All on His Own

Tonight Adam mowed the lawn and when I went to check on Gerrit, this is what I saw:

He LOVES helping Adam. He did this all on his own...He knows how Adam usually rakes the large clumps of grass and then sweeps the sidewalk (can't have that grass run off into the sewers!). So he started to help dad before dad had finished mowing.

When I came back out to get him at bed time, he had put on his work gloves and had gotten the bucket Adam usually uses too. He disappeared and Adam said he was putting the grass clippings in the compost bin! We aren't sure how he figured out how to get the lid off but sure enough, he was behind the garage taking care of the clippings!

We can only hope he continues to be this excited about yard work and mowing the lawn and does it all on his own!

**side note: what you don't see in these pictures is Gerrit peeing in the 'weeds' between our house and Nick's! Adam caught him pulling up his pants after the deed. It is always obvious when Gerrit does go to the bathroom (weeds or toilet) because his shirt is usually tucked into his underwear in some spot!

Skol Vikings!

I just realized I didn't post any pictures from our big Vikings game! Silly me! I posted some on facebook but forgot the blog. (Sorry for those of you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for pictures!)

We had a blast! I couldn't get a family photo and the best I could do of the 2 boys is the one in the middle! We took Luke and Paul with us and they too had a great time. Gerrit took it all in and couldn't get enough of it. He followed the game and probably would've lasted longer had Dad bought him popcorn! We left at the end of the 3rd and stopped for ice cream at Grand Ole Creamery for a late night snack. Gerrit is still talking about the game and will recall some of the plays.

We can't thank Rockne's enough for the tickets, great seats and opportunity to go to a game. It was a night to remember!

Comin' Along

Here is the latest look of the basement:

top right: the heated flooring is in

bottom right: Travis helping out

left: Adam pouring out the leveling liquid

middle: Travis and Adam mixing the leveling stuff

Teaching Him Young

Gerrit usually hangs out with Luke and plays while I harvest and help Deb. This last time, however, Gerrit was into helping harvest. He chose to help me pick tomatoes:

Photos are compliments of Deb

Cozy

With most of the basement furniture displaced throughout the house, Gerrit has enjoyed playing with it in a new 'light'. Sunday he decided to make a cozy spot on his favorite playing area:

Life Just Got Interesting

This cute little mohawk sportin' kid...

is now 'officially' crawling (as of 8.25.10). He still army crawls but its less and less each day.

Down on the Farm

Friday I took all of the boys to the farm. This was my last chance to help out before school started so I thought I'd take Emmit too so he could enjoy the fresh air and fun on the farm. We set up the pack n play and he played well in it and took a few naps too. This allowed me to pick beans (Gerrit is pulling the wagon back to the barn from the field, bottom right). We enjoyed a break and yummy brownies (middle bottom). Emmit even went on a tractor ride with Paul. We did not stay all day but I was able to help get a few things done for Deb. I'm sad my 'farming days' have come to an end as school starts up for me tomorrow. Bummer...

A Great Day for a Birthday!

One of the nice things about having a summer birthday is celebrating at a pool! Lucky for us, we have friends with a pool so we made an afternoon out of it on Sunday.

Uncle Travis joined us as well and seems to be enjoying his new life in the midwest! Gerrit rarely came out of the pool, Adam enjoyed his 'fight' with Paul (until Gerrit started crying because they were 'hurting' each other), Emmit liked the water and chillin' with Uncle Dave, it was the perfect afternoon and a great way to celebrate Adam's birthday!

The only bummer is that summer is coming to an end but we hope to squeeze in one more pool party before the end of summer.

Zzzzz

I love looking in on the boys when they are sleeping. Lately you never know what you're going to find with Gerrit. I guess he still likes to sleep sideways (top 2 pictures).

Gerrit has been playing with "Allen" lately as well (bottom left). He now takes him to sleep with him at night (partly because we can't find George due to the basement issues).

Sunday after our trip to the pool, I put Emmit to bed and came downstairs to find Gerrit sleeping on the beanbag. Guess he had a fun day at the pool!

Is There Any Room?

I went to change Gerrit's sheets and when I pulled back the covers, this is what I found:

I don't know how he has any room for himself!

Living the Dream

Luke started tackle football this week and was very excited to show Gerrit his gear. After the farm, I dropped the boys off and Dahlen's and went and took a shower. When I returned, Gerrit was playing football with the boys in the yard. He could barely stand up, needed help getting up once tackled, could hardly walk (which is why Paul is carrying him), but loved the idea of playing real tackle!

Following football and bike riding, we headed inside where the boys played Wii. Gerrit has now graduated from needing a piece of candy and rubber band on the remote to doing it all by himself. He even beat his dad on a hole tonight!

Its a sad thought to think summer is almost over. I have one week left before I head back to work for meetings etc. Gerrit has so much fun hanging out with the big boys! Good thing they live behind his daycare and will come over and play with him after school once in a while.

Showin' Off for Dad

We took Gerrit's bike to Dahlen's after Adam came home. They took his training wheels off and Gerrit showed his dad his new trick. Dad was impressed and very pleased. Emmit enjoyed the show too. In the bottom right photo, Gerrit is out of the saddle riding - which is not easy to do.

The one thing left to master before hitting the pavement is stopping. He rides into the grass and either falls over or hops off. He's starting to coast to a stop which is easy to do in the grass. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, we will head over to the school where the ground is hard and probably a bit easier to ride on (hopefully Luke and Paul will join us).

The day ended with Anne bringing home Chipolte in honor of Paul's birthday today!

Off to the Races

I don't know who came up with the idea of riding the wagon down the hill, but it was a riot to watch! Luker has it perfected, but Paul doesn't do too bad of a job himself. I think its a bit harder for him because he is taller. Gerrit would race them using his push bike and one of them in the wagon. Usually Gerrit would win. Then they would buddy up with him and ride the wagon together. A few crashes did occur but no broken bones.

I said to Deb that she needs to keep the farm going for a long time because I want my boys to come out in the summer and work for her. Having them learn how to ride the tractor and help harvest etc on the farm will be such a great experience. Luke and Paul are here at least 2 times a week and I think it teaches them good values of hard work - and allows them to be boys and have fun too!

Boys and Their Toys

When Gerrit wasn't perfecting his 2 wheel bike handling skills...

Look What I Can Do

Today was market day for the farm so I went to help pick produce. Luke has been bugging me to bring Gerrit so today I did and boy did they have fun! First off, Gerrit learned how to ride a 2 wheeler! Yep, no training wheels for this kid! The bike was a 16" which is bigger than his bike but he seemed to do fine. Deb lowered the seat for him and Luke helped him get started and he was off. Each time he would ride further around the grounds. He would start to slow down and then fall over of hop off to stop (still working on that concept). All in all, he loved it, was not afraid and will be ready for the road in no time!

OK, so he might not like the idea that his first 2 wheel experience was on a purple bike with a basket, but hey, it was the best we could do at the farm!

Steele County Fair

Seeing we didn't make it to our own county fair, we decided to make a road trip to a different county fair with Rockne's. Adam has been wanting to take Gerrit to this fair because he heard it is a good one - and it is! Its bigger than our fair yet smaller than the state fair - and its free! The highlight of course was the animals. Gerrit fed one animal and didn't like the feel of the tongue on his hand. He did pet a goat (which is more than I thought he'd do). Nikki convinced him to feed the ostrich because that had to be done with a spoon. He loved looking from a distance which was very different from Abby and Oliva who would pet and feed any one of the animals!

I didn't get any pictures of Emmit but he basically sat in the stroller and enjoyed looking around at everything. He was a trooper! I think we will go back to this fair again some time - maybe take Dad with next time.

Let the Fun Begin

Sunday Adam returned home from WI and Uncle Travis had the day off so the 2 of them started on the basement. Oh, the surprises they found! Love the tile and the checker board in the middle of the floor, the floor leveling concrete that didn't work because they didn't do it right and let it crumble, drains that were cemented in, and outdoor siding near the baseboards! What more could they find??

I took the boys to Roch to deal with tile colors while Adam and Travis dealt with the basement. When we returned, it was obvious we were not suppose to go in the basement. Gerrit looked on from the steps and then disappeared. He returned with the tool kit from the neighbor's porch. He insisted on wearing a mask like the big boys and spent quite a bit of time 'working' in the kitchen, near the basement steps.

Something Had to Give

With Adam out of town for work these past few days, I had to give up something as I took on the role of single parenthood. So the blog has been neglected. Adam is home and so I can resume some of my other duties and give him back some of his duties. :)

Emmit has been all over the floor these days...not officially crawling using his hands and knees, rather he gets around any way he can, usually military style. He is close to using his hands and knees but then resorts to flopping on his tummy and moving accordingly.

He happened to find Gerrit's indoor golf club on the floor and was entertained by it for a long time (Opa would be proud).

On a side note...Emmit got croup while Adam was gone! Just lovely!! Actually, it wasn't as bad as it could've been thanks to Emmit's awesome Aunt Erika. I detected he had croup Fri. night when the barking seal cough began. Luckily it didn't keep either of us up too much Friday night. I called Erika and explained our night as well as some other symptoms I had noticed. She called Target and they allowed her to call a prescription in across state lines! Yipee. She saved us a potential trip the ER Sat. night. And with Adam gone, I really did not want to go to the ER! Saturday, Emmit slept a lot and snuggled with me (which I didn't mind). I sent Gerrit off to Dahlen's as they were going to spend the afternoon at Rockne's and seeing Emmit was contagious, it was best we stayed away. Thankfully the meds did the trick and Emmit is back to his old self again. We all have colds now, but that is better than a barking seal in the house!

Mother Nature Wished Us a Happy Anniversary!

So for our anniversary, Mother Nature gave Adam and I chance to spend the day together dealing with the basement. How thoughtful!

Last night we were blessed with 2 thunderstorms that gave us over 3 inches or rain.

This morning Adam checked our usual spot that would show signs of water in the basement before getting ready for work. Good thing he checked because we did have some water which is normal and nothing too alarming. The problem this time is that it kept coming! So, Adam woke me up and we started vacuuming and moving things off the floor just in case it got out of control - which it did. Let's just say, Adam did not make it to work today and now my basement looks like this:

My living room looks like this:

And my dining room looks like this:

So this afternoon I looked at this:

Adam is now off to WI with the guys doing Dairland Dare tomorrow and will return on Sunday. He didn't leave until everything was under control with the house and was even debating whether he should go because more rain is expected tonight. He has put in too many long hours in the saddle this summer not to go so he went. While Gerrit was hanging out with Luke, Pam joined Emmit and I on what turned out to be quite the adventure to Roch. to look at flooring.*

We decided while everything was in a disarray, we might as well tear the carpet up and put something down that was a bit more water resistant in case this were to happen again (before we install another sump pump next spring).

After talking to Pam, we decided to follow their lead and do as they did in their old house: heated industrial tiles.

*The Rochester Adventure:

It started raining on our way to Roch. which was fine. It was coming down pretty hard when we got to Home Depot so we stayed in the car a bit longer and chatted. Finally we realized it wasn't going to let up so we ran for it. The closest door was the exit which we thought you could also enter but when we got there, it wouldn't open. Pam ran to the entrance and came through the store to let me in. Only when she got to the exit, it still wouldn't open. She tried prying it with her hands and I was about to make a run for it to the entrance, when it opened (she unlocked it). As we started walking into the store we realized there was no one around, NO ONE! The one clerk by the door approached us and told us there was a tornado warning and that if we wanted to shop in the store, we had to go to the severe weather area until the warning was lifted. He directed us to the back of the store and away we went, laughing! We had no idea there was a tornado warning but now understood why we hadn't seen a single person walking around! Once in the back of the store, we stood in a room where the rest of the customers were as well as some employees. It wasn't crowded and was quite funny from our perspective. The staff offered us bottled water and snacks while we waited. I called Adam to find out if the rain was hitting Z-town and luckily it wasn't. So all was calm back home while we were 10 miles from a tornado! We passed the time by trying to find radar on Pam's Ipod touch and made jokes about being stuck in the store so close to the flooring section but were not allowed to go to it until the all clear. Finally after 25 min. we were given the go ahead to continue our shopping...

Cheap Entertainment

Its been a busy few days around here as Uncle Travis moved to town (well, nearby town). He'll be working at the bike shop in Rochester that we go to on a regular basis. He moved into his place but has been over to our house getting a few extra pieces of furniture from us and our friends while he still had his U-Haul. One item he brought with him was this:

He gave it to Gerrit and it happens to be just like the one he plays with at Oma and Opa's house. Gerrit was pretty excited to have his very own table top hockey game (and all the pieces are there too!).

Tonight Gerrit was inside and outside after dinner. I was tending to the dishes etc and went to check on him as he was outside for a long time and this is what I saw:

How cute is this? He sat for close to an hour in the yard watching the volunteer fire fighters practice some of their much used skills. He was offered a ride in the truck when they were finished but he was too scared. He did get to see inside the truck before they left. Maybe next year.

Soccer Camp Recap

This is how Gerrit looked on Monday...

The warm up game of "What time is it Mr. Wolf?"

Gerrit was caught last night and had to be a wolf. I love the picture of him 'sleeping'. The top left picture Gerrit is still shy and scared of the wolf (red shirt, Tuesday). The bottom left is Gerrit up close to the wolf on Thursday.

Not paying attention to the directions:

Not quite sure what this look is all about, he would put his shirt in his mouth (nervous?):

Soccer bowling:

Emmit was eyeing Gerrit's water bottle one night:

How Emmit kept himself entertained while having to sit through soccer camp:

In action, no longer scared:

Look at my pinny!

A PE teacher's worst nightmare - sitting on a ball! I'll have to work with him on this one.

Gerrit in his surfer pose. (The little girl in the left by her dad never figured out camp. She wouldn't go on the field w/o him and often preferred to sit and watch the babies.)

The surfer was caught and turned into a crab:

Much needed drink break:

Look at those toe touches!

Freeze tag: Gerrit learning how to spread his legs to make room for someone to unfreeze him.

Scrimmaging (and almost going to fall)

Receiving his certificate from coaches Joey and Tom.

We think Gerrit had a great time. Not sure if he'll be a soccer player as he showed aspects of football while scrimmaging, but it was good for him to try something new. (He would push kids out of the way during the scrimmage last night. We told him he couldn't do that and his response was they were blocking the ball and he couldn't get to it!)

One of my favorite parts of camp was listening to the coaches. I learned a few games I wouldn't have thought to put soccer skills in to them (which I can use now that I'm teaching a little elem. PE this year). But my favorite was their British accents!

"Little Kicks" Makes Big Stride

Soccer camp continues....what's missing from this picture?

MOM!

Yep, I didn't have to be on the field at all Wednesday!

Here's a difference too:

Each night they start with a little song about bananas and at the end they are suppose to 'go bananas' to get them hyped up for camp. Gerrit is in the white shirt - sitting during the 'go bananas' part on Wednesday (still) but Thursday night he was into it! He even joined in many of the other little games that required chanting, counting etc.

({PS their age group is called 'little kicks'}