I'm "One-derful"

Jonathan is one! OK...so he turned one in June, and I have been planning to do a wonderful blog post with lots of pictures (one from every month, but some months I didn't even take a picture...too zombie like I guess) and graphics....well...that ain't' gonna happen folks, so I just better write about it and add some pictures, before he graduates from highschool. :)

I can NOT believe that a year has gone by. Jonathan is such a little character and has really changed the dynamic of our family. I did not realize that Trent and I were acting like old farts, until Jonathan was born and it whipped us back into shape REAL quick. He has kept us on our toes, and has brought a lot of love and laughter (and tears sometimes) to our household. The best part of all though, has been to watch Nathan and Jonathan interact this past year. In the beginning, Nathan was wondering if this little thing would ever stop crying and could start playing together. It warms my heart to watch them chase each other and wrestle, and laugh, and read, and spend time together. Jonathan adores Nathan, and Nathan adores him. It is so fun to watch at the window for Nathan to come home. Jonathan jumps up and down and squeals with delight. He is just a wonderful little guy, and we are grateful to have him in our family. Here are some pictures from the past year.

8 hours old!




3 months




4-6 months

9 months

One year old!

Bullwinkles

We spent the day at Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center a few weeks back. Nathan had a ball! I would have loved doing something like this at his age. We had a coupon for an unlimited pass and he could do all these things as many times as he wanted. Here are some of the fun things he did:

Soaking, and getting soaked on the Bumper boats, and then freezing afterward on a cool September day in the Northwest

Go Karts, where I had to drive and Nathan was amazed at how Crazy I was out there! (thus no picture for this one) Watch out all you young punks, Mama Kunz is comin to get ya! I think my hysterical/lunatic cackle frightened some of the teenagers...it's good for them to fear their elders. :)

Laser Tag. Nothin like a bunch of sweaty kids running around shooting at each other in the dark.

Miniature Golf, or our attempt at miniature golf. Doesn't work so well with a 15 month old. We made it about 5 holes, and this is why:

Jumpin on the trampoline doing all sorts of flips and tricks, or at least attempting to.

What did I do for the full 5 hours that we were there might you ask? Take a look:

How did the boys feel at the end of this adventure?

Evidence of a good day. (Nathan said, "Do I really look like that when I sleep?" Yep...pretty much son.)

I'm adding this last video for Nathan. He rode one of those simulated roller coaster thingies and wanted me to video it. Not very exciting to the average viewer, but to an 8 year old? Oh yeah!

Aaaaargh!

Elementary school is so much fun. (and no they did not make the knife at school, that would be cool though...knife making 101, it must be big, and it must be scary!)

The baby did it!

Nathan, Jonathan and I were doing some grocery shopping at Safeway. Just as a father and two teenage girls were by out cart, Jonathan leans over and lets the two, loudest farts you have ever heard come out of a body so tiny. The diaper must magnify the sound. The father looks at me, probably wondering if what he heard really came out of the baby, and then I said, "Well, it's a good thing I have a baby now isn't it". We all started laughing. Nathan asked me, "What was that?"..."well son, that was your brother letting a huge old stinker". I don't think he believed me at first. I assured him it was true. Never a dull moment with little children.

Never Forget

I saw this video clip on another blog, and thought I would add it here. May we never forget.

Arachnophobia

If you can't remember my previous post about spiders, you can refresh your memory here. The other day I was in the bathroom blow drying my hair and I look toward the door and see this:

I just about had a nervous break down I tell ya. And then I hear laughing on the other side of the door and realized it was a fake spider that Nathan had slid under the door. Looks pretty real from a distance, even looks somewhat real in my hand for this picture (shiver...shiver). What was totally ironic, is that two days before, in this exact location, I found Jonathan with something big, and black, in his hand. Yep, you guessed it. He had a huge spider in his hand. I freaked out and swatted it out of his hand into the toilet. ewwwww!! I do not like spiders. Especially big, hairy ones. It was a pretty good joke though. Nathan was completely tickled with himself that he pulled it off.

Put on my Blue Suede Shoes

Jonathan's first pair of shoes. We went to Nordstroms to get them. I know! I never shop there, they had the brand of shoes I wanted to get him. I bought Nathan his first pair of Stride Rite shoes from Nordstoms back in the day...so call me sentimental? He put these ones on and took off in the store. At first he was lifting his legs up real high while he walked because he was not use to having real shoes on. It was funny. I didn't even look to see how expensive they were. How expensive can a little teeny tiny shoe be? Well my friends, lets just say that they were expensive. However, they give you a balloon, a stuffed animal, and take your picture with your new shoes and put it in a card. Oh...OK..now I don't feel so bad about spending so much. ya right! Good thing he only needs one pair for now and can wear them for all occasions. I might even make him start wearing them to bed to make sure we get our moneys worth. :) He has already put a lot of miles on these things. He knows that when he puts his shoes on, we go outside. All morning he kept finding his shoes and bringing them to me to put on.

Here Kitty Kitty

Never thought I would hear myself saying the words "Here Kitty Kitty", but Jonathan has become quite attatched to a STUFFED kitty cat. He snuggles it and giggles and will carry that thing around all day. It is too cute. He also loves real cats. "Luckily" we are surrounded by so many cats so he has plenty of opportunities to chase after the cats and pet them, since we'll never have one.

Playin with the kitty in Idaho

I heart Idaho

The homestead out in the "country"...ya know...a whole whoppin 5 minutes out of town....that's Country!

The barn and the Mountain that we would climb as kids. There is a creek down there. I use to open my window at night and listen to the water. I still love doing that when I visit. The barn did come in handy for playing truth or dare. :)

I always enjoy going home to visit, but this time I really felt a homesickness for my home town. I would get this warm fuzzy feeling as memories filled my mind wherever I went. I especially felt it in the rare times that I was alone driving somewhere. *sigh* I miss it.

Anyways...here are a few things that I did while I was in Idaho. And when I say "few", I mean "few". I really needed to just chill and regroup. So here you go...my Idaho Trip in a nutshell.

Looking at the view up the canyon. I spent a lot of time growing up looking at this view (minus the huge shed my dad built next door) I love this. If you look closely, there are two deer out by the white fence. Discovery channel in the backyard

A couple of these...Hawaiian Shaved Ice, NOT snow cones....there is a difference

Boating...Me and Jonathan enjoying the ride...him not enjoying the life jacket so much. Boating is one of the main things we did growing up. A lot of memories skiing, tubing or trying to stay on the tube as my dad skipped us across the lake, swallowing gallons of water along the way.

Reading

Driving by Indian Hills Elementary...endless games of kiss tag, four square, tether ball and kickball

The old Monkey bars are still there...lots of death defying stunts on these bad boys

Visiting Pocatello High school aka Poky High, aka the BEST school in Pocatello Oskee Ow Ow!!

Jonathan's favorite past time, being pushed around in this old wheelchair...go figure

Tastee Treet aka Heaven on Earth where I had a couple of these:

Boston Shake = chocolate banana shake with a hot fudge sundae on top. OH yeah baby!

I think that just about covers it. Good times to be had there in Idaho. I am hankerin for one of those Hawaiian shaved Ice.

Vomit Venting

From the title of this post, one could think that I would like to go off and vent about vomiting. Ya know, get it off my chest. Oh how I wish that were the case. After dinner, and after tubby time when Jonathan accidentally drank a cup full of bubbly bath water, Jonathan walked into the kitchen.....you all know what is coming right? He was bending over the heatvent in the floor...and...yep...you guessed it. He vomited right down the vent. Chunks of carrots, ravioli's, chicken and spinach. Wow...that was not a fun thing to clean up. Stickin your arm down the heat duct to wipe out the vomit that had dripped way down there. (shiver) I wonder if it is my lot in life to have lots of unusual vomit stories? Olive Garden, Church, Home are but a few places/blogposts involving kid vomit. There...now I have vented about vomiting. :)

Back to School

(I dropped Trent and Nathan off at the barbers...had no idea that he would leave with no hair left...note to self, always take Nathan myself)

Nathan had his first day of school. I asked him 3 things that he learned, since he is in 3rd grade now.

1.) We got gummy bears at the end of the day because we were good. (that's a good thing to learn...being good=yummy treats, she'd fit right in with my family)

2.) started multiplication

3.) "Now mom..this is a total secret...can I trust you?" He went on and on at what a huge secret it was. He whispers in my ear, "We learned something that you are supposed to learn in 5th grade today!!" cool...I like this teacher already. Treats, makes them feel as smart as a 5th graders, lets them out 7 minutes early for recess and had them run...works for me. Smart lady. (I received permission from Nathan to share the "big secret" on my blog. He had to really think about it. I assured him that most likely no one from his class reads my blog)

Crash and Burn

Jonathan loves to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk. Especially up steep driveways and things that are far too dangerous for the average wobbly 1 year old.

'Nuff said.

First time in Firth

I guess there are Firsts for everything. I had another First, while visiting Firth, Idaho. I have driven past the exit sign tons of times, yet never had a reason to visit any of the 408 people that live in this thriving metropolis....until now. My friend Arlyn recently moved to the "country", because Shelley, Idaho (population 4, 146) was just too big of a city for this girl. I wonder if Firth knows that a family of 7 just moved into town, they are now 415 strong!

As I was driving with my windows down on a curvy country road to her house, I enjoyed the fresh smells of grain and grass, with a pinch of manure. The smells of the country...nothin like it. I have to say though, that there is something about being out in the country with wide open spaces. It it very therapeutic. I can almost understand why someone would want to live there....almost. :) We had a nice visit with her and her kids, sheep, cows, chickens, bunnies and cats. It's turned into quite the family farm. They've recently added a hamster now. (all those animals would be my worst nightmare!)

Arlyn, aka "the Farm Girl" and me

The kids, 2 are mine....FIVE are hers!

We even drove into Idaho Falls, (thanks Chad for watching all of the kids...Father of the year award for you) to go and eat a great Thai Place. Then we went to a dairy for some killer icecream. You had to get past the extremely strong manure smell as you walked into the shop. I was totally amazed at all the families outside eating their icecream with that awful smell. I guess I am no longer an Idaho girl...I had to eat my icecream inside of the shop.

This was pretty much my only outing/visiting I did while I was home. Most of my visit was trying to do as little as possible...to regroup and rejuvenate. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to visit with a few more Idaho friends. Yee-haw!

Busted

The other night, after all the kids were in bed, I went to the fridge to get a drink a milk. Who wants to take time to get a cup at 10:00 at night? While I am standing there with the fridge door open, drinking from the milk jug, Nathan walks in. He stops and gasps. "Mom...you are drinking from the milk carton and you made the rule not to do that!". I felt like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. We started to laugh. I told him that he was right, and I shouldn't have done that. He has since told about every friend that he has how I broke my own rules. Will I stop drinking from the milk jug every now and then? No. Will I make sure Nathan is in bed before I do? You betcha.