Pockets

I love the fact that my boys always have pockets.  Yesterday Zeke, Riah and I had to run into a store and I was wearing a dress... no worries, I gave my keys and phone to Zeke to hold.  Being that my boys have pockets I am going to try something new with Zeke.  Yesterday along with my keys and phone Zeke was carrying around a matchbox Ferrari.  I realized that he kept taking it out of his pocket to show everyone and was so excited to have something in his pocket.  It was a light bulb moment for me to say the least.  I have decided that I am going to have Zeke start carrying items in his pocket for the letters that we are working on in speech.  "F" is a really hard sound for him and so being that he had a Ferrari in his pocket he was not only saying the car name but that it "is the fastest car in the whole world".  So we got two words that began with the "f" sound.  Today while we were at speech I had mentioned doing this and Zeke's speech therapist said it was a great idea.  Sooo, that being said his two sounds that he really struggles with are the "f" and "s" sound.  Now I am on the search for pocket sized items that Zeke can carry around in his pockets that begin with those sounds.  I don't want live items or food items that will get smooshed and moldy, but I am sure there are a lot of things that I can find along those lines.  If you have any of those items laying around and are willing to part with them, I am here!  I figure a new item each day of the week and switch off between "f" and "s" sound words.

Growing Up

I never realize how much my babies are growing up until I look at old pictures.  I was putting together a Christmas present for my father this last week with some old pictures and I got choked up a few times at how much the boys have grown in this last year.  I think I was so absent minded for the first five months of this year that to see pictures (the very few I took) makes me realize it. 
Zeke is growing up a lot.  He is staying home with me and I think that it is harder for me to see changes since we have been together 24/7 since May when school let out.  Two weeks ago we got him a new bike, a peddle bike instead of his strider.  The very first day we got it we took him to the cul-da-sac behind us and he zipped around without any trouble.  After about ten minutes he was trying to get tricky and was trying to "drift" and "lay down some rubber".  Needless to say he loves his new bike.  Last week I took him to a local park and let him ride his bike while I pushed Riah in the stroller.  Unfortunately I had to spend a lot of my time running after him because he was jetting in and out of people and blazing.
Ki looks like such a little boy.  I have finally discovered the hair cut that fits him.  Being not at all trained I have just "winged" it the last few cuts.  I do however have a coupon to take him to get his hair cut and my thought is to look over their shoulder to see how to do it.  Ki now goes to preschool two days a week for three hours a day and he seems to really love it.  A new thing for Ki is he is now talking in two and three word sentences.  Granted they are not discernible by an untrained ear but he is really working on his words.  Ki is also getting rather tricky on his little strider, just the last two weeks he has developed a sense of balance and so while riding down little hills he has started to pick up his feet to balance.  It is rather funny because he lifts his legs straight out to the side so he looks like a plane ready to take off.
Riah, well he is a breed of his own!  He and I have had our battles this past few weeks.  I kept taking him to the doctor thinking there has got to be something wrong with the kid.  He was not sleeping, would cry all day long and I was at my wits end and was not much liking him!  Friday, yes, just a few days ago... I hit the bottom.  I was in the doctor's office for the second time that week asking him to take this child because I could handle him no more, I was crying and the doctor simply said to me, "It must be a cold."  Really?  When Michael got home that night I think he realized the severity of the situation.  He sent me to bed and I fell fast asleep for eleven straight hours and Riah for nine.  The next day we were all better.  I am not sure if it was my need for sleep or Riah's but whichever it was it was magical.  Little Riah bug is cutting his two eye teeth.  So right now he has his two bottom and then the two side teeth to the front teeth are coming in.  I swear this little guy is going to look like a vampire in a matter of two weeks! 
Here are a few pictures of the little Kulow men after I have talked about how much they have grown, you can now see!

Brothers, being.... well - BOYS!

Riah's big brown eyes

One of my favorite pictures right now

A very common Riah look. 

Ki learning the art of balancing on his bike

Zekes first day of soccer... forgot to tell you guys about that adventure.  Needless to say Zeke thinks that it is tackle soccer.  Zeke can be found pushing kids over and bounding over them to get the ball and then run with it far out of the boundaries.  Second game was a little better!

A determined Zeke on his bike for the first time

Riah in his big boy carseat

A few shots

There are those days that I take my camera out and I don't get a single redeeming picture.  Today was not one of those days!  I actually got some really good pictures of my boys (well at least I think they are good).  Take a look for yourself...

This is what Zeke and I have been working on.  Today he did an awesome job working on his letters.  Here is a cute shot of him being so proud of himself!

Growing up too fast.  He is crawling and now trying to pull himself up on everything.

Handsome Zeke

This is a usual look I get from him, "Who me?"

I am loving what a big boy Ki looks like with his hair growing out. 

Well that is all folks!  Have a great Monday night!

Minivan?

Just a little warning... there will be no cute pictures of my boys at the end of this blog post, this is merely mommy thoughts! :-)  Read if you like!
Okay, so ever since I was little I always swore up and down that I would NEVER drive a minivan.
With that said, here I go... since having three little ones I have been softening on the whole idea.  The areas that I am considering a minivan to be superior are: the doors, people park so stinking close and trying to get all of the boys out the car without dinging my door or the idiot that parked next to me is nearly impossible.  Next the cargo area.  Now granted in the Acadia (of which I currently drive) there is a decent amount of cargo space, I can carry a good amount of stuff however if I want to bring the stroller then I have to lay the seat down in the back - not a huge deal as I really don't use the stroller a lot but when I want to it just means that we are down two seats for it.  The next would be the lower profile which would make it easier for the boys to get in and out of the vehicle.  As it is, for Ki to get into my car he has to climb and it is a little bit of an ordeal.  Granted most of my things are because of the ages of my boys... this will all change when everyone can get into the car and seat belt themselves - I know that will be around the corner but until then I have these complaints.
Now my other deal is that in my car I am "boy scout" prepared (maybe a little overkill but I know the minute I take something out it will be needed).  Today as we were at Costco after church Michael was trying to Jenga place all our purchases into the back of my car.  In the back I permanently keep a large bag with an extra change of clothes for all three boys, sweatshirts for everyone in the family, hats for everyone in the family and gloves for everyone in the family, I keep the diaper bag which has snacks for the older boys, food for Riah and Riah's diapers, two baby carriers (one Boba and one Moby), and the bag of all my grocery bags... oh yeah and Riah's travel booster seat - I guess it is a lot... oh and thankfully there is a secret compartment that I keep my two picnic blankets and more snacks in case we get stranded.  Sooooo... needless to say to go shopping at Costco with all three boys and my "boy scout" stocked car it is a little challenging.  After reading my list of items kept in the car maybe if I lessen that by a quarter I might be able to fit more in the back and the cargo space in my car might not be an issue!  :-)
Bottom line is I think that my consideration to even think of another car is due to the fact that in the one year and two months that we have had the GMC Acadia it has been in the shop four times, three of which I had to have a loaner car for a minimum of one day.  In the five years that I had my Toyota 4Runner it was never in the shop and all that it ever needed was routine oil changes.  Now you can understand where I am coming from.  Don't get me wrong I love the plush things that my Acadia has but I am a little peeved at the troubles that it has given us.  Thankfully everything that it has been in for has been covered by either manufacture or extended warranty.  But I fear the next time I bring it in we could be into it for a chunk of change that we don't have.
I have told Michael that the next time it has to go to the shop I will tell them to put a for sale sign in the window because I am done!  My thought is sell the darn thing before we have to sink money into it and get a car that is more reliable and maybe even a little less a month for payments.  So I might be swallowing my words that "I will NEVER drive a minivan".

Stunt Man

I fear that I will soon become quiet familiar with the ER nurses and doctors.  This morning was one of those morning where the boys were dancing on my last nerve so I sent them to the basement to play.  About ten minutes after they are playing down there I hear a huge crash and I go running down stairs.  I hear a "Oh ouch!" and then I hear, "Don't worry mom I broke my nose but it is still on my face."  Now, I am down stairs to see Zeke holding his nose and a little blood but nothing serious.  "Zeke, what were you doing?"  "Stuff that you should never try at home."  Well Zeke, if you should never try it at home then what in the heck are you doing?"  "Mom, this is not home, this is the basement, it is under our home."  Sakes Alive!  Yep, that is my little dare devil Zeke.  Once I got to the bottom of it I found out that he was bouncing off of the couch and was trying to grab hold of the center beam pole.  Did you understand that?  Zeke was standing on the arm of the couch in the basement leaping forward, thinking he could fly to the beam that holds our house up (well somewhat).  "Really, child?"  Was about all that came to me in the moment.  Grey hair here I come, I can pluck the ones I currently have but in the next year or two if I plucked them all I will be bald!

Heap of no help

You know those phone calls that you make hoping to find out some information and you come away from the call with nothing but a crick in your neck?  Yep, that was the case today.  I guess the phone call was a vein attempt to find out some information but heck it was worth a shot I thought!  Last weekend Micheal and I saw a house that we really liked, granted out of our price range but it is vacant and has been for at least a year and is a foreclosure home.  Michael came home and immediately started researching the house and we found out which bank is the holder of the note, the last sold price, the note amount and such.  Michael's brilliant idea is to just go and squat in the house.  Yeah, not buying that idea - Kulow!  My bright idea was to call the bank and just inquire on the foreclosure process of the home and see what they had to say for themselves.  You never know they might need tenants to stay in the home and maintain the property and such.  Well after four call transfers I was given to the "loan guru" and he simply said, "I don't know what to say, you will have to watch our website for when the home comes up for sale."  I asked him about the fact that it has been vacant for months and winter is approaching, he just gave me a long sigh and somewhat politely brushed me off.  Sakes!  I am just trying to help them out! :-) It is a nice house but it won't be that great after winter comes and all the pipes are frozen and burst.  Oh well some time on the phone and nothing... maybe Michael's idea is the best one after all. 

Zucchini Bread

While my sister in law was here in Colorado her and her family headed out to see her in laws and came back to my house with some great garden vegetables.  In the mix were two very large zucchinis.  I took a picture of them but the picture does not really do a justice.  Last night I made zucchini muffins with one of them.  I made two dozen muffins and a small loaf of bread from one.  I still have the larger one that I have to do something with.  Thought I would share my recipe for two purposes... one so you can use it and two so I can remember what I did and remember that it worked well!  Hope that you enjoy!

3 cups of AP flour
1 TSP of Salt
1 TSP of baking soda
1 TSP of baking powder
1 TSP of ground cinnomon
1 TSP of ground nutmeg
1 TSP of all spice
3 eggs
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
3 TSP of vanilla extract
4 cups of grated zucchini

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans (or in my case 24 muffins and one small loaf pan). Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. 

A little catch up

Sakes the time has been flying by and I realized that I had been taking pictures but just had not gotten around to getting them up.  I had like a hundred pictures that I have taken over the last few weeks but I have done nothing with them.  I think our schedule has gotten a little crazy!  Between the regular stuff of every day and then MOPS beginning and having my sister in law and family come I have neglected the blog.  Sorry for the catch up last few posts but heck, at least I got it out there!  Gotta jet tonight, have dinner in the oven cooking and then I am headed off to Back to School night.  Tomorrow Bible Studies start so basically Thursdays are now totally off the calendar.  My calendar is filling up and it is only the 7th of the month.  Ta-ta for now!

A little family time

This past week my sister in law and her crew came for a quick visit and I tried to snap some pictures of our time together.  It is always fun to have her here, to let the boys jump all over and wear out uncle Wes, chat with another Kulow lady, and let the cousins play.  Here are a few shots...

First Day of School

Last Monday was Ki's first day of preschool.  This year just Malachi will be going to preschool.  I tried to get some pictures of him for the first day of school to show you all what a big boy he has gotten to be and all I got were a few side shots... what a little stinker, so I guess that is what you will get to see!

H2Olala

Michael bought these cool color tablets that you put in the bath and it changes the bath water.  So needless to say the boys love having a bath... add some color to it and they are in heaven.  I have taken the opportunity to work on colors with the boys.  The tablets come in primary colors so we have been mixing to get other colors.  Here are a few color bath pictures (remember the water is colored on purpose, we don't have funky water here!)