Pottery and Santa

Chad and I took the kiddos to paint pottery at The Medium last weekend. My sister, Alexa, & my brother, Zach went with us.

Last year Maddy and I went and had a great time, so I thought maybe Tanner would also enjoy it,

he did for about a half hour, then he discovered they had toys to play with.

Oh well, he did paint what I needed him too! So Grandparents if you are reading this, please act surprised!!

Our finished projects!

This and That

Well like usual the Klein's have been busy! Gotta love Christmas time! We have had lots going on the last few weeks since Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving at Chad's sister, Leah, and brother-in-law, Matt's house. We had lots of great food and great company. After eating too much we went to my Grandparent's and got to visit with family that we don't get to see very often. It was a very fun busy day. After maybe 3 hours of sleep, I hit the stores with Rose, Chad's mom. I picked her up at 4 am and we didn't get home till after 3 pm!! I love shopping on Black Friday! That weekend is Chad's birthday weekend, so I shop on Friday and he duck hunts on Thanksgiving morning and the rest of the weekend. I got lots of gifts bought that day, but unfortunately I am still not done shopping:-( I am getting a little tired of shopping....never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth! The kids and I went shopping again today, I am just about done..I think I only have gift cards left, and then wrapping!

Ethan, Katelyn, and Maddy at the lighted holiday parade.

Maddy

Tanner

And the winner is.....

On Saturday afternoon, my sister Alexa participated in the Jr Miss Burlington pageant. Madison and I went to support her, and she won!! We are all so proud of her and all her accomplishments!!

Ali doing her jazz dance

On stage question

Being crowned, Jr Miss Burlington

Way to go Alexa!!!

Madison with Ali

Busy Friday

On Friday I took both kids to see their ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor. Tanner had to go for his follow-up from his surgery, and Maddy just had a check-up. Tanner doesn't like to cooperate with the hearing test, he passed one, but wouldn't sit still for the other. I think he gets scared when I have to hold him down. The dr said as long as I didn't think he had a problem hearing then we would try again at a later date. His allergy test also came back negative. Madison's right tube is out and her left one is still in place, so everything looks good with her ears. Hoping with cold season that they stay healthy & we don't have too many more issues! They both have to go back in 4 months for another check up.

On Friday night Chad and I were able to go to "watch night" at Madison's dance class. She dances at Cheryl's School of Dance, and is in her 2nd year. She takes tap and ballet, and they do a few minutes of acrobats...sommer saults, bridge ups, and sugar bowls.

She was such a ham, and was enjoying showing off for us! She loves dancing and it shows! She does quite well and is good at singing the songs they are dancing too. My sister, Alexa, is an assistant in the class and Madison loves that, since Alexa is her role model.

Alexa & Madison waiting for class to start.

doing butterflies

Her favorite...the bridge up, she loves to practice at home!

Daycare Openings

Just wanted to let you all know that I currently have 1-2 full-time or part-time openings in my daycare, Tiny Treasures Childcare. I am open from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm, but I can be flexible with times. I haven't put an add in the paper, due to the cost, and I like to find families by word of mouth, so if any of you know of parents needing childcare please keep me in mind. Our home # is 319-753-1106. Thanks so much!!

Mr. & Mrs. Dan Geren

I am pleased to announce Mr and Mrs Dan Geren!!!!

Chad's cousin, Kasi, got married last weekend. I was honored to be her personal attendant. The wedding took place at the same church Chad and I were married at, St. Mary's in West Burlington, and the reception was at the Eagles Club. It was a beautiful wedding and a fun reception! Kasi looked beautiful and I loved her dress. It was fun helping her prepare for her big day! I did take a few pics, but mostly I was busy running around. I did decide that I need to buy a better flash for my camera, my camera was taking forever to focus! Tanner loved blowing the bubbles after the wedding, and in the car on the way to the reception. Maddy had been counting down the days until the wedding and party, she had so much fun dancing, so did Tanner!! They were worn out so they left the reception early to go to Nana and Papa's house to spend the night. Chad and I were able to go out with some of his cousins, we had a great time. It was fun to visit with family that we don't get to see often! We had a great weekend, but I am ready to relax this weekend!!! Enjoy the pics that I took of the happy couple!!

The bridal party!

Madison blowing bubbles!

Tanner also loved the bubbles!!

First dance as husband and wife! Kasi and Dan we wish you the best of luck! Love you both, thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!!!!

Happy Halloween

I know I know..it has been a few weeks since I updated, but better late than never!! The last few weeks have been crazy busy! Tanner had his surgery and has his follow-up appointment next week, hoping everything goes well. Madison also gets to go see the ENT dr the same day, also hoping for good news with her! I know that 1 of her tubes has fallen out, I helped it out a little, it had been in her ear canal for over a month, and she was starting to complain about it. She has had this set of tubes for about 9 months, so I am hoping maybe she has out-grown them. We will be getting Tanner's allergy test results at this appt and they will be doing a hearing test on him.

Tanner was feeling much better to go trick-or-treating, so we went and visited the Grandparents, then went by the airport with Matt, Leah, Katelyn, and Ethan. The kids had a blast and got lots of candy. Tanner said hi to everyone we passed and Maddy had fun walking and helping her brother. Enjoy the pics of the kitty cat and monkey!

Tanner's surgery

I thought I would do a quick update about Tanner's surgery...all went well and he is feeling much better. We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am yesterday, he was taken to day surgery around 8ish and then we waited for them to come and get him for awhile. I thing the nurse came in around 8:45, I got to go into recovery with him about 9:30. He was quite crabby and restless when I saw him, which is understandable, one of the nurses gave him 2 shots to help calm him down, he had a IV in his hand. He didn't like it and was trying to pull it out, luckily he ended up calming down and then we went back to his room in the peds department. He slept for awhile and then we got him to drink some juice and after he had a wet diaper we were able to leave. We got home with him around 12. He had quite the day and was a very brave little boy!! The only problem we have with him is, he doesn't like his ear drops!! He goes back to the doctor in 2 weeks for a hearing test and a check up. Well I better scoot, time to get the kiddos ready for trick or treat!

Fall Pics

Here are a few pics of the kiddos that we took Sunday afternoon at the park and then Wednesday afternoon we "borrowed" our neighbors yard to take some pics in the pretty leaves.

Madison loves getting her pictures taken and is such a ham, Tanner on the other hand wasn't into getting his pictures done. He kept telling us, "I don't wanna." Yes I think the terrible 2s are starting!! Enjoy the pics we did!



He loves tractors!

She might be up to something!!

Not thrilled Tanner is sitting on her!

Tanner not getting his way!

The Klein pumpkin Chad made for us.

Sickness

Well some type of bug got me, I have been down since Sunday night, the last few days have been rough!! I was up a lot Sunday night, body aches, low grade temp, sore throat, and the worst symptom I had...a killer headache!! I felt like I was dying, I have NEVER felt like this before. Chad was getting ready to leave for work Monday and offered to stay home so I could rest and not have to worry about the kids, and I told him I would be fine...five minutes later, I told him to stay home. I am glad he did, I slept till 1! I went to the doctor and was told it was viral, rest, fluids, and Tylenol. Nothing made the headache any better! Today Maddy was supposed to have preschool, she didn't go...I woke up to get her ready and my head hurt so bad, I felt dizzy, we went back to sleep and then she helped me with Tanner so I could rest. I told her I would have to buy her a special treat for being a good helper today. My headache finally has gone away, I am hoping it doesn't come back, I don't think I could take another day of it. I have been off work the last 2 days and am also taking tomorrow off, no one wants their kids to catch this, it is the worst! After being down for 2 days and having daddy in charge yesterday and Maddy in charge today, my house is a mess and I have lots of laundry to catch up on! My nose is runny and I keep sneezing, hope to feel better soon and that Chad and the kids don't catch this bug!!

Tanner's ears

Yesterday I took Tanner back to see his ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor for a follow up, and he is going to have a new set of tubes and his adenoids out on the 30th. His right tube is still clogged, we recently tried ear drops and antibiotics to see if that would help, but we had no such luck. So the doc thinks given the time of year and Tanner's history that replacing the tubes is our best choice. Currently the tube is blocked and there is no movement in the ear, so Tanner's hearing in that ear is most likely muffled. This should be a easy surgery so hopefully he recover quickly for Halloween the next day!! Please keeps us in your thoughts and prayers! I will update and let you know how he is feeling soon.

Madison's 4!

Wearing her crown from preschool

Madison recently celebrated her 4th birthday! We had a Hannah Montana birthday party on Sun Oct 4th at our house, thankfully the weather was warm enough that we could be outside! She had a great time. She got some new clothes and some new toys, she didn't ask for much this year. She really wanted a singing Hannah Montana barbie and a Leapster. On her actual birthday, Oct 5th, Chad came home early and we took her for dinner at Carlos O" Kelly's...her favorite place. It is hard to believe that she is 4 already...time sure does fly!!

Maddy and Tanner........our little Hannah Madtana..........opening presents from mom, dad, & Tan

Starting photography??

These are a few pics I took recently of Madison, Tanner, and my sis, Ali and bro, Zach. I love taking pics of anything and everybody, I am a frequent flyer at Walgreens when they have a awesome special. Could this be a potential business opportunity in the future...maybe if I learn more of the ins and outs of photography.

What have we been up to?

We have had a few very busy weeks, and by the looks of our calender it is going to be that way for awhile! Chad started working 50 hours this week, so he won't be home with us anymore on Fridays. Madison is still playing soccer for a few more weeks, she isn't into it much, I am making her go to practice and her games though. I want her to finish this season, then she can decide in the spring if she wants to play again, I don't want her to think that you can quit if you don't like something. She is also enrolled in dance, which is 1 hr a week, she does love to dance! I really think it is in her blood, she is taking after my sisters. Preschool is going well, I think her favorite thing is snack time. They have learned about germs, done some apple projects, and painted pictures. She seems to be making new friends, and having fun. Tanner is also keeping me busy, he loves to be outside and throws a fit when it is time to come in. I think he enjoys it when the girls (Madison and Mallory) are at school he gets some alone time with me and Blake. They like to play cars and trains together and we have been able to do some errands while the girls are at school! We are also trying to get a few things done around the house, we are having Maddy's 4th b-day party at our house. Last Friday, Chad put new steps on the front of the house, the old ones were starting to rout. We still need to paint them and the front and back porch, not sure if that will get done this year or not, might be next spring before it gets done. By then we will have more projects to do around here!!

Fish Update

Well the Klein family is back to mom, dad, 2 kids, and 2 dogs, the fish are no longer with us. We had a very hard time keeping them alive and out of the filter. We bought a 5 gallon tank that came with a filter, new rocks, and some coral for decorations, maybe if we would have kept them in the small tank we would of had better luck! We were down to 1 of the original fish, so we took the kids back to Wal-Mart and bought 8 more and a sucker fish, they did well for a few days and then we started losing them. Chad fixed the filter tube with craft wire, so they couldn't get sucked up it, but then the fish started getting their tails caught. I had had enough, so after the last few fish died I cleaned the tank and put it in storage for awhile. I know the kids liked helping take care of the fish, & watching them, but when I was constantly flushing them, then buying more, I was done. I told Maddy in a few weeks, maybe we could get new fish and try it again, but until then we are fish free!!

The Klein family is growing!!

I bet that got your attention! Well the Klein family has grown by a few...like 8! We now have 8 goldfish! We were at Wal-Mart this past Sunday and walked by the fish, Tanner started saying, "fishy" and Madison asked if she could have one...the key word is 1!!! Since Chad and I are such softies we ended up buying the kids 4 and a small bowl for now. By the end of Sunday night we were down to 1 live fish, the rest has died! I called Wal-Mart and they said that their policy was to bring the dead fish back into the store to get a replacement, seriously...not happening!! I told the lady that I had had Chad flush the dead ones since we thought that seeing them would really upset Maddy, she talked to the manager and they said to come out and we could get replacements. They were only 28 cents, so if I would of had to buy new ones so be it, but that wasn't the point. Chad went out there and ended up coming home with 8 new ones, we were then up to 9 goldfish. The last surviving original fish didn't make it overnight, so we now are the owners of 8 goldfish. We have already moved them into a bigger tank, since the bowl wasn't big enough. The kids do love watching them swim around, and I hope they don't grow as big as the fish that Chad and I had before we moved into our current house!!

The fish in their small tank...need a pic of the new tank!

Madison's 1st day of preschool

Well it's official, Madison has started preschool!! She goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30 to 11. She is in the green star group, she started Tuesday and tomorrow will be here second day. She was very excited to start school! She was upset this morning that she wasn't going to school. I hope she learns lots and meets lots of new friends!!

Madison's best friend Mallory!

They are going to preschool together!

Maddy with Tanner

The girls and I. I started watching Mallory's brother and sister before she was born. She has been with me since she was 5 weeks old! She is like Maddy's sister!










Waiting to go inside the preschool.

Putting her Hannah Montana bag, that Grandma Rose made for her, into her cubby. She looks like she might be a little nervous!

Soccer practice has also started, and she has her 1st game this Saturday at 8:30. All but 1 of her games are that early:-( We do like to sleep in some on the weekends!!

Madison also starts dance on Friday. She has Miss Vicki this year for tap and ballet. Alexa is going to be the assistant in the class again this year, which Maddy loves!! Madison is going to be keeping us busy with all her activities and school! Glad we have some time before Tanner starts getting involved in activities!! Well better go, gotta get up early to get her ready for preschool tomorrow!