Friday, November 6, 2009

Wacky Kids!

Here is a picture I took of the kids this morning. I guess this nice weather makes them think we need to go swimming! Have a great weekend!


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Weekly Deals (according to me)

So, I thought I would start sharing some of the deals I am finding each week. It has become a bit of an obsession (in a good way) for me lately! Last week is going to be hard to beat because I was able to get 7 boxes of cereal for $.71 each, and that was with getting a box of Kix that I thought was going to be cheaper than it was, so the average would have come down tremendously had I not gotten that one! :) Anyway, below are the deals that I found for this week, which don't include coupons. If you find any great deals, please feel free to share them in the comments! (I love a good bargain!) Keep in mind these are the bargains I hope to take advantage of.

Hy-Vee-they have had some really good one day sales lately, so the deals are not as hot there this week, but still some good ones!

-Free Breakfast for all veterans on Veterans Day, November 11! (I can't take advantage of this, but what a nice way to celebrate our veterans!)

-Pepsi Products 2 Liter Bottle $.88

Aldi
-cream cheese $.79 each

-milk $1.89 per gallon (Vitamin D, 2% and Skim)

Fareway
-Fastco flour $.88 each

-bananas $.29/lb.

-Fastco shredded cheese $.99 each

-Coke 2 liter Bottles $.79 each

-AE sour cream $.67 each for an 8 oz. carton

-1 lb. bag of Dole Baby carrots $.79 each

Also wanted to share some websites I have been following that have helped me get better at saving money when it comes to shopping. You can click on the Alice.com site on the right to sign up for a free account. This site is amazing. They have some good deals and some that are not so good, but it is delivered to your door, FREE shipping, and they don't require you to clip coupons...they automatically take the coupon off at the checkout for you. If you click on the link on the right, you will get $10 credit after you have ordered $50 worth of stuff. :) Feel free to add any websites you follow also in the comments section.




Sunday, November 1, 2009

Long time, no blog!

I know it has been forever since I have blogged, but I am back now with a renewed desire for doing it. :) I am super excited about a lot of things we have been up to lately. So many things going on in the Kruger house...

Mike has been super busy at work! It is not uncommon for him to get home at 7pm or later lately, but that is also a good thing. We definitely miss him at home, but it is good for business to be so busy that he is getting home later.

Brady started preschool this year. It has been weird not having him home all the time, but he is loving it. He has made some friends and finally can tell us their names. He has also picked up on his colors FINALLY! We were getting so frustrated with trying to teach him at home his colors, but whatever they are doing at school seems to be working. He had his first school pictures, which turned out really great.

Bree is also benefiting from Brady going to school with some sweet one-on-one time with Mommy. We have had tea parties, gone shopping, and done other girly things just the two of us. While we miss Brady, it is nice to have an opportunity to do some girly things. Her personality has blossomed in the past few weeks. She definitely knows what she wants. I am thinking the girly time couldn't have come at a better time. Her favorite movie right now is Cars!

As for me, where should I begin?! I have been working with 6th grade girls for 180, our church middle school ministry. It is awesome! I absolutely love all my girls and have enjoyed learning about Christ. One of my most recent passions has become coupons and saving money. This was actually spurred on by the other leader in my small group for 180, Vicki. We had a sleepover for all the girls at my house in September and she started to share with me some websites and other tips that she uses and it has become almost an obsession for me. I have found some really great ways to save money and get a LOT of groceries for a little bit of money. :)

Sorry this is such a long post, hopefully, it won't be so long between now and the next post. I will try to post pictures soon.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Taste of Our Own Medicine!

Okay, so I guess it is payback time, and we are on the wrong end of the payback! The following is the conversation between Brady and Mike this morning. A little background: my sister's daughter has been brain-washed by her uncle and aunt to be a Cyclone fan from a very young age. My other sister gave us two huge garbage bags full of stuff that my nephew can no longer wear/use. Some things were conveniently placed on top of one of the bags.

Brady: Daddy, is this a Hawkeye shirt?

Daddy: Yes.

Brady: Daddy, I want to wear this today.

Daddy: But Brady, we just bought you a new Buckeye jersey.

Brady: Yeah, but I like the Hawkeyes better! (imagine a dagger going through Mike's heart)

Daddy: But Brady, the Hawkeyes are yucky!

Brady: But Papa has a Hawkeye shirt.

Daddy: Yeah, but Papa is silly!

Brady: Yeah, but he has a Hawkeye shirt.

Later in the morning, before getting dressed, my friend Hollie calls and Brady wants to talk to her about his shirt.

Brady: Hollie, I got a Hawkeye shirt.

Hollie: Oh Brady, the Hawkeyes are yucky!

Brady: (silence and gives me back the phone) Mommy, I can't wear this shirt today. (Thanks for the support Hollie!)

So, I thought the issue was dead...apparently not. When Brady got up from his nap, he asked to put the Hawkeye jersey on. I guess now we know how my sister feels. 

Monday, May 18, 2009

Next!

Well, we finished soccer and are now on to Bam Bam Ball. I think he is going to enjoy this much more because it isn't so much contact with other kids! The rules of Bam Bam Ball are different than t-ball, but it is just to get the kids in the habit of running to the bases, instead of running to get the ball after they hit it, and going after the ball when someone hits it.



Each player bats once every inning. They use the big plastic bat and a rubber ball on two coffee cans taped together.

Brady's first hit went to right field! 

Daddy was standing at first base directing traffic (there was a parent at each base letting kids know where to go). As you can see, Brady decided it was a long run and needed to take a break to sit and draw in the dirt! :)

The bases weren't shortened for the little guys, so it was a long way to run, and it didn't help that the wind was blowing (plus, I think he may have gotten his speed, or lack there of, from his momma)!

Brady's coach was standing at home plate to give everyone a high five when they made it all the way around. When the last batter came up, that kid had to run all the way around the bases, which was a LONG way for little legs. Brady happened to be the last batter one time.

When it was their turn to be in the field, the all lined up at the pitcher's mound. The first one in line fielded the ball and took it to put it on the tee (or cans) and then went in the dugout until they were all done.


Brady has great coaches! They are so patient with the kids and do a great job of explaining what to do each time they are required to do something!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Where's Daddy?

The kids decided it would be fun to see how much stuff they could pile on Daddy tonight.


Then they would jump on him.

Where's Waldo?

Bree was making sure he was still there! :)

Brady would show off his muscles to let Daddy know he was so tough!

And then they got in some good snuggle time!

How blessed am I to have such a wonderful husband who is a fabulous Daddy to my children! They absolutely adore him and cherish every moment with him and he cherishes every moment he gets with them!

Bree Baking


Bree and I made cookies tonight. She kept sneaking little bits of cookie dough when I would "turn away," which is funny because I absolutely love cookie dough and Mike is grossed out by it (he loves the cookies, just not the thought of eating raw eggs)! It is so much fun to do these things with her finally! Brady likes to bake, but would much rather wrestle with Daddy. I am excited to do more girly things with her!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Vacation

I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from our little weekend getaway to the Wisconsin Dells. We had a great time staying at the Wilderness Lodge resort with my parents, sister, Dawn, and her family and my niece and two of her friends. The indoor waterparks are so much fun, even for the adults, and the guys enjoyed watching some of the NCAA games on television. It worked out great for me because I love to swim and Mike loves to watch college basketball, so when it was nap time, he was happy to stay in the room with the kids while I went with the others to the water parks! I didn't take any pictures at the parks because I didn't want to lug the camera around all day and have to worry about it when I was in the water also. Guess I need to get a water camera next time! :)

Shelby wasn't wanting to get up one morning, so Mike decided to give her a little "help"!


We weren't sure how the kids would deal with the giant moose because they tend to freak out when they see big people dressed in costumes, but both did okay. However, Bree wasn't going to take her eyes off of the moose!


Mike thought that Brady needed a sword (to torture his mother and sister with at home), and this is were Brady stowed it when we were walking back to the room! :)


Bree trying on some of Shelby's shoes. Shelby always says that Bree doesn't like her, but I think Bree had a change of heart this weekend! She wanted Shelby most of the time and didn't let her get too far away from her!

And so it begins...

Brady has officially started playing sports. While many of you may already know this, soccer is not a huge hit in our house, but Brady is playing this spring (it took some real convincing on my part to get Mike to allow it). I think I had a pretty good argument though. This will be a great opportunity to meet other kids his age in our community and a great way for us to meet other parents in the community. So, his first practice was last night so I made Mike take pictures since I had to be home with Bree, who is doing much better now. He was sure to let me know that he was the ONLY parent taking pictures! :) He already has his first game on Monday evening. Could be interesting! We ventured out today to try to find some shin guards and shoes and a ball (since it has been banned up to this point) that would actually fit our little man. So far, we haven't had any luck finding any shoes that are small enough, and most of the socks with the padding in them are WAY too big, so we ended up buying some shin guards and a ball.






Thursday, April 2, 2009

Sickies!

April Fool's Day has never been a holiday that I have cared for, especially after teaching and dealing with students pulling pranks all day long. Now, it is even worse. We thought we had missed the flu this year because when all of our friends and their kids were getting it, we didn't. WRONG! Last night on our way to meet Steph for supper and go to D6, Bree puked all over herself in the car. That was pleasant! I brought her home and gave her a bath and hosed off the clothes before putting them straight in the washer. I even got it on my clothes, so I was struggling not to gag myself. Anyway, hopefully it was an isolated incodent because she hasn't gotten sick since the car. (Maybe it was my driving) :) This morning, we have spent a lot of time snuggling, but below is a picture of her snuggling with one of Mike's old "guys" as she calls them. You can tell she doesn't really feel that great when she is just laying around all morning.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Don't eat the baby, Hollie!

Here is the conversation that I had the pleasure of witnessing yesterday! Remember this is between two 3-year-olds! I am allowed to share now that Hollie has officially spread the news! :)

Gabe: Remember what is in my mommy's tummy?

Brady: What? (probably thinking Gabe is going to say something about whatever she ate that morning)

Gabe (in his cute little excited voice): A baby. She has a baby in her tummy!

Brady (with an extremely priceless confused look on his face): What?! Did she eat it?

Gabe: No. It is just in there.

Poor Brady is so confused that his friend's mommy has a baby in her stomach and why in the world would she eat a baby! Gotta love a 3-year-olds mind and how it processes things!

Friday, March 20, 2009

The excitement of a 3-year-old (and a 31-year-old)

This is what an excited 3-year-old looks like when he is trying to go to sleep the night before going on vacation (and to see Nana, Papa, Shelby, Aunt Dawn, Uncle Greg, Zach, Alex, Noah, Layne and Emily)! The poor thing had so much trouble getting to sleep!


This is what an excited 3-year-old looks like when he gets up early the morning that he gets to go on vacation!


The problem is, he said "Mom, I am ready to go see Nana now." (not in a yucky tone, but a subtle one that is just letting us know). The only problem is, he says this at 7:30 in the morning and we aren't leaving until Mike gets home from work at lunchtime! He is so excited that he can't stop talking! On Monday, he called Nana to tell her that there were 5 days until he saw her. She called him on Tuesday and he has called her every day since. I am not sure which one is more excited! Mike has taken half the day off and we are headed up to the Wisconsin Dells for the weekend, so it should be a good time!

He also got some new shoes for the trip, which as you can see above, he is so excited about them that he wore them to bed last night, causing a little bit of a blister on his heal. When he was showing them to his dad this morning, he said, "Dad, look at these shoes that Mom got me. They are so cool!" What a sweet little boy! I had the same problem he did. I couldn't get to sleep last night and was up by 6 am getting started on my "to do list" before we leave!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Has Spring Sprung?

We have been having SO much fun outside this week! The weather has been great, so great, that we only have come inside to eat and take naps and go to bed! Strangely, Brady has decided that he doesn't need a nap anymore. Funny thing is, when we don't go outside, he takes a nap, but when we spend a lot of time outside, he just has trouble falling asleep until he crashes at about 8 pm! I thought it was supposed to be the other way around! Oh well.

He recently was given a bike from my sister, who used it with my nephew. It is the prefect size for him and he loves to ride it. He has been riding it so much that I thought he was ready to take the training wheels off. However, one try at that and he was done. The bike was no longer steady enough for him! So, for now, the training wheels are still on. When Daddy has a free day, we plan to try again. For now, the extra support will have to work.




I have also been meeting with a Conversational English Partner who I met through a Thanksgiving dinner with our connection group (will explain in a different post). This week she brought her daugher with her since she is on spring break. We were meeting to go over some stuff for her interview with a university to be a professor, which was this week, so we really needed to work on some stuff. Her daughter was playing and all the sudden got really quiet. Below you will see why. I just can't imagine she was very comfortable!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Pictures, Pictures and MORE Pictures

I must be a streaky blogger (not one who runs around naked, just one who will do it for a few days and then not do it for awhile!) I didn't realize it had been so long since I had last posted. Time really does fly when you are having fun! We have been having too much fun playing and I forget to update the blog! The weather has been so nice that we have been trying to get outside as much as possible. However, it is the nicest day so far and Brady and Bree are staying with Nana and Papa, so I don't get to enjoy it with them. Instead, I am enjoying some time to catch up and do some things that I don't normally get to do. I have spent a LOT of time in Des Moines this week watching girls state basketball games, which has been SOOO much fun! Monday, my dad decided to come up and spend a few days with us and go to a few games and when he went home, he took the kids with him! It is awfully quiet around here!
No, I don't want you to take a picture of my cute hair do!
Having fun with the pillows and blankent.
When I came home Friday night, (it was late) Mike was in bed and Brady was asleep on the couch. Apparently he had come out of his room and climbed up on the couch and fallen back to sleep!
Sneaking up on Papa while he is sleeping!

The kids love to play with Papa!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Prodigal Son (according to a 3 year old)

Every Wednesday night during the school year, we try to make it to D6, our church's family ministry. We have been fortunate to be in a church that offers programs such as D6, which comes from Deuteronomy 6. This year has been awesome! It is the first year that Brady has really been able to remember most of the parts of the story and then tell us about it. The Bible story teacher in his class is also the pastor at our church, which has been awesome. He is absolutely great with the kids! Anyway, he is very animated in telling the stories, or so it seems from the expressions Brady uses when he retells the story (and I have heard from others who are in the class helping). Below is the conversation that Brady and I had after D6 tonight. The Bible story was from Luke 15:19-24.

Me: What was the story that Pastor Troy told you tonight?

Brady: It was about crying and being happy. And then he took all the money and then he looked in his bag and the money was all gone. And then he went to the store to find some food and money and then there wasn't any and then he went back to the store and there was some.

Me: What happened after he found food in the bag?

Brady: Cause then he looked and there was some, so he took some home to his Daddy. And then he said, "Tickle, tickle." (not sure what part of the story involves tickling, but according to a 3 year-old, there is tickling!)

Me: Did you run home? (I asked this because one of the teachers told me they ran home when Pastor Troy told them to).

Brady: Yeah. I just had to run home quick with Pastor Troy in the circle. And then, Pastor Troy just throwed me up in the air with Gabe and all my other friends. (Pastory Troy must have been pretty tired after throwing all the friends in the air...there are 20 friends in his class!)

It is so interesting to see what he has to say after he comes out of class, and even when I find it hard to believe, it turns out that he is mostly right when he tells me something. (One time he told me Pastor Troy brought a bird in to the class, and he really had!)

Hairdos!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love having a girl so I can do her hair in lots of fun ponytails! So, I thought I would post a few pictures of some of the different ones. I think today is one of my favorites and yes, she will sit and let me do it, as long as she is watching something on tv and sitting up on the bar stool (which she hasn't figure out how to get down off yet!). I love to play with her hair. I tried to french braid it, but I don't know how to that well, and her hair is so slippery that it wasn't staying very well in the braid. Anyway, here are some recent "dos."

Not sure why she was unhappy, other than that I probably just put her down and she didn't want to be! Not one of my favorites, but still cute. :)

My mom used to do this to my hair when I was younger.

Probably my second favorite. I love putting in multiple ponytails! You can't really see it, but she has two on each side that are connected.

This one is my favorite! However, when you look at her from the back, she looks much older with this hairdo (until you see her little girl bouncy run)!


Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The white blanket conversation

Brady was having a very hard day today! He didn't want his dad to leave after lunch (because it is SOOO terrible to be at home with mom!), so he was having a melt down, a very tired boy melt down. So we were sitting on his bed talking and this is what the conversation was like. I love how he processes things and and expresses what he is thinking!


Brady: I want my white blanket from the closet. (the blanket he loves to fall asleep with and chews on the corner until there are holes and feathers go everywhere)

Me: We need to take it to Nana's to fix it, so we can't get it out right now. We will take it with us when we go on Friday.

Brady: But I want her to come to our house today and fix it.

Me: No, we will take it with us when we go on Friday and have her fix it.

Brady: But why did she have to change it to the new blanket? (He used to have a smaller version of this blanket that Aunt Robin brought back from Copenhagen, but he chewed holes in all 4 corners more times than could be fixed and Aunt Robin brought back a bigger version when he got a bigger bed. He thinks we left it at Nana's house because it was chewed so badly that it is beyond repair. It is actually in our basement boxed up so I can pull it out at his graduation. :) Anyway, he thinks that Nana somehow magically changed that blanket to the new, bigger one.)

Me: What? She didn't change it. Aunt Robin gave you a new one because your old one didn't fit on your bed and your old one is broken. We can't fix it.

Brady: But I want the old white blanket that is at Nana's house.

Me: We can't fix the old one. We will take the new one to her house when we go on Friday.

Brady: But I want friends to come over tonight.

Funny how things came full circle to a new topic. I think it was more of a "I'm so tired, but don't want you to leave because then I might actually fall asleep" type of conversation! Below are some pictures of the infamous white blanket!
I know it is crazy, but he actually fell asleep sitting up with the "white blanket" in hand. Just goes to show you can go to sleep anywhere if you have the right tools!

If you look closely, you will see how nasty the corners look from being chewed on!

Once again, the white blanket is the answer to all sleeping problems! :) Doesn't he look so sweet when he is asleep?!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Once again...

So, it has been awhile since I have updated this, so here it goes. We have been keeping pretty busy and for the most part, healthy, with a few minor illnesses that didn't keep us down for long. It seems like we have had a ton of doctors appointments though.

Bree just had her 18 month check-up last week (only 2 months late), and is still growing. She is actually low on the growth charts, but growing at a steady rate, so no worries. She was 9 percentile for weight, 37 percentile for height, and 72 percentile for head size! Brady has had similar numbers, so as Mike says, we have "bobbleheads" for kids! As she has grown, so has her hair, which has been so fun for me. I love trying different ponytail styles in her hair, because no matter what you do, she looks so cute! (maybe I am biased)

Brady has been on a roll lately with his story telling. Here is an actual conversation we had the other day, and Papa Richard is in trouble for this one (even though he says he doesn't remember telling Brady this)!

Me: Wash your hands and dry them.

Brady (shaking his hands after washing): I don't need to use the towel. This is how Papa did it when he was a little boy like me. He just shaked them so they would dry. That is what he told me.

Me: Which Papa?

Brady: Papa Richard.

Me: Well, you can't always listen to what Papa Richard tells you. Sometimes it might get you in trouble! :)

Brady: Yeah, he is pretty funny sometimes!


Amazing what he comes up with! Papa Richard and Aunt Robin have been in most of the stories lately...not sure if that is such a good thing! :)


Here are some pictures, since it has been so long. My goal is to try to do a better job of updating at least a couple times per week. We will see if that actually happens or not! :)
Having smooties on a Saturday morning, which has become a weekend ritual at our house.
Having smooties on a Saturday morning, which has become a weekend ritual at our house.
Bree is also known as the "Princess" in the Kruger house!


This is his stash of snowballs that we made and Brady was so anxiously waiting for Daddy to come home!