Will's Little Surprises

Over the last couple months, Will has been leaving us little surprises.  Good surprises.

One day at lunch I made my name out of pretzels.  Will was finishing up his lunch when I had to go upstairs to change Wyatt.  When I came back down, my name was rearranged to this (he went and got a checker for the dot!):

He still spends a lot of time coloring and drawing.  It always makes us feel special when he addresses some of his drawings to us!  He has been very good at imagining what something looks like and then drawing it.

Will's Castle

Barge on the water while it's raining



A Christmas tree with a snowman cutout, colored and pasted on the top



He also loves to surprise us by leaving us something under our pillow.  He made this one extra special by putting a ribbon on it!



a tree and Will



Will surprised us with this car, he's never drawn a person in one before, or holding a steering wheel!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for Thanksgiving because it is the one time during the year that it's pretty much mandatory for all Schnaubelt family members to attend.  Thanksgiving has turned into THEE Schnaubelt holiday.  We are a simple family and don't go wild with Christmas gifts but we use Thanksgiving as a  time that we show our gratitude and love towards each other.  On Thanksgiving, we traditionally give our parents Christmas gifts and all the grandkids pick names for a gift exchange.  In the past, the adults have picked names or done a White Elephant.  This year, we did a white elephant again, which is always a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, we were missing my brother Mike and his family as well as my brother Tom and his family.  Fortunately, we were joined by Jeff's dad and my cousin from Michigan, Mike Emaus, and his family.  I remember Mike Emaus being around a lot when I was growing up and think of him much like a brother.   It's pretty amazing since he always lived in MI and we always lived in WI.  He always has a positive attitude about things, a HUGE warm heart, a smile on his face, and I refer to him as my "crazy cousin Mike Emaus" since he will do just about anything!
Our family is big.  And it's getting bigger - which I love.  I love big family gatherings but it's getting difficult for anyone to host and ensure everyone is comfortable!  A couple years ago we rented a large house near Two Rivers, WI.  Almost everyone had their own bedroom and there was plenty of space to sprawl out.  I loved the rental house because 1) it was right on beautiful Lake MI  2) it was in a new location so there was a lot to explore 3) it was a 4 day weekend with family with no pressure on a family host!
My brother Jeff hosted Tday last year and we hosted this year because we knew not all siblings were able to attend.  I look forward to the Tday where everyone can attend and we rent a neutral location again! 

Tday always gives lots of opportunity for Girl Talk!

Caroline and Wyatt

Diane Emaus and Noreen

What is a Schnaubelt get together without Hearts?

Tom Leiting looking comfy after a big meal!

Popper...always asking for trouble!

Halloween 2010

Halloween is one of our favorite events each year.  Will is always so excited about the Halloween season and loves to find "scary guys!"  He showed Wyatt all the ghosts, goblins, and monster decorations in the neighborhood so that whenever we drove somewhere, Wyatt would always say in a voice attempting to be scary, "SCARY GUYS!"

The boys had 3 dressup opportunities this year: their babysitter's party, Sophie's 5th birthday party (costume party) and trick or treating on Halloween.

Will had 4 costumes to choose from and he especially loved the viking outfit my mom found for him.  It was perfect as it fit right in with the "How to Train your Dragon" movie, which is one of his favorites.  He was a viking for the 2 parties and an astronaut for trick or treating.

Wyatt was a pirate and fit that description perfectly!  It was cold trick or treating and Wyatt spent most of his time in the wagon covered by 3 layers of blankets.  But Will was a totally different story.  I've never seen someone so excited!  He really got the concept this year.  He RAN from house to house in our entire neighborhood and never stopped.  I thought he'd slow down toward the end but he never did.  After being out for a little over an hour, we came in for some dinner.  There was 15 minutes left of trick or treat time, and Will was ready to hit the 2 roads in the neighborhood that we skipped.  So off we went, Will and Mom running to see how many houses we could hit before the 7pm deadline.  We nearly made it to every house, and even though it was only a small portion of the neighborhood, we bagged almost as much candy as we did the first hour.  People were POURING their left over candy into Will's bag.  Now, I certainly didn't want all that candy in the house, but it was fun watching Will's eyes light up to all that extra candy he bagged!  I'm sure Wyatt will be ready next year to run with Will!

Daycare Friends (Will in his Viking costume)

Will loved pumpkin carving this year, he would have carved 10 pumpkins if we let him.  He was excited to eat some of the pumpkin this year!

Will's 4th Birthday

Our world changed and brought us indescribable joy 4 years ago.  We are so proud (and entertained daily) of the boy Will is becoming.  It is funny what happens to you as you grow older - you don't care at all about your own birthday but put everything into your children's birthdays.
I was looking forward to Will’s 4th birthday as much as he was! He started his countdown to his bday sometime around July and was so excited for it. He has been asking to invite his friends from daycare over since his last birthday so they were invited this year to what has historically been just a family party. With just family, we usually end up with around 25-30 people, which can get a little chaotic and doesn’t provide good visiting time with great grandparents or the great aunts and uncles that we don't get to see as often. So this year, we asked Great Grandma Meier, Aunt Barb and Joe to come over for dinner/cake the night before. We really enjoyed the one on one time we got with them.

 (you can see some cowboy decorations prepped for the next day's party in this picture!)

We also continued a tradition started last year of Will’s cousin EJ spending the night on his bday. This year EJ spent the night before Will’s bday. I think Will was just as excited about their sleepover as he was about his party! These two really love each other and had lots of fun together.

Since Will was so excited to have his daycare friends over, I felt the first pressure of my son expecting his mom to pull off something cool. So this was the first year I decided to do a theme party (well all the other years defaulted to a football theme because it was football Sunday). Will loves to play cowboy so our theme was pretty natural - and hey, Jeff and I could finally dust off our cowboy hats and put them to use!  Will's invites were Wanted Photos with a pic of him, daddy's cowboy hat, and Will's toy pistol.  We cut them out with jagged edges, rolled them up and tied with raffia.  We hand delivered the invites to those we would see and emailed the rest.

We had several appetizers for everyone to munch on including “ranch” dip, beer cheese dip, giddy up guacamole, salsa, and an artichoke cheese dip (recipe credit to Jennifer Schnaubelt – so good!)

I made my first shape cake and although it was intimidating, it wasn’t that hard and tasted great! I used my Grandmother’s devil’s food cake recipe.

For each of the 15 kids, I made a “wanted” photo and taped them up throughout the house. This caused a lot of giggles for the adults and kids!

Instead of goodie bags, I had each child earn their cowboy outfit by completing 4 games:

Tin Can Shoot Out earned them cowboy silly bands

Pin the Badge on Sheriff Will (FedEx Print Shop blew this photo up for me for $7) earned them a sheriff’s badge

There’s a Snake in my Boot! earned them a hankerchief

10 gallon toss earned them their cowboy hat

Thanks to my brother Jeff, niece and nephew Amanda and Steven, and friend Kristina for manning each game post for me!

We also had a trail mix station where the kids could fill their bags with chex cereal, peanut m&ms, chocolate chips, pretzel goldfish, cinnamon teddy grahams, and mini marshmallows. I had intended for these to go home with the kids but instead they were inhaled soon after they made their mix!

Jeff made an old west town out of appliance boxes. The jail was the favorite hangout. Boxes really are a kid's favorite toy.

I made some cardboard stick horses for a pony race. I ran out of time so their hair is a little thin – but at least you can tell it’s a stick horse, right? My brother Ed found where my inspiration for the horse cake came from!

The kids had 2 official races

Then the adults had a race!

It was a lot of fun and a big success in Will’s eyes!

Will’s artistic gift

Will has been quite the artist in the last year. He learned how to pretty much color within the lines by 3 ½. He will spend the majority of his free time sitting at the kitchen table drawing, coloring, cutting and taping. He also has quite the imagination with some of the things he draws. A few days ago, he proudly showed me this picture. I said, “Oh this is cool, can you tell me who all these people are?” I thought I already knew and expected the dark one with what looked like 7 heads was going to be some crazy monster amongst us that Will and Daddy would protect us from. Before you look at the picture, let me also tell you that we had our air ducts (vents) cleaned out a couple weeks prior to when Will drew this picture.

Will tells me who the people are (from right to left):

Wyatt (obvious)

Will (obvious)

Air Duct Cleaner Guy (huh? How did he make the picture?)

Mommy (WHAT?!!!!????)

Daddy (pretty obvious)

Assuming he had pointed to the wrong ‘object,’ I said, “Oh yeah the air duct cleaner guy…the one with all the stuff coming from his head like the spinny thing he used to clean the ducts?”
“No, mommy, that’s you…THIS is the air duct cleaner guy” as Will points to the normal looking person to the right of the crazy looking person.
I said, “What? Why does mommy have 7 heads and 6 legs?????”
“Those aren’t heads, mommy, those are ‘shooter guys’”
Well, at least it’s sunny out in his picture!

70 Yrs Old! & NO BANANAS!

Wow. My dad’s 70! He is in great shape and the smartest man I know. He started Weight Watchers with my mom this past winter while they were snow birding in Texas. He has now lost 50 lbs and is at his lowest weight ever in probably 20+ years. Not only is he eating right, he’s exercising. He swims at the gym a few times a week in addition to his work on the tree farm. Even on vacation, he keeps to his regimen and adds biking and walking. I’m very proud of him. He’s had some health concerns and this is the best thing he could be doing for himself and his family who want him around for a LONG time!!!


Dad’s birthday was officially August 7, however, most of the family would be together in Grand Haven this past July. As I’ve come to be known in my family as the “get together planner,” I started plotting a surprise celebration for my dad 5-6 mos ago to take place in Grand Haven, MI. With the help and coordination from everyone, we had a great day planned for him. My dad isn’t a fan of the beach, so he usually sets the camper up in Grand Haven, stays a day, then returns home while mom stays 2 weeks. He’ll come back to pick her up and hang out with the family for a few days. The only hard part of planning the surprise was getting dad back in Grand Haven in time for the Charter Boat fishing. It came down to mom sacrificing her Grand Haven time by making a deal with him: Dad comes back by Thursday (celebration was on Friday), and she’ll leave GH 3 days early to go camping around the top of Lake Michigan (one of their favorite things to do). Thanks for making the deal, mom! It worked! Dad hitched a ride with Jeff to Grand Haven and they arrived Thursday night around 9pm.

July 16 was the day of his celebration and started with a 5AM wakeup to go Charter Boat fishing with his 5 sons: John, Jeff, Tom, Ed, and Jeff Leiting. Unfortunately, Mike was not able to make it. The charter boats have been coming back with an average of 13 fish a trip. We were counting on a large catch because Lake Michigan fish were the MAIN COURSE for dinner and we had to feed over 30 people! That day, the water was the roughest it had been since we arrived in GH. I was naseaus just watching the charter boats leave the channel! We packed a cooler full of beverages and goodies for the guys on their trip. At the last minute, thinking there weren’t very many healthy food choices in there, I threw in a bunch of bananas. Now, if you are an avid boater, here is where you are GASPING at the thought of me throwing bananas in the cooler for the boat. I, obviously, was completely ignorant to one of the most important rules of thumb: BANANAS ARE BAD LUCK ON BOATS! As the boat was heading out of the channel, the captain became aware of the bananas and told them to throw them overboard!

And so I am blamed along with the bananas for the low count of fish that were brought back. Here is an account of their fishing trip:
Dad – first up, fish on, line snapped
Dad – up again, fish on, at the same time, another fish was on, John was up at the same time as dad reeling in their fish.
Dad caught the first King Salmon
John pulled his in almost at the same time, 2nd King Salmon
Jeff S – line snapped
Tom – difficulties reeling in his fish, must not have had enough muscles to pull his in
Ed – line got tangled
Jeff L – line got tangled
Dad – lost another one
Ed – brought in the last one

Here is a short video of “little-muscled” Tom trying to reel in his fish (this is from my brother's fb page so not sure if everyone can view?:
Tom's Reel Problems

I believe there were a few more tangled and snapped lines in there but I was not on the boat and am trying to recall what I heard. The captain was disappointed they had such horrible luck with tangled and snapped lines – and of course, he blamed the bananas. If they didn’t have all the tangled and snapped lines, they most likely would have come in a dozen fish. An average King Salmon feeds 10-12 people. We had over 30 for my dad’s party at Ole Boys’ Brewhouse that night. I told the boys, we need at least 3 fish to feed everyone, and they complied with a total catch of exactly 3. My husband recently found this website about bad luck fishing: Fishing Superstitions
Shockingly, the website highlights 3 of the biggest reasons fishermen have bad luck and they had ALL 3!
#1 Bad Luck Omen is a woman on board (their first mate was a girl named Aly!) #2 Bad Luck Omen - Bananas. #3 Bad Luck Omen - Never fish on Friday's (they did)

After some beach time, we all met at the Brewery for dinner where Dad was surprised by extended family and some good Michigan friends waiting to celebrate with him. My mom baked his favorite and her best Texas sheet cake. The weather was perfect for a party on the deck, and we even had a great one man band playing for us who was great acknowledging dad’s 70th birthday. It was a lot of fun.

Here’s a short video my brother Jeff put together of the great day: Dad's 70th Birthday Celebration

I Know I'm not Supposed to Compare Children, BUT...

In my Memorial Day post, I described how Wyatt moved away from his bedtime bottle and how we were awaiting his next major accomplishment which I thought would be at least 6 months away: Potty Training or Moving into the Bottom Bunk. When Wyatt was born, I went through the guilt and fears that I’m assuming every parent goes through with multiple children, “How am I going share my attention equally?” “How can I spend enough time teaching both of them?” “The second child will get the short end of the learning stick because there’s no way I can devote the amount of time with him as I did with the first...”


We have had to make a concerted effort to sit down with Wyatt to read/teach him things. It’s even harder because this boy does not like to sit, he is always on the move. We’re lucky if Wyatt makes it through 2 baby books without squirming out of our laps! I figured Wyatt would probably learn things at a later age than Will did and his milestones may be later as well because he’s not an only child like Will was during this age. However, Wyatt is doing just fine by his independent little self. He’s showing us that he doesn’t need coddling or lots of demonstration time. I have underestimated his intelligence most of his life. He is one smart, mischievous kid which has proved to be an exhausting combination!

We just returned from a 2 week vacation camping in Grand Haven (GH). I brought the pack n play just in case but I had planned on not using it because it would be too bulky in the camper and a hassle to put up and down twice a day. We rented a camper that had 2 bunk beds in the back. Wyatt thought this was really cool. I’m realizing he LOVES doing things the big boys can do. The first night, he got out of his bottom bunk about 25 times at bedtime. After the first few times putting him back in bed, he knew he needed to stay there, but thought the game was fun. I’d hear his little footsteps inside the camper, I’d go inside, and find him running back to his bed climbing back in with that devilish grin he always has when he knows he’s doing something he shouldn’t be. The second night, it took about 10 times chasing him back into bed before he finally stayed there and fell asleep. The third night, he didn’t get out of bed at all and fell right asleep! This was a great lesson in persistence!

He did great the rest of the 2 weeks sleeping in his big boy bed. This past weekend when he needed a nap at my mom’s, we put him in the double bed and he went right to sleep without getting out of bed once. I was so impressed. Will has a bunk bed in his room and although we don’t need Wyatt to move out of his crib yet, I think we will allow him to sleep in Will’s bunk bed 1-2 times a week to keep him used to the big boy beds.

So, my theory in my Memorial Day post about potty training Wyatt would be easier than keeping him in bed was shot down. However… on to Potty Training!

While in Grand Haven, I was in the public showers with both boys. I was optimistic to say the least that I thought I could get them both showered along with myself getting clean. HA! Wyatt spent half his time slip and sliding on the gross floor, and Will screamed the entire time. Then there was the panic of Wyatt deciding he had to poop. While I was bathing Will, I looked over my shoulder to see Wyatt in a full squat, butt cm from the floor, face flushed, and then the grunts came. I will stop right here and reinforce to all of you that ever use a public shower, please wear flip flops and never touch the floor! Yuck. So, I put him on the toilet in the shower and he went #1 and #2! I was very proud of him as Will took awhile (2 weeks) to actually “do” anything when sitting on the toilet. Then I thought, yup, typical Wyatt – thinks he can do anything.

Then this little boy surprised the heck out of me when 3 days ago, he woke up, we read a story, I put him on the changing table to change him and he started saying “poo-poo.” Wyatt has this intense way of staring into your eyes when he REALLY wants you to understand something. I said, Do you have to go poo poo? He nods. Now I could have brought him to the toilet to sit and wait for him to go but we had to get to the babysitter’s house so I could get to work and I didn’t have 10 minutes to spare. Sure enough, he pooped within 5 minutes and I was up changing his diaper again.

The next day, he did the same thing. So I asked him, do you want to go on the big boy toilet like Will does? He nods. We go in, without a potty seat, and sit him backwards on the toilet. There was no waiting or reading a book to him while we wait for “something” to come out. The little man did his business - #1 and #2!! Again, so proud! He was, too!

Yesterday, same thing – but no #2. We hit the potty twice yesterday before I had to be in to work in the afternoon. Immediately, I start thinking, wow – could I actually have a break in diapers before we have a hopeful 3rd child? Is he ready for this? Am I ready for this? I don’t know why, but I feel as though there’s some mental preparation for a parent to start potty training as well. Maybe it’s the watchful eye that is needed for the next month or all the cleaning I’m in for! Do I need to bring out the potty chair or potty seat? He seems to be doing just fine sitting backwards? I can’t help but tell myself not to get too hopeful that this is going to be the end of the diapers for Wyatt…I just feel I can’t be this lucky, his readiness was unexpected.

I know we aren’t supposed to compare our children’s milestones because they will vary, but I can’t tame my curiousity, so here’s how Will and Wyatt compare with some of the big milestones:

Rolling Over
Will – 4 mos
Wyatt – 4.5 mos

First Tooth
Will – 4 mos
Wyatt – 5 mos

Sitting up
Will – 6 mos
Wyatt – 6 mos

Crawling
Will – 8 mos
Wyatt – 9 mos

First words
Will – 9 mos
Wyatt – 10 mos

Walking 100% (all walking/no crawling)
Will – 13.5 mos
Wyatt – 12.5 mos

Gave up the Bedtime Bottle
Will – 13 mos
Wyatt – 16 mos

Sit at the table without highchair
Will – 20 mos
Wyatt – 18 mos

Moved out of the crib
Will – 2 yrs 2 mos
Wyatt – 2 weeks in GH at 18 mos, ready now (18 mos)

Started using the Toilet
Will – 2 yrs 5 mos
Wyatt – 18 mos

If Wyatt continues to potty train, I guess we’ll be ready for baby #3 since my checklist will be complete: Move Wyatt out of crib and potty train!