The Sickies

Fall has hit the Kremer family. And it hit us hard. Jesse and Freddie have definitely had it the worst with the flu. Jesse was curled up in bed for 7 days and basically out of his mind. Freddie got an ear infection on top of his flu and didn't move or eat for 2 days. Not very pleasant. And I don't like talking about things that are unpleasant, so I shall move on.

It was Halloween! Henry decided to think outside the box when it came to his costume. Come to think of it, I don't believe Henry even knows what "the box" looks like, it's part of his charm. His invented Pokemon turned out okay. He liked it and that's the important part. A few people asked him if he was a gumball machine and that ticked him off, but he got over it.

Freddie was the best dinosaur ever! At least for this year. Wyatt was pretty dang cute when he wore it last year. But Fred finally started walking the week before Halloween so his walk was still all unsteady and dino-like, so cute!

And there you have it! I will end with one of Henry's favorite lines. "See ya later, alligator." "In a while, poop-face!"

Our day with Natalie!

So my dear friend Jamie had to go out of town for business. All the way to Idaho, I hope she doesn't get lost. In the meantime, her daughter, Natalie, gets to stay with us. She got here at 8 this morning. Luckily, they go to school at 9 so I didn't totally go insane. After school we did homework, some computer time and then for dinner we played "Restaurant". Best game ever if you are baby sitting. I typed up a menu and let them order what they wanted. They loved it!

This picture doesn't really capture the joy and the magic of our meal, but believe me, it was there. Even Fred had a super good time. See below:

Order up! They both ordered peas, who knew! Kids like vegetables. Then one got macaroni and one got chicken. I made them both from scratch. Okay, that's a lie. They were both frozen and I warmed them up so dinner was ready in 5 minutes.

Then I got to put curlers in Natalie's hair. I LOVED IT! I still don't want a girl, but it was fun to have one for one night. I told her to give me a sassy face. This does not seem all that sassy to me. Somebody moved her cheese!

No excuses

My blog has been really sad lately. And I have no excuse to offer. There has been a lot going on, I just haven't written about it. But I am turning a page and offering you a new glimpse into my life.

We moved! I can't tell you what a relief that is. A million billion thanks to Ashley "The Babe" Gibbs for getting me up off my duff and finding a place suitable for my family. We are still in an apartment, but it is a MUCH nicer apartment. Plus, the experience forced me to expunge a few unnecessary items from my life. I took 5 or 6 truckloads to the D.I. and it's like a weight has been lifted. I love it!

Freddie walks! He just started tottering around on Friday and it is the cutest thing on the planet! I love the first two weeks or so of walking where they are still super wobbly and look a little like Frankensteins monster. He is very pleased with himself.

Henry is getting used to his class at school. He can now count to 100 in Chinese and sing a few songs. I think sometime after Christmas the Chinese will really click in his brain and he will be off. It's going to be so awesome when the commies take over and Henry can save us all!

So that is the big update for now. Hope you enjoyed it!

Fred V. The Banana

Fred seems to battle with food quite a bit. And the kid definitely wins most of the time. My Freddie loves to eat. This time he somehow got his hands on a banana when I wasn't paying attention. He tore into that thing like a fat kid with cake!

Henry at School

My delightful Henry is now in the 1st grade. He is doing a super cool Chinese Immersion program. Half of his classes are taught in Chinese. I mean, the teacher doesn't speak a word of English to them for half the day. It's really been a big adjustment, but it will totally be worth it when he's done with elementary and completely fluent. Right now he hates it, but he hates everything that makes him hold still.

Henry has developed some interesting coping mechanisms for school. Here is a copy of his first math test. You may have to click on it bigger to see what kind of work he did, but it is awesome. He told me he felt like writing 7's. This kid is a keeper for sure!

August

I really can't think of anything to say, but since it's now the 19th and I haven't put in anything for August, I need to do something.

So here is my something. Jesse and Henry leave tomorrow for a trip to San Fran. I wish I could say I was jealous I don't get to go, but I am too excited for 3 days alone with my Fred. We need some bonding.

When the big boys get back I will put up pictures of their trip.

Henry

Jesse: Henry, you stink! Did you fart?

Henry: No. It was probably just some air coming out of my ear.

New Stuff

Kinda deceiving since we don't have any new stuff. I don't know if we're just a boring family or if I have a bad memory and can't write about all the super cool stuff we do. It's probably the memory, cause I'm pretty sure we're exciting.

Summer break from school is the pits! It's only been three weeks and Henry and I are sick of each other. All he wants to do is play pokemon and I just want to do pretty much anything else. We did go swimming this week and that was fun. The pool had a little tube slide that we kept trying to get Henry to go down. He was at the top and starting to cry about it, so I told him to sit down and I'd get him off. He sat down with all the blind faith of a 6 year old and I pushed him down. He wasn't really mad at me, but he wouldn't try again. Fair enough I say.

Then we took the boys to Samurai Sushi. BEST sushi in the world! THE BEST! We got Henry to try one roll (Because it's named the pokemon roll) and he started gagging and spitting. I was soooo embarassed. Then we fed it all to Freddie and he loved it! At the shrimp, the crab, the fish eggs, even the pickled ginger! My baby is already so cultured.

Anyway, to finish it off here are some cute pictures of the cutest kids ever. If you disagree with me I'll whack you in the knee cap. Seriously.

It's Ladies Night + Gina

Let's just say it. I'm now 30. I will not hide from my age like I thought I would. I am embracing this new stage in my life. It certainly didn't hurt my outlook that everybody I know made me feel so loved on my birthday. Henry was adorable and gave me a Hello Kitty key chain. Jesse got me gift cards to my favorite stores for $30 each. My neighbor Jamie brought me a cake that didn't say happy birthday, but U R HOT. It was a super great day!

Two days later, my super sexy and awesome and nice cousins gave me a little party. We were going to force ourselves on the general population, but due to baby sitting problems ate over at Kate's house. It really turned out for the best that way. We were loud and crazy and danced our hearts out.

Damn Gina! Why did you invite Peter?

Half of the sushi yumminess. It was so delicious! Thanks to Andrea and Ashley for picking it up and flirting with the Korean chefs. And a huge shout out to Kate for making the molten lava cakes. Yum-O! (I just wanted to shoot myself for typing that) If my camera hadn't run out of batteries you would all be able to see the loveliness that was the cake.



Kate meet sushi. Sushi meet Kate.

I got way better pictures of everybody than this, but who wants to see those?

I get to be the pretty one this time!

We Love Fred!

As you all have heard me crying, you know that my baby turned one this week. Freddie is now a man. Or at least getting a little closer to it. The little man has been very sick lately so we ditched the big party and had a little cake with just the four of us. It really turned out for the best since Freddie wasn't really in a party mood to start with.


So we put Fred in the party chair with his balloons and he didn't like it at all. He wasn't going to put up with any of our crap.

He did perk up a bit when we gave him some Cherrios. He ate and watched us hurry and get the party ready to go. I was woefully unprepared for this event. I have some issues I need to work on. Anyway, back to the party!

I love this picture. We hadn't even really started yet, Jesse was still wrapping presents and I thought I'd take a picture of the cake. Freddie decided he was ready to start and grabbed his own cupcake and started digging in. You really don't get to tell Freddie what the plan is, he makes his own plan. He's kind of like Chuck Norris that way.

"Hey, that's pretty tasty. Do you think they saw me?"

Then he just went for broke and started shoving it in like there was no tomorrow. We had managed to sing to him first, but just barely.

Then while Freddie was eating Henry helped him open his presents. This kept Henry entertained, which was very nice, and Freddie just kept working on the frosting around him. I think he ended up enjoying himself after all. He is always happier when Henry is around.

"So guys, what are we going to do tomorrow?" I love that he looks like a grown up in this one. A grown up with a duck who's covered in frosting. This looks more deadly than the oreo incident.

10 Things I love about Freddie

1. He hates all forms and types of cheese.

2. He demands cuddles out of me.

3. He adores his older brother and laughs at almost everything Henry does.

4. The boy knows how to eat.

5. His big bald head is beautiful and perfect and good for rubbing.

6. It feels like Freddie has always been a part of our family.

7. He takes his time and does things his way.

8. He claps for just about everything.

9. He plays with his tongue a lot and is always finding new noises he can make with it.

10. Watching him grow is a delight and a blessing!

Henry's Wisdom

The setting: Henry getting out of the tub, while I hold his towel out for him.

The dialogue:

Me: "Take the towel and cover up your privacy."

Henry: "Yeah, my privacy looks kinda gross."

Me: "I know, everybody's do."

Freddie V. The Oreo

Happy Birthday Stud!

The love of my life, Jesse, turned 30 yesterday. We really didn't get the chance to do much, but we threw together a little party for the old man. Jesse is a huge Superman fan, so that was our theme for the evenings events. It's not as cool as Henry's set up was this year, but I thought it was Super! Sorry, for the pun.

We bought a German Chocolate cake from the bakery. It's Jesse favorite and I just didn't want to make a cake that day. We personalized it with some frosting. You can thank Henry for the handy work. We called it the spaghetti cake.

And here we have the most awkward family photo ever. Jesse and Henry look like I'm pointing a gun at them. Ready to shoot if they don't look happy. And there is sweet Freddie saying, "bring it lady". I promise we really did have fun.

This photo was taken just 2 minutes later and you can see a genuine smile. Jesse loved his new Zelda T-shirt. Yes, I married a very large 8 year old boy.

And here he is with the 1,000 ticket coupon from the arcade. HOORAY!!!

10 Things I Love About Jesse.

1. He is stinking cute and makes really cute babies.
2. He will watch America's Next Top Model with me and not make fun of it.
3. He is a very talented guitar player and is passing this on to our children.
4. His poofy lips!
5. He has managed to keep me entertained for 7 years. No easy feat.
6. He is nice to his in-laws.
7. He doesn't get mad when the house is messy.
8. Nobody else makes me laugh as hard as he does. I love all our inside jokes.
9. His adorable geekness. Star Wars, Dr. Who, Harry Potter, he loves them all.
10. He gives me the best hugs EVER!!!

I love you Baby Cakes!!!

Jasmine

Our neighbor Jamie has a favorite restaurant named Jasmine. She has actually been there everyday some weeks. Both our gangs went for dinner last week and had a lovely time on the patio. The food is lovely and so is the patio, you should all go. Here is proof of how much fun we had.

Natalie

Henry

Brothers

I took my two precious boys outside for a little photo shoot the other day. They are both adorable and I think it went pretty well. Henry really tried to help me get Freddie's attention, but he was being a stinkpot.

"Look, Fred! Look at the camera."

This is what brotherhood should always look like.

This is what brotherhood usually looks like.

Talking about how annoying mom is with her camera.

This one is by far my favorite picture. I know that in 10 years when they're 16 and 11 I will be getting this look all the time. I probably won't think it's as cute though.

Funnies

We were in the car and listening to the radio. The song "Gives You Hell" by the All American Rejects came on the radio. Henry started to sing along but made up his own chorus. Instead of "I hope it gives you hell, gives you hell" he sang, "Momma gives you help, gives you help". He made my day!

Based on a true story.

Ode to the Dude at Wal-Mart

I was working in my line
You showed up at a quarter to nine
I gave you a smile
You were going to be there a while

I asked myself why
You were buying heals so high
I held my tounge a bit
You were buying a bra that fit

I didn’t think I heard you right
You repeated yourself, so polite
I never thought of marshmallows
You were not going to swallow

In your bra, in your bra
The marshmallows were to go in your bra!

I took a minute to think
You went and grabbed a drink
I finally replied to your query
You had no need to worry

I said the candy wouldn’t melt
You didn’t want them stuck to your pelt
I blinked again in disbelief
You tried to give me some relief

I figured there must be some reason for
You needed to dress like a whore
I was so pleased you shared with me
You had plans to turn into a she

In your bra, in your bra
The marshmallows were to go in your bra!

The day started off well.

So we woke up this morning, ate breakfast and got dressed. Henry wanted to go outside and ride his bike. I had the boys sit on the stairs first and I got these totally adorable pictures. Aren't Freddie's cheeks the best? It's so hard to do anything but kiss them all day! So then I walked over to our patio and lifted up Henry's bike. It was stuck on something so I pulled really hard...WHAM!

Guess who threw their back out? The dork lifting the bike with only one arm, that's who. So I'm standing there, trying not to cry, the baby is on the grass, and I can't move. I sent Henry to try a couple of neighbors to come help, but nobody was home at 11 am on a Thursday. RUDE! Finally a maintenance guy walked by and I had him pick up the baby for me. Then I waddled into the house. That alone took me 5 minutes.

I called Jesse at work. He had meetings all afternoon and couldn't come home. I tried a bunch of people and nobody answered. I tried Ashley again (she had been one of the first on my list), she answered the phone super snotty, "What is it? Are you dying?" I started to cry and said yes. She immediately came over to help me. I think she felt majorly guilty for her attitude. :o)

Anyway, Ashley came and stayed with me until Jesse got home at 6:30. She cleaned my house, took care of my baby, went and bought me a heating pad and was an angel. Then Jesse came home, got us dinner and ice cream then put the boys to bed. I was loved and taken care of by all.

So if I'm still bad in the morning, we're going to the Insta-Care. I don't know what they really can do, but maybe I'll get to see Dr. Pepper again!

Not as different as I thought.

Just for fun I grabbed a couple of Henry's old pictures just to see how really different the two boys looked. The truth is, they're not as distinct as I had previously assumed. Maybe everybody else knew the truth, but I was really surprised. When I have more time I'm going to get some more of these together, it's been really fun.

FRED

HENRY


FRED

HENRY

Picture time with Henry

I can't really add anything with words. He is beyond my communication abilities.