New Ads

Apparently YouTube has taken notice of several of our high ranking videos. 2 of them have over 5000 views. So, they are now inviting us to become revenue sharers! I have no idea how much we could actually make, but it seems to involve us getting some pittance only if people click on the ads. So...we'll probably never make any money. But, just for fun, we'll run some ads on this page too! That's right, you can now view our page with...ads! Just like watching TV! Fun for the whole family! So go ahead and click on those ads and watch the less than one penny income come pouring in!!

Work job

Work is going better. I'm the stroke director for the hospital, so I get to do some fun things like going to schools to teach kids about stroke. There's a video on this page of me with the Missouri Maverick players. #6 Jared Lavender and #20 Derek Palladry.

http://fortosage.net/education/school/school.php?sectiondetailid=145&

Fun times with 5th and 6th graders!

Birthday!

It was a good day. Katie let me sleep in until 8. The kids all said Happy Birthday to me right away (well, Peter kept saying "Happy Day" but that was even cuter). We had donuts for breakfast. I was able to putter around the house while Katie got ready for the party. I took the girls to Home Depot while Katie put Peter down for ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif nap. We got some stuff, then went to Fazoli's for lunch (kids ate free last weekend!). When we got back I did some more work (fixing sink stoppers, replacing flourescent lights).

My parents, Katie's parents and the Thomas-Vogrin family came over. We had chicken fried steak and the fixin's. We started with some alcohol shots courtesy of Matt and Jen (leftovers from their wedding 10 years ago).

We then opened presents. Katie set up a treasure hunt (a new tradition we do for each other) and I found Darth Vader masks at each spot. All the kids got one

From 2011 Robert Birthday

Katie made some yummy cakes

From 2011 Robert Birthday

Thanks to all who helped me celebrate, either in person, in spirit...or on Facebook!

September

We've been having fun the last few weeks! I didn't have to work on Labor Day weekend after all, so we all went to the Santa-Cali-Gon Days in Independence. We had typical fair food, the girls got their faces painted in a Mormon tent for free (they were playing a movie about the testaments in their bible, kind of scared Mary Ann), and hung out with my family. We then went over to my parent's house for pizza. fun time!

This last weekend we went to the circus with Katie's parents. The girls (and to a lesser degree Peter) loved the whole thing, especially the cotton candy and popcorn...

Mary Ann and Rose both started ballet classes this past week. They both did a good job in their class. Mary Ann's is pretty late--7:15 to 8pm! So, past normal bedtime. We'll see how that works out!

No pictures in this post because work blocks picasa. But, we have lots of new pictures over there--go check it out!

August update

We'll try to follow suit of the Buschelman's desire to update more often. A frequent and oft forgotten resolution, but oh well, here we go!

We've been blessed to have relatively children in this time of transition. We've all been working on getting used to the new house, the new job, the new...everything! In July we went with Nana to visit Oma. It was a good trip and the kids did well interacting with Oma.

From July 2011

We were able to visit California, MO and see grandpa Mac's bench and see his footstone in the cemetery.

From July 2011

Later in the month my aunt and uncle from Texas came to visit for a day. We hadn't seen them in a long time, so being closer has already made us a lot more available to most of the family!

In August I started work at Centerpoint hospital. I'm even on the webpage (though no photo yet...)! They didn't have everything ready for me (no e-mail, no pager, no white coat...) but I was able to see patients. I've already had my first week of call. I only had to go into the hospital once at night, but having to go in to round on the weekends was rough. Oh well, only 1 in 4 call isn't too bad.

We also celebrated Katie's birthday! Since her parents were in Ohio, my parents came over to help celebrate.

From August 2011

She got lots of great stuff and we had fun playing games.

From August 2011

The kids started school!

From August 2011

From August 2011

Peter is getting more and more interactive. His favorite thing is to tell "knock knock jokes." For a while, his only version was "knock knock (who's there?) Ball (ball who?) who!" Then he would insert other things instead of ball, but the punchline was always "who!" He finally started mumbling other things for the punchline. The first time he didn't do "who" was momentous...now it's just annoying again

The Buschelmans came to visit for a whole day. They were on their way to Lawrence and Colorado but stopped in Lee's Summit for a day and a half. It was great having the kids play together. Then today they finally started working on our roof! They are doing the back half today; hopefully tomorrow they get done!

From August 2011

Moved!

Well, for those that don't know it, we moved. I won't dwell on that since it was quite a while ago (I can't believe it's been over 3 weeks!). These days we're focused on getting the house in order. We're still unpacking boxes, but the house is livable. The 3 kids are back together in a room for better or for worse. They seem to like it and they aren't keeping each other up too much.

We're enjoying my month off from work, though I seem to be gone too much for Katie's taste. I escape to Lowe's to buy lots of stuff for the house, or go out to search for a car. I've decided on a VW Jetta--check out a picture of it!


I start work on August 1st. Katie's bday is coming up--August 7th. We'll probably head to St Louis for that weekend to hook up with her sisters and parents. We've been lucky to be able to see so many people so far--both her mom (her dad is in Germany), my parents and several friends. Right now Katie and the girls are at the neighborhood pool with her mom while I babysit Peter.

Good day

We had a great day today. Rather than try to catch up with what we've been up to, maybe just a slice of life for ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifll of our faithful readers (hello? do we have any left??)http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Started on Saturday night. Somehow we convinced Mitzi to come up for the night and for today. We watched SNL with JT as host. It was pretty darn funny.

This morning Mitzi went to church (we went last night since we knew we were going out today) early. Then we had breakfast at the Pancake Cafe. It was pretty good. The 3 adults all got different things so we could try them all. Good! http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

We then tried to go to a dairy to see how they make cheese, but unlike what their website said, they actually are closed on Sundays. Booo!

So we went to The House on the Rock. It was pretty cool. It was on our bucket list of things to do http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifbefore we left Madison. We did the 3rd tour. We saw the world's biggest carousel, a room with tons of huge organs, a doll carousel, lots of doll houses, and lots of other mechanical inventions. Amazing!

Lastly we finally took Mitzi to our favorite local winery. We got there early so we got a bottle of wine, some pretzles, cheese dip and meat sticks and ate outside. It wasn't cold and rainy like everyone predicted! Then we went on the tour and had a tasting. We ended up buying 6 and Mitzi buying 6 bottles of wine. Tasty delicious!

Thus ended another good weekend. Last weekend we went to The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. It's the only approved Marian apparition site in the entire US--and it's right here in Wisconsin!

Next weekend: Peter's second birthday!

So far...so long

Yet again, a while since our last post. Rather than try to recap the last few months, we'll just do a snapshot of current going-ons.

Peter is talking more and more. He still tends to make several words sound similar, so sometimes there is a little frustration when we can't understand him. For example, in the mornings he always wants "goggles!!!" for breakfast. That could mean bagels or pretzels. OR something totally different. Usually we can pacify him with just a bowl of cold cereal. Or sometimes he just picks that up and throws it on the floor.

He also loves to point things out and name them. Most large vehicles on the road are "Bus!!" We try to correct him but he probably thinks we're just idiots. At least his scar on his forehead is looking better and better. Just a little red mark. We'll see if he's left with any permanent changes from that or from the multitude of bumps on his left forehead. He continues to enjoy getting up on chairs.

Rose is still really enjoying being with Peter during the days when Mary Ann is at school. Her current favorite movie to watch is "Princess and the Frog." She can watch it every day. She is doing very well as the big girl of the house. She amazes us when she acts mature, especially when she helps clean the house.

Mary Ann is doing well in school. She recently had a talent show at school. The Kindergarten classes sang a song together. There were also a bunch of kids who did breakdancing. Several Michael Jackson songs. The girls loved when some kids danced to a Beiber song.

Our main thing now is that we're trying to sell the house. That helps keep the house clean. It's a challenge getting the house ready for showings, but Katie is doing a stellar job. Peter is sleeping in the old play room, so he seems to be sleeping better now that the girls don't keep him up. We also have less toys for the kids to get out, so even if all the toys are out, it's not a horrible mess. If anybody wants a nice house in Madison, let us know!!

We're really excited about KU basketball, of course. The only #1 still left in the tournament. Go Hawks! So, this weekend is sweet 16, elite 8. Next weekend: final four. Weekend after that: go to Hawaii!!

Another long time since the last post...

Well, I guess we had better start with Christmas. We stayed here for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I had both days off, so we spent it together, just hanging out. Mary Ann helped me put the ornaments on the tree (Rose had to go to bed early since she didn't eat any dinner). Mary Ann still reminds Rose of that to this day...

Santa came as expected. Everyone got great gifts. The kids all loved the many gifts, though of course some were more loved than other (all gifts are equal, but some are more equal than others...). Of course, some of the "less equal" ones are now some of their favorites...

We then drove to St Louis for the night, stayed with the St Louis Keels. Always low-key, relaxing to go there. We drove to Jeff City and had lunch with Oma. Peter called the police, either by the phone or with Oma's life-line. They called and Katie told them what was up, but then later Oma called L'Opa and told him the police came; we're still not sure if they actually did or if she just thought they did.

We stayed several days in Lawrence with L'Opa, Nana and Mitzi. We turned the first night into a traditional Christmas Eve with the normal soups and then lit the candles on the tree. Santa came there, but once again the gifts were left in the upstairs closet until we could get them in the morning. Everyone had fun opening yet more presents.

The kids all turned a little sick in Lawrence. They all seemed their sickest on the night Katie and I were going to go to the KU basketball game, so Katie gave her ticket to L'Opa. We saw a great game and the kids all turned magically healthy 10 minutes after we left for the game.

Then off to KC. We saw Fr Scott, the Thomas-Vogrin family, and my parents. Yet again, more and more presents. Those kids were so excited! We had a fun few days in KC. We celebrated New Years with the kids early and most of us used that as our official countdown too =)

We had an easy drive back--only one stop in the 8 hour drive. Much better than the Beier's had...

We've mainly been working on 2 things this calendar year--moving and deciding on a job. I've been offered many positions, and Katie and I are sifting through them, trying to decide. We think we have it down, but aren't ready to sign the deal yet. We've been slowly working on the house, trying to get it in order to sell it. We'll probably put it on the market in late Feb, early March.

We just got back from a trip to KC to look at neighborhoods. We missed our connection in Chicago so had to spend the night there. We were in KC for about 9 hours. Awesome...

The kids keep on progressing. Peter is saying more and more words. He now likes to push chairs around and use them as stools to get up to things. Rose is blooming at her preschool and seems to be bonding with Peter really well. Mary Ann just got her first report card and is doing great at school.