Party in Dubuque!!

We had four birthdays all in a row. First Andrew, then Grandpa Dick, next Bob, and finally Kalin. So we started off the festivites with a Rotzoll tradition....Happy Joes! They honked the horn and sang Happy Birthday to everyone and then the birthday boys and girl each got their very own sundae.
The next day Aunt Becky packed us a very nice picinic lunch and we ate it down by the Mississippi. Thank you Aunt Becky. It was a beautiful day and we even got to see a barge go by. That evening we had a cookout with a Cookie Monster cake and homemade ice cream, it doesn't get much better than that. Here are the birthday boys and Kalin.

Andrew strikes again!

I ran a got my camera as fast as a could the other day, Andrew was actually playing with a toy for more than 5 minutes. He really likes his Thomas the Train track that he got for his birthday. Then the other day there was silence in our house which can only mean on thing right? But to my surprise he was lying on his bed reading books to himself. So I wasn't so worried when I didn't hear anything from him a few days later...but you can see what he did to my bathroom. One of the reasons I love Andrew so much is that there is never a dull moment in our house!

Kalin's first day of school.

Okay, I've tried several times to rotate these pictures around and can't get them to work so please turn your head side ways. This is Kalin on her first day of school. The first day went really well, but for the rest of the week there were a lot of tears from both Mom and Kalin. Thanks to the advice of Grandma and some really good friends, we made it through the week. Kalin and I made a chart and she got to put a sticker on for each day that she didn't cry at school. If she got eleven stickers I told her that I would come and eat lunch with her on her birthday. I'm proud to say that I got to bring her chicken nuggets and oranges from Wendy's on her birhtday, of couse she cried when I had to leave but I think we made some progress!

A night of firsts...

Andrew had a very exciting night at dinner, he ate his first full ear of corn. (A true Iowa boy.) Even better he drank out of his big boy cup with out spilling his milk. (It almost brought tears to my eyes...I hate cleaning the floor!)

Is this a good hair day or a bad hair day?

Kalin has decided that she likes to do her own hair. Most days she wears a pony tail, a head band, and a clip. I've tried to explain sometimes less is more, but she hasn't quite gotten the concept. Most days I am happy that she wants to do her own hair and just go with it. This day in particular she came up with a very interesting style....she didn't leave the house.

Graduation Day!!

The graduates: Jasmine, Abria, Katherine, and Kalin.
In August, Kalin graduated from Country Kidds Daycare. It is hard to believe that she started at the center when she was just twelve weeks old, and she was almost 5 when she graduated. Her teachers became part of our family and we loved each and everyone of them! Kalin was sad to leave her teachers and friends, but was excited to start Pre-Kindergarten at Heritage Christian School. The good news is that Andrew still attends Country Kidds and she still gets to say hi to her teachers.

Andrew's 2nd Birthday.

It is hard to believe that Andrew turned 2 on August 1st. He is a very sweet little boy, who is turing out to be quite entertaining. We are so blessed to have him in our lives, there isn't a day that goes by that we don't thank God for giving him to us.