We FINALLY got a new Camera!!!

Yes, you read correctly, we FINALLY got a new camera to replace the old one that hasn't been working since before Christmas.

I can't wait to take some pictures of my boys!!!!!!

and Kathy's wedding!!!!!!

and little Lydia when I meet her for the first time....

and Matt's birthday this Thursday..... (Matt, when are we celebrating btw???)

and Brad's 21st b-day this year!

Wow! - we have a lot going on this year don't we?????

We're home now and (almost) caught up on laundry... time to post more pictures!
All of these are from our day at Dutch Wonderland.

Admittedly on Day One, we started slow... with the Carousel.

By the end - it was all about the Roller Coasters.

This is the Joust; their first-ever roller coaster!

Duke's Dozers were quite a hit. I was surprised they liked it because it was such a slow ride, but slow is apparently ok if you get a chance to be cool like Bob the Builder!

The Frog Hopper was a big favorite with Kyle, but Jeremy was a bit too intimidated to ride.
I was so impressed when he ran right over and joined the other kids to get on the ride without looking back at us. No fear - just excitement!

Welcome to Dutch Wonderland

Vacation is going beautifully! Not much time to blog so here are the pics
(I know that's everyone's favorite part anyhow!)

I highly recommend Dutch Wonderland for the little ones! Eric and Michelle, I think we should plan a trip to meet up here in summer of 2011. You can do double duty and visit the family in Philly in the same trip!!!!!

We started out with a hail storm! Kyle disliked it - Jeremy thought it was cool (and ate the ice, of course!)

...and here's our Amish family. (Kyle will not appreciate this when he's older, will he?)

Gotta go - nap time is almost over and we're headed back to the park for more.

Later, roller coaster pics, bumper cars and much more!

Kyle's first poop joke...

Yes, a new milestone is upon us; Kyle's first poop joke.


Alex: "Winnie the Pooh"

Kyle: "Winnie the what? (snicker)"

Alex: "Winnie the Pooh. (matter of factly)"

Kyle: "(snickering more) Winnie the whhhhaaaaaat?"

Alex: "(now starting to get the joke) Winnie the Poooooh"

Kyle: busts out laughing!


They grow up so fast!

Nordic Theater

Yes, I'm getting incredible mileage from this, but not everyone that follows this blog is on Twitter or Facebook (so it's new for some of you, but if you do Twitter - I'm knkeela, who are you?)

Part I -
Setting: Yesterday, late morning, Nord Household
Alex: (concerned) "Jeremy, what are you eating? Jeremy, what did you put in your mouth?!?"
Jeremy: (hesitantly) "uh booger"

Part II -
Setting: Yesterday, dinner table, Nord Household
Kyle to Alex: "Let me put this as simply as I can; I have to poop."

What ever will they say tomorrow?

Our little turkey

Clearly, Jeremy had a great time with Daddy visiting Bass Pro Shops today....

Water Park Fun!

A long overdue post about our fantastic trip to the indoor Water Park!!! We had a blast - just ask Grandpa Joe!

Productive Day!!!

Wow! What a great day in the Nord household.

I spent the morning being reminded how awesome it is to have a relaxing day with my kids! From pancake breakfast to reading books, from Duplos to Jeremy's new Thomas the Tank Engine Remote Controled Trackmaster Train system we had a blast from first thing in the morning until lunch!

Then, when nap-time began I started prepping the hallway upstairs for a new coat of paint. Alex got back to a freezer food packaging project we've been working on.

The boys woke up and it was time to let them try their hand at painting - on the walls. As a kid I remember asking my parents many, many times if I could help paint the house. I was told I could help when I was 12. When the magical age of 12 came along, I was so excited to help. Then, being the almost teenager that I was, after a few minutes I didn't ever want to help again. (it was work - duh!!!) Well, at (almost) 2 and 3 years old, my boys loved it. Of course, they didn't want to help for long either, but they had their fun and we got great photos!


Then it was on to dinner followed by snuggling on the couch to watch Shrek (I almost felt compelled to turn it off due to the swearing, but the boys didn't seem to pick up on it.) and then it was off to bed for the munchkins!

Hope your first Sunday of the New Year was just as great!

Naughty or Nice?

Looks like the boys are in the clear for Santa's upcoming visit....

Kyle's
http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/66606-krisnord/

Jeremy's
http://family.go.com/santas-list/video/66614-krisnord/

Finally the Christmas spirit found me!

One of my jobs at Lighthouse is to manage the Holiday program. It entails four months of interviewing clients,doing lots of paperwork, asking for donations (lots of donations), and troubleshooting odd problems all in hopes that about 500 families, 300 singles and another 100 kids "have Christmas." It ends with a bang as we spend 10 days managing the logistics of receiving and distributing thousands and thousands of gifts. It's the kind of experience that's supposed to make you think about how lucky you are and remind you to be thankful for everyone and everything in your life. Usually it does.

This is my third year managing the prograam and sadly I must admit, the massive nature of the project makes December feel more like a month to "get through" than a lesson in perspective. It's a classic case of not seeing the forest for the trees; I am well aware of that. Still, as such, I have not been in the mood for Christmas at all. I've been crabby with just about everyone. The tree's not up yet, no cookies have been made, shopping is barely started. Heck, if my siblings and I hadn't decided to "pick names" this year rather than shop for everyone I'd be a frantic last-minute-stressball. (oh wait, I already admitted I was that anyways)

Well, I'm happy to say the Christmas spirit finally found it's way to me tonight. It wasn't my work that brought it to me. It wasn't watching Rudolph on TV. It wasn't the cool light displays featured in the Sunday paper (that I finally got to read just tonight.) What did it to me were these words...

"Oh you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Clause is coming to town."

Kyle has the entire song memorized (well, as much of the song as I know) and Jeremy is awfully close to knowing it all too. Alex taught it to them today. Not "he's been teaching them for a couple weeks", or anything - just today. They boys were singing it in the car at the top of their lungs. So excited and so proud of themselves. Finally the hustle and bustle made a little sense again. All the shopping, the decorating, the baking and the extra to dos, sounded like fun again. I remembered that I wasn't working to give the kids of my clients clothes or toys; I was working to give those parents the ability to provide holiday magic. Isn't that what we all want to give our kids? It's not about the toys, it's about the traditions.

I am reminded that the "grind" part of daily life will always be there and it can take over if you let it. I think it's time to stop the grind for a while to make room for some traditions. Hopefully this means you'll see some photos of the kids cookie baking and tree trimming soon.

Wishing You Six Merry Days Until Christmas!!!

Goodbye Grandma Johnson

Sad news on the Nordic front.... Grandma Dorothy Johnson passed away the evening of Tuesday, December 9th at the amazing age of 91. She will be missed by all. While the boys don't quite know what has happened... I know they'll miss her kisses and snuggles.

Love you Grandma Johnson!

The secret to crossing the border quickly

As most people reading this blog know, I frequently pass through Canada while on my way to visit family in Rochester, NY. The boys and I went out to visit earlier this month and had an absolutely wonderful time! However, the fun of our trip was only part of the excitement. I figured out how to get through Customs without waiting for an hour at each border.

Leave at 4 am! :)

I admit it's not for everyone, but for us it was perfect! Here was our trip itinerary (on a Saturday)

4:18 am - Put half-asleep kids in car & leave home.

5:30 am - Arrive Port Huron/ Sarnia border. Number of cars in line to speak to a Customs official = Zero! Kids don't wake up at all.

8:15 am - Boys have been up for about 30 - 45 minutes, snacking on granola bars, juice and such. Arrive in Niargra Falls. Number of tourists checking out the Falls at that time of day = Twelve. Number of available parking spaces in the lots closest to the falls = All of them! We were the ONLY car in the lot.

10:00 am - Leave the Falls because we want hotcakes from McDonalds and we don't want to use US currency in Canada so we gotta get through the border before 10:30! Get to border crossing, number of cars in each lane = 1 talking to each officer, zero or one more waiting in each line.

10:30 am - leave McDonalds (in the US) and get back on the road. Kids happily play with toys and sing along wiht the tunes on the radio.

11:45 am - get to Rochester, NY. So far we've lost about 1 1/2 - 2 hours off of a normal Saturday in Rochester (after you get up, showered, dressed, fed, etc. ) and absolutely saved that much in time by skipping the 45 - 60 minute waits at each border. Plus, I got to spend nearly 2 hours at Niagra, walking all over with two toddlers by myself without the slightest twinge of nervousness about them bolting or being in a huge crowd trying to manage them alone (without a stroller to strap them into). It was AWESOME! Here comes the best part.... We go see my Mom, eat lunch with her, return to hotel for nap time. I nap too. (naps are good!) Late nap means we are all energized to stay up until Midnight hanging out with Grammie (Mom) & Aunt Vicki so kids get to maximize their time rather than being to tired to visit after 8:30 pm.

Meanwhile, here was my drive home (on Sunday):
2:15 - Leave Rochester (this was my choice of a time to leave to maximize nap time in the car; plus we went to the zoo that morning with Grammie and that was fantastic - fall zoo trips, another great idea! No other people and the animals are active!)

Roughly 3:30pm - Arrive at US/ Canada border - get through at about 4:00 pm.

Kids wake from naps at 6 and want to run and play. Stop for dinner & bathrooms (less than 15 min). Start Toy Story DVD.

80 minutes of mostly silence. (well, except for the voices of Tim Allen and Tom Hanks)

Arrive at US/ Canada Border in MI at roughly 7:20 pm, just as Toy Story DVD ends and kids are mad because DVD player is out of battery life meaning no Diego which was supposed to be next.

Enter Michigan at about 7:50 pm - head home. Kids are bored and mad because it's dark and they can't see their toys. Drive with interior light on half the time so they are happy.

Arrive home about 9:20 pm. Kids aren't tired quite yet because they slept until 6pm and they have been cooped up. I am exhausted from the drive and from trying to entertain them for the past hour and a half.

Now here's the thing - each time I had a 30 minute wait at the borders. Truthfully that is a really quick wait time for border crossings! I'm used to at least 45 minutes each - often more like an hour!

So, for stress free driving I recommend leaving at 4am. That and not drinking anything for the first few hours (unless there's someone with you to stay in the car with the kids while you run into a gas station to pee. I'm now beginning to understand the appeal of Astronaut Diapers. j/k!)

Let's talk about haircuts

I've determined that deciding whether to

pay someone to cut your kids hair vs. doing it yourself

is an algebraic equation.

If the answer is Less that 1, you give it a whirl!

E * G/ $D - $15

[($Grrr + $2) * K + None] / $D

Where:

E = Embarrassment factor if this do-it-yourself haircut fails and your kids look ridiculas.

G = Gender factor : Boys = 1, Girls = 10

$15 = Cost of hair cutting set (with free how-to for dummies booklet: I totally qualify for this one!)

$D = Disposable income

$Grrr = Rising Cost of cheap BoRic's Haircut

$2 = Cost of Tip

K = Number of kids

None = available time to take kids to BoRics

Results? Take a look. One picture is when their hair was cut professionally, one was when I did it. Can you tell the difference?

Hate to say this in writing, but I guess Alex was right. (Yes, it was his idea)

Happy Belated Birthday Uncle Brad!!!

We owe a HUGE Happy belated 20th Birthday to Uncle Brad!

He turned the Big 20 yesterday!

It really doesn't seem like 20 years ago....

...or 11 years ago....

or even 5 years ago! (yeah, he's got a little Captain in him!)

Happy, Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Kyle!!!

Time flies when you're having fun!!!!!

Latest growth stats... for those keeping tabs.... 3' 2" tall & 35 1/2 lbs.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane...

Our Trip to Rochester, NY

Before summer winds down Kyle, Jeremy, Grammie and I took a quick weekend trip to visit our cousins in Rochester, NY. Kyle and Jeremy had a great time playing with cousins Nicholas (3 1/2) and Owen (11 months)! I had a great time catching up with my cousin Tara and of course, visiting my Aunt Vicki and Grandma!!! Grammie was a wonderful help with the boys and we all enjoyed plenty of adventures.

*****
Friday visited the Strong Children's Museum in downtown Rochester. If you ever get the chance to visit - it's absolutely worth it! When we were done I'm not sure who was more tired - the kids or us.

Kyle was on TV with The Count...

The boys played chess in a Giant's playroom...

Jeremy put bones on a conveyor belt to fill his friend Clifford's big bowl...

...but the garden didn't stand a chance against these four!

*****
Saturday we visited the Fish Hatchery. I remember visiting this as a kid and once again it didn't disappoint. Kyle and Jeremy loved throwing food to the fish and watching them swim and jump to eat it.

Kyle and Nicholas calmly watched to fish swim around at first

Then it was time to watch the fish get crazy while eating food.

So much fun! Can't wait to go back!!!!!

Happy (belated) Birthday Uncle Eric Nord!

(Aunt Laura & Uncle Eric with Kyle in April 2006 - Kyle was 7 months old.)

Time flies!

Wow - I swear July 23rd was just yesterday, but according to my calendar it was not. Summer is flying by and we are in the home stretch. What have we been up to?

Well, Alex and I went to see the movie WarGames (for the 25th anniversary) with Uncle Matt on July 24th at the Oxford Theater. The satellite feed stopped mid-show and I thought the poor theater manager was going to cry for fear of his life. Relax Mr. Manager - we've all seen the movie before, it'll be ok. No, you don't need to act it out to keep us occupied. (that was scary!)

The boys made their own pizzas for the first time. The loved choosing and adding their favorite toppings. Jeremy also loved eating half the toppings before they made it on top of the pizza. Look closely at his face - it's covered!

We went to the Taste of Oxford festival the first weekend in August. Jeremy and Kyle each got to spray a real fireman's hose (at a painted plywood cut out of a fire). They loved it! Did I remember to take the camera? No. :(

We started a new Sunday night party called Toddler Time for the boys and their friends, we tested it with Lucas (4), Will (2), Liam (3 mo.) and Jarrod (5). The boys get together and wear each other out running around the yard, swimming in the mini-pool and eating pizza. Probably going to try it again this weekend.

Did I mention we got a mini-pool? It's 10' x 30" and perfect for their size. Both can touch bottom or lift their legs and swim. Kyle can even keep his head above water when kneeling down. (he's getting so big!)

Uncle Brad babysat Kyle for the first time. The same day, I had my first real phone conversation with Kyle. (I believe I was triyng to tell Kyle that he needed to cooperate about nap time - go figure.) All of the sudden Kyle understand the phone, knows you need to keep it by your ear, answers questions and doesn't get distracted by everything else around him while talking on the phone. Daddy will be so worried and I am so proud!!! :)

Also we started taking the boys to the Clarkston Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. The Peaches and Cream corn has been fantastic and the boys play on the playground across the street when mom and dad are done shopping.

Kyle learned how to make the horn on a big-rig blow at the Tons of Trucks event in Clarkston on August 9th. You didn't have to show him twice! Every truck he climbed into he went looking for that string. Forgot the camera - bummer! On a similar theme, Kyle got to ride Grandpa's really big tractor for the first time. Grammie did not forget the camera! (of course.) Oh and he had been playing Pirate earlier in the kiddie pool, hence to swim trunks and pirate bandana.

Alex got a new (new to us) truck last Friday! I am SO happy!!! Now we can share responsibility for picking the kids up from day-care or Grandma's house! (I really need to take a picture and post it, don't I?)

I worked at the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills on Sunday, August 10th. Note to self - "not 19 anymore, need to take it easy." That was hard work! I had flashbacks to working in the food booths at the Renaissance Festival many years ago.

Jeremy is now totally into Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid. So cute when he starts yelling "mer-maid, mer-maid, mer-maid!"

Uncle Eric and Aunt Michelle are coming into town this weekend, we're headed to Rochester to visit Cousins Nicholas and Owen next weekend and then Labor Day weekend is upon us.

Oh and did I mention Aunt Kathy and Mr. Mike are engaged! HOW EXCITING!!!!!! In other wedding news, Alex's neice Beth just got married (congrats!) and his nephew Rich is getting married on the 31st. Best wishes!!! (wish we could be there.)

...and you thought I was just too lazy to blog... nope - just too busy enjoying all the best summer has to offer!!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Matt!!!

As a kid I remember you cracking us up with your comedy skits and antics.

Luckily for Kyle and Jeremy (and the rest of us too!)

even after 30 years you still know how to have fun and make us laugh!

Happy Birthday Uncle Matt!!!

(photo taken this past February in St. Petersburg, FL)

Wow! What a difference 16 months makes!

Most days I'm stunned by how fast Jeremy seems to be catching up to Kyle. Being younger doesn't stop Jeremy from trying everything Kyle does. Heck, when it comes to climbing, jumping and getting into things, Jeremy figures things out that Kyle hasn't even thought of doing yet.

Tonight however, Alex and I had to pause and say "Wow, what a difference 16 months makes."

You see, when we are in the car, as we were this evening, each child has their own way of asking for the window to go up or down. (remember, we don't have A/C in my Jeep so this happens A LOT)

Jeremy: (screaming emphatically) "Wee-doh! Wee-doh! Wee-doh! Wee-doh!"

Kyle: (calmly and politely) "Uh Daddy, I'm cold. Would you please put the window up?"

What a difference 16 months really makes.