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.

--

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!

Cookies~Snow~Bad Tree~Rolling Over

The week started off pretty uneventful and with a day off on Tuesday for me! Knowing that my weekend, or so I originally thought, would be busy I decided it would be a great time to get started on making Christmas cookies. So with the help of the kids, Eric went in to the office for some quiet time, we made 6 different types of cookies! With planning on leaving the frosting of the sugar cookies and the gingerbread men/women for the weekend. It was a great time but not as much fun as I usually have when I bake with my co-worker and good friend Abby.

Abby's Replacement!

First type done!

Monster Cookies for my student workers

Helper Izzy got a little too tired...
DONE!! Success as long as I can keep Eric & Robert out of them!

I knew I'd have Sunday off but Friday afternoon it was determined that my Saturday plans (practice and a diving invite) were canceled due to the big storm we were anticipating to move in that night. Well the weather people weren't wrong and it was a good thing we canceled because the cities averaged 20 inches of snow with lots of wind and cold temps. I used my extra time at home to finish up the cookies, get caught up on laundry, clean the house, and take a nap! It was perfect but after 2 days locked inside (Eric did all the shoveling!) I'm ready to get out of the house tomorrow even if it does mean going to work.

Our deck Saturday night

Gingerbread Men & Women

Sugar Cookies
Backyard this morning...

before Eric shoveled us out!

On the bad side to the holiday season the Christmas Tree we bought this year was a dud. We got it from the same place as last year and didn't have any problems so we're thinking we just got a bad tree. It started dying almost instantly and wouldn't take a lot, if any, water. This week, in hopes of reviving it, Eric tried to cut it again hoping it would start taking in water but it was too little too late. There was a little disagreement over what to do with the dead tree but in the end Eric finally listened to me and it is sitting on our deck until the garbage men pick up trees in January. Eric wanted to keep it in the house and still light it at night but I was sick of dead needles falling off and getting all over our house. We also debated whether or not to replace it but we decided since we wouldn't be celebrating Christmas at our house it wasn't worth the money or the hassle to purchase a new one...but we might be switching modes and buying a fake one the day after Christmas when they are on clearance. I knew that Eric really wanted a tree so while he was out on one of his many shoveling trips today I surprised him with a new tree. Doesn't light up but there is NO mess!

Trying to save the tree

New Tree!

The big news of the week is that Izzy finally figured out how to roll over. She's been so close for weeks but her shoulder kept stopping her. She loves being able to move more but HATES that the end result puts her on her stomach. She has always disliked tummy time and usually gets pretty upset when she ends up on her belly after rolling. We figure it won't take too long for her to master rolling from her front to back!

Winter Bugs and 4 Months Old!

This week 3 out of 4 of us came down with the cold bug that so many people are getting right now. It started with Robert on Sunday at Izzy's baptism and then spread to Eric and I. Robert had it the worst but seems to pretty much (minus a runny nose) be over it. Luckily Izzy seems to have escaped it and we're hoping it stays that way! However out of all of us she is the one that had to go to the doctor this week...but for a well check-up instead of a sick visit! It is hard to believe she is already 4 months old but it was nice to be reassured that she is healthy and growing up just fine. She weighed in at 13.3 pounds and was 24.5 inches long. Pretty much the reverse of her brother where her weight put her at 48% and height was 79% and Robert was a little more on the chubbier/shorter side of things! But don't worry head size, like her brother, she is still at 95%!

Not much else got accomplished this week thanks to the sicknesses and a busy work weekend for me but the house is decorated for Christmas, Christmas presents are all bought (except for Eric's), wrapped, and stored in the basement out of a little boys eyesight, and now I'm starting to tackle baking cookies and getting our Christmas cards ready for the mail. I hope all of you are healthy and getting into the happy holiday spirit!

Izzy playing with Nick today! Such a big girl now!

Picture from Nick's birthday back in November...

I misplaced my camera for a few weeks but luckily Robert

found it for me in the diaper bag. Good thing he's so nosy!