Playing Together!

With me being gone so much this past month (I was gone another 3 days last week/weekend for a swim meet in Iowa) the kids have learned that they can't always get as much attention as they would like and in turn have started to play with each other. Izzy has loved her big brother from the start but now she loves any attention she can get from him. Whenever he plays with her she lets out the loudest, and cutest, giggles that just make us laugh. Of course when we go to videotape it Robert is on to us and stops playing but we did get a short clip at the bottom of the page with a little giggle from Iz.

Izzy will turn 6 months this coming Sunday and is really finding her personality and becoming active. She almost has Robert's head scoot down and is starting to scootch all over the living room floor and her crib. She loves trying to sit up and playing in her activity gym to practice her standing. We also think teeth aren't too far away as her drool level has picked up and she loves chewing on things, her favorite is Sophie the Giraffe!

Practicing standing and chewing on Sophie

More Sophie Time!

Robert unfortunately has reached what we think is a jealousy phase. He was so good for the first 6 months but he's starting to act out a little more which might also be in part to me being gone so much. His favorite thing to do is play with Izzy's toys...as you'll see in the photos Eric has taken over the last week. We're hoping this is a short phase!

Had to use the dining room chair for help with this one!

At least they keep our lives interesting!!

Birthday Celebrations!

Well it looks like both my kids and husband survived another year of me being gone for our training trip but we're all happy to have me home! My mom was a great help while I was gone by staying up here a few days at the beginning of the trip so Eric could go into the office and work and then she took Izzy to her house for a few more days leaving just the boys at home but luckily the house wasn't turned into a disaster area like last year...or if it was it was well cleaned (not sure if by my mom or Eric!) before I got home.

Today we celebrated my Mom's 61st birthday by having lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then cake a long time later at our house. It was a great time to be with everyone and the food was delicious!!! Happy Birthday MOM!

Robert enjoying strawberries at Cheesecake Factory!

Opening gifts...and Nick being a dork!

I didn't even put 61 candles on the cake but Nick still had to help her

YUMMY CAKE!!!!

MESSY BOY!!!

The Hempler Men's Club

The annual Hempler Men's Club had a successful week. Prior to commencing Nicole left for her training trip in Florida and Nicole's Mother, Cheri, watched the kids for a couple of days while I did some work at the office.

Before Nicole left she planned out some of our menu:

• Monday - Tater Tot Hotdish
• Tuesday - Lasagna
• Thursday - Hempler Men's Club Commences, we started the day with Chuck E Cheese, which I wrote about earlier this week.
• Friday - Salmon for lunch and Pizza for Supper
• Saturday - Meatloaf with a few inventive replacement ingredients
• Sunday - Chicken/Rice for Lunch, Tuna Noodle Casserole for Supper

For the next couple of days it will probably be leftovers and/or Spaghetti. 

Unfortunately I don't have anything exciting to mention. Things seemed to have gone well for Cheri when she had Izzy in Red Wing.

The Chuck E. Cheese Experiment

Every year, about this time of year, I'm asked to update the family blog when Nicole is away training her swimmers in some far away much WARMER place. Did I say much warmer place? Yup, I did. It's not because she wants to update everyone on what's going on, but because what she really wants is photos and videos of her kids, but not of her husband of course. I would be more than willing to help, BUT, kids are not that interesting from one day to the next. And I've said it once before here. Every once in a while they might do something funny with some kind of weird look or body movement, but in order to capture those moments one needs to have some kind of device, I think they call it a video camera, following their child around the room. Probably not very practical. 

Which brings me to today's post, The Chuck E. Cheese Experiment.  It's not so much an experiment, but more of trick to get you to read this post. I'm sure your first reaction was, "what in the world is The Chuck E. Cheese Experiment", or something to that affect. Unfortunately I have to let you down and tell you there really is no Chuck E. Cheese Experiment. Instead, today's post relates to what I mentioned above regarding photos and videos of kids. 

Earlier today I wrote on Facebook I took Robert to Check E Cheese and almost immediately I get a comment requesting LOTS of photos. Unfortunately there really weren't any photogenic moments. The first ride we tried was a moving car that moved a little too quickly for Robert. Other than those types of rides there really wasn't much for him to play or had any interest in. I really wasn't sure if he would be too young, but I thought, "let's give it a try and see what happens", so instead I let him wonder around and pick which ones I should try. That worked out pretty well. We ended the day with 140 some tickets, which bought part of a stuffed mouse, because I paid $3 for the difference and a pizza to bring home.

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Today is Day 3 of Nicole's training trip. The first couple of days Nicole's mom, Cheri, watched Robert and Izzy while I did some work at the office in the mornings. On Facebook today I posted, 

Nicole Hempler is out of town this week coaching her swimmers in Florida. Izzy is with her grandmother, Cheri Roberts, for the rest of the week. Which leaves Robert and myself. The Hempler Mens Club can commence.

So far Day One has consisted of Chuck E. Cheese. I'm not sure yet what we'll do for the rest of the days. I'll be open to suggestions. 

Messy Izzy!

We started Izzy on baby food a couple of weeks ago and after a slow start she is finally in the full swing of things and looks forward to her bedtime treat of oatmeal and whatever fruit or veggie is mixed in. Eric hates this stage because it can be a little, err a lot messy but I think it is fun to see the expressions and the learning of a new task. Our biggest challenge with feeding Izzy is that she loves to suck on her hands while eating because we can't get it in fast enough which would be fine if it didn't create 12x the mess. Oh well she'll eventually learn to keep them out or she might be swaddled more than just at bedtime!!!

Eating Sweet Potatoes

Bananas are yummy and messy!

The only downside to Christmas, especially Christmas with little kids, is finding room for all of the toys and great gifts. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Hempler, Robert received a new storage unit and although it was intended for his bedroom the need to organize our living space won out! Plus this way we can make sure a little boy isn't climbing on furniture when he's supposed to be sleeping.


Robert is really starting to see that his sister is a lot more fun and she already adores her big brother. For the most part Robert doesn't show any jealousy towards Izzy and now loves to make her giggle. Personally, I think he just likes getting attention from another person but no matter the reason seeing the two of them play together is awesome!

I have had the entire last week off of work and the only downside to being able to be home with the kids all week is that it is going to make it that much harder to leave them on Monday for our annual training trip with the swim team. We'll be returning to the Florida Keys and will be gone for 8 days. The warm weather will be great but no hugs, giggles, or cuddles from the kids will be tough. My mom is going to help Eric out and will be here at the start of the trip so he can get to the office and then she decided that Izzy needed to come stay with her for a few days. So like the past 2 years my home will turn into a bachelor pad! I have a feeling though that the boys will miss Izzy and be anxious to get her back and by then Grandma might be ready to have a child free home!

Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed many celebrations. Watching Robert open his gifts was a true highlight and you can see from the video at the bottom that he really got into it and even was a helper with getting all the gifts unwrapped!

Reading to Mom & Izzy Christmas Stories

Santa's Helper
She loves her Uncle Nick

So MANY Presents!!!

My mom and brother really got into the celebration...

Izzy is unsure of this present thing

Where's Robert?

I'll take that present next!

Who needs gifts when I have my hands to play with?

Christmas Morning!

Eric plays with his new electric snow shovel!

Christmas Day!

What cute, adorable, and happy children

Christmas with the Knautz's

Playing the Crap Gift Game

Robert got hockey sticks while Parker

gets Bath salts...lucky Parker!

Pat (The Grinch) and Robert watch to see

what amazing gift will be opened next!

Ooh pens and word puzzles!
Izzy relaxing with Uncle Paul

Robert looking at his new books with Aunt Val and Parker

Robert helping open gifts!