Okay, okay, I know. It's been over a year and a half since I've posted. I'M SORRY. 

Life, well, got busy. I had no idea how busy it would be as Kaleb has gotten older. 

Kaleb is, well, Kaleb. He is an amazing, funny, strong-willed little boy. 

He started pre-school over a year ago. And he loves it. He has many friends, including Cooper, Dylan, Nolan and Hayden. Most days, it's "Bye Mom" and he's off and playing. 

He also attempted soccer last year. And failed miserably. I'm a little afraid to give it a go again this year. I think we might wait until next year. He is, however, in gymnastics and he loves it. I'm hoping maybe it'll give him a little coordination, too. 

He's a musical little guy, too, who has some serious rhythm under his belt and can pick up a tune within moments of hearing it. 

He continues to look up to and adore his big brother. Their relationship grows stronger every time they are together. I just love watching them together. 

Evan is doing fantastic. He starts third grade this year. It's hard to believe that we're half-way to jr. high!! He enjoys school and excels at pretty much everything he does. 

He plays soccer, baseball, basketball, karate and is also in Cub Scouts. He is a Bear this year. I'm hoping Greg and I can be more involved by helping out with camping trips, since that seems to be our forte. 

He loves his DS and has many, many friends. 

I changed jobs. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you know this. It's not my favorite job in the world, but it is better than the abusive situation I was in at the position before that. I have a great many friends there and smile every day because of them. 

Greg continues to work at the Educational Service Center. He's really doing well, and I think he enjoys it. He is now a registered applicant as a drug and alcohol prevention specialist and teaches various classes, both to kids and adults. I'm quite proud of him! 

A year ago, we decided we were spiritually restless. I wasn't enjoying the Catholic church, and Greg wasn't loving the Lutheran church, either. We ended up "church shopping" and made it to two churches. I talked Greg into checking out Cedar Creek, and we've never looked back. Neither of us has missed a service in over a year and a half. We just love it there. We volunteer together at the bookstore every Sunday, and the boys get something out of their Sunday School lessons every single time. Kaleb can usually recite his Bible verse for the month by the end of the month. 

Those are the major updates in our lives. I'm going to try to get a weekly update in on a regular basis again. I've really missed blogging, and need to get back to it, if not just to keep up on documenting our lives. 

Christmas and a Disney Vacation

We were blessed with a fantastic Christmas this yea with the people that we love dearly. We started the holiday season the weekend before Christmas. Santa came to our house that Friday night since Evan would be spending Christmas Eve/Day with his mother. Our tradition is carried on from when I was a little girl. The boys were allowed to open ONE present-- their Christmas pajamas.

Saturday was WONDERFUL! Celebrating our little family Christmas the weekend before may very well become our new tradition. The kids were up at 4:30am. We told them to go back to bed, but Kaleb was having none of it... An hour later, we gave up and let them get up. Though Greg and I were rather groggy, we were as excited as they were to see what Santa had left them.

Evan received a new red camera from Santa! He was thrilled and went through no less than 3 sets of batteries by the time the day was over.

Kaleb received a Fisher Price iXL, and screamed "A DS" at least 12 times while we were attempting to free the new toy from the packaging and show him how to turn it on.

The whole family was surprised and spoiled with a new Wii game--Epic Disney, from our kitties. We were all tickled and spent a good 2 hours taking turns playing it. Afterwards, I got started on our little family Christmas dinner-- ham, mashed potatoes, veggies, and wine/sparkling apple juice. It was such a change of pace for us-- we weren't trying to open our Christmas gifts and then rush off to all of the other Christmas parties. The kids got to spend time really enjoying their new things. It was really nice.

Sunday, we spent with Greg's folks for our annual Christmas breakfast.

We received lots of wonderful gifts, including flannel sheets, a sleeping bag for Kaleb and ANOTHER game for Evan's DS. I was especially tickled by my new piece of luggage from Rick and Myra! Kaleb is finally warming up to his Uncle Lance and is slowly getting over his fear of him.

Monday meant I went back to work and Greg began his two week Christmas break from work (the punk). However, he wasn't completely off the hook. I had signed him up to be the chair of the 1st Grade Christmas Party at Evan's school (HA!). From what I heard, he did a great job and Evan said it was lots of fun!

I found out on Thursday that I was allowed to take off Christmas Eve Day from work, so Greg and I made the decision that we were ready to leave. We went over to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bruns and Aunt Judy since we were going to be leaving early the next day and wouldn't get to spend Christmas with them. We were very spoiled by my grandparents. Kaleb is especially thrilled with his new "Judy Blanket" and now sleeps with no less than 3 blankets every night. When he toddles into bed with us he brings no less than those 3 blankets, too-- JudyBlanket included.

We were invited to Florida by my folks for a Disney vacation. The entire family was going to be there.

We got home that night, and packed the car, intending to leave no later than 4am the next morning. The car was packed at about 11pm. We were so excited and ready to leave, and neither of us were tired, so we gathered Kaleb up in his PJs and tucked him into the van. It worked out really well! He slept off and on throughout the night and all the next day, watching Disney movie after Disney movie after Disney movie. He also spent much of his awake time playing his new DS, with cars, coloring and just being a wonderful little traveler.

We made it down there Friday evening at about 7pm. We CAMPED on Christmas Eve. It was nice an warm for our first 24 hours there. The next morning, Kaleb opened a couple of little gifts from us --because you can't NOT open up a gift on Christmas Day, right? Then we helped Mom and Dad pack up the camper and we drove across Kissimmee to the two condos that Mom and Dad rented for the week. WOW! We always have the best luck when we get condos. Somehow, they managed to get the condo that the owner always stays in. Once we got settled in, we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant-- A Christmas Story -style. A little gross, but lots of fun!

Greg and I decided to spend the next day at Disney Hollywood Studios. Grandma and Papa decided that they would take Kaleb for the day and give Mommy and Daddy a nice break together. We had SO much fun!! We went on every ride (some twice!) and just had a good day playing together. The bottom dropped out on the temperature that day-- I think the high ended up being about 40.

The next day, everyone else arrived and spent the day recovering from the drive. We met up with Evan and his mom at a winery to bring Evan back home with us. We celebrated our Bruns family Christmas-- where Grandma and Papa spent WAY too much on everyone, considering our gift was Disney! We had a blast.

On Tuesday, Greg and I took Evan to Epcot. We had an absolute blast going through the whole park and riding every single ride. Evan shocked the daylights out of us with his extreme bravery on several of the rides. We were crazy enough to blast off with him on the Mission Space, and took the extreme version of the ride. He LOVED it. Greg and I thought he was flipping out at one point and there of course was nothing we could do but scream "It's okay, Evan!!" over and over again and hold onto his knees. We couldn't even turn our heads because of the G-force. He finally screamed at us "I'M FINE" because he was tired of us worrying about him. We laughed pretty hard at that. He told us "THAT WAS SO COOL" when we got off, but refused to go on it again. HA!

Grandma & Papa, along with Kaleb and the rest of the gang, went to Animal Kingdom. They had lots of fun seeing all the animals, going on rides, and seeing "The Lion King". We have reports that Kaleb was absolutely enthralled with the show.

Wednesday, we relaxed. Part of our group went to an orange grove to pick some sweet citrus. Can I just say-- it's HARD knowing what's what and which fruit is truly ready to be picked? It was fun for me, up until Kaleb decided to help himself to an orange. He was SO sticky, I ended up stripping him down out in the grove. then, he wanted to free himself of his diaper. It was over at that point for the two of us. The rest of it is not a pretty story.

Thursday, the whole family went to Magic Kingdom. We. Had. A. BLAST! Went on all sorts of rides-- Kaleb included!!! and spent lots of time as a family. It was one of the busiest days of the year at Disney-- they closed the park gates at 10am or so-- Someone said there were about 100,000 people there that day. On a typical day, they see about 20,000. So, it was a little busy, and lines were long. But, it was still a great day. Of course, my favorite ride was Small World. Kaleb loved it, too. =-)

Most of the family left on Friday. We decided we were going to leave later in the day on Friday but our plans were changed for us by our van. We went out to a Disney World outlet store on the other side of Orlando. As we were heading back to the condo, the electrical went out in the van and the battery light came on, as well as the check engine light. I pulled into a gas station so we could fill up the gas tank, and just had a gut feeling that something was seriously wrong. I tried turning the van over, and it wouldn't even click. The van was dead. As a doornail dead. At 5pm on New Years Eve.

We called AAA and a wonderful man came out to assist us. He jumped the van, and asked if he could try something. He did something to the battery and said "there's your problem". The alternator was out. Snicklefritz. What in the world were we going to do on a holiday to get that fixed?? We tried calling our warranty company's emergency line. They offered to help us at a cost if we were in peril. But couldn't do anything to fix the car. Referred us to the repair assistance line. Tried that "24-hr help line" that was closed for the holiday. We couldn't even ask them WHO could fix the darn thing on a holiday. SO, tried contacting a bunch of parts places. nobody had an alternator for our van. We located a Pepboys who had a part and could fix it for us the next day.

So, we waited. We helped mom and dad load up the camper and all of our stuff from the condo and moved to the orange grove where we had picked our fruit earlier in the week- they had camping there, too! We were finally able to pick up the van around 12:00. Thank goodness for my parents, and thank goodness we hadn't left early the day before. That would have been a disaster of epic proportions.

We were finally able to leave around 4pm on New Years Day. We made it home on the 2nd around 11am and spent the day unloading and relaxing.

We had such a wonderful holiday this year. We're quite spoiled and had a wonderful trip!

Updates, and hopefully back in the groove again!

SO, It's been a long time since I've really updated. I need to get back into the groove of updating this blog regularly again, if only to keep those who we don't get to see as often anymore (ahem.. you know who you are)..

Let's see-- the quick version of updates regarding the family:

Evan has turned seven (in September) and is now in 1st grade. He's quite the reader and is excellent in math! He'll tell you his favorite subject is gym. He continues to be quite the sports-star, participating in Karate (he's a blue belt!), baseball, spring and fall soccer and starting this next week-- Upwards Basketball. His team will be "The Suns". He loves to play his Nintendo DS, the Wii, with Legos, puzzles and anything outside. Evan is also now in Cub Scouts, and we just found out this week that he is one of the first two kids in his den who have earned their Tiger Scout badge!!! Way to go, Evan!

Kaleb turned two in October, and these have been rather trying times. He is a sweet kid, but has quite the temper when he doesn't get his way. He loves his puppy, ducky blanket, Judy-Blanket, sleeps in a tent on his bed, and ANYTHING (we do mean anything) related to Toy Story. His tent is Toy Story, and he has nearly every character from the movies. He also loves trains, planes and automobiles and strains his neck every time we cross a railroad track. We're in the throws of potty training right now. It's been interesting, to say the least. He also talks non-stop, and in complete sentences. We're shocked on a daily basis on what he has to say.

Both boys enjoy watching Disney movies and playing together with their Geotrax. They generally get along, but anyone who has younger siblings knows how trying a baby brother can be. We try to balance their time together with time apart, as well-- this typically comes in the form of nap-time for Kaleb.

Greg continues to enjoy his work at the Educational Service Center. He's found some new opportunities for growth there, and has even lead a class for parents dealing with difficult teens. I'm still working at Home Instead Senior Care, and while there are trying times, I generally enjoy my career choice and working with seniors continues to be my passion-- especially those with memory loss.

Both Greg and I have re-discovered our passion for reading. We purchased Nooks (e-book readers) for each other for Christmas, and find ourselves reading more and watching TV less. I can't remember the last time we watched a network television show. We do still enjoy watching movies and have re-discovered dating, something we've been missing for quite a while.

I put up a post about my grandfather's death in May. He's greatly missed, but he's dropped by in my dreams a few times for a visit, which has been nice.

I've joined a fantastic group- Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS). Its a Christian based mother's group that gives moms a chance to meet others for fellowship. I've had to miss the past few meetings due to work on Saturdays, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things later this month. It's much needed and I've met some great ladies!

Coming up next-- Christmas and Disney!

In Memoriam: Robert Refsell 1924-2010

This is what I read at Grandpa's funeral:

Time
The strong scent of coffee,
the soft sound of dawn
but for him the day had already begun.
The cows and the pigs by now had been fed,
he is so anxious,
the time is now here
because he is the planter and
he's waited a year.
A crack in the sky, he steps into his cab
and gets settled in.
Then with the turn of the key
the monster roars.
A puff of smoke and the scent of exhaust
with a trail of dust,
he smiles then sighs.
The light of his life that makes things grow.
It shines in his eyes as it gives warmth to the cab.
Sweat rolls down his back and the scent of spring soil fills his mind once again,
he works through the night and goes home with relief
as the moon shines high.
His fields are planted,
he sits at the table with content.
Gives thanks to the Lord and then breaks his bread.
A product of his life.
1993

Good Afternoon. I'm Jennifer, the one who is always introduced as "the oldest grandchild". I wrote that poem when I was 15 years old.

Many of you may not be aware of who I am, or maybe you know me through the millions of pictures that my grandparents have as one of the 9 grandchildren. You also probably know how much that Robert loved his grandchildren.

Each of us had our own special relationship with Grandpa. But each of us also had similar relationships. We've all vacationed in Texas, been camping at Wolden Campground and stayed up at the cabin with both he and Grandma. All of us have slept over with them and tried our hardest to get up early enough to go to McDonald's for coffee in the morning with Grandpa and the guys. We'd go on bike rides with him, or just walk. We've all ridden in the cab of his tractor, on the three-wheeler, the snowmobile and in the truck. I think we've all been to more than one antique tractor show and remember him in his bib overalls and riding in the tractor parades.

But what he and Grandma may not be aware of is how much we all love and admire them. They may not realize how much of an influence they've had on our lives.

I often wonder if they realize that nearly half of their grandchildren work for seniors?

I personally work in the home care field, working so that seniors can age in place. I visit clients from all walks of life, but my favorites are always the farmers. Most of them remind me of Grandpa in one way or another. They are the ones that I can sit and chat with for hours. They're impressed with what very limited knowledge I have about farming. And believe me, it's limited. I'm able to have these relationships because of Grandpa. I treat them the way I would want my grandfather treated--with love, dignity and respect. More than once, I've been told that they feel like I'm a granddaughter to them. That lets me know I'm doing my job the right way.

Grandma, you've had quite an influence on all of your grandchildren, as well. You have several children who love to sew, quilt, crochet, garden and bake. Unfortunately, I wasn't one who learned your amazing skills of cleaning, nor can I keep a houseplant alive to save my life. My husband can attest to that. But I can sew and bake.

As I've grown older, I've realized more of what it takes to be a good wife, and how important it is to love and honor my husband. Much of this, I've only learned in the past couple of years-- and I'm still learning. But much of it, I've learned from you, Grandma. I've watched you care for Grandpa over the years, as well as how wonderfully kind and patient you've been as he's lived with Alzheimer's and lost so many memories. You are a true example of "in sickness and in health".

Grandpa, you will be greatly missed. There are holes in the hearts of all of your grandchildren. But those holes will slowly be patched together as we find ways to honor and share your memory. Your great-grandchildren will know who you were and how much we love you. They will know and love our memories of you. They will hear our stories of getting up at the crack of dawn for coffee.

HELLOOOOOOOO!!! Is anybody there?!?

So....

Sorry...

It's been busy...

I'm a bad blogger...

I really need to get back in the habit...

The short story is that walking babies really wear you out!

The last time I posted was in July. Kaleb had started walking in June.

Kaleb has grown a little since then...

Kaleb is now not only walking, but running, walking backwards, twirling in circles, jumping up and down, and climbing on the the couch, chairs, table, the window seat in the boy's bedroom, and up the ladder to Evan's loft bed. (Yeah. Really.)

In addition to climbing on top of everything he can get his little behind on top of, he also gets INTO anything he can get his little hands on. The cupboards have been emptied more than once, the computer has been switched off a few times, the DVD player has been opened, the TV remotes are a coveted item, we've had salt and pepper both "sprinkled" everywhere. Water has been dumped, computer programs opened that we didn't even know we had on our computer, lamps knocked down and a toys have been strewn from one end of the house to the other.

And Kaleb is ALL boy.

And he is all his Daddy's boy. He's all about the music. He dances, sways, sings and even rocks out on his guitar. No annoying Twinkle Twinkle at our house. K-Bob's guitar rocks out Wild Thing, Love Shack, Message in a Bottle, All Star, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

But he's also a lot like his brother in that if it's a ball, he wants it and he wants to throw it. Thanks to Grandma and Papa B, we've had two weeks of Splash'n'Learn at the Wood County Hospital's therapy pool with Cousin Greyson. The first couple of minutes in the pool, he wasn't so sure this was for him, but then, he realized it was like a great big bathtub, and he was all over it! Splashing is fun!

He's also his momma's boy. I walk in the door, and it's MOMMA, MOMMA, MOMMA!!!! and rushes for in for a big hug and kisses. Melts my heart every time. Best greeting money cannot buy.

We've had many, many ouchies since he's started walking, and several really good knots on the head. But he's amazing. He shakes it off and moves on pretty quickly.

Now that Greyson is mobile, he and Kaleb are quickly becoming buddies. They spend all day together at their wonderful babysitter, Cindy's. Then, more often than not, they end up spending the evening together, too, as well as the weekends. SO i suppose they have to like each other, or the next 18 years are going to be pretty tough on them! They had their first "sleepover" on Sunday (until Ry picked up G-Man at 9pm)

Evan has kept us pretty busy, too! We had baseball over the summer, soccer in the fall, and karate all year long.

The big news is that Evan started KINDERGARTEN this past fall. Can you believe it?? I know. I'm sharing this 6 months after the fact. But still. He's a student at Van Buren Elementary and is there 2 1/2 days a week. His school is AWESOME! It's a Medieval themed school.

It's amazing, though. Why is it that kids get SO excited about snow days? How can he dread school, when he's only been IN school for a few months? We had a good laugh last week. He told us that he didn't think he was going to have school the next day, and we poo-pah'd it, saying that the snow storm was over and not to get his hopes up. Wouldn't you know it, that stinker didn't have school the next day. There was a fog cancellation. He was overheard telling his teacher at his "old school" (daycare) that he "prayed and prayed for snow, but he didn't pray for all that wind!"

Evan continues to excel in Karate. He's taking his test for the Green Belt a week from Saturday. None of us can believe that's possible. It just seems like he got his Orange Belt. Now, he's an Orange Belt with two stripes. He'll pass. He takes his tests VERY seriously. I wish we could see him practice more often, but the times never seem to work out. We did get to participate in a Halloween parade with him for Karate, (where K-Bob had his first sucker).

Soccer is also a big sport for him. Fall was huge. We were surprised at the difference in the way that the kids play changed from last year to this year. The field doubled in size, which made a big difference, and now, they seem to have added more positions and rules. Maybe next year, they'll keep score (some of the parents do keep score, but I think for the most part, we manage to keep track only of Evan's goals). It's fun watching Evan-- he's very competitive, and has started to strategize when plays and often hangs back, and just waits. It's fun to watch.

He also continues to enjoy playing games-- whether its UNO, Wii, Leapster, or basic handheld electronic games, he loves to play. He also loves playing penny hockey on the board that his Uncle Lance made when he was in Jr. High. I'm looking forward to the day when the four of us can sit down and play card games and board games together. I think I'll probably declare our Wednesday nights as family game night in a few years. Keep the TV off and just spend time around the kitchen table playing.

SO, I'm hoping that now that my laptop is back up and running, and now that Kaleb has a fairly set bedtime of 7:30, I'll be able to sit down a few days a week and just write a little. Not quite as long as this particular post, but I'll write enough!

-Jenn

Someday....

Someday....

When Kaleb is older...(Perhaps as quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes... A mom can dream, right??)

I will get to finally scrapbook all of these millions (no really, millions) of pictures that I've taken over the past couple of years...

I might get to start sewing again, maybe even quilt.... (even though I just a large portion of my fabric stash (OH, THE HORRORS), patterns and "stuff".)

I might actually get a full night sleep and wake up when my REAL alarm goes off, and not when my child alarm who has a knack for waking up an hour before the real one does deems it necessary to wake up.

I might be able to read more than a paragraph in a book before passing out from sheer exhaustion.

But then again, I really don't want him to get older. I want him to stay little, and look up at me with those adoring, loving little eyes and that toothless grin forever. I cherish the moments when he looks up and me, smiles and reaches up for me to lift him into my arms. I adore the wet, slobbery, full-on kisses and the snuggles. I enjoy his busy-ness, even when it is late at night and way past all of our bedtimes.

Although I will say that I look forward him getting older--to seeing him play baseball, soccer and games with his brother, learn to read, write, go to kindergarten. I know that I will cry when those major milestone start happening. Heck, I've already cried when he's smiled, clapped, crawled and took his first steps.

So for now, I'll not complain much when I cannot scrap, quilt, read like I used to, etc. I'll enjoy the moment and what the moments with my little one bring. I'll smile and watch and wish that he could stay this way for just a little while longer.

New Additions... Welcome Greyson!

Photo by David Santel, Greyson's well-deserving Godfather.

I am so proud of my sister, Heidi.

Yesterday, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Greyson David at 4:28pm.


He's 9lbs 3oz and 21.25" long. No small feat for a girl who started out weighing 100lbs wet!

Heck. That's no small feat most any woman who has given birth.

Amazing.

(Isn't Heidi beautiful?)

Little Grey David has LOTS of dark, curly hair, and the biggest hands and feet that I have ever seen on a baby. They're about the same size as Big K's!


Heidi, Ryan and their newest addition are doing extremely well. Mommy and Daddy are learning how to care for Greyson. I had the honor of teaching Ry how to change his first diaper EVER. HOW one has gone 26 years and 4 nieces and nephews and NOT change a diaper is beyond me. But I was honored.

(The role of Daddy suits Ry, doesn't it?)

I was fortunate to get to spend some alone time with Heidi and Greyson today, and I loved every moment of it. I was also honored to help Heidi with Greyson's care, as well. The time I got to spend with her was so special. Just thinking about it makes me tear up. I'm so glad Mom, Dad and Judy took Kaleb with them so we could have that time together.

(I look terrible in this picture because I had a horrific night of sleep on a very narrow cot with a very squirmy child.)

I was SHOCKED at how big Kaleb looks in the pictures Dad emailed me today of my little monkey next to G.D.

(notice that I'm trying out some little names for "Baby". )

I'm excited to make the trip down this weekend and spend more time with the newest addition to the Dulaney family. I can't wait for Uncle Greg and Cousin Evan to meet Grey Dave.