Home of Douglas Loots

Hard to believe the month of May is almost gone. It’s been a really fun month, with so many activities to talk about, most I won’t even be able to write about here…

May started off with Brayton and Lauren going to Grandma Cindy’s and Grandpa Gordon’s for the weekend so that Daddy could go and play rugby in the All Iowa tournament. We had a great time, the Des Moines Old Boys went 2-1 for the weekend. Actually losing our first game in a couple of years. The third picture is me running with the ball on Sunday against Central College which was basically their football team disguised as a rugby team. The Des Moines Old Boys turned out to be a bit too savvy for these youngsters as we won 54 -10. Nick and I got to play together quite a bit in this game so that was really fun for me (I think Nick had a good time too.).

The next weekend we concentrated on getting our garden in. Brayton was a great help to us, moreso this year than last. Last year the corn got scattered all about and didn’t really stay in the rows too well. Brayton also got to help plant the cucumbers, cantaloupe, green beans, peas, tomatoes, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. He got to help me harvest a bunch of asparagus this year too.

Sometime during the month Colette found 2 tu-tus (not sure how to spell tu-tu) at a garage sale. The kids both loved them, especially Lauren. She dances around in her tu-tu almost every day. The arrival of May means lots of outdoor activities and that means we get to wear fun summer clothes and put the kids in funny hats and Lauren in pig tails sometimes. What fun.

May 21st was my 35th birthday. Amazing how the years fly by and I still feel like I should be 25 years old. I suppose someday I’ll be 80 and still think in my mind I should be 25.

Our neighbor Jenna Rogers 4th birthday also came in May. She goes to Chow’s gymnastics studio for dance and gymnastics lessons. Chow was the coach of the US Women’s Olympic Team at the Beijing Olympics last summer and also the coach of Shawn Johnson, a gold and multiple silver medalist. Jenna’s folks paid to reserve the entire gym for a Saturday afternoon to have her birthday party (wonder what that cost?) and Brayton got invited. He got to jump on all the trampolines, swing on the rings, do the balance beam, and jump off a high tower (about 6 ft high) into a “pool” of foam blocks. Jenna’s dad is the one helping Brayton on the rings. I think he had a great time as attested to by the video. We’ve thought about enrolling both kids in the programs there (they can start as young as 18 mos), we’re still thinking about it but it isn’t cheap. I don’t think Chow is handing out discounts these days, considering every gymnastics wannabe is moving to West Des Moines to get coached at his gym.

Last but not least, Colette has been trying to teach Lauren her ABC’s. She’s not the ready performer in front of the camera that Brayton is. She does pretty well when the camera’s off. She gets all the way to Q then seems to forget what comes next. In the video she gets to G then decides she’s done.

May was a very fun month for us, the kids are really growing up and learning to play well with each other. It’s been a good ride, especially since I didn’t have any school to worry about. But that changes again next week. Oh well.

Today is Lauren Claire’s 2nd birthday. It’s very hard to believe just two short years ago we went to the hospital to be blessed with such a wonderful little girl. She is growing up to be daddy’s little angel (and sometimes devil).

To start the day, we took Lauren to portrait innovations for her 2 year pictures. Little did we know, she was in no mood to take pictures. After lots of coaxing and a couple packs of smarties (for her and Brayton who actually wanted to have his picture taken today) we got enough decent shots to make the trip worthwhile. The first picture is one of them from this mornings adventure.

After a quick trip to Jordan Creek to play at the park, we came home and ate lunch and got ready for naps. While the kids were napping, Colette baked the duck cake that Lauren had chose as her birthday cake. It actually turned out really well, it looked like a duck coming out of the cake pan, and once Colette got done frosting it really looked like a professionally decorated cake. Good Job Colette!

Lauren was really excited for her cake (and so was Brayton). While the kids were napping, Grandma and Pappa Anderson arrived, and an hour or so later so did Uncle Matt and Aunt Audra. After waking up, I asked Lauren what she wanted for dinner, of course the answer was PIZZA! So we played outside a bit, Colette went and picked up pizza from Nick & Willies and we had a pizza picnic outside. Once the pizza was gone, the kids opened up gifts from Matt and Audra and Colette and I. Brayton was trying to open them himself, I literally had to restrain him. Lauren got lots of fun new toys for her birthday. Matt and Audra brought a shovel, rake, and watering bucket for the sandbox and garden. We combined all the money from Grandpa Gordon and Grandma Cindy, Ryan & Mikhael, Grandma & Grandpa Hansen, and Colette and I to buy Lauren a new play house outside. The kids both had a ball playing in it this afternoon. After pizza and playing we had birthday cake and by 8pm they were both about cashed out.

The first film clip isn’t actually from today, but from the other day when Lauren decided she didn’t want to eat dinner at the kitchen table. She went into the foyer and proceeded to push the kids table and both little chairs into the kitchen to eat. I turned on the camera and only got a second of her moving the whole table, but the funniest part of the whole video is when I asked Lauren if I could help her, she abruptly replied “NO!” and that has been the new thing lately. She really is learning to speak her mind, with authority.

A few nights ago, I was trying to get Lauren to come to me to rock before putting her in bed. Colette and Brayton were already in Brayton’s room and getting ready for bed. Lauren was milling about in the hallway as I was trying to pursuade her to come into her room so we could read books and rock before going to bed. She obviously didn’t want anything to do with this, so she kept wandering the hallway stopping to look in the doorway at me. After having enough of this I got a little more stern with my request to her to come in or she was going to begin losing her books (for not obeying daddy). I said, “Lauren, come in here so we can read books and get ready for bed.” She walked about four steps into the room, stopped, put her hands on her hips and shouted “WHY!”. My oh my, I thought, she’s not even two and already we’re getting this. She said it in the same tone she said “NO!” in the video clip. It’s quite funny really (the way she interjects), but I didn’t show my hand to let her know inside I was really laughing.