Circus at the Stertz House!

There's a circus going on at the Stertz House!



There will be...

Seals...


Zebras...


Birds of all sizes...


Giraffes...


and many more...

Your ring leader will be none other than....

Noah and his wife...


So park you cars...


Everyone's invited...


Old and Young alike...


COME JOIN THE FUN!

Why daddy doesn't work from home....

Can you blame him? :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE STERTZ FAMILY

From Untitled Album

Annika's "How To" on Turkey Cookies!

Annika wanted to share her first tutorial with you all! How to make Turkey Cookies!

Look at these fun little guys!


What you will need:



The "How To"


Getting ready to travel!



ENJOY!

Tune back in on Thanksgiving Day!

Peter and the Wolf

A near-by college orchestra was putting on a concert for little kids in which "Peter and The Wolf" was included. We have a CD at home with this music/story on it and Annika enjoys listening to it, so we thought we'd take her to the concert. She enjoyed it a lot.

Before the concert they had a "petting zoo" where kids could see and touch the different instruments. She was a bit hestitant to try the instruments (but the place was VERY crowded and there wasn't much room). Daddy was able to talk her into trying out the harp.


They also had a table where the kids could make a mask for one of the character, I was a bit surprised when Annika said she wanted to make a duck mask and not the cat mask. I have to say she makes a pretty cute little duck! :)


Donovan came with us also and had a fun time hanging out with daddy.

What's up with Annika

First off, Check out this face!

This is the face of a little girl who finally uses the potty on a regular basis and went all day yesterday without any accidents (this included a dry diaper in the morning when she woke up and at nap time...she took a 3 1/2 hour nap)!!

Annika LOVES music! She's been playing her "violin" (saran wrap roll and a stick) all around the house. It's amazing the imagination she has (the stick than turns into a gun to go "Hunty" with)! :) I love to watch her! We've also started playing the Carnival of the Animals for her (classical music with no words) she's able to tell us what animal most of the songs are trying to portray.
Here's a short video of her playing and singing!

Last but not least we started working on the letter "A" work sheets. She knows her alphabet for the most part but she has enjoyed trying to write it. Here's a worksheet she did today: She traced the dots for the most part all by herself.

Here she's showing off the dress that mommy made for her from an old large womens skirt!

Colors, shapes, and potty training....

Here's a short video of Annika saying her colors and shapes. We are just about ready to add some more colors and shapes. I'm not exactly sure if she's ahead for two and a half year olds or right on target or even behind, but I think she's pretty smart!! :)

I didn't realize until I was almost done with the video that the top of her head got cut off for the shapes part. I thought about doing taping it over, but I love her responses in this video so I decided to just leave it and write an apology.



We've also been working on potty training the last couple of days....she's not doing too bad, we've had more times going on the potty than accidents today and she has had her fair share of candy for going on the potty today! We've still got a ways to go, but we are getting there slowly.

A Princess and her Little Cow (and a dog)!

Yep...Halloween!

Wind + Excitement + Sassy Little Princess = Not so great pictures!

These are the best I can do for Miss Annika.

Yes she's her mother's child...tennis shoes! :)

Can you just see the excitement??

I made her princess outfit (not to bad)...the shirt ended up a little big (but it was the first time I've made a shirt w/ sleeves) and it was nice b/c I was able to layer underneith it. Her skirt matches the curtains in my living room! The crown was one of my favorite things to work. I lined it with fleece so she could wear it over her ears if they got cold.

And last (but not least) my little cow! :) Sir Donovan....I didn't get any pictures of his little black nose, but I did find some face paint and put a bit on his nose to add to his costume (it was the perfect touch).

He wasn't quite sure what we were doing to him!

Then he got use to it.We were kind of bummed this year b/c the nursing home wouldn't let us in to hand out candy to the folks there b/c of the H1N1 going around...so we just ended up going to the outlet center.

I almost forgot the dog...no we don't usually dress him up, but my brother got this "costume" for my mom's dog, Lucy (but Lucy is to fat to fit in it). :)



Note: again you can click on the pictures to enlarge them!

4 Months

Van-man turned 4 months old on Monday, boy does time fly! He went in yesterday for his 4 month check up.

Stats:
Weight: 13lbs 14 oz (he's only in the 25% for weight)
Length: 24 3/4 inches (he's in the 50% for height)

I have to say with daddy being 6ft. 3in I always wondered why none of our kids were in higher percentages for height...I guess they get it from their 5ft 3in mom!

Dr. Wallace said everything looks good and he's healthy. Although he is going to be watching his left eye, he says it turns in a bit (daddy noticed this not to long ago). Dr. Wallace also said that it can be normal for that to happen at this age (but his turns in a bit more than usual). Maybe he'll end up having a lazy eye like his mama and his mama's grandfather (although I would like this not to happen). We're not to worried about it (and to be honest, I've never noticed it). :)

He also got 3 shots...which he did really well...he didn't start crying until the 2nd one (I'm sure he wasn't sure what happened the first time), but than he only cried for about 5 seconds (as long as it took the nurse to poke him the 3rd time and be picked up).

The life of Donovan:
Well not much to tell...he eats, sleeps, and gets regular diaper changes...

He enjoys people...he LOVES looking at faces!

He is also a sweet, happy little boy (very different from his sister at this age).

He is to the point that really the only time he really cries is when he is hungry (oh and for 5 seconds after he's done eating...I think he figures he can't be done eating already). :)

He just learned to roll from his belly to his back (which is helpful since he doesn't care to be on his belly much). :)

And this morning I had him on his blanket completely and I just sat and watched him get up on his feet (with his arms still on the grown) and scoot himself forward so more than half his body was off the blanket (I wasn't quite expecting him to do this at all). He'd have the scooting thing down for sure if he could figure out how to use his arms...I'm willing to wait for this though! :)

He's pretty steady sitting up also (well for a 4 month old). :) I can sit him up and he can sit for about 30 seconds on his own (before he folds up like a taco). :)

He also likes to lay on the ground and take EVERYTHING in! His head and eyes are constantly on the move.

That pretty much is the life of Donovan (with a little of sister mixed in also)! :)

Here's a few recent pictures: (note: you can click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Chewing on his bottom lip (a new thing)

Annika and Donovan (she loves reading to him)

Sitting up all by himself

Hanging on the floor

Sitting in the high chair like a big boy

We *had* Snow

Yep, that's right...snow. On October 12th we had snow. Annika enjoyed playing in it...so did Lincoln.





Sometimes I wonder who likes the snow more...Annika or Lincoln!



And since Van-man was sleeping he didn't get to go in the snow...but daddy did say he looked like a snowboarder in the new hat and pant set I made him today!





I was not quite ready for snow that early so I am glad that it didn't stick around and that we've had some warmer weather! :)

Vacation Photos

Here they are...sorry it took me so long. Enjoy!

The first set is from the Water Park (Great Wolf Lodge)

The next set is from the Aquarium:

The Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday. Annika had a great time!

The pictures at the top of our blog are a few that I was able to take! While I know you can see them up there. I'll repost the one to them together down here w/ a few more that way you can see it better! :)

First up: the two of them together! I LOVE this picture!!

We've decided to get a picture of this each year. Here is Donovan's first one!

Here are Annika's the past 3 years!

Playing in the corn!
Daddy and Donovan
Maybe it'll turn into a prince?!?!
Riding on a tractor!
Finding the perfect (for us) pumpkin!
We found it!