A Real Train Ride

A couple weekends ago we decided to take the boys to ride a real train. We have been talking about doing this for years and have never made time to do it. Tyson has had a love for trains for so long now that we knew he would think it was so cool to ride a real train. And he did. We invited the neighbors to go with us too. The train ride was about an hour and a half with a short stop in the middle of it. We rode in an open car on the way there and the closed car on the way back. It was pretty fun. The area around the train station is still set up like an old Western town. After the train ride they actually put on a gun show. None of the kids enjoyed this part of the trip, but Joel thought it was really cool. We also rode a merry-go-round that was older than dirt and made of wood! It was a great day! And I got some really cute pictures, which is the real reason for doing these things, right?!

Introducing Braydon Michael Murphy

Yes, another baby in the Lundstrom Family! Lisa and Ryan had Braydon last Thursday. They did not find out what sex he was so it was all a big surprise to us. He weighed in at 7lbs 8ozs and was 20 1/2 inches long. (still a little peanut compared to my monsters!) So on Friday after school we loaded up the kids yet again and off we went to meet our newest nephew. He is so cute and little! Congrats Lisa and Ryan!

(BTW - Charlie does have a ton of clothes he just happens to be wearing the same outfit in both pictures of our new babies with Grandma and Grandpa!)

Kindergarten!

We officially have a Kindergartner! I can't believe it.

Tyson started school last Wednesday. I did not expect what happened to me that day. I have taken him to school since the day he turned three. This is just another day of school, right? Wrong! It was awful! We pulled up to the school and I could barely keep him in the car. He was so excited! We walked the the classroom at the end of the hall. All the kids were sitting against the wall nice and quiet. Tyson joined them. The teacher came out and said, "it is time to go in!" All the kids stood up and followed her in. Tyson turned around as he walked into the classroom. "Bye Mom!" And off he went. All the mom's broke down. I held it together. The school had coffee and Kleenex for the kindergarten moms, so I stuck around for a little bit. Lots of moms were crying. I held it together. I left the school and went about my normal day, my visit to McDonald's for my Diet Coke. I drove in the driveway of my house, got Charlie out of the car, walked into the house, and LOST IT! I mean, lost it! My poor sister called me at that moment and had to hear my pity story. My baby is in Kindergarten!

I did realized that it wasn't just that he was going to Kindergarten. It was more that he is going to be with Kindergartners. I worry about him. I hope for him that he will fit in and have friends. I hope for him that the kids in his class love him for being him. I hope for him that the other kids don't notice that he has to leave the room for extra services. I hope for him to enjoy school and all it has to offer. I have a lot of hopes for him! I have to admit for the first time ever, that day, for a very brief moment, I wished he could be "normal". It didn't last long until I remembered how awesome of a kid he is and how he loves everyone and everything. I believe we can all learn a lot from him! Why would I ever want to change that?

Tae Kwon Do

We decided that soccer might not be the right thing for Tyson right now, so we tried to figure out what else we could try. Randomly, the thought came to my mind that we should try Tae Kwon Do. So we did. The instructors do not think he is ready for a big class yet so he has been taking some individual classes. He absolutely loves it! These are all new skills for him, bowing, kicking, punching, but especially standing still. We think this is going to be really good for him and hope that he keeps enjoying it. Joel and I also can't wait to get him into that outfit. (I'm pretty sure there is a fancy name for it, I just don't know it!) By the way, it is just the cutest when he says, "Yes, sir!"

Quick Tyson Story

I'm sitting on the coach, minding my own business, brushing my wet hair after a shower. In walks Tyson. He has his stuffed Mickey and Minnie in his hand. All of a sudden, flying through the air are Mickey and Minnie. Smack in my face.

Me: "Tyson, why are Mickey and Minnie wet?"
Tyson: "They were in the toilet."

Blake

Blake is my 18 year old nephew. It is amazing to me that he is 18. It really seems like yesterday that he was in kindergarten and I was starting college. Now I have a son starting kindergarten and he is starting college. CRAZY! It almost kills me to talk about it.

One of the reasons that I want to be closer to my family is to see all of their activities. I really try hard to get to a lot of them, but it is not nearly as many as I would like. With Blake playing his last year of high school baseball, I swore I would not miss it. So this summer the boys and I have spent HOURS in the car following this kid around playing baseball. I missed the first Districts game (I was pretty sure they would win that one), but after that we made them all. This meant that on some game days we were in Iowa for less than 24 hours, but I was NOT going to miss it. The kiddos made every trip with me. He made it to State! He played his last game of high school baseball at Principal Park in Des Moines! What an amazing way to end your high school career. Here are some pictures along his journey. Good Luck with all you do Blake! We are VERY proud of you and who you have become!

Proud Mom and Dad!

If you look closely at the one above, you can see him in the batters box with his name on the side!

Tyson says, "GO BLAKE! YOU (and Logan) ARE MY HERO'S!

Hogge's Hit Manhattan

My nephew Noah came down to Manhattan last year and stayed for a few days by himself. This year his sister Lydia came too. During one of my many trips to Iowa to watch my other nephew Blake play baseball I brought the Hogge's back with me. I had 5 hours in the car with these four kids all by myself. They were awesome, we didn't even stop once! For some reason I only took pictures during our trip to the lake, but I think they turned out pretty good. It is always so fun for Tyson to have his cousins come visit. We just wish they could do it more often. We had so much fun and packed everything in that we could during their short trip. This night we tried the whole camping thing. Lydia, Charlie and I didn't make it the whole night in the tent, but Tyson, Noah, and Joel stayed the whole night! It was so much fun and we can't wait until next year!

Charlie These Days

Charlie just turned 18 months old! I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He is a crazy, no fear boy until it comes to walking. He climbs on and in everything. But when I try to get him to walk he gets all shy and scared and sits down. I am beginning to think he is never going to walk. He is very stubborn. If you try to take something away from him or tell him no, he throws his body back and cries. (I think this is called a tantrum:) ) Tyson NEVER did this. Not that Tyson wasn't naughty, he just wasn't so STUBBORN! I think I have a long road ahead of me! But man is he cute!

Here is Charlie getting into trouble. I leave him alone for 1 minute and he empties the box of wipes, climbs from the train table to a chair, puts the entire roll of toilet paper into the toilet, or empties the entire Tupperware drawer just to crawl in it. Seriously it is for 1 minute.

Tyson was deathly afraid of the rides at the fair this year so Charlie rode them instead. He thought he was so cool driving this carload of chicks around!

Introducing Ava Rose Lundstrom

Uncle Andy and Aunt Jenn had their baby! She was born on Tuesday and was 6lbs 8oz and was 18 inches long. She is so little compared to my monsters when they were born. She is beautiful and everyone is doing great. Being the crazy people that we are we loaded up the boys on Friday and made the long, boring trip to Denver to meet her. The boys did GREAT on the way there and back.

Because my kids are so energetic we spent some time doing other things to give Andy and Jenn a break from our craziness. Our friends the Fick's met us there and we got to spend some time with them at a park and petting zoo. It was really fun. We also went to the Cubs/Rockies baseball game. Tyson fell asleep during the game with his baseball bat in his hand, it was so cute. Tyson even got to ride two different trains while we there. He was in heaven, baseball and a train!