Dolphin show, girlie bike, and Harry Potter...

Despite Noah enduring a nasty cold virus that caused him to miss both Tuesday and Thursday preschool, we managed to have a decent week. It was capped off by a Friday trip to the zoo. This time we finally went to the dolphin show. We've been members for 3 years and gotten free tickets every year. This was the first time we cashed them in. The boys were pumped.Michelle and Evie came too. Evie was hilarious just strutting about like she was the show!
Sam loved being able to stand for most of the time. He even danced his little wiggle dance which I failed to capture on video despite a few attempts. How cute/old man is he?
It was a pretty cool show with dolphins jumping lots (both boys were amazed). And it was only about 20 min, even better for short attention spans!
For years I've been hunting for a toddler bike that you can push with the handle. Seriously been looking since Noah was little. Ones at garage sales were too junky or not what I was looking for. Ones in the stores were WAY too expensive. This week I finally found one at Toys R Us that was marked down. The only hang up was that it was purple. But I sucked it up and purchased it. Wouldn't you know, Sam loves it! I'm sure he will rue this picture some day, but it was totally worth it!
Noah has been a major fan of the Target dollar section. This week we fond a glow wand (you know, the kind you crack and they glow for a couple hours). He did his best Harry Potter impression. Of course he's never seen any of the movies so his "Avada Kedavra" sounded more like "avado dodo do." He's got the pose right though.
Here's the glowing look...
So here's to next week and hopefully a healthy crew around here!

Brag Alert...!

Oftentimes, I know I blog about "challenges" we face (meaning, my 3 year old's tantrums and my 1 year old's refusals to move around independently). I put challenges in quotes because I do truly realize how amazing my kids are and how wonderfully normal they are and how blessed we are to have happy, healthy kids. So today is a brag post about just how dang cute, smart, talented my two boys are. Sam has really started communicating more lately. See here how he mugs for the camera....He is crawling around like a fiend, cruising on furniture with just fingertip support, and just starting to be more independent. He has signs for more and up, uses "da" and "ma" verbally and is starting to say "dog" and "go" and "good" as well as a few more. It's a really fun time as he's starting to be more interactive. He's also being MUCH more naughty, much to everyone elses' delight. Sam and Noah were excited about the cooler weather and being able to wear their footie pajamas. This is what 6:30am looks like in our house.
And my preschooler has become quite the artist. Noah must be getting his skills from Daddy, because I have absolutely NO artistic ability. His teacher at school has noticed and he seems to really be getting some nice skills lately. So of course I took pictures because that's what bragging moms do. Here is one of his new favorites Ben 10. I was impressed with how he remembered that Ben had brown hair and green eyes. He's getting more observant of color differences lately (yesterday he asked me "what color skin does God have?").
This one is a color wonder page. I was pretty impressed by the rainbow colors he used for the arrow on top.
As you can image we've been going through coloring pages like kleenex around here. So Mike and I started copying pages on our printer/copier. And we've been encouraging him to color every inch of the paper. So he started doing the backgrounds on his pictures.
So here's to our little Picasso. Maybe this skill will lead to college scholarships and wealth and fame! But regardless, it's nice to have an activity for him to sit and do independently at 7:00am on a Saturday morning!

Rodeo Time Again!

As promised, here are the rodeo pictures from this weekend. I took about 100 pictures, mostly just repeats of the same shot because taking pictures of 5-6 kids is tricky. Michelle, Andrea, and I were trying to figure out how many rodeos we have been to, it's somewhere around 9 or 10. It has changed much from our days of single, drunken, debauchery to now a family event. But it was awesome nonetheless! Here on Friday night the oldest 5 kids (yep there's another one now!) don the jammies and hang out on Kyndal's bed.Saturday morning it was parade time. Sam shows off his rodeo shirt (thanks to Aunt Michelle) with a little help from Ian.
Kyndal, the 2 year old, hangs out with Megan along the route.
The newest addition is baby Lizzy, Tyler and Susanne's little one that is 4 months old. She was pretty happy hanging out with her Grandpa.
The big kids wait to score some candy, the GIANT bag we brought home is testament to their improved candy gathering abilities.
This weekend should be dubbed "how much JUNK can Noah eat?" Here he managed to convince Becky that he needed a creme filled donut just after eating a cinnamon roll at The Ivy for breakfast. This was only the beginning of the sugar this kid ingested over the course of the weekend.
Sam eventually ran out of gas and passed out in Debbie's lap. Not even the bands, tractors, nor horses could wake him!
Miss Evelyn accessorized throughout the course of the morning. She must get that skill from her mommy.
Then on Saturday night we prepared to go to the rodeo. The three eldest kids (Ayla, Noah, and Kyndal) got to attend the actual rodeo this year. I didn't have time in my mad rush to get ready over the past week to find Noah any rodeo get up. Never fear, Aunt Andrea is here! With a complete vest/chaps set just for him! We thought maybe he'd just wear it around the house, but he actually wanted to wear it to the rodeo that night!
Aren't these cute cow pokes?!
Noah was beyond excited when we got there, he was just modeling his get up for everyone. Think, New York Runway meets Superhero pose. It was hysterical!
We made a $5 investment to complete the ensemble with the required head gear.
Noah did SO well sitting in the bleachers, watching all the events, eating all the food, and staying up past 10pm! I realized I had failed in my explanation of rodeo when he said a)"when are we going inside?" (he did not realize the rodeo would take place outdoors) and b)"that horse lost his guy!" (he did not understand why the horse would NOT want a rider). And here's how he looked afterwards with a little hoist from Uncle Bob...
Sunday morning was early for the Rodriguez crew as my boys we're both up and playing by 5:30-6am despite the late night at the rodeo. But we hung out in jammies and Sam found a new talent (don't worry, he was NOT doing this at 5:30am).
And finally we gathered up all the kiddies for the group photo. From left to right it's Ayla (3yrs), Lizzy (4mos), Kyndal (2yrs), Evie (1yr), Noah (3yrs), and Sam (1yr). Whew, and next year, who know there might even be more (NOT FROM ME!!!!!!!!!!!).
Leave it to Noah to hulk out on the one shot we actually got some nice smiles from the girls. Well, you get the idea, right?
So we survived another year in Fort Madison, Iowa and had so much fun with everyone! Now to unpack and breathe before another week begins!

Big Boys!

Hello all, hope everyone is enjoying this late summer/early fall weather! We have been very busy, but with all fun things. Mike bowls on Sunday nights with his dad and his sister, so that leaves us to fend for ourselves. The boys and I have dubbed it picnic dinner night, so we lay out a blanket and eat dinner in the living room (sometimes with a movie on!). Sam is eating so well now that he gets to hang out just like a big boy, he thinks he's so cool!
Noah lays out like an old pro, we try to have lots of fun before Mommy's busy 3 day work week!
For labor day, we headed to the lakehouse for some quality cousin time. Noah and his bud/cousin CJ got excited about ice cream before bed!
And Sam mastered the "my grandma is a lazyboy chair" move...
Our 3 year old big boy started preschool this week and he has done fabulously. Daddy got to take him for his first day and snapped this pic in the parking lot just before heading in. He has been a bit nervous heading in, but has done well and is learning how to play with new friends!
So, that's what we've been up to. This weekend we're heading to the annual rodeo in Fort Madison, Iowa where we'll have 6 kids under 3 and 10 adults all staying at the Krogmeiers. Wooohoooo! Pics to come next week if we survive!