The wacky world of the Klauer Klan!

So I last posted Fri the 18th so.. Since then
We (Isaac, Noah and I) went to the Wissbaum Family Reunion.. It was a great time the boys had a blast playing. We got to the park about 11:30am and left around 6pm. Lots of playing lots of hanging out lots of Dirt and mulch. By the time the day was done we had to swing by Grandma and Grandpa Klauer's for Tubbies. Isaac, Noah and Troy (one of their Cousins) all need a quick dip in the bath.. They were pretty grubby. Around 7:30p we headed home and boy was it a long drive by myself I was sure missing Nick and I was completely exhausted I am glad we made it home safe and sound. So by 9:45p-10p I had the boys in bed and most of our stuff out of the van and into the house.



Noah, Isaac and Troy playing on the slide at the park for the Wissbaum Family Reunion


That monday the 21st started another busy crazy week for us.. More Drywalling, more grocery shopping, more driver's ed for my brother, more crazy schedule rearranging on wednesday when Nick was to be heading home. He was supposed to into Madison at 3:30p but in the true fashion of this whole chaotic 37 days he was delayed till 7:30pm and then 7:45pm and then 8pm and then finally 8:15pm I was going nutso the whole time.. Luckily I had some morale support from my sister in law Mary. How she was giving me support when her world was topsy turvey at the exact same time I will never know but Thank you.

Thursday morning was a lot of fun watching the boys reacquaint themselves with Nick. Isaac was the first to forgive and forget pretty easily considering how much he was shunning Nick on the computer and stuff. Noah who was Mr. Chatty the whole time Nick was gone was pretty stand offish when it came to making contact with Nick again. But that quickly was over come.. We went to the Princeton Club to work out and the mall for lunch, and Sergenians to look at flooring and about the time we were leaving we got a call to pick up my brother from School.. The weather pressure is messing with everyones sinus'. Thursday night we moved everything out of the 2 bedrooms and back into the play area and storage so the drywallers could come on Friday and start rocking out the last bit of the drywall project.



Thursday Morning the boys checking out Daddy. Isaac cuddled up in Nick's lap but Noah Reluctantly looking around the corner.


Friday I got up and went to Kody's school to do some of my volunteer hours for SAA. I also had a Doctors appointment and found that I am not dilated at all but my cervix is thinned so I need to start preparing just in case. The doctor told me not to travel to far away from Madison. Probably because from when my water breaks till I had the boys both were 2 hours or less.




Insulation going up in the bedrooms.



Drywall up over the insulation in the first room.




Drywall up in the master bedroom.. This is looking into the closet.


This weekend has been pretty much just hanging out with the family and getting things cleaned or trying too. Monday takes Nick back to work and a start of another week of dry walling we are so close to being done with the drywall. We will paint the walls and get the carpet in and start hooking up the outlets so that we can start moving stuff to its final destination. And start unpacking baby items to put in the Baby's room once we move all our stuff out and downstairs. Wed I am looking forward to hanging out with the Ladies for a Ladies Night out at the Melting Pot and then I think and hope things will be slowing down a bit. hmm we will see.

Well hope every one is having a great weekend. Hugs!!

What a busy week. Wednesday we started the drywalling process first we had the rock hung. And then Thursday they Mud and taped. I think today is a drying day no one has stopped by yet and I think that the mud is still a wee bit wet. So I am thinking that Monday will be sanding and prime/texture time. Then from there we can move on to the other side of the house. Which means I get to lay down the remnant and vacuum it and cut it to size. The move all the stuff from the 2 bedrooms into the storage areas and the playroom. Whew busy busy. But then we will get the 2 rooms insulated, and drywalled, mud, tape, and prime/texture next week. After it is all dry we will put down the carpet in the 2 bedrooms. Wow busy busy. We are also getting closer to Nick getting home so hopefully a lot of this stress will dissipate or at least get shared. Whew. Tomorrow I think I am going to skip our Donut saturday due to needing to get the boys packed up and heading down to Cassville in the morning. If we get up and get leaving here about 8am then we will get there about 10am to get our food in the crockpot and cooking. Luckily we went with something easy. BBQed Meatballs and lil sausages. We are also going to bring down a tray of Brownies I think. Depends on if they get eaten tonight after we make them. Isaac, Noah and I have an insane sweet tooth! Here are some updated photos of the drywall projects.





Day 1 Rock hung in the areas.




Day 2 taped and mud. Currently drying.

Talked with our Drywall specialist today and it is going to take about a week for each half of our drywall project. We are dividing the house down the middle so that we can store our stuff. If we had room or a storage locker we could get it all done at once but since we don't we are making do. Starting tomorrow we are going to drywall the playroom, hall area, and bathroom. Super exciting. Tonight Kevin, Kim (our neighbors) and I moved and cleaned the areas that are going to be started tomorrow. Because we are getting the help and drywalling done at such an amazing price we are having to prolong the process because the company that is doing it will come each day before their main job and do our house. They usually do not do homes they work mostly in big corporate type buildings. So just an update between now and Sept 30th we are getting our Drywall on. And then on to getting some carpet in the 2 bedrooms and the finishing. Hopefully Adam will stay in the belly till we are done he is sure being patient with the amount of hard work and craziness I have been inflicting on my body trying to get us to a finish point. Well here are some photos of the clean and ready for drywall areas for tomorrow.



Our future bathroom are/ looking past into the hall



In the hallway looking toward the future playroom



Isaac in the playroom. by the door to the future master bedroom



Isaac along the back wall of the playroom.

Thanks everyone for keeping your fingers, toes, eyes, whatever crossed along with all the prayers.. We go our clearance today to drywall. I am just waiting to set up the days to get this done and then to figure a day to put down carpet in the 2 bedrooms. Then we will take off wiring everything up and getting our perm fire steps in. And then comes the fun part going through and cleaning out all the stuff down there to put things in their new permanent homes. Again thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers and Thank you to my AWESOME Uncle Kurt who worked so hard and gave up his time to help us through the ruff in stage. Once we get this big stuff aka Drywall in then hooking up outlets and putting on vents and setting up the bathroom should move a long at a pretty rapid pace. We may get it all done before our New baby Adam arrives. Again THANK YOU!!!!

Saturday was a busy day of cleaning my house to be presentable enough for my Dove Chocolate party guests. Amazingly if you know me I can whirl wind clean a whole house in about 2 hours. But due to being almost 35 weeks pregnant. I spent the better part of the day cleaning and recleaning while my sweet Noah went behind me and tornadoed it back up. All in all we had 11 other Chocoholics other than myself and 6 kiddos squeezed in to my living room. I didn't think it was possible but we did it and had a blast. We sampled a lot of yummy goodies and then had chocolate fondue afterwards. I believe everyone's sugar level and insulin level were elevated to a good height by the end of the party. Of course as I type I was compelled to heat up my Aztec sipping chocolate I got as a sample as the host. I felt like I needed to carry on the wonderful chocolate thought as I typed. lol. And MMMmmmm it is delicious. My mother in law and mom got a package that included the Aztec sipping chocolate.. So if you ladies don't want it I will gladly take it off your hands.. lol

Got almost everyone in one shot

There are more.

After our wonderful party Noah and I were completely exhausted. We cuddled down for some movie time and he hit the sack and I talked to my hubby in North Carolina for a while and then I laid down.

Today (Sunday)

Was a busy day. My niece Rylee got baptized today and Noah and I unfortunately missed the ceremony due to my uncle again donating his wonderful time to get some corrections done to get our HVAC and Electrical ruff in inspection ready again. In our place Isaac stood in for us as a family. He was visiting with my MIL and FIL for the weekend and sounds like he had a great time. As for the basement my uncle is doing an amazing job getting things done the way the inspector wants them. There are a few things I will do to help finish off the job tonight like putting on the screw plates in spots and tomorrow I need to pick up some 4" flex tubing for the bathroom fan. But with all that done I am calling the HVAC/Electrical again tomorrow and hopefully we will get the A OK... EVERYONE please fingers, toes, eyes anything you can please cross it. I really would like to get the drywallers and the carpet in for the 2 bedrooms. It has been another busy crazy day. I am happy my Isaac is home I missed him but at the same time he spent a lot of time in the car today so he is binging off the walls like a pinball in a pinball machine. Well tomorrow starts another week and it is going to be pretty busy especially if we get in the drywallers and put in carpet. Add to that babysitting on Tuesday, and Play and learn on Wed and a trip to dodgeville to drop off my brother mid week for an ortho appt. BUSY BUSY BUSY!! So here we go again.. :D Hope every one had a great weekend.

Funny how things are.. I have crazy low blood pressure even when I feel like everything is spiraling out of control in my world. That is just too funny.

Thursday- Was my cooking day 3 out of 5 and after I think that I have decided to do only 4 cooking days that will give me 24 meals which will fit in my freezer but I don't think 30 will not with the rest of my beef order still at the bottom. So I already have the recipes picked for Next week and I think I will only cook one on Thursday the other ones are so easy I will probably just mix together this weekend when I go grocery shopping.

Today- I went early to get some volunteer hours in for accounting at SAA. Then ran to my doctors appointment. I am 34.5 weeks along. Measuring up perfectly. Everything looks great. And even though my world is topsy turvey most days I still hold great at 90/50 for blood pressure.. I am usually around 85/50. I am home now and figured I would blog a few things while I start the laundry and the house cleaning for tomorrow's Dove Party. It will just be Noah and I this weekend. My MIL and FIL offered to play with Isaac all weekend. So it will be nice to get a few things done. And run a few errands this weekend with only one in Tow.

So like I said above.. I am super excited about my Dove party tomorrow.. Dove as in Dove Chocolate. I have never hosted one or been to one so I really don't know what to expect but I think it will be fun to have some adults over. I think my RSVP list is around 11-12 adults and 8-9 kiddos. Including me and mine. Crazy a lot of people in my little house. If the basement was complete we could have the kids in the play room downstairs but may just have them outside to play for a while. Super Excited....

Sunday my uncle is planning on coming up to help correct the stuff we need to get our ruff ins oked. So hopefully I can call in inspections again Monday and start Drywalling later this coming week.. Soooo Close yet still so far.. lol.

Well here are my recipes for the coming weeks cook day my final one before the baby arrives.

Cooking Day 4 recipes

Cheeseburger 'n' FF Casserole

1lb ground beef
1 can of cheddar cheese soup
1 can mushroom soup
1/2 pg onion soup mix
1/2 bag of steak FF
2c of cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef, Drain, Stir in Soups and soup mix. Pour into casserole dish. Top with FF and Shredded Cheddar cheese.
Cooking day. 350 for 45 min

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Terriyaki Chicken

1/2 c soy sauce
1 1/2T red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove minced
1/2c sugar
2t sesame oil
3/4t ground ginger
1 lb frozen chicken breasts

Stir ingredients together pour in a ziploc bag over the 1lb of frozen chicken breast. Freeze

cooking day- Thaw bake 350 for 35 min or grill indoors or out

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Honey Balsamic Slow cooker chicken

4-6 chicken breasts
1/2c chicken broth
1/3c olive oil
1t Worcestershire sauce
2t lemon juice
2T minced Garlic
1/3c soy sauce
1/4c honey
2 t balsamic vinegar
1t sesame oil

mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken. then freeze in a ziploc bag

Cooking day thaw in frig overnight then into the crockpot for 7 hours on low or 5 on high


WELL HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE! AND IF YOU ARE COMING TO MY PARTY!! SEE YOU TOMORROW!!

So this is going to be cooking day number 3 which will have us up to 18 meals prepped and ready to to be made. Yumm.. Tomorrow I will be making, Chicken pot pies, Chicken Cordon Bleu packets, and Bacon Swiss Meatloaf.

Chicken Pot Pies (am going to make big ones in a casserole pan since this is such a big hit with the family)

Cooked Chicken- As much as you like in your
2 pie Crust
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 cup Milk
1t of garlic
salt and pepper to taste.
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies.

Lay out the pie crust in your pie tin. Mix all other ingredients. Pour into pan and cover with other crust. Cover and freeze

Cooking Day-- Thaw overnight in frig. cut vent holes into pie crust, spray the top with nonstick cooking spray and cook 350 for 35 min.

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Chicken Cordon Bleu

Cresent roll Dough
1/4c. grated Parmesan
2c. chicken breast, cooked and diced.
1c. ham cooked and diced
1/3 c. sour cream
1/2c. shredded swiss cheese

In a mixing bowl mix, Parmesan cheese, swiss cheese and sour cream. Add diced chicken and ham and coat evenly. Divide evenly between the pockets about 1/4 cup of mixture. Fold one side over the other and use a fork to seal edges. Transfer pockets to baking sheet and bake at 375 for 10 min be careful not to brown. cool and freeze individually once frozen you can put them in a bag together.

Cooking day-- Thaw in frig than re heat in oven or microwave.

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Bacon Swiss Meatloaf

1 bacon strip, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
1/3 Cup butter crackers crushed
5 Tablespoons shredded Swiss cheese
4 ½ teaspoons chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ lb. Ground beef
In bowl combine egg, crackers, 4 Tablespoons shredded cheese, chopped onion, garlic, bacon, salt and pepper. Add beef into mixture and combine. Shape into loaf and freeze wrapped in tin foil or in a ziploc bag.

Cooking day- When ready to cook take out of the freezer and place in a loaf pan. Top with more bacon pieces if desired. Thaw overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes- 1 hour. Test with a meat thermometer.


Well those are this weeks yummy recipes.. I am thinking White chili next week I need 2 more Ideas.. If anyone has any.. :D

Well Labor day was pretty much a stressful day for me. I went to Macy's because I found a beautiful bedding set that both Nick and I liked at 60% off and I had another 15% off coupon to use.. Well that was the worst trip I have ever had or been on or been treated. First off they had no where for me to put the kids, (shopping cart) so I figured since I would be in and out I would take each of them by the hand and hurry through. Bad move. We get to the bedding dept finally after riding the 15"wide escalator (not even big enough for me to hold Isaac's hand wonder how fatter people do it) up to the 2nd floor and then back down to the 1st floor and then further down to the LL where the housewares were. MAP ANYONE!! ASSOCIATE HELP ANYONE!! NOTTA
So we get there and of course let's put the CHINA aka FINE CHINA dept at the bottom of the escalator. Because both children show interest in this nice CHINA I have a firm grip on them.. I am surprised that their wrists weren't bruised due to all the twisting and pulling they were trying to do from me to get to this beautiful and EXPENSIVE CHINA! Well we finally get to the bedding dept which I thought would be easier since it is all soft stuff. Turns out it is right next to the .... you guessed it... CHINA dept. So still with both children firmly in hand I am waiting for one of the 3 associates to ask me if I need help and to stop their conversation with each other. hmmm nothing.. So I clear my throat.. Hmm still nothing.. Oh look a nice newly engaged couple coming to make out their registry and BAM all 3 jump on them.. WHAT THE HECK... I am standing here with 2 kids pulling my arms in opposite directions... WHERE IS THE SERVICE? So finally I pick up Noah and grab Isaacs hand and ask one of the ladies for a cart maybe I missed them or if they were hiding somewhere.. and she says oh we dont have any but you can go get one in the mall. Huh.. That is 1 flight up and out a ways.. Never mind the cart.. I know what I want so I ask where the bedding is that I liked.. Nope not sold in stores only sold online. Well so I ask if they can do site to store. NOPE well can I order it and have it shipped for free.. NOPE can I get the online price and use my instore coupon... NOPE at this point I have Isaac on one hip. Noah on the other hip.. and the diaper bag.. Well if I can't get the good deal I sure as heck am not paying the $400 plus shipping it would be with out the 75% off.. ok so I ask her if she can show me stuff that was like it. Well at this point I am not sure where she went she pointed there is our bedding and then was pretty much gone. So I took a few camera photos of 2 that would be ok for Nick but that didn't really work.. Still holding 2 kids and trying to juggle the phone. Finally Stressed on the verge of Yelling, Screaming, Crying and whimpering in pain from holding 68 extra pounds for a long time Nick tells me to to scratch the search.. So we leave Frustrated, hurt, tired, in pain, Angry, on the verge of crying and empty handed. First time in Macy's and My LAST! From there I attempted with the bribe of food in a cart to get some stuff from Menards. I must have had a disgruntled look on my face because every dept at menards I went to I was promptly greeted and given all the stuff I needed very quickly.. So the process for menards went pretty fast but I was still upset about the whole Macy's thing. Got my loot from Menards and home I went. Around dinner. My mom showed up with my brothers she watched the boys while I ran to the grocery store and my brothers mowed my lawn and hedged.. THANK YOU FAMILY you rock.

So my brother Kody is back up for school. So we are getting up early and throwing kids back into clothes and feeding kids and running to the car.. We just need to get back into our groove. Might take a few days. But it is nice because now I am over on the West side early to go to water aerobics again at my gym.. AWESOME! Felt amazing yesterday when I got done. Afterward we rushed home to meet the inspectors. We again failed the HVAC for a tiny detail of needing an extra diffuser inside the 2 new tubes. And we failed the Electric for a few minor things like missing staples, and a few missing boxes. He also wants us to take some of the insulation off the outside wall so he can see the boxes and cable so we will have to take that off and I will put it back on once he is gone. We also need grounding pins in all the metal boxes and the room we are using as a playroom/storage has to be wired up too. We were considering it Storage but the inspector is considering it Living space so we have to fix that. There are a few other things. Luckily my uncle is making time in his schedule to come help me again this Sunday. The plumber also came back and filled in our hole.. And the framing inspector gave us the A Ok so we are 2 out of 4 ruff ins approved!

Today was again Play and Learn and the boys and I again had a blast. This time we thought a head and brought pack lunches for the boys for during PandLs snack time.. This worked out beautifully. They had lunch there. And at 12 I packed them up and Noah fell asleep on the way home and Isaac and I took a nap when we got here. BUSY BUSY!! Tomorrow is my cooking day I will put the recipes up in a separate post since this one is getting insanely long.

Wow what a whirlwind.
Friday we called in the ruff ins for the Plumbing and HVAC system.. Plumbing A OK. HVAC No Go! So Friday my uncle finished up the Z-Channel and insulation and most of the electric. And decided to come back on Sunday if for the HVAC and finish the electric and finish the framing for the pocket door.. What a busy day. My family rocks I love them so much for helping us out on their days off. We are so grateful. I also swung by Babies R Us and got a replacement gate for my wooden broken one. Now I just need to send in the receipt to get my money back!


Our New and sturdier Metal Gate.

Saturday we started off the day right with our Saturday morning Donut run. Then my mother in law came up to go to Taste of Madison with the boys and me. After finding parking which was insane. I squeezed my large van in between 2 SUVs hogging the lines. That was funny I am surprised I didn't hit one of those vehicles. We got parked and meter paid and off we went. Amazingly we were close to the square so we didn't have to far of a walk. Boy did we munch on some grub. 9 dishes later and we were stuffed and tired. We ate some yummy Chocoholic Cheesecake, Crab ragoons, Chicken Terriyaki on a stick, Jerk Chicken Nachos, Chocolate Cookie dough fried egg roll, tropical fruit cup, chilled peach melon soup with a hint of raspberry, a pretzel with cheese and to round out the trip chocolate ice cream cones.


Noah with Chocholic Cheesecake Face



Isaac and the Chicken Terriyaki on a stick..


Everyone loved the Chilled Peach Melon soup.


Peach melon soup.. yum



Isaac and Noah in their Gold and plump Chicken hats. hehehe

After returning home we vegged on the couches playing with the boys. They took off all the cushions and proceeded to jump off the ottoman onto the pile of cushions and pillows boy was that entertaining.


Mid Flight


More mid flight.

Sunday my mother in law and I and the boys hung out in the morning chatting and talking to Nick via the computer web cam. Around lunch time my Aunt Julie and Uncle Kurt and 2 of their 4 boys came up. Uncle Kurt got busy on the downstairs again while the boys and I hung out with Tante and the boys. Around the same time my MIL Linda headed home. While playing outside Noah took a tumble down the steps backwards on his push ATV. Big shiner but seems ok so we kept him awake through nap time to make sure he was good.


Noah and his shiner! It's gonna be worse in the morning. You can't tell here but it is all puffed out.


After a quick jaunt to Menard's for HVAC parts to get that inspection ready the boys, Tante and I headed to the Zoo. What a fun little trip.. The badger was out.. He is never out.. The bears were in they are usually out, the zoo seemed sorta backwards.. We visited the lion who looked like he was coughing up a hair ball and making the noises to go with it. But we missed Isaac's favorite part which is feeding the goats that was all done for the day we were too late.


The Lion trying to get rid of the hair ball.


We headed back to the house for some burger king and Happy WOK.. Yumm So over all a VERY VERY productive day and fun day.. Come Tuesday morning I will be on the phone ordering the HVAC, Electrical and Framing Inspections.


Ruff in for the pocket door in the bathroom.. I also cleaned up all the gravel.. Took me a ton of heavy trips of concrete and a now broken bucket but it is all cleaned up.. Yippee.



This is the guest/my brothers room for now.. We decided Adam is going to go upstairs in the room we currently use. But here is all the Z-Channel done.


My freezer in its new pantry storage home.


New Heating Ducting..


More Z Channel in what will be the playroom later.


And after all 3 are A OKed we are on to Dry wall.. OMG I thought this day would never come.. I am so ready for the project to be occupancy safe. So tomorrow is Labor day everything will be closed up. My brother will be up to move back in for the school year. Then Tuesday we are back to the grind of getting up earlier and getting in the car for school. BUSY BUSY but hey nothing new it has been a crazy summer so far and fall is following in its footsteps. Tomorrow I will be 34 weeks so 6 more to go and we add another fun member to the family. HAVE A GREAT LABOR DAY!

Holy Cow what a day. I got up pretty early to make sure the house was clean enough and all the dishes were done and clean ready for my cooking day with Mrs. Shannon. Padding my freezer for when Baby Adam is born is a lot of work but fun when you have someone to help you. So today we made 6 yummy dinners to the wonderful sounds of a jack hammer.. Yes you read that right JACK HAMMER. Conversation was very limited to the in betweens of the rumbling. Along with 3 scared kids due to the loud noises. But we treked through the meals and got them all completed and in the freezer before lunch.. WOW! So on one of my many trips downstairs the boys ended up breaking a spindle off my gate so now I get to go buy a new one and get reimbursed by Evenflo.



Notice the 2nd one from the right is missing.. this is the 2nd gate like this we are totally going for metal this go round.

So around lunch time our plumber was still working away downstairs when I get another amazing surprise my uncle pulled up in the drive way to work some on the laying out the z channel and insulation downstairs. WOW what work getting done. So excited. So after lunch I packed up the kiddos and headed to Menards for a few things. We got back and got Noah to nap. Isaac watching a movie. Me closing my eyes.. Around 3pm the plumber was done as far as he can which was all the way to ruff in inspections. Yippee. As soon as we are cleared on the job he will be back to fill in my gaping hole in my floor.



Ruff in for the shower and the sink



Ruff in for the toilet and the shower and sink drains.. I still need to slowly move all that extra to the outside but that is going to take me a while that stuff is HEAVY!


My uncle also made some great progress putting up z channel and insulation on the outside wall. And he will be back tomorrow for some more work which he is hoping to get the rest of the outside wall done and the wiring done.. Which means I can call in the other 3 inspectors for next week. Also that means after the A OK is given. Drywall here we come..


Z Channel and white insulation on the wall by the stairs



Z Channel and insulation this is all the way into the other room too this is the top the bottom will be a wee bit more work to get around the outlet boxes.


Wow what a busy day! WHEW! Right now I am making yummy Pineapple pork chops bites with Rice for dinner and I am going to cuddle down with my 2 handsome guys for a movie night. To bad we are out of popcorn.. Sun Chips will have to do.