Ozarks - Kluver Vacation 2010

The last week of July we packed up the car and headed south to the Lake of the Ozarks, staying in Linn Creek, just a few minutes from Osage Beach, MO. (Buddy & Raspberry spent the week with Grandma Karyn & Grandpa Ray.) It was a long car ride (longer coming home) but it was so worth it.
The house we stayed in, with 8 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a game room, a hot tub (which we never used) all on 3 levels (4 if you count walking down to the water.

Our room. WD checks out the view.

The view from our room. Not too shabby, but being out there was actually way better.

"The Kluver Kids" - Tricia, Cindy, Dave and Kathy.

SMORES TIME!!! Believe it or not - this is a smile! He was trying to say "CHEESE".

Monkey See and Monkey Do as I began calling them. William Duaine and his cousin who's just
weeks younger, Caeden Jennings Neumann, whom we don't see as much as we'd like since he lives in Arizona.

Warren, Caeden, Dave and William tubing.

Each night a different family made dinner. Wednesday night was Mexican Night with Amy & Dave. And I must say... We Rocked it!!! Fajitas (shrimp, chicken, and steak), black beans, refried beans, chips, quaso, tons of salsa options, lime, and cilantro! Oh - and with assistance from Bob & Cindy - MARGARITAS!!! My mouth is watering just thinking about it now!


Don & Caroline and all the grandkids (and 2 great grandkids).

Our Parenting Skills

Dave and I were sitting on the couch tonight with Goldfish crackers and all eyes were on us. WD laid down and rolled over for a cracker. Dave said "There must be something wrong with our parenting skills. We have 2 dogs who think they are kids and one kid who thinks he's a dog."

May 2010 (Part 1) - AKA: Glad we bought him a bed & Time with Uncle Mike

This first part is the "SURE GLAD WE GOT HIM A BED". As you will see - I spend a chunk of time just putting him back into his toddler bed - as he seems to prefer the floor. It all started at the beginning of May, shortly after we switched to a toddler bed (as he had been climbing out of his crib and we worried about safety). I went in one night to check on him to find him MISSING! And he wasn't under the crib sheet this time, he was in the corner of the room asleep behind the glider (see the first picture below). Scared the begeebers out of me at first! Now it's all too common.

By the vent once.

By the vent a 2nd time.

I've also found him right behind his door many times - makes it interesting trying to get inside his room. "Inside his room?" you might be asking, "Let sleeping toddlers lie." Well - that might be good but I'm an OCD-MOMMY - I have to go in, make sure he's covered, possibly remove the night-light (so it stays darker and he might sleep until at least 7am), and to make sure he's still breathing. Remember - this is the blog of first-timers! ;-)

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Then there was the time Uncle Mike visited from North Carolina. While William doesn't see Uncle Mike often, he sure LOVES when he does get to see him.

HUG!!!

Such a cheese-ball! But Uncle Mike is eating it up.

Play time!

Uncle Mike - it's almost bedtime - you're not suppose to be getting him wound up!!

WD's look is one of concentration. He's trying to get a group-hug going with Uncle Mike and Uncle Rob, squeezing them into the picture.

May 2010 (part 2)

This is just some of what we've been up to in May 2010, OK - not everything that we've been up to - but some highlights.

William tries out the new baseball equipment that Uncle Rob and the boys gave him. Dave rushed and got the camera as he thought for sure he'd be witnessing some injuries being inflicted on my knee caps. I was actually able to avoid getting hit even once!


William is totally a daddy's boy...until he doesn't feel good, or doesn't get his way.

Choo Choo at the zoo. We went to the zoo here in town over Memorial Day. WD was Mr. Independent...he wouldn't sit on mama's lap at all (but did hold my hand).

WD, his mama, and the llama.

Getting to know the fish.

WD's "cheese" for the camera (he's eating yogurt).

Lots of Big New lately

Sorry not much posted lately - but there's been a lot going on for us that's for sure.

I had a final recently and ended another class for graduate school (my 2nd class as a non-admitted student). Things went well - I think I should end with another A.

Next was getting some moles removed. 5 total, 4 on my face, all of which were either cosmetic or necessary as my OCD didn't allow me to leave them alone. That was interesting, as I went to a plastic surgeon to hopefully avoid scarring and I totally didn't realize what I was in for (my only previous mole removal was a "scraping" ending in a band-aid). I got shots in every location (including the rim of my eye-lid) this mixed with my nerves, making me very hot and nauseated. I thought I might get sick on the surgeon! When it was all said and done I ended up with 12 stitches in my face, and 5 in my leg. A LOT more than I thought I was going to end up with (he never mentioned stitches at all and I never realized it would result in any).

When I got home that day I had news in the mail that I had officially been accepted into the University of Iowa's Masters in Social Work Graduate Program (after a long application and writing process). I should have been really excited but I think I was just drained from the procedure and also a little let down that the back-up plan I'd created wasn't going to come to fruition. I'm more excited and optimistic now.

While WD has been in his toddler bed for a while now and doesn't get out as much at night, he has mastered the ability to play for hours in it without going to sleep. He didn't go to be last night until about 10:05! Then he was up at 6:45am (when usually we like him to be asleep by 8:15pm). This has created a temperamental toddler (and not just from his age but from lack of sleep). At least he cute...

Then last Friday (4/16) I had my follow-up appointment at the plastic surgeon's office where I was to get my stitches out (YEA!). Well - he stopped in the room long enough to tell me that it was a good thing I came in as one of the moles (the one over my right eye) wasn't a cyst but was skin cancer.

He said he's send the nurse in to remove my stitches and then he left. HUH?!?!? Yeah - that was it. Talk about him not SENSING OTHER'S NEEDS!!! Wow - thank goodness for the nurse as she told me more about it. It was Basal Cell Carcinoma, that they had clean margins so they were confident it was all contained in the tissue they removed (from my eyebrow). She told me that this would make me more apt to develop further skin cancer in the future as compared to someone who has never had skin cancer before.

In shock I went right to Walgreen's and got Mederma for my scars and high SPF sunblock for all over. I called Dave and he was just as shocked as I was, but it apparently has made him take a look at his behaviors as well as we are now in the market for big-brimmed hats for the entire family.

God Bless my cousin Kristan, she found out and told me under no circumstances am I allowed to use her tanning bed ever again. :-) Thanks Kristan - but even more so - I hope this gets you (and Cass and Brenna) to take a look at your behaviors! I haven't used a tanning bed regularly for at least 6 years, and I have been more diligent with sunscreen in the last 2-3 years. I even wear makeup with SPF 15-25 and use a moisturizer with SPF 15-25 in it. This cancerous spot I have had for less than 6 months! I just thought it was an ingrown hair from having my eyebrows waxed, but it wouldn't go away and I couldn't leave it alone. That's the only reason I wanted to have it removed - so that I didn't keep picking at it. Neither my GP or the Plastic surgeon thought anything of it, even saying that it could be a cyst.

Clearly if it can happen to me - it can happen to anyone - ESPECIALLY SOMEONE WHO TANS REGULARLY!!! So please be careful and cover up!!!

So yeah - we've been a little busy - or at least preoccupied. Hopefully things will be calmer this summer... yeah right.

Pasty. It's the new black... at least for us.

Easter Egg Hunt

The weekend before Easter - the Easter Bunny made a stop at Ray & Karyn's farm and had an egg hunt for all the kids. The sun shone, but the wind made it a bit chilly. Just who was that masked bunny??? Maybe we'll find out next year. :-)

WD checks out the Easter Bunny. He wasn't as shy or scared as some of the other kids. Is that good or bad???

Front L-R= Cael Scholefield (friend), Rowan Forsythe, Kael & Ella (on lap) Hutchinson, Jared Patterson (seated), Sutton Forsythe. Back L-R= Pete Sarver (friend), Amy behind the EB, and
Tony Leshan.

WD's Week of Firsts

This past week has been one of firsts, and boy have they been doozies for us. On Friday 03-12-10 WD learned that he could get out of his crib. He was so proud of himself he was more than happy to demonstrate his technique upon request (see video). So Friday night Dave turned his crib into a toddler bed (has a 1 foot railing to keep him from rolling out, but he can get in and out on his own with less danger).

That same night we also discovered that WD could open doors all by himself as he would let himself out of his room when he was suppose to be going to sleep. Now his bedroom door has a childproof knob to at least slow him down, and a raised baby gate waiting for him if he does manage to get it open. Bedtimes have been a big challenge since this change, and I now seem to have a permanent roost outside his door at night to try and keep him in his bed. We went from a 7:30 bed time to a 9:45 bedtime. And this morning he was up at 5:55am kicking at his door to get out.

Another first was Tuesday 03-16-10 at his sitter's house she went in to get him up from his nap to find that he had gotten out of his pack-and-play (no surprise there) but then managed to strip, getting his diaper off and smearing poop all over the room. When Dave picked him up that evening and was told this - he said he didn't even know what to say to her. I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the thought. He's certainly keeping us on our toes.