Daycare

Today was the first day that I started watching Baby Roger!  He and his mom have been here a few times during her maternity leave and my kids just adore him!  It is definitely different having four kids around, but I love it!  The hardest part about today was preschool drop off/pick up.  The classes are shortened this week so it's only an hour and a half long and the boys' classrooms are right next to each other which means complete chaos for parents waiting in line to pick up and drop off their kids!!  Picture this: double stroller (1 baby and 1 20 month old) and then a 5 yr old and 3 yr old walking to and from school, waiting in line at two different classrooms, and weaving in and out of people to get each boy to their cubbies and into the classroom.  It's crazy, but doable. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow!!!

First Day of Pre-K AND 3 yr old preschool

Today was the first day of 3 year old preschool for Nolan.  It was Brayden's first day of his second year of Pre-K.  Brayden was super ready to start school.  Nolan was a bit more unsure.  He wasn't sure that he wanted Daddy to leave, but the teacher said as soon as he left, he was fine. 

Brayden's teachers are doing a Dr. Suess theme this year.  He is in the Red Fish class. He has a couple kids that he knows in there.  New Jack, Old Jack, Sam, and Jacoby's brother.  The morning class is heavy on boys and that is the class Brayden is in.  It was the same way last year and seemed to be fine.  Those poor teachers!!!

Nolan's theme is a popcorn theme for this week/month.  The bulletin board says "look who popped in" and their names are on popcorn kernels.  How cute! 

Sept 1 and 2

I am SO very excited about September!  The first was pretty uneventful.  Kalyn and I were home while the boys and Jack were at Nana's house.  When you have three kids and then you are just down to one... well, it certainly was quiet around here!!  I missed all the craziness!!  Before I went to bed, I realized something!  Jon and I met 8 years ago that night at Crush--you know, the one with the bathroom doors that were see through unless you locked it and then it clouded over... yup, it was a dance club. Anyway... clearly Jon was with a few friends that were dressed in 60's/70's garb.  He was with a few Central guys so I thought I knew him.  I did not, but I bought him a shot for his troubles and then we thought it would be a good idea to dance!  It was a great night and I am SO VERY thankful I ventured out to Crush (the first and only time I had been) 8 years ago!!!

Today, the family was reunited again!  It was great to be altogether!  Seemed like forever... it was only a week, but hey!  Just in time for the boys' first day of preschool tomorrow!!! Exciting week ahead!  check back for an update later in the week!!

August--I promise to do better in September

August was a pretty busy month as well for us. 
Events in random order...
I had a couple pampered chef parties and a meeting.  I caught up with some friends from when I worked at Wells Fargo.  I had a couple ear infections-which let me tell you is horrible as an adult and I feel terrible for my kids and any other kids that get them.  It was miserable. I had a great time catching up with some classmates from high school.  It was unfortunate for the circumstances - our classmate's funeral - but fortunate that we all made it safely back to our hometown and were able to spend some time together.  We were able to spend an afternoon with our friends and Nolan's Godparents, Shane and Susan and their kids.  We celebrated Jon's birthday- I got him a bike that he hasn't taken out yet.  I also got a seat for Kalyn to sit on so we can take her with us and the boys can ride their bikes.  Jon and I went camping with our friends Wade and Emily back near my hometown.  We had a "twerkin" good time.  Some other friends stopped out-Ryan, Nathan, Lisa, Brett.  It was great catching up with everyone.  Next time, I WILL have a camper or at least an air mattress because MAN the ground was HARD!  Brayden's teacher visited our house and played a few games with him and read him a book.  The other two kids thought that was awesome and listened as well.  We had a playdate with one of Brayden's new classmates, went to the museum at Camp Dodge, went to ISU fan fest * Nolan's dancing was amazing as we watched the cheerleaders.  So much that the coach pretty much offered him a uniform on the spot * Jon had to go out of town for work the last week in August and it went pretty well.  It was the hottest week of the month.  The boys slept well, but Kalyn was having some troubles -ears, teeth, just being ornery??? Kalyn ended up sick and the ladies of the house got NO sleep. 
Here's to a great Sept!

July

Besides spending the first 10 days or so of the month in England and Wales, we were also getting ready for a very special 5 year old's bday!!  Brayden turned 5 and to say I was ill prepared is an understatement.  I honestly hadn't thought much past our trip!!  SO... we I threw together a party for him and we celebrated 5 years of Brayden!  The day was all about him.  Swimming in the big pool, having his buddy Zane swim with him and then spend the night Backyard Camping Style, and getting a few new toys.  Since Brayden is 5, he no longer uses a sippy cup AND he has his OWN room.  Brayden also had fun at Hope's VBS.  We spent some time with the Schoeberl side of the family at our annual Christmas in July. 

Schoeberl's Euro Vacation 2013

Seriously, though, Jon and I had the time of our lives!!!

We left on Friday afternoon.  We were on our plane and everything seemed to be going smoothly.... not quite.  We were on the plane and then right before take off the pilot said that we have been stopped because of bad weather in Chicago.  An hour later, we got off our plane... in DSM... and waited and waited.  Finally, after lots of calling and trying to reschedule, our original flight took off for Chicago with us on the plane.  Then, we ran SPRINTED to the next flight (since we had already missed ours) to London. Standby.... standby... there was a LONG list of standby.... WE GOT ON!  Only two hours later than planned!!!

The flight.  Was AWESOME!  I watched 4 movies that I hadn't seen.  Didn't sleep one wink in 8 hours on the plane.  The food wasn't so bad.  I made friends with the guy, Mark, sitting next to me.  He was flying over for the weekend to go sailing!!  Crazy....

Our bags didn't make it.  We waited two hours at the airport for them.  Got em. Headed to the train station.  I cried from exhaustion and spilled mt dew all over.  We got free train tickets (because we missed our train and we had already booked and paid for an earlier train) but only because we let them film us for a documentary that they were making. :/

So, we slept a little on the train from London to Newport South Wales.

Lena and Dan were there with hugs waiting for us!!!! 

We rested a little bit once we got to Caerleon where Lena and Dan live.  Such a great little town!  I LOVE IT! 

That evening, we headed over to Becky's house (Lena's friend from work).  She was having a Christmas in June party (half way to Christmas and she loves the Christmas holiday)!  It was great!  Would have been even more fun if we weren't SO VERY tired!  I held some cute babies and it made me miss our kiddos. 

Sunday- We walked out the front door of the house to their take on a Farmer's Market.  It wasn't bad.  I bought some raspberry jam and bread and some sweets.  I cried over curry.... and missed the kids like crazy. We headed out to Cwmbryn to pick up Lena's ring and stop at the grocery store.  Then we walked around the beautiful town of Usk and had a lovely light mid-afternoon lunch and of course, a pint.  That evening, we headed to Dan's Nan's birthday!  Great music, amazing food, beautiful venue, and awesome company!  Dan has a lovely family!!

Monday- Jon, Lena, and I headed out to explore the history of Caerleon.  It was beautiful and quaint. I loved everything about it!  It was hard getting used to the narrow streets and twisty/winding roads, but lovely, lovely, lovely! That night, Lena and Dan had to go to their wedding venue to do some last minute wedding planning, so Jon and I walked down the The Ship to have a lovely dinner together.  It was cheap and stunning. The dessert was amazing. We then went on a love stroll ;) to work it off! This was one of my favorite nights. We ended up at Minstrel's, a bar right by Lena and Dan's house.  We used their wifi all week.  We met some fun folks there and did a trivia game.  *sigh* Unfortunately, we got 2nd or 3rd from last.  We are not up on our Welsh and British history/geography. 

Tuesday- Jon and I got up early and Dan dropped us off at the train station.  We headed to Bath, England to spend the day together and walking around to see the Roman Baths and all the history the town holds.  It was amazing and beautiful.  We headed back to Dan and Lena's via train, then bus.  It was a fun experience. Their public transportation is great!  Even WE figured it out!  Simple!  Jon went to dinner with Dan and Cole for some proper Indian dinner.  I went to dinner at The Ship with the girls.  These girls are spouses that Lena met through Dan and his friends.  We had a great time!

Wednesday- aka Cardiff day.  We went to Cardiff around midday.  Jon and I spent a bit of time at Cardiff Castle and then walked around doing a little bit of shopping before meeting up with Lena and Cole for a pint and dinner with some more friends.  There we met Owen, Liz, Clare, and met up with Emma and Lucas again!  It was a great night!  I was introduced to Bow and Black that night!!!  No looking back now!!!  It was amazing! 

Thursday-4th of July- Jon and I headed out bright and early for Merthyr Tydfil to meet up with Emma. She took us out to Pan y Fan to climb the mountain.  It takes two hours... and it was cold, misting, and slippery.  We were not prepared even though EVERYONE told us to bring rain gear to Wales.  SO... we gave it our best shot.  We climbed half way, took a couple pictures, and headed back to the road soaking wet and all.  We had some hot chocolate/coffee and Welsh Cakes (DELICIOUS!) and headed back into town with Emma.  We stopped at the Merthyr Tydfil school/castle museum and then at Emma's parents house to visit with her dad and son.  It was nice and we had a blast!  Then we headed back to the train station to head to Cardiff to head out to St. Fagan (similar to Living History Farms--which we really need to visit with the kids) and then to Cardiff Bay. It was a beautiful day, despite the rain in the valley where we tried to climb a mountain.... When we got back to Lena's, we got proper fish and chips from the restaurant right by Lena's house. Yum! I guess I do like fish... when it's fresh... and deep fried with fries.

Friday- Wedding Festivities commenced.  We headed to Bristol, England with Dan's folks.  Before we left we grabbed some bread for Dan at the store just down by Minstrel's and also bought them out of Welsh Cakes.  We walked around the mall for a bit in Bristol.  We were running on fumes. We met up with Dan and headed to the hotel/castle/wedding venue.  Jon and I checked in, had a nap, walked around, swam, had dinner, and met up with Lena and the girls.... Kerry, Sarah, and Becky.  It was hysterical!  We I was trying to convince them all to come to Iowa! To live, to visit.... whatever.  I did this the whole week. Then we went to bed.... exhausted!

Saturday- The WEDDING!  Wow.  I will have to write a separate post about this!  It was nothing short of amazing.  Completely romantic. They really outdid themselves.  Lena was stunning!  Dan was handsome!  I cried like a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I didn't even cry at MY wedding!!!!!

Sunday-  We had a lovely brunch in the morning.  Hugged everyone a thousand times.  Lena... a thousand and one.  We got a ride back to Bristol to the train station with Lena's friend, Cate--she's one of the sweetest women ever!  We took a train to London Paddington and then a Cab to our hotel in Trafalgar square... Yup. We were downtown in all the action.  We walked around right away and saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Abbey, Buckingham Palace.... Then we headed back to our hotel to freshen up and back to Westminster Abbey for church that night.  We ate on the way home... fish and chips and dessert... and then walked around for a little bit to get a night view. 

Monday- traffic was crazy, we had to leave our hotel early for the airport.  Got on our flight, no problem.... got stuck in Chicago... Finally made it home to our kiddos and Jack dog.... :)


This left out a TON of details and sites that we saw, but you get the picture.  It was AMAZING. I am STILL (a month later) trying to adjust to being back home.  I miss my new friends, old friends, and new places.  I miss the culture.  I miss everything.  "Are you ok?" "Yes, are you ok?" I miss Minstrel's and Lena's. I miss the cool weather (hot for them) so that I could leave my hair down without sweating to death.  I just miss it all.  I hope to go back VERY soon! 

Jon agrees... best trip ever.  Will never be able to top it.  SO glad we went. SO glad I didn't go earlier in my life... I never would have come home and met Jon and had my wonderful children.....

AND.... I WANT SOME WELSH CAKES ASAP! YUM!

Hi

I've been a terrible blogger! I have so much to post about.... Our trip, my friends' wedding, kids, dog, etc but today I feel like posting about progress.

I can definitely say that we were on VACATION. We ate like it too... Drank like it.... But we DID walk..... A lot. And hike. And I went on a run and we were active daily. But ... Lets face it. I ate like crap and I will not reach my goals when I make poor diet choices. We've been slowly progressing back to a routine. Egg whites, water, exercise, salads, etc. I have been SO tired lately though so sleep/exercise/ get active/ beast mode has not exactly been working out. I can barely stay awake let alone run, lift, sprint, spin. I'm not sure how ppl do it--- you ppl need to tell me your secrets!!! I am typically tired bc I have small kids x3 and a baby puppy..... But this week was exceptionally hard. Holler at me if you are up for a HIIT workout. You plan it and ill do it with you! Mmmmmmk?