Luke's 1st trip to the dentist

The kids had dentist appointments after school today. Emily thinks the dentist is so fun. Really fun were her words. Hopefully she keeps that attitude. I always enjoyed going myself. It was also Luke's first time! He was a little apprehensive, but did so good. Claimed "but I just brushed my teeth!" Got a little worried when Dr. Carroll put on gloves and a mask, naturally. We said it protects him from germs, like if you have a cold. "But I don't have a cold!" They counted them and did their fancy little number system with the spacing etc, brushed a little of that gel "to make your teeth strong!", and called it a great first appointment! No pictures/xrays until he's 4 or so. Emily will go back in a few months for sealants on her molars and he still predicts she'll need braces when she's 10-12 years old. They could tell that the kids drink lots of tap water. Funny thing is that when Emily was really young, Dave was always afraid of her drinking the tap water too much....something about maybe that's the reason why some of the people in Winona are so strange ;) If that's the case, at least they'll be weirdos with nice teeth! Other than that, perfect check-up for her too! Luke chose a little set of mini screwdrivers for his prize. Not too surprising!

Until September!

Luke had his last day of preschool for the year on Monday! In the fall, he'll go 3 mornings a week. He enjoys it alot. Loves to find out what's in the sensory table in the mornings....sand, water, it's been Easter grass in the spring, corn in the fall, you name it! He really likes his teachers and friends, especially Jayden, Brennan and Jacob. At least he talks about them mostly. They have a Kettler trike that has 2 seats so the front kid can pedal and the kid in back basically goes for a ride. One day, Jayden buddied up with Luke and rode him around on it, he really thought that was neat. Talked about it forever! And on a similar note, Luke officially pedals himself! At the old age of 3 years, almost 4 months. Have I mentioned my kids are late bloomers when it comes to pedaling a bike?

9 weeks....and Stella update!

Our pretty girl is definitely growing! Stella was officially 9 weeks old yesterday.

It's been going pretty well. I now remember why people say "Having a puppy is harder than a newborn!" The puppy 'craziness' will pass though. Last week I started walking her to school to pick up Emily, a whole 8-9 blocks round trip. She wanted to stop and rest a lot, pretty much at every chance of shade in the boulevards. Then of course, she was greeted by darn near the whole school. I'm certain all 70 or so kids that go to Central know Stella by name. Anyways, she developed diarrhea on Tuesday, So I googled all about 'puppy diarrhea.' Did you know there are 4 kinds of puppy poop? I won't go into details. I'm wondering if it was the stress of starting to walk longer distances and all the attention. I don't think it was a diet thing since she was fine before and we've been doing half and half of her old food with what we plan to feed her since we got her. She had a vet appointment on Thursday afternoon, so I figured I'd bring it up then. Her stool sample tested positive for Hookworms. I guess it's common in puppies, they all have them, but sometimes the initial 'deworming' @ 6 weeks doesn't quite get them all. So, she got some dewormer treatment, Frontline and her heartworm pill all taken care of. We have to do another dewormer treatment in 2 weeks and then retest her stool 2 weeks after that. But, they don't necessarily think that would be the cause of her diarrhea. Could have been the stress, could have been something she ate, who knows. It's gone now. I keep the kids from giving her things, but I'm sure she's picked up stuff. They know to never ever give her grapes, raisins, onions or chocolate. Now they are just forced to eat pretty much everything at the table!

She pretty much has a little schedule down. I really dislike her from 5-8am. That's her naughty time. She makes up for it the rest of the day usually. She naps, pees, plays, drinks and repeat. Throw in a few chow times as well. She sits on command, so that is fun (how I got these pictures actually :). She loves her sweet potato strip treats. Doesn't have the time to sit for those though! Emily and I fight over who gets to hold her after she wakes up. She does about 4 adorable yawns! She's been getting some dog socialization too. Between the neighbors and the regulars who walk by. She loves it!

So if you're wondering why the lack of blogging, she's why!

6 1/2!

Well, actually 6 and a half and 9 days (in this picture), if we're getting technical! Emily asked me today if she was 6 or 6 and a half. She was happy to hear she has that 'half year' accomplishment!

Field Trip

On Friday, Emily had her all school field trip. I got to go with as a chaperone. We went to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum and were supposed to go to Prairie Island/Deer Park and picnic, but it was raining. Bummer. So the Kinders ate lunch in the classroom and then everyone watched a movie in the gym, The Princess and the Frog. Ugh. I could have thought of better movies that would appeal to everyone, but whatever. Maybe Emily and I just aren't into Disney 'princess' movies I guess. At least the popcorn was good. She's gearing up for the end of the school year. Only 13 more days of school left! She's only missed 2 "half days" due to being sick...not too shabby! There's a survey going on right now through the WAPS concerning primarily Central and Rollingstone schools. Lots of questions regarding Magnet schools, possible making 1 of them a year round school following the 40-15 day schedule (40 days on, 15 days (3 weeks) off all year- with the normal holiday breaks and a 3 week summer break). I might need more convincing of the year round concept. Lots of people think summer break is too long, I don't! But, if that's what it takes to keep Central afloat, so be it!

Emily and Caitlin being impressionist artists! The kids learned all about Impressionism painting. They now know that Monet and Renior were famous Impressionist painters from France and that they use a pallette for painting. Oh, and they learned lots of facts about the Titanic. It was as long as 22 school buses lined up and it had 4 smoke stacks, but only 3 were actually functional!

monkey see, monkey do

The other day, Luke was determined to go outside and 'weedwack.' Sure enough, Shirley's yard guy was at work too!

8 weeks old

sandbox pal

Stella discovered the sandbox last night! Or I should say, finally made the jump in. Luke likes having her in with him. I bet this summer she'll enjoy digging herself a nice cool spot. Hey, I guess it's better than the black dirt pile she adores.

"You need a hole dug where?"

"cute as a bugs ear"

At Granpa's funeral, Uncle Les told Emily she was "as cute as a bugs ear."

She sure is!

Stella at School

On Monday, Luke had the sharing bag at preschool. And, it happened to be pet week. He brought Stella!

Then yesterday, she visited Emily's Kindergarten class! Emily sat with her, the kids sat in a circle and they were each able to ask a question about Stella. Then they got to come up by 2's and pet her. She was awake for a little bit and then fell asleep in Emily's arms. Ms. Langowski is a dog person, so she loved her. She was quite a hit!

a puppy AND a baby?!

Baby Robison #3.....December 1st, 2010 (maybe we'll have a 3rd "5th" baby?)......11 weeks(+/- 6 days)......171 bpm heartrate......gave Mommy her first ever dose of morning sickness and heartburn.....boy or girl? -won't know until it's here! (hey, we have totes and totes of girl and boy clothes and no bedroom of it's own to come home too, sounds like the perfect opportunity!)......stay tuned for more updates as they come!

snoozin' stella

Grandpa Mike

My Grandpa passed away yesterday morning at age 81, he would have been 82 next month. Here are a few of my favorite pictures I have of him. I'll always remember his spunk and sense of humor. You were bound to smile with Grandpa Mike around. My fondest memory of him was when I used to bike over to their house and he'd have Juicy Fruit gum in his tool box. Every time. I remember being down in their smokey basement, him watching an old cowboy TV show, me digging through the desk they had for the pencil box and notebooks. Glancing over every so often at the huge white clock with black numbers or all the little holes in the ceiling tiles. I always thought both belonged in a school. I'd usually be appointed to go up and get Grandpa a "cold beverage" from the fridge. Thank you Grandpa for driving by at the exact moment I fell off my bike and onto the curb by the library. The ride home was appreciated, especially with a bleeding elbow. And thank you for the rides to school when it was raining. Even though I probably acted like I didn't like it when you flashed the lights on your truck when you dropped me off, I really did. I'm thankful my own children were able to meet you and have nice memories of you too. Dave as well. He enjoyed talking "big rigs" with you and hearing you reminisce about your past life over the road. You were an awesome Grandpa and we will miss you. Love you Grandpa.

The first 36 hours...

Stella came home on Saturday! She's been so fun to have around. Here are some things about Stella.... She loves to find all the tags on her toys.

Emily has really shown responsibility when it comes to Stella. She watches her outside, pampers her, holds her toys, makes sure she stays away from the road and if Stella does walk towards it, Emily yells "No road!" .....or "No tulips!" "No dig!" "Kisses only!"....you get the picture ;) Those tulips were just so tempting I had to cut them off. They've long since bloomed anyways. It's nice to know that if Emily has a friend, a neighbor kid, or whoever over and someone comes up with a hairbrained idea like "let's put her down the slide and see how fast she goes!" or "let's see if she can jump into the window well!" or "have you buried her in the sand yet?" Emily will be the first one to say that's not a good idea.

(getting acclimated to where all the squeakers are!)

The kids adore her. When she's being "playful", she does show what sharp teeth and nails she has. And she'll pull at your clothes, especially poor Lukes. If he's sitting down, she'll come and pounce on him. I'm not sure if it was her teeth or nails, but one of them scratched the inside of his ear pretty bad last night. He's just the closest to her size! We're just continuing to work on replacing our clothes, shoes and fingers, with her toys or bones.

She enjoys her bacon flavored puppy Nylabone....so much that she already needs a new one! And she loves to lay on you while she chews it. Luckily, Emily doesn't mind.

Her pink collar looks adorable on her. She had no problems getting used to it.

She loves being outside! She has even whined at the door to go out (assuming she has to potty) and just sprawls out in the grass, no intentions to potty!

We introduced the leash the first day and the tie out the second day. She doesn't detest either one too bad! Although, she'll chew on her leash if allowed.

And her #1 accomplishment.....she has been accident free, on our floors and her crate! We just take her out as soon as she wakes and she goes. I'm trying to crate train her at night. I'll take her out around 10:30-11pm and then put her in her crate with a blanket over it. She cries for awhile, but eventually settles. Or maybe I just fall asleep? At least the kids don't hear her. So far, both nights she stayed quiet about 3-4 hours, started whining around 2am, took her out, came back in and played for 15-20 minutes in attempt to tire her out, put her back in the crate, did a little more whining, up for the day around 5-6am. Eventually, if she continues to be a good girl at potty training, she'll have more freedom at night. This morning was the first time I left her in her crate and actually left the house, she was crying when we left, but quiet when home. She fell asleep on the couch right before I had to take Luke to preschool. She looked so content, I decided to let her be. Ran him to school and returned books at the library and she didn't even flinch when I came back. In fact, she's still snoozing an hour later. But, it is Monday, and back to the real world where we will be gone periodically. She's been spoiled with us home all the time. Hopefully, she'll keep up the good work!

teacher appreciation week!

It was teacher appreciation week this week! Emily's school had a breakfast yesterday morning before school for the kids and families to honor Central's teachers. Emily wrote Ms. L a nice card and I picked up some pink Daisys, by Em's request. The pink anyways.