Domestic Engineer

My new title is Domestic Engineer! and the boys have been great helpers! We have been cleaning a lot (i missed Steven the cleaning guy)

Cooking a lot! Jamison is always ready to help prepare meals and has mastered the "perfect salad" (although does not eat them, you would think he would)and making some special treats such as monkey tails and carmel apples.We also make sure we have time for the fun stuff. But I am convinced that Peter would take cleaning over some crazy art project! That is my boy! We made beautifull art work -

Found a new love for jewelry and hit the trails at the nature center. In Peter's arm is the tufted titmouse, his favorite bird because is says "peter peter peter". Peter wanted to bring him to the woods for him to meet some friends...fortunately all the friends stayed at the nature center.

I also finished paiting the hallway, old computer room now new quest room and new toy room. Peter was not no sure about all his toys going upstairs but they are adjusting nicely to the space.
All that in a couple weeks! Whew! I think I am going to like this new job!

long weekend at GmaGpa Van

Gma Van had her hip replaced and since she is still on the mend the boys and I went up to Green Bay to "help" around the house. (not sure how much actual help we were but...)

The big job was to rake the leaves and empty out flower pots to get ready for winter. As you can see...they boys were a lot of help.

See the boys in action! They have been into tackling each other...a lot....lately. Must be a boy thing

We did get some bike riding in and that was fun. Peter still will not ride the bike he got for his birthday...the one with pedels but what can you do.

Gma and Gpa took us pumpkin hunting and we picked out some real beauties!

and we really enjoyed running through the corn maze.

and you cant pass up the opportunity to get a cute picture with mom! (looks familiar!)And sometimes it is difficult to get a cute photo of those crazy boys...this is what happens when I say "smile!"
and after some begging and bribes...i finally got one!

WooHoo! New harddrive!

"Hot Snot" we are back in business. Pat has installed our new hard drive AND has recovered all of our pictures and files from the old one. So so I am going to pretend that that never happened and update with all the fun that we have had the last few weeks pretending that this silly hd failure ever happened!

good news-sad news

Good news- we finished the play room! and hung some pictures on our newly painted guest room and hallway! The sad news is...we went to plug in the computer and the hard drive failed! We are hoping to recover the pictures from 2008 (since I had not archived them yet) but we will have to see. Sadly...I wont be able to load any pictures until the new hard drive comes. 

So stay tuned! pictures from Gma Van's house, pumpkin picking, carmel apple and monkey tail making!

Weekend at GmaGpaVans

We have spent the last few days in Green Bay at Gma and GpaVans house. I took plenty of pictures of all the fun we had but the home computer is currently not hooked up. We will load the pictures soon and will provide a pictoral update in a couple days!

Goodbye Keiko!

Well, today was the day that we said goodbye to Keiko. We are all very sad as we had loads of fun and did lots of things together. Time flies!

Here is a picture of when she arrived! My! how everyone has changed.We are even in a new city!

The house feels empty...it will sure take some time getting use to. It is unfortunate that we were not able to see her to the gate.....darn airport security. We had to say our good bye at the security check point.

High fives and licks all around (for some reason the boys dont do goodbye hugs, instead high fives and for some reason Peter licked her.)We were still hoping to see the airplane, but we were not able to. During lunch we heard one fly overhead (could not see it because of the clouds) and waved "GoodBye, We will miss you!"

Safe travels Keiko! and keep in touch! Namaste!

puppies and gma/gpa house

The boys sure know how to take care of their puppies! The were all lined up for bed

I think we had every puppie, a couple cats and duck and a lion! (not sure why the pic loaded on its side)

Uncle Sam wants you! (ok that is not what he was saying but it is fitting)
Life at gma/gpa is pretty fun!. Hot tubbing, bike riding and fishing were the main activities of the week. Not too much time for pictures (according to Pat)
Say cheese!~Yup, that is a snake! Great catch boys!
And unfortunately Peter took a head into the counter top and got this great fat lip. That is what happens when you are a crazy boy!

The fat lady has sung!

Can you hear the singing from the roof tops? Listen carefully!
I am done! I am done! I am done! I am done! I am done! I am done! I am done!

When the boys are away....

Well, I am sad to say I have no pictures to add to the blog. Pat took the boys, and camera, up to Gma Jill and Gpa Don house for a few days. Hopefully he will get some fun action shots!

There are some pretty big changes happening around here.
1. It was announced that the Mustard Museum will be moving out of Mount Horeb and into Middleton. We are all devastated! Good thing we still have the trolls.
2. Keiko is returning to Japan as her 2 year tenure with us is over. We are all pretty sad as she was a lot of fun to have with us. Her plane leaves on monday.
3. I have been liberated from my crazy job!. I put in my two week notice and my last day 10Oct! My next job title...Domestic Goddess, Cullen Family Project Manager or Preschool Entertainer, not sure what title I am going to go with. I am going to stay home with the boys for a couple years! I am very excited about this new challenge but sad we will not be hosting another aupair. I am looking forward to slowing the pace, enjoying the area and time with my boys and cleaning my house!

Not as exciting week

For some reason the boys insist on wearing the hoods on jackets and sweatshirts. Take a look at Peter, does he remind you of a character from a movie......say 1990......with Julia Roberts and Keifer Sutherland....

Flatliners....Billy Mahoney...I dont know, you make the call, see the image below. I am a little freaked out but he is not chasing after me throwing rocks.We went on a hike at Blue Mounds State Park. Fall colors are starting! The boys brought their super powers with them and decided to pick up some large rocks. The boys learned a lesson the hard way...if you ever get into a fight with a rock, the rock always wins. Peter was going a little too fast and a rock tripped him up, scrapped knee and a egg on the forehead.

And then last night the boys were helping take the laundry out of the dryer...and then had an idea.....

Ummmm, ya. They realized that they can fit in the dryer. I stopped them before they closed the door.