We have been having a small power struggle with potty training. She often throws a fit, but will go when I make her sit. Today she actually ran to tell me that she had to go! A huge step forward. I ran to get the camera to document the moment. She asked for a photo of the evidence, but I will spare you that photo! Way to go Nadia!

Yep, You read the title correctly! We forced Ben to get a haircut. We decided that school starts in a few weeks and he needed to be able to see. In his defense, we did not give him any warning, no time for mental preparation. We did not realize that a haircut would be so upsetting. He has expressed many times his negative opinion about haircuts, but we did not expect such a response.

This evening we were driving by Sport Clips and I suggested to Andrew that Ben gets a Haircut, Andrew agreed. We explained to the stylist that we wanted to keep a messy, tussled look. The picture in our minds does not match Ben's head, but, as adults, we know that hair grows and it's really no big deal. The tears started to drip out, as the haircut finished. When we got home I sent him to the shower. I went to start a load of laundry, and I heard him sobbing.

I really feel sorry for him, maybe we should have given him more warning. Andrew is pretty sure that you should never get your hair cut at a place with "clips" or "cuts" in their title. His theory was confirmed! Poor Ben!

The boys and I had a great day yesterday. We spent the day at Adventureland Amusement Park. We went with our friends the Stauffer's and her mom and siblings. We had so much fun because the boys are old enough to ride any ride they want. Ben went on every ride including all the roller coasters. He even enjoyed the Inverter, which I passed on. I really tried to get a photo of him upside down, but I could not get it timed right. This photo was taken right after he came back to the ground.

Ethan did several of the "bigger" rides. He wasn't so sure about the first hill of the tornado rollercoaster, he mentioned several times, "I can do way more rides than last year." I think he was pretty proud of himself.








Finally, I had a great time as well! I love the water rides. A rare photo of me on this blog.

Ben has been involved in the Story County VERB program. It's a free program to promote physical activity in kids age 8-13. They track their activity to win prizes. Last year Ben won a bike helmet, lock and headlight. This year he is hoping to win the Wii, along with all the other kids who have registered! He has gone to several events but his favorite has been the rock climbing wall at the University. I thought it might be difficult for him, but up he went. It must be all his spider man practice!

The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa came to Ames today. This is the description of the ride that I pulled off their website:

What is RAGBRAI?
RAGBRAI®, The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. Heading into its 36th year, RAGBRAI is the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. RAGBRAI is sponsored by The Des Moines Register. The seven-day total mileage for RAGBRAI averages 472 miles while the daily mileage averages 68 miles.

I rode RAGBRAI 3 summers when I was in High School. I have fond memories of my weeks on the bike. Time seems to erase the memories of sore Butt, sore knees, numb hands, sunburn, and dehydration! Today the kids and I sat and watched the riders enter town. I actually had tears in my eyes remembering the good times. (I am getting really sentimental in my old age!) It is amazing to see the riders stream in, we sat for over 2 hours and the riders just kept coming. People of all shapes, ages, and riders from all over the world. Many people do the ride as their annual vacation. I really hope that we can plan this as a family vacation some year, actually, on second thought, maybe the kids should stay with Grandma!

I just spent several hours ordering photos. I have not ordered prints since May. I ordered a whopping total of 178 prints! Yes, you read that correctly, 178! I used Winkflash.com They are currently running a sale 6 cents per 4x6 print. Here are a few of my favorites:

My favorite! Nadia and Opa - A scrapbook page waiting. Any title suggestions?

Canadian March!


The rest are my favorite beach photos

I finally had an afternoon to scrapbook. I completed a total of 25 pages in May (my personal record), Less than 3 in June and I have now completed 2 in July with 2 more almost complete! Yeah! It is amazing how much time this mothering thing takes!

Anyway, The first page was for a sketch challenge.
Here is the sketch and my completed scrapbook page:



















Yes, These are photos of Nadia licking her plate. The journal circle reads: "Not very lady like, I agree. But what can you expect when she is copying her big brothers, and it is her favorite food, Ketchup. June 2008"

I also used washers with rub-ons for embellishments. It was kind of fun, I will have to use those again.

My second page was for my Creative Team Assignment. It is a page for our wedding Album. It is my husband and his parents. The hinges and title were cut using my craft Robo. They are Carries Creations.

Below in a blog entry that I typed on July 8. I decided not to post it at that time because I wanted to add a little more. Now, a week later, I have no idea what I going to add. So, here it is!
A note to myself, just write what's on your mind and post it, or it will be lost and never found!
I am sorry to all of you who were wondering if we made it home.

Home at Last! It is always great to be away on Vacation, but it is always great to be home as well. We made it home on Sunday evening. We have spent today trying to clean-up.

Here's quick summary of our trip.

We drove 2 days, about 16 hours of driving to arrive in Orillia, Ontario. This is where Andrew grew up and where his parents still live.
We camped at Mara Provincial Park, and spent most of the week with a flexible schedule. A few highlights included:

1.Several trips to the beach
Cousin Eric spent a few days with us. He is an expert sand castle builder and passed along his skills to everyone.

2. We celebrated Canada day on July 1, with a parade, a BBQ and fireworks.

3. We spent Thursday in Toronto. Nadia stayed with Oma and Opa while the rest of us headed to the big city. The boys thought riding the subway was the best part. We also went up the CN tower, and toured the Hockey Hall of Fame ( Of course).


4. Friday afternoon was spent with Spencer and Amanda. Spencer is Andrew's high school friend. We try to keep in touch the best we can. This picture is all 6 children together. They have Leif who is 5, Luka 3, and Marie is 4 months. The kids all enjoyed each other, especially the 2 little girls.

5. Saturday evening we arrived the Grand Rapids for dinner with Pam our friend from college. It is so nice to connect with old friends.

We had a really nice trip, but are glad to be home.