times a day I hear "Today we're going to Minneapolis and North Dakota mommy?" or "Tomorrow is Valentine's mommy?" A lot of thinking going on these days. We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day. We love you!

Update

Sorry it's been so long. I don't have a good excuse- just the busyness of life. Actually things have been pretty calm around here the past week or so. We have gotten a lot of snow and are getting more in the next couple of days. I am definetly ready for spring!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait until we can get outside for a long period of time.


Connor and Carson have been playing the long winter days away. Carson's favorite toy is the pirate ship he got for Christmas. He plays with it most of the day- every day! Anytime he moves to a different room it goes with him. It carries all kinds of cargo including Legos, My Little Ponies, Little People, pirates, and sea creatures. As if that isn't enough he has also created a large Lego boat that accompanies the pirate ship everywhere!! I always know where Carson has played by the large pile of toys and stuffed animals that he accumulates and moves with him. If any of our children will have problems with clutter- it will be him. He is very imaginative though and can entertain himself for a very long time!
Here's a picture of Carson with some pipe cleaner glasses and a necklace we made last week.

Connor tends to be a little more global. He is really liking his Leapster and games and is now starting to actually complete some of the games. He has enough dexterity now to use the arrows and buttons the way they were intended to be used. He is very much a thinker and loves creating geometric shapes with the magnets he got for Christmas. He also loves crafts and is often asking to make something- today we worked on Valentines projects- he was in heaven!

Kaelynn has started to develop her "mommy" instinct and loves taking care of her dolls. Her favorite things are taking them for a walk in the shopping cart and changing their diapers. She is artistic in many ways- loves to color, (Thank you Anutie Krisanne for the WASHABLE markers!!!!), play with play-doh, sing, and dance. She is a sponge soaking up information like crazy. She is now counting to ten and is close on numbers 11-20. She loves to have fun and she and Carson love to tickle each other. She got to go on her first date with daddy on Saturday. They got ice cream and went to the mall to ride on the rides. Daddy was defintely the favorite parent that day!!!

I'll try not to wait so long for the next blog. Sorry again!!!