Slab Leak...Ice Cream!

I'm not sure who said part of the American Dream was owning a home...not true! Karl and I are very fortunate for the house we have but I think we took for granted the convenience of renting! We noticed a wet patch in the flower bed in front of our house that seemed to never dry out! On Saturday Karl decided to dig up the "broken sprinkler line" and check it out. Little did we know we had a slab leak. This was confirmed after 3 days of plumbers cutting holes in our newly painted house and trudging through with dirty muddy shoes! Anyway, it is finally fixed and a new pipe had to be run from the garage into the house to the laundry room. Thank goodness for our home warranty. That should cover about half of the bill. The boys were such troopers through the whole process. On Tues we took the kids out for ice cream as a special treat for behaving so well while strange men and lots of loud saws interrupted their routine.
The firemen pictures were taken in front of my parents house. Their neighbor is a fireman and happened to be there when we pulled up to my parents house. The boys thought it was really cool to spray the fire hose!I'm off to watch the finale of ER. I have some great pictures from when Erin was here of Kidspace Museum. I'll get them up soon.

Erin visits & Matt flys a kite

Karl's sister Erin came to visit for a week and the boys had a blast with her. She was a big help and even baby sat all three boys (Luke included) for a few hours one night. Matt and Micah love having Erin read to them. Thanks Erin for spending your spring break with us!

Matt got a kite for his birthday and we finally got around to flying it at the park. He was proud that he was able to do it all by himself. It was a boys afternoon at the park while Andi and her Grandma cooked at the house.

More birthday pictures!!

Here are more pictures from Matt's third birthday party that I promised.

Bad weather keeps us inside

100th post!!!!!!!!!!!

We had 50 mph gusts all weekend and rain on Sunday morning. Karl aerated the yard Saturday afternoon. It is going to take some work but he is determined to get the grass growing well. We had the Crane's over for dinner Saturday night for salmon and crab! Matt and Micah both liked the crab. Karl too Matt's picture in this old Twin's jacket with the plan of taking each boys picture in it every year. Micah also wanted his picture taken so the next picture is of him saying "cheese." The last picture is of Matt dancing to "Crocodile Rock" by Elton John. The keyboard has prerecorded songs and he knows the numbers of the songs he likes. He also likes "In the mood" by Glenn Miller (he calls it swing music). He asks Karl to play the "real" Crocodile song on the computer (itunes).
Stay tuned for more birthday pictures.

Our Baby is THREE!!!

Happy Birthday to Matt! Today is was Matt's birthday although we had his party yesterday. We had a good turn out and for over 2 hours our house was filled with kids age 3 weeks to 4 years! The party theme was "Matt's Carnival." The kids had a great time jumping in the bouncer we rented. The pinata was a hit, although it was the world's toughest pinata and finally had to be ripped open by hand! The kids also had a great time at a craft table decorating a circus scene picture and playing pin the nose on the clown.
I have never seen Matt so excited when the man came to set up the bouncer on Sat morning. Matt was so overwhelmed he couldn't speak (and that is huge for Matt!) His face was priceless! He had so much fun in the bouncer! About 20 minutes before the bouncer was to be picked up we tried to prep Matt and explain in 3 year old terms that the bouncer was going away. It broke my heart how upset he became. Surprisingly, when Matt got to watch the man deflate it and pack it up this was great closure for him and he was fine with it all and no longer upset. He is such a sensitive kid.
My brother took most of the pictures and I have not seen them. The battery in our camera died early into the party so these pictures are not the best. I will post some better ones in a week or so.

Jeanette, Jack, Raina, and the new baby, Brayden, drove from Vegas on Friday. It was great to have them here. Karl and I were so proud to show off our new house. We always LOVE to have family stay with us. Brayden is a cutie and seems to be a really good baby. Matt loved to "help" with the baby.

Jeanette, Jack and Raina left this afternoon. It is always a little sad when family leaves. We had such a great time with them. Matt and Micah love their Grandma, Uncle, Aunt and Cousin very much. This evening we took Matt and Micah out for ice cream. Matt said he just wanted ice cream for dinner but we compromised and got pizza along with the ice cream! Tomorrow the Stutelberg family starts detoxing!! Feb and March are full of birthdays and lots of cake in our family.
Karl and I celebrated our 6th anniversary today! We went for a 7 mile run together. Our run conveniently ended at Cold Stone so we shared an ice cream. We then got coffee and walked home together. I think I enjoyed our little date more than if we had gone to a fancy restaurant to celebrate! I think I am the luckiest girl in the world! To be married to my best friend, have two beautiful little boys, and have an amazing supportive and loving extended family are blessings I can't explain in words.
This year had flown by. It seems like yesterday Karl and I were driving to the hospital to visit Matt as we prayed to God that he would grow, be healthy and come home with us. Life is unbelievable! I can't help but sometimes just stare at my kids in awe! Happy Birthday, Matt. Your Mommy and Daddy love you very much!
Enjoy the pictures and I will try to get some better ones posted soon.

MATT WITH HIS CARNIVAL CUPCAKE SCENE

LUKE & MICAH IN THE BOUNCER

MATT WITH THE PICTURE HE DECORATED


MAX, COLE, & LUKE BUSY AT THE CRAFT TABLE

SIGN ON THE FRONT DOOR

COUSIN PICTURE!

Moving in and getting settled

We did the BIG move last weekend and and started living at the new house Saturday night. As of today we have been in a week and are still busy unpacking boxes and organizing. We unpacked the important boxes first (see picture below). Matt is now sleeping in a twin bed that was Andi's when she was a kid. When he saw it he forgot all about his toddler bed. We added a bed rail and he loves it. Micah also likes his room which is covered in trucks, cars, and has an airplane fan. Karl used his lawn mower for the first time today. The lawn is going to need some work to get it ready for the summer. The boys love playing inside and out. We are preparing the house for Matt's third birthday party next week. There are lots of little odds and ends to do.

Only Luke!

Words are not really needed for this picture! This is Luke!!! We love you buddy!!!
The Stutelberg's have been busy moving, packing and cleaning this past week. The inside of the house is finished! We still have a little cleaning to do but plan on doing our big move next weekend! We moved some of the boy's toys, treadmill, futon, and various other pieces of small furniture this weekend. I really think this helped Matt. He has been asking a lot of questions lately reagarding our move. We can tell from his questions that he is a little confused and doesn't understand. How could he!! He randomly asked me the other day if we would be moving the hair dryer to the new house! Micah is lucky, he doesn't grasp what is going on at all and loves to run through the new house screaming and listening to the echo!
My friend, Dawn, had her baby on Friday morning. Welcome to the word little Vivian! I went to the hospital and held her when she was only 10 hours old! Wow...life is so amazing!
I told Matt that "Miss Dawn had her baby. The baby grew big enough and was able to come out of her tummy." Matt has been putting his little blankie (Sponge Buddy) in his shirt and telling me he is growing. Then multiple times during the day Sponge Buddy "grows big enough" and emerges from Matt's "tummy."
Have a good week. The next time I post will be from our new house!!!
Oh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARK!!!!

Micah and Karl practice for the circus!

No real new news on the house. It is still being painted. The kitchen island counter and sink are in. The plumbing and grout work should be done by the weekend! All the exterior doors have new locks and knobs. I can't wait to post pictures of the house when it is complete!! In the mean time we are packing every night after the boys go to bed and when they nap. I fill the boxes and Karl takes them over to the new house and unloads them into the garage. Hopefully we will get the carpets cleaned and the exterminator in next week. Then we can start actually moving into the house.
Enjoy the video! Karl and Micah discovered a new game!
Matt is into asking questions now (not that he was quiet before!) His new phrase is because why? Although, it sounds more like "cuz why?" Micah is not the talker that Matt was at 15 months. Micah has taken to the awful habit of screaming and pointing at something when he wants it. It takes a lot of patience but we are trying to make him attempt to say the word or show him the sign and have him sign it. I don't know if we are making any progress yet but Karl and I don't speak screeching monkey so our kiddos have to sign or speak if they want to be heard!!
Have a good weekend!

New house still in preparatory stages

Our blog readers have requested pictures of our new house. The first coat of paint went up on the walls today. We hare hoping to be in by the end of February. Well see how that goes. Here are some pictures from Saturday.Ready to paint.Yes, our garage doors are different colors.Our view to looking west.The new slider door.

Matt in the back yard after the rain.

Finally, the Stutelberg family made the CLU magazine after I emailed this picture to the alumni department.

Our Trip to Colorado

I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from our trip to Colorado. We had a great week in the snow at my grandma's cabin. We took the kids sledding everyday. We even got Matt on skis for about 20 minutes each day. It was a good introduction for him. We wanted to make sure it was a positive experience for him so when he said "Take me inside. I'm ready for hot chocolate!" we listened! He caught on to the hot chocolate thing fast!! Other than the major sleeping (or lack of) issues it was a great trip. Grandma cooked as always and we ate too much. Clark and I got out for a day of downhill skiing and Karl and I did a few hours of cross country. Karl got in a few good long runs and skied with my dad a bit. In the evenings fierce Wii competitions were held!