Wordless Wednesday: Traveling for Thanksgiving

About half way to Chicago we had an upset/crabby little princess.

Thankfully she cheered up for the rest of the ride!

Because They're Long Overdue

Here's a few pictures of the kids in their Halloween Costumes

(yes, I realize it's almost Thanksgiving).

Cakes and Counting

Today when Lucy left for preschool I mixed up some cake batter and made two 6 inch cakes and 6 cupcakes (that's what you get with a box of cake mix). I'm working on my first wedding cake and it will have a 6 inch top tier. Murray was home and was "watching" me do my baking. He's not allowed to touch any of the cake badder for the wedding. He did however help me decorate the cupcakes with some leftover frosting.

While the cakes were baking Murray and I read a few books and just spent time together. After a while the timer beeped and I went to check the cakes. The cupcakes were finished, but the cakes still needed a bit more time. So, I took the cupcakes out of the oven too cool and left the cakes to continue to bake setting the timer for a few extra minutes (so I didn't forget...hey, it can happen, I've been known to leave a squash in the oven for 2 days b/c I forgot, don't worry, the oven had been turned off...but that particular squash never became baby food, just cooked trash)...

"Those hot mommy?" Murray asked "Yes, those are very hot, don't touch them." I said about the cupcakes sitting on the counter.

We went back to reading until the timer beeped again and I checked the cakes, carefully sliding a toothpick in...not quite done.

Back to reading we went. When the timer beeped a 3rd time, Murray was excited to get some toothpicks out of the box to help me...he knew what we were doing. He graciously took out about 15 toothpicks for me to check the cake with. I took 2 of them and sat him on a stool far away from the oven.

I checked the cakes, which were done and placed them on the counter to cool. Murray, was busy checking the cupcakes with toothpicks. He stuck the toothpicks in each cupcake, counting as he went. "Look Mommy, cakes done!"

Wordless Wednesday

Nick and Lucy love me :)

Success!

We've been having a successful weekend here at the Koschmann house. I've been successfully avoiding my "to do" list (difficult for a mom you know) and Nick successfully completed stage 1 of a new batch of beer, Lucy has been successfully learning Kings Corner (a card game) and Murray has been successfully using the potty.

Now, some of these accomplishments are much greater than others. Murray for example is a champ! We've been making this potty training push for a few weeks now...and while we've been successful, it's just been in the past few days that Murray has moved into the "independent" stage of it all. Getting up from the table and announcing "I have to go potty" and being successful.

This morning while I was at a 2 hour Bible study the nursery worker said he went potty 5 times!!! They were drinking lots of juice and water, but hey, that's quite a success! Friday morning the boys ran errands and he stayed dry throughout the 2 hours of errand running with only 1 potty break in the midst of it! Way to go Murray! We are so proud of you and your accomplishments!

Lucy's accomplishment is just as entertaining...while maybe not quite as much of a milestone. She asked to play cards the other day and I told her I wasn't sure there was a card game she could play. (We have a "Go Fish" deck of cards...so I know she wouldn't go for that). I then remembered a Koschmann favorite: Kings Corner. So, last night we sat down after dinner and she was on daddy's team for the game (Murray was on mine, but he just counts and draws cards...and knocks on the table).

What fun we had! It was even more fun today to see her making decisions and pulling cards out of Nick's hands to play. She's really getting the basics and I'm sure if we keep playing soon she'll be able to be her own team.

What a joy my children and family are and what a great way for us to spend time together. I'm so proud of how they're growing and changing every day. Just wanted to give everyone an update on our successes...if you come visit get ready to drink some beer and play some cards!

Thankful Thursdays

With Thanksgiving approaching quickly we are surrounded by people being thankful...or at least I am. Many of my friends are posting 30 days of Thanksgivings, and certainly we all have more than 30 things to be thankful for. I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge of remembering to post everyday, although I certainly am thankful for many things daily...it's all those things I'm thankful for that keep me from focusing on writing blogs!

This week I am thankful for my husband and all the laughter he brings to my life. He's been really helpful this week doing chores around the house and although he's been super busy with work and his homework he's been very aware of it and making sure he makes time for us as a family. Most of all...he's been starting my day and ending my day with lots of laughter. It's pretty great when he nominates himself for husband of the year multiple times and explains that the standards are much lower for husbands than wives...it's also pretty hilarious when he and Lucy come up with a scheme to "sneak" Murray into the football game (for your info...Murray still would get in free without any sneaking involved)...but I laughed really hard at this one!

Wordless Wednesdays

Going along with www.mamato3blessings.blogspot.com Here's my Wordless Wednesday.

Daddy's Little Helpers

Tomatoes or Potatoes

Friday morning Nick preached at Concordia Ann Arbor, and we all went along. So, we were all up and eating breakfast and then I wanted to clean out the leftovers from the fridge (a job I dread) before the garbage man came that morning. While cleaning out the fridge I saw the roast I had taken out of the freezer the day before so we could have it for dinner that night. I was SO GLAD I had seen it. I sometimes forget that I was planning on making a crock pot meal until it's too late! So, I got out the roast, potatoes, carrots and soups to top it. I started washing the veggies and before long I had a helpful observer.

Murray likes to watch me while I work in the kitchen. Most of the time I don't mind unless it's him following me around so I can't take a step without walking on him. I was stationary and he was on a stool next to me...this is my favorite kind of help. We started talking about what I was doing. Washing the vegetables for dinner tonight, we want to get all the dirt off. "yes, dirt yucky" says Murray.

"What's that?" He asks. "That's a carrot." I reply. "That's no carrot, that's too big." Says Murray. So, I show him the baby carrots we eat for snack and explain "These are baby carrots, they're washed and cut before we buy them at the store. These are big carrots that grow in the ground. Mommy will wash and peel them and we'll it them for dinner." "I like carrots!" Was Murray's response.

And then we moved onto the potatoes: "What's that?" he asks. "That's a potato." I say. "I no like potatoes." says Murray. "Well, we don't like to eat them before they're cooked Murray, but you do like potatoes." "No, mommy like potatoes...I no like potatoes." insists Murray.

"Murray, mommy doesn't make potatoes very often. Daddy doesn't like potatoes, but I'm pretty sure Murray likes potatoes." I respond, beginning to think dinner is going to be a long battle. "I no like potatoes, mommy like potatoes, I pick potatoes for mommy." He says pointing to the window sill. There sits our last ripe tomato off the vine from the backyard.

"Oh," I say. "Yes, mommy likes tomatoes, Murray does not like tomatoes. But, these are P-P-P-potatoes...not T-T-T-tomatoes. Murray likes P-P-potatoes!" This continued for quite some time attempting to distinguish between potatoes and tomatoes. At dinner Murray gobbled up his potatoes but then had to ask again, "I like potatoes, but I no like tomatoes?" (both words sound the same coming from Murray...barely recognizable as different words. So with our foreheads pressed together giggling we once again revisited the difference between potatoes and tomatoes...but he ate the potatoes, so whatever he has to say about them, I'll take that!

Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for flour, salt, water, oil and Kool Aid. Strange things to be thankful for? Maybe, but not when combined they make over an hour of fun and entertainment for 4 kids! We made our own play dough today and what a marvelous time Lucy, Murray, Veronica and Carter had making it and then playing with it. We made Mickey Mouse, pizzas, hamburgers, hot dogs, and just plain smashed, squashed and molded that dough for over an hour! Kool Aid play dough is my favorite no cook play dough ever!!

I also think I may have discovered how the driving range was invented...I know they're using hockey sticks and just being little boys...but this is where great ideas come from. Hilarious! I think they spent over half an hour hitting the balls down the steps and getting them then trying again! (that's a super long time when you're 2!)

Coming Soon

Halloween Pics are coming soon. Nick put them on his computer so I need him to be home and not on his computer at a time when I can sneak away and upload pics to a blog...they're coming, I'm just not sure when...sorry for the delay folks...it's been a busy week!

That being said, I'll tell you a bit about our Halloween adventures. We had a great weekend with Grammy and Pop Pop visiting. It's always fun to see the kids interact with their grandparents and this visit was certainly no exception. Lucy was in Grammy heaven when my mom first arrived and they began sewing the finishing touches of her costume which included making her hat. It's such a special thing for Lucy to be "learning" to sew with Grammy...I hope she keeps it up and gets really good...maybe I'll even learn a thing or two along the way!

There was lots of story telling and book reading by Pop Pop and also lots of car watching and playing ball with Murray. It was great to hear all the conversations and giggles that happened over the weekend between my parents and the kiddos.

On Saturday night the Troxel family made the drive down to introduce Matthias to my parents and to carve pumpkins. Let me tell you 5 kids and 6 adults is a lot of busyness for my house to handle! All pumpkins were carved and all mouths were fed and one especially cute little boy was passed around so overall I say it was a successful trip.

Sunday was Halloween of course so after church, naps/football, and some pizza for dinner we headed out to Trick or Treat. Jarret joined us on this adventure and what an adventure this particular walk around the block was! This was the first year that Lucy really got into how much candy she could get, while keeping Murray from plopping down and eating the first piece he received was a challenge all on it's own. It took us just under an hour to go around the block and their buckets were full by the time we got home.

Murray did not appreciate the scary costumes and skipped a few houses because of them and by the end would yell "NO SCARE ME!" at any passerby who was dressed to frighten! We did our best to avoid these costumes... When we arrived home both kids were excited to pass out candy and take a look at what they had received. They each picked out 1 piece of candy and enjoyed it before heading up to bed.

Monday we decided Lucy could skip preschool so we could all go to the Henry Ford Museum. My mom hadn't been before and we wanted to show her a favorite of the kids. What a fun and full day it was! We started on the opposite end than we usually do and explored some new places as well as visited our favorites: the combine, the Dymaxian (round) house, and the train.

We were sad to say goodbye to Grammy and Pop Pop, but thankful for the fun and busy weekend we could share with them! What an adventure to have people we love come to visit us!