A flash from the past

[Molly, Ashley, me, Kelly, Whitney, Rommi, -Tip Top Lounge 2003 - I'm guessing 6:15 AM]

Two weeks ago I had a rare opportunity!!! Three great friends from college were all in Iowa at one time.  I found out they were coming last minute, but was so excited to have lunch with them and catch up.  I was able to see my friends Whitney, Rommi and Alexis (not pictured).  The girls were all in town for a Chi-O wedding.  This is a rare opportunity because all these girls are living the life of adventure, so it was fun to hear their stories.  Whitney lives in Montana, I used to see her about once a year when she would visit her family in Minnesota.  Rommi lives in Australia now - so I was shocked to learn she would be in Iowa. After college she lived in NYC, so when we lived in New Jersey, we would go visit her and all her fun girlfriends.  Alexis lives in D.C, but I randomly run into her from time-to-time.  Her and her sister Amanda would meet up with us in NYC sometimes and then I will see her random places, like when I went to Boston a few months ago, she was on my connecting flight to Des Moines.  

What a fun group- I have some many fun college stories from ALL these girls in the picture.  Whitney is getting married in September, so we are planning on making our first trip to Montana for the festivities. 

Happy thanksgiving

Watch out Timberline, the Bormann's have Christmas lights

Keith and I have always wanted to have Christmas lights on our home.  We were so excited when we bought our first house, we bought the lights and everything you would need, to quickly
 realize our house did not have any exterior outlets.

So after two attempts and two weekends, we finally have lights.  I'm really not loving the color of these lights! Keith thought that we should get LEDs, which are a bit of an obnoxious white blue.  Sorta feel like I should buy the neighbors some sunglasses.  When you look out our front door it looks like a tanning bed.  They were kind of expensive, so we will have them for a few years.  Regardless, we have lights!!!  We had intentions of outlining the entire house, but after Keith got up to the middle peak, we both agreed that we could just skip that section!

We'll probably do the rest of the decorating sometime this weekend!  

This and That

• Saturday we had a surprise 30th birthday party for our friends Mark and Ryan.  (Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the boys)
• We were supposed to have a second party to go to last night, but it turns out the party was Friday:((  Unfortunately, we realized that when we were getting ready to go to it on Saturday night.  We are both still a little ticked about it today!!  
• I did get to see Kelly for the first time - I think since we were in Hawaii.  She is back until January, while Eric is Afghanistan.  She has two little boys (almost 3 & 4) and they are going to come up for a sleep over and a couple weeks. Can't wait, I think the boys will all have a blast playing together!  
• It's getting cold fast!!!  I'm not a fan of that.
• So it was about a year ago that Keith accepted his job with Syngenta and our lives were flipped upside down.  I think we are finally starting to get settled. 
• Is it just me or does it seem like a lot of people are skipping right over Thanksgiving this year and jumping into Christmas?  I guess we're OK with that, we've been listening to Christmas music for a couple weeks now.
• We have some projects in the works around here - I'll do some posts when complete.  I've been working on some pictures for the living room, Keith has been building some shelves for the basement.  I think he mis-judged a "couple hours" left.  I'm excited to have some storage shelves and to start getting some of our tubs organized. 
• I'm super excited for a shorter week.  This is probably the first time I will be working on black Friday.  I think we always got it off when I was at JT Mega- if not I took it off because we were in Iowa. I have a few vacation days though so I decided to take Wednesday off.  
• It seems E has quit playing re-runs of the Kardashians- yep, I'll admit it, I watch it. It's a train wreck, but I like watching it.  I totally agree the 72 wedding was a bit ridiculous, but lets be honest - did anyone think it was sincere and that it would last forever???  I mean they called it "Kim's wedding". So E- bring back the re-runs, I can only handle so much Kelly Osbourne. 
• The boys are silly as always.  Keith calls them Dylan Bear and Carter Bug - so lately Dylan has been saying I'm Carter Bug - Mommy, you're momma Bear, daddy you are daddy Bear.  

That's probably enough rambling for tonight!

Medicine, Home Depot and the Park

Tonight for about two hours the boys were being super good and playing together.  And their imaginations were in full action tonight.  They filled this little bag with socks- which was "medicine" and were quite busy with that for a while.  Then they went to "Home Depot" for a while.  Once they got back, they decided to go to the "park"... their closet!  Which is where they had much fun with their birthday cake below, blowing out candles, then carefully taking them out because they were hot!

That is Dylan lighting the candles:)

SMILE MISSION UPDATE....

Well I must say I feel terrible because I had planned to do monthly updates on this and with moving and everything, I guess it hit the back burner.  On a good note, we still have a great collection of items and it's not even December yet, so we can still knock out a few more items on this list.  A big thanks to Tara and Kaylan for donating lots of goodies!!!  

So here is the last post and I have updated the list to where we are at.  We would love any contributions - big or small!  Especially all you dedicated Black Friday shoppers.  

I was just visiting Blank hospital to visit my nephew Oliver and it is a great hospital and the kids will really love all these goodies!

You can send anything to my attention at:

Jessica Bormann
PO Box 278
Baxter, IA 50028

or if you have to do UPS/FedEx or I believe Speedy is super cheap, you can ship here:
Jessica Bormann
10447 Field Ave
 Colfax, IA 50054

Items collected that aren't on the list

pencils

crossword book

color in felt

stickers

Toy story color n posters

4-5 books

rulers

sand game

craft pom poms 

magnetic alphabet (2)

  
Arts/Craft Supplies


Beads (2 bags)

Washable Paint (prefer Crayola brand 10 packs)

Glitter Glue (lots of this)

Glitter

Sticker Foam Shapes

Foam Art (i.e. door hangers, frames)


Foam Beads


Glue Sticks

Coloring Books

Play-Doh

Washable Markers

*Crayons


Disposable Cameras


Photo Albums


Journals (for boys and girls)


Embroidery Floss (for friendship bracelets)


Dry Erase Markers

*Sharpies


Infant/Toddler Activities


Lullabies CD’s


Plastic Infant Toys and Rattles


Light-up/Musical Toys (ex. Light Up Piano, Backyardigans


Guitar, Baby’s Learning LapTop, Fisher Price


Musical Stacker, Baby Einstein Color


Kaleidoscope)


Pop-Up Toys (Fisher Price Pop Up Farm)


Dora the Explorer Toys (nothing cloth-must be washable)


Infant Mirrors (attaches to crib side)


Elmo Toys


Peekaboo Block Toys (i.e. box, giraffe, fish)


Bath Toys (just one bath book)


Trains


*Bubbles


Dolls (hard plastic)


Cash Registers


School Age Activities


Barbie Clothes


Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars


Chalk (anti-dust)


Scissors


Superhero Figurines (i.e.Hulk, Superman, Spiderman)


Bald plastic babies (needs to be all washable)


Spongebob Toys (nothing cloth—must be washable)


Disney/Pixar Movies (DVD)


Fisher Price Doctor Kits


Puzzles (24 and 63 pieces)






Activities


Gameboy Advance SP, Nintendo DS and Games


PSP and Games


Hand-held Games (20 Questions, Connect 4, Battleship, Yahtzee)


Game Cube Games (rated E-Teen)


Nintendo Wii Games (rated E-Teen)


PS2 Games (rated E-Teen) especially sports and racing themed


New Release PG-13 Movies (DVD)


Misc. Items


Batteries (AAA, AA, C and D)


Gift Cards (Best Buy, Toys ‘R’ Us, Wal-Mart, iTunes)


Stress balls




Electronics


Portable DVD Players


Digital Cameras


I-Pods/MP3 Players




Board Games


Guess Who


Connect 4


Monopoly (traditional and electronic banking)


Sorry! Or Sorry! Sliders


Battleship

Yahtzee


Checkers


*UNO or UNO Attack or UNO Flash

*Decks of Cards


Skip-Bo


RACKO


Mancala


Backgammon


Memory


Catch Phrase Jr.


Sequence


Operation




So it looks like we are doing pretty awesome in arts and crafts!  




*All collected Items will go to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines by the end of 2011
Thank you for your support!

What Carter and Dylan have been saying

Mags to help dad stay in shape.

I should keep a notebook because the boys are always saying all these random things- here are a few random lines

Mom - is that a cheap toy?  Keith made the mistake of telling the boys McDonalds toys are cheap toys - now they call those toys cheap toys and have been asking me if other toys are cheap toys.  OOPS!

We go through this full song and dance at night time, which tends to be them coming out of their room with a new line about five times - of course you get made, but at times have a hard time keeping a straight face - one night as Dylan is heading back to his room, he stops and turns to me and say you have a good rest of your day.

One night Dylan kept tell me - my cough isn't feeling good (he wasn't coughing at all)

All the time Dylan has been telling us, I need to go to the doctor

Carter has been saying  I just want to watch a little bit of Mickey

They have both been talking about gum a lot - not sure if somebody gave it to them - today they told me they had gum for lunch

Carter says random stuff - he was going down the stairs and was like - when you jump, you can say boing - "boing"

-They have been saying see you later - a lot!  Especially at night time

They both just starting singing random thoughts of what they are thinking - part song, part thoughts

They have been singing happy birthday non-stop

Then we have had a bit of an issue with Dylan - he talks about poop NON-STOP!  OF course this is not encouraged and working on him talking about nice things - but seriously, all the time.  Today he was singing happy birthday poop 

Wordless Wednesday

Conferences...

Sorry - no pics - for some reason they didn't load right.  Tonight we had conferences with the boys' teachers.  Overall it went pretty well - I can't help but get a little bit nervous when you have those kinds of things, but I like having them since they are really with the boys more than us.  

They seem to be doing pretty well with learning what they should be and following instructions and they are happy with their vocabulary and all that fun stuff.  We talked a lot about how they play - which is always fun for me to hear how they interact when they aren't around us.  So they mostly just play together or they are always wanting the teachers to play with them.  But they don't really play with the other kids much.  I wasn't super surprised by this because at home they have ALWAYS wanted us to be playing with them.  You would think since there are two of them they would quietly sit and play together while you clean up dinner or do other things - but they rarely play without us at home - so maybe something we need to work on.   It's funny that they don't play with these other kids that much because they talk about them all the time at home.

They have these "centers" in their room - blocks / the kitchen / crafts - and a few others.  Only so many kids can be in one at a time so I guess they get really upset if one is in a center and the other can't get in.  I guess Dylan takes it a bit harder than Carter.  They said blocks was always their favorite - but now they are really starting to like the crafts.  They talked about how busy Dylan gets with cutting with the scissors - (this kid is just really into scissors) -  Carter is all about coloring.  They always hold their pen with their fist - so we need to start working on holding it right.  Every time I try with Carter he looks at me like - that's nice mom, but I'm just going to do it this way.  

We have to keep on working on keeping them calm when they get mad or upset- Carter can really blow up fast when he gets mad - so trying to have him calm down instead of reacting.  

I guess a librarian comes and does a story hour once a week and they really like that and they have also been listening to audiobooks and the boys have been loving them - so we might have to buy a couple for home.  

Overall - they seem to be having fun with the boys.  They said they keep them entertained most the day with their random comments.

A good war story for Veterans Day

Not sure if I have shared this story on here!  My grandpa was a big storyteller and I think his favorite topic was sharing stories from when he was in the service.  He was stationed in Belfast, Ireland during WWII.  I don't think I ever got the full story, but at some point he met my grandma.  The two later wed in England.  Then grandma left her entire family to move to Iowa with grandpa.  I can't even imagine what it was like for her to move to a different country in a time where it was so much harder to communicate and see your loved ones.  She was a brave lady!  Eventually, my great grandpa and grandma Smyth and my grandma's sister moved to Iowa.  

In 1997, we went on a trip to Europe for three weeks - Grandma and Grandpa spent the entire time in Ireland staying with Grandma's cousins while we toured Europe  - then later we met up with them and Grandpa showed us where he was stationed and all around.  

I wish I could talk to grandma about that trip now - I wonder what it was like for her to go back home after all those years.  

At some point Grandpa and Grandma started going on annual reunion trips and would meet up with everyone Grandpa served with.  I guess they would pass this bottle of wine around the group- until there were just two of them, Grandpa and a guy from Monroe, IA.  A year or so before grandpa passed away, I guess the two of them drank the bottle.  

They have been doing these Flights of Honor, where they take a plane full of Veterans to Washington D.C. - then return that day.  Grandpa sure would have loved doing that - and even better, sharing stories all day with other vets.

Feel better Oliver

Poor Oliver had to get his tonsils out yesterday. I guess he is doing a bit better today - but will have a long two-week recovery! Since he likes watching videos of the boys, they wanted to wish him a speedy recovery. Glad we didn't have to do this one!

Not a good day for my knees

Wordless Wednesday

Playing with our birthday toys

Here is Carter cruising on his bike!  He just loves this.  The funny thing is, when he rides by our neighbor boy Tyler, he is at much risk for a crash since he always has his head completely turned watching him.  By next summer they will really be cruising!

Testing out the baseball tee.  They both had fun doing this and managed to hit a few balls.  Unfortunately, it's been pretty cool, so we haven't played with this since this day.  More fun for next summer. 

Horse rides

Here is a new one. Wish I had the camera out about 3 minutes sooner, they were laughing so hard.

Watch out for these sheriffs

Like every Halloween, the boys weren't a huge fan of wearing their costumes.  I think these turned out pretty darn cute.  If only we had a couple of holsters and red cowboy boots!  Saturday morning Polk City had a festival, which was a ton of little games and prizes.  The boys had a pretty good time with these little games.  

Sunday night was beggars night (and yes, that's what we call it in Iowa).  It was a bit windy that night, but the boys still had lots of fun.  They would say, next house, next house!  Their little bags were a hit!  

We had planned on carving pumpkins for about two weeks and finally did it at about 4:30 that Sunday night and did them as fast as possible to eat dinner, get dressed and to go out.  There were a zillion kids in the neighborhood, so it was fun to be out and about.  We left a couple buckets on the step.  I also decided we need to step our game up nest year with some decorations, lots of people had really fun things in their doorway.  Us, not much!!!  

Rainy Day

My sister got the boys these fun craft vehicles for their birthday.  They have been sealed up in the boxes and every time the boys asked to open them, we would say we are going to wait until a rainy day.  Well today was AWFUL outside and today when the boys got home from school, the first thing Dylan did was walked straight to the shelf and pulled out those boxes since it was a rainy day.  Of course he was a bit confused because he thought by rainy day he could play with them outside!  

Wordless Wednesday

And we are THREE!!!

Hard to believe these two bundles of every are three already!!!  We are hoping for a good year!

So- bad mom here!  We had their 3 year appointment and they gave us their stats and we no longer know where that little sheet of paper is.  I can tell you they weighed about the same, I think 33 lbs something and both within a half inch.  The funny part - their height was like 33% - yikes, I guess a little Bucklin is shining through.  The appointment went well except we have a zillion follow ups with specialists - hopefully all good.  We have extra money in our health care spending, so we thought we would take care of them all soon.  Dylan's tubes are still in perfectly and I guess sometimes they need to remove them, so we will be seeing an ENT later this month.  He also has some larger lymph nodes on his neck we have been watching, so if he has to get his tubes out, they can do further testing.  We've done lots of blood work and all has come back good and the doctor isn't worried. 

For Carter, the doctor wanted to investigate his voice issues further, so we will be seeing an allergist and GI specialist.  We think it is reflux and it's been better since we have been taking medicine for it, but she wants to make sure it's not something else.  So lots of appointments!  

As for what Carter and Dylan have been doing, liking, and saying - I'll do my best to recap.  I always forget by the time I get to blogging:

Carter LOVES riding his bike!  Dylan would rather not, but does ride his scooter quite a bit.

Carter is really into coloring, he loves to color the entire page and does really well staying close to the lines.

Dylan is still our little cleaner - I am in no way joking, if the trash under the sink is full, he will take it out, pull out the bag, close it up, get another bag and put it back in the trashcan, then take the bag of trash to the garage and put in the big trash with some help!

The two have really been quite wild with each other lately in their own little worlds - lots of laughing - then things always get ugly at some point

They like to build things - especially houses with their blocks

They love helping dad out and get their little shovels out too

Dylan likes picking out their clothes - one day he insisted on red sweatpants - then wanted blue striped shirts, I tried to explain they didn't match.  I somehow got through, but he took that as he needed a red shirt as well.  So we went, red, red and green socks that day!  

MR. INDEPENDENTS!  WOW, don't even try to do something for these two or you will have to watch them re-do it

They like to help me cook and I enjoy it too.  

Potty training is going well - Carter is great and Dylan is finally getting the full concept- not too many accidents anymore, but we still do pull-ups for naps and night-time.  They love to pee outside!  If they try it this winter, they may have a new opinion. 

They LOVE candy and get CRAZY at times when they have it.

One day we were driving to Baxter and  Stella was being really whiny - Carter yells out - is Stella looking for kitty cats mom?

I'm hearing a lot of Don't say that - mom, he says ..... - me, you don't have to listen to him! 

My toe nails are painted a dark color right now, so last night I heard, mommies toes match Stella's (NICE)

They LOVE going to my dad's work and their favorite thing is to drive the Gator, which they call Papa's little car

Carter absolutely loves playing with Cade, we were at my parents this weekend and he kept saying I want Cade to be here

Carter always says, I want to sleep on your shoulder

There is a big huge blow-up display of a pile of pumpkins we drive by every day and they just love driving  by, so now all we here about is the pile of pumpkins

One day we were at Home Depot and Carter was saying - look at that little man - it was a scarecrow 

After building our house, and having workers do all kinds of things, now they are always saying - does the workers have to do that , did the workers get the sidewalk wet, yeah the workers got to fix it

Tonight they were talking about my cell phone- does it need charged, you need a screwdriver to change the battery

On a couple occasions they have told me that Charlotte is Dylan's girlfriend and Madison is Carter's girlfriend - then I asked their teacher at school and she says they never play with them!  

One day Susie was asking Carter if I was a good mommy - and then he got a big grin and said - yeah, she's my girlfriend.  Not sure where all that's coming from - then I once heard Keith was Dylan's boyfriend.

I hear a lot of I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy - babies do this, babies wear diapers - I'm not a baby....