On the Move and Way Overdue

So for the past few weeks, Caleb has made humongous strides in walking. He is now walking with more confidence at common locations and random places. We find him walking more than crawling these days, especially at home. He would probably do it 100% of the time if he could just get himself up to a standing position from any location. Overall, we are super proud of him and super excited he is walking more. In fact, last night we took the kids to the MN Caucus (long story) but he was wanting to walk down the school hallways and got fussy if we picked him up. I was one very happy Mama :0)

After Dinner Silliness

Rockin' Out

I don't know if I would really consider Elyse and Caleb to be rockin' out, but that's what they think they are doing. Their keyboard and microphone has to be one of their favorite things to play with, especially together. Not the best video, but you get to hear their "beautiful" music that I hear everyday, enjoy :)

And yes, Elyse is wearing her gloves, scarf and hat. She didn't care it was -2 out without windchill, she wanted to go get new books at the library. Therefore, we trucked out in the cold today and honestly, it wasn't too bad. She just decided that she wanted to keep it on as accessories. My own personal, "Fancy Nancy".

Dancin' Feet ~ Part 1

Last Wednesday, Elyse began taking dancing class at a studio in town. It's called, "Dancin' Feet" in Andover if interested. It is a great, affordable, educational and fun place to learn dance. They meet every Wednesday for 45 minutes and do jazz, ballet and tap. She smiles the entire time she is there. Her class consists of only 3-4 year olds, and she is by far the youngest, but her teacher, Ms. Kristi says she dances, follows the rules and behaves no way like a three year old. We are very proud of her. By the way, I titled this one part 1, because her class goes until May, so I am pretty sure she will be improving and we will post more.

The video has no audio since we are outside the classroom looking through the window.

Love Those Kisses

I can't decide what makes me smile more, the kisses or noise? You decide.

Dada's Attacks & Kisses

Nate and Caleb right before Caleb's bath. Priceless laughs and love.

Nothing Really Exciting

So it has been pretty low key here in the Klauser household. We have spent much of the last few weeks trying to stay warm or doing our normal things. These include, story time, play dates, attending MOMS and going to Target. So unfortunately I don't have much exciting news to share. However, I did capture videos of my chatty-patty kids today. Elyse is just being flat out silly (stupid silly) and Caleb is smiling and cooing which I can't get enough of. Hope to have more exciting posts soon.

SOS Need More Good Books

Every week Elyse and I go to the library to check out new books. I LOVE that she enjoys being read to so much. I never object spending time sitting together and reading. I often even catch her reading to herself. The book in the video is Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. I don't know what it is about this book that brings her so much joy, maybe the simple pictures, the creative story line or the book is thick and small, but for this week, it ranks #1.


My friend Jenny posted this once and I thought it was a great idea. To list some of Elyse and my favorite children's books and then have you comment listing some of yours. There are many wonderful books out there that I often have not heard of. So would you please take a moment and let me know some of yours or your child's favorites?!?!

Here are just a few of our favorites:
-Bear's New Friend (and other Bear books) by Karma Wilson
-Maisy Goes to the Library (and other Maisy books)by Lucy Cousins
-Tiny Baby Jesus by Dandi Daley Mackall
-Fancy Nancy books by Jane O'Connor
-Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
-If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffee Numeroff
-I'll Always Love You by Robert Munsch
-In Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado
-Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
-The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
-Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
-Hugs and Kisses by Christophe Loupi
-Corduroy by Don Freeman
-There's An Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer
-Olivia series by Ian Falconer
-Curious George series by Hans Augusto Rey

Mini Picasso

Elyse received a paint set from her Nana and Papa for Halloween. She has spent many hours painting pictures. She really doesn't ever get tired of drawing, coloring or painting. I don't foreseeing her having any trouble not getting an "A" in art class while in school.

Mini Bio

For quite sometime now Elyse has known some basic facts about herself. I was finally able to capture it on video this past weekend. Guess all we have left now is her phone number, do I dare teach her that since she will probably share it with the world?!?!

You can't quite hear it, but she does say, "MN" for where she lives.

Box Fort

Nate and I have been finding fun ways to entertain Elyse. One fun activity Nate came up with was turning our dishwasher box into a fort. The two of them have spent many minutes playing, singing and having conversations in there. Definitely a special father-daughter moment.

Water Paint

I can not take credit for this cheap, no-mess, outdoor activity. My good friend, Sarah showed me yesterday while Elyse was playing with her son, Mason. It's outdoor water paint. Just put water in a bucket, go buy some cheap black sponge paintbrushes and let your child have some fun. Elyse really enjoyed it yesterday, and had just as much fun painting her sidewalk, car, and house today. Just wish I would have known about this activity sooner now that summer is almost over. Thanks Sarah!

Chocolate Milk

I believe one of Elyse's highlights to her day is when Nate gets home, because she knows she gets chocolate milk. Nate always has a glass before going to the gym, and sometimes just because. So whenever he heads to the fridge, Elyse comes running into the kitchen screaming, "Chocolate milk!" As you can see from the video, she makes sure to get every bit. Even if there's nothing left, she still tries to get more. I too enjoy chocolate milk, but not like Elyse does. In fact, I don't know if anyone loves it and gets as excited to drink it as she does.


Baby Boy Update: Lily is doing really well. She was dilated to almost 2 as of yesterday, but prefers not to be induced until at least a week. Her doctors say she is ready to go today, but she would like to wait and not rush baby. Therefore, if she hasn't gone by Tuesday, she will be induced then at 7:30 A.M. Please continue to pray for a safe and quick labor for her, as well as that God would provide her with comfort and healing of this process. We are very excited and have faith that God's plan is our plan. Who knows, our next post maybe to introduce our son?!?!

Singing Debut

Besides having such happy news on Thursday, it was a very gloomy summer day. We did make it to the park for a short time, but most of it was spent indoors. One popular activity was playing music and singing. So without further introduction, singing "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Jesus Loves Me" (short version, got side tracked a lot), it's Elyse:

Eidem Homestead Farm Dance

First off all credit for tonight goes to Jenny for finding out about the Eidem Homestead Farm and the great activities they host. Tonight Elyse and I joined Jenny and Aiden for a night at the farm. The kids danced to bluegrass music, however most of their time was spent petting and feeding the animals. There were goats, sheep, a calf, roosters, and 2 week old chicks. I wasn't able to capture a lot of good pictures of Elyse because she was way too excited and interested in what was going on to take a photo. We look forward to going back again next week! Thanks again Jenny!

Gum Addiction

I know I have a minor (okay, pretty severe) addition to chewing gum. I don't know exactly why, maybe it's the flavor, fear of bad breath, or because it prevents me from eating the entire day. Well Elyse quickly grew to know where our gum is located and that I always have it in my mouth. Even though she has never had it, as you can see from the video she's quite curious/determined to find out. I just hope she doesn't get an addition too ;) By the way, I have to apologize for the freaky hairstyles and outfits of Elyse and I in the video, it was getting late.

Happy Father's Day

I love you Dada! Thank you for being silly, gentle, and my Dada.
Hope you have a Happy Father's Day.
love you always, Elyse

Below is Elyse's special Father's Day gift to Nate:


Hope all Dads reading this have a great and blessed Father's Day too.

Bubble Fun

Elyse loves bubbles, period. Hence, I am so thankful that I spent a whopping $0.25 last year at a garage sale for this bubble machine. She just loves to watch them fly, and with it being so windy today, it's perfect. All I need now is to go stock up at Sam's Club for dish soap and batteries. I am refilling it constantly (soap and water is all it requires). The simple joys of summer.

Love of Puppies

I found this toy puppy for Elyse and she really has come to enjoy playing with it. It walks, sits and barks all by remote. I don't know if she believes it's real or not, but it's the only puppy that is going to bark here in this house for a few years.

Hide n' Seek

We spent much of our night playing hide n'seek. Even though Elyse cheats while counting (doesn't count all the way and peeks), she's got the right idea. Eventually she will want to hide and I will then get to decide how long I will count to before I go find her ;) (just kidding).