Sleeping

Audrey came to our bedroom the other morning and said, "hurry, gus is falling off the bed!" Thing is he sleeps like this every night for most of the night. It strikes me funny everytime.

The Newest Gruber Baby

Welcome to the Family, Oscar!

We were starting to worry that our kids would never have any more cousins other than Nick in Mason City. Finally Paul's sister Angela and her husband Nick stepped up to the plate and brought home a puppy. He's a toy rat terrier named Oscar. Okay, so maybe not a human cousin, but he's still so much fun to play with.

Congratulations Angela and Nick on your recent arrival.

Turkey Day

We spent the holiday this year at Jen's family in Mason City. Here Paul, Audrey and Gus keep Papa's chair warm while he and Oma are busy in the kitchen.

Haley and Nick enjoying a fabulous meal.

Carlisle Pride 2006

Congratulations to Paul's Over The Hill co-ed rec soccer team. They had a great fall season. 

Cat Attack

Gus Loves Sylvia and Sylvia loves Gus. You would think she would run for cover when this little guy shows up, but she's so starved for attention she'll just lay down and take the hair pulling, body squishing love of a 2 year old any day.

Birthday Photos

Happy Birthday Gus

He's Two!

We celebrated Gus' b-day with friends and family.

The theme was sugar 'em up and let 'em run,

which worked perfectly for our mixed age group of kids.

The Thinker Stinker

Yep, it's potty training time. Gus turns two on August 23rd. He was all for it for about 3 days.

Model Behavior

Audrey Loves Shopping and she Loves the camera!

Look Out Hollywood!

Clowning Around

My theatre buff, Haley, found last year's Halloween make-up and transformed herself into Boots the clown. She entertained her brother and sister with silly clown antics. It scared her dad. He has a thing about clowns and spiders.

5TH GRADER!!

Haley started 5th grade on August 23rd. This means that she now takes the bus from Easter Lake to Carlisle, changes buses and rides on to the neighboring town of Hartford. I tried to make up a rhyme, School is fun, ride bus one....bus 17 goes inbetween, Take 5 home or be alone. Haley got mad at me, 5th graders don't need rhymes. She said the first day was fantastic.

PRESCHOOLER!!

We attended the Carlisle Preschool picnic mid August. Lots and lots of classmates. Audrey is excited to go!
Friends Derek and Brendan will be in her class.

Visting Family

Sara and John joined us for a long weekend while traveling from Washington State to Texas. John will be stationed out of Florida with the Air Force for the next year and Sara will stay in Texas, close to her family. We worked hard to talk them into moving to Des Moines, but with no success.

Reunion Time

We celebrated 2 family reunions this July. One on Jen's mom's side in Esterville Iowa and one on Jen's Dad side in Okoboji Iowa.

Soccer Camp

The girls spent a few days attending the Grandview Soccer Camp. They worked on dribbling, passing, shooting, footwork and more. It rained two out of the three days, but they worked right through.

Barbie Jeep

A gift for Audrey's 2nd birthday and still running strong. This pink toddler SUV has enough horses to zip back and forth Porter Ave. for at least 45 minutes. Audrey has a lead foot and loves to chauffer her little brother around. Gus' head whips back and forth as she starts and stops at a whim. Paul and I just cringe wondering about future required chiropractic work.

Darling Dancers

Haley and Audrey participated in dance this year with Amy Peel Dance Avenue. A year's worth of Tuesday night practices came to fruition with their dance recital in late June. Over 200 dancers gave it their all over two nights at the Des Moines civic center. A huge kudos to APDA for such an impressive event. Audrey boogied to Surfin USA and Haley shook it to Shake Your Groove Thing.