Move Update

So a lot of people have been wondering - have you moved yet? Will you move ever? Well, my friends, we will indeed finally be moving to Nebraska in January. We finally found a house there that we LOVE, and we couldn't be more excited to get into it.

Our house here in KC is still on the market - but not for much longer! We'll sell it in the next 30 days or we'll sell it to the relocation company. Either way, we are Nebraska-bound, finally!

Dream On

Jack was very excited about his dream last night. He described an incredible dance contest where he was dancing up a storm of natural talent. He won the contest prize of $5,000!

"And then I woke up and I was like -- dang it! -- I don't have a paycheck!"

Funny

It's been a while since we've had an original joke, so here's an original one, written by Nathan...

Q: What did the penny say to the dollar?

A: You're not making any cents!

Reunion

Jessica, our wonder-nanny, came last month to babysit. The boys could hardly contain their excitement. They kept talking about all the things they were sure Jessica was going to notice were different since the last time she had been over.

Jack: "Yeah, she's going to say, wow, you've grown like 5 inches!"

Nathan: "Yeah, she's going see that I'm a foot taller than you now."

It's Thanksgiving Already?

The fall season has gone by all too quick. We are still in the process of relocating to Nebraska. Byron is working there already and has been since August. It's been almost four months of him driving back on the weekends. That means life has been very different at our house as we get our house sold. We are hoping that in the next month, we'll get moved and settled in Lincoln. In the meantime, the boys are enjoying first grade and my new job is wonderful. I'm now a technical writer for HRB's digital tax products, and I work at home, which means I can continue the job when we're in Nebraska. My dad has also moved to Lincoln for a new job, so it's a double bonus to have him there in the new town when we get moved. I hope to have more good news about our move soon!

Rock Band

Nathan just told me his friend Jack B. (yes, another Jack, very popular name in their age group) wants to start a rock band. He wants Nathan to play the bass guitar and he (Jack B.) is going to play the lead guitar. (Chris is going to play the drums, in case you were wondering.)

Apparently, Nathan isn't happy with this arrangement. I sense band tension already.

Here's how Nathan described the situation: "Well, 1, I don't want to play the bass guitar. And 2, I don't know how to play the bass guitar. And 3, Jack B will get all the solos."

True Gamers

Jack: "These video games are probably teaching us how to drive!"

(I sure hope not...yikes.)

Smart Shopper

Tonight I told the boys how lucky I was to be the mommy of two boys, as they were both literally piled on top of me on the couch watching America's Funniest Videos (our guilty pleasure). Jack responded with, "Yeah, it was like a two-for-one sale!"

He must be picking up on my instincts for sale shopping...

Identical or No?

The boys are growing up fast, but right now, Nathan has about five pounds and 1 inch on Jack. It's a noticeable difference, even to the boys. Yesterday, in the van on our way to get our flu shots (fun!), Jack said, "Nathan is a brick and I'm a pillow with a few rocks in it."

Whirlwind

Things have been moving so fast since summer started! Here it is nearly time for the boys' birthday, and school will be starting before we know it. Lots of changes are coming for our family - namely that Byron has a new job in Lincoln, Nebraska. We are currently figuring out what to do next: finding me a new job, our family a new house, selling our house here in KC, all while doing all the summer fun activities we enjoy. Lots still to figure out but we are trying to take it one step at a time. We'll be here in KC for awhile still, I'm sure!
July has been busy for us:

1. The 8th(?) Annual Wiebers' Olympics in Versailles, Missouri, over the 4th of July weekend. This is our family's yearly competition of indoor and outdoor events, all taken VERY seriously. This year's winner was AGAIN my brother Ryan. (Whatever.)
2. The following weekend was my Grandma's 80th Birthday Party in Camanche, Iowa - a great trip back to see my Dad's family.
3. My Mom and stepdad were here this past weekend, bringing my nephew Erik along - we had a great weekend, including a whole day at Oceans of Fun.
4. This coming weekend brings J&N's 7th birthday party at our house. Can't wait!! Byron's mom Jeannine is arriving today to celebrate with us.
5. Finally, on the weekend after this one I will be going on our 2nd annual Girls' Trip with Nichole, Jo Ellen and Lora. Last year it was to Miami Beach, Florida - this year to Tan-Tar-A in the Lake of the Ozarks. Just a little change of scenery... :)

Hope everyone's summer is filled with fun too! This one is going by way too fast.

Gender Equality

This morning, Jack asks me, "Mom, how do they tell girl dogs and boy dogs apart?"

Awkward silence from me. It's only 7am, after all. Do I really need to have this conversation now?

I decide to take the cop out route: "Well, the same way you tell human girls and boys apart."

Silence.

Then Jack's face lights up, "Oh! They give the girl dogs girl names and the boy dogs boy names, right?"

Sigh. "Yes, dear. That's right."

Pets

Today I pulled a crumbled piece of paper out of Jack's backpack. Normally, they bring home worksheets, drawings, etc - not twisted pieces of paper. LOL. I asked Jack what it was, and he matter-of-factly told me, "It's my pet tornado."

Oh yes, of course. A pet tornado. What else could it be?

Reading Update

The boys got their latest report cards last week and both have moved up from a Level 50 in reading (5th grade level!) to a Level 80, which apparently is the highest level they can test for at the elementary school. I'm more than a little impressed, although we tried not to make too big of a deal out of it. Problem is, the boys are both too smart NOT to know what that means.

Case in point: last night as we were driving back from the Graden Book Fair (and Pancake Dinner!), Erin, our 1st grade next door neighbor, was having trouble sounding out a word in her new book. Without any hesitation, Nathan said, "I'm a Level 80 in reading. Let me see it."

Well at least there are no problems with confidence issues at all in this house...

Kindergarten Musical

The boys performed their Kindergarten Musical last night. It was great! I was so incredibly proud of them. They each had a joke to perform at the microphone. As they had been memorizing their lines over the last month, I had no idea that they were "stars". I thought every kid had a line to perform, but it turns out that only three or four kids from each of the four Kindergarten classes had speaking parts. The jokes were true groaners:

Jack: What does a dog call his dad? Paw.
Nathan: Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide.

We had to make costumes for the show as well. Jack was a dog and Nathan was a baby chick. Ugh. So stinkin' cute! Byron went to the afternoon performance (they had three performances!) and video'd the whole thing, all 25 minutes of it...

First Day of April

This morning as I was getting ready for work, the boys came bursting in, shouting "Mom! Mom! MOM!!"

After I recovered from my heart attack ("WHAT?! WHAT?! OMG!!"), Jack yelled, "They cancelled school today!"

I stood there, astounded, wondering why in the world school would be cancelled today - crazy scenarios racing through my mind (i.e. gas leak, flash flood) - and never once wondering HOW in the world my two six-year olds might have found this out before me.

Then Jack yelled, "APRIL FOOL'S!!!!"

They got me for sure...

Dream Big, Kid

Nathan's kindergarten teacher just emailed me: "Today we wrote to the prompt 'What would you do if you were a grown-up?' and Nathan wrote 'I would live in a loft apartment by Dairy Queen, have two dogs, and have three kids. I would walk my kids to the Dairy Queen and give them treats when they made good choices.'"

Now that's a dream I hope he can achieve...

Kindergarten is a Little More Advanced Than I Remember

So after dinner last night, we were talking to the boys about school, doing homework, etc. They have their FIRST EVER Science Fair coming up, and Byron asked them what they might want to do. As he suggested various experiments (i.e. what kind of food does Daisy - our dog - like best?), Nathan replied, "Dad, we'll have to apply the scientific method. We need to ask a question, create a hypothesis, then test the hypothesis and then analyze the results."

Well - yes. Wow. Okay...

A little bit later, we were practicing spelling words for Nathan's upcoming FIRST EVER spelling test. The boys were taking turns spelling the words out loud, and then Byron pointed out that it would be a little different to write the words down versus spelling them out loud, because we use different parts of our brain to do different things. That's when Jack told us, "Yeah, we know Dad - it's called meta-cognition."

Okay. Again, wow...

I think I need to write a thank you note to their teachers. Geesh.