Halloween 2008

I hope everyone had a great Halloween.  The boys and I decided to go to Main Street in Cedar Falls.  Cedar Falls does this every year.  The local businesses downtown gave out candy to the kids.  It is great because it starts early and you get to see a lot of fun costumes.  Kai went as a Thomas the train conductor and Kade was a bat.  We are so lucky we had a beautiful day.  Unlike last year it was so cold and windy.  The only bad thing is most of the kids had warm costumes like Kade...poor little bat had pink cheeks.  Another great thing about going downtown is that Paul works about a block off downtown.  So we arrived to see dad and all of his coworkers.  They costumes were a hit.  When we got home we had pizza and of course candy.  The candy is now hidden and will make its way to work places next week.  We only had a hand full of trick-or-treaters.  So, it was a really quiet night.  I hope you all had a great night.

Pumpkin Farm

Better late then never right?  Well, we had a hectic week without daycare, but we made it through with flying colors.  Thursday night we decided to go to a free pumpkin farm that I heard about.  It was in Waterloo and held at a daycare/church.  There were animals to pet, a jumping thing to jump in, pumpkins to buy and food to eat.  On our way there Kai had just fallen asleep and if you know my oldest he takes after his aunt Andrea.  Don't wake up and don't talk to unless he speaks to you!  Well, I woke him up when we got there and he was crying..no mommy...home!  Well,  we got him in there and he finally woke up and then we couldn't get him to leave.  Isn't that always the case.  Well, next year the boys will be a little older and we will go earlier next time.  Here are some pictures of our night.

8 Years...Good Times and Bad

Oct 28, 2000 was awhile ago, but it was a good day.  I married my soul mate.  Don't get me wrong it hasn't been all cake and ice cream, but we have conquered a lot of uphill battles and our marriage has become stronger with each battle.  I am very truly lucky to have found Paul and I do hope he feels the same way.  It has been 8 years and 2 kids and a dog later.

Now back to the crazy day we have had.  I kept the boys really busy today.  We went to the rec center to play indoors...it started a little sketchy with Kai laying in the entryway to he rec center bawling that he wanted to go home.  My God it was like someone was making him go to the doctor or something.  I managed to get him into the gym to check it out.  Both boys ended up loving it and it was great to see them interact with different children.  We will do that again.  The bad thing about not having daycare is I tend to bake a lot.  Poor Spinutech guys might gain a couple of pounds during the next couple of weeks...oh and they tend to be my test subjects on new recipes.  I made peanut butter blossoms, but put on Hershey's candy corn kiss on top.  I guess they turned out really good.  So, that means we had to drop off a batch of cookies to daddy's work and they got to run around the office for awhile.  Then off to the library.  The boys loved the bunny and fish.  Man, we did a lot today and everyone is tired.  

The sad thing we had to do tonight was say goodbye to a great guy.  We had the visitation for 

Bob Plum tonight.  We are so going to miss this man.  He was larger then life and a great sense of humor.  The only good thing about tonight is the boys got to see Deb.  We will miss Bob and be thankful for knowing him.

Ok...pictures...this bottle of wine and glass were a surprise from the couple across the street.  They are so nice to have done this for us.

These are the cookies that I made...Thank you Liz Markey for the idea and recipe

If you were at our wedding 8 years ago you will understand the cookie, but if not...I don't like cake, so we didn't have a wedding cake, but we got these big cookies and now it is kind of a tradition that we get one each year.  

1st Day of No Daycare

Well, we survived our 1st day of no daycare.  Which I am so happy to be home with the kids, but being a small business owner and trying to move my clients around to spots where I do have someone to watch them is hard.  I am very lucky to have PK able to come home an hour here and there to watch them and then also lucky to have my mom watch them on her day off or when she is done working.  I might be calling for some help from people...just bare with me :)

Ok so today was a cold day outside, but we did venture outside with hats and coats, but no gloves.  On a short walk Kai said...hands cold.  So, off to the warm we went.  We plan on doing the library and our local rec center has a couple days a week for indoor play, so we will be seeing how that goes.   We will stay busy trust me :)

In these shots....Kai and Kade love to play in our unfinished basement.  It is so funny to hear Kai say come on Kade...downstairs.  Kai goes down and then Kade is at the door waving bye-bye to me and off to the basement they go.

Kai and Kade outside...didn't last too long, but that is ok because I was cold.

They love to look at the squirrels and birds.  I usually get a stool for Kade to stand on.

Kade was trying to be as tall as Dad.

I love this shot...because Kai never wants to take a nap, so I love when he just crashes.  Oh and you can also see the hair stand up a little in the back from him twirling it.  Gotta love it!

Attachment

The funny thing about kids are the attachments that they develop.  Weather it is a passy or a blanket.  Kade is attached to his passy and tag blanket...and now any blanket he can drag along.  Well, Kai on the other hand is a little different.  I just got him some new Lightening McQueen underwear...and he can't put them down.  Of course they are clean, but as we speak he is sleeping with 4 pairs of new underwear.   I guess tomorrow will tell if he has given up on the attachment.

A small note...my daycare providers husband has passed away today, so I am asking everyone to be grateful for everyone that is important to them.

Fun Day to Sick Day

Isn't it crazy how you go from having such a great fun day with your kids and then you are woken up at midnight with a child throwing up.  How does that happen???  Well, needless to say Kai and I slept on the couch last night (well, not much sleep) and then Kade got up this morning and was also throwing up.  And how can you make your two active kids understand to not move to quickly because they will end up throwing up.  Well, we survived our day.  Both boys are still sacked out, so hopefully it will be a calm night in our house...Have a great weekend :)

Getting Ready

Well, my work week is pretty much over & now I have a fun 4 days with my boys.  These are long days , but fun ones.  I hope the weather holds out and we get to play outside.  Here are some pictures of my boys and a great one of Kade reminding us how baby's can sleep anywhere and position....More soon I promise (but we truly are a boring family)

I have my hands full...I now I have 2 monkeys :)

This grin could break hearts someday

The Kuempel Boys and Koda

Excited....

Well, to finish out our day.  It is now 9 pm and PK and I are sitting here watching some football.  Both boys are asleep (we pray all night) & we had a great day.  A lot of outside play...new hardware on our cabinets.  What more can we ask for.  All in all a great Sunday.  But, we both go back to work and THANK GOD FOR DEB (our daycare provider).  I have to laugh because when I drop off the boys for the day I more then likely get get a couple of pictures texted to me.  I love that she sends me pics of the boys...I will post a couple :)  Gotta love life.....Have a great night.

Cheetos...Pancakes....& Age

You know it is going to be a long day when Kai is asking for Cheetos at 9 in the morning.  So, we have to deal with the meltdown until we convince him daddy is going to make pancakes.  Well, Paul made pancakes and Kade and daddy ate them, nope no Kai.  Good God!  Then to end the normal fight is Ice Age the Meltdown.  If I had a penny every time we watched this movie I really would be able to quit my day job.

Needless to say it is only 10:30 am and it seems like it should be 10 pm.  Oh well it only gets better right?

Typical Saturday....

Pretty much every Saturday the Kuempel family gets ready for the Iowa Hawks to play.  We get in our hawk gear to support the team.  We are also excited to find out that Paul's cousin is starting today.  Andy is #68 and he is starting as offensive tackel.  I am so excited.  He did great and held his men back....Yep we WON!!!

We started out tired....I wonder how long Kade will last tailgating?

Now we are off to tailgate at UNI...we love to do this with the kids.  It is so family friendly at the dome.  Needless to say my kids are the only ones there, but we still have so much fun.  There is plenty of food and room to run.  We are so blessed to have great family and friends to hang out with us.

Kade is making himself at home....

Thank god for Grims.....

I got tackled....

Playing nice...for awhile that is :)

Well, we survived our day :)  Both boys are asleep and PK and I are spending a little time alone and the house is quiet......