House of Wahls

Cal needs a haircut

2009-01-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

cal is very angry with his current hairstyle and is hoping for an updated look...

luckily, his mommy knows how to use the clippers... and cal apparently knows how to do the robot, what a talent, on both ends!

yay! a new look!

check it out, ma!

wow, now THAT is a lot of hair!

Calvin celebrates the big 3rd birthday...

2009-01-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

We had Calvin's birthday party today, and it was a celebration! We narrowed down the guest list from last year to just family and several of our very closest friends, and of course Cal's best friend from up the street!

at first when we started singing happy birthday, it was okay, but soon enough, cal told us to all stop. He didn't think it was necessary to drag out the singing portion and was looking so forward to the cake and ice cream eating portion of the day!

of course blowing out the candles was pretty cool.

grayson playing with the favors. and then it was time for opening gifts

and play time with cousins!

Christmas morning...

2008-12-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was a very busy day... Santa did indeed make it to the wahl household, which was kind of surprising, beings most of us were not very good all year! (just teasing) But seriously, is the big jolly fellow lowering his standards?!!? only time will tell...

cal got most of the things he had asked for and a little bit more... he wanted geo-trax (check!), a tractor with a pig (check!), coloring or paint supplies (check!), underwear (check!), and cars (check, check!)

He got a power wheels, which he already had trolling the house before I even got home from work, and a remote control jeep, lots of play-doh (YAY!) and some treats in his stocking... plus a new power toothbrush... he loves to brush his teeth now!

a very prosperous morning for the little man

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T22:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas eve is finally here. cal is very excited for what will happen tonight and in the morning. We, of course, being the little family of procrastinators that we are, put off making our cookies until the last possible second, so we spent the evening making cookies for santa and getting the carrots ready for the reindeer...

We decorated the cookies (calvin was the sprinkle-man, now wasn't that grand!) and put out a plate with milk for santa... then it was off to bed.

Then mommy was off to work! (it is crazy to work nights, but it is kind of nice because I swear cal thinks I never go to work, he thinks I am always home for him!)

Cal's christmas play

2008-12-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

This really is the funniest thing, but it so hard to explain. I wish I could upload the video from calvin's first play, because I am sure it would win some kind of silly little kid award. calvin's preschool class (and the school that it is held in) had a christmas play and cal's class was the animals at the zoo. they were told to dress as some animal, and luckily cal had an old chicken costume that we were able to use. unfortunately, the stage (where they were singing) had two very large big screen TVs as well. well, if you know cal, you know he is intrigued by any TV that he is on, and the bigger the better, as far as he is concerned.

The entire time the kids were on stage, cal was facing the big screens (NOT the audience, as I am sure he was instructed). and when the kids had to make their respective "animal noises" you can hear cal in the background saying (what do you think?) no not bock bock bock, like a chicken, or even cock a doodle doo, like even a rooster... NO...

he would scream "Chicken-a-woo, chicken-a-woo!!! I don't even know where he got this! so funny. in the above pic, you can see cal, as the kids are supposed to be exiting the stage, staring at the big screen with his hands behind his back, admiring himself. He is in the white chicken costume with orange chicken legs

Calvin loves Christmas (trees)

2008-12-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

This month has been rather silly, as cal thinks it is his duty to regularly have his picture taken either under or in front of the christmas tree. He will come running to me with the camera and say "take picture of me wit tree, momma..."

After which it is my duty to jump and do exactly as he requests! :)

He has also started to grow quite bossy, which, since he is expecting a younger sibling soon, I think is incredibly appropriate. I always thought my older sister was very bossy too!

crazy loon...

Christmas party...

2008-12-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

Cal got to celebrate christmas with his speech class tonight and SANTA was there!!!

We were looking forward to seeing his reaction to talking to santa, since we have been really pumping him up for it this year. You know, the old "Santa is watching" or "better be good or else Santa may skip over you" or "you have to tell Santa what you want or else he may not know what to get you" routine.

Well, it appears to have worked! He sat pretty decently on Santa's lap and told him exactly what he wanted. ("Geo-trax, geo-trax, geo-trax!") Of course, he wouldn't really look him in the eye, but what can I say, that big guy is pretty intimidating! then he got a small gift from santa.

There was also lots of craft projects to partake in, which, if you don't know Calvin, this is one of his favorite past-times... coloring, crafty type activities. So cal was a pretty happy guy!

More mail for cal

2008-11-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

Cal got another letter in the mail yesterday... he loves getting stuff just for him! Adam's aunt heidi and uncle john spoil him. they sent him a nice little happy thanksgiving letter... what a sweet surprise! thanks aunt heidi and uncle john!!! Happy thanksgiving to you too!

Holiday festivities...

2008-11-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

The greenhouse in town, Doebel's, has an annual petting zoo along with lots of other scheduled events during the holiday season. Today was an ice carving, that I thought cal would enjoy...

I think he actually enjoyed the petting zoo more, but the ice carving was interesting to watch, nonetheless... they carved several christmas trees and a frosty snowman...

there was a sign on the door to the petting zoo that said, "please don't chase the animals..." I had to laugh as soon as I saw this, I know my son. He just HAD to get his hands on those chickens and ducks!

Of course, they all waddled too fast for him.

then they had some kind of deep-fried waffles just before you left. cal helped himself to 3 or 4. he thought the snowman bench was there for him to sit on.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-27T22:44:00.000-08:00

We don't really have any pictures from the day, but we did want to say that we definitely have a lot to be thankful for this year!

I, for one, am thankful for my family, and all of the things that they do for me, mostly without even asking. I am grateful to my wonderful husband and all of his easy-going, goes-without-saying ways... My friends, who are always there for me, and my God, who keeps giving me miracles everyday that some people are never fortunate enough to experience.

AND, I am extremely thankful for my funny little boy, who is (sometimes) willing to pose for silly little pictures... and sometimes those pictures will help you make a pretty big announcement!

Yes, he is going to be a big brother! Some of you may already know, but here it is, the official announcement. We are due on the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo)... and I say, what better reason to celebrate with a margarita!!

And now... what are YOU thankful for? Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Hopefully I will get to see you soon, before the next big thing arrives!

Brooke's First Birthday

2008-11-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year already, but my young cousin, Krystle's baby Brooke is now a year old! We celebrated her birthday today as well...

We realized that Cal and Zac needed some outside running time after they started running circles around my aunt's house, where the party was held. Don't worry, Brooke held her own as well and was chasing them in circles too!

Here they are trying to throw leaves at me outside

and of course, the birthday girl, playing with her new toys!

Ayden's Birthday party

2008-11-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

My cousin has just opened up a new play place in Fremont called Journey's. It is a great place to have birthday parties and this weekend we got to celebrate Ayden's birthday there.

Cal and Zac loved jumping around on all of the big toys... AND they have rooms in the back to have your party in!

You can see zac and cal sneaking tastes of the cake and then proceeding to put frosting on each other... boys will be boys, won't they?!? We will have to go back to Journey's soon!

Halloween at gramma and boppa's house

2008-11-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

With all of the excitement surrounding halloween, we never had time to make a trip to fremont to celebrate with our families. We finally had a chance today to go and celebrate halloween and trick or treat at gramma and boppa brandt's house.

Of course, cal loves visiting gramma and boppa's, who wouldn't with 3 uncles to love and play with you and have all to yourself while you are there! and there are always good treats to be had, and different toys, which, in a 2 year olds mind, can make any bland day grander!

uncle aaron is always up for a game of rough and tumble on the floor...

PUMPKINS!!

2008-10-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Time for our annual festive halloween pumpkins...

calvin had a good time this year actually helping us carve them (with safe cutters, of course) and also making his very own pumpkins with some pieces that you just pushed into the pumpkin to make faces. it was very fun...

when we were done, we had a lot of pumpkins to display on our front porch.

I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but cal's pumpkin actually has little blue glowing hands on either side of him... such a funny little addition!

Trick or Treat-ing

2008-10-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Today was the trick or treat day in clyde... of course, cal had to be in a pretty ornery mood, so it was interesting to say the least. But here are a few pics from the day...

Some times he would just straight up refuse to walk up to the houses (hey, no skin off my back, not like we NEED candy in the house)

and other times he would get angry and refuse to even walk in between the houses, and let me tell you, he is getting far too heavy for me to be carrying him all over the place! we went with the morgan's, grayson was dressed as a chicken...

He was a pretty cute little "dino," as he was calling himself. I believe it was actually supposed to be a dragon costume though. nonetheless... very cute

Favorite pasttime...

2008-10-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

Just a vision of cal... in the process of his absolutely favorite pasttime.

We have a hard time getting him away from the crayons and coloring books sometimes. He loves to color so very much. Of course, he is also a big fan of breaking crayons and what not, but most of the time he is just coloring with them. I am getting a little tired of cleaning up crayon paper all over my floor, BUT, I wouldn't trade that for anything when he hands me his next masterpiece. I will have to post some pictures of some of his pieces of work on the blog in the future, and you can all see just what a good color-er he is really becoming.

Pumpkin Farm

2008-10-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Calvin's speech class took a trip to the pumpkin farm today... What an experience!

There were lots of farm animals there to feed and check out. There was even a goat enclosure where they would climb high ladders just to get their food! Calvin of course loved the pumpkins the very most. This time of year, that is all you will hear in the back seat of the car is "Look mama, pumpkins!" then he will proceed to (try) to count them all whenever we see them. In a typical 10 minute car ride, you may hear this proclamation at least 25 times... sometimes more!

Ah, to be the mother of a toddler, ain't it grand?!? We each got to pick out our very own pumpkin to take home with us, of course cal picked out his own and then proceeded to pick out mine as well...

They also handed out coloring books when we got done with our wagon ride back to the pumpkin patch, which cal was pretty ecstatic about.

Presents...

2008-10-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

I am sure most of us can remember being little and getting something in the mail when it was least expected. Cal loves getting little surprises and the other day, he got a doozy from adam's aunt heidi and uncle john. they sent him his favorites... STICKERS!!! and some money for his piggy bank.

He was ecstatic to say the least! of course, he proceeded to stick smiley faces on every surface he could get his hands on... but he has such a good time doing it that I just don't have the heart to tell him not to!

What a sweet surprise, thanks aunt heidi and uncle john!

Unexpected visitors...

2008-10-10T05:55:00.000-07:00

Lately, we have been seeing a lot of these little fellows in our garage. Of course, we have been working on the garage... insulating, and putting up walls and what not, so maybe we have simply been messing with their 'natural habitat' but they are still pretty interesting to us!

Cal refuses to get too close to them, but i think they are cute! (you know, in a buggy way)

We are pretty sure this one might be pregnant too... there is no way a regular mantis would have such a giant gut on it!

Zeus

2008-09-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

Some love for our sneaky-fast kitty cat...

Dear zeus, sometimes we ARE able to catch you when cal is around! sometimes... but usually, as soon as you see calvin, you take off as fast as possible in the opposite direction, which makes calvin want to hold you and squeeze you even more than ever! we DO love you, though.

Go fly a kite...

2008-09-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been enjoying flying kites...

Cal is actually getting pretty good at it himself, with just a little guidance.

luckily, we have a big backyard and no power lines or trees to contend with... and to be honest, I think I am the only one that has ended up with a kite on the roof of our house so far. I never said I was a pro! On the other hand, adam makes me sick with how well he can handle and control the movement of the kites. Yet another thing that he is so much better at than me! aarrrgggghh!

sitting on the steps

2008-08-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

sometimes it is nice to sit with your buddy on the step

sometimes, your mom will catch you sitting on the step and try to get a picture, usually you are too fast for your mom to catch pictures of you... that is, unless, you happen to be busy talking with your buddy!

Lynkin gets a new brother

2008-08-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today, Lynkin's mommy went in for her scheduled C-section and Lynkin got to come over and play for a while so that his mommy and daddy could spend some time with the new baby (Lindyn).

Calvin and lynkin had a great time tearing apart the house...

then we went outside and had some more fun

We have Apples!!!

2008-08-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

Our apple trees are finally producing!!! and the results are beautiful. We are still trying to figure out what kind of apples we have, but it appears that each of the five trees are a different kind, because they are each at a different stage of development... We were able to make an apple pie out of these big beauties that we took off the tree today. they are sweet and crunchy with a sour kick, perfect for apple pie or maybe some applesauce! The other trees are not quite ready to go yet, and all the trees will hopefully give us apples at different times so that we are not overwhelmed with them all at once...

any body need any apples?!!?

African Safari WildLife Park

2008-08-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today, Calvin's speech class took an extra special field trip to the african safari in the school bus.

which is good, since adam said this was the only way our happy a$$es were gonna get to go, no way were we ever taking one of our vehicles in there!

It was not as bad as he thought, though, and the animals seemed pretty tame, aside from the fact that they really wanted all of the food that you have right NOW!

Calvin and I had a pretty heated conversation on whether or not this was an alpaca or a llama... I am still quite certain I was right!

Pool time at Grayson's

2008-08-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

The kids think they are so darn funny!

We went to the neighbors for some cool off time in the pool today... it was pretty warm outside!

We love New York

2008-08-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

After our visit to new york city, we have decided that we love new york as well...

we finally understand the meaning of those t-shirts!

last day of Camping

2008-08-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

On our final day, we were much too busy packing all of our camping supplies up to get any good pictures.. but, that didn't mean that cal didn't have some fun...

East Harbor Day 3

2008-08-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

On our third day of camping, we went for several bike rides. this proved to be one way to keep cal entertained for the good part of a couple hours... we were very glad we had the bikes and cal's little bike trailer...

then, we all went to beach again... and the Brandt family showed up for a little bit of family time!

cal and daddy made sand castles

and we had a great time hanging out...

Camping at East Harbor Day 2

2008-08-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

On day 2 of our camping trip, we were able to go to the beach, which is why East Harbor is where it is and it's namesake...

AND our pals that live up the road from us came for a visit too! cal and grayson had a great time playing around, and by the time we were done, everybody was ready for a nap!

Our Camping Trip

2008-07-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

the next couple of days, you will see us posting on our camping trip to East Harbor State Park. We ventured out with Cal, his first camping trip... and our first camping trip since before we were pregnant with cal... so all in all, a momentous occasion

cal "helped" us set up camp by handing all the tie downs to adam. it took us a while but we finally got him trained to take shoes off before entering the tent... this is a strict rule with us

we had to go to the comissary to pick up some forgotten items... and a the biggest freeze pop I had ever seen, of course!

we were camping not too far from the play area, which was nice when cal needed to burn off some steam

New York City

2008-07-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

If I had to give you any advice about a tour of new york city, I would say have someone who lives there give you the tour... If I had to tell you something else, I would say, don't take a two year old with you!

Although cal had a really great time, it was interesting just trying to figure out how we were going to get him and his gear on and off the subway. I will say this, though, there were plenty of sights and sounds to keep him occupied while we walked for miles and miles around the city!

times square was quite a sight...

and cal really enjoyed FAO Schwarz

the next day on the way home, we stopped at a rest area in PA and cal found an enormous flower that he was quite proud of!

Karen and Frank's Reception

2008-07-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

The reception was awesome... Danbury's on the Sound definitely has a good cooking staff, and the bartenders are pretty great as well...

calvin enjoyed the lobster bisque

the views from the reception room were beautiful, here we just missed the sunset...

then there was dancing, and the cutting of the cake

and of course just plain silliness, since this was of course a family wedding...

and the after party was pretty great as well...

Karen and Frank's Wedding

2008-07-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

it was a very hot saturday in long island, which I am convinced makes the locals talk with even more of an accent (to us it sounds that way, anyway...) when karen and frank finally tied the knot in a short but very nice outside ceremony.

cal, of course, got a little antsy but what can you expect from a two year old outside in the heat with dress clothes on?!?!

then there was pictures, for the wedding party, and for ourselves and off to the reception, which thankfully was right where the wedding was... if adam had to drive around long island anymore than we already had, I was pretty sure somebody was going to have their tire shot out!

Did you know...

2008-07-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

that it takes over 11 hours to drive to Long Island, New York from Clyde?!? Did you also know that a normal attention span is 3-5 minutes for every year of a child's age? Did you know that this translates into an impossible 110 different things to do on a long car ride for the average 2 year old? Well, now we do!!

We were able to keep cal busy for much of the trip, but he simply ran out of things that were interesting enough to keep him happy...

Here we are getting ready to cross the George Washington bridge into New York City...

This is cal enjoying the sight of the bridge (we thought we were almost there when we hit NYC, but alas, there was still approx 3 more hours of travel time to get to where we needed to be on Long Island with the traffic on a friday night!)

And here is how cal cooled off and worked off some of his "long car ride" energy. We were lucky this little girl (nikki) was at the wedding, it gave cal someone to play with the night before and the night of Karen and Frank's wedding, which was the whole reason we drove to new york with a two year old in tow in the first place!

The Annual Wahl Party...

2008-07-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

It was a quite a busy day here at the houseofwahl... Our annual party went off without a hitch this year, and no one got any burnt toes or bellies either(we have a history, here)!

The party opened up with a water slide for the kids...

There was a ton of food to be had, and everyone filled up, if you didn't, there was something wrong with you! There might have been some drinking going on, but I didn't witness any of that...

There was fireworks, (which unfortunately, we didn't get any ACTUAL pics of,)

And there was a fire at the end of the night. hil n mike cozy up next to the fire

All in all, a great night! Here I am, showing off some about-to-be-torched strawberry marshmallows!!!MMMMMMMMMMMM!

Forrest is 1!

2008-07-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Recently, we were invited to our nephew's 1st Birthday party!

It is hard to believe this happy little squirt is already one. My, how time flies.

His mommy is an excellent cake designer and made this little number... she actually made our wedding cake too! isn't it awesome...

Quentin and Forrest, cal's cousins.

The sticker post...

2008-06-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

As many of you surely have noticed, calvin is a very busy kid. always getting into something, or just basically causing a ruckus in some area of the household. well, today was no different.

Like most mommies, I receive offers in the mail daily for new magazines and disney movies or whatever the advertisers can get their hands on to try to entice moms to keep their kids busy so they can get a moment's peace... Most of these offers have some little something for the kids in them to make you want them even more. Usually this is stickers or an activity. This particular day, we received an ad for a magazine that had a whole page of alphabet stickers in it.

Well, cal LOVES stickers. Usually we will find them in the most interesting of places after he is through with them... inside cabinets, on his bed, the backs of all our chairs at the dinner table, in his diaper at the next change, or just basically scattered willy-nilly throughout the house.

Today was no different, only a little more interesting in that, shortly after being given his prized possessions (a whole page of NEW stickers!!!) he reappeared, only to be covered with them! I don't think I stopped laughing for at least an hour... Then, when he decided they were no good on his face... (he couldn't enjoy staring at them there!) somebody else got the wrath of his stickering power...

Poor Ralphie, luckily he is a good sport and was asleep for the majority of Cal's workmanship. He only woke up after I happened upon them and was laughing and taking pictures. what a crew we have here at the houseofwahls!

Cal's new style

2008-06-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

Recently, we spent an evening updating cal's room into his new and improved big boy bedroom.

We didn't want to be too stuck on something that he enjoys a lot RIGHT now, as we are hoping to span at least a couple of years. So even though, I am quite certain he would have LOVED to have Cars (the movie) as his theme, we decided to go with a universal space theme.

We got his name painted by somebody on the internet, and then we ordered some decals from this great little company called uppercase living... we just love how it has turned out so far!

Now he has little rockets and stars all over his room and his very own moon nightlight on the wall... he is a happy kid

Bellevue Community Days

2008-06-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated the 4th of July a little early in bellevue.

they have a little fair type thing in the streets there, and this is the first time we have ever been. we took cal originally for the big truck touch and fell (which he did enjoy) but then there was a lot of other stuff for him to do there too... so we stayed for a while

checking out the school bus, it really won't be that much longer...

front end loader and cement mixer, he wanted to drive them away!

Cal loved feeding the animals their carrot bits, I was partial to the camel... he was so cute! I told adam I wanted one... we'll see if he can come through on that

adam said they had good carnies there... he should know, he used to be one!

at the end of the evening, they put off fireworks and we went out to a country road and watched them, where adam proceeded to lose his cell phone for the tenth time this year... (although, we did eventually find it!)

The social event of the season

2008-06-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Our Annual 4th of July Party!

is finally scheduled...

What: Celebrate the 4th!
When: Saturday, July 5th, 2008 6pm-???
Where: The Wahl house

calvin and hobbes...

2008-06-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but put this in... it seems so appropriate. More and more lately, cal is getting into things I really wish he wouldn't!

Also, this is this blog's 100th post! wow...

Update on the Bee situation...

2008-06-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today, all that is left of the bees is a few stragglers that apparently the swarm decided were unworthy of them. yesterday, I looked out and the swarm was still there in the morning, but when I looked out at noon (the same time they showed up the day before) they were gone! so, apparently, they had a 24hour ticket to stay in our front maple tree, and their time was up...

now we are saying the swarm left in a hurry, leaving these couple of bees behind and the bees were probably gossiping about "lenny" and "buster" that were always "just a little slow" and the swarm is probably more than happy to be rid of them! now, however, we are stuck with them in our front yard... I don't know how long they will actually make it without their posse

so here is to lenny, buster and all their pals...

p.s. if you look at the top of both of these pics, you will see that the weight of the bee swarm from the day before actually broke the branch! damn bees

AAAAAAAHHHH!!! Bees!

2008-06-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

For some reason, we have had a swarm of bees take over our maple tree out front...

They just showed up today. We were just out front yesterday, and, no bees.

Now suddenly there is this huge bunch of bees! at least 3 feet long by 1 1/2 feet wide... Where in the world did they come from, and WHY are they in our front yard. I am hoping they will disappear just as quickly as they appeared!

First Day of "School"

2008-06-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

Today was cal's first day of "school," as he likes to call it. Really it is daycare and it appears that he was unscathed by the day except that his very kind teacher, Miss Mary, says that he does have a problem throwing toys (which, unfortunately, we already know about) and that he is a "really good eater..." uh, yeah, we knew that too!

In fact, now that I think about it, maybe I should have asked if he tried to eat anything out of any of the other kids' lunches!

here he is, off in the morning for his first day, such a little man now!

Watermelon!!! MMMMM

2008-06-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

it is time again for watermelon! I, for one, love this time of year. and as far as I am concerned, anyone that doesn't like watermelon, is just CRAZY!

i would have to say that cal agrees!

Nap time...

2008-06-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Cal has chosen a new favorite spot for nap time... and it is...

You guessed it! The couch! such a funny little man!

Buddies

2008-06-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

cal has a good friend that lives just up the street from us, and they have declared that they are "buddies." whenever one is outside, the other has to go see them...

but yet it seems like as soon as they get to the other's house, all they do is blatantly ignore each other... well, except for when they choose to fight over a certain toy or something!

I guess it is just the stage they are in, but they do seem to play pretty well together! and we love cal's little buddy grayson...

Pool time...

2008-06-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

It's finally June, which means pool and squirt gun time! cal loves this time of year, and mommy pulled out her ancient super soaker for him to play with, which he just thinks is the bees knees, AND he is starting to actually figure out how to pump it to make it work, YAY!

To the Zoo

2008-05-25T14:52:00.001-07:00

We recently made another trip to the zoo and were lucky enough to be able to meet Pam and Karen, my two very good friends from college there...

Of course, cal loves the zoo, as most of you know, so it was a grand old time with cal being shocked around every corner.

Pam refused to go in and check out the goats, she said she could do that at home anytime!

It just seems like I never get to see those girls enough anymore and it was good to catch up a little. as I dropped them off in their parking lot at the end of the day, cal was very upset, he thought they were going home with us!

Had to see the "dur-does" (turtles, for those of you that don't speak 'cal')

New Neighbor...dog

2008-05-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor just got a new dog. He is some kind of a terrier and he is so cute! Cal just loves him because he is small enough to hold and he is at a level that makes it more fun for cal to chase and love on him.

His name is Drake and he apparently loves to come into our yard and play with cal and Ralphie too!

cal is always trying to pick him up, which drake has taken more kindly to than, say, our cat, Zeus...

Mini Vacation

2008-04-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

We needed it... a family vacation, and this one was Adam's gift from us for his birthday. A trip to Kalahari, the biggest indoor water park in America... Hell, maybe even the world. It was pretty neat, something you definitely have to actually experience to truly appreciate. Larger than 3 football fields. and plenty of slides to go down and other things to do to keep you busy for several days worth of fun. We were only there for 2 days, but we probably could have a stayed a little longer and still done something different every day.

Cal wasn't so big on the actual "pools" even though this is what kept him excited in the days leading up to actually going to kalahari. he kept talking about the big "pools" we were going to play in... He liked the waterworks a little more.

They also have a pretty big arcade that we spent several hours playing in.

and of course the kiddy pool and section

Baby Chase

2008-04-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

We welcomed a new nephew into our brood today...

here are a few pics of us enjoying him!

Spring flowers

2008-04-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Since the weather is turning upwards finally, it is time for cal to begin his daily unrelenting questions... outside? shoes? play? swing? outside?

that's okay, I want to go outside too!

The nice part about this spring, is that it is our first spring in our new house and we are experiencing the wonderful surprise that spring can be, no flooding in our basement at this house (YAY!!) and the beautiful bulbs that are peeking their heads up in places I didn't even know we had bulbs! thanks to the previous owners. we have been exploring our yard like it is new territory with this new season...

Cal likes all the interesting bugs in our back yard, even though he refuses to touch them and wants me to pick them up so he can get a closer look at them without actually touching them... Oh, and he LOVES the "pretty yellow" flowers scattered throughout our lawn... if adam has anything to say about that, those yellow flowers will all be dead soon!

Our Dog...

2008-04-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to a much forgotten creature in our family. Sometimes, I will go days without thinking twice about our poor dog, Ralphie. He always gets what he needs, don't get me wrong, but sometimes he doesn't get the love and the attention that I know he deserves. So here is a post to honor our much loved and often times forgotten pooch...

Ralphie is the one of the reasons it is so nice to come home, someone who always loves and appreciates you, regardless of how worthless you were that particular day. Someone who will always return to you, even after listening to your constant tirades and endless grouchy episodes

We love you ralphie, even though we don't show it as much as we should AND you often times get blamed for things you either didn't actually do or that you couldn't actually help but do...

Spring Haircut!!

2008-04-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, it is nice enough outside to head out and play... but that also means it is time for cal to finally get a haircut. It has been quite a while! as you can probably see by the pics

Before

After

Ah, I love the sweet feel of cal's freshly trimmed hairs! He really is growing up too fast! I wish I could keep him this little forever.

mommy got a new pair of shoes!

2008-04-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

cal has to try on all my new shoes... especially BRIGHT RED ones!

(he also refused to take them off and we had to confiscate them when he wasn't looking!)

CHI-cago!!!

2008-04-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

YAY! Finally some time away from it all.

I had a very nice visit with some college friends in chicago, where we ate out, went out and got tattoo'd!

a grand old time!

A little goofiness

2008-04-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here is what cal thinks is funny recently...

we haven't used so many q-tips in one day as since cal has taken a liking to them...

p.s. happy birthday aunt karen!

Cleveland trip

2008-04-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we took a trip to Cleveland, courtesy of Adam's work. They footed the bill for our pretty classy hotel room and for a trip to the Museum of Natural History, as well as a very nice dinner and evening of dancing with an awards ceremony.

Of course, Adam took advantage of the situation and got hammered, as usual... Prompting the bartender to ask him not to bother coming back up to get any more drinks...

It is fun to get dressed up and go out every now and then, and just get away from the everyday.

Nap time...

2008-03-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

time for all the beasts to sleep...

After Easter comes....

2008-03-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

Egg Salad Sandwiches, deviled eggs, straight up hard-boiled eggs; you name it, anything egg is game.

We always joke about our "two egg-a-day habit" after Easter rolls around...

ah, the incredible edible egg...

Easter part 2

2008-03-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

We woke up early on Easter morning to open our gifts from the easter bunny and get ready to go to church

Then we all went to church for the annual easter breakfast early Easter morning and then stayed for the extra long church service.

There were a couple of very tired boys by the end of the morning... cal and zac were tired too!

Easter

2008-03-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Easter at gramma and boppa brandt's house. We colored Lots of easter eggs and hunted for some as well.

Zac and aunt Heather were there as well as all our uncles (adam, andy, aaron) and of course mommy and daddy.

everybody had dyed hands by the time we were through.

Dirty faces...

2008-03-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

The neighbors are always so nice and think of cal whenever they get something for their son, Grayson. today, they brought down some Cars marshmallow "suckers" and cal got one and so did grayson, of course cal finished his first, but they sat so cute and ate their suckers...

gramma's birthday

2008-03-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

We celebrated gramma's birthday today, one day late, but it was still fun..

calvin, of course, was most excited about the cake. okay, all of us were!

MMMMM, ice cream cake!

OUCH!!!

2008-03-14T10:17:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week (monday night to be exact) Cal was playing outside when he inadvertantly touched our garage heater and burnt all five of his fingertips on his right hand.

Let's just say the first night was less than pleasant with his poor little burnt fingertips, but the next day, you would have never known that he was hurt! He pushed right along and continued

with his day, just using his left hand more than his right hand

Cal has been very choosy with who he shows his "booboo" hand, but it is quite funny how he show's it to people... He shows both hands so you can see the difference in one hand from the other, the blisters are huge and they are starting to pop! so we are using bandaids and praying that the little burns don't get infected!

Sledding

2008-03-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Today, we went sledding after our big snow storm for the last couple days. We had a blast flying down the hill and we all even got a little air... if you know what I mean! we were hitting some ramps like it was our jobs!

Grayson and Cal before our trip to the hill...

No pics at the hill, much too dangerous!

Ralphie Loves Calvin...

2008-03-08T21:38:00.000-08:00

I know somebody who has a crush on somebody else...

allright, I can't keep it in anymore.

ralphie loves cal... don't worry, the feeling is mutual!

Snow to Eat!!!

2008-03-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

Today, we took advantage of the newly fallen snow and the great warm weather and went outside to play for a bit... what a grand idea!

the problem with my ideas... I thought it would be fun to show Cal how yummy fresh snow tastes. Well, this would have probably been okay with any normal child, but not cal... he spent the next hour and a half of our outside play time eating snow, ice and and anything cold he could get his hands on. I was pretty paranoid that he would hit some yellow snow and I wouldn't see it... ugh! but we were pretty lucky!

after some play time outside, have you ever noticed that your hair will do crazy things?!?!?

First BIG snowfall

2008-02-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

Our first really big snowfall in our new house... about 10 inches of snow

Look at all that beautiful white stuff!
What to do on such a snowy day?!?! Oh, I know! watch Sesame Street! with our stuffed doggies!

happy birthday to me...

2008-02-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

Another birthday has come and gone... celebrated late at night, when mommy got home from work

now I am 28. wow. time flies...

marshmallows.

2008-02-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

come on, who doesn't love marshmallows!

Calvin has discovered marshmallows are not bad in the winter time either... not just for s'mores anymore.

We GOTTA get a lock for our pantry!

Boppa's Birthday

2008-02-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Boppa!! Some pics from our day at gramma and boppa's house spent with the fam.

Cal loved the cake... I know I know, shocker there, huh...

Zac even got into the cake a little bit, okay, it was really good cake!

Cal and Zac love to run around and play together.

Playing in the snow...

2008-01-26T10:12:00.001-08:00

We had a blast playing out back in our snowy back yard today. Just wanted to shoot some pics out to all of you. I know one of my friends (Meredith) that may be quite jealous of these pics!

Cal loves playing outside and it has been a little hard on us with the -10 degree wind chills, so today when the weather let up a little bit and gave us some +10 degree weather, we decided to venture out and enjoy the warmth! :)

Cal hates to get snow stuck on his gloves, he will make you brush it off every time, I have seriously considered just leaving his gloves off for just this reason!

Cal was totally amused by the fact that I let Zeus come out and play with us, he just wanted to snuggle with him, since this was one of the few times that Zeus would let Cal actually catch him and touch him! I think Zeus was so cold, he was looking for any kind of warmth he could get, he waited by the door for re-entry most of our outside time!

Go Packers...

2008-01-20T23:58:00.000-08:00

If anybody doesn't know us well enough, here is an update... We are Packer Fans! haha... Of course, Adam truly isn't, he is a Jets fan. But he got pulled into the excitement for the NFC conference championship when we were all sure that Favre would pull off a win...

Well, we have been packer fans for a while, so we can take a little disappointment, there is always next year.

Go Packers.

Closet issues...

2008-01-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

Our closet recently took a tumble on us and completely fell apart. So, being the good consumers that we are, we decided to go out and buy a whole new closet system. Here are some pics of cal helping us with the installation...

He walked about for days with this mini screwdriver, it was so funny!

We had to keep encouraging him not to use it on the walls, but that is what he saw daddy using it on, so it was difficult to explain.

Calvin turns 2 years old...

2008-01-12T23:39:00.000-08:00

Calvin has finally hit that terrible 2 age... even though, I would have to say from experience, that he has been in that stage for a little while already. today we celebrated with our family and friends in our home and it was a very fun little party. There were quite a few people that ended up unable to make it, but it was fun nonetheless. and it was a full house anyway!

Mommy worked hard on her "dirt track"cake for Cal's "Cars" theme party...

Cal got a lot of very fun gifts, including some new trucks and some Cars, games, a Cars desk, clothes (which cal promptly threw off to the side), a punching bag, a counting book, among many other items...

The birthday boy.

Cal blew out his candles.

and we ended with a pull-string pinata...

Birthday cake...

2008-01-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

Cal helped me make his birthday cake today for his party later in the evening... It is hard to believe this little man is 2 already... time does truly fly.

Cal was a big help with the cakes that we made... Luckily he is quite a "monkey-see, monkey-do" type of kid, so I only had break open one egg and then he could repeat... of course this lead to some cute mishaps!

Mommy had to show him the most important part of making cake... cleaning the mixer!

We made chocolate and funfetti (the cake was chocolate and the cupcakes were funfetti) on a sidebar, I will point out that unfortunately by the time the party came around, there were no more cupcakes left... the dog took it upon himself to "clean up" all of the cupcakes on the counter, luckily for us, he did not touch the chocolate cake! thank the lord!

Climbing around...

2008-01-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

As if mommy weren't busy enough lately, she has had to keep up with Calvin who is an incredibly unscared little daredevil type of kid. cal has become ever more increasingly unafraid of trying anything "at least once..."

unfortunately some of the things he does are quite scary to his mommy... But he has survived thus far. Here he is scaling the kitchen barstools, a site mommy sees probably at least twice a day.

APPLES!

2008-01-02T05:54:00.000-08:00

Calvin LOVES apples... and it just so happens it is one of the few words that he says clearly enough for most people to understand, so he gets to eat a lot of them.

The only problem is when you give him a whole apple to eat (without cutting out the core) he will tend to eat it all (seeds and everything) because he refuses to give it back to you for you to show him what not to eat...

He thinks you might be trying to steal his slimy half -eaten specimen... no thank you! But he is awful cute sitting at his new table!

Oh yes... p.s. Happy New Year! 2008 is finally here!

Lights at the Zoo

2007-12-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

It was that time of year again... but we have all been so busy that we didn't think we were going to make it to see the lights at the zoo this year... However, we made it happen this saturday. Thank goodness! it was so great

we all enjoyed the wonders of the beautiful array of colors that they put up. and their display at the entrance where they play music in time to the lights... just awesome. I took a little video of it, but I am not sure if I will be able to upload it to blogger. It was freezing cold, but Cal didn't seem to mind. I wish we could have made it earlier in the year... this weekend probably was by far the busiest weekend for the lights.... as adam would say, "it was an absolute zoo there!"

Christmas morning...

2007-12-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was a real treat in the Wahl house this year... Santa was good to us and we all got several of the things that were on our wish lists.

cal got his tricycle and a train set, a new Pez dispenser and lots of "Cars" characters among other fun surprises and truly enjoyed opening up his gifts this year... it was a treasure just to watch him walk down the stairs in the morning and see what Santa had brought for him. I wouldn't want to pass that up for anything.

christmas eve is finally here!

2007-12-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

We had a practice run of gift opening on christmas eve with some gifts from grammy and poppy. Calvin really loved this and I just can't wait until the morning to see how his face will light up after Santa has come and gone...

Then we put our cookies out for Santa and some carrot sticks out for the reindeer.

Cal didn't like this, he wanted to eat all the cookies and even the carrot sticks, I am sure in the years to come we will laugh at this, but at the time, it was very frustrating to explain to him that the plate of goodies was for Santa! Cal threw an absolute fit... that was when it was decided it was bed time for one little man!

The Wahl's christmas

2007-12-23T22:41:00.000-08:00

We got to spend christmas with adam's family on Sunday the 23rd. We had a delicious dinner then opened our stockings from Santa there.

Cal checks out grammy's immaculately decorated christmas tree... this is a real treat, since most of the time the tree is up, it is off limits for the kids!

We got Quentin his favorite character... ELMO! and Forrest got a neat spinning top, that he seemed to like. and of course adam's mom and dad got a new food saver.

Christmas at Gramma and Boppa's

2007-12-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

We spent saturday the 22nd at the Brandt's house for christmas with my family. What a day! Calvin got to see cousin Zac after a long time without him and they love playing together! We were all very tired by the time we left, then I had to go to work from 11-7! yuck.

Calvin got a brand new table and chairs from grandma which he absolutely loves. anything that is kid sized is a winner in his book. we tried to make the kids eat at that table, but that didn't go over so well, in fact, I don't think they ended up eating lunch at all... too much gift opening excitement

Then we had to make our annual batch of sugar cookies, which usually ends up being a bigger mess than the cookies are even worth, but it is fun nonetheless.

Cal of course, felt that any cookies gramma sat in front of him were his own cookies to sprinkle... and then eat... so when I tried to explain to him that we had to decorate the cookies, then NOT eat them... he pretty much exploded. I think he ended up eating the 3 cookies that he decorated. Zac decorated the rest... after all, he actually understood the concept of not eating ALL of the cookies!

christmas card picture...

2007-12-15T12:59:00.000-08:00

As many of you already know... once you have kids, it is never easy getting a good picture. multiply the number of kids and you extremely multiply the difficulty in getting pictures. So when the holiday season comes along... it becomes immediately necessary to make attempts at potential shots for the christmas card.

Sometimes people will simply pull a picture off their hard drive for the year, but my dad (aka Boppa) is a firm believer in that the pictures in christmas cards must be somehow christmas related... so in our case, we have to at least wait until we have pulled out the christmas supplies, the tree, the decorations, before we can even make an honest effort at getting our photos!

Here are just a few of our attempts at getting that perfect shot...

Trust me, there are MANY more that were either deleted, or just didn't make the "final cut" if you will...

gramma and boppa's tree...

2007-12-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

cal was a big help in picking out his gramma and boppa's tree...

as you can see, if it weren't for him, they may have never gotten the tree home!

check out these boots, ma...

2007-12-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

c'mon, everybody needs at least one of these type of photos from their past... Here is cal's

He decided to try on mom's old work boots, and I must say, he looks a lot better in them than his mommy does!

he sure can strike a pose when he wants to!

so damn cute!

cal's new crawl...

2007-11-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

crab crawl anyone?!!? here is the pro!

Calvin loves suckers!

2007-11-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

Calvin is the kind of kid that will give up any other treat in a trade for a sucker... he just loves them, I don't really know why! But because he likes them so much, you will sometimes find him trying to eat them in the strangest circumstances... like with an ornament hanging from the end of it... look close, there it is!

what a wierdo!

Random actions...

2007-11-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

Cal really thinks he is cool when he can wear sunglasses just like mommy. However, we go through many pairs of $5 wal-mart sunglasses this way. probably at least 2 or 3 a month... What can I say, the kid is like a scud missile, he can seak out sunglasses in purses, pockets of jackets, on top of counters, you name it!!! (plus, it doesn't help that mommy is really good at losing sunglasses, left on counters of gas stations, flower shops and grocery stores everywhere. if you need a pair, just follow me around and you will soon come upon a pair.)

Donations of sunglasses are gladly accepted, we are not too proud here!

Cal's best buddy is Ralphie, which unfortunately for Ralphie, means the brunt of most of cal's shenanigans and quite a few doggie bruises. It is not uncommon to hear cal laughing and poor ralph whimpering. we are trying to teach cal that he has to be nice to ralph, but ralphie usually lets him do so much, that by the time he actually starts to whimper, cal has already nearly pulled an ear or jowl off, or poked an eye out, so sometimes we are running so far behind that it is hard to really discipline cal and help him to see the harm he is doing. Here are the two of them, in one of those rare moments of love. I shouldn't say rare, cal is always loving and hugging on ralph, unfortunately, he usually just does that very roughly OR he does it so darn quick it is hard to capture on camera!

We were recently able to visit great grandma and great grandpa for one last showing of cal's costume and lucky cal, there were some fresh sugar cookies there...

Everyone knows grandma makes the BEST sugar cookies, and the frosting too!!! MMMMM

Cal polishing off some of his halloween treats for a snack after dinner...

proof that mommy and daddy aren't the ones drooling over most of the trick or treats in his pumpkin pail

Ayden's Birthday party

2007-11-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

We were able to visit Ayden's (my cousin's kid) birthday party on Saturday, even though Cal was feeling a little under the weather. We had such a good time, even in the short time that we were able to be there.

Cal enjoyed the birthday cake at a table sized just right for him and the younger kids.

The birthday boy, Ayden, now 3 years old!!

And Reece, of course, Ayden's big brother (as if you couldn't tell!)

Ayden wanted a pic of his balloon and the little girl is Ariah, their friend... so cute!

Happy Halloween...

2007-10-31T22:35:00.000-07:00

We finally carved the pumpkins and got them lit and out on the porch, and here are the results...

It was interesting because this year Cal didn't even want to touch the pumpkin guts, he thought it was too gross. but last year, he wanted to eat it... He did like scooping it out into the trash can though. He did a pretty good job at this

We discovered recently that the best way to get cal to put on his costume was to bribe him with visions of candy... now, however, whenever he feels like a piece of candy, he comes running with this halloween costume. very funny, now where can I hide his costume!

carving pumpkins...

2007-10-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Cal has become a pro at pumpkin carving... okay, really, mom is the pro. She carved cal's and her own, but cal at least is pretty good at scooping out the gunk and putting in the trash.

Cal is a true lover of pumpkins, whenever he sees one, we have to stop and have a "conversation" about the specifics of any particular pumpkin we happen upon. He also has to always try and pick them up and this is usually accompanied with a grunt and a sigh. What a comedian!

more trick or treating...

2007-10-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

Nate and Nicholas were so tired by the time we were done... they were laying down and trying to rest, but not Cal!!! He was ready and raring to go with this new understanding of halloween... All these random people, willing to give away CANDY!!! Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable, and totally worth wearing this ridiculous costume. Oh, that, and the fact that mom had to carry him in between every single house!!! (I will let you know when I can actually lift my arms and stand up straight again... it may be a while!)

Every time a house would offer for cal to make a choice from a large bucket of candy, he would look specifically for suckers... these are his favorite type of treat (probably because mommy doesn't let him have them very often at all and they last a LONG time)

still going!!! nothing slows him down.

All in all, a very rewarding trick or treating experience...

Look out... Chocolate eating Chicken!!!

2007-10-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

For reasons that are too difficult to explain in one sentence, we decided to do our trick or treating in Fremont this year and luckily I was able to talk one of the women that I work with to let cal and me go with her and her two older boys. I thought this would be great, since this was cal's first trick or treat experience, so that he could watch nate and nicholas and take a fast course in "how-to" trick or treat. This worked perfectly and cal picked the T or T concept up very quickly, within the first couple of houses and was a true pro by the time we were done.

Calvin wandering around in search of the better houses for getting treats

By the end, his bucket was so heavy, and I kept offering to carry it for him, but he would refuse. I think he probably thought I was going to steal all of his hard earned candy! (As If!! okay, maybe i would have...)

Everyday life...

2007-10-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here is just a glimpse into cal's everyday life... something not everybody is used to checking out.

cal is naturally a curious child... and very active which leads us to these type of situations often several times a day!

there is usually time in the afternoon or evening for a good long talk on the phone with an old friend (or grandparents), a good book in bed, or watching TV while relaxing. here cal demonstrates how he likes to do all of these at the same time.
then, as far as cal is concerned, there is always time for reading, while on the potty...

and it is always fun to try on new outfits!

then there is always bath time at the end of a long day of getting stuck in tight places... this is one of calvin's absolutely favorite times of day!

Underwear

2007-10-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

Cal has decided to start trying out the potty (trust me, this by no means, means that he is potty trained) so we decided it was time to purchase a few pairs of underwear to give him that "diaper-free" feeling.

He Loved the character undies.

I think he is like, "I have to do WHAT now with these?!?"

Pumpkin hunters...

2007-10-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year again... time for the pumpkin hunters to come out. here we go out in the fields for the ultimate pumpkin again this year. it is only right that each and every person out there should pick out their very own pumpkin. that is how we have always done it.

However, this can become a real issue when your son would have it that you take every single pumpkin that he can get his hands on home. quite frankly, I don't really have the porch space for that many pumpkins, nor do I have that kind of dough, unless I wait until after halloween, when the pumpkins will be on sale at Wal-Mart for 25cents a piece.

So we made due with a couple of great pumpkins and cal enjoyed the few that we picked up from the gas station close to our house a couple of weeks earlier.