Ethan Lost His 3rd Tooth...

Ethan FINALLY lost his 3rd tooth, one of his top front teeth.  It has been hanging on for quite some time.  The other tooth was already coming in so it really needed to come out. Tonight after supper, the boys were quiet in Grandma's room and all of a sudden Ethan came out crying and his mouth was bleeding.  Not sure what they were planning in there, but he says that Tristan punched him in the mouth and knocked his tooth out.   But, however it happened, it is finally out and he's pretty happy about it now (after the bleeding and drama was over).  Now, he's patiently waiting in bed with his tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy to arrive.  He's talking a bit funny now too.  The other front one is loose too but not nearly as loose as this one was.

Ethan lost his 3rd tooth (one of the front top ones).

Lake Time...

Today was a beautiful lake day.  After some working out front, we finally headed out on the water later in the afternoon.  Tristan wanted a picture of him driving the pontoon and had to get the perfectone before he gave his approval to be done. :)  We stopped by the public beach and somehow the boys agreed to go on the hot dog tube behind Weigels' boat with Dad.  I couldn't believe it.  Ethan had a blast but Tristan wasn't so sure.  Now Ethan wants one too.

Captain Tristan

Dad, Tristan & Ethan on the hot dog tube.

Cousins...

The boys got to play a little with their cousins this weekend.  Lillian and Mia were over for a couple hours on Saturday so the boys played.  Maci was over with Grandma Carol and Papa Lonnie for the weekend so they got to see her more.

Mia, Lillian, Ethan, Tristan ready to play some games.

Ethan, Mia, Lillian, Tristan outside playing.

Grandma Carol, Maci, Tristan, Ethan on the pontoon.

Cousins

Old Door, New Door...

We finally put our new front door in.  The project is far from done, but at least it's in progress.

Old Front Door Inside



New Front Door Inside

New Front Door Outside

First Bus Ride To School...

August 24, 2011...
Today was Tristan's first ride on the bus to school.  They were both ready and waiting for the bus to show up.  When the bus pulled into the yard, he was so excited I wish I would have recorded it.  It was too cute.   

Ethan & Tristan waiting for the bus.

Mom & Tristan - Ethan wanted to take a picture of us.

Ethan, Tristan & Dad - as the bus pulled up.

First Day of School...

August 22, 2011...
Today was the first day of school at Steele.  Ethan started 2nd grade and Tristan started Preschool.  They wanted Mom to take them to school and pick them up for their first day so I agreed gladly as long as they want me to do it.  They are growing up way too fast.  They got up and got dressed pretty good and had some breakfast before we headed out.  Got them to take some pictures before we took off and to show us their new backpacks too, Ethan had Star Wars Legos and Tristan had Cars 2.  They were pretty excited.  When we got to school we dropped Ethan off at his classroom and met his teacher, Mrs. Magstadt.  We waited while he changed into his inside shoes and headed into his classroom to get a picture and then we walked to Tristan's classroom.  Tristan found his locker right away and put his stuff in it.  Then Mrs. Schmidt helped show us where he should put his outside shoes and then he took my hand and wanted me to come in to his classroom with him.  I watched while he found his cubby with his shoes and he got them on all by himself.  As he was doing that, he spotted some big trucks by his chair and got pretty excited.   So after that he went and found his chair and sat down and waved good-bye to me.  He did very good, I was impressed.  As always, I think it was harder on Mom than on him. :)  I picked them up after school and Ethan had already picked Tristan up from his room and they were outside so I went and found them outside.  Tristan was pretty tired, he almost fell asleep on the drive home.  Ethan got a bag of goodies from his new teacher so he was pretty excited about opening that up to see what was in it.  Tristan had gotten a water bottle to leave at school that had some little goodies in too.  They had corn dogs for lunch so they were both happy about that.  They had a great first day.

Tristan and Ethan on their first day of school.

Tristan's Cars 2 backpack and Ethan's Star Wars Legos backpack.

Tristan all ready for his first day of Preschool.

Ethan ready for his first day of 2nd grade.

Ethan in his 2nd grade classroom.

Tristan by his cubby getting his shoes on.

Tristan's in his Preschool classroom.

Swingset Fun...

August 19 - 20, 2011...
The boys have been having fun playing out on the swingset by Grandma and Papa's cabin.  They are up and down the slide and rock wall over and over and swinging as high as they can on the swings.  Then, I overhear them and they are playing star wars. :)  They are taking turns flying the ship and fighting battles and all sorts of imaginative stuff.  It's pretty funny listening sometimes. 

Ethan & Tristan

Ethan & Tristan

Tristan jumping off the slide and Ethan riding his "skateboard".

Tristan climbing the rock wall and Ethan in search of more skateboards.

Pretty Rainbow...

August 20, 2011...
Right before supper tonight, it started raining.  Then we looked out and saw this pretty rainbow.  Ethan was wondering which side of it the pot of gold was on. :) 

Tristan's Preschool Open House...

August 19, 2011...
Our little boy will be starting Preschool on Monday, not sure where these years go.  Tristan had his preschool open house Friday evening.  We took in all his supplies and shoes and his beach towel for nap time.  He has his own locker with a red bird with his name on it, his own cubbie to put his shoes and papers in, we found his spot at his table with his name on it, we did a scavenger hunt to find different things in their room, we took a tour around the school to see the lunchroom and gym, and we returned back to his classroom for cookies, lemonade and some final visiting and playing around the room.  He was pretty shy and clinging to me the whole time so I'm really hoping Monday goes good and he'll be ready to stay and have some fun with the rest of the kids.  His teachers are very nice though and love kids so they will do their best to make them feel safe and welcome so it should go good.  It's exciting and scary at the same time. 

Tristan in the hallway at school.

Tristan by his locker at school.
(He wasn't smiling very good, he was not happy he had a red bird, he wanted a blue bird instead. :) )

Tristan by his name at his table in his classroom.

Tristan having snacks back in his classroom.

Tristan playing with some kids in his classroom.

Tristan outside of the school.

Welcome to our new nephew baby Sterling...

August 16, 2011...
Our new baby nephew was born this morning.  Welcome baby Sterling!  He was 8lbs 11oz and was 22 inches long.  We stopped up to see them all after work today.  Ethan was excited to hold him, Tristan wasn't too sure. :)  He was happy to sit beside and smile proudly though.  We'll have to go see them again when there aren't as many people around and I'm sure he'll be ready to hold him then.  Now the boys keep asking when our baby will be here.  Could be another long 8 weeks of that question now I have a feeling.

Papa Tony, Tristan, Ethan, Sterling, Grandma Vivian, & Savannah

Tristan, Sterling, Ethan, Grandma Vivian

The Schaffner Guys...
Josh, Tristan, Tony, Chance, Sterling, Rashad, Ethan

Chance, Sterling, & Kristen

Lake Friends...

August 13 - 14, 2011...
The boys had a great time playing with lake friends this weekend.  Ethan's buddy JJ was at the lake this weekend so they spent most of Saturday together.  Both Ethan and Tristan were over at JJ's for a few hours and then we picked them all up and went out on the water after lunch.  We spent quite a bit of time at the public beach where the boys ran around and played in the water.  

JJ, Ethan & Tristan playing at the public beach.

When we pulled up to the public beach to play, one of Ethan's classmates, Jake, was at the beach with his family too.  So they all played on their tube with paddles for quite awhile.  They sure had fun with that.

JJ, Ethan, Jake & Tristan playing on the tube.

 Saturday was an absolutely perfect lake day. Even into the evening, the lake was like glass so the boys wanted to have a campfire.  It was a gorgeous evening for one.  The boys brought down their campfire chairs(Star Wars for Ethan and Cars for Tristan) and were camped out ready to make smores.

Dad, Tristan & Ethan at the campfire.

While we were waiting for the fire to get hot, the boys' friends showed up to join in the nice evening.  JJ and Jordan came over with their Mom and Grandpa.  They played in the sand and built "houses" and volcanoes and all sorts of stuff that their imaginations came up with.  It was funny to listen to the conversations.  

JJ, Ethan, Tristan & Jordan playing in the sand at the campfire.

 When it started getting dark we got around to making the smores.  Had to get a picture of all the kids lined up having their snacks.  After that it was time for bed but it sure was a perfect lake day followed by the perfect evening. 

 Sunday was a bit breezier on the lake especially on our side.  Dad and the boys spent most of the day hauling sandbags down to the front to try to help protect what is left of our sand area from the waves that have been washing it out like crazy.

Dad, Tristan & Ethan carrying sandbags.

After the sandbags were done being hauled, we decided to go out for a ride on the pontoon.  The boys were ready to stop to play at the beach so we stopped at the public beach.  We happened to pull up beside another one of Ethan's classmates, Broc, and his family.  Ethan was so excited.  He hasn't seen him since school was over.  They sure had fun playing together. 



Dad's New Recruits...

August 8, 2011...
Dad brought home the boys their own Army workout clothes.  They were pretty excited.  They even did their own workout...pushups, situps.  They sure had fun pretending.

Ethan & Tristan

Dad's Back...

August 7, 2011...
Dad's finally back after being gone for two weeks in Ft Leonardwood, Missouri.  We are sure glad to have him back home.  Today we spent the day out on the water, playing at the beach, checking the garden, raising up the waverunner lift, mowing lawn, riding waverunner, leveling out some sand in the sand area, having a great steak and fresh green beans supper and now we are watching a movie before bedtime.  Nice relaxing day.

Dad & Tristan driving the pontoon.

Ethan & Tristan
(such great looks)

Playing in the lake at the public beach.

Playing in the sand at the public beach.



Ethan enjoying the beautiful day.



Dad & Tristan out for a waverunner ride.

Happy 1st Birthday Maci...

August 6, 2011...
Maci Rae turned 1 yesterday so she had her Baby Minnie Mouse birthday party at her house.  There were lots of kids there that the boys played with.  They had a great time.  They played on the playset out back and in the sand area around it, on the bikes and the driving toys and blew bubbles.  They sure had fun.  After supper we had cake and she opened her presents.  Then Dad got back and picked us up and we headed home to watch a movie(until the boys fell asleep part way in :) ).

Darci & the birthday girl Maci Rae

Mia & Tristan

Grandma Carol and Maci

Tristan

Tristan & Ethan