Here are some pictures of  Trick-or-Treat.  It’s actually still going on as I type.  Cad.en and Jant.zen woke up at 5AM with fevers, so although they felt fine this evening, we chose not to infect the neighborhood (or go to a Halloween Party this afternoon).  We only went to 4 houses (3 relatives and one neighbor).  They still had fun and are enjoying the candy they got right now!  Here are some pics.  See if you can guess who they are suppose to be.  I’ll reveal who was what at the bottom.

Cad.en, Jant.zen, and A.va

Ca.den, Jant.zen, & A.va (visiting their Great Grandma and Great Aunt)

Cad.en, A.va, Mommaw G., & Jantzen

Okay…..you probably guessed that Cad.en was Mario (from Super Mario Brothers), A.va was “Simon” from Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Jantz.en is a Star Wars Shadow Trooper.  Hope everyone else had a Happy Halloween!!!!

 

Everyone keeps getting after me for not posting anything new so I’ll try to post something.  Since I started using Facebook, I’ve been spending most of my free time seeing what everyone else is up to and playing games (like Farkle, Word Challenge, and Yacht!).

If you’re wondering if we’ve moved into the new house yet, the answer is no.  However, things are really happening.  The siding is all up on the front of the house.  Drywall is hung and finished too.  Painting is the “happening” thing on the inside.  John and I each have dates tomorrow; me with the trimming paintbrush, and he with the roller!  We should be ready for bathroom flooring soon (2 bathrooms are done, 2 need a second coat).  I will have to try to remember to take my camera tomorrow.

We’re hoping to be moved in by Christmas.  If we do, there will still be small things that need done, but we need to get out of this house so we can get it ready to sell.  In old news…Cad.en and A.va started preschool.  They only go 2 mornings a week.  They love it.  Jant.zen is in first grade and loves it.  He’s never liked school until this year.  I can’t believe how well he reads.  He can read books to the twins now!

Here are some pics to hold you over until I get some recent ones posted:

Jantzen's first day of 1st grade

Cad.en, A.va, and Jant.zen by the front porch of the new house (Sept)

A.va's first day of preschool

Cad.en (A.va in background) after first day of preschool

August 2009 (Cad.en & A.va=3, Jant.zen=6)

Family Picture (August 2009)

I haven’t updated in over a month!!!  Our computer has something really wrong with it.  We can access the internet, but there our Win.dows X.P is nowhere to be found.  I have no idea what happened to it or how to fix it.  For that reason I haven’t been able to upload photos.

The past couple of weeks have been busy.  We finished painting this house.  The new house continues to move along.  I’ve been taking Cad.en to speech 4 times a week and A.va twice a week.  Cad.en just got his tonsils and adenoids out on Tuesday.  It was really rough the day after, but he seems to get better each day.

The big news of today is that Jant.zen lost his first tooth!!! It’s been loose for a long time and finally came out today.  He’s so happy!  He was one of the few (if not the only one) in his class that didn’t loose a tooth in kindergarten.

Next week we are going to be taking the kids to an amusement park.  This will be the first time the twins have been to one.  The next day we will go to an aquarium.

I promise pictures as soon as I can (I have a bunch on my camera that I can’t put on the computer!).  I’m worried I may never be able to retrieve the pictures that were on my computer.  I should have learned my lesson last year when our computer crashed and I lost all my pictures.  I love digital cameras, but don’t take the time to develop them! If I am able to retrieve them I’m going to save them on a disc.

My dad use to drive a 1968 Camaro before I was born.  For some reason he sold it and has regretted it ever since.  A couple years ago, my brother Chad started searching high and low for the car my dad sold.  He tried everything, but was unable to locate it.  He found one like it in another state and traveled a long way to pick it up.  It was in really bad shape.  He started working on restoring it.  My dad had no idea until my brother surprised him with it on Christmas Day 2007.  My brother left the final touches for my dad so he could make it the way he wanted it.  My dad worked on it off and on for a couple months, but then he started working on building my house and put the car on the back burner.  There was a Father’s Day Car Show scheduled for today that my dad really wanted to enter the car in so he and my brother worked on the car all day yesterday until 1AM.  He then got up this morning at 6AM to put some final touches on it until the show began at noon.

My dad, brother Cha.d, and brother Jon.athan

In the picture above you can barely make out my brother Jon.athan’s Mustang and my brother Ch.ad and his wife’s Mustang on the end.

Jant.zen, A.va, and Cad.en with Poppaw's 68' Camaro

Cad.en driving Poppaw's Camaro

A.va, Jan.tzen and Cad.en posing on a bench

Another pose

A.va (in a dress I bought off Etsy-it even has her name on it!)

We looked for Po.ppaw and Momm.aw Gu.mm at the car show so we could get some pictures with them, but we didn’t see them there.  I’m sure my dad will put his car in some more shows this summer and we’ll run into them (although we could walk over and visit since we can see their house from our new house!).

The last two pictures were from swim lessons last week.  Only 4 more days of lessons.  Jant.zen’s ready for the next session to start.  He loves going and he’s getting better.

Cad.en after swim lessons

A.va at swim lessons (she has her eyes opened huge because I told her not to close them like she did in the previous two pictures I took before this one!)

Tomorrow morning the twins get to go to their new preschool for a story and snack.  I’ll try to get some pictures if possible.

The title basically covers our day yesterday.  At 9AM yesterday morning Cad.en and A.va had their first visit to the dentist.  Of course we brush their teeth, but most of the time we let them do it themselves so I was really worried.  I was also worried that they wouldn’t be cooperative with the hygenist, but luckily they were and we got good reports for both..NO CAVITIES!!!

After the dentist I took them to have breakfast at McDonalds.  Then we went to a park.  It was a beautiful day yesterday so the kids had a good time.

Jant.zen, A.va, Cad.en at the park

Jant.zen (after I told him to quit making goofy faces!)

Cad.en (I don't know what he's doing)

A.va

They were so excited when they found an inchworm.  They brought it over to the picnic table with some leaves and sticks and watched it forever.  Jant.zen begged me to take pictures of it:

Inchworm down

Inchworm up

After the park we went to the pet store so I could get guinea pig food.  While there I noticed they had a couple huge Oscars.  Someone had been keeping them in a small 29 gallon tank so they took them to the pet store.  Oscars were on sale for only $6.99 so I got one of the big guys (I would have loved to have gotten both, but I already have another big fish in my 55 gallon tank so I didn’t want to overcrowd them).  Here he (or she!) is:

Our newest fish!

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but we have 3 fish tanks.

Last evening the kids had their first swim lesson.  A.va and Cad.en were not impressed.  Cad.en was worse than A.va (he also hadn’t had a nap).  They did not want to stay in the water (they wanted to play with the water while sitting  on the edge).  When the lady sprinkled water on their heads and got it all in their eyes they were ticked (WHY did she do that on the first night?!).  Here they area:

Cad.en and A.va (right when the lesson was starting)

Jant.zen was not thrilled about taking swim lessons, but he ended up loving it!  He can’t wait until his lesson tonight.

Jant.zen's first swim lesson

We took our dog Maya and my mom’s dog Penny to the pet show today.

Maya

Maya struttin' her stuff

Maya ended up winning two awards today!  She won an award for the “Longest Tail” (yes they did measure it to be exact!)  and an award for the “Best Tricks” (she sat and shook a paw with my hand).  It was a long and exhausting day for the big girl.  Here she is getting a drink of water.

Maya getting a drink

Jant.zen showing Maya the ball she won (A.va with her "Other Maya" in the background)

Maya and mom’s dog Penny got along just fine.  We got a huge surprise though.  When my mom was trying to decide whether or not she wanted a Corgi or not, my brother and I went and looked at some Corgi puppies.  The breeder had two females left, a red and a tri-color.  They were both so cute, but the pups were being reserved quickly so we reserved the tri-color one for mom.

Bella (tri-colored)-the orignal one we reserved

Penny-6 weeks (the one we didn't originally reserve for mom)

When mom saw the pictures of both dogs she was immediately drawn to the “red” on.  We called the breeder and changed our reservation to Penny.  We had always wondered what happened to Bella.

Right before the pet show started a woman walked up with a young looking tri-color Corgi.   Long story short we started talking and it was Penny’s sister, Bella (now renamed Cud.dle)!  Her owner also happens to be my doctor and his wife!

Penny reunites with her sister!!!

We couldn’t get over how alike their personalities are!

Penny with mom looking at her award

Penny won a couple awards too.  The award you see in the picture was for “Most Well-Mannered Peanut Butter Eater”(they watched each of them eat some peanut butter off a spoon-Maya wouldn’t eat it)

It was a lot of fun.  Maya is back at John’s mom and dad’s house.  She was exhausted and her hips were bothering her a little so I thought we’d take her back to where she’s comfortable (and things are much calmer than here).

Swimming lessons begin Monday evening for all the kids so hopefully I’ll have time to update afterwards!!

Many might not know that we have a dog.  You never see her at our house.  Well she’s here tonight.  Her name is Maya and she’s a 4 year old Bernese Mountain Dog.  We got her as a puppy just before I found out I was pregnant with the twins.  We housebroke her and really enjoyed her as a puppy.  That little puppy quickly turned into a really large dog.  Today she weighs about 115 pounds.  She’s really big for a female Bernese.  There are a couple reasons why she doesn’t currently live with us. When I went into the hospital for bed rest (when I was pregnant for the twins), John was in college and Jant.zen was 2 years old.  My mother and father and law started caring for her (they live right down the road from us).  When we brought the twins home they were preemies so we were concerned about having such a big dog around them (although Maya is a very sweet dog).  When the twins were about a year old (Maya was 2), Maya started limping.  We found out that she has hip dysplasia.  The entrance that we use into this house has a lot of stairs and we were afraid they’d be too much for her.  Last year Jant.zen really wanted to bring her home so we tried, but she seemed really anxious and nervous so it only lasted overnight.

Tomorrow there’s a pet show at our local “Y” that benefits our Humane Society.  Jant.zen is really excited about entering Maya in it.  My mom is also going to enter her dog Penny.

I took Maya to be washed, groomed, and to get her nails cut.  The lady finished off her look with a pretty bow in her hair.

She’s going to spend the night with us here  so that we can get up early and go to the pet show.  The kids love having her here.  She’s loving the attention, but I can tell her hips must be a little sore from all the walking she’s done today (and getting in and out of our vehicle and climbing our stairs).

Here are some pictures of Maya and the kids from this evening.

Maya

Maya (that's A.va's hand)

Maya with her pretty bows

Lovin' on Maya

Posing with Maya

Maya will be moving back in with us when the new house is done.  The kids and I took her up to the new house today to show her around.  She seemed to have a good time exploring.

Now, where will she sleep tonight?  She’s use to sleeping in bed with my mother and father n law.  There’s no way this moose is going to fit in bed with me AND the kids (that’s something else I’m looking forward to-everyone will have their OWN room and OWN bed in the new house-and some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking good luck getting them to sleep in their own beds)!

More tomorrow after the pet show.  I’m anxious to see how Maya tolerates my mom’s high strung, ankle biting, Corgi pup!

Jant.zen's first day of kindergarten, August 25, 2008

Jant.zen's Last Day of Kindergarten, May 29, 2009

Jant.zen is officially a first grader.  Above is a picture of his 1st day of kindergarten and his last.  Notice he still hasn’t lost any teeth yet!  He was one of the few that didn’t in his class.  He does have a slightly loose one on the bottom, but it’s been loose forever and doesn’t seem to be getting looser.

I took a lot of pictures on the last day of school.  Here are a few:

Jant.zen on one of the inflateables the PTO rented

Jan.tzen (right) and A

D, Jant.zen, and A

Jant.zen with S

S, Jant.zen, and M

Jant.zen after the evening kindergarten celebration program

Jant.zen made some really good friends this year.  He was part of a group of 5 boys that got along really well.

The day after school was out my mom invited A.va and I to go on a bus trip to the Long.a.berger factory.  A.va thought she was bid stuff riding the bus!

A.va on the Long.a.berger bus trip

A.va with a bear

A.va by a large basket

Mom, A.va, and I

The next day Jant.zen had a birthday party to go to for his buddy S.  Cad.en and A.va were invited, but I decided just to take the boys since A.va got to spend time with me yesterday.

Cad.en putt-putting at the party

Cad.en, D, Jant.zen, and M at the party

On last Thursday we took Cad.en to a Dr.’s appointment a couple hours from home to have his tonsils looked at.  Long story short, his tonsils are “abnormally large” and will be taken out at Children’s Hospital on July 21st.  We’re hoping they are the cause of his severe speech delay.  Before the appointment we went to Chu.ck E. Chee.se’s.

Cad.en and Jant.zen at Chu.ck E. Che.ese's

This past Saturday the twins had their last day of soccer.  They got awards at the end.

A.va and Cad.en with their soccer awards

A.va was a little ungrateful.  Her comment to me after she got her award was, “This is not award.  This is paper.”  I think she was expecting a medal like she got a couple weeks ago at the track.

A.va and Cad.en

That’s all the pictures I have for now, but I have some big news!  Cad.en is finally potty trained!  He’s on day 5 of no accidents.

We have some busy days ahead.  Cad.en will have speech 4 x’s a week (A.va 2x’s a week).  I just signed all 3 kids up for swim lessons at our “Y.”  They begin on Monday.

On Friday, I’m taking our dog, Maya, to be groomed.  She’s a Bernese Moutain dog and weighs about 115 pounds.  I have to help the lady get her into the tub and hold her while she clips off a couple mats under her ears and trims her nails.  Our local “Y” is having a pet show on Saturday so the kids and I are taking Maya and my mom is taking her Corgi puppy, Penny.  I’ll definitely have pictures of that.

They’ve been working hard on the house so hopefully I’ll have some new pictures soon.  If rain would get out of the forecast we could poor the side patio, front porch (so it can be built), and sidewalk.  Hoping and praying for sometime next week!

WordPress was loading too slowly so I am continuing the previous post here.  Scroll down to read the first post first.

Sunday

We picked strawberries in the morning, went shopping in the afternoon, and went up to the new house in the late afternoon.

Ava at the strawberry farm

Cad.en tasting a strawberry

Cad.en at the strawberry farm

Jant.zen at the strawberry farm

A.va, Jant.zen, & Cad.en at the strawberry farm

Jant.zen being goofy with a lime in his mouth in my mom and dad's front yard

A.va's hot and sweaty!

Mom and Dad's dog Penny is growing up!

A couple weeks ago the plumbing was finished in the new house.  Here are some exciting pictures of the new water tank and some other plumbing.

Water tank

Plumbing

Bird nest in the house

This bird nest is in my new bedroom!  Some small bird built this nest on a bag of insulation (smart way to keep eggs warm!).  We think she’s coming in and out through the opening where the door handle will be on our french doors.

I have no idea what we’re going to get into today.  John’s working on the house with my dad and his dad.  My grandpa said he might be having a cookout tonight so I guess we’ll see.  Only 4 more days with kids at school.  My last day is next Monday!  Then the work really begins.  I need to start going through this house so it’s ready when the new house is done.

This weekend has been so busy, but the kids have had a blast!

Friday Night

On Friday night   there was a kids’ olympics at our track.  Technically it was only for kids ages 6-13, but Cad.en and A.va snuck in to do some events too.

Jant.zen

Cad.en

A.va (holds up two fingers in every picture lately-apparently someone in the Al.vin and the Chipmun.ks movie did this-she's still obsessed with the chipmunks)

Jant.zen getting ready to broad jump

Jant.zen's broad jump

A.va and Cad.en broad jumping

Jant.zen running the 60 yard dash (he did this race at least 15 times-not exaggerating!)

Cad.en and A.va running (for fun since they were too young to participate)

A.va, Ca.den, and Jant.zen getting ready to run the 60 yard dash (yeah Ca.den and A.va snuck into the race!)

A.va posing on the winners' blocks

A.va posing (again) on the winners' blocks

Cad.en-somehow got himself a medal and snuck onto the winners' blocks-unbeknowest to me until my dad pointed it out! Then he wouldn't move off the number 1!

Of course I had to ask them for a medal for A.va so there wouldn't be a fight

Cad.en, Jant.zen, and A.va posing with their medals on the track!

A.va, Cad.en, and Jant.zen on the field

A.va loving the fireworks. Jant.zen liked them. Cad.en wanted to go home (my dad took him to his vehicle until they were over)

Saturday Evening

Saturday was a really busy day.  I don’t have pictures of the majority of the day, but it started early for John and I. We went to an auction (30 minutes away) for new building supplies at 7AM.  I left the auction at 8:15 to go home and get the kids (who were being watched by John’s mom) to take them to soccer at 9AM (Jant.zen ended up going with John’s mom to her house).  After soccer at 10AM, I took the twins to John’s mom’s house and went back to the auction until 1:45Pm.  We had purchased some cabinets so I had to quickly unload the ones that would fit into our explorer at the new house and go get the kids to take them to Jant.zen’s soccer party (John was still at the auction with my parents and brother).    After the soccer party I took the kids to Walm.art to buy them a new pool.  John’s dad came to our house to pump it up for them.  They played in it for about 2 hours!

Jant.zen, A.va , and Cad.en

A.va, Jant.zen, and Ca.den

A.va posing in the pool

Jant.zen drying off his face after he and Cad.en had a water fight

WordPress is loading too slowly (possibly because I’ve loaded so many pictures) so I’m going to start a new post for Sunday).