Monday, February 28, 2011

Pre-school

We're so excited that Gail is doing preschool with the kids and that Karsten is old enough to participate. It's fun to get his school papers, see his coloring and what letters he may have learned that day.

So far we've seen painting, coloring, drawing, letters, numbers - can't wait to see what else he learns! Thanks Gail!

One of his first papers he brought home was this dinosaur. He made it very colorful.


More coloring and dinosaurs he stuck to the page (with Gail's help!). He keeps pointing to the Dora sticker and saying "Rora, Rora!"


He's doing great with the letters - he's often more interested in drawing on them that talking about the letter cards - but that's OK, it will help him to continue to hear the letters and will remember them and words that start with those letters!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Balloon fun

Karsten's valentine's day balloon is starting to droop a bit so now it's on Karsten's level and he's discovered that he can hug it, lay on it, kick it and have even more fun than he had when he just chased the balloon around.

He was being such a ham, then I got out the camera and he was having none of it.


Then he started to play again - love those rosy cheeks and the hug for the ball-ooon.


I think he was trying to contain the balloon here so he could lay down on top of it. Luckily the balloon is holding up - it won't be a happy day when it pops.


I finally gave in and he got a haircut today. I like his hair a little bit longer but I even had to admit it was getting too shaggy.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Crash

Scott and Karsten have a new game where they drive their cars around and around the house and when they get to the dining room, they crash. Crashing entails rolling over on your back on the floor and turning your car on its side - oh, and you have to say "Crash" while you do all of that.

Scott and I can not push the car around like Karsten does - we've tried it (no pictures of that thankfully) but it turns out we aren't flexible enough, or we're just too tall. I'm sure we're just too tall, that must be it. :)


Here's the crash zone - you must immediately crash as soon as you set foot in the dining room.




And once you've crashed and are already on the floor, you may as well play peek a boo under the table.


Endless fun with simple pleasures. :)

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Just us

Just wanted to share a few pics from this week - no real theme, just us having fun together.

Talking about the happy, sad, serious and surprised faces on his paper from school today. He's having a great time doing preschool with Gail and the other kids.


One night while we were getting dinner, Karsten was pushing his highchair around the kitchen. Then it was time to eat and I went to put Karsten in his highchair but the chair was missing. I asked Karsten where his chair was and he took me right to the dining room and showed it to me.


I asked him if he was ready to eat and he agreed so we had to retrieve the chair from the dining room.


Must be a guy thing - Karsten is already infatuated with remote controls.


Playing ball with the great new ball that Gail gave him for Valentine's day. He's enjoying the ball so much that it even had to sit on his highchair tray one night while we ate dinner.


Another favorite game is playing chase around and around and around.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Again!

We often listen to kids music CDs in the car when Karsten and I drive. He'll find a favorite song and we'll listen to it umpteen times - the song will end and he says 'Again'. He's a big fan of music.

We were at church on Sunday and were singing a song. When the song finished, Karsten clapped and said 'AGAIN'. He didn't seem to understand why we couldn't rewind the churh choir so he could hear it again. :)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Tosh

Madison has a bad habit of tipping over bathroom trash cans and shredding kleenex. She usually does it when she's mad at us for some reason like not getting to go somewhere with us. When we see the mess she makes, we say "Awww, Madison made a mess. No, No, No Madison" then we put it back in the trash.

Karsten has seen us do this so many times that he now finds any white speck on the floor and says 'Tosh' (aka trash) then he says 'uhhh-ohhh puppy'. He thinks that any spec of white on the floor is obviously Madison's fault. Poor Madison is getting blamed for lots these days. :)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Cats and Dog

Notice Karsten proudly sporting his K-State t-shirt today since the K-State basketball team beat KU by 16 points yesterday. The K-State basketball team was off to a great start this season but has not been playing so well lately. We're happy they chose the KU game to start playing well again. :)

Karsten and Madison have been playing more together lately. Karsten will throw Madison's toys and she will actually bring them back so Karsten can throw the toy again. Previously she would return the toy to us and not Karsten.

Tonight they were playing tug of war with Karsten's sock. I'm not sure how it got started, but after watching them play for a few minutes, we were all cracking up. Madison would shake her head with the sock in her mouth and Karsten would laugh and laugh. It was impossible not to laugh when you saw how much fun they were having.




Karsten dropped the sock and Madison was bringing it back to him so they could continue the game.


He took a brief break in the chair after their game of tug of war. He's feeling much better today - it's amazing how after having the medicine in his system for just 24 hours, we can already see some improvement. Thank goodness for that!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day

Karsten and I were lucky enough to spend the entire Valentine's day together. We had a relaxing morning at home, then after lunch we went to the doctor where we learned that his cold had morphed into double ear infections, we stopped at the bookstore to get new books for valentines day, we picked up medicine and a baloon ('ball-oooon') which seemed to make him feel much better.

Scott had parent teacher conferences on Monday night so Karsten and I were on our own for dinner. When talking to a friend, I learned that her husband was out of town and she was also on her own for valentine's day. We made dinner plans and decided that Karsten would be a great date for us.

Poor little guy had a chapped nose from all of the nose blowing we had been doing for the past few days. And those rosy cheeks seem to pop up anytime he isnt' feeling well.


Opening his valentine goodies from mom and dad - new books and Handy Manny socks! Karsten calls him "Meenie" and his "Tooos" (tools).


The balloon was a much bigger hit than the books. He had a great time running around with it and playing.




Running over to show me the balloon


I asked him to sit on the stairs and look at me so I could take a picture - best laid plans right. Darn balloon string was in the way. :)


And then he's off and running again with his balloon.


We met Colleen for dinner - Karsten was a great valentine's date for us.


No smiles from Karsten - poor little guy.


He had a great time drawing with Colleen.


When he was tired of drawing and chatting with us, he watched a little Handy Manny until our food came.


It was a great valentine's day - I enjoyed spending the day with Karsten and it's always fun to catch up with Colleen!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Chocolate!

We've all been a bit under the weather here lately, Karsten started it off with a runny nose and cough. Then I got it, then Scott got it - it's it nice that we share so well. :)

My mom and dad stopped by today to help us get some wood for a project we'll do when it warms up a bit, and to bring Karsten some valntine's day goodies.

Reading a new book with 'papa'


You might remember how much fun Karsten had with Chuck's trouble light when we visited Gaga's. So Chuck thought Karsten would have fun with his very own light.


Karsten tried to look up at the light on his head, but of course every time he looked up, the light moved.


Then he did his alphabet puzzle with grandma.


Reading his new book with grandma.


They also brought Karsten a yummy valentine's treat. He loved it and was instantly drooling. You can tell he doesn't feel so good - those eyes look a little bit glassy and not even chocolate can fix it. :(


Saturday, February 12, 2011

Shadow friend

This morning while we were all getting ready for the day, Karsten was running back and forth in an upstairs hallway. When he would get to each end of the hallway, he would turn toward the wall and laugh, then get really close and look at the wall. We watched for a minute before we realized he had discovered his shadow and was racing it back and forth.

Back and forth he went for several minutes - it was so funny! I'm sure he'll do it again and I'll try to get a picture or video!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Thanks Grandma

Grandma has been hard at work again making Karsten some adorable new shirts. I love all of them, but especially the little truck and car - aren't they adorable? I think Karsten's going to need to take orders as everyone will want to order a truck t-shirt for their favority little guy. Rumor has it we might see a truck with easter eggs in the bed in a few months! :)



DIP

Karsten has become infatuated with "dip" lately. He wants dip for everything we eat; however, he doesn't actually dip his food in it, he often puts his fingers in the dip and just licks it off.

Tonight we had hummus with dinner and I think he ate more hummus by licking it off his fingers than he did by actually dipping anything in it. The other morning he wanted dip for breakfast so we gave him some extra syrup for his waffle.

Listening him say dip is also entertaining - there's lots of emphasis on the d and p, makes it sound like he's prouncing it very clearly.

Using his fingers to scoop up some dip.


Must have been a good dinner and dip because he was wearing it all over his face!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Snowman?

On Sunday, we headed outside to see if we could make a snowman (aka mo-man) with all of this snow. Getting bundled up takes more time than we actually spend playing outside.

All of Karsten's gloves are fleece or some material that snow sticks to very easily. I thought I was smart putting another pair of gloves over his gloves so the snow would stick to those gloves and not his. What really happened was that both gloves fell off, or were shaken off, and then he had no gloves on. I need to find him some gloves that are better suited for snow and that don't fall off!


I think he remembered that we ate the snow the other day because he walked right over and picked up some snow to take a bite. Luckily he chose a clean spot. :) Looks like he is about to lose that mitten.


Our attempt at a snowmain didn't go so well because the snow would not stick together at all. It must have been wonderful snow for sledding because it was super powdery. I think I need some snow pants because I was freeeeeeezing sitting in the snow.


When he was tired of the snow, he got out a ball and chased it around the yard. Not sure who was more entertaining to watch, Madison or Karsten who would both run after the ball then watching it warily as it landed in the snow. Neither of them really wanted to jump into the snow to reclaim the ball.


Karsten was done and ready to go inside - I thought maybe we could get one smile but no such luck.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Saying Grace

Ever since Karsten was old enough to eat solid food in his highchair, we would hold his little hands together for him and say grace. Recently, he has started to mimic me when I cross myself after saying grace. His imitation looks like he is just tapping his chest a few times - it cracks us up every time.

Thought you might enjoy seeing what we see at the start of each meal. In the past few days he has started to try to say grace along with us - mostly just mumbling words, but it's the thought that counts!

He also takes a napkin and stuffs it in his lap at the beginning of each meal. Such manners from a little guy. :)

More space

As I'm sitting here catching up on blogging, Karsten and Scott were running around the house chasing each other. Then they were counting to three and throwing the ball - sometime after they threw the ball a few times, they changed to counting to three then jumping off a step.

All of a sudden I heard crying and rushed over to see what had happened. Seems like Karsten jumped off the step, had a bit too much momentum and crashed into the wall. He is now sporting a bump on his forehead.

When I asked both of my boys if they finally agree that they shouldn't jump off the stairs, they said "nope, it just means we need a more space to land."

Oh my...how do you respond to that. :)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Second Snow Day

The day after the Blizzard of Oz, I decided not to risk the snow packed roads and drive into work. We would all stay snowed in and I would work from home while Karsten and Scott played.

Scott headed out to scoop the driveway while Karsten and I had breakfast. He is always anxious to scoop the driveway so as soon as he heard neighbors outside clearing their driveways, he was out the door. :) Thankfully our wonderful neighbor came over with his snowblower and helped Scott clear our driveway. Together it took them 30 minutes - I can't imagine how long it would have taken Scott if he had tried to shovel it all on his own.


After lunch, we made snowcream with Jenn's yummy snow ice cream recipe. Yup, I said after lunch and Karsten is still in his PJs. Being snowed in means you get to wear your PJs ALL day! :)


Karsten liked to dip his finger in the pitcher of ice cream.


Not sure if he was saying yummm or just making a funny face - either way, I love this picture.


Karsten was a huge fan of the snowcream from the first bite.


He was drooling he enjoyed it so much!


Karsten said 'want moooooore' and stuck his hand in the pitcher to get more snow.


After we finished mixing up the bowl, Karsten grabbed the bowl and pulled it over to him and dipped his spoon right in.






Let's just say he was NOT a happy camper when it was time to put the snowcream away. Luckily it made so much that we were able to put some in the freezer to have after dinner tonight!!


Karsten took a nice long nap in the afternoon and before we knew it it was dinnertime and our second snow day was coming to an end. Scott made yummy fish tacos and black beans for dinner. Karsten LOVES black beans, as you can see, they are a messy food to eat. He ended up with them all over his face!




We had mixed berries over our snowcream for dessert. YUM!


The berries blended right in with the black beans all over Karsten's face.




What a great snow day - I know all of you would probably throw snowballs at me, but I wouldn't mind having another blizzard and getting snowed in.