Happy Father’s Day to my Dad in Heaven who taught me to be very resourceful! (Notice his duct-taped shoe!!)

Love you and miss you Dad!!!!

And a Happy Father’s Day to Rick!!! He’s gone for work right now, so we can’t celebrate with him, but we wish you a very Happy Father’s Day and we’ll do something special when you get back!!! Here’s a couple of pictures of the kids…these are things they HAD to have learned from you!!!

The Arends clan come down for the weekend and we decided to take the kids to the Kansas Speedway to show them what it was all about. It was a HOT one, but the kids all did great!!!

Rick and Brian tried their hand at being a pitman! Rick actually did pretty well!!! I was impressed!

On Sunday, Brian & Pam headed out to the track…armed with sunscreen, drinks, sunscreen, hats, and did I mention sunscreen? It was another hot one for them, but they didn’t look too pink when they came back after the race, so that sunscreen must have worked!!! While they were gone, the rest of us went down to the pool to cool off!!!

Here’s the clan before they had to leave…

The 28th we headed to Ryan & Dee’s farm to go sledding!!! Noah was actually more interested in seeing the cows, so after a couple of trips down the hill, Rick and Noah went to look at the cows. A few days before we came back to Iowa, he said he wanted to see Reid and Ryan’s cows and that it was cold so we needed to cover the cows up with blankets. So maybe he was concerned about them! Here’s a picture of Renae and Noah coming down the hill…Renae said she was trying to be dramatic for Noah’s sake!!

That night we had Christmas with my Mom’s side. Mom vetoed my vote to not dress Faith in her Christmas dress. So Faith got to wear it one more time! The grandkids sang “Jingle Bells” for everyone…at least they attempted it!!! It was pretty cute. Noah got a game and Faith got a sippy cup with her name on it.

The 29th was spent as a little more relaxing day, but I did get my hair cut…7 inches cut off!!!! It really needed to be cut…I haven’t had a haircut since a month before Faith was born (and she’s now 9 months old)! That night, we had our family Christmas!!! Noah got a Thomas match game and a bath towel and toy. Faith got a pink tea set and a glow worm (this brought back memories for Renae and I because we each had one when we were growing up).

That night, Noah didn’t really seem to be himself and after everyone was getting ready for bed and leaving, Noah threw up all over me – I’m not good at handling puke!! We thought it was too much junk food over the last week mixed with being on the go so much. Well, after throwing up a few times, we figured it was probably the flu. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night. Faith also got sick during the night, but we figured that they’d be better by the morning for our trip back to Kansas. They seemed to be fine for the first 4.5 hours, but then it all went down hill after that. First Noah was sick a couple of times…and we only were 1/2 successful at getting the bucket to him soon enough. We pulled over at a gas station to “get cleaned up” and to empty the bucket. Once we were back on the road, he’d do it again and then Faith decided she wanted to join in a few rounds. I’m just surprised I didn’t join in…it took about everything in me to keep from throwing up.

As soon as we got him, I started the bath and just let them soak for awhile while Rick cleaned out the car. I’m just glad that Rick can handle it!!! I’m not sure what kind of bug Noah picked up, but he’s still throwing up every once in a while and now we can add diarrhea to the list! They both seem to have that right now. I’m really hoping that they get over this bug pretty soon…I think I’m doing laundry non-stop right now.

Besides getting the flu, it was great to be back with family over Christmas! It was nice to get back to a little warmer weather and not see any snow!!! I’m pretty sure we decided on the way home that Christmas needs to be at our house next year! I’m sure we’ll change our mind and forget about the car ride back…eventually!!!

Here is also what Faith accomplished while we were in Iowa. Rick seen her climb a couple of stairs while we were still at home, but when we were at his parents, she climbed all the way to the top! Once she got to the top, she would pull herself up at the windows and look outside. I think this is the favorite place in the house for the kids. Noah loves looking out the window, watching the cars go by.

On Christmas Day we played outside for a little while in the snow. Okay, so it was mainly Rick and Noah outside! They went for a sled ride down the sidewalk and played in the piles. We also got to meet up with Renae and her family as they were headed to her in-laws for Christmas. We met up at a hotel and the kids could run around. I think Noah liked playing with his cousins because all he talked about after leaving them, was Kahle and Bodee. We couldn’t see them soon enough again!

The 26th, we spent just relaxing. Rick was in bed most of the day, but not really relaxing. He had the flu, so he was pretty miserable. He was in Noah’s bed, so at nap time, Noah didn’t have his bed to go to. I tried to tell him that he could sleep in my bed, but he decided that he was going to sleep on the floor outside his room. I guess whatever works!!

Well, Noah seems pretty excited to see Santa and tell him what he wants for Christmas. During breakfast this morning, he was going thru all the trains that he wanted…Hiro, Duncan, Salty, Cranky and Edward. I’m pretty sure Santa is only bringing him the first two…hope Noah is okay with that!!!! He keeps adding to his list, how can I keep up!?! He also wants a red car, blue car, green car, yellow car, a police car, a fire truck, an ambulance, and a school bus. So he was all prepared to talk to Santa…

So off we went to Bass Pro Shop to talk with Santa – they actually give you a picture for free…and you can take your own! This is the picture that I took of Noah…he was busy telling Santa where the train is at. I didn’t get a picture of Faith…she was too busy crying. The picture we got from Bass Pro Shop, is a pretty good one of her crying!

We spent a lot of time by the train track and we also wrote a letter to Santa, colored a picture and had a fresh warm chocolate chip cookie (I think Faith had more than anyone!). Here’s a few more pictures from this morning.

Well, we are getting in the Christmas Spirit at the Nielsen household. I have not baked as much as I normally do…maybe we’ll do some more this week. I better make some Peanut Butter Balls for Rick so he doesn’t dis-own me! Noah and I did make some Creme deMinthe Bars and a Birthday Cake for Jesus this last week. Noah wants to stir and help mix and pour and lick the beaters!!! He is SO my kid!!!

Noah also thought Faith needed something to snack on too. I had the container of puffs sitting on the table and Noah dumped about the whole thing on her tray. Not sure how many she ate before I noticed, but she was shoving them in by the fistful!

Noah was pretty excited to eat the Birthday Cake we made for Jesus. He also licked the beaters…and the bowl when we made this. He tried to go straight for the batter in the pan, but I thought that was maybe a little too much!!

Rick thought Faith NEEDED a Christmas dress, so here it is. I think Noah is even wondering what is going on with her!!! He kept looking at her shoes, like “These are not her tennis shoes…what are these things?” Actually, I think I wore these shoes when I was little. They were in the closet with some other things my Mom pulled out of her cedar chest. They fit Faith and I didn’t have to go shopping, so it was good!!!

We went to the KC Pumpkin Patch today!! They had all kinds of stuff for kids (and adults) to do, including a tricycle track, petting zoo, Pumpkin Cannon, Mining, Duck Races, Jumping Pillow and…

Great Pumpkin Slide

Ducks to feed

SpongeBob Hay Pants

Train Ride

Playground Equipment

And of course, lots of PUMPKINS!!!

It was a great time and Rick was happy because he got a Funnel Cake!!! I might add, it was REALLY good!!! And on the way home, we topped the excitement off with Casey’s Pizza!!! I think we will be making this an annual event!

Last night we went for walk on one of the walking trails by our home. We were hoping that we could see a train to make Noah’s day…and boy did we ever!!! There was a path right off the trail that went straight up to the train track!!! Noah got to touch the train track and throw some rocks on the track while we waited for another train to come past. After about 15 minutes, we seen the train coming!!! Rick grabbed the video camera and I grabbed Noah (Faith was in the stroller) and there we stood, only about a few yards away from the track and watched the train go past!!! Noah was doing the “choo choo” sound and the arm action and the train honked back!!!

Below is a video that Rick but together of two of the trains that we seen on our walk last night. I think we’ve had to watch this video at least a dozen times already today!

We’ve been trying to get down to our neighborhood pool as much as we can before it closes for the season. I attempt to bring both kids to the pool by myself once in a while. For the first little while, Faith stays in the stroller while Noah and I swim, but it’s been so hot that I think Faith gets hot in the stroller and she starts to get restless, so I take her in the pool. But Noah still thinks he wants to jump in off the side and it’s a little harder to catch him while I’m holding Faith. So it is nice when Rick can come down with us!!! He gets one kid and I get the other!!

Faith seems to like the water, so that’s good. Noah LOVES going to the pool. He even gets all our swim suits and brings them downstairs when he wants to go. He must think it will hurry us up a bit! To avoid a breakdown when we are trying to leave the pool, we tell him that we get to go home and have a popsicle! Works like a charm…usually!!!

Poor Faith was vandalized during her morning nap. She was just sleeping away and Noah was…yes, you guessed it…playing with his trains. I went upstairs to try to get the ink out of the load of clothes from yesterday (I’ll tell you more about that in a bit) and when I came back down, I looked around the corner and seen something on Faith’s head. As I got closer, I seen a sticker on her finger and there were a couple on her shorts too. I guess Noah wasn’t playing with his trains the whole time, he did manage to vandalize his sister too!!!

I told Rick to come and look and Noah came over too…we asked him what he did and he just said “Faith stickers” and then proceeded to pull them back off of her, and she slept right through it!!! Guess she must be used to being picked on by Noah!!!

Now, about the laundry…first of all, this is all Rick’s fault!!! I did a load of laundry yesterday morning and when it was done, I went to go put everything away. I pulled out the first shirt and there were spots all over it, so I hesitantly pulled out the next shirt only to see the same thing. I put my head in the dryer and started yelling at Rick right away. He had left a pen in his shorts pocket and it decided to explode all over. Now I ask, why does he not clean out his pockets before throwing it into the hamper? Second, how did the pen manage to stay in the pocket during the wash cycle (at least I’m assuming it did, otherwise one would think it would have been at the bottom of the washer or at least fell out when I transferred the clothes to the dryer. Third, why couldn’t I have at least kept the shorts out to air dry!! Luckily, it was a dark load of laundry, so you can’t tell if there are ink stains on some of our black shorts or black tshirts and there was also some towels that were in there that I happen to let air dry, so those were saved!! The other clothes have not manage to fair so well. I’ve tried hairspray, nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol, and we even bought some Goo Gone stuff and nothing has worked!!! Faith has lost a cute outfit that she only wore once, Noah lost a pair of shorts, Rick lost a good pair of shorts and some shirts, and I lost some shirts. Some shirts where not hit as hard and we could still wear them for everyday and there were also a couple bibs that only had a few spots on them, so we can keep those too. The dryer looks like…a pen exploded in it!! We did get most of it off the stainless steel drum, but the back of the dryer looks like a mess, but I’m sure it’s just burnt into it. Way to go Rick!!!