the karsten's

1.4.12. New Haircut

2012-01-04T20:20:00.001-06:00

She loves it!

1.3.12

2012-01-04T13:17:00.001-06:00

Just chillin before school/daycare. It's Lane's first day of all day preschool! He is super excited, also, pretty excited about his new Bumblebee transformer

1.2.12

2012-01-02T20:51:00.001-06:00

We had a super relaxed day today. Lane opened his new Legos from Christmas then actually let his sister play with them too! I did a ton of dishes and laundry. Back to school and work tomorrow, Lane is pretty excited to stay all day at school.

NYE

2012-01-01T20:49:00.001-06:00

1.1.12

2012-01-01T20:00:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!
Today we celebrated Christmas with the in laws, Charlie and Kris, and the rest of the family. It was a good time, with good food, card playing, and five crazy kiddos playing really hard! This is the only picture I took.

happy new year!!

2011-01-01T21:23:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!! Just a short video of Lane and Kate wrestling with their cousin, Evan tonight. Jason's family made us a wonderful new year's meal of prime rib, shrimp, potatoes, salad and dessert!! The kiddos love playing with their cousins.

Twins Game

2010-09-16T10:24:00.002-05:00

Jason, Lane, Helen(Jason's grandmother), and I went to the twins game for Lane's 4th Birthday. We had a good time even though it was scorching hot!!! Too bad the twins lost and we left early. Lane had such a good time, he got to see his two favorite players, Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel, he also drank his weight in gatorade.

Waseca Freedom Run

2010-07-04T12:39:00.001-05:00

This morning Melissa, Jason, and I ran in the Waseca 5 mile run. It was hot, humid, and raining! Despite all of the yucky conditions, we all had personal best times. Jason's was 46:03( amazing for running just once a year!) and Melissa and I clocked in at 48:16. I am super excited about our time! Normally, I don't really care about our time, finshing is great but, I wanted to try to beat a ten minute mile average and we did! I love running with Melissa, she is really encouraging( and let's me sing outloud at times). I will post a couple of pictures soon( Aka copy them off of melissa's blog). Happy 4 th of July!

Before

After

New Job

2010-06-29T21:40:00.001-05:00

Jason has a new job! He is now employed by Ag Power Enterprises in the sales department. AMS Specialist is his official job title. So far he LOVES it! It is a big change, but all for the better.

River Springs Water Park

2010-06-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

Last Monday, Melissa and I took the 4 kiddos to the waterpark. There was no question that Lane, Norah, and Brennan would LOVE it! Kate, we weren't to sure about. They couple of times we tried the kiddie pool at home or at Melissa's house, she screamed bloody murder until i got her out. She was very content to watch the other kids and play outside of the pool. Well, i could tell she was feeding off the the other kids excitement. Lane and Norah took off for the little slide in the kiddie area so Kate went to. Right down the slide she went. Then she preceded to cry for about 7mins! I just told her she was fine and let her stand in water up to her ankles. Once she stopped crying, she decided she loved it too! I think she went down the slide about 100 more times. The only bummer was she wanted to hold my hand so I had to reach up and put my foot up on the slide. Not very lady like, especially in a bathing suit! We went again on saturday, thankfully she got used to going down the slide without my hand.

pictures

2010-06-28T14:36:00.000-05:00

Here are some the new pictures i had taken of the kiddos. Joey Kenow took these and has taken pictures for us in the past. I think he does a really good job capturing my kids true personality.

end of the year program

2010-06-28T14:16:00.000-05:00

Montessori had its end of the year program and party at Brown Park. First, the kids sang about 5 songs. Then, each were presented with a certificate. Some, like lane, got a participation certificate but others got a graduation certificate. the teacher's got a bouncy castle for the kids to play in and some were playing at the park. We had pizza and lots of cookies and cupcakes(when i say "we", i really mean kate, she ate at least 4 cookies with frosting!). Lane invited Norah and her family to come also. Norah really wanted to go sing with the kids because she knew some of the songs, but Melissa told her not to worry she will be able to next year. Lane was very excited to sing in front of everybody an did a really good job with the hand actions also.

Como zoo

2010-06-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

Lane's last week of school was really full of super fun activities! On Wednesday he got to go the Como zoo. I went along as a chaperone. I am very lucky that my job is so flexible that i can attend these things! lane had a great time and all of the kids were so well behaved! after we had seen the animals one of the dads along paid for all the kids to ride the merry-go-around. they loved it! we all had a snack then headed home. lane fell asleep in the car, he was exhausted. I was a little surprised he fell asleep so easily with two of his friends in the car also, but i guess the zoo takes a lot out you!

here is almost all the kids at lane's school. a few couldn't make the trip and some really didn't want to get their picture taken. Lane kept making monkey noises the whole time we were trying to take a picture.

1st Day of Preschool

2010-04-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

Lane had his first day of preschool today! He is going to Montessori. He will go April and may then have summer break and start again in the fall. He was so excited! I almost didn't even get a hug goodbye, he was running off into the classroom. he needed a pair of shoes he could leave there so the Easter bunny brought him a pair of sport type sandals. there was no way he was leaving them there!! I guess i will have to make sure he has them everyday until he feels comfortable leaving them.

st.patricks day!!

2010-03-18T08:51:00.001-05:00

i couldn't get a picture of the two of them together. here they are in their st.paddy's day outfits. lane's shirt is just like his valentine's day shirt and kate got a cute skirt to match. i used this pattern.http://youcanmakethis.com/info/baby/Simple-Skirt-Sizes-12mths-5T.htm

lucky for us, a leprechaun did not stop at our house and make a big mess like at the ginskey's. too bad for us, we did it all ourselves!

hope you have a great day!

ps. lane picked out his own pants!

Jason's big fish!!

2010-03-15T21:05:00.001-05:00

Jason caught this big northern pike on lake of the woods in February. the 27th at 9:30 am(he is excited about it)

it is 40in long and weighs 22lbs

monday

2010-03-15T21:00:00.001-05:00

today, norah came over in the morning so melissa could take brennan to his 15month checkup. the kids played so well together! lane and norah love each other very much but sometimes, watch out, they can fight fight fight.

papa charlie picked lane up around 11am to go butcher a couple of pigs. lane thinks that is the best! he got home a little after 5 and boy was he exhasted. brennan came over so melissa and norah could go to dance class. he is such a good kid and very easy to have around. when brennan and kate see each other they get so excited and usually have to kiss and hug right away. it is very cute.

after supper we went outside for a little bit to enjoy the nice weather. kate was running around like a crazy girl and lane was very excited to ride his bike.

sewing

2010-03-15T20:41:00.001-05:00

here is a cute tunic dress and hairclip i made for Norah

i used this pattern http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42601280 for the dress.

here is Kate on valentines day. i made her the tutu onsie. it was surprisingly simple to make. i made Norah a tutu shirt from the same tutorial, too bad a don't have a picture of it or of her in it.

i used the tutorial from Joy's Homemade http://www.joyshope.com/2010/02/its-tutu-its-t-shirt.html

i also made this "tie" shirt for lane and also for brennan.http://crapivemade.blogspot.com/2009/03/appliqued-tie-onesie.html i used this tutorial. it was super easy! and really quick!

she's a mover

2010-03-15T20:18:00.001-05:00

these are an example of the pictures i get of Kate lately. she doesn't stand still long enough to get a good shot of her face. take my word for it, she is cute!

by the way, i made her the dress/tunic she has on. i used this pattern.http://youcanmakethis.com/info/baby/Pillowcase-Dress-with-Ladybug-Monkey-Applique-Sizes-6mths-4T.htm

muscles!!

2010-03-15T17:02:00.001-05:00

lane is all about showing off his muscles. watch out, he is a strong one!

winner, winner, winner!!!!

2010-03-08T10:23:00.001-06:00

i never win anything!(at least it feels that way!) but, believe it or not, 2over the last month or so i have won 2 patterns in giveaways on some crafty blogs i read.

this is the first one i won, i am not sure i will be making one soon, but it sure looks like fun!

and here is the next one

i will for sure be making one of these for kate soon! my list of things to make and fabric is piling up waiting for the time to do it! I will share some finished projects soon!

pictures from last post

2010-02-22T21:02:00.001-06:00

fun,huh? last wednesday, i had to light and mirror replaced and guess what, the light doesn’t work. the rest of the body work gets done in a few weeks.

2.22.10

2010-02-22T20:29:00.001-06:00

last night, a deer hit me!! really, my first thought when i saw the deer was, don’t swerve! i have heard that some many times, i don’t know if it helped or not. i did slam on my brakes, and i don’t know if that helped or not either. first, it hit my side mirror, then hit the rear door right underneath the window(kate’s side, she didn’t even flinch, she was watching dora at the time), then, the back rear panel( that is the biggest, most noticeable dent) and took out my taillight. what a bummer! i feel like this car is a magnet for accidents, first, i backed into my mother-in-law’s truck( i don’t blame the car, it was my fault), then a kid runs into me, right in the back drivers side door, and now this!

today, we signed lane up for preschool. i can’t believe he is old enough, but he is definitely ready! jason says it makes him feel old, it makes me feel a little sad that he isn’t my baby anymore. he was so excited today and just wanted to stay and watch the class. the teacher invited us in but i knew we would never get old of there if we went in.
while kate napped this morning, i made jason some caramel crispix for his fishing trip this week. a client made me some for christmas and he couldn’t stop eating it. i got the recipe from nina and it turned out great. of course we had to sample a little.

then, lane and i made sugar cookies. we used the betty crocker sugar cookie mix( i love it, it is so easy and tastes so good!), but we made our own frosting. it is good, but really, really sweet. I LOVE frosting, but i couldn’t eat much. that is probably not a bad thing. i do think lane ate more frosting then he actually put on the cookies.

1/2

2010-02-15T18:11:00.003-06:00

(this picture is from september, the 10mile womens run we did)

on may1st, melissa and i are attempting our 2nd 1/2 marathon. i know, crazy. the first one we did was oct 07 when our oldest children were just 1 and not quite one. we even managed to finish faster than our goal time. yeah us! it rained the whole time and was a muddy path for almost half of it, so i am looking forward to running our paved trail. this run is here in owatonna, the fromtheheartrun benefitting 2 families in owatonna affected by cancer. last year i ran in the 5k walk/run. i think my parents are walking this year and maybe my husband with the kiddos. so if anyone is interested i linked to the website, check it out!

vacation

2010-02-14T11:47:00.007-06:00

In january, we went on a week long vacation to south padre island, tx with my in-laws. overall it was a very relaxed and relaxing week. both kids were very well behaved and super fun the whole week. it was so impressed with them on both airplane rides. lane was super excited to ride a BIG airplane and we heard about it for the whole week before we left. when we took off, lane yelled to all of us,"hold on guys, we are going faster!" then in the middle of the flight, he put the shade up and looked out the window and said,"uh oh, we stopped!" I couldn't help but laugh. Both kids watched movies and ate snacks the entire flight, which was about 2 1/2 hours. kate had fluid in both of her ears so I was a little worried about take off and landing but she was a trooper, only about 2o seconds of crying on the flight down and about 2 mins on the flight home(which felt like 2 hours). Kate is such a great sleeper, she still takes two 2 hour naps during the day and about 12 hours at night. I was a little worried about how we could do anything on vacation around her naps or should we just skip some. also, she needs her own space to sleep in, which there really wasn't in the double room. we put her pack and play in the bathroom. yup, it was cramped and we couldn't use the bathroom whenever she was sleeping but it worked. we ended up pushing off her morning nap most days and she took a long afternoon nap and went to bed early, so she still was a pretty happy day. we spent most mornings on the beach playing in the sand and walking looking for shells. Here are some pictures:

i know, i know

2010-02-11T21:04:00.002-06:00

i plan on making a very long post this weekend (including pictures) talking about our vacation, kate's surgery and everything else we have been up to since christmas.

12.22.09

2009-12-22T21:15:00.003-06:00

one year ago today kate came kicking and screaming into the world!! our lives have not been the same!! she has brought laughter,craziness, and a ton more love into our home. can you believe what a big girl she is? we celebrated her birthday tonight and will post pics from the party soon(i promise :)).

we have enjoyed receiving everyones christmas cards and letters! i can't believe how big everyone's kid are getting. we had pics of our kiddos taken in early november by joey kenow. he has taken pictures for us before and does an awesome job. here is a link to his flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/joeykenow to see more of the pictures he took. of course, lane did NOT want his picture taken and kate was feeling shy but we got some great shots anyway.

this year has flown by, i don't know how many times jason and i have said to each other, "i can't believe kate is already 1!" last winter flew by and softball season was upon us. jason is still playing and loving every minute of it. his team is made up of alot of great guys with super great wives and there are a ton of kids to play with on game nights. we trooped along to alot of games and a bunch of tournaments. it just wouldn't be the same for the rest of the fans if lane didn't show up with his batting gloves on ready to play!

lane started level 1 hockey, learn to skate this october. he plays for 45 mins mon nights and sat mornings. monday nights are a little rough, he is tired and doesn't always want to follow directions. we are undecided if he will continue in the new year or wait again until next fall.

jason spent about 160 hours in the combine this fall during harvest. he loves farming but it was definitely exhausting!! he missed the kiddos and they missed him. of course, these hours were on top of the 40+ hours he was working at his full time job.

i have kept myself busy, busy, busy with the kids and working. in my spare free moments i have been sewing some fun little dresses for kate. i have also been knitting and reading a ton. i got a sony reader for my birthday and love it!!

this year i had my first experience shopping on black friday. my brother-in-law, kory, picked me up at 3:45 in the morning and we were off to walmart. it was a success, both of us walked out with what we wanted. i was very surprised at they way some of the other people acted! i will be more prepared and have my elbows out next year! then the monday after thanksgiving, i had my annual baking day with melissa, holly(co-worker friend), and bobbi(former co-worker and friend). we spent the whole day baking, literally 9am - 5:30! we made 12 different things and 3-4 batches of each. i am well stocked with tray for passing and gifting.

on the 14th, jason and i celebrated our 7th anniversary. my mother-in-law kept our kiddos and we spent a whole day christmas shopping at the mall of america. we ate supper at the twin cities grill then saw a late movie, the blind side. overall it was a great day.

i guess one of my new years resolutions should be to update my blog more often, so i will give it a try. have a merry christmas!

8.21.2009

2009-08-21T10:45:00.004-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Lane!!!

I can't believe my "baby" is three!! He is off having a fun day with Grandpa, Grandma, and Norah at the fair. I'm sure we will get plenty of time there this afternoon and weekend. Have a great weekend!

8.5.1980

2009-08-05T07:18:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!

I am so lucky to have such a great sister and best friend!!

7.23.09

2009-07-23T10:13:00.007-05:00

I can't believe how fast summer is going!

Kate turned 7 months old yesterday, heres what she can do:

sit up by herself for a long period of time

eat ALOT of baby food

eat crackers, puffcorn, goldfish,and misc other soft foods

smile alot

scoot around on her belly and rock back and forth on her hands and knees

she has 2 teeth

She also loves to jump in her jumproo, chew on all of her toys and her brother's toys

We've gone to the waterpark 3 times and love it!

Here is a short video of Lane rockin out to the Jonas Brothers when I was trying to take a picture of him and Norah. It is pretty cute.

I took a self-paced class on photo editing and special effects for photos using photoshop elements, it has be fun learning more about photoshop and playing with all sorts of techniques on my photos. Here are some before and afters:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

One more doctored up just a little:

Here are a few more pictures of the kiddos:

Faces of Kate

2009-06-29T08:01:00.000-05:00

Yep, I'm here

2009-06-24T21:23:00.003-05:00

I have no excuses, just enjoying my family and ignoring the blog. I am going to try to update once a week, but no promises! We have been very busy now that summer is here, Jason in playing alot of softball and wishing he could be fishing more. Lane is really enjoying going to the games and playing with all of the kids there. He will tell anyone he is watching his dad hit the ball and run fast. It is really cute how much Lane loves watching Jason! Kate still pretty much just chills out in the stroller snacking or playing with a rattle.

On Memorial Day, we went to the Minnesota Zoo, we all had a blast! Lane had his face painted for the first time and he thought that was great. The Africa exhibit opened that weekend so they were doing free giraffe facepainting. Half of his face was a giraffe. The kids were exhausted that night!

Lane is really being a great big brother and such a big helper at home. He talks and plays with Kate alot. He likes to be down on the floor with her just hanging out.

Kate is doing great! She is starting to sit up all by herself and gets up on her hands and knees and rocks. I am not ready for her to start crawling yet! I think she will be getting her first couple of teeth any day now. The two bottom middle are threatening to break thru very soon. She is eating baby food three times a day and having lots of snacks. She loves club crackers, the graduates wagon wheels and puffs. She is a very hungry girl!! She is also a good sleeper, which Mom and Dad Love!!

I will post more pictures soon.

adorable

2009-02-24T19:37:00.002-06:00

1 month pictures

2009-01-21T15:07:00.003-06:00

We had these pictures of Kate taken a week ago. She did pretty well. I was hoping to get some on her tummy with fairy wings, but she wasn't having it at all. I was laughing the whole time. It doesn't matter, we got some good ones anyway. I went back to work yesterday, so Kate went to daycare with Lane. Lane was so cute, he was glued to her the whole time. He is not that attentive at home. When Claire was feeding her, I guess Lane was a little confused because I nurse at home so Claire had to reassure him that Mom said it was okay for her to do it.

More Pictures

2009-01-06T14:53:00.010-06:00

Here are some of the latest pictures of Kate. She is a couple weeks old and is up to almost 8lbs again. She is a great eater and sleeper(knock on wood!!).
Last Tuesday, at amazing newborns, we took some pictures with Brennan and James. James is my friend, Bobbi Kenow's, son. He was born the same day as Kate, he outweighed her by 2lbs, 6oz! Kate and James

Kate, James, and Brennan

On Sunday, Lane and I made cookies. This was the best part for Lane:

It is hard to tell in the picture, but lane had cookie dough all over his entire face and shirt. The paddle was almost completely clean when he was done. I think he had his fill, he has only ate half of a cookie since we baked them!

We spent New Year's Eve at Kory and Melissa's house. My parents were there and we were all very casual. The kids spent the evening in their pjs and I wished I had worn mine! Kory and Melissa made homemade pizza, which was excellent. The kids played and played and played! Here are a couple of pictures of Lane with Nora's dress up shoes on , playing with a doll, and talking on the phone. All pictures to torture him with later in life!

Kate Ann

2008-12-29T14:41:00.005-06:00

Last Monday, we welcomed Kate Ann to the world! I was scheduled for a c-section at 12:30 but she wanted out sooner. I went into labor around 1:30 am and headed into the hospital a couple of hours later and she was born at 5:23 am. Jason was a little surprised to hear,"It's a girl" but he was very excited to have a little girl. Lane is very excited to have a baby in the house, he is having fun showing Kate all of his favorite toys, that might change once she wants to touch or play with them.

The kids gave Jason a fishing game for the Wii for Christmas and it has been fun for him and Lane. Whenever Jason catches a fish, Lane also "catches" one with his toy fishing pole. It is hilarious to watch!

Lane is becoming more independent these days. He is playing by himself in his room alot and will come out with a silly hat on or riding his horse and cracks us up. He makes me laugh everyday!!

I'm an Aunt, again!!

2008-11-28T12:16:00.002-06:00

It's a BOY!!! Brennan Keller Kath was born this morning to proud parents Melissa and Kory and super excited big sis, Norah!

He weighs 6lbs, 15 oz and is 19 inches long. A peanut! I will post a picture soon!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T12:42:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween! Lane wore his dragon costume to daycare today, he ran there 'roaring' the whole way!

This is Lane with Claire, his daycare mom. We love her!

Leaf Jump

2008-10-19T19:47:00.006-05:00

On saturday, Melissa and I took Norah and Lane to Oak View Nursery. It was a great fall day, just a little windy out there. The most favorite thing to do was the leaf jump. Both Lane and Norah loved it!!

Lane recovered very quickly from the ear tube surgery. He cried for about 5 mins after the nurses brought him back to us, then was fine. He drank some juice and ate cheerios and was ready to play. He was spoiled by his grandparents and greatgrandma with toys, treats, and a balloon, By late morning, he was back to normal, running around crazy.

Jason is super busy at work and is now in the field working for a few farmers. Everything is going good for me and the pregnancy. Only about 9weeks until the baby is here. We still haven't decided on names yet, but we still have time.

It's been a long time!

2008-10-14T21:22:00.006-05:00

Alot has happened since I last posted. First, my computer got alot of viruses and was in the shop for 2 1/2 weeks. Lane celebrated his 2nd birthday and we had a family party. Then he got yet another ear infection that lasted almost 4 weeks and took 3 different antibiotics. He hated taking all that medicine and it was no fun having to give it to him. He is getting tubes in his ears tomorrow. I am very nervous but keep telling myself that it is a simple procedure that thousands of kids get every year.

Jason's softball season is finally finished! It felt extra long this year. His team did well and had a really fun time playing together and thier spouses are fun also.

Lane has been sleeping in his 'big boy' bed for a while now. First, he slept on the mattress on the floor so when his bed came he was ready. He loves it!! We are so lucky, he transitioned from his crib to the bed very easily. At first when he woke up he would knock on his door for us to come and let him out, but know he can get his door open and most of the time he opens his door and waits for us to come and get him.

Lane had a great 2nd birthday! We had our family over for pizza and ice cream cake. He was so excited to open his presents and he got some really great ones!! A few of his favorites are a train set, a baseball glove, and an aquadoodle mat.

We've gone to a couple of the Owatonna High School football games and have a good time. Lane loves to watch the game, the cheerleaders and the band. Of course the treats at the game are pretty good too!

Here are some pictures from the last month or so:

Ugh!! A Virus!

2008-09-02T16:49:00.001-05:00

I will update soon, my computer is in the shop with a virus.

Baby Karsten

2008-08-04T14:56:00.004-05:00

(click on the picture to get a bigger veiw)
We had our ultrasound this morning and everything looks great! Only 1!! This baby is a mover and shaker that is for sure. The doctor had a hard time getting some good pictures because he/she was moving so much. The baby measures up with my due date so it looks like we will meet he/she before christmas. The doctor said we would probably pick a date at my next appointment. Lane went along to the ultrasound and did a good job. It was kind of hard for him to understand that it really was the baby on the "tv".

Jason has played in softball tournments the last 3 weekends, so we have be busy. We've been lucky with some really nice weather. This last weekend the tournment was in Claremont and the team won the championship which was really exciting! The weekend before they were in Hayfield and came in second, so overall they have been pretty successful. He has this weekend off, and hopefully we can get Lane a twin bed. We'll see how that goes!

What we've been up to

2008-07-14T21:11:00.004-05:00

Seriously, STOP taking our picture!! These two don't look much alike, but they sure have matching scowls down.Since my last post, we have celebrated a lot. First, Jason turned 30 on June 25. The following Saturday, we surprised him with a party at my father-in-law's house. He had no clue, so that made it even more fun. The next day, my mother-in-law had a bbq at her house. Jason's sister, Trisha, was home from ND and we had a really fun night. They bought a ton of fireworks in WI and Lane loved them!! After everyone he would say, "More, more!!" My mother-in-law made some really good food and then we made smores by the fire, it doesn't get much better than that.

On the fourth, Lane and I walked in the Blooming Prairie parade to support Kory's campaign. Lane did pretty well, he stayed in his stroller the majority of the time, then grandpa Kevin carried him the rest of the way( he wanted me to carry him, but with the length of the route, heat, and my growing stomach, that didn't last long!). Jason went to Canterbury and had a blast. He can't wait to go back. Later on we went to a 30th Birthday party/4th of July celebration at Bob &Dawn Hager's house, there were some kid toys and games in the back yard, tacos, and we could see the fireworks from their driveway. The rest of the weekend was pretty low key, some swimming out at the Sedivy's pond and grilling out. It was perfect. On Sunday, Norah spent the night and stayed with Lane and I on Monday. Kory and Melissa took their church youth group on a mission trip to Washington D.C. She spent the rest of the time with my parents. She was a good girl, she really missed her mom and dad!!

On Friday, we watch our nephew, Evan, for a few hours. Lane is super attentive to babies, he wouldn't leave him alone!! This picture is pretty much what happened the whole night.

He was either bouncing the chair, holding his hand, or pointing to all of his toes. Evan was a great sport and let it all happen without tears.

Lane and I have already spent a lot of Monday afternoons at Melissa and Kory's backyard this summer. Norah has a little pool with a picnic table attached that is the perfect size for the kids. The kids have such a good time playing together. (the other girl in the picture is Norah's neighbor, Emma)

This Weekend

2008-06-16T13:47:00.005-05:00

We got outside this weekend and really enjoyed the warm weather. Lane ran threw the sprinkler and kept Jason and I laughing the whole time. The water was pretty cold, in the beginning, every time the water hit him he would say "ow"!

We also got to meet our newest nephew/cousin. My brother-in-law, Brandon, and his wife, Bobbi Jo had their son !! Evan Joseph Karsten was born Saturday June 14th, at 2:55pm. He weighed in at 6lbs, 12 ozs, and 20 inches long.

On Sunday, Father's Day, we let daddy sleep in a little then gave him his presents. Lane and I went to the Hay Daze parade in Janesville with Grandpa Kevin and Grandma. Kory, Melissa, and Norah, along with alot of other supporters, walked the parade. Lane got so much candy. He said he is going to share with Daddy. Grandpa Charlie and Kris came over for supper. It was a fun day.

Catching Up

2008-06-16T13:34:00.003-05:00

Yes, I have alot of catching up to do. We have been busy and having a blast!! The sun has been out and we love it!!! A few weeks ago, there was a little fair at the fairgrounds and Lane went on some rides and had a really good corndog.

Then, the next weekend, Jason and I went to Alexandria for the State Fire Conference. Lane stayed with Grandpa Kevin and Grandma Judy. He had so much fun, he cried when we came to take him home. I'm sure he didn't get spoiled at all. We enjoyed the weekend away and came home refreshed. On Sunday, Jason played softball and got his hand stepped on and tore some muscles around his pinkie. He missed softball last week and probably this week too.

Happy Memorial Day

2008-05-26T21:13:00.004-05:00

We had such a fun day today!! First, we rode in a firetruck for the parade. Lane loved it!! He had a ball yelling,"Hi!" to people and waving like crazy. Right after the parade, spur of the moment, we decided to go to the Minnesota Zoo with my parents and Kory, Melissa, and Norah. The weather was more overcast and cooler than here, so I felt a little gulity that Lane was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but he was fine. This was the first time that either Lane or Norah has been to the zoo and they loved it!! They were soo good all day!(Amazing for 2 almost 2 year olds!!) Here are some pictures:

Lane took a short cat nap on the way to the zoo and slept all the way home. He woke up a little bit once Jason brought him into the house so he put him on the couch and here is what happened:

While we were at the firehall waiting to load up for the parade, the kids played "catch" with a tennis ball. This is Lane ready for anything:

Fox 9 News

2008-05-21T14:46:00.003-05:00

Tuesday night, Fox 9 news had a story about the water rescue on April 11. Jason, Nate L., and Tim B. were the 3 guys in the water doing the rescue. It turned out to be a pretty neat news story. Check it out here:
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6585761&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

What a Slacker!!

2008-05-17T12:55:00.003-05:00

I know it has been so long since I've posted anything, but we have been busy with softball, playing outside and enjoying the great weather we've been having. So here is a quick update:

Softball is going well for Jason. He is playing on a different men's league team this year and is having a very fun time. Win or lose, He comes home and tells us how much fun it was and that is huge for Jason. Watching softball is harder for me know that Lane is all over the place. Last season he sat in his stroller and took in everything, now he is throwing balls and running after them, taking a break every now and then to see Dad hit the ball.

Grandma Kim got Lane a new outdoor climber/slide and he his loving it!! He has mastered climbing up the rope ladder and climbing up the slide.

Last night while playing outside, Lane scraped his leg then wiped out pushing Norah's toy stroller and scraped up his thumbs so it was a rough night. Don't worry, it was nothing a sucker couldn't fix!!

We bought a bike trailer and Lane loves to go on rides, my rear end is getting used to the bike seat again.

Lastly, we have some exciting news: Lane is going to be a big brother in December!! We are very happy and excited and when we ask Lane if he wants to be a big brother and if he wants a baby at our house, he always says yes! I also ask if he is going to give all of his nuks to the baby and he says yes to that also, so we'll see!

Nothing New

2008-04-20T11:18:00.004-05:00

Wow, It's been awhile since I have posted anything, mostly because we have been pretty boring and not up to much. Here are some new pics:

Stacey G. titled a post "Like Mother and Father, Like Son" This is my version. Lane thought the frosting on the cupcake was the best part and so do I!Jason was gone a couple weeks ago for 4 days in St.Cloud for work. Along with a certificate of completion, he also got a flashlight. This was Lane's first experience with one. He had a good time but got pretty freaked out in his room in the dark all by himself.The newest activity at our house is Couch Gymnastics!! He had the best time crawling up on the couch and doing a somersault off of it. Of course he is wearing his new tennis shoes that we got last Sunday and he really hasn't taken them off much since. He loves them.

Other than that, Lane has been trying to get over a double ear infection. No fun! I think we finally have the high fevers under control.

Horton

2008-03-29T19:43:00.002-05:00

Today Lane and I went to see Horton hears a Hoo. This is the first time that Lane has been to the movie theater and, of course, he LOVED it!! He did so good, just watched the movie and ate snacks. We had to go to the lobby once to get more treats but otherwise he sat through the whole thing without making a peep. The movie was pretty good too. Happy Saturday!

Crazy!!

2008-03-24T17:57:00.005-05:00

Two weeks ago, wednesday morning, Lane and I took Ace to get groomed at 8am. No problem really, we were still in our pjs. When I walked in the door with Ace the other groomer said," I think you have the wrong day, Mindy doesn't work on Wednesdays." Okay, so I asked when Acer's appointment was hoping I hadn't missed it. Nope I didn't, we were a full week and day early!!

Jump to the following Thursday when Lane and I again take Ace to his appointment at 8am. The right day and time, again in our pjs. We stopped at the coffee shop to get me a coffee and Lane a blueberry muffin. Here is what Lane looked like:

He was wearing his onesie from the day before, pj pants and snowboots(which he won't take off, so once we get them off we hide them). He also had on his brown winter hat and blue jacket on at the coffee shop. A sight for sore eyes, haha!

That same day, Grandpa Charlie picked Lane up from daycare and they spent some time at Grandpa's house then out to great grandma Helen's to cut up pork. Lane spent most of the time riding on the Ranger with great uncle Curt and loving it. Jason met him at his grandmas after work and they got home around 8pm. Lane was sleeping when Jason brought him in the house and I took him and got him out of his snowpants and such. He woke up so we decided to have some milk before bed. When we walking out of his room he threw up all over us. Yuck!!! I got Lane cleaned up and Jason cleaned up the wall, floor in Lane's room, and the carpet in the hallway! It was a rough night with very little sleep. Jason stayed with Lane on Friday and cleaned up a lot of puke.

We had plans to leave Saturday morning for Fargo with my mother-in-law and her boyfriend, jason's grandma,and my brother-in-law and his wife. We were going to meet his sister and her boyfriend there for the weekend. She lives in Minot, ND and Fargo is about half way for all of us. So, Friday we deciding if we were still going or have to stay home. We decided to see how the night went and how Lane was to make a decision. Lane had a great night, he slept 10 hours straight and woke up thirsty and a little hungry, we took that as a good sign and decided to take off for Fargo. We had to pack everything in a short time and of course, what did I forget, my camera!!

It was almost 5 hours and Lane was such a trooper. This was the longest car ride he has had. He watched movies and took a nap. We went to the West Acres mall and wondered around, waiting for everyone to arrive as we all drove separately. After the mall we went to the Scheel's store, It is very big and has a mini ferris wheel in it. Then ate supper at Old Chicago. Jason had an Aunt, Uncle and cousins in Fargo for Easter also and we ate supper together. They stayed at the Holiday Inn with a big Shipwreck water park, so we went there to go swimming after supper. Once we had our suits on and got down to the pool, they were clearing everyone out because a kid threw up in it! Just our luck. Lane was already really worked up to go swimming so I took him in the hot tub for a while.

My mother-in-law got all of us rooms at the casino which was about 20 minutes away, or so we thought. We headed towards the casino on the highway and then we saw the sign that said it was 65 miles away!! Needless to say, Lane fell asleep and slept all the way there. It was around 9pm once we were unloaded and in our room and it didn't take Lane long to pass out again. Jason's grandma came to our room and stayed with Lane while we gambled. We never go to a casino so we didn't really understand how most of the video 'slots' worked. I lost $8 really fast so we decided to wonder around and look for more of the family. Once we found jason's mom, she gave us a quick lesson on the penny slots and it worked for me. I came out $52 ahead for the night. Of course, I lost $10 the next morning at the same machine. Oh well. We ate brunch at the casino then headed for home. We were just 2 hours from home and Lane got sick! He threw up all over himself and the carseat. Luckily we were just seconds from a gas station. I cleaned Lane up and Jason worked on the carseat. We put a plastic grocery sack down for lane to sit on and he really hated it but he would've had a wet butt otherwise. We just tried not to breathe out of our noses the rest of the way home. By supper time Lane was feeling better and ate some pizza the slept really well all night. Then in the morning the diarrhea started!! Poor little guy! Then more vomiting!!

And he just wanted to wear his hat.

So, I rescheduled appointments today so I could stay home with him. So far so good, some gross diapers but getting better!

Even through all of the sickness, Lane has be such a good boy(much better than Jason or I would have acted!).

I'm Back

2008-03-12T21:12:00.006-05:00

Here is what we have been up to since I came back from vacation. First, I came back with a cold/cough that I must of gotten from somebody on the plane. Great. So I have been pretty low key since then. I had a great time on vacation and you can read all about it on our vacation blog that Wendy set up. She was our scribe the whole trip so we would remember all of the great and funny stories. There is also a link to a shutterfly photo album with alot of great pictures of the trip. There is a link to blog on the side or just click here.
On Friday Lane got to spend the afternoon with Grandpa Charlie and he had a really fun time! They spent most of the time out at Great Grandma's house and he loves it there. Jason and I went out about 6:30, just in time to eat really good fish and shrimp. Lane loves shrimp and if he accidently ate a piece of fish he would spit it out. It was kinda funny. Then on Saturday Lane had a really fun and full day! He spent the morning with Dad and some other guys from Jason's softball team at a batting cage. Jason said Lane had a lot of fun and Jacob Busho was there to play with also. Then we all went to Godfather's Pizza for lunch and ate with Halvy and the Sedivys. Lane and I went out to visit Grandma Judy before she left for china. She went for work and will be home thursday. Then we went home and took a nap!!! That night we went to Sophie Schiller's 1st birthday party. Lane, Jacob, and Sophie played and played and played!!
Sunday we went to Rochester and had Lane's 18th month pictures taken. They turned out really well. This was the first time we went to Kiddie Kandids and I was impressed with the photographer. The studio is in the mall overlooking the play area and all Lane wanted to do was go play and she really got some good shots anyway. You can see the pictures we purchased my going to mystudio.kiddiekandids.com . The user name is Dawn Karsten and password is lane.

Last night was so nice we couldn't resist bundling Lane up in all of his winter gear and get outside. We took Ace for a short walk and Lane enjoyed splashing in the puddles. He played in the snow when we got home. Here are some pictures:

Mexico

2008-02-23T21:19:00.002-06:00

i am off to mexico in the morning(yeah!!). I know that I am going to have a great time but I will miss my boys!!

Procrastinating

2008-02-19T20:31:00.002-06:00

Why am I making all these new posts when I have so much to do to get ready for vacation?

Yummy

2008-02-19T20:22:00.002-06:00

Frozen blueberries are Lane's favorite food! He will eat them for any meal or snack, like tonight. All he had for supper was blueberries and shredded cheese. What a great mom I am! Ha Ha!! He gets so messy and his fingers stay stained purply blue for at least one whole day. He knows a few words in sign language and one of them is 'more'. That is what he is doing in the third picture.

I love my cousin!

2008-02-19T20:09:00.005-06:00

Melissa and Kory spent a couple of nights in Stillwater at a bed and breakfast, so Norah got to spend Saturday night at Grandpa and Grandma Driver's house then come over to our house Sunday afternoon, spend the night, then play all day Monday with us. I can't believe how lucky I got, both Lane and Norah took naps at the same time Sunday and Monday, and they went to bed at the same time and woke up within 15mins of each other! That meant I got to have a little break when they were down. I also tackled a trip to Walmart to buy groceries. Of course, there was more then one person who asked if they were twins. That always makes me laugh because they look nothing alike. We had a dance party on Monday, here are some pictures:

Girl's Night Out

2008-02-19T19:58:00.005-06:00

A few weekends ago, some of us ladies went out for a rockin' night of dancing to The D Boys at the Willow River Saloon. We spent the night in the biggest dive ever, America's Best Value Inn. A few scary people actully live there and one was really trying to chat us up and gave us way too much info about himself!! Here are some pics courtesy of Nat:
(I'm not sure why the pictures are super tiny, get out your magnifying glass!)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-14T07:45:00.004-06:00

Here are a few of the pictures I took of Lane to surpraise Jason for valentine's day. It wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. Here is what Jason got:

It says,"Happy Valentine's Day, Daddy!!"

Have a great Valentine's Day!

Love, Jason, Dawn, and Lane

Great Read!!

2008-02-13T15:01:00.003-06:00

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

This book has over 500 pages and took me less than 5 days to read it. This is not typically the type of book that I would read but I have heard such good things about the whole series(3 right now and a 4th out this august) so I thought I would give it a try. I am so glad I did!! I finished it last night and called the library this morning to reserve the next 2. I am on the waiting list for both of them and I hope I can get the second one before I leave on vacation. So, about the book, there are vampires( see, totally not something I would normally be into) and a love story( something I am totally into). That is all I am going to say because you have to read it to find out the rest. I will post fun stories and pics from the weekend soon.

Future Girlfriend??

2008-02-05T22:18:00.000-06:00

Addy and Lane

Sunday night we all went to Travis and Sam's house to watch the Superbowl. We had such a fun time. Lane really enjoyed playing with Avery, Teagun, and Addy(okay, and ALL of their toys!!). Lane and Addy played well together, he only stole her toys a few times. Isn't that what boys do? They treated us to steak, potatoes, and REALLY good scalloped corn. The kids dined on fine cusine, corn dogs and french fries. Lane actully ate some of the corn dog, only after he had ate all of the fries. French fries are his all time favorite food, who could blame him. During half time, we played guiter hero. It was my second time playing and I am proud to say I am improving, I only got booed off of one song! Jason played for the first time. Of course, he caught on fast. Travis and Sam sure impressed us with their skills. We made it back upstairs to catch the last half of the last quarter, perfect timing.

Here are some recent pics:

Watching the last minutes of the superbowl

Lane graduated from his highchair to a booster seat! He loves sitting at the table with us.Just catching up on the latest issue of Successful Farmer magazine

One of his favorite christmas presents is the mega block legos. Check out his extra tall faux hawk!

All that building really wore him out!!

This weekend, I have a girls night out planned in WI, Jason is going ice fishing at Lake of the Woods, and Lane is having a sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma's house. I'm sure we will have fun stories and pictures!

Minnows!!

2008-01-28T16:47:00.000-06:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The First Time!!!

2008-01-27T16:46:00.000-06:00

We have a blog! After at least a year of reading a few blogs and friends creating their own blogs, we have joined the ranks. I don't know how interesting it will be for friends and family to read, but I'm going ahead anyway. I'm sure the majority of posts will be all about Lane(surprise,surprise!) Here are some recent pics the boy himself(and one of Norah):