Keeping the Baby Busy

It’s not easy to keep a toddler busy when you’re a mom and a teacher and a household manager and a wife and and and. Once in a while he finds some fun. 

He can ride Kokomo on his own now, but needs help getting on and off. 

He finds it hilarious to see himself with earphones on in the car mirror. He can put them on all by himself. 

Playing at G&G’s is also fun, but there is also a lot of stuff to get in to. 

Cozy coupe rides are his new favorite our on the yard. 

Wearing a backpack is fun, especially when your big brother is wearing one too. 



A big brother sharing his new treasures with you is a good time, especially when anything that fits around your wrist is your favorite. 



It’s fun when you’re big enough to climb on furniture, even the bench in the backyard. 

It’s not so fun when you can climb up the front steps, but fall back down every.single.time. 

A Birthday Surprise

Augustine had a surprise stop by two days after his birthday. We weren’t expecting it at all, and we were all so excited and enthralled that we completely forgot to wear our masks. The boys are always so good about putting them on when people stop by, but it just didn’t cross any of our minds. That’s some serious excitement!

Our friend Fire Inspector Ken was the visitor! He was driving his cool truck as well, so naturally we asked him to give us a tour. He did not disappoint. In fact, he’s incredibly good at explaining things to kids!

He showed us his evidence equipment. That was new to us, and very interesting. He marked our shadows as evidence. :)

Next he showed us his powerful lights. A lot of his work is done in the dark. 

The birthday boy says he just can’t decide if he should work for LEGO or be a fire investigator. 



There were lots of interesting pieces of equipment. Fire investigators do way more than we realized. 

This grapple hook was one of the boys’ favorites. Ken uses it to hook things, make sure they don’t explode, and then pull the item toward himself for further investigation. 

Air tanks are always cool to see. 

Ken rarely wears this jacket. He usually has to wear a jumpsuit or Has-Mat suit when he’s working because he’s usually called after the fire is out. 

This device tells him if he has bad stuff to clean off of himself. I don’t know how it works, and all I can think of is the scene in Monster’s Inc. where the monster has a kid’s sock on his back and the Has-Mat unit disinfects him. 

Thanks for the awesome surprise, teaching us new things, and inspiring my boys to dream big!

Happy 10th Birthday, Augustine!

Augustine had a great day celebrating one decade of life! We started out with school and such in the morning. Then we decorated the dining room, had lunch, and enjoyed quiet time. After quiet time Augustine had a birthday parade!

Grandma Kathleen and Mrs. Largen brought him GIANT balloons!

So many friends and family drove by to wish him well. It was amazing to see people in real, even at a distance! Augustine was so happy. 


















Grandma Kathleen even surprised him with a cruiser stopping by, lights on!



Grandma Susan helped Augustine make a cake that looks like our water blob (a slip n’ slide that you fill with water) because our plan was water fun in the backyard as well as a picnic dinner. But by the time we were done with the parade we were way too HOT to go outside anymore. We had an indoor dinner instead. 











Happy Birthday Augustine! You are TEN! I can’t believe you’ve been in our family for a decade! We love you!

What I’ve Been Up To

PRINTING BLOG BOOKS!!!!! They are so fun to read! It’s my dream of ten years come true. So much family history recorded, so many good memories. 

Making 10 sensory bins for my boys who need LOTS of sensory input. Each one has a different theme as well as skills to master. 




Visiting Daddy - covid style. Meaning drive up in front of the Newman Center and say hello out the window with masks on. We made it feel a little more normal at least by wearing our HuskerCatholic shirts. 

What Elias Has Been Up To

Trying his hand at a Van Gogh. Didn’t work well because the paint wasn’t nearly thick enough. We will have to retry. 

Collecting acorns. 

And sipping a nature shake!

Nature shakes take a very long time to stir. 

What Lewis Has Been Up To

Catching a moth and carrying it for two blocks so he can....

Feed it to a spider! And it worked!



Practicing handwriting stroke directions. He is doing really well with homeschooling. 

Playing some sort of car lot game. 
Enjoying our science drawers, and adding interesting things to the collection!

What Augustine Has Been Up To

Reading our newly printed blog books!

Trying his hand at mowing. He’s been begging to mow, so Logan started to teach him. 

Spending a little time on the deck with the missionaries. He very much enjoyed the conversation. 

Submitting an entry to LEGO Life magazine with his cool X Wing build