Terrible twos!

We haven't posted pictures in awhile, so I thought I'd do that on this lovely Sunday (aka I'm procrastinating from cleaning). As you can see from the photos, we are trying to work on attitude, his mouth, hitting, #2, etc., boy are we having fun!! You gotta love the terrible twos! :-)

Final Countdown...

Well the summer, for us, is winding down. It is hard to believe that it has come and gone so quickly. These last few days have been packed full of fun. I (Ann) always try to do as much fun stuff as we can in the summer when Kaleb and I have the freedom to do so. So, to let you in on a little of it…My aunt Kay and cousin Erika came to visit us last week. We had lots of fun enjoying their company. Nick’s mom came and joined us last Thursday. She is busy interviewing and getting settled into the area. Kaleb isn’t quite sure why she is around so much. I think he believes people should only stay here a day or two, since that is what they usually do. He asked Grandma Barb the other night, “Bama, why are you still at my house?” Barb told him, “I’m going to stay awhile and visit you.” He said, “Why?”…his favorite question… and she responded with, “Because I want to spend time with you.” Kaleb said, “Grandma, you’re cute!!”

Kaleb and I traveled to Forest Lake, MN on Sunday to celebrate my cousin Ashley’s graduation from high school. It was so much fun to get to spend some time with my mom’s side of the family. Kaleb loved having some time to play with Conner. The party was held at a local hotel, and let me just tell you a room full of Loscheiders is loud! In spite of that, Kaleb and Conner managed to take a nap on the floor of the meeting room while the party went on around them. They had a blast swimming and causing trouble together.

We returned home today and Luke (Nick’s brother) and Jess (Luke’s girlfriend) along with Jess’s family are here. The kids are getting moved to town, as freshman move in date is this Wednesday at MSUM. We sure have enjoyed their company. Kaleb is plain tuckered out. He is running a fever tonight and went to bed early. Maybe we had a little bit too much summer fun?? One more week left and we shall savor every minute!!

Yay mom!

Today was an exciting day for my mom. She took advantage of the “Cash for Clunkers” program and bought herself a brand new 2010 Toyota Camry. We’re so excited for her!

Thanks Cliff!

You may or may not know that I have a hobby website design business, Digital Design Solutions. It somewhat started by accident a couple years ago and has turned into something that has eaten up what little free time I have. It has been good though… it paid for our most recent trip to Florida in June.

While in Florida in June, Cliff (Stacy’s husband) and I did a lot of bonding. As I’ve mentioned before, Cliff is like a long lost brother. We have so much in common and always have a great time together. Cliff is a graphic designer who also has a hobby business, Design Inspiration, which recently became his full time business. I’m in the final process of creating his website and as a trade he created a logo for Digital Design Solutions.

I’m so please with the logo, he did an amazing job. I gave him very little direction and yet he created a logo that is perfect for me. Most of you know that I’m pretty particular. Believe it or not, I didn’t have one single tweak to make to the logo.

THANKS CLIFF! I’m so appreciative of your talents and more so, your friendship!

"Just reading my Bibo..."

Kaleb and I (Ann) are finally at home for a few days. We feel like we’ve been running all over the place, and it simply feels good to be home. We were supposed to attend Family Camp with Calvary Church this weekend, but I just couldn’t pull it together to go. I needed sleep and home! I’m also working on my last few classes I need through Fargo Public Schools. I was working on my computer on Friday when I heard some rustling/digging. I hollered upstairs, “Kaleb, what are you doing?” His response: “What, I’m reading my Bibo (Bible)”. He truly was reading his Bible…Maggie was pulling things out of my purse.

We are so proud to say that we have a potty trained little boy. He even goes to the bathroom now without telling us. This morning he came running into the living room (no bottoms on whatsoever) and said, “My butt hurts, I need butt paste.” I said, “Did you poop on the toilet?”. He said, “Yeah!” Upon further inspection he had…he flushes and all…but the streaks he left on the toilet seat as he backed off without wiping said it all. What a joy!

“Hey everybody, see ya later!!”

This evening after Kaleb and I finished mowing the lawn we were visiting with our neighbors, Trent and Elaine, when Kaleb quickly ran for the garage saying, “Daddy, I have to poop.”

Pooping in our house is a big deal right now as we have struggled with potty training #2, so I abruptly ended the conversation and ran after him to help.

After Kaleb did his job, while looking in the toilet, he said, “Oh wow! That’s a biiiig one!”

I praised quite expressively, letting him know how awesome it was that he pooped in the toilet and that he gets a treat. He decided to pass up the M&M’s or a sucker and wait for what he found at Menard’s.

We went to Menard’s and picked up the items we needed and headed for the candy aisle where he decided on Reese’s Pieces. We arrived at the checkouts to find that the three available checkout lines were full so we had to wait in line. Not only were all three lines full, but the front office desk was occupied with about a half dozen Menard’s employees.

As we were patiently waiting in line, Kaleb decided he had an announcement to make to the entire store. In a very emotive voice he said, and I quote verbatim:

“Hey everybody, yisten to me!”

The entire front of the store stopped and immediately turned their attention to this 2 ½ year-old who was demanding their attention as if he were the President.

“I pooped in da toiyet and it was a biiiig one!”

Very rarely do I get embarrassed… I was embarrassed! Immediately, I thought, do I run and hide, or do I laugh with the 30 plus other people who were laughing at my child who was announcing the biiiig news?

He then continued on by holding up his bag of Reese’s Pieces and saying, “I get a treat!”

Five minutes later, after everyone stopped laughing, our cashier suddenly remembered that we need to be checked out. She asked Kaleb for his bag of Reese’s Pieces. He gave it to her, she scanned it and kindly gave it back to him, when he said, “Um, I NEED a bag please!”

Again, in a very emotive voice as if she should have know better than to give him his treat without a bag. After all, your supposed to have your items in a bag before you leave the store, right?

We quickly finished our business and headed towards the exit when he felt the need for one last word.

“Hey everybody, see ya later!!”

Taking Advantage of a Quiet House

Ann, Kaleb and Maggie are in Thief River Falls for a few days visiting grandma and grandpa Gustafson. I'm taking advantage of the quite house and getting a few things done on my never-ending to-do list. One of my tasks is transferring the photographs from our camera to my computer. I thought I would post a few fun photos for you to enjoy.

Uncle Luke, Jessie and Kaleb

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