Life

I assure you that the lack of posts in the last couple months has not meant the lack in activity around here.  This video clip is just a little snippet of my life as of lately.  This little snippet perfectly represents what my life is like for most hours of the day.  I'm starting to wonder if I will survive three very rambunctious, destructive, energetic boys.  

My Life 2013-11-18 from Kara Scharrer on Vimeo.

While posting this short post, these three angel boys managed to break my living room lamp in half, pull down a curtain rod, and remove half the dough from the bread maker that was baking for dinner.  This is exactly why I haven't showered in two days, my house is a disaster, we will be eating frozen pizza for dinner once again, and I should not blog again for a very very long time.

Our Past Halloweens

I love to look back through old Halloween pictures.  It brings back so many good memories...

2007 - I will never forget Maida's first Halloween.  Erik was stuck at school all night Halloween night studying, but he came home quickly to see Maida in her costume and brought her to two of the neighbor's houses "trick-or-treating".  After Erik went back to school, I enjoyed the evening handing out candy with our duplex roommate's girlfriend because he was in medical school, too, and was at school studying.  It was actually a really fun, relaxing night for me!  For Erik, I'm sure it was a different story.

2008 - I will never forget how Maida loved going trick-or-treating!  We went with our church friends around the church neighborhood.  Maida would say, "Tu-tut," for "trick-or-treat," and then sign "thank you," after she got candy.  It was so funny to watch her run between houses, trying to keep up with her big friends, but she kept falling down every couple of steps.  Ha!  So cute!!

2009 - I will never forget Maida pulling Skogen all around the neighborhood in the wagon.  Even though he could walk, he had a fever of 103 and was very sick.  She insisted on pulling him around with her and wouldn't let us touch the handle of the wagon to help.  When we got home, she introduced Skogen to candy, sharing an orange Tootsie Pop with him!

2010 - Maida got to wear her costume to dance practice and then she got to wear it to preschool!  She loved being a lady bug, but was so mad at me for making her wear a long sleeve shirt under her costume (it was below zero!).  We trick-or-treated with our favorite neighbors on Halloween night and while we were gone, we left out a bucket and a sign that said, "take one please," but of course the entire thing was gone after just being out for a half hour!

2011 - I spent hours upon hours sewing these costumes and five minutes into trick-or-treating, Skogen puked all over the place.  Two days later, Maida got it, followed by Mommy and Klaasen.  It was the start of the HORRIBLE stomach flu season of 2011-2012.  Starting at Halloween and ending at the 4th of July, we had at least one person puking at all times.  It was SO BAD!!!

2012 - We had our first big Halloween party this year and it was a big hit!  We had tons of friends over to trick-or-treat and then more over for appetizers and hot drinks!  The kids loved being the Wizard of Oz characters and although Torsten dressed up, he didn't do any trick-or-treating.  It was way too cold to have a baby out!

2013- This is the first year Erik and I joined the kids in costume.  We will try to make it a tradition because the kids LOVED it!!  They didn't see our costumes until Halloween night and they were so surprised!  We had our second big Halloween party with 40 of our friends over.  It was a blast! 

Maida's Halloweens

Skogen's Halloweens

Klaasen's Halloweens

Torsten's Halloweens

Halloween 2013

The kids wanted to be super hero's this year.  So Erik and I decided to be super parents!

We had a big Halloween party with about 40 of our friends and their children over, but these are all the pictures we took of the night.  :(

October in Pictures

I ran to the neighbor's house for a minute and when I came back, this is what I was greeted with at the door.  Love those big smiles!

Torsten found some mud!

The pants were not salvageable.

We decided to give Summit away to a nice family who could take better care of him than we could.  Maida made a blanket, cut it in half, and she kept half so they could always think of each other when they slept with their blankets each night.

An hour before we were going to take Summit to his new owners, he ran away!  We spent the next six hours looking for him and never found him.

Maida fell in Target and busted her chin open.  Luckily, Erik was home sleeping after a night shift and I was able to wake him up to stitch her up instead of hauling four kids to the emergency room.  Skogen was Dr. Dad's helper, but turned pale and almost passed out when he tried to watch!

Erik stitching, the before and the after

The day after Summit ran away, we woke up to a phone call from the pound.  They had Summit!  We were able to deliver him to his new owners.

Home Depot shopping trip

Torsten LOVES playing outside and will let himself out to play whenever he feels like.  I have to really be paying attention!

Last crops from the garden

Erik's last kickball game of the season

Torsten's first burn  :(  I was boiling spaghetti sauce on the stove and it erupted and since he was hanging on my leg when it erupted, it splashed down onto his face and immediately melted a hole in his cheek.

Had to drive out in the country to pick up a friend who had a broken down car and this was my view on the way!

Torsten and his best friend, Nolan, cruising together

Open house at the fire station with friends

Skogen practicing spraying the fire hose

Klaasen spraying the fire hose

Maida spraying the hose

Torsten loved being able to do what his siblings were doing!

They got to go inside a firetruck!

And pretend to drive it

A firefighter started a firetruck up and showed us all the lights!

I hosted a scarf exchange and brunch for the ladies from church.

The little girls having brunch.

The little boys having brunch.

After we opened our scarves

I took the three oldest kids downtown Rochester to a fall festival while Erik kept Torsten at home since it was a little chilly and he needed a nap.

We met Haily and Nolan downtown for the festival!

Came home to a napping Torsten and Daddy  :)

It was so cute to watch Torsten wake up on Daddy. 

Erik went to a conference in Seattle and got a new hat!

All dressed up for his conference.  Lookin' good!

I had two little boys who insisted on sleeping with me when Daddy was gone.

When I picked Erik up from the airport, we grabbed some wings together!  It was fun to hear about his weekend in Seattle.

Playdate with Henry

Cousins Natalie and Sarena and Aunt Nancy came to visit for a weekend!

Erik bought me a new dress and modeled it for me.  :)

Klaasen brought this to me and said, "Mom, I made my very first K!"  I was so proud of him!

Watching some trampoline ski jumpers at the Mall of America Ski Expo

Mall of America with Grandma

Mommy and Klaasen on a train ride

Klaasn has recently started a tennis shoe collection.  This collection is made up of his two tennis shoes and everyone else's tennis shoes, too.  He, often times, displays this collection for us all to see.  On this particular day, Skogen helped him display the collection on the stairs.

Torsten discovered how fun it is to play on the tablets

Torsten and Nolan watching the movie, "Cars"

Our first snow!

Dr. Scharrer in his pink Sperry's.  Love him and his crazy style!

Skogen and Klaasen's arms.  Klaasen's arms are thicker and their hands are the same size!

Erik went to a work dinner and brought home a dessert for me!  True love.  :)

Erik took the boys to a ski exchange while Maida and I went to a ladies retreat with the girls from church!

Ladies Retreat

Ready to carve the pumpkin!

teamwork

We carve the exact same pumpkin every year.  I'm not quite sure the kids' fascination with it.

Trucnk-or-Treat at church

Erik and I made our own costumes this year and Erik helped measure the cape the night before.  He was real enthused about helping.  :)