Büschelmännerhaus

Crested Butte, Colorado

2012-02-04T16:54:00.001-05:00

We had an incredibly fun time in Colorado. There was some worry about the lack of snow, but it all turned out well in the end. We got to Gunnison just in time to pick up Uncle Brian from the airport and make a quick visit to the "airplane" bathrooms. Extremely exciting for a couple of us. The rest of the group showed up shortly after and we all caught up over a nice lunch. Where I immediately placed myself on the adult half of the table.

Saturday morning we rose early to prepare for the first day of skiing. The kids aided us in this by never really adjusting to the mountain time zone. Everyone had a great day of skiing, though I had many issues. I fell constantly on the easiest run. Now, I don't have a lot of pride in my skiing ability, but I knew that I had been a lot better three years earlier. I realized too late for that day that my boot was not tight enough. Once this was remedied, I was much more confident and had a lot more fun. Conveniently, this happened on the day that 13 inches of snow fell. It was fun to ski in the powder, but I think I enjoyed seeing the excitement of all the employees' more. It was like Christmas morning to them.

I've known since the last ski trip that I prefer the green runs. Perhaps one day I will actually enjoy skiing blues as opposed to feeling like they are something I am trying to survive. I have no intention to ever try a black diamond run. However, Eric is completely different. He sought out the hardest runs he could find. Why? I have no idea. I assume he thought they were fun. Honestly. I know, it doesn't make sense to me either. But, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to my brother-in-law re-cap my husband's hijinks.

Now, you might be wondering what we did with the children while we were frolicking on the mountain. Grandma and Grandpa graciously volunteered to watch them for half days on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. I took all of Sunday. This system worked out really well, despite the fact that Molly and Will both had nasty colds for pretty much the entire time we were in Colorado. I have to say my favorite memory was walking in the door on Tuesday and seeing Grandpa going for a high score in Pac-Man with no children in sight. I knew they were fine once I heard the distant sounds of Mario Kart.

Our evenings were spent recuperating from the day of skiing. The hot tub was utilized, supper was eaten, and card games were played. Only one night did we not make it to 10 pm. I don't think we really made it to 9. Ironically, it was the night of a KU game, which started at 9PM Eastern. Since we were in Colorado, it came on at 7, but we still couldn't stay awake for the end.

On Wednesday morning we loaded up and headed out. The entire drive through the mountains, William kept asking if we were still in Colorado. Finally, I told him that if he could see mountains, than we were still in Colorado. This came back to haunt me several hours later as we drove through eastern Colorado.

Next stop: Kansas!

What we have been up to (Part 1)

2012-01-29T15:15:00.000-05:00

Some of the more frequent readers may have noticed that I haven't updated in a while. There is a great reason for this. We have been on a road trip that spanned 3 time zones, 8 States, and 11 different families. Our children slept in 7 different rooms over the course of 13 nights. And actually, that number of rooms may be a little low as on a couple of occasions, 1,2, or all 3 moved from the room they started in to ours. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we made it back. Would we have traded any of it? With the exception of one really bad night in western Kansas, absolutely not.

As is my habit, I do not have pictures readily available to show you of our travels, but feel free to snoop at either my sister-in-law's website or my father-in-law's picasa album for pics of our family enjoying several days in Colorado. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our expedition started in the early morning hours of January 10. We had made arrangements to stay with Katie's family in Lee's Summit. The boys were extremely excited and tried to pack all of their toys to share with their cousins. We assured them that Mary Ann and Rose had plenty of toys to share, and no, they did not need to bring 4 light sabers. 2 would suffice. After a long day in the car, Dom popped up and said "That wasn't so bad" as we rolled into the Reddig's driveway. And he was correct, it wasn't so bad.

The next morning, we arose to see the girls off to school and made our way to Omaha, Nebraska, where Molly got to meet her great-grandparents for the first time. We had a really nice time at the Buschelmans and with our first experience of winter weather, I was reminded that I really don't like it. While in Omaha, we also got a chance to see a few other members of Eric's extended family which is always a treat. Dom and Will were a little upset that we weren't just pushing on to Colorado, but after a look at the map and some great gifts from Great-Grandma Norma, they settled in for the night.

A side story: I had picked up several books about some of the states we'd be driving through as well as a book about the Rocky Mountains. The boys knew we were eventually getting to Colorado and the Rockies, but were unaware of the time line. As we drove through Council Bluffs, IA, Will sees a couple of bluffs standing along the highway. He excitedly informs me that he sees the Rocky Mountains. I don't suppose you could expect much more from the offspring of a girl from Kansas.

On Thursday morning, we set off for Denver. Again, we had a pretty easy day. Eric and I spent the majority of it listening to "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and admiring the beautiful scenery along I-80. The boys spent the majority of it watching every DVD we own and eating sugar in various forms. For the first time, we gave Dom full ownership of the DVD operation. Incredibly, this lead to fewer fights and near silence from the back. Molly, I think, just gets a kick out of watching her brothers watch movies. At least, I didn't hear much out of her. We got to our hotel in Denver about 5 o'clock. I did not realize how tired I was until I was in the room watching our boys run back and forth screaming and knowing that I was about to go crazy. Luckily, The Embassy Suites has a manager's special, and the boys were thrilled to eat chex mix and popcorn for supper. I know, I know, the "Mother of the Year" committee has already notified me of my selection.

It's Raining! It's Pouring!

2012-01-10T10:12:00.000-05:00

Back in early December, we got hit with a couple days of downpours. It completely flooded our backyard and water seeped into our vents. However, those with small kids know that you can only watch so much tv and find so many things to do "quietly" around the house.

First, William declared he was willing to venture outside. I'm sure the fact that he just received a pair of galoshes helped him in this decision.

Upon watching Will from the door, Dom decided he didn't want to miss out on all of the fun.

They had such a great time running around and splashing, I think they stayed out for almost a half an hour.

I learned a few things by letting them do this. First, though the galoshes are waterproof, massive splashing (as boys are want to do) will provide ample opportunity for water to get into the boot. Don't worry if you forget this as tipping over the boot will soon remind you. Second, I should have new outfits ready. Small sections of the shirts were dry, but absolutely nothing else was. Maybe putting them in snow suits would help with this? Thinking back, I should probably have a change of clothes for me, too. Third, have the entire entry area lined with towels. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a couple on the couch as well. As much as they try to stay in one place, this is physically impossible. But, all in all, it was totally worth it just to see their excited faces!

Happy Birthday, Molly!

2012-01-05T09:10:00.000-05:00

A year has passed since Molly decided to introduce herself to us.

It has been delightful getting to know her over the last 12 months.

Her self-confidence will be through the roof with all of the compliments she gets from strangers in the grocery stores and church. Not to mention that I can't help telling her that she is a pretty girl.

The idea of having three children all under the age of 5 is daunting, but Molly's easy going personality made the transition very smooth. So much so, that I have often said that having three is easier than having 1 or 2. Though, I need to give a lot of that credit to her older brothers. They were and are extremely understanding when Molly needs my undivided attention.

Molly has a wonderful sense of humor and loves to laugh. The looks she gives as she chucks food off her tray or throws stuffed animals out of her crib...classic! She also prefers hanging out with her brothers over just about any other activity. Though snuggling with mom and dad are also at the top of her list of favorite things.

We love you Molly-girl and look forward to celebrating many many more birthdays with you!

New Year's

2012-01-02T11:25:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!! We had the special treat of getting to celebrate the end of 2011 with my sisters, Katie and Mitzi, my brother-in-law, Robert, and my nieces and nephew, Mary Ann, Rose, and Peter. Despite various illnesses and an over-whelming lack of sleep, we all had a wonderful time. In fact, such a great time that we, again, neglected to fully document it with photographs.

The few pictures we have were taken during a trip to the bowling alley. The kids had a great time bowling in the dark with with various lights flashing. Also, Rose attempted to teach the boys a few steps of ballet.

We spent a lot of time around the house playing games, fighting nerf battles and light saber duels, and dancing. But, we also ventured out to The Hofbrauhaus in Covington, Kentucky. On the way back, we took a leisurely stroll through IKEA. Personally, my favorite outing was a quiet trip to the library where Mary Ann and Will played on the computer while Katie and I read our books in silence. Dom and Rose had elected to stay home and play with Peter while Molly napped. Robert and Eric heroically remained behind as well.

On Christmas Eve, we got back from Mass too late to even attempt taking a picture with the kids so I dressed Molly up in the same adorable dress for New Year's Eve and I think we succeeded in getting a nice shot.

Molly is getting a little more difficult to photograph. The above was one of several attempts. I know Robert was also trying to get a good shot. I have a lot of the top of her head. Ah well, at least it is a pretty picture of the dress.

And here we have the happy cousins. It was a great visit and I know the boys had a wonderful time. I think my favorite memory is going into the kids' room (all six slept in the same room) and finding Rosie asleep in Will's bed and Mary Ann sleeping in Dom's bed. I'm sure if Peter and Molly hadn't been barricaded a similar result would have occurred. It's nice to know that though we live far away, the cousins still have a wonderful friendship!

2011-12-27T11:33:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning has come and gone, and only one toy has actually been damaged. Pretty good for three kids 5 and under. The favorite present by far for Dom and Will was a replica of "The Polar Express":

This was quite a showstopper. It didn't even matter that for 15 tense minutes the train appeared to not work. The children have only briefly experienced battery run locomotives, so Will just got on the ground and started pushing it around the track. Luckily, the problem was minor and the train continued its eternal trip to the North Pole steamed by 6 C-batteries and a couple of double A's that we had on hand.

We received this lovely name plate from Eric's parents. In what must be record time, it is already hanging prominently in our living room. Now we just have to figure out where to put the displaced pictures...

The family received Mario Kart for the Wii and it has been played multiple times. For several weeks now, we had been making due with the N64 version where the boys pressed the "gas" and Eric and I steered. Now the boys can play all on their own. Our next step is to teach them that it is okay to lose, it just means you have to practice. We also have to teach them that it is all right to turn off the game. It will be there the next day.

Dominic received a tabletop foosball game. It is the perfect size and he really gives you a run for your money. Word is that Eric only beat him by a goal this morning.

Molly received this cute coat and a pair of mittens and hat from her grandparents. These came just in time for winter. She had been making due with some hand-me-downs from her brothers, which work, but it's always nice to be a little more fashionable.

Since early November, Dom has been saying that he wanted a Nerf Gun for Christmas. Nothing says "Peace on Earth" like Nerf Guns. As a special treat, the whole family got Nerf Guns (or generic ones) and we had a couple of battles. Eric and Dom against Will and me. Perhaps if Will had spent a little more time learning how to shoot and less time trash talking, our position would not have been overrun twice....Though, he valiantly defended me when Eric tried to tackle me. I might have gotten away if I hadn't been laughing... Almost immediately we realized that we would be needing a lot more ammunition (to allow for longer battles instead of taking breaks to crawl out into "no man's land" to retrieve errant shots as well as to replace those that have already been lost) and hit up the store yesterday. I won't say how much we got, but we will not be running out soon.

William received a "Marble Works" package from Santa. I really want the boys to do it themselves, but if I get going, I just can't stop. Dominic will quickly learn, I'm sure, that if he just puts two pieces together I will cave and build one for them. You should see the one I did today. It is awesome.

And here is Molly on her "big" gift. She loves it. It is an activity table with three levels and it can also convert to an easel. I hear it makes breakfast and cleans up after itself, but I've yet to see this in action. She played on it all Christmas morning (once we let her out of her high chair). We'd worried she'd get into the presents, but she was content to crawl around her table.

We also received several games (which we have played), some household items, a Darth Vader Mask and much much more. I can't speak for the rest of the family, but my favorite gifts are the ones we can all do together. And, of course, the Darth Vader Mask.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-23T10:10:00.000-05:00

Pretty much since the last piece of pie was eaten on Thanksgiving, we've been preparing the house for Christmas. We haven't had much snow to speak of and the weather is very mild, but we are getting in the festive mood!

The boys and Molly and I decorated a small tree and made a star for the top. I won't ruin the surprise of where this tree ends up. A word about the expression on Dom's face...I took two pictures and this was the better one. Though the culprit in the other was William.

Our shoes awaiting the arrival of St. Nick (December 6). Dom attempted to put out all of his shoes, but we dissuaded him from this. Apparently, not everyone in America follows this tradition. Luckily, I grew up in a household that did. A good fortune that allowed me to win my table a round of drinks at a holiday party when the question was asked "What do children in Germany do the night before December 6th?" Other people were looking up the answer on their smart phones. I guess it just pays to be smart...and to have a German professor as a father!

The most popular gifts received were the slipper socks. It worked out well as we had the heat off all day due to water in our vents. I'll have another post about that later. The boys were quite fashionable and had them pulled up to their knees on the outside of their pants most of the day.

Even Molly received a gift or two from the good saint. And she loves them!

A later gift was a child friendly copy of "A Christmas Carol". We've read it a few times and I will often catch Dominic paging through it on his own.

The second weekend of December we went to find our Christmas tree. It was a beautiful day, but one of the coldest we've had. I think we picked out the best tree we have ever had. And I'm not just saying that. I would also like to add it was much easier to walk around with Molly on my back than how I had to carry her last year!

We seem to have a tradition now of getting our tree on the second Saturday and then spending the afternoon of Sunday decorating it. It was a wonderful afternoon with Christmas Carols playing a fake fire going on the tv (Thank You Netflix!). The tree was a little bottom heavy with decorations. Something we rectified as soon as Molly woke up from her nap.

The finished product. Picture taken by D. Joseph Buschelman.

And here is our other tree in the family dog, Katie. Sadly, the star blew off a couple of days later. Probably should have glued it to the aluminum foil. Ah well, live and learn.

I made it a priority to be done with Christmas shopping and wrapping by late last week (don't be too impressed, I'm not quite done, yet, but I did come pretty close to my goal) so that this final week of Advent could be devoted to baking and candy making. The boys have helped with just about every aspect of the food prep.

And it has been a lot of fun. Well, except for a tense moment last night when I was trying to roll out Springerli. Though, I've decided that as long as they taste good, I won't sweat about the appearance. Besides, I can always blame it on William.

My favorite part about having them help is that they insist on trying everything. The most helpful thing they did was unwrapping the hershey kisses while I rolled out the dough for peanut butter blossoms. Oddly, the package was short a few candies...

An anecdote

2011-12-21T15:59:00.000-05:00

We've been pretty busy around here getting ready for Christmas and I apologize for not having any pictures. I need to remember to have Eric upload them to the computer tonight. But for now I have a story I want to save for posterity. William is in the final stages of potty training. A few weeks ago I decided to start letting him wear underwear around the house. This, of course, has meant I've cleaned up several accidents. However, we've hit upon a strategy that never worked for Dom, but seems to be just what William needs. We set the kitchen timer for 45 minutes or an hour and have him go to the restroom when it beeps. He is quite obedient about it and it has lead to several accident free days. Though it might be working a little too well. This morning when the timer beeped for Eric's coffee, William came into the bathroom and informed me that he had to use the toilet because the timer went off. Did Pavlov have kids?

Working hard all day!

2011-12-12T09:33:00.000-05:00

Here is another random post of pictures to give a sense of day to day activities. William was eating his 100th pretzel when he realized that he had made a horse. This has now become the new game to play when eating pretzels. They really are pretty good at making letters.

Buzz Lightyear and Darth Vader doing battle over an espresso pot. (Don't worry, Eric gave this to the boys to play with a long time ago. No punishment was inevitable). The boys are quite entertaining to listen to when playing with their action figures. Most of the dialogue consists of: "I am Darth Vader (audible breathing)" "I am Buzz Lightyear. To Infinity and Beyond" "I am Spiderman, I'm swinging into action". and so forth.

I wrote several weeks ago about using scraps of paper to make mosaics. Here are a few of the results. Guess which is mine :).

As a cheapskate, I really hate to spend money when I can use things around the house for lessons. A prime example is that we keep a tin of poker chips handy for addition and subtraction lessons. Also sorting and patterns. The chess pieces are great for learning how to pick up after yourself.

Molly knows that books are important, but has not quite figured out how they are. As you can see, she confuses them with another important thing in her life: Food.

Our "T" collage. Dom is actually pretty bored with making the collages, but loves to help me come up with words. A funny anecdote (at least to me) happened this week. Some, if not all, of you know that I have some issues with the letter "C" and its existence. This past week we were working on sounding out words and spelling. I asked Dom to spell "Candy" (we are doing Christmas themed words). He starts by saying "K", when he sees my expression he goes: "Oh, it sounds like K, but it looks like a C." What a trooper!

I think Will took the above picture of our U words. I explained to the boys that Uncle Sam was used as a code word for the United States. They weren't very impressed. But, umbrella was a huge hit. (stay tuned for pictures of the boys cavorting in our flooded backyard)

My attempt at being a little more fashionable. And after all of that we were exhausted:

There's something about Molly...

2011-12-08T09:29:00.000-05:00

It was 52 weeks tomorrow that my otherwise uneventful pregnancy suddenly became quite exciting. Well, if having hours long monitoring sessions and never knowing from one appointment to the next if an immediate induction would be advised means exciting. My anxiety level was through the roof. This is the face of all the trouble!

The entire pregnancy I had told myself that we would get through one more Christmas with just the boys and then prepare for the arrival of the baby. But, high blood pressure and a very relaxed baby changed all of that. As a result, I was the most prepared for Christmas that I have ever been since I didn't know if I would have another day without a newborn to be taking care of.

Of course hindsight is 20/20 and I wish I could tell my 9 month pregnant self that everything would work out beautifully. Perhaps some of those blood pressure readings would be a little lower. I always knew the third child would be great (being a third myself), but there really is something about Molly.

Thanksgiving weekend!

2011-12-04T17:11:00.000-05:00

Note: We did eat food, a lot of it, but I have no pictures of it. You can check out Eric's sister's blog for proof. She also has some nice pictures of a frisbee golf outing we took on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with Eric's siblings, Megan and Brian, and Megan's husband, Stephen. They drove all the way from Oklahoma and having done this drive with three kids, we were grateful that they elected to make the trip. After staying up late Wednesday night, we were all out of the house before 8 to run/watch the base Turkey Trot.

Dom took over as photographer and we have a lot of pictures of strangers running on a beautiful fall morning. I believe that the below picture is Brian as he complained about being sore from being in a car for 15 hours...

Here we have Uncle Stephen (Scuba) right before he gave high fives to the boys. Unfortunately, he gave Dom two high fives and William only one, a slight which Will felt acutely for about 10 minutes...

...Until Aunt Megan jogged by and rectified the situation. William than proceeded to join her on the rest of the route where we hear he trash talked the rest of the 1.7 miles. I have no idea where he gets that from...

Proof that the earlier picture was indeed Brian. Dominic loves to cheer on the racers and occasionally race himself. I personally like this picture of the Buschelman men.

Molly, I believe, enjoyed her time as a spectator. I really need to remember to bring a stroller in the future. I didn't run, but my arms were sore after carrying her from before the race started to the time her father finished. She's cute, but can get heavy after about 30 minutes.

Our big runner finished strong. He takes it pretty seriously and notes all the people he passes in a rather loud voice. Of course, he will omit the fact that Megan had to carry him part of the way...

Eric's parents took the opportunity to unload a couple of boxes of "Eric Memorabilia" on us. If we had known that these boxes held treasures, we would have collected them long ago. Will loved this flight suit. There are two, but the other one is even smaller. Molly should be able to wear it in about a year. Will also scored some sweet cowboy boots and Dom gets to wear a real soccer jersey from when Eric was in 1st grade.

Friday arrived with beautiful blue skies. We held our 2nd Annual Buschelman Turkey Trot. This consists of a run around the block (approximately .4 miles) with lots of cheering and noise making. We invited our neighbors to join in the fun.

Dom easily beat the competition and enjoyed himself the entire way, waving to the crowd (me) and giving high fives.

William ran with his entourage and then gloated about the fact he beat them. I wonder when the realization will hit that these two ladies graciously let him win...

We spent the rest of the day bowling and putting up some decorations. Oh, and Eric brewed some beer. Perhaps he can write a post about that at a later date.

Our little garden gnome:

Eric's sister and brother. Photo taken by Dom.

We enjoyed all of our time together, but some of the best memories came after the kitchen was cleaned. We broke out the N64 and played Mario Kart. The boys chose whose lap to sit on and then pressed the gas. Molly just clapped and tried to figure out why people weren't paying attention to her.

Look at the intensity:

It seldom got physical, but one can never be too prepared:

Group shot. Brian was by far the dominant racer and when asked what they were thankful for, both boys said playing video games with Uncle Brian.

Once the kids went to bed, the rest of us played cards for hours. This year we played the card game Scum. I'm not sure who suggested it, but we decided that whoever was the lowest player had to wear some sort of head piece. The following was one of the selections. I will provide documentation of the rest in a later post.

Along with being thankful for Brian playing video games, the boys also said they were thankful to play with Uncle Stephen in the living room (which consisted of wrestling or an intricate game of hopping from pillow to pillow to avoid landing in water or hot lava) and that Aunt Megan ran with them in their race. Even now, when we ask them to give three things they are thankful for, they will inevitably say that they are thankful that Megan, Stephen, and Brian came to visit. And so are we!

Costume Fashion Show

2011-11-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

It is the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I have plenty to do, but I thought I would write about something totally not related to the recent or coming holidays. Back in September, the boys really got interested in dressing up. I believe the arrival of some Halloween costumes had a little something to do with this.

They will spend all morning clowning around in their costumes. It is pretty entertaining just how "in character" they will get. Though, as you can see, some costumes are not much of a stretch:

William wanted to make sure I got a picture of his tail.

As we are slated to move some time in the next year, I have had new energy to get things organized and tidy. One of my long time goals was to clear out the guest closet. This probably would have been helpful about 10 guests ago, but better late than never. Once the boys saw this new space, they quickly confiscated it for their own use. Their excitement became greater when I moved all of their costumes in it (as opposed to various places around the house. On the floor).

They will come find Eric and me and tell us that a show is about to begin. We then sit on the bed and wait while they disappear into the closet. They will come out in various forms of undress and ask us to help fasten the backs of the costumes. Then, they fight. For about a minute. At the end, Dom goes: "Well, that's our show. We'll now take a break. We have three more shows". I'm trying to get them to add some songs and dances for the ladies.

Above we have Darth Vader and Spiderman. Below we have Anakin Skywalker and Peter Parker. I love that these costumes can pull double duty.

Here we have Dominic modeling his Jaguar costume from a year ago and Will modeling the ghost costume we made this year following our annual viewing of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." The boys had been walking around with blankets over their heads. I realized this clothes bag from our hamper (that is never used, but often washed) made a great ghost costume that they would not trip over. Genius, I know.

William growling like a Jaguar:

The great thing about masks is that you don't have to wait for the kids to look at you and smile when taking pictures.

Molly has yet to wear a costume, but I wanted to give you one close up of her adorable face.

Action picture of the boys while Molly contemplates her next move. They love to "fight" and take turns over who is the dominate one. Molly will try and get in on the action, but then scoots away if it gets a little too intense. Eric recently discovered the hard way that if he pretends to "get" Molly, the boys become more ferocious as they fight to protect her. Sounds like some ideal older brothers.

Halloween Weekend

2011-11-21T09:19:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween!! As I am getting in this post prior to the last candy bar being eaten, I think I'm in the clear. Plus, I am getting it in before the big holiday this week. Double clear.

We carved pumpkins for the first time with the boys (and Molly). We've been either traveling or too tired in years past, and I don't think anyone remembers that we didn't actually carve a pumpkin. But, after their experience this year, it looks like we are set for doing this tradition for years to come. And by we, I mean Eric. This year he was assisted by our good friend, Jeff, who came to visit with his fiance, Tracy.

Here Will poses next to his pumpkin. A pumpkin that he picked out the spider web design for and then didn't touch again. But it was most definitely his pumpkin. Do not question it.

The morning of Halloween we hosted playgroup which naturally had a Halloween Party vibe to it. I am sorry to say I did not take pictures of the extensive Halloween decorations. Eric's spider web hanging talent was unknown until this year. It is amazing. I started the task, but Eric quickly took over and far surpassed my vision.

Here we have the gang. I think that is a dinosaur, Spiderman, alien, Spiderman, Darth Vader, Superman, and Poppa Smurf. As you can see, Darth Vader had his hands full convincing people to join the dark side of the Force.

At 6 o'clock we headed out for some pilfering of the neighborhood. This was our first year (and probably only year) to actually trick or treat in our neighborhood. We got some great intel about where the best houses were (next door: They give the BIG candy bars and the boys hit it twice). The evening ended a little earlier as Dom wanted to get back to help hand out candy. Silly boy. We could have gotten a lot more!!

I decided to get into the spirit of the holiday at the last minute. Not bad. Plus, I earned some good treats myself. For those curious, Molly went as a cute, but cold, baby. I have a whole theory on dressing children under the age of 2 up for Halloween, but I will not bore you with that here. I will summarize it with this thought: Big Headache. The one exception to the theory is if you only have 1 child and therefore no other way to get free candy.

Look how festive I am getting with our lawn decorations. This is Katie. Our dog. She is the best pet ever.

As I said earlier, our friend Jeff came for the weekend and helped with pumpkin carving as well as entertaining the boys. He also spent a little quality time with his God-Daughter, Molly. It was great to see him and meet Tracy and we look forward to seeing them again when he gets back from his deployment.

Things I have learned

2011-11-14T20:42:00.001-05:00

We have been doing our afternoon lessons for a little over two months now and I have learned quite a bit. I thought I would share some of these epiphanies with you. For the observant among you, this is not the Halloween Post that I had sort of promised. But, don't worry, I'll get to that. Probably around Christmas.

When I was taking education classes in college, a big focus was how to make a lesson incorporate as many other subjects as possible. Generally for math we'd hit English and History by saying that we'd have the students write a report about a mathematician. <Skadoosh! Top that English teachers! What are you going to do? Have the students calculate their own grades? OOOOO! Long division with decimals. On a calculator. Fancy!>

These lessons have come back to me as I have done letter collages with the boys. I can think of few things that can cover as many topics as a letter collage. We hit geography (states), math (numbers or shapes), vocabulary, religion, and probably some that I haven't realized. The letter "O" gave me the opportunity to discuss opposites with the boys. I just wish I had realized this a little earlier. It was only around the letter "O" that I started coloring in all of the states that began with the letter, not just one or two.

Another thing I have learned is that the letter "C" is a troublemaker. Dom is really good at telling you the letter that starts a word, but C always gives him trouble. And don't get me started on CH. Good grief! But, truth be told, I'm much more frustrated by this than Dom. He just goes on his merry way not realizing that the fact C exists in our language just made his life about 10 times harder.

Something I am particularly proud of is that I have figured out what to do with all of these otherwise useless scraps of construction paper. Make mosaics! I let the boys practice their cutting skills and print off coloring pages with large spaces. The first time we did this, I free handed a rainbow. What is the side of the brain that provides the artistic talent? Whichever side it is, is my weak side. So, printing off pictures worked much better. I have three lovely fish themed pictures. With jewels for eyes.

Finally I've learned to just relax about getting through a lesson. If the boys aren't interested, we just take a break or I let them pick out something they want to learn about. This has lead to a lot of discussions about spiders, frogs, and hot lava.

Catching Up Post 3: Kansas/Missouri

2011-11-05T11:45:00.001-05:00

We started out our trip to Kansas celebrating Dom's birthday, again. Dom loved being able to spend it with Nana, L'Opa, his cousins: Mary Ann, Rosie, and Peter, and his Godmother: Katie. I will be forever grateful that his cousins taught Will and Dom this new version of the Happy Birthday song:

Happy Birthday To You (cha cha cha)

Happy Birthday Dear Dominic (cha cha cha)

Happy Birthday To You! (cha cha cha)

Dominic does not like cake, so Nana made him a chocolate peanut butter chip cookie cake. He loved it, as did everyone else! Molly, did not get any, though...

Dominic got another round of presents. I apologize for not having a better set of pictures. The highlights were fireman galoshes and a bunch of kitchen utensils. He loves helping me in the kitchen and between Nana and myself, he is set for cooking tools. There is even enough to share with Will. Thank goodness!

A couple of days later, Dom also received a new costume from Mitzi. It is awesome and I will get a picture up during the Halloween post in a week or so!

Molly makes a new friend. They have a lot in common. Both are most mobile on all fours, both eat whatever they find on the floor, both like to be held (unless they don't want to be held in which case they lunge for the floor), and both often make sounds that get progressively louder until they get what they want.

While in Kansas we were able to not only see family, but Eric went Turkey hunting with his family in Nebraska. This is a long tradition and the boys have been practicing around the house ever since hearing Dad's stories. They use light sabers for shotguns, the couch for their truck, and our hearth room for Western Nebraska. Best of all, this keeps them occupied for literally hours!! With Thanksgiving around the corner, I suspect our art project in the next week will be some sort of turkey. Or as they call it: Target Practice.

While Eric was out roughing it, the kids and I traveled to Lee's Summit, MO. It was wonderful. Having cousins the same age means that I can go hours without seeing my sons. So even though I was a single parent for a couple of days, my life got a little easier. And my siblings and I had a little night out of our own which may be the beginning of a new family tradition:

Ok, to be honest this is a tradition they have been trying to start for years. I've been the stick in the mud who never wants to go out. But, in my defense, the majority of these times I've been pregnant or caring for a newborn. Or just really, really, really tired!

Also in Kansas, we got to witness the beautiful wedding of a friend of ours. Everyone got cleaned up for the event:

And, naturally, The Reddigs/Buschelmans/Keel and friends had a great time at the reception where we were among the last on the dance floor. I don't think it was coincidence that the majority of those left with us were other parents out without their kids. You gotta love a good Catholic Wedding Reception!

Catching Up Post 2: Trip to Oklahoma

2011-11-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

For years we have been hearing about this awesome tailgate party on the campus of OSU. We decided a year ago that we needed to experience it first hand. I really didn't want to see KU play OSU, but the weekend that worked out best for us just happened to be the KU game. Ah well. At least we didn't have to think too hard about what we were going to wear.

In order to actually go to the game, we drove from Ohio to Oklahoma in one day. This was a highly successful trip due to the little man on my right. He sat next to Molly and entertained her and gave her things to chew on so that our stops were minimal. When he wasn't being "super-kid", he was watching "The Empire Strikes Back". Molly doing her impersonation of "Godzilla"

And here is William making up, I am sure, an elaborate story concerning trains that probably fall off the bridge. All voices performed by William T. Buschelman.

The tailgating event was pretty amazing. I was wiped out by the end and I only ate. A lot. These guys are pros and are able to put up a canopy tent in less than 5 minutes. I've never actually done this, but I'm pretty sure it would take a lot longer and a few therapy sessions.

The real reason we wanted to tailgate...

Uncle Brian showing Will the correct form for rolling down an incline.

A lovely family picture. For some reason, William insisted on having his arm around me.

Innocent Molly does not know what was about to happen to her team...

By this point we had told Dom that we were going into the stadium about 5 different times. He showed quite a bit of patience as we went from tailgate to tailgate. But, by the end, he was ready to get to his seats.

The game was pretty dismal for us Jayhawks. I won't go into it here, but let it be known that we are not just fair weather fans.

A much happier occasion was celebrating Dom's 5th birthday with family. Since I made Brian keep his hat on for both shots of the table, I felt it was only right to show them both here.

Dom with his first set of gifts.

A brilliant gift from his Aunt Megan and Uncle Stephen.

Everything unwrapped. Quite the haul. And I'm happy to say that all of these gifts are used and used often.

The above picture is special for a couple of reasons. First, it is lovely to see the boys and Molly around their grandma. Second, I was taking a nap. The memory of which is still lovely.

The first time I got to play Sorry with Dominic. I played this game a lot with my cousins growing up. It was a treat to play with Dom and teach him the correct way of saying "Sorry". You know, the way that sounds like you really aren't Sorry...

Ok, I just spent 5 minutes trying to get these three pictures where I wanted them, and I'm not messing with them anymore. Eric's dad is a retired Colonel and the above are all the patches, scarves, and name plates from 28 years on active duty with the Air Force. Quite the legacy. And Liz was with him the whole way. The picture above that is also quite the legacy. Our three kids are very lucky to have the grandparents that they do.

One final story from this trip. Friday afternoon was beautiful. We played a little touch football. Well, it was suppose to be touch. Will preferred to tackle. It did not matter what position he was playing, whether he was on offense or defense, or if the play was dead, he would locate his older brother and bring him down. His mission was simple :
GET DOMINIC!!

Catching up Post 1...

2011-11-01T20:24:00.000-05:00

As the title suggests, we are a little behind on the timeline with our posts. Taking a two week trip will do that to you. Here we have a nice photo of the boys listening to their father read a story. Normally, Eric would prefer to read the newspaper during his morning coffee, but the boys insisted this was just as good since it was in black and white. The book off to the side: "Big Brothers Don't Take Naps" is a special book. Two brothers, the older with brown hair and the younger with blonde, go about their daily lives. They participate in many of the same activities that Dom and Will do. In the end they share the big secret: A baby sister! Naturally, I changed all of the names. I've done this from time to time, but for the first time, Dominic realized it. The smile on his face when he caught on to what I was doing was pretty precious.

We did a science experiment about the five senses a few weeks ago. William kept taking off his handkerchief until I told him he couldn't eat the treats at the end. His hands never went near it again. For this experiment I placed peanuts, M&Ms, raisins, marshmallows, and chocolate chips in each of 5 plastic eggs. The boys shook them, smelled them, touched them, tasted them and looked at them. I should have put the handkerchiefs on at the very beginning as Will discovered the hole at the bottom of the egg. He could see the brightly colored M&Ms. Dom was more willing to play along. The only one they had a problem identifying was the marshmallows. Until they got to touch them on the way to their mouths...

And here is the obligatory picture of Molly. She has wonderfully bright eyes that light up even more when she sees you. She is truly a delightful addition to our family. She turns 10 months on Saturday. Hard to believe how quickly this year is going by.

Miscellaneous

2011-10-26T20:01:00.001-05:00

When we first moved into our home, we had a dead tree cut down. We left the stump, but decided this year to have it taken out. The boys loved the fact that there was a giant dirt pile in our backyard. They helped Eric smooth it and plant grass. I should have realized they wanted to play in dirt when they requested to go outside first thing in the morning. I was rewarded with muddy footprints. Lucky for me, I don't regularly have a pristine floor.

Here is our sweet Molly. She is currently working on her 5th and 6th teeth. I'm not sure if that is why she has started to wake up in the middle of the night or if the drop in temperature is to blame. Either way, I don't like it...

We introduced William to chocolate chip pancakes. He loved them. But, being the ornery kid he is, he refuses to eat any from a restaurant. Nobody makes them like Daddy!

Here the boys are caught climbing on their house. I don't particularly like this activity, but as the mother of boys, I suppose it is inevitable that I would look out a window and see them doing it...right after I told them not to. Will's face says a lot...I probably shouldn't have laughed.

And this is the only picture I have of the day the boys ran in the intramural race (note their running clothes). Eating their breakfast of champions while Molly looks on. We have had to make sure that Molly is sitting in her seat during meals as she has taken to swiping food from the boys plates. Or bowls.

New Addition to the family

2011-10-26T19:45:00.004-05:00

Last February Eric told me he would like to give me a piano for my 30th birthday. And on my 30 + 7 month birthday, it arrived. Now we need to contact a tuner before I pass on my tone deafness to the boys.

We had been making due with this little number my mom gave Dom 4 years ago, but enough was enough...

The kids immediately took over the performance duties. As I sat playing little bits from memory, William looks at me and says : "Mommy, that's enough. It's my turn." And that is how it has been ever since. I did just receive some books I ordered today in the mail. I haven't sat and played this much in years. Dom was impressed, but my inability to play the Imperial March from the Star Wars left him a little disappointed.

In particular, I am looking forward to playing Christmas Carols and singing them with the boys. I did buy a book on ebay of Christmas Carols not realizing that it was aimed at beginners. That is okay, though. I won't have to practice much for that season now.

Dominic

2011-10-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Dominic's 5th Birthday last week. I am sure it gets old to hear parents say how quickly their children grow up, but that does not make it any less true. I remember the first few weeks after his birth like they just happened recently. The fact the Cardinals are in the World Series again has a special meaning for us as we watched them win in 2006 while adjusting to life with a newborn. We did not know then how blest our life became with the addition of Dominic to our family.

Having Dominic has made us better people. He is a great kid, but we want to influence him to be a great man. Therefore, we have to be great examples for him. We do slip up more frequently than we should, but I am always thrilled to hear him use phrases I have used that are positive. He is gentle with Molly and always says what a cute baby she is. He will exclaim at the beautiful day. He will be patient with Will. He will also try to put Will in timeout...the particular time I am thinking of, he locked Will in a room to which I had no key...

From the time he could crawl, he wanted to be moving. At church, older men would watch me struggle with him and then comment: "He is all boy". I took this to mean that his squirming at church was less my fault and more just his natural state and there was little I could do. Now that I have Molly, I know this to be true. Molly is still, the boys are constantly moving. From crawling Dom went to walking, and shortly after running. But, his running has always been contained. I rarely, if ever, had him run off. He loves to race. He recently completed a 1.7 mile loop at an event on base. We were so proud of him. His attitude was positive the whole way. That being said, he doesn't mind losing. I don't know where he gets this from because it isn't me. His love of moving also translates into playing family games of basketball, baseball, football, and soccer. My one complaint is that he thinks I should be all time cheerleader. Even though I have tried to explain to him that I was one of two girls who played football with the boys at recess in grade school. They called me "Tough Cookie" because I could take a hit. This does not impress Dom, unfortunately.

Dom likes to help me whenever possible. He will help set the table, pick up his toys (as long as a movie is in the near future), get dressed, and occupy Molly. On a recent road trip, we had him sit next to Molly and she was content the entire trip. In fact, we made it back in record time. I've even used him to calm William down when he is particularly upset. They have a language that I must have known at one time, but I have aged out of it now.

Of course, his behavior is not perfect all of the time. He will refuse to eat a perfectly good meal with the phrase: "I can't love it". He will throw a tantrum if I turn the television off at the wrong time. He will get into fights with Will over toys. His maturity level seems to oscillate between a 2 year old and a 10 year old. Which I suppose averages out to a 6 year old. I just wish the 2 year old didn't show up so much....He also has a shyness that makes him ignore adults he does not know. Though, I cannot fault him too much for this, as I share the same trait.

I never understood how God could have unconditional love until I had Dominic. William and Molly have just reinforced that understanding. Having Dominic also helped me learn that even if life does not take the course I thought it would, as long as we follow God's plan, where we end up will be much better than what we could have ever planned for ourselves.

We love you, Dominic Joseph, and look forward to many more birthdays with you.

It's been a quiet week...

2011-10-02T09:29:00.002-05:00

I realized the other day that ever since we started doing lessons in the afternoon, we really haven't seen many of our friends. This is also partly to do with the fact a lot of our friends have newborns, have started pre-school, and have moved away. Hopefully, this will change in the next few weeks as people settle into new routines and are not traveling as much.

But, this made me think that I should give a general outline of a day in the Buschelman household. This is very rudimentary as I never actually sit down and document times and activities, but it should give a general idea of how our day progresses:

6 AM: Molly starts to make little sounds indicating that at my convenience she would like a light breakfast. Molly rarely cries. More often, it's little mewing sounds she makes while sucking her thumb. I collect her from her crib and bring her back into bed with us. If I am particularly awake, I will then take her back to her crib, but more likely I will doze off and on for the next hour or so.

6:30 AM: Eric's alarm starts to go off. This will occur every 9 minutes for anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on how late we stayed up the night before. Eric claims he never actually hears his alarm...

Between 7 AM and 8 AM, the alarm clocks without snooze come into our room: Dom (followed closely by Will) come into our room to snuggle. This can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 15 minutes. At which point they generally start asking for something to eat. They can be quite insistent.

Between 7:30 AM and 9 AM: Breakfast. This is generally cold cereal or oatmeal, juice, coffee (or in my case coffee with Swiss Miss, try it, you'll thank me). On some mornings, Eric will make waffles or pancakes with enough leftovers to last us a good week or longer. On other mornings I will make muffins that will last us until the afternoon.

9 AM: Kids are dressed and Eric departs for school. Where he works hard all day. Kids play and I clean up the kitchen and start on other chores. If it is Monday, we go to the grocery store.

10 AM: Molly goes down for her morning nap. If I feed her ahead of this, the boys will snuggle in for a few books. Once she is down, the boys go back to playing and I get ready for the day. On Wednesdays, we will head to the library for story time, Tuesdays and Thursday are suppose to be my gym days, but that has yet to occur, and Fridays are a free day for trips to museums or parks or other locations that are children friendly. As you may deduce, Molly rarely gets a full morning nap.

Between 11 AM and 1 PM: Lunch. I discovered the kids eat nearly all their lunch if it is closer to 1; however, they generally start asking for food at 11.

2 PM - 4 PM: Molly goes down for a nap and the boys and I do our homeschool activites. Every day we practice the day of the week, month, year, spelling their first and last names, and birthdays. M, W, and F this consists of Letter of the Day (we are up to K), and some sort of math activity, whether counting, shapes, or operations. For the Letter of the Day, we do letter collages made up of pictures of things that begin with the letter, practice thinking of other words, and writing the letter. If I am particularly on top of it, I will sing a song with the letter prominently featured. For example, on Friday we sang : "I'm a Jay-Jay-Jay- Jay Jayhawk". We do an art project on Tuesday and a science project on Thursday. As Tuesdays and Thursdays activities vary in times, we will supplement with workbooks that I have been collecting for over a year. We finish with about 30 minutes of reading (I don't time this, it just seems to end up that long) and the Gospel reading for the coming Sunday.

4 - 5:30 : The kids pick up all of their toys and watch a "movie". Molly wakes up and I start supper (if Eric is lucky).

5:30 to 6:30: If it is nice, we will go outside and wait for Eric to come home. If it is not nice, the boys get to watch a little more tv.

6:30 - 7:30: We sit down for supper.

7:30 - 8 : Family games or wrestling

8 - 8:30 : The kids get ready for bed and the day is ended with prayers and a bedtime story of Eric's imagination. We are very lucky in that it is extremely rare to have a problem with the boys (or Molly) going to bed. They will often be asleep before Eric leaves the room.

8:30 - 10 :30: Parent time. TV, books, cribbage, or Eric watching a sporting event while I fall asleep on the couch.

10:30 is always my goal for getting to bed, but it is more likely 11 or later.

One thing I did not document in this is that Molly does require me to sit down every 2 - 3 hours for between 10 to 15 minutes at a time. I will either use this time to read my book, read to the boys, catch up on news on the iPod Touch, or to stare off into space thinking about what I have to do next. Another thing I did not document is that my sister Katie and I will talk at least an hour a day as we both go about our chores. We may call each other as early as 9 in the morning or as late as 5 depending on how our days are going. For some reason, I am able to clean bathrooms much easier when I am talking to her. . .

Reading

2011-09-23T10:59:00.000-05:00

Eric and I share many common interests, not the least of which is reading. We do not necessarily share the same taste in books, though. For example, Eric can quote LOTR and give quite descriptive explanations of plot points; whereas I could not finish "Return of the King" and to be honest, barely read the first two. I prefer fiction in general and he prefers non-fiction. Though, over the years our tastes have begun to merge more. Particularly, in the selection of what we listen to in the car on road trips.

However, our preferential reading choices are not really the point of this post.

As a result of our enjoyment of reading, we have tried to pass this along to our children. We read to them frequently and mostly per their request. Dom knows that when I sit down to nurse Molly, this is the best time to snuggle up to my side and have me read to him. Even if I try to hide in order to read my current book selection, he will find me and bring along a couple of books he has selected. William can hear me reading from several rooms away and will come running in saying "Stop! Stop! You have to wait for me!". The boys listen in very different ways. Dom will sit quietly through an entire story, while Will frequently interrupts with questions. Or declarative statements. Like "He's wearing a blue shirt!". If I do not acknowledge his observation, he will continue to say it over louder and louder until I do. Will is simultaneously helping me work on the virtue of patience while also causing me to add on to time already acquired in Purgatory.

Recently, Dominic has been showing an interest in reading books that aren't necessarily picture books. Eric has read bits of "The Hobbit" to both boys at bedtime. And Dom has shown interest in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" series that I have been reading. Last night, I had escaped to my room to quietly feed Molly and finish "Prince Caspian" when Dom discovered me. He asked if I would read to him and quickly produced his selections. He had picked one particularly long and boring story (an adaptation of "Cars") and a Thomas the Tank Engine flap book. I tried to dissuade him, but he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said please, so I commenced reading "Cars". I hadn't read more than a couple of pages when he started reading the flap book to himself. When I asked if he wanted me to finish, he agreed that it was too long. After doing a couple of pages in Thomas, we agreed that it was more appropriate for William. Then Dom picked up "Prince Caspian" and asked if I wanted to read that to him. I readily agreed and started to read the last chapter. Soon William came in holding his bunny Foo-Foo. I read the final chapter to the boys as they drifted to sleep on either side of me. This is a situation that I would call: Win-Win-Win.

Homeschool with pictures and other anecdotes

2011-09-21T15:03:00.003-05:00

Here is a horrible picture of what the book shelf now looks like. I probably should have just stuck to a description, but there you go. About a month ago I realized that the Childcraft Series that Nana and L'Opa gave to Dom when he was born will be an excellent resource. It has all sorts of information about the world and science and literature and math. The boys love looking at the science based ones. We also have a copy of "The Book of Virtues" that I will get out and read from. The boys favorite story is "The Selfish Giant". Mainly because it is about a Giant.

Last week we worked on the letters C and D. The boys make letter collages and Dom practices writing the letters. I'm so proud of how he is doing with this. I was really nervous that he would refuse, but having him write on the white board makes a big difference. Plus, he sees that he is perfectly capable of it. We've also been practicing counting to 50 by 1's, 5's, and 10's. In the picture, Will is putting the number of stickers indicated in some circles I drew. Dom is helping him. I loved it that Dom took the initiative. Cooperative Learning at its finest.

We did a couple of science experiments. I've been wanting to try the first one for a while. It is experimenting with density. You make layers in a clear container of syrup, water, and vegetable oil. The picture in the book makes the layers look quite distinct, however, after dying the water blue, the water and syrup just looked dark. The boys were pretty excited about the snacks, but were even more excited about throwing them in the concoction. I will probably try this experiment again with Caro Syrup. Most of our testing items floated on the oil, the peanuts floated on the water, I suspect the raisins floated on the syrup, though dark raisin were hard to spy in the abyss of dark water and dark syrup. The coins sank to the bottom. I unfortunately forgot about this as I dumped the whole concoction down our garbage disposal. I unfortunately also forgot about the rubber gloves under the sink as I fished out the coins from the disposal. Live and Learn.

Our second experiment was seeing what would happen when we put raisins in a cup of Sprite. The boys loved this one. Especially Will. The raisins immediately sink to the bottom of the glass, but as bubbles collect on them, they rise to the top. At the top, the bubbles pop and they sink to the bottom again. One suggestion is to have people pick a particular raisin and see whose will rise first. This was made impossible by William's throwing in several raisins. Still, the boys had a good time, which is the whole point of this entire exercise in homeschooling.

Finally we have the display of all of our hard work. At the bottom you can see the art project for the week. They no longer look like this as the boys took pens to them earlier today. Ah well. My plan is to keep these in a three ring binder. Though I may tape them up in our hallway as we currently have no other works of art on the particular wall I am thinking of.

The boys have picked out what they want to be for Halloween and thanks to ebay I will have their costumes in plenty of time. Spiderman showed up last week. It is on the big side for Will, but Dom fills it out pretty well. Stay tuned for when Darth Vader makes an appearance!

And here we have a picture of Molly-girl. She is cooperating pretty well about taking naps around the time we do classes. And I discovered yesterday that she is pretty content to hang out in the exersaucer if her nap schedule is off. As long as she is fed and changed ahead of time. Molly is crawling up a storm and is a happy little camper (as long as she is fed and changed). The thing that I can't get over is how she will ignore all brightly colored toys, but will make a beeline for a scrap of paper across the room. We've been vacuuming much more frequently since she turned 7 months...

Homeschool: Week 1

2011-09-10T14:36:00.002-05:00

My intent was to do lessons on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. As Monday was Labor Day, we started school on Wednesday. Tuesday I spent time making the room we are using look a bit more like a classroom. At some point I'll have a picture, but until then let me describe it in approximately 1000 words. We transformed our office into the classroom. This wasn't a huge transition as up until then we had used the office as a catch all for junk mail, purchases from stores, miscellaneous material we have moved with us three times, overflow guests, and anything else that doesn't have an allotted space and doesn't fit in a closet. We broke down the twin bed. I went through years of cards that had accumulated on the floor in order to determine which ones to keep and which ones to toss. I kept most of the cards with messages written. Those with just a signature got tossed. Why I had one from our insurance guy, I'm not sure. Maybe I liked the picture at one point. I will say it was a pleasant walk down memory lane.

I then moved to the bookcase. It was crowded with books that have very little chance of being read. Several are currently sitting in a donate pile, several are cleverly arranged on another book shelf, and several more are in a bunch of cardboard boxes that will undoubtedly move with us several more times until the Smithsonian requests them for an exhibit. After all this maneuvering, I had an empty bookcase that I was able to fill in an attractive way that I knew the boys would appreciate. And I am SURE it will look the same at the end of a week.

On the walls we have a whiteboard and a bulletin board. I also made a little reading nook with the comforter and pillows from the twin bed. The whiteboard gets the most use. Not only during class. I will often find William drawing on it. "Mommy, look what I drew!" "What is it?" "I don't know!"

On Wednesday we had our first lessons. Dom and Will loved the classes. My original thought had been to do them while Molly was napping. Naturally, Molly had other ideas. Instead, she became my teaching assistant. The biggest breakthroughs were that the boys officially learned their last name, Dom is a whiz at writing the letter "A" and "OHIO", and Molly isn't a very good assistant. I planned to only do about an hour worth of activities, but between Molly's "helping" and other unforeseen occurrences, we ended up doing about 2 and a half hours. We didn't even get to everything I wanted to do, so I've since switched my plan to focusing on letters and numbers Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Art Projects and Science Experiments on Tuesday and Thursday.

Let me close with the science experiment we did on Thursday. I leafed through a science workbook and came across an experiment in which I conveniently had all of the ingredients. I took the boys down to the kitchen and got out a bowl, cornstarch, 1/2 cup water, and blue food dye. The boys mixed all of this together. Dom wasn't too excited by the mixture, Will enjoyed putting his fingers in it. I wasn't impressed, but I figured it was something to do. We messed around with it for maybe 3 minutes, but it basically just looked like blue soup. I tried to show the boys the difference between dry cornstarch and the the liquid, but no one really cared. I left out the bowl so that Eric could see the goop we had made. When I got back from swimming lessons that night, I noticed it had solidified a bit more, but I didn't think too much about it as we had a friend over for supper. Later still as I was talking on the phone, I just started to play around with it. It was incredible. As you squeezed it, it almost felt dry, but then it would liquify again as soon as pressure relaxed. It really blew my mind. I spent the next couple of hours just playing with it. Our friend gave me some tips on what to do with it, and I look forward to doing the experiment again with the boys. . .now that I know what to expect!

Oh and for those observant ones, we did not do lessons on Friday as we all took naps. We covered a little bit this morning. Saturday school...Dom's idea.

Trip West part II

2011-09-05T16:16:00.000-05:00

A big benefit of going to Colorado was getting to visit with my family in Missouri/Kansas and seeing some good friends along the way. We stopped in Lee's Summit, Missouri for a couple of nights and had a wonderful time hanging out with Katie and Robert. Dom and Will loved hanging out with their cousins and are looking forward to doing it again soon. While there we toured their beautiful new home, played a lot of cards, played Just Dance II, took Mary Ann to school, went to Costco, picked Mary Ann up from school, went swimming, had a party, and found a few hours to sleep.

In a related story, a few weeks ago I noted that the day would come when my children would be embarrassed to be seen with me. Little did I know that would occur mere days after that post went up. We were waiting to pick up Mary Ann and, being the cool aunt that I am, I started calling her name and waving when she came out from school. Dom stood on his tip toes in order to cover my mouth with his hand and said "Mom, stop doing that". Pretty soon he won't want me to dance in public either...

We dropped off the boys in Lawrence where Dom barely said "bye", though Will, bless his heart, cried when we left. This apparently lasted about 5 minutes. They had a wonderful time with Nana and L'Opa. I know they played a lot of games, visited the KU campus and rode on a bus, went for a train ride, helped in the vegetable garden and apparently ate a lot of ice cream. Shockingly, they weren't that thrilled when we returned, though they were very happy to see Molly.

On our drive to Colorado, being the crazy spontaneous couple that we are, we surprised our maid of honor, Ann of Abilene, Kansas, with a brief visit. Luckily, we caught her at a good time and it was nice to catch up quickly. Molly appreciated a respite from her car seat.

While in Colorado, we stayed a couple of nights with my college roommate and her parents. Eve's daughter Lettie is the same age as Molly and it was fun to watch the two "play" together. Though, I will say, they interacted quite a bit which is not at all the norm for this age. Clearly these two are topping the charts in the IQ department. Again, it was nice to catch up and to play a lot of cards. We were also able to stay with some friends we had made in Ohio who recently moved to Colorado. The Wahlquists have a wonderful family and their kids are close to the same ages of ours. It was great to spend time with them, made only better due to a game of Set that was as close as I've seen in a while. I quit after one game (which I won by 1) because I doubted I could have won best out of three. April clearly had my number. Weak, I know. . .We also discovered a potentially new favorite breakfast there: Crepes with nutella and strawberries. Now if April would just come back here and make it for us. . .

We finished off the week with an afternoon of games at my parents and then an early morning departure for Ohio. The kids traveled great. Molly was only ever mildly upset and the boys were just thrilled to watch movies in the car. I hope they keep these characteristics as we have another long road trip coming up in a few weeks. Thank you again to all who hosted us and fed us. We will be happy to return the favor at any time!!

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

2011-08-30T11:45:00.013-05:00

A little over a month ago Eric and I were drowning our sorrows over the completion of the Tour de France in a root beer float when we started discussing the upcoming USA Pro Cycling Challenge to be held in Colorado. As we were talking about it we kept finding more reasons to go than to not go. First, we could see my sister's new home in Lee's Summit. Second, the boys could spend some quality time with my parents. Third, Eric could request an interview at the Academy. Fourth, we know people who live in Colorado Springs who we also conveniently like well enough to ask for free lodging. Fifth, Molly is the easiest baby in the history of babies, so traveling with her would not be an issue. If only our favorite cyclist (Andy Schleck) would agree to compete. . .

Once Schleck signed on the only negative was a lot of miles logged in the old Traverse, but that really wasn't an issue as it isn't old and why have a vehicle if you don't intend to use it? So last Monday we set out on our odyssey. Our plan was to stay with my sister and her family for a day, drop the boys off at Nana's Boot Camp, head to Colorado Springs for Eric's presentation, then watch two stages of the race and be back in Lawrence by Sunday afternoon. Everything went extremely smoothly. Almost too smoothly, but I attributed that to our having made several long distance road trips. What we didn't realize was that in the rush to plan for the trip and for Eric to put together a presentation, we had not closely looked at the dates for the race. On Wednesday night we realized we were off a day. This meant we could only watch one stage of the race. Though this was a set back, we were still really excited to watch the race.

Our adapted plan was to watch a king of the mountain section of the stage that ended in Breckenridge. We figured this would be the best way to see the cyclists as they would be going slower due to the incline of the mountain. We determined that we could drive to Breckenridge and walk around a bit before heading to the mountain. Though we checked the road closings, it turned out the race officials closed the road a few hours earlier than originally posted. As a result we hiked a little way up the mountain and waited for the bikers to come to us. The upside was we only had to wait 2 hours (as opposed to the 4 we would have waited had we arrived in time to drive to the summit). The downside was we were on the other side of the mountain so when the bikers came down, they were coming down at 55 mph. Not the ideal viewing situation. But, there was still a great deal of excitement in the thin air. We made some friends AND Eric got some fantastic pictures:

This is my BFF Andy Schleck. When he heard we had such a lousy viewing situation, he considerately got into the lead so that we would be sure to see him. What a pal.

Two things I learned from this race was to
1. Not ever attempt to take video as I can't take good video and I end up missing the race.
2. Stand on the other side of the guard rail. The bikers weren't so much an issue, but one motorcycle came pretty close to me and Molly.

This is big George Hincapie. He was a teammate of Lance Armstrong's until his first retirement. One of the most popular American cyclists. I think he might have said hi to me, but it got lost in the cheers and bells.

There are those who would question the logic in driving over 2000 miles round trip to watch approximately 5 minutes of a bike race. But, we didn't just watch a bike race. We got to see family and friends and spend quality time together as a couple. Molly got to experience having us all to herself (I think she prefers the boys) and Colorado is a beautiful state. I don't regret at all that we went. I've come to view trips as an entire package. A lot of the fun is in the travel, not just getting to the destination. Though, should we get to go again next year, we will definitely double and triple check dates and plan on seeing at least three stages!!

Games

2011-08-21T14:03:00.004-05:00

Those who know me know that I love playing games. Now, I somehow earned a bad reputation for being a poor loser. I would like to say that this is categorically untrue. I do have memories of crying when I lost, but not since I was in grade school. The more accurate statement is to say that I am a poor winner. As much as I try, I can not keep certain things from coming out of my mouth. I believe some would refer to this as "trash talking." I am competitive, but I try to not let that impede from others' enjoyment of the games. Again, I am sure there are those who would disagree with me on this point. And perhaps this is why I seldom can find people to play games with me. . .I will self-reflect on this at a later point.

As I was saying, I love games and so it is with great joy that I see my sons coming to the age that they can play games with me. I started acquiring certain card games when Dom was two. Suffice it to say, the only game we ever played with these cards was some variation on 52 card pick-up. The variation being the number of cards.

However, nearly a year ago we received the game "Zingo" from my sister's family. At first, I thought this game would suffer the same fate of all children's games before it. Some half-hearted attempts to play the real way, then variations on 52 card pick-up (this particular game comes with several hard plastic tokens), and then eventually I would put it high-up in a closet to hide until that time that I would either throw it away due to the loss of playing pieces, or I would donate it. Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I see Eric get it out and the boys can actually play it. Not only can they play it, they can play it with little or no help from us. It's a game of Bingo only the cards have pictures on them instead of numbers and letters. It was a lot of fun. And I learned something about both boys while playing it. I was both proud and (to be honest) a little horrified when we played it the first time and Dom eagerly said "We All Won!" (we had played until every square on every card was filled). There was no way I would have ever rejoiced in everyone "winning". For me there is a winner and a loser. If you come in second, you are the first loser (thank you Mr. Seinfeld). Will, on the other hand, always wants to beat me. There was one game in particular where he threw a tantrum after I had won. (I don't believe in throwing a game, though I will slow down my response time if I know Will is actually paying attention). It was after this particular incident that I heard myself saying the sentence:

"You can't cry when I beat you." Yup, it still sounds bad.

I Spy Go Fish is the favorite game at the moment. William plays with all of his cards facing up. It took him a while to understand he had to ask for something that was already in his hand. And definitely not something that you had facing up in front of you. Dom has picked up the strategy to the game pretty quickly. He will even try to help Will by telling him which cards to ask for, though he is more apt to take advantage of the fact he can see all of Will's cards. The first time Molly truly crawled was an attempt to get at the draw pile.

We also have Dominoes, Toy Story Yahtzee, and Sagaland in the rotation of games. I cannot wait to introduce them to cribbage and bridge, but that will come later. For now, I have a Go Fish hand waiting for me.

Reset

2011-08-20T20:52:00.003-05:00

So there have been reports that we do not update our site as often as one might hope. Please do not blame this on our third child. Blame it on the slowness of our desktop and our own impatience. I am going to do better in the future. I will try and update at least once a week with a picture and a story. The boys and I are about to do a trial run of homeschooling, so I figure that should provide plenty of situations of which to spin a yarn.

For this week's installment, let me just say how much I am enjoying raising these three kids. I love them to the point of tears even as I type those words. Molly is delightful. Will is hilarious. Dom is growing up way too fast.

Ever since Dom was born nearly 5 years ago, mothers and fathers have been warning me that these days would pass all too soon. I did not doubt them when they told me and I try to hold on to these days, but they seem to slip out of my grasp quicker with each year.

The exception being between 3 pm and 6 pm Monday through Friday, but other than that, the time is flying.

Molly is already 7 and a half months and crawling. William is already 3 and cracking jokes with the punch line almost always being: "I'm FUNNY!" Dom is nearly 5 and seemingly changed overnight into a little boy always striving to do the right thing. Well, nearly always.

Of course, they are a long way from growing up. They still turn to me for hugs when they get hurt. They still look up in their play to make sure I haven't wandered off or to show off their newest daredevil move ("Ok, I'm going to jump from the couch to the ottoman, then somersault over Molly while narrowly missing the 100 trains on the floor. Next time I'll add swinging from the curtain."). They still believe that Eric and I are good at organized sports and dancing. Two of them still need diapers changed for goodness sake.

Yet, I know the day will come when they won't. I know the day will come when they may be embarrassed to be seen with me (especially on the dance floor). So, for now, I'm cherishing every moment I share with them (except between the hours of 3 and 6, Monday through Friday) and counting myself truly blessed to have my three wonderful kids.

In the merry merry month of May

2011-05-29T20:13:00.002-05:00

Well, there's a few days left in the month, anyway!

It's been a fun spring full of baseball games, going to the farm, and playing outside for all of us. With the NFL on a lockout (and the Bengals in the cellar) we may all double-down on being a Reds family this year (sorry to all the KC Royals fans out there!)

Oh. I haven't posted Easter pictures yet (what, it's almost the Ascension? Holy cow!)

From Easter!

At the AFIT (Easter) Egg Hunt

From Easter!

Molly with her Godmother

From Easter!

Lets go Redlegs!!

From Easter!

What a great set of Jayhawk quilts from Grandma!!

From 2011-05-29

Dominic and Dane, astronauts-in-training

From 2011-05-29

the mandatory Young's Dairy photo.

From 2011-05-29

Paid them $0.25 to feed their own goats.

From 2011-05-29

The joy of home chemistry, a.k.a. Volcano Day!!!

From 2011-05-29

This was not staged, or bribed, or coerced. Dom has a green thumb.

See you again, maybe before Georgia!!

Been a long time coming

2011-04-11T07:43:00.002-05:00

It's spring, and you know what that means - free baseball games at the University of Dayton!!

From April in Par--Dayton

Or, when it's too ugly to go outside - board games!

From April in Par--Dayton

But sometimes we do have to go outside. That's when the kids learn to earn their keep.

From April in Par--Dayton

But we still find time to relax.

From April in Par--Dayton

Currently reading (Eric): 'The Perfect Mile' - the late Wes Santee, a Jayhawk, is a Kansas Hall of Famer!

Currently reading (Liesel): 'Great Expectations' - she and Desmond Hume aught to get together...

Can't wait to listen to (on the trip to Savannah, GA): 'Bossypants', performed by the author.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T09:40:00.003-05:00

So, it's been over a week since the great Ohio ice storm of 2011 - perhaps you've heard of it.

You may have also heard that, in addition to a beautiful little girl Molly (or Lolly), we also have two little boys who are best friends, and wanted to play baseball yesterday:

From February 11 - Baseball?

These boys always want to be around each other.

From February 11 - Baseball?

Finally, the only story to this picture is that a) I gave Will a haircut a few days ago, and took quite a bit off and b) we had toast with Nutella for breakfast.

From February 11 - Baseball?

More pictures to come this weekend, when our little girl will be Baptised.

Molly had a little lamb

2011-01-09T15:18:00.003-05:00

Molly came home with us on Friday.

From Molly!!

Be sure to catch our latest home movies on the YouTube Channel as well.

Molly!

2011-01-06T00:57:00.002-05:00

Mary Agnes (Molly) was born on 5 Jan 2011 at 6:16 PM, weighing in at 6 lb, 12 oz! What a fast labor and delivery - under 3 hours, and born less than 30 minutes after we got to the hospital!

From Molly!!

A bit of history on the name. Mary, of course, is the mother of Our Lord. Agnes, a virgin martyr, was venerated by the early Roman Church; her feast day is 21 Jan.

Molly - because every "Keel" girl should have a second name, and to reflect her Irish heritage (on my mother's side).

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!

4th Week of Advent

2010-12-21T10:30:00.001-05:00

From Decemberween

See you all for Christmas!!

Advent

2010-12-03T16:51:00.002-05:00

My theme for this Advent is Caritas in veritate.

"A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world. Without truth, charity is confined to a narrow field devoid of relations. It is excluded from the plans and processes of promoting human development of universal range, in dialogue between knowledge and praxis."

Pictures from the last two weeks

2010-11-01T22:58:00.002-05:00

A few weeks of breathless traveling: Kansas (by air), Ohio, Virgina, DC, back to Ohio. Now, WE get to be the hosts for a few months until our next permanent resident arrives in January.

Brothers are we

2010-10-12T21:32:00.003-05:00

Further proof these two are related.

Dominic, in 2008.

William, earlier this summer. Have no idea why he's making that face, ask Grandma.

Birthday Boy!

2010-10-12T07:58:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Dominic turned 4 years old!!

From 2010-10-10 Dom 4th Bday

And now, the 'B' Team.

From 2010-10-10 Dom 4th Bday

Latest photos, from Kansas and the lake

2010-09-13T08:43:00.002-05:00

We took a quick trip home to Kansas (RIP, Grandpa Mac!) and caught a football game or two while there. The boys in their KU jerseys also played a game at Lawrence High School - plying both offense and defense at the same time.

This week, we took a trip down to Caesar's Creek state park, and enjoyed playing on the beach in the sunshine. You'll note that I forgot to bring swimsuits, towels, or even sunscreen. Oh well.

From 2010-09 Kansas and Lake

The Days of August

2010-08-26T15:06:00.002-05:00

First, the management wishes me to share with all of you that the institution of the "Naptime Window" has been received with great success. Thanks to all of you for your contribution.

Second, I've de-listed our photo album from the public searchable Internet, so if you want to look at our photos, you'll have to click exactly the link that I give you HERE. The link for each album is unique, so you can't get to one album from another. I did this mainly so I would stop finding pictures of our family's Christmas everytime I googled myself, or anyone else in the family.

Thirdly, we do have new photos to share with all of you, and they are of course, of the boys.

Cocoa in the morning.

From 2010-08 summer days

Until next time, ciao ciao

Public Service Announcment.

2010-08-05T14:58:00.002-05:00

The following is a public service announcement.

"Naptime" shall be in effect for all children and moms, daily between 2 PM and 4:30 PM. Interaction with the outside world should be discouraged at this time. Attempts to reach children and/or moms by phone calls shall be deferred until after "Naptime" is over. Individuals who attempt to make contact (via phone calls or in person) with aforementioned sleeping children and moms will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This has been a Public Service Announcement.

TdF... then and now

2010-07-25T22:36:00.004-05:00

Today, Phil and Paul mentioned the TT back in 2003 when Lance beat Ullrich (who crashed) in the rain. Vino was in that race too!

(Jan's crash is at 7:20 in this movie)

Here's an attack by Lance in the mountains from 2000. I would probably be going nuts if I watched this happen now (you know, 10 years later)

I have to say, on the Versus.com 'Tour Tracker' that we watched this summer, we couldn't hear any of the shouting from the crowds like you can hear in the videos here. It's making my heart rate increase just watching it now!

Okay, one more. What's the best part about this one for me? Look at Lance's number - 181. that must mean... its the first year he wins the Tour.

And all that Mitzi is thinking is - "Hey, who got you punks into watching this danged bike race in the FIRST place?!" So, here's to you, Mitz!!

PS.

Oh man!!! I had to add this one. Paul - "This if FAB-ulous, this is fan-TAS-tic!!!"

New Photos

2010-07-24T12:50:00.001-05:00

We posted new photos of our trip back to Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas. Click the link below to go see what we did...

July - Trip to Grants Farm, Omaha and Kansas

Duck Duck Goose (Will Style)

2010-07-23T08:55:00.002-05:00

So, I should be getting ready for the gym, but I have a sneaky suspicion that will not be happening today. As I should be somewhat productive, I thought I would tell you about our game of Duck Duck Goose last night. It has been a while since we had just some family time in the evening. Lately, it seems, we have been rushing through a late dinner and then straight to baths and then straight to bed. I noticed we had a good 15 minutes before the boys' bedtime routine needed to start and suggested we play the game where you get to hit people on the head and then run around screaming. As it turns out, both boys have greatly improved in their understanding of the game since we last played. Will, in particular, had me laughing with his new skills. And as I type this, I'm not sure how well I can relate the hilarity in writing, but just keep a picture of our little 2-year-old in your mind with his little impish smile and his whole body nearly shaking from the excitement of playing this classic game.

Will still gets up and runs no matter whose head has been tapped as goose. However, he has gotten much better at the tapping of heads and clearly saying "Duck" and "Goose". He has also developed quite the winning strategy, he will tap three heads (no more, no less) and say "Duck" and then hesitate and head to the door as he yells "Goose" (in our version, you don't just run around the circle, but out the living door, down the hall, through the kids play area, through the dining room, and back into the living room). This strategy serves him well as it causes a bit of confusion (at first) over who is exactly "Goose" and also gives him quite the headstart, so he can almost certainly get back to the circle before being tackled by his older brother (another fun part of the Buschelman version, that we'll probably have to correct prior to the time they go to school).

Also, Will has decided he has no patience for those players who like to milk their turns for as long as possible by going around the circle a million times. And I have to say, I quite agree. Though, we may need to help him in the virtue somewhat as he sits in his spot nearly shaking with the tension, and if someone hasn't been tapped as Goose within about 7 head taps, Will just calls "GOOSE!" from his spot and gets up and runs away. And, I have to say, it definitely gets his point across.

Brother's Keeper

2010-07-09T12:05:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Dom did a couple of things that made me realize that he recognizes that he is Will's older brother and is expected to look out for him. The first occurred at an area splash park. It is a wide open area and I could almost always keep an eye on the boys. However, I watched as they walked to the bathroom building and saw Will walk behind it out of my sight. I was just getting up to go retrieve him when I saw Dom go behind the building as well. I hadn't taken 5 steps when Dom comes back around the building hauling Will with him and pulling him all of the way back to where I was sitting. Eric and I often use Dom to race down Will as he runs down aisles or sidewalk, but this was the first I had seen Dom do it on his own. I hope he keeps this up, because it will make my life a heck of a lot easier.

The second thing that Dom did that made my heart swell a little was of a different nature. As many of you know, Dom is particularly attached to his blanket (blankie). Will also has a blanket type thing (Foo-Foo, as in little bunny Foo-Foo because it has a rabbit head) that I suspect he is only attached to because he knows Dom has a special blanket also. Both boys tend to watch out for the other's blanket. Yesterday, Dom was getting ready to have some quiet time while Will napped and went in search of his blanket to snuggle. When I came back into the room where Will was, I noticed that Dom had placed Foo-Foo on Will's stomach so that he would have it when he woke up. It was a pretty sweet sight.

It has been fun for Eric and me to watch Dom and Will's friendship grow over the last few months. They play together and in general watch out for one another. But, to put the above stories in perspective, we much more often experience the following situation:

Eric: "Dom, why is Will crying?"

Dom: "Because he is sad"

Eric: "Why is Will sad?"

Dom: "Because I hit him"

New Bike

2010-06-17T19:49:00.002-05:00

Having a new fixer-upper bike to work on has gotten me all excited about bike riding again. So, here's new website to learn all about the joys of English and French-style touring bicycles - Rivendell!

I know, I know - no funny anecdotes, or stories.

In other news, Dominic's new favorite game? Tennis (who needs World Cup?)

Water Towers

2010-06-17T19:40:00.003-05:00

Eric would say I am giving too much information here, but I think this story needs a little back story to really set the right tone. Before Eric and I were married we were driving around a neighborhood in silence which lead to a discussion about whether or not one should talk about anything, no matter how mundane, in order to at least have some semblance of a conversation. This then lead to me just randomly saying anything I saw. Soon this developed into a game where we tried to see who could spot the most fire hydrants before the other person. If you think that sounds silly, you should really try it and just see how competitive it can get.

Anyway. . .

Fast forward 6 years or so and now we have a couple of sons. Both of whom love to yell out random objects that they see and know the name of. "AIRPLANE!", "TRACTOR!", "HORSE!", "JAYHAWK!" and so on.

Most recently, Dominic has been noticing the various water towers that we see as we drive to and from various activities. As well as memorizing the locations. This has now become our new game and it is a race to see who can spot the water tower first. It was pretty fun to play on our most recent visit to Kansas (as there are more water towers visible along I-70 than fire hydrants). Even on the way back, despite the fact we hit the road before 6 AM, Dom spotted the first water tower as we left Lawrence and sleepily declared it his. Those car DVD players have nothing on this source of entertainment.

Tuesday Night Duathlon

2010-06-16T07:37:00.009-05:00

Yesterday was the 3rd Wright Tri Club duathlon (5 in the series). I didn't PR like last time, but I did have some help crossing the finish line.

After the race, there was also a kids race.

Here's William getting his finishers medal.

What's on the schedule for the rest of the day? World Cup soccer of course! We even know some people there!

Festival Day

2010-06-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

Dominic was so excited about the Festival!!! And then we showed up, and...

It was a little bit too loud for him. William, on the other hand, didn't mind at all.

Jaydreamin

2010-06-12T10:26:00.000-05:00

So long, Big 12 conference. Hello Mountain West, and new arch-rival -- Air Force!!

Early Morning Conversation

2010-04-03T06:55:00.005-05:00

Dom and Will have developed a rather nasty habit of waking up at ten to seven. Generally just as Eric is closing the door to go to work/work out. This morning, though it is a Saturday and the boys went to bed late due to Good Friday service, was no different. Dom crawled into our bed around 6, just seconds before Eric's alarm went off. At 6:50, Dom pops up and the following dialogue occurred. (though, it was more a monologue to be honest)

Dom: Is Daddy downstairs? Dominic is going to go eat cereal with Daddy. Good bye, Mommy!

Mom: Goodbye, Dom! Have a nice day! (I was a little more enthusiastic than normal since for a change Dom was not pulling my arm to get me out of bed)

Will: "AAAAA" (read, "I HEAR YOU OUT THERE AND YOU BETTER NOT FORGET ME OR I WILL SCREAM MY HEAD OFF UNTIL YOUR HEAD EXPLODES)

Dom: William is awake! I hear William! (running back into his room) Good morning, William!

William: (shocked into silence then remembers he is still in his crib while Dom is free) "AAAAA"

Dom: Do you want 'Up Please?' I'll go get Daddy. Don't worry, Will! I'll be right back with Daddy!

Dad: (padding back towards the room) Good morning, Dominic!

Dom: Daddy, William is awake and he wants 'Up Please'!

Will: (for good measure) "AAAAA"

(At this point, Dad lifts Will out of crib, screaming stops, starts walking towards the stairs)

Dom: (at normal voice level: loud) Mommy is still in bed, she is still sleeping!

. . .right.

March Madness comes to a close...

2010-03-28T19:42:00.002-05:00

No need to talk basketball with anyone, I think. We all know what happened. What you may NOT know is that Xavier University made it to the Sweet 16 (!) and this is the first Final 4 for Butler U. in school history. So it's good that some people are happy about their lot in life.

Anyone care for some pi?

What other big news is there? Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Many happy returns, Great White Hunter of the North!

Happy to report that we have uploaded new pictures of our boys, and that one of our boys has added to his collection of expressive photography.

From Exhibit 3 - djb, Age 3 (March 2010)

From 2010-03 Random March happenings

Note on this picture: While it LOOKS like he's shooting a 3-pointer, he's actually doing a song-and-dance number inspired by Winnie-the-Pooh (skip to 4:00 for the good parts...).

From 2010-03 Random March happenings

Technology of his generation

2010-03-15T13:48:00.003-05:00

Dom has become quite comfortable using some of our technological devices including laptop, digital camera, blue ray disc player, and iTouch. In fact, he has surpassed his parents on some aspects of these devices. One minor example, he figured out before I did that one can go back to the PBS kids home page by clicking an icon at the top of the page. I kept re-typing the address in order to get back to the main page. Though, those that have seen my abilities on this medium will confirm that this is not all that impressive as my computer abilities are pretty limited.

However, Saturday night Dom did something that even blew Eric away. We have allowed Dom to use the iTouch for a few games in order to keep him entertained in waiting rooms or in the car on trips. He has watched us use it and knows that we most often use it to check our email. He mimics our behavior and when asked what he is doing he'll often reply: "I'm checking my email, ok?" (As a side note, when we go for walks in front of our house, Dom will go to the front door to get the "email". ) He has become more curious about different icons and I have actually received an email from him. We've questioned whether he has ordered pizzas on occasion, and often find the icons have been rearranged or even deleted from time to time. As one may guess, the screen can get pretty smudged from little fingers constantly touching it. On Saturday, Eric had turned off the iTouch to clean the screen and when he turned it back on, discovered that our clever 3-year-old had enabled a locking feature which one needed a password to unlock. Dom at the time had wanted to play a game and we kept telling him the game was broken. We figured he had just been pressing buttons and would have no clue what password he had set. Eric had laid the iTouch down, intending to figure out what hoops he would have to jump through in order to unlock it. It wasn't a minute later and Dom says in a casual voice "I fixed it." We look to find the iTouch unlocked and all applications working. Eric looked up the code and passed it to Dom again to try and unlock it. He pushed in the same four numbers and unlocked it. We changed the code to something we would remember, should it be locked again. As for the code Dom chose, please tell me I have nothing to be worried about: "6666".

Pi Day Countdown

2010-03-15T09:06:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to post my Pi Day celebration tips in a format that will be easy to find next year. For those of you interested, I actually only did 9, 8, 6, and 1. I wanted to have a goal for next year :).

#10 thing to do to celebrate PI day: measure the circumference of several circles and divide that number with the measurement of their diameters. Get a little thrill everytime you get the same number!

#9 thing to do to celebrate PI Day: (Let's just get this out of the way) make and/or eat pie. Cherry pie, berry pie, pumpkin pie, peach, French silk, apple, or a little of each. (taken from one of Dom's favorite books)

#8 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: As it is Sunday, meditate on this early estimate of PI given in the bible: 1 Kings 7:23-26. As this verse actually has been met by quite a bit of controversy, I found this article interesting if you feel like reading it: home.teleport.com/~salad/4god/pi.htm

#7 Thing to do to celebrate PI day: Change you birthday in Facebook to March 14. I really wanted to change the year to 1593, but apparently the Facebook people think that a person born in that year could not possibly be using such modern technology. Therefore, the next best year to use would, of course, be 2000.

#6 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: Be irrational.

#5 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: 2 parts:
First: see how many digits you can memorize in this irrational number. Second: look up what it means to be an irrational number.

#4 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: Run PI miles. The most exact way to do this is to create a circle track with a 1 mile diameter. Or just do an approximate Pi miles by running a 5K and adding about 64 more steps at the end. If you are 5'4".

#3 Thing to do to celebrate Pi Day: make a collage of circles or find several circular objects (cylinders to be exact, circles are 2-dimensional and would be difficult to use) and use them as stamps. The image would be circles and would look totally awesome. At least they do in my imagination.

#2 Thing to do to celebrate Pi Day: Write a "Piem". Each word has to be the same number of letters as the corresponding digit in the number Pi. Google some examples if you really want to be impressed. And have nothing better to do.

#1 Thing to do to celebrate Pi Day: Come to the Pi Party at the Buschelmaennerhaus!! Or at the very least add a couple of numbers together. Happy Pi Day Everyone!!!!

Boys will be boys

2010-03-09T20:46:00.003-05:00

I wish our camera was working, and even more that I really knew how to upload pictures so that I could show you the story I am about to tell. But, bear with me, and I'm sure that a similar story will occur in the future and I will make sure to have pictorial evidence.

Anyway, yesterday was a red letter day for a couple of brothers under my care. I had given up on trying to make it to the gym and had resigned myself to a day of just getting some things done around the house. Namely laundry and figuring what the heck we were going to have for dinner without going to the store. The boys were doing a wonderful job of playing together and I wasn't having to dry too many tears.

The fun started when Dom runs in to the kitchen to say that Will had no pants. Turned out that the oversize pants were too much for the belt and had finally come off the squirmy 19-month old. It didn't take long for Dom to decide that he didn't want to wear pants either. So now I have two boys running around in just diapers. Really, nothing horrible happened, it was just funny to watch.

I decided I would go upstairs and straighten up the rooms while the boys were content to play. I could hear the giggles of the two and kept thinking how blessed I was to have two such sweet little boys. I occasionally heard bumps and things dropping, but since there was no crying, I just continued what I was doing.

My good mood quickly changed when I came down and saw our living room curtains hanging askew, the cheap curtain rods bent, and the table lamp lying on the floor along with all books and picture frames from the end table. The boys had been crawling up on the table and for all I know swinging on the curtains onto the couch. In their diapers. Like Tarzan. They were having such a good time, the fact I was yelling and screaming didn't even faze them. As soon as I would pick Will up to set him on the floor, he was back trying to get back up on the end table. If I replaced the lamp, he just knocked it out of his way. Dom was excitedly trying to tell me about the whole adventure. It took me about a minute to realize nothing truly bad had happened, calm down, and to see the humor in the situation. And to realize that this is just the beginning. . .

Distractions

2010-02-24T23:35:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure if anyone is aware that Mario Kart (N64 style) has become a part of our bedtime routine. The boys hold controllers while Eric and I battle it out on the easiest course (my call) with our favorite characters (Dom's call, though really Dom only has an opinion on who Eric is as that is "Dom's character"). Eric and I are generally pretty evenly matched. However, tonight I had a distraction that caused me to come in third. My downfall really started this morning before 8 in the morning:

I was making chili and cutting jalapenos. I thought I washed my hands well enough, but my contacts burned as they touched my eyeballs, and I elected the safest decision would be to go with glasses.

Fast forward to this evening as we are racing. I noticed Dom was looking at me very intently. I had expected this when he first saw me with glasses, but it was as though he was seeing them for the first time. Frankly, he was sort of freaking me out. But, then he started saying: "I can see the race cars". He was seeing the reflection of the tv in my lenses and was totally enthralled. He spent the remainder of the race just looking in awe at my lenses. He eventually got right in front of me to get a closer look. When I said I couldn't see my car he pointed at my glasses and said: "It's right there!".

I was laughing so hard I didn't mind that I lost. Plus, there is always tomorrow night!

Will's Words

2010-02-20T08:53:00.002-05:00

We had Will's 18-month appointment this past week (and yes, for those of you who can count, he was actually 19 months by the time this occurred). The doctor wanted to know if he had at least 10 to 20 words in his vocabulary. I knew he had several, so I just said yes and crossed my fingers that I wasn't lying. Particularly since it was Ash Wednesday. However, this morning, for lack of anything more pressing to do, Eric and I sat down and wrote down the words or phrases we knew he would use unprompted off the top of our heads. Here is the list (in no particular order of frequency):

1.Mommy
2.Daddy
3.Dominic
4.Where'd Daddy go? (or Mommy or anything else that he recently saw and does not now see)
5. Cereal
6. Thank you
7. Bunny FooFoo (Yes, we have another son attached to a security blanket)
8. Up
9. Please
10. Nana
11. Grandpa (We clearly need to work on Grandma, he pointed at her picture and said something indistinct, though Dom was yelling "GRANDMA!!" over him, so who knows?)
12. Poopa (What the boys call L'Opa)
13. Apple
14. Milk
15. Cookie
16. I Did It!
17. Jayhawk (Rock Chalk? Occasionally)
18. Duck
19. Horse
20. Dog
21. Hi
22. Bye bye!
23. Airplane
24. Jesus (in a good way, generally pointing at a crucifix or anyone with a brown beard. White beards are generally called "Santa", Dom's influence)
25. Nose
26. Eyes (Will likes to just start poking parts of my face and naming them, often first thing
27. Mouth in the morning. While I'm still grasping at a few more minutes of sleep)
28. Ears
29. Nemo
30. Uh oh! (added as it probably makes up the better part of any particular conversation with Will)
31. More
32. Elmo
33. No
34. Yes
35. 'K
36. Bilibo (crazy bucket toy that he got for Christmas)
37. Basketball
38. Again
39. Monkey (first time he said this was during Mass and quite loudly)
40. Woah!
41. Makes train whistle sound when faced with any locomotive (not exactly a word, but Eric wanted me to add it)
42. Stand up!
43. Go!
44. Broken!

Ok, that's where I will end the list. Will keeps saying words and I've added 10 that weren't on the original list. Some words are more distinct than others (that may only be understood by parents). But, now grandparents can know what sort of conversation level to expect next time we see you!

Commonly heard about the house

2010-02-18T10:01:00.004-05:00

Both Will and Dom have started talking up a storm, as the saying goes. Will is able to let us know exactly what he wants (in his own mind) and if we do not comply in, oh, I'd say about 10 seconds (perhaps less) he will start doing his impersonation of the Nazgul and will screech until we finally give him what he has been so patiently waiting for.

Though, on the occasion we decipher what he is saying, the reward is a giggle and head nod.

Here is an excerpt of just such a conversation:

Will: "reo?"

Dad: "crackers?"

Will: (shakes head) "NO! Reo?"

Dad: "cheese stick?"

Will: (starting to show signs of distress) "Uh uh" (pointing at cabinet) "Reo?"

Mom: (saving the day) "He wants cereal, Eric"

Dad: "Cereal?"

Will: (nodding head and giggling) "'K!"

(runs to cabinet with bowls and pulls everything out to get the specific one he wants and runs to little table. Sees the table is covered with toys and starts frantically clearing everything off to make room)

Dad: "Here you go"

Will: "Thank you! Muk?"

Dad: (totally confused) "More?"

Will: (jumps up to run to fridge) "Muk!"

Dad: "MILK!!!!"

Mom: "Way to go, Dad!"

There are three phrases that Dom will use frequently on any given day. These phrases consist of:

"Good job, Mom!" used at any time that Mom accomplishes something whether it is fixing the garage door (and might I add, I particularly appreciated someone noticing the work I had done), or cutting vegetables for lunch.

"OOOO! I like it!!" used when playing games on the computer or eating cut vegetables (though more commonly used when eating the super rare cookie) or picking out favorite books to read.

"I rock!" This phrase is heard most frequently after using the potty. Though, I would like to add that Dom even admits that he got this from a Curious George computer game and that his parents do not make a habit of saying "you rock!"

We prefer the classic line from Toy Story: "Way to go, Idaho!"

New Habits

2010-02-10T22:39:00.003-05:00

As the boys age, we've found life goes much more smoothly when you have a few set activities to do before bedtime. Depending on nap lengths, these activities may be more physical in nature. When we need them to run off some energy we either play football as a family or duck duck goose. As one might guess, rules of games for a 3-year-old and 1-year-old are pretty loose. For example, as quarterback, Dom will say "set set HIKE" and then run around in a circle and throw the ball at any person directly in front of him. Whether on the opposing team or not. Will likes to tackle. Whether the person is on the opposing team or his own. And preferably once that person is already on the floor.

Duck Duck Goose is progressing though it started out quite confusing for both boys. Dom figured out quite quickly that once the word "Goose" was said, he got to run around the loop. However, this means EVERYONE is suppose to run around in a circle. If you don't get up to run, he stops and says "Come on, Mom!" So I get my exercise, too. Will figured out before Dom that you are suppose to tap everyone's head as you say "Duck", but he always starts with his own and will only run if a parent gets up also. Though, this may be a defense mechanism as Dom likes to combine football and Duck Duck Goose by tackling Will at some point in the run.

Will has also started replacing "ready, set, GO" with "Duck, Duck, GO." This can be witnessed when we are playing Mario Cart and, let me tell you, do not listen to a 1-year-old when determining at which point to go. You get penalized every time.

Finally, I apparently call the boys "Honey" quite often, as Dom has started to call us and Will this as well. I'll be cleaning dishes and overhear him say to Will "Here you go, Honey." and the other night he went up to Eric and said "Do you want to play, Honey?" Eric isn't quite as amused by this as I am. But, I think he'll come around. Plus, he is glad I stopped calling the boys "Sweet Pea" before Dom could start repeating that.

Fool me once, shame on me. . .

2010-02-01T21:11:00.002-05:00

Just a quick anecdote of a scene I witnessed this morning. The boys caught my attention when they dumped a bunch of plastic food on the coffee table. I watched as Will picked up a piece and Dom yelled at him to put it back. The humorous part came after as I watched Dom try to coerce Will into picking up another piece. Multiple times he would lean over and whisper "that one" and point. Will eyed him warily and then babbled something which I'm pretty sure would be translated into : "Are you kidding me? After that tongue lashing I got the last time? You pick up your own nasty fake food". This whole scene ended with Dom making the sign of the cross and folding his hands in prayer. Only he and Will know what game they were playing. And that's as it should be.

Last Day of January

2010-01-31T21:37:00.002-05:00

So what is there to talk about? Let's recap Christmas first.

After the first snowfall, Dominic of course wanted to make a snowman. I believe he thought that it would start dancing, a la "Frosty" once we put this hat on him. Sadly, he did not.

From 2009-12 Christmas

You'll remember that we, like most American families, had a Christmas tree...

From 2009-12 Christmas

... under which were many many presents.

Santa brought Dominic a favorite toy:

which was often (and still is) played with:

From 2009-12 Christmas

We took a trip to Kansas, and there was so much snow, we just HAD to play in it.

From 2009-12 Christmas

You can imagine what my job was.

From 2009-12 Christmas

The boys were sure to ride the horse in the basement - Ride like the wind, Bullseye!

From 2009-12 Christmas

Of course, one of our new favorite things to do is to webcam with all our relatives about our adventures:

From 2009-12 Christmas

We haven't taken too many pictures since coming back from the vacation, but I do have this. When we play YAHTZEE, William takes the little chips and sticks them between his toes:

From 2009-12 Christmas

I guess he likes it.

Cheers to all our readers! Get on Skype so we can call you!!

O Tannenbaum

2009-12-18T20:45:00.002-05:00

Nothing beats the Christmas music of the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Our kids now associate the animated special with the music... good for them.

We recently acquired our 5th Ohio Christmas tree, from Youngs Dairy in Yellow Springs - many of you have been there!

From O Tannenbaum

More to come: pictures of the ornaments, stay tuned...

Thanksgiving

2009-12-07T11:16:00.002-05:00

So, we are spoiled by family members that actually remember to bring cameras and take pictures. We'll blog more at another date, but for now check out the blog of Megan Brister (she's one of the links under family) to see a great montage of our Thanksgiving in Oklahoma. We all had a wonderful time, despite the heartbreaking loss on Saturday. Happy Advent!

Current events

2009-11-22T15:26:00.002-05:00

Three of Will's favorite things:
"Ring Around the Rosy"
"On your marks. . .get set. . .GO!"
"Cut the Pickle"

"Ring Around the Rosy"
Will loves this activity. He will initiate it by coming up and saying: "Ashes, Ashes". He will just spin in circles over and over again. After he falls, he'll get up and look at you imploringly and say: "'gain?"

"On your marks. . .getset. . .GO!"
The other night, Eric and I were trying to play a game of dominoes when Will was more interested in using me as his personal jungle gym. We were able to distract him by saying "Get set. . .GO!" He almost is shaking he is so excited to run around the little circuit we have. When he gets around he just looks at you and says "Go?", but you have to say "get set. . .GO!" in order for him to run again. He was so funny running, that we never got around to playing our game. Dom didn't wait long to get in the action, but we held him off for a count of three so that Will had a shot to get around before Dom plowed into him from behind. I lost count of how many times they ran around that circle. I wish I had attached some sort of measuring device to them so I could have seen how far they ran.

"Cut the Pickle"
Dominic and Will's cousins introduced us to a new game of high five. I'm not exactly sure of the words, but our version goes like this:

Give me Five
On the Side
Up High
Down Low
Cut the Pickle (put two index fingers together so that they can "cut the pickle"
Tickle Tickle

However, this gets shortened to just cutting the pickle. Will loves it and if you say the phrase "Cut the Pickle" he'll say "tickle tickle" as he throws himself at you to get tickled. We tried to catch it on video, but I don't think I ever had it recording when he actually did it, and as soon as I turned off the camera, he would.

So as you can see, evenings at the Buschelman house have started to get pretty exciting.

Dominic has started to use our time in the car as his own personal TRL. The big four:
"Railroad" ("I've been working on the Railroad)
"Chug Chug Choo Choo" ("Down by the Railroad)
"Jay Jay Jay" (I'm a Jay-jay-jay-jayhawk) (this is also a favorite of Will)
"Home" ("Down by the Bay")

I always felt bad that I didn't sing to Dom very much as a baby, but we are definitely making up for it now. If I'm hoarse at Thanksgiving and Christmas, it may have a little to do with the fact I was singing for 10 hours straight in the car. Oddly, Eric does not seem to appreciate my vocal talents as much as the boys.

New Exhibit

2009-11-12T22:01:00.002-05:00

Dominic seriously took about 60 pictures in the time it took me to cook 2 eggs this morning. He learned how to operate the camera in a day.

From Exhibit 2 - djb, Age 3.

It's a lot more fun to update Dom's photos, so just let us know if you'd rather have something else. Cheers!!

New pictures from the Weekend

2009-11-11T19:47:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, we went to Columbus at attend the wedding of Liesel's friend (and god-daughter!) Alicia. Liesel was a bridesmaid, and Eric was a lector. William was a dancing fool at the reception! Here we are at the head table.

The next morning, after breakfast at the Waffle House (Dom's new favorite restaurant) we went to a nearby park to let the boys do what they had wanted to do all weekend - play outside.

Catch more pictures after the jump.

We also are very excited to present a new collection for all our readers. This artist is making his first public appearance on our very own blog! We will present a few of his ground-breaking photographs here, and let you view the rest of them in our photo album.

"Expressions of Perspective"
D. Joseph Buschelman, Age 3

From "Expression of Perspective" - Photography of D. Joseph Buschelman, Age 3

Look for more photos from this artist soon!!

Story of a Blanket

2009-11-11T13:00:00.002-05:00

Some of you are familiar with the blanket that Dominic is particularly attached to. Actually, he has been attached to two blankets. The first he affectionately called "Ditty" and would request it and actually used it more than his mother for a short while as a source of comfort when scared or hurt. He loved it so much, that despite the efforts of two grandmothers, it was retired about a year ago for the fact that it was quickly unraveling from a blanket to a long strand of yarn. We replaced this beloved blanket with a similar one that had been given to Will. Dominic made the transition without any fuss, and has since forgotten, Ditty. The new blanket also went through a rough patch with Dom and has a hole in the middle that his mother repaired in a functional manner, though not particularly ascetically pleasing. She just tied a bunch of knots in it. However, it has maintained its viability up to now.

For the last several months these blankets have been what Dom clings to for comfort and we thought it would end at that. However, a couple of days ago, I realized his blanket has taken on a whole new position in his life. It has become his best friend. Here is an excerpt of a conversation I overheard the other day after visiting a children's museum in Dayton:

Dom: "Hi Blanket! I went to the museum!"
Dom: "The museum? Oh Wow!"
Dom: "I saw a dump truck"
Dom: "A Dump Truck? Cool!"
Dom: "Yeah!"

He has had similar conversations after visiting such exciting places as the park, grocery store, library, and The Waffle House.

A few October pictures

2009-11-05T21:18:00.000-05:00

Big Brother

2009-10-16T11:28:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to share a story from this morning that warmed my heart. We were picking up tiles from scrabble that the boys had decided to play with this morning. We were making a game of naming the letters and putting them in the sack. Will particularly likes this type of game. Dom picked up a couple towards the end and was holding on to one of them. I thought as I saw that, "He's hoarding the letters from Will", but I didn't say anything. However, when this tile was the last piece, he held it out and said :"Here you go, Will" so that Will could put the last piece in the bag.

The stories behind the pictures

2009-10-13T21:18:00.004-05:00

Eric told me to write something for the blog as he had math homework to do, so here I am writing something for the blog. We've had a pretty eventful couple of months. This should be obvious from the lack of posts. But, there are those out there that may doubt we do much else than sit on our comfy couches and watch football on our tiny television. So allow me to tell you of the adventures of the Buschelman Family since moving into our new home in chronological order:

1. Over Labor Day we went back to Kansas for my aunt Vicki's wedding.

Highlights: Seeing everyone from my side of the family and seeing Grandma and Grandpa Buschelman and Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Buschelman and Aunt Debbie. Eating donuts a couple of times. Vicki's wedding and reception (though most of the wedding I was in the cry room with Will). Nephew Peter's Baptism. Winning cornhole and ladder ball. Oh, and we got to see some of our friends from college and their kids.

Lowlights: Dominic pushing our friends' kids. Missing just about all of Saturday evening Mass because Will thought it would be more fun to scream than to prayer quietly. A failed attempt to get my family to enjoy a game of Monopoly. Apparently, my sister-in-law and I are the only fans of the most awesome board game ever. Mitzi and my parents' cars being the victims of a hit and run.

Highlight: The police find the guy who hit the cars and he has insurance. Woohoo!

2. A couple weeks after we got home Eric ran in the half-marathon and pr'd and I "ran" the 5K. I also pr'd mainly because I don't remember any of my times from 5 years ago, which was the last time I ran in a 5K.

Highlights of that weekend: Seeing our good friends Ernest and Sarah who came from California for the half-marathon and were the first official guests of the Buschelmaennerhaus, training runs as a family (see previous post of how the boys train)*, Zinzinatti Oktoberfest, watching the Emmys with Neil Patrick Harris. I've never watched this particular awards show before, but I was pretty entertained. Oh, and discovering that Dom really likes Korean food.

*Dom is actually the little runner. He loved getting out of the jogging stroller and running along the path and on one of our last runs, he walked/jogged the mile back to our house.

Lowlights: Rainy Day for the Oktoberfest, and our good friends, the Carrs, moved to France. Owen is the little boy in several of the pictures with Dominic. Luckily, for us, their plans were changed and they left a week later than expected, so we got to spend a little more time with them and the boys got to play daily. Also, Dom now knows where France is on a map.

3. A couple of weeks after this we started hosting a few family members over the course of 10 days. The visits were back-to-back and sometimes overlapping, but it was great and the boys loved having a little extra attention shown their way.

Highlights: Mitzi comes! She brings donuts! Dining Room painted! Cool prints found for the fireplace room!

Lowlight: Mitzi leaves. . .

Highlights: Grandpa Buschelman comes! On TDY! Boys have a new wrestling buddy!

Highlights: Katie and the cousins come! Craziness ensues! Grandpa and Eric do home repairs and put in dead bolts. Take that would be burglars!

Lowlight: Grandpa Buschelman leaves in the wee hours of the morning before sleep deprived Dominic is awake enough to give him the good bye he would normally have done. Will sleeps through the departure. Then Grandpa gets stuck at the airport for hours. We all know where he would have rather spent that time. Another black mark against the airline industry. And fog.
It also rains for two days while Katie is here. Rain and children under the age of 5 do not mix, but luckily we live in a larger house and there is more room to expend energy.

Highlights: The sun comes out! The park is awesome! Putting on shows for strangers at the amphitheater is even better! Singing the KU alma mater, fight song and Rock Chalk chant is the absolute best! Go to Young's Dairy and have free ice cream while shivering! I also get to watch all 5 kids by myself, which was a treat and a half! I think it was for maybe 10 minutes, but it felt much longer. Luckily, most of them swarmed around the tractor. And who wouldn't?
Dominic turns 3 and gets to play most of the day with his cousins and all of his new presents. Biggest hits so far? Train puzzle and Curious George Hide-and-Seek game. Fighter Jets, Cars, and Soccer Goals are next. Distant last place? New underwear. . .(who invited that kid?)

Lowlight: Katie and the kids leave and Robert didn't even get to come. We're already looking forward to the next time they come to visit.

Well, that about sums it up. Things that occurred that I didn't know where to put: Will is a walking fool. Literally. He loves walking and just has a goofy grin on his face when he comes around the corner and sees you. Dom got an awesome trike by Trek for an early birthday present that he loves as well as his helmet that we think he wears to be like Dad.

We have many upcoming events including our Oktoberfest, another 5K, a wedding, and hopefully a trip to Louisville to see Nana. Thanksgiving and Christmas, too. Until then!

Just beat the 2-month limit

2009-10-12T21:21:00.002-05:00

You, know, like the 10-minute rule for classes?

Anyway, we've posted new pictures and videos online. I should be able to get the blog done tomorrow.

Here's a teaser:

Thanks for reading, check back tomorrow for more!

La casa nuova!

2009-08-20T21:17:00.002-05:00

Although we've lived here for almost 2 weeks, I only just tonight got around to posting photos of our new place for the satisfaction of our devoted readers. The photos with expertly written captions are available elsewhere online (and on FaceBook!), but I'll put up just a few here.

From 2009-08 La casa nuova!

The main view from the street.

From 2009-08 La casa nuova!

Woodpile out back on the patio.

From 2009-08 La casa nuova!

Liesel modeling the breakfast bar.

From 2009-08 La casa nuova!

The rest of the kitchen.

Thanks for your patience!!

Brothers

2009-08-19T20:32:00.000-05:00

Two kids taking a nap after we took them out in the running stroller. Liesel is training for the AF Marathon 5K, and I'll be running the Half-Marathon.

Pictures of the new house to come soon!!

HOPE Ride

2009-08-04T22:22:00.003-05:00

The Hope Ride is finished!! We rode 335 miles over 4 days to raise money for the American Cancer Society Hope Lodges in Cincinnati and Cleveland! I had a great time, and thanks to the donors for the over $2100 donated to the cause. I'll share a few pictures with you from the trip.

This was the machine I'd been training on, and the one that would get me all the way to Cinci:

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

All the riders left the start in a big bunch and rode through downtown Cleveland with a police escort.

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

We rode right by Lake Erie within the first hour.

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

On the second day, I rode a century (100+ miles) for the first time. I had a buddy Steve who rode with me for the last half of the day, and we made good time together. he called me Andy Schleck, since I was such a strong climber.

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

Day 3 started out well, with our whole team - The Chain Gang - together in the morning...

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

but by the first rest stop they were all in the pits for repairs.

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

Day 4 brought us all the way to Cincinnati, for a big meet up before riding in together.

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

We had a big banner to sign...

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

... so we could say who we were riding for.

From 2009-08 Pan Ohio Hope Ride

Finally, we rode together into the Hope Lodge! The guy leading in this group is a cancer survivor.

Thanks again to everyone for all your support! I look forward to doing it again next year!

Will's Haircut

2009-07-21T16:57:00.000-05:00

Our little boy lost his curls!!

(and he didn't cry even once... unlike his older brother)

28 Days Later

2009-07-18T21:03:00.004-05:00

Ok, really it's more than 28 Days. Not sure how much I'll be able to cover in one night, but we'll start we left our brave adventurers, stranded without an operable bicycle in Dayton, OH. (Maybe I'll wait and just try to get a free one instead of fixing mine...). How many of you tried the math problems, anyway?

The bike was fixed and I was soon off on a few good training rides, one up to the Taylorsville Dam in Vandalia, and a 50-miler out past Cedarville, OH - almost made it to South Charleston (on the Ohio-to-Erie Trail) before turning around. Only 10 more days until we kick it off in Cleveland! If you are still interested in donating to the American Cancer Society -- even $5 would be great! -- you can support our team here. I'm dedicating the ride to my great-uncle Jack, a 10 year cancer survivor. LIVESTRONG!

We had a quick visit from our friend Jeff, in between schools and on his way to Connecticut. Didn't take any pictures, though - I guess we were too busy. Jeff -- I'm going to the USAF Museum this week to film/photog the exhibit you had wanted to see, and then I'll send you the link to it. It's really great.

So, after the bike was fixed we headed to the base to watch the Tattoo. We saw Dominic's new favorite jet -- the B-52 -- and even William enjoyed the evening.

From July 2009

A few days later, my parents and brother came for a visit. They came bearing gifts!

Grandpa enjoyed giving the boys their desserts:

Hm... no pictures of Grandma with the boys. I guess she was taking all the pictures.

Also, while the family was in town, I was promoted to Captain!

Will looks lost, since everyone in the room looks the same, I think.

A few days after my folks left, we drove up to Madison for the 4th. We stayed with Mitzi (perhaps illegally?) - did NOT catch H1N1 virus, fought our way through miles of "stimulus", and arrived in Madison just in time to... get On a Boat! (this is really loud, so turn down your speakers)

We met our new cousin/nephew Peter, and Will instantly took to him:

Can't celebrate Independence Day without sparklers!

Oh, that reminds me -- I took Twitter off the blog. Everyone will just call me "YouTwitFace" all the time now anyway.

So that brings us to 2 weeks ago. The Tour de France began on 4 July, and we've been following that ever since, with great excitement!

(I'll now just toss in a few pictures of Will's birthday - 17 July! - , and maybe some videos)

Today's Lesson: Mechanical Advantage

2009-06-20T21:29:00.002-05:00

Word Problem: You are on a bicycle, traveling at 25 mph for 27 minutes, into a 5 mph head wind. At 8:17 PM you reduce speed to 15 mph to avoid an oncoming traveler. At exactly 8:18 PM, you ride over a twig, which gets caught in your wheel and disables your bicycle.

From 2009-06 Bike

You realize that the "bike malfunction" is a broken derailleur, which retails for $43.94 + tax.

Question 1: What distance would you have traveled by 9:30 PM assuming constant speed and no breakage?

Question 2: How many nice things can you no longer buy in your new house due to the cost of replacing the derailleur? Can you negotiate a lower price?

Question 3: Calculate the applied force of a twig on the derailluer. The bike wheel is 26" in diameter, the twig is .25" in diamater, and is caught in the spokes 5" in from the rim of the wheel. Forward speed is 15 mph. Show your work.

Question 4: What is the total energy of of the system of 1) the bicyclist, 2) the rescue vehicle & driver and 3) the babysitters who watched the kids while Liesel drove to Huber Heights.

Extra Credit: Explain what the bicyclist could have done to avoid having a mechanical malfunction. Do not use passive voice. Do not use Wikipedia.

Hold on to your hats!!

2009-06-16T15:28:00.002-05:00

What, two posts in one day? Obviously a couple of things have occurred. First: Dom is taking an extra long nap. Second: Will is playing particularly well by himself.

Reading another post I remembered a couple of things I wanted to share.

Despite the fact that I have not read to Will as much as I did with Dom, he has developed a fascination with books. He will sit and leaf through them for long stretches of time. Any book. He seems to often go after mine. I'm thinking his thought process must be "What is it about this that makes my mom ignore my cries for more food?"

Dom is getting ever more verbal. Recently a conversation went like this:

Dom: "Watch it "Cars"?
Mom: No
Dom: "How About, "People"?
Mom: No
Dom: "How About, hm. . . "Nemo"?
Mom: No
Dom: "How About, hm. . .let's see "McDonald's Farm"?
Mom: No
Dom: "How About, hm. . .let's see. . .Watch it "Cars"?
Mom: Go outside

Dom has also developed a taste for working in the food industry. We were in Target not long ago and one of the registers was empty. Dom walked around and leaned on the counter like he was waiting for some business. I walked up and ordered a coffee and donut. Dom goes: "Um. . .OK!" looks around and finds a "button" to push that magically brought forth both a coffee and donut. "Here you go" I also managed to get some ice cream, waffles, and spaghetti from this same button. Best of all? It was all free.

House Hunting with the Boys

2009-06-16T14:33:00.002-05:00

Now that Eric has posted with pictures, I can give a few anecdotes without feeling like I'm short changing those who have trouble visualizing situations.

Dom and Will are getting to be more and more entertaining as time goes on. Maybe this parent thing wasn't such a bad investment after all. We are saving bundles on movie tickets alone. As some of you know, we are house hunting and as such have gone on a few house visits. We considered finding a sitter for the boys, but since this consideration didn't occur to us until a couple of hours before the onset of the first tour, Dom and Will have been accompanying us and sharing their opinions along the way. A select few:

A bathroom that connects two bedrooms is a big plus. Dom found it hilarious that he could go in one room (Bye Bye, Momma) and then come out a totally different room ( Hi Momma!). I was surprised every time.

A house with a dog always beats a house without a dog. Unless, the house has a play set. That's "pretty cool" or "awesome" depending on the play set. Oh, and a piano helps increase the value of the house exponentially.

Lastly, wood floors are great. Especially if you want to be heard. Not that they need much help. Both boys enjoyed listening to the sound of their own voices immensely. I wonder who they got that from. . .

As a side note, the houses that we are considering all have laundry chutes. The boys are too low to notice them, but I'm sure there is a blog post in the not too distant future where the chutes will have a prominent role. I just hope it is not entitled: " Adventures with the Indoor Slide"

Would you even believe me?

2009-06-11T21:52:00.006-05:00

Holy cow! Somebody tell that guy to quit watching The Tonight Show and start blogging already! And cut it out with that Twitter stuff too!!

Our last update was a month ago? Really? Sorry about that. We've done a lot since then. And by a lot, I mean, went to Kansas for the Wertin wedding, went to Oklahoma to see family, and then came home. In more recent news: we're looking for a house to buy, keeping up an herb garden, planting flowers, training for a Bike Ride across Ohio and trying to get our boys to go to sleep at night. But we'll get to that.

We present for your consideration, two boys...

one dark,

the other fair,

yet both cunning, subtle, and grave of purpose. Together, these two engage in the most heinous of deeds:

sleeping,

wrestling,

trainspotting,

feasting,

and covert espionage.

They are masters of disguise, and can blend in anywhere.

Rarely caught unawares, and always with a plan up their sleeve, they are - Dom and Will, the Busch-Boys.

While in Oklahoma, we visited the Oklahoma Science Museum. You wouldn't know it from this video, but there's a very large model train set there.

We could almost make a full-length motion picture of these videos (there are more). Someone remind me to pull this out at Dominic's high school graduation.

Liesel and Dad got in on the brainteaser action.

They figured it out eventually, but they're not telling.

We took a trip to Lawton to see Fritz & Kelly. Their backyard was huge!

Luckily, Fritz was able to provide for us all (a kegerator?!) and a good time was had by all. Thanks for the hospitality, Okie-Keels!

Will was happy to spend time with his godfather, Scuba

and his uncle Brian.

Somehow, while all this was going on, Will's klutz of a Dad (almost) broke his toe (toes?) playing frisbee in the backyard. Way to go, genius. (it still hurts. seriously.)

We also photograph well as a family.

The girls:

The Boys:

The Siblings:

The Rents: (and the g-kids)

And the family-all-together:

So that was a lot of fun.

Also, snuck in the #4 anniversary of this:

Isn't my bride still the most beautiful thing? A quick 4 years! Here's to many more!

Also four years ago was THIS:

After four years as a lieutenant, I'll be promoted to Captain on 29 June at the Base. All (and I do mean all) are welcome to attend the party!

Also, we ARE looking at houses, but we don't really have any pictures of them. Stay tuned, and maybe we'll get some shortly.

ciao ciao, and we are looking forward to seeing lots of people this month: Jeff, Ernest & Sarah, my family, and then 4th of July in Wisconsin -- On a Boat!! (NSFW - or small children)

Rainy Days and Wednesdays. . .

2009-05-13T15:06:00.002-05:00

My mental note facility is getting close to capacity, so I will upload a few of them to make room for more. So here is the latest edition of the adventures of Dom and Will:

William is officially a crawler. I recall a few months ago blogging about looking forward to the day when the boys would be running around together. I now realize that is a dream where they are running in the same direction and I get to follow at an easy pace and they both stop and return as soon as I beckon. Ha! Last week at storytime, as my eldest walked out the door without my permission, my youngest was crawling up a set of stairs acting not exactly thankful for a little motherly assistance. This, I realized, was merely a taste of future much more stressful parental situations of which I have only heard about. I guess I really do need to start that running program. . .

Dom has reached the age of selective hearing. I would be concerned that perhaps he might have a hearing issue as he can't seem to hear us yell "STOP!" as he nears the end of a sidewalk, or "don't hit Will" as he nonchalantly swings a book in the general direction of his brother. However, he hears the word "movie" spoken in conversation in a different room and thinks it means he's going to get to watch one AND he can hear the clink of M&Ms as a parent attempts to sneak one from the children and deems it only fair that he should have one also. His hearing is just fine.

Will has started waving and it took a complete stranger to point this out to us. We knew he waved his hands around, but never thought it was with any purpose until we saw him wave to someone at the doctor's office. For about five minutes this guy would wave and Will would wave back. It's that backward wave, but it still counts.

We did just return from a trip to Chicago and Madison to visit an uncle, a couple of aunts, cousins, and a new member of the St. Lawrence Family. The highlights for Dom probably centered around riding the public transit system in Chicago. On the bus, Dom just sat on my lap looking around. Every once in a while he looked up say: "Pretty cool, huh" and would tell anyone who would listen "bus" just in case they weren't fully appreciating the overcrowded experience. The train was "Awesome", and with a trip to the Disney store, who the heck needs Disney World?

While the boys nap

2009-04-26T18:30:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I gave a written update of the boys activities. So here it is without pictures or hyperlinks.

William is crawling, but still feels that the quickest way to get something is to stretch out and army crawl. He is actually incredibly fast and thinks it is funny to see us run to intercept him as he heads for the top of the stairs. To be honest, I think it is funny to see how he always tries to sneak out of his room. He would be incredibly stealthy, except you can hear his grunts of determination as he claws his way out of the room. He is presently showing seven teeth and likes to bite. As a result, he is also quite the eater and generally finishes his brother's un-touched meal. More on that in the Dominic section. Will can pull himself up into a standing position and actually prefers to be in a standing position when possible. Lucky for me, he is much more interested in toys and will entertain himself for longer stretches of time. Not so lucky for me, he is apparently also quite taken with Thomas the Tank Engine based on his squeals of delight and little sitting jig as the theme music came on the DVD that Dom was watching. He continues to be an overall happy little boy who gives big hugs and will imitate the kissing noise. Oh, and I'm pretty sure he is saying "ma-ma" and "da-da" which puts him ahead of his older brother who mastered "da-da" much sooner than "ma-ma" and actually called his aunt Mitzi "ma-ma" before he ever called the woman who bore him the beloved name.

Speaking of Dominic. . .

He is turning into quite the older brother. For the most part, he plays really well with Will and loves to make him laugh. He shares pretty well and only inflicts pain when he feels we have neglected to give him the attention he deserves. Some of his current favorite activites are playing with bubbles and running up and down the hill in our backyard. He really likes it when I run with him which is probably beneficial in more ways than I appreciate at the time. He has reached a decision in his diet that only things with sugar will pass his lips. I have no idea where he picked up this bad habit, as those who know me will attest to my overly healthy eating habits. Granted this might be re-evaluated as he refers to the Reese's Peanut Butter puffs as "Ma-ma's cereal" when he requests it and the Yoplait Key Lime Pie Whips are "Ma-ma's yogurt." He is also an overall happy boy unless you turn off a movie that he was watching. Then he flies at the TV with tears streaming down his face screaming "NO!!!!!". This reaction along with pushing Will over out of boredom makes me mad and annoyed. Yet, all he needs to do is say "Thank you, Mama" for a bringing a drink, or say "Snuggle, Mama" and all is forgiven.

Mitzi is correct -

2009-04-20T08:47:00.003-05:00

Twitter updates do not count as blog posts. Nonetheless, you can still follow me on Twitter if you want to...

First week of April we were in Kansas!! Making a pilgrimage to Allen Fieldhouse, we watched the women's team play their WNIT Semi-final game. We also saw the wall of trophies!

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

On campus, Dominic was most excited by the KU on Wheels busses ("Jayhawk bus!") so we waited for them to drive by.

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

On the way to Free State Brewery, Dominic and Will got a tour of the fire station:

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

We waited a long time to get in (Lil Opa and I waited at the bar!), and little Dominic was so tired he fell asleep at the table.

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

That was a few weeks ago... what have we done recently? Well, played outside:

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

and tried to plant an herb garden:

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

William is an independent little boy - crawling, teething, and feeding himself:

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

Dominic just loves his mommy:

From 2009-04 Trip to Lawrence

--- and hey, that scar on his forehead isn't too visible in that light!!

***Eric's Epilogue***

I finally took a picture of my new bike!! I love it!! I feel... limitless when I ride!!

Anyway, this summer I'll be riding this bike across Ohio -- 320 miles! -- to support the American Cancer Society's Pan Ohio Hope Ride for cancer research (ACS also does the Relay for Life). Our team - The Chain Gang - will take part in all four days of riding. Please feel free to make a donation to show your support!! Even Mitzi might be here to ride in our "team" car with Coach Liesel and the two water boys as we do the Tour d'Ohio!!

ALSO, there will be new videos in our video channel, but they take a while to upload, so check there often. They might not all be as popular as that one with Cole Aldrich, however...

ciao!!

March Update Madness

2009-03-18T22:23:00.002-05:00

Well, its that time again, pull the photos off the camera and the movies off the cam-corder.. and see what we have!! Most of the videos are still uploading, but let's check out the first one:

Hey, cool!!

Check out the rest at my youTube Channel

We spent a lot of time with our friends Ernest & Sarah -- and Dom played with their girls Eve and Glory -- this week before they moved on out to California. We're not sure how Dominic will understand this... be we already miss our friends!

From 2009-03 March Madness

Earlier, Mitzi spent a week with us. Mitzi continued to work (from home?!) but found time hold her nephew and take great photgraphs.

From 2009-03 March Madness

The next picture has two important elements: 1) a KU hat (purchased with tax refund money!) and 2) a basketball sent by the 2nd-alternate-backup godfather Michael. So here you go! Call Bill Self and have him reserve a spot in 16 years!!

From 2009-03 March Madness

Last thing for now:

This July, I'll be riding in the Pan Ohio Hope Ride - a 4-day bicycle ride from Cleveland to Cincinnati - to raise money to fight cancer. It's sponsored by the American Cancer Society. You can check out my page here. I'll be doing all the hard work (380+ miles?), and your support would be great!!

Thats all for now, see you next time!

God Bless:

2009-03-09T13:40:00.004-05:00

The bedtime routine at the Buschelman household follows a pretty typical pattern. A little after 7, Eric and I herd Dom upstairs along with Will. While Eric gets Dom's teeth brushed, diaper changed, and pajamas on, I take care of Will's changing. Depending on the night, Dom will occasionally practice a little basketball while Will watches. Alternately saying "Almost!" or "All Right!!" depending on the outcome of his shot. After a bit of this, we settle in for storytime and prayers. The stories and prayers follow a typical list, but when we get to the "God Bless" part, who knows what will come out of a 2-yr old's mouth.

Generally we prompt him with family and sort of play a word association game. For example we'll say "Nana" and he'll follow with "L'opa", or "Megan" followed by "Scuba." Once we get through the list of grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and godsiblings we leave the door open for Dom to start asking God to bless whomever his little heart desires. The following is a list of the ones I can remember. And these are all unprompted:

(playmates)
Glory, Eve, Ernesto, Owen

Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Click Click Clack, Gordon, Percy, James, Jesus, Jayhawks, Angels, ballgame, soccer ball, Nemo, and moose.

I'm pretty sure he also prayed for Santa Claus around Christmas, but that has passed now.

While I'm writing about religious things, Dom has started recognizing and getting excited about statues and pictures of St. Joseph, Mary, and of course, Jesus. He associates any statue with a beard as St. Joseph. I think the reason for this is that although Jesus also has a beard, Dom originally started associating the adult Jesus with the cross. So if there is no cross, clearly the man has to be Joseph. Anyway, the other night as we left church, a bearded man was locking up and Dom waved and said "Bye, Bye, Joseph!" Then he told another man who held the cross during our stations meditation: "Bye, Bye, Jesus!" Incidentally, that man does not have a beard, so apparently the cross is a bigger indicator than facial hair.

One week later.. .

2009-02-24T20:37:00.007-05:00

Since Dom had his run-in (or is it "fall-in"?) with a headboard last week, we have read "Eight Silly Monkeys" every day, at least twice a day, by request ("Monkey Book" as opposed to "Curious George" which was formerly "Monkey Book"). Prior to his accident, it had been sitting on a shelf unread for quite some time. Oh, and now when he jumps on the bed (always well supervised) he likes to do his imitation of a monkey. I'm so glad we have these learning experiences. . .

In other news, "Super Why" is just about the best TV programming ever. If you have young children and allow them to watch television, I highly recommend you look at your PBS station's program line-up and check it out. There is a little something for everyone in it. Dom just loves the whole show, I like guessing what the mystery phrase/word is before any super letters are found, Eric likes singing the songs and using his power to Help, and Will likes watching Mom, Dad, and Dom sing and dance to the songs. It's a whole family experience. I also discovered that you can download episodes to your Super Duper Computer (don't worry, you can probably download them to your boring old computer also). This discovery has given a whole new meaning to "Hip Hip Hooray! The Super Readers' Saved the Day".

(If you were confused by any of that last paragraph, you really need to start watching the show. Or maybe we watch it too much. . . .nah)

A House Full of Monkeys

2009-02-18T18:15:00.004-05:00

What, does that remind you of something? Well, we'll get to that.

William, being the independent boy that he is, very much prefers to feed himself. Here he is eating a biscuit.

After eating, we try to go out and enjoy the great outdoors. Dominic always starts in the wagon...

.. but ends up pulling it later on.

Everyone knows Dominic likes books... but what's our favorite book?

"Ten Apples Up On Top," of course!!

William, as the younger child, is quickly learning how to fend for himself.

The KU-Brainwashing of our firstborn continues as we get him his own Jayhawk hat, which has the added benefit of giving Dad's KU hat back... which is nice.

OK, now the big news!! Let this be a lesson to all little kids!

"One little Dominic jumping on the bed / he fell off and bumped his head. Mom and Dad took him to the ER, and Major Gerson said - No more Dominic jumping on the bed!!"

Dominic is now the proud owner of 5 stitches and a future scar (just like his Daddy, he is prone to head injuries).

NOTE: While this didn't happen at our house, we are still friends with the people whose house it was. Thanks to Sarah for the first aid and Ernest for watching Will while we were at the hospital.

***

Update on that Facebook story from yesterday; looks like they backed off (so did Gov Sebelius).

In the wee small hours of the morning....

2009-02-17T02:07:00.002-05:00

(Yeah, it's late, and i'm still on my "night shift" circadian rythym. )

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

What's all this about Facebook??? If anyone ever wanted to ask me why I'm using a fake name on it, that's why (although, to be sure, I've posted an equal amount of personal info on this website).

And this makes me glad I'm an Oklahoma resident... and this makes glad I don't actually live there; well, in Norman, anyway.

Like Liesel said: "It's a Keel in Alabama -- of course we're related." (about 2/3 down after the jump)

Liesel's *GREAT* post not only recieved far more comments than any of *MY* posts (thanks, readers) but reminded me of one thing: no body knows what I do every day, now that I'm on my new job. So, here we go.

THE NIGHT SHIFT ROUTINE (1 day)

8 AM: All are dragged out bed by Dominic. Dad makes coffee & pancakes (upon request). iPod selection - Jack Johnson mix.

8.45 AM: Catch the last of NPR Morning Edition. Microwave cold coffee, read WSJ, prevent Dom from stealing Will's baby crackers.

9 AM: Switch radio to Neal Boortz Show. Cheering of "You said it, Neal!!" ensues.

10.30 AM: Tire of inane callers on Boortz; put Jack back on. Dom watches Sesame Street. Will attempts to play on his own without having toys stolen. Mom and Dad change out of pajamas.

11.30 AM -- 1.30 PM: Have crazy idea to "go out" somewhere: mall, Kroger, library, Target, The Greene. May or may not get lunch. Dom has 1 meltdown, but Will is very pleasant.

2 PM: Dominic & Dad take naps. Mom calls big sis KT.

4.15 PM: Dominic wakes up, and then wakes up Dad, who pretends not to notice for another 15 minutes.

4.30 PM: Snacks! cheese & crackers / popcorn / apple slices. drinks: usually espresso, sometimes cocoa.

5 PM: try to go outside, usually in the wagon -- when it's not absolutely freezing outside. Get the mail.

5.05 PM: Come back inside. Dominic and Dad run plays in the living room, and Mom gets dinner ready.

6 PM: Dinner.

7 PM: Bathtime for boys. Dad shaves (avoid that 5 AM shadow thing).

7.30 PM: Stories and bedtime.

7.40 PM: Dad (from here on known as "LT") leaves for work.

7.52 PM: Dominic comes back downstairs.

8 PM: LT and 'the Sarge' start shift - making the world safe for democracy.

9.30 PM: Dominic goes back to bed.

10.00 PM: LT reports [REDACTED] over [REDACTED], indicating an increase of [REDACTED] since [REDACTED].

12.00 AM: Sarge puts on the Rush Limbaugh Podcast. LT gets 3d cup of coffee.

3 AM: LT and the night crew watch 'Red Eye' on FNC.

4 AM: Ho hum, just another day at work. (the picture after the jump is great)

4.15 AM: William wakes up, gets brought into bed by Mom.

5.45 AM: Dominic wakes up, gets brought into bed by Mom.

6.15 AM: LT gets 6th cup of coffee.

7.55 AM: Day shift gets in early, LT goes home.

8.30 AM: Family continues routine, but Dad goes to bed without breakfast and sleeps until 4.30 PM -- if Mom is generous.

***

Currently listening to: Jason Mraz - Geek in the Pink.

Latest Happenings (other than playing Mass)

2009-02-14T20:22:00.003-05:00

So, I know that a lot of you may skip this post as there are no pictures attached, but a couple new habits have popped up in our lives that I wanted to share.

First:

Dom, the last couple of nights has requested an extra book to read at bedtime. Specifically, Curious George counts to 100. He also requests this book first thing in the morning and right before his nap (along with three other current favorites: 10 Apples Up on Top, Go Dog Go, and Mickey Mouse: The Night Before Christmas. What?). However, due to the brevity of the aforementioned book, Eric often opts to skip this particular volume. Dom has found a way to circumvent this by waiting about 10 minutes after lights out and then throwing the book down the stairs and following it down. I know we shouldn't encourage this behavior, but his determination is pretty impressive.

Second:

My mom gave Dom a star that projects a picture on the ceiling to distract a crying baby and lull them to sleep with soft music. This is a little miracle of an invention that we started to use with Will a couple of weeks ago. Dom has discovered how to turn it on and he also has discovered that the picture does not always appear. So he will walk around the upstairs with it saying "Where'd it go" and when he finds a darkened wall he goes: "there it is." His favorite place to go is the closet where it is almost always dark.

As a side note, one of the first nights we used this particular light, we had put the boys down without incident and Eric and I were cleaning up dinner dishes (ok, ok, it was just Eric cleaning, I was supervising) when we hear " Momma!" from the top of the stairs. By the time we got up to the room, Dom had gotten back in bed, but with big concerned eyes he pointed to the ceiling where the picture had been and said "Broke!". The star had turned itself off and it took a little bit of explanation to let Dom know that everything was ok and that the star would be back the next night.

Third:

We have a baller. It doesn't matter what ball. Football, soccer, basketball, or baseball. He'll do all of them. Unfortunately, he recently slam dunked too hard and broke the net in his room, but we should have it back up by tomorrow. We've worked on dribbling, throwing, catching/receiving, kicking and pitching. Oh, and shooting. We cheer him on, but he really doesn't need the extra cheerleaders as he already tells himself: "Good job, bud! Awesome!"

Fourth:

He loves the Jayhawks and chants the Rock Chalk Chant and sings the fight song without prompting. We just have to work on what uniforms we are wearing. The other day I caught him cheering for the Memphis Tigers while watching the DVD of the National Championship and today I had to explain that it was okay to cheer when the Wildcats missed a free throw and to cheer when the Jayhawks made one. He had it backwards.

Last:

Dom and Will are really becoming brothers and I look forward to when Will is totally mobile and they can really play together. I know, I will probably rue the day I said that when they decide to go separate ways in a big park. But, for now it is a fun to watch them interact and hear them laughing in the backseat of the car. Sorry that this was so Dom heavy of a post. Will is doing great. Sitting totally on his own. Rolling all over. Gnawing on anything he can get his hands on including Dom's shoes. He does a pretty good impression of the screech of the Nazgul, but not on cue, so don't ask him. Sleeping and Eating solids are works in progress, but I won't complain here. That's what phone calls are for.

In which Dom plays Mass

2009-02-09T00:36:00.002-05:00

The day starts out innocently enough:

From Dom plays Mass

the boys play together...

From Dom plays Mass

And then we go to this "church," and Dominic starts getting crazy ideas:

From Dom plays Mass

(Ok, I set up some of that)

From Dom plays Mass

Who knew? Maybe we should subscribe to Fr Satish's podcasts...

First Post of 2009

2009-01-24T21:10:00.003-05:00

***Ok, first -- you readers at home can take part in our end-of-year family crossword puzzle!! Get the blank puzzle here, and check yourself against the solution. Good luck!! Happy Christmas and New Year to all!!***

Now, what has happened... Well the biggest thing after we got back (and I went to work on my Birthday... at night!) was our ski trip to Crested Butte, Colorado. It was a great time, and the townies say its even better in the summer.

We first flew to Denver on a direct flight -- and checked our bags for free!! You so totally rock, Frontier!!

After an obligatory liquor stop, we continued in our 2009 Impala (106 miles!) and drove Into The West.

From 2009 Vacation to Crested Butte

We continued our tradition of buying Christmas ornaments on our vacation stops... albeit one of them was made in China. Dang!!

We almost all got sunburned, although Brian got it the worst (I think). There were also some bouts with altitude sickness. Probably didn't help that I was a total coffee hound while on the slopes. At the house we stayed in, there was a pool table:

From 2009 Vacation to Crested Butte

a hot tub, and a Pac-Man game!! I held the high score on Pac-Man until the last day... when my Dad beat me (more photos of all this cool stuff at this other album).

Scuba and I skiied almost all blues and blacks on the last day, which was the max of our ability. Having a 'breakfast manhattan' at the Ice bar at 11.30 AM didn't do anything to keep me awake, and I ended up coming off the mountain a little early that day.

Alhtough they didn't ski, our boys had a great time as well:

From 2009 Vacation to Crested Butte

We had a great time!!

From 2009 Vacation to Crested Butte

We are adding another plug for Jim Dale's performance of the Harry Potter novels, which have provided our traveling entertainment for the better part of 3 years. Check them out at the library today!!

Oh, right... Happy Christmas everyone!

2008-12-29T01:52:00.002-05:00

We have just returned... and we are the first to post pictures!!

Our first Christmas was in Dayton:

From Christmas 2008

The next Christmas was in Kansas:

From Christmas 2008

... and had a fun St. L's alumni party in KC:

From Christmas 2008

Two great videos for you (be sure to check out the channel, too)

Büschelmännerhaus

Crested Butte, Colorado

What we have been up to (Part 1)

It's Raining! It's Pouring!

Happy Birthday, Molly!

New Year's

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

An anecdote

Working hard all day!

There's something about Molly...

Thanksgiving weekend!

Costume Fashion Show

Halloween Weekend

Things I have learned

Catching Up Post 3: Kansas/Missouri

Catching Up Post 2: Trip to Oklahoma

Catching up Post 1...

Miscellaneous

New Addition to the family

Dominic

It's been a quiet week...

Reading

Homeschool with pictures and other anecdotes

Homeschool: Week 1

Trip West part II

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

Games

Reset

In the merry merry month of May

Been a long time coming

Valentine's Day

Molly had a little lamb

Molly!

4th Week of Advent

Advent

Pictures from the last two weeks

Brothers are we

Birthday Boy!

Latest photos, from Kansas and the lake

The Days of August

Public Service Announcment.

TdF... then and now

New Photos

Duck Duck Goose (Will Style)

Brother's Keeper

New Bike

Water Towers

Tuesday Night Duathlon

Festival Day

Jaydreamin

Early Morning Conversation

March Madness comes to a close...

Technology of his generation

Pi Day Countdown

#10 thing to do to celebrate PI day: measure the circumference of several circles and divide that number with the measurement of their diameters. Get a little thrill everytime you get the same number!

#9 thing to do to celebrate PI Day: (Let's just get this out of the way) make and/or eat pie. Cherry pie, berry pie, pumpkin pie, peach, French silk, apple, or a little of each. (taken from one of Dom's favorite books)

#8 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: As it is Sunday, meditate on this early estimate of PI given in the bible: 1 Kings 7:23-26. As this verse actually has been met by quite a bit of controversy, I found this article interesting if you feel like reading it: home.teleport.com/~salad/4god/pi.htm

#6 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: Be irrational.

#5 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: 2 parts:First: see how many digits you can memorize in this irrational number. Second: look up what it means to be an irrational number.

#4 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: Run PI miles. The most exact way to do this is to create a circle track with a 1 mile diameter. Or just do an approximate Pi miles by running a 5K and adding about 64 more steps at the end. If you are 5'4".

#3 Thing to do to celebrate Pi Day: make a collage of circles or find several circular objects (cylinders to be exact, circles are 2-dimensional and would be difficult to use) and use them as stamps. The image would be circles and would look totally awesome. At least they do in my imagination.

#2 Thing to do to celebrate Pi Day: Write a "Piem". Each word has to be the same number of letters as the corresponding digit in the number Pi. Google some examples if you really want to be impressed. And have nothing better to do.

#1 Thing to do to celebrate Pi Day: Come to the Pi Party at the Buschelmaennerhaus!! Or at the very least add a couple of numbers together. Happy Pi Day Everyone!!!!

Boys will be boys

Distractions

Will's Words

Commonly heard about the house

New Habits

Fool me once, shame on me. . .

Last Day of January

O Tannenbaum

Thanksgiving

Current events

New Exhibit

New pictures from the Weekend

Story of a Blanket

A few October pictures

Big Brother

The stories behind the pictures

Just beat the 2-month limit

#5 Thing to do to celebrate PI Day: 2 parts:
First: see how many digits you can memorize in this irrational number. Second: look up what it means to be an irrational number.