The Kuchenbecker's: Winter continues....

Here we are in late February and another big snowstorm is moving through MN. The kids were just getting excited to ride their scooters in the driveway again and ditch the winter coats. Oh well, I figure if it's going to be cold it might as well snow. I am thankful we are not traveling too. Nick just returned from a 4-day work trip to New Orleans. He said there hundreds of bars (and strip clubs) on Bourbon Street alone. We were supposed to visit there the week Hurrican Katrina hit but that trip obviously was cancelled. I do want to get there someday because the South is so different from the Midwest and it's nice to check-out into a new place for a while. Nick offered for me to join but I didn't feel like leaving the kids right now. With all the sickness around it made me nervous, plus I didn't have the energy to deal with packing and only the smaller aircraft fly direct to New Orleans. So sad that I don't trust the small planes, but something about the big 747's makes me feel safer. Weird.

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The kids really enjoyed Valentine's Day this year. Nick had them convinced that the "Valentine's Guy", a.k.a. Cupid, was bringing them gifts. So naturally after they opened their gifts they wanted to know what holiday was next. So we discussed the Easter Bunny and Carson has asked every day when the Easter Bunny is coming. J.P. started swim lessons and is doing awesome without us in the water. He has a ton of confidence to swim on his own and is even learning to swim with his face in the water and take breaths. You can tell he is maturing a lot right now and likes to achieve "big boy" feats on his own. After years of putting his shoes on and zipping up his coat, he is finally asking to do it himself. I have to remind myself to stop helping him because he is not so little anymore. Plus, we see Carson starting to be more independent because of what J.P. is doing.

Choo Choo Bob's Train Store

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Carson is potty-training very well. I still have him in a pull-up but he goes whenever we take him. I venture to say he's 50% there. He makes us laugh because when he poops he calls it a hot dog in the potty. He is officially 2 and a half now and I registered him for preschool at SACS beginning in September. He is excited and already wants to wear a backpack around the house. We decided to keep J.P. in preschool one more year. So Carson will go in the morning two days/week and then J.P. will go in the afternoons three days/week. Plus, J.P. will be having lunch and recess with the Kindergartners so he will be gone for 4 hours! It's crazy how fast these kids are growing up.

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The kids are continuing to enjoy all the old movies from when Nick and I were little. So far we've watched Howard the Duck, E.T., Sandlot, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Smokey and the Bandit, Teenwolf, Back 2 the Future, and the Karate Kid. Another achievement is we finished all the Legos that Santa brought finally. It only took us two month to finish the fire station, house, three rescue vehicles, and two big firetrucks! Mommy is done with Legos for a while.