I have every Wednesday and Thursday off, in the spring/summer/fall I absolutely LOVE my schedule because Kade and I spend roughly 8 hrs a day outdoors. That's if he wakes at 7:00 am, takes a 2 hour nap, and we come in at 6:00 pm. In the summer it's probably more like 10 hours outdoors. He's never watched tv for more than 10 minutes at a time. Actually, come to think of it, he usually doesn't do anything for more than 10 minutes before he's moved on to something else.

So, imagine my 2 days a week off during the winter months. 12+ hours a day, indoors, entertaining a 2 year old boy with the attention span equivalent to a small puppy. Who, by the way, has decided he doesn't need daily naps anymore. Yeah, I'm tired by Thursday night! I go to my "paying job" to get a rest!

Not that I'm complaining because I wouldn't trade this for the world! But I do struggle to come up with ways to entertain, and enrich, Kade's little--but extremely intelligent--mind! One thing we do, that neither enlightens nor enriches him, is shop. I always thought I wanted a little girl so I'd have shopping buddy. Turns out my little boy fits the bill quite nicely! And since he's figured out that "please" and "thank you" gets him a lot of things in life, he usually doesn't go home empty handed from the store :-) I'm sure Erik (the money manager of our little family) is ready for the warmer months too!!

Picture #1 was taken after one of our weekly trips to Target, our favorite store! Whenever we get in the car, Kade asks: "We going to Target, Mom?". Yeah, I may go there a smidge too often.

Picture #2 was taken today after Kade saw a bin of basketballs. "Mom, wook! Basketballs! I NEEEEEED one! Please Mama?" By the way, he only busts out the word, "Mama", when he wants something he thinks I might say "no" to. And he uses his sweetest voice when he says it. See? Highly intelligent :-)

Random Post

Kade has always been a good eater. No matter what we put in front of him, he ate. He LOVES vegetables and fruit. When we go out to eat, we always order a side of broccoli for him and the waiters always looks at us like we are the meanest parents ever. Then, when they come back to clear dishes, they are always shocked to see the broccoli gone and the French fries barely touched.

One time, I was trying to get him to go inside for lunch but he wasn't having it. I tried everything to entice him. Finally, I said, "We can have some Cheetos!", he grabbed both sides of my face and excitedly asked, "And CARROTS? And BROCCOLI? YUM! YUM!"

Recently he's discovered a love for ketchup and mustard. He demands it on his plate for every meal. Anyone who has seen me eat knows that my food CANNOT touch. It repulses me if food that does not belong together (i.e. cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes...UGH!) touches. So imagine my disgust, and my attempts at hiding the disgust, when he now dips bananas, carrots, broccoli, oranges, and every other food on his plate into the ketchup, then the mustard, and happily pops it into his mouth.

In other news, Kade has become a 2 year old techie. He frequently asks, "Can I watch zoomi zoomi on the patio?" Translation: Can I watch Umizoomi on the iPad? He knows which buttons to push to get it started and even wears the earbuds if he can't hear it!

And finally, he has recently given Erik the best nickname ever. Kitty Cat. No idea where he came up with that one but he did! The best part? Erik, I mean Kitty Cat, actually responds to it!

Below are some pictures of the little techie in action!

Kade Quotes

As we were driving down the highway Kade saw a yellow Volkswagen Bug:
"Ooh a HOT ROD! Lets race him! GO MOM!"

We were getting ready to say our dinner prayer and Kade had already started eating:
"You can pray for me too, I'm just gonna keep eating."

"Mom, you should exercise some more."

"Broccoli makes me tootie"

Bouncing Into the New Year!

We spent New Year's Eve at Owen and Ellie's (and the rest of their family) house this year. They got a bounce house for Christmas so the kids were occupied all night! It was great because the adults were able to hang out while the bounce house entertained the 5 and under crowd!

We even spent the night and our big boy opted to sleep in the TOP bunk of Owen's bunk bed! I was a little nervous, I mean just a couple weeks ago he was in a crib and now he's sleeping in top bunks?? What happened to my baby??!!

The kids made it to 9:30 and the parents made it to 12:01. We're rock stars :-)

Erik extended his holiday break by one more day, so we decided to try out Bounce World. That place is awesome! All of the bouncers are big enough for adults, so I'm not sure who had more fun, me or Kade? We'll definitely be going back, especially in the middle of the week when we'll basically have the place to ourselves! Of course, of all the activities it had to offer, Kade chose to spend a lot of time at the basketball hoop! Not that I'm complaining :-)

Picture #1: Miniature Percy Harvin's. Those 2 thought they were pretty cool in their matching jerseys!

Picture #2: Enough said :-)

Picture #3: Ellie, Owen and Kade trying out O&E's new sleeping bags.

Picture #4: Making the big climb to the top of the slide.

Picture #5: A bounce house in the shape of a skid loader?! Kade's dream come true!! Kade's second favorite part of Bounce World.

Picture #6: The inside of the skid loader--bounce house style.

Picture #7: All that effort to climb to the top and the slide down lasts about 5 seconds. Totally worth it!

Picture #8: The basketball hoop. I promise Erik was there too! He actually took pictures, instead if me, this time! :-)

Picture #9: One night, Kade chose to sleep with a Gopher stocking cap on his head (all night too, I tried to take it off after he fell asleep but couldn't without moving him!), a Viking's football and a basketball. Can you tell he likes sports?!

Basketball player

Happy New Year!

So far Kade has showed a great deal of interest in playing basketball. We play daily and I might add I'm getting pretty good at shooting with a small rubber basketball! Typically each evening after supper Kade leans over, puts his hand on my shoulder, and says "Dad, lets go play basketball". I usually respond with "we will in two minutes after I help pick up some dishes". Kade responds with "No, mommy do that". "Ok" says dad! Downstairs we head to play some ball!

Once downstairs and prior to tip off Kade asks me to turn basketball on the TV. I love this kid so much!!! We usually hoop it up then for a while ("while" can be anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes). Basketball usually leads to wrestling, then we hide in forts under blankets, then farm in the toy room, then mom arrives downstairs and we play tackle mom,

Ok. Back on topic. Kade also absolutely loves going to watch Daddy and Uncle Michael play basketball during the week. He watches a little, cheers, and runs around with his own little basketball that he brings from home. He also likes to carry my basketball shoes. For 9pm games we make sure Kade is in bed prior to me leaving, otherwise he attends all other games. I always ask Kade as we are driving to the games who he is going to cheer for tonight. Every single time the answer has been Uncle Michael. Of course Kristi follows up with who's better, Daddy or Uncle Michael? Again Kade's answer is Uncle Michael every time. What game is he watching anyway! :-)

So we asked Kade what he wanted for Christmas. He said he needed a combine, wagons, a tractor, and BASKETBALL shoes! We were a little surprised when he told us he wanted new basketball shoes for Christmas, I mean...he's only 2! Then one day Mom and Kade were doing a little Christmas shopping and they walked past a sporting goods store and Kade says "Oh mom. Basketball shoes! I need them. I do."

Guess what Kade got from Mom and Dad for Christmas! After Kade had the wrapping paper off, but prior to even opening the shoe box Kade says "oh basketball shoes". Air Jordan symbol was all he needed to know what was in the box!

Picture #1 - See my new shoes. Note the basketball pants on already as well. He wanted to leave his new shirt on though that he wore to church.

Picture #2 - Attempting to get basketball pants and shoes off for bed.

Picture #3 - Christmas morning holding up his combine from Santa. Two gravity wagons and tractor also made it down the chimney. Also note what you see Kade wearing is exactly what he wore to bed. Yep. Kade wore Jordan's all night long! Basically wore them for 3-4 days straight!

Picture #4 - Family self portrait on Christmas Eve.

Picture #5 - Holidays are tuff on a guy! Our perfect little boy catching up on a little missed sleep. This is second time ever Kade has sat still for more than 32 seconds on the couch.