Memorial Weekend--Last Few Pictures

Just a few more pictures from the weekend. Although the weather was kind of yucky, we were outside as much as we could be. We even headed to Okoboji to do some shopping and Jolie discovered the yumminess of Smarties at a candy shop there!



Jolie and Dad enjoying some chips at Applebees in Omaha on our way back home.

Then that night a storm rolled through the area. We even had to head to the basement! However Jolie didn't even wake up through the whole thing (including two tornado sirens and the smoke detector going off when I was trying to boil water--I seriously cannot cook!!!) And when it was all over, there was no damage at all! Yay--but a crazy way to end the weekend! :)

Here's the view from our back porch a little before the storm came.

Park Visit

While in Graettinger, we visited their park and Jolie had so much fun! She loves swinging!

She also tried out some slides with dad (who was on the receiving end of some big static shocks from the slide--hehe!) and even the merry-go-round.

Memorial Day Intro

Ta da! Fixed computer--well hopefully. Our computer is pretty much stuffed full and has been running super slowly, so this is our fancy solution for now. Who says we aren't classy?!?! :)

Random updates:
Jolie checked out motorcycle (although if I have my way, this is fasted motorcycle she'll ever go on!)

Over Memorial Weekend, we went to Graettinger, Iowa to see Grandma and Grandpa Buechler. They picked up a washing machine box and turned it into a sweet playhouse for Jolie that she LOVED! And they stocked up on bubbles so any chance we got, we were out on the porch. :)


Big girl rocking in the chair all by herself (with her bubble wands of course!)

Josh and I also celebrated our 5th anniversary! Holy buckets! Five years has gone so fast but yet so much has changed at the same time! I could post some super cheesy stuff about how wonderful Josh is and being married to him...but I'll spare you! :) But honestly we are just so thankful that we've had such amazing support and role models and we can't wait to see what the future holds! Okay, that's enough lovey-dovey stuff for me! Back to Jolie! :)

Two Week Disappearing Act

Greetings again! My apologies for the brief break in updates. I don't even have a good excuse...I've just been lazy I guess. I don't even have than many pictures! Geez, what a slacker! :)

One day, Grandma and Grandpa D came to Kearney and we went out to eat and then to get some plants at Menards. Holy awesomeness! Menards has a whole bunch of playhouses and even a big swing set that you can play on! And it's indoors! And the evening we were there is was empty! Try to contain your excitement! After spending a LOT of time in the playhouses, Jolie discovered a toddler swing on the swing set. She loved it and we probably swung/swang/went swinging?--whatever it's called for almost half an hour! You can imagine how well it went over when we had to leave...

Here's some action shots!


It has been raining lots here so we haven't had much time to play outside. Josh had today off and during a small rain break, he and Jolie headed outside to her picnic table. (Which Josh recently used bungee cords to tie it down to the deck, along with the grill--this wind can't take away our fun!) Anyway, doesn't she just look like she's having so much fun? She LOVES things that are her size--little tables, chairs, etc. So she LOVES her picnic table and is always trying to get outside any chance she gets.

She's also gone all 'Linus' on us from Peanuts. Linus was the one who always carried his blankie everywhere. Jolie has had a blanket that we always kept in her crib that's super soft. We knew she loved to lay on top of it when she sleeps (she's slept with it since she was born) but the other day, after a nap, she took it out of the crib with her and carried it everywhere. I had no idea she was so attached to it! Now she's been taking it out of the crib every time and keeping it close by while she plays.

Here she set up a little desk area with her sippy cup, book and blankie (and some random measuring cup she grabbed from the kitchen). She was so proud and thought she was such a big girl.

Jolie at work

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend and went to Grand Island to see Colby's house and we saw Great Nana on Saturday. Jeff, Cyndi and Colby have a bull mastiff named Buford and both he and Jolie were fascinated by each other! I don't think Buford had ever seen such a small person and Jolie had never seen such a big dog! I should have gotten a picture of both them together!

After we went out to eat, we stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's in Wood River so Jolie had a big Saturday! Sunday was a nice relaxing day and we went to the Wulf's for a some grilling that evening where Jolie played with Sam, Hayden and Hannah.

But late Sunday/early Monday, I woke up with the stomach flu--not cool! I told Josh he was on 'Jolie-duty' but as the sun came up, he started not to feel too whippy either! Did I mention this was the first day we turned on our a/c and found even though it was making lots of noise, it wasn't working--resulting in an 82-degree house! So I called Grandma to see if she could come get Jolie while Josh and I became slugs. And it was Grandma and Grandpa to the rescue!

Jolie went to the elementary school to help my mom at work. It was 'skinned knee' day so Jolie did a great job playing 'nurse' and helping the big kids put band-aids on and clean their boo-boos. She found this very fascinating! She also ate lunch in the teacher's lounge (and helped them eat thier lunches!) and did lots of filing and greeting. Well maybe it was more like throwing papers and yelling at those who walked in the door, but I'm sure she did a great job!

After work, she took a big nap, but she wasn't done yet! She went out to farm with Grandpa and help him plant corn! She even ate supper with Grandpa in the tractor (and helped Grandpa eat his too!) After all the dirty farm work, she showed Grandma how she's a crazy lady in the bath! She tried to get a picture, but someone was trying to escape the tub and go streaking!

Then she finally came home where mom and dad had the a/c working again and we were feeling much better! Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for helping all of us out! :)
Jolie checking out the big steering wheel in the tractor

Eating, farming--such a multi-tasker!

Grandpa and Jolie so busy farming!

Door Decorating

Since Easter was over, we needed to change the decorations on the window on our front door. Who better to help me than Jolie?

I couldn't really think of anything super awesome or cute or creative so we just went with a nice welcoming sign. Of course, I tried to make one that said 'welcome' but Jolie was not patient enough for that, so we just went with a nice 'hello'

Then Jolie helped me decorate it with some spring stickers!! :) She did an awesome job! (Of course I haven't taken a picture of the finished project on the door!)

Target Shopper

We had a leisurely trip to Target the other day so I thought we could give Jolie a chance to walk around since she LOVES her new independence. In hindsight, this was a HUGE mistake! You should have them ride in the cart as long as possible! Because with this new independence, it also means she doesn't always want to go where you want her to!

Jolie took a special liking to some shiny ceramic piggy banks and every chance she got, she would head over to them. It was actually pretty amazing because we would go to a completely different section of Target, and yet somehow she knew exactly where to go to find them! Then she would just point at them and smile really big!

Then she took a seat on the shelf and was so excited to sit next to a piggy bank. :) Of course, when we tried to leave this lead to a few meltdowns which was a little embarrassing, but luckily Target is FULL of distractions! :)

Future dentist or high-maintenance temper-tantrum thrower?

A few random things I forgot to mention earlier...

Last Wednesday was Josh's birthday and Jolie had me pick up Josh and Xbox that he's been begging for for quite some time. He was super surprised, which is always awesome! That Jolie--she's one good shopper! :)

In other random news, Jolie is such a little goof ball! I've brushed her teeth for quite awhile, using some training toothpaste and a little toothbrush. Well Jolie decided she wanted to do it herself, and she NEVER wants to STOP! Any chance she gets, she wobbles over the bathroom, opens the drawer and pulls out her toothpaste and toothbrush. We've been letting her sit and brush her teeth, but we run into problems when she tries walking while brushing! So we either make her sit back down or take away the toothbrush which results in the biggest meltdown that we've yet seen from Jolie. I mean, she literally screamed the entire ride to school today because I took away her toothbrush so we could leave! I know this is probably a good problem to have, but the meltdowns are a little ridiculous!

While searching through the drawers for her toothbrush and toothpaste (yes, she always must carry the toothpaste around too) she found my headbands and is always trying to put them on. So I help her out and she is just as happy as can be, sitting there brushing her teeth, holding her toothpaste, with a headband on.

Here are a couple of shots of her in all her glory. :)


(Ha! Notice my sweet shelves in the background? We recently got them in our living room and I'm taking forever picking out baskets to use. Check out all those baskets I'm 'trying out' I am such a nerd! Hopefully I can make a decision soon and start making the shelves functional and controlling this room that resembles a Fischer-Price factory!) holy rambling...

Easter Extravaganza!

I'm sure you've all been holding your breath waiting to know what Jolie did for Easter. Well breathe easy, because here's a play by play! :)

After work/school on Friday, we left for South Dakota. We tried taking the route that MapQuest instructed to. Through northern Nebraska, it was okay. There were a few oddities, but we were making good time. Then we came to the border and there was a really cool bridge we got to drive over...and then things starting going silly. I was extremely disappointed in MapQuest's knowledge of rural South Dakota! So after several turn-arounds, the road turning to gravel, then being washed out by a river, and the animals we nearly hit--two skunks, a LOT of deer, a chicken, a dog, and some brown animal that kind of looked like a beaver or badger or something...we finally made it to Scotland, SD in 5 hours! Jolie did so great (considerably better than me!)

We stayed at Josh's Grandma and Grandpa Buechler's on Friday night and on Saturday she prepared several amazing meals! The guys also did some housework and I'm not sure what happened exactly, but somehow a hole was drilled through the kitchen floor. :) Josh's Aunt Cindy and Uncle Kevin and Tyrel also stopped by which was super great, except that Jolie was super crabby because sleep was not on her priority list this weekend...at all.

Saturday evening we headed into the bustling town of Scotland and stayed with Josh's Grandma and Grandpa Pedersen. Apparently Josh's grandma was trying to fly and fell while working at the church that afternoon and we convinced her to get it checked out. So while Lori and Bernice headed to the ER, Jolie thought it would be best if she stayed up (and screamed) to support Great-Grandma until she got home...

Grandma Pedersen did return without any broken bones, but we were on watch to make sure she took it easy the rest of the time. This was no easy task because she also thought she needed to prepare a feast! Although we considered tying her down, we were able to convince her to do some resting as well, no tying required. :) Since we were all up so late, we didn't even end up going to church for Easter services, although you can bet we were all saying our prayers, thankful that Grandma Pedersen was ok!

So I still put Jolie in her Easter dress because I thought it was adorable! :) Of course I might be slightly biased...

The weather finally cleared up and we were able to head outside to do a little egg hunting. Although I think Jolie thought dumping the eggs out was way more fun than trying to find them!

We decided to try another route on the way back and it was much better (although the bridge between the border was not nearly as cool!). It took us only 4 hours to get back and we even picked up Mr. Petey who had been at Grandma and Grandpa Dibbern's house over the weekend. Although he had an awesome time, he was pretty excited to see us!

We are so thankful we got to see so much family over the weekend! Jolie was also very happy to show off all of her walking skills and I had help chasing her! Bonus!

Happy Easter!

We did a few quick pictures (or as Brett called them--Quictures) earlier this month for Easter and we LOVE them! Brooke (the photographer) had gotten some chicks and bunnies. The chicks ended up being a little too fast and a little too messy for pictures, but the bunny was a saint! I was super nervous that Jolie would be too rough with it but she did okay. She wasn't game for holding it, but she would allow the bunny to sit near her. What a goof!