Ha!

"Well that is impressive!"

-WDB, looking at a photo of a cake I'm planning to make for his 4th birthday

Edited to add this for Mom and Molly:

I asked him what colors he wants and he told me, "Blue and brown and orange." He's very creative, no?

Coffee

I should know better than to leave my coffee on the dining room table. Catie can climb.

I came downstairs after being up in my bedroom for a minute and found Catie sitting on a dining room chair with the coffee pulled over to her, using a lid to a water bottle as a spoon, drinking my coffee.

Like mother, like daughter!

The Apple Orchard

We went to an apple orchard just northeast of Ankeny today with our friends Kara and John and their three kids, and Amy and Matt and their three kids. This place was so cool! They had a little tractor-trike hay maze, goats to feed, pigs, ducks, chickens, a baby cow, and some animal we couldn't name, the Three Little Pigs houses, a corn pool (Seriously! Like a swimming pool filled with corn! It was SO fun. So what if our adults were the only adults in there. And so what if I've found kernels of corn in our clothing even now that we're home.), apple sling-shots, a hay-rack ride, this awesome jumping pillow (like a bounce house in the ground), a corn maze, and an awesome little shop where they sold cider donuts, cider, caramel apples, apples, dips, etc. You can also pick your own apples, but by the time we did all of our playing, the kids were cranky and ready to scat.

Amy took some pictures for us while we were there-

Catie and her sweet friend Henry

The fam in the corn pool
The weird guy in the corn pool (wait, do I know him?)
Willy B. all covered with corn!

And now I have homemade apple crisp and I can't keep my paws out of it! STOP ME!!!

Photos!

So here's the thing...I really want a new camera. The camera I have is too bulky to be convenient. But Dave doesn't want me to spend the money on a new camera. "Fix your camera, Angie," he says. "We don't need to spend money like that, Angie," he says. "I just spent $200 on a fireplace heater, Angie," he says. (Did I go there? Yep, I went there.)

I confess- I haven't sent it in yet. It's going tomorrow. Catie and I will drop off Will at school and we'll run to the UPS store to get it boxed up and sent. Who knows how long it will take- they have to diagnose the problem first, then agree to fix it for free. Hmmm...maybe they won't agree to the free fixage? Then I'll get my new camera! No. Wait. That's a waste of money. I do hope they fix it. Sort of.

But for now, I'll post some pictures that my sister Christina took this weekend. Enjoy!

Will and me in the gigantic tractor at Cousin John's farm.

Catie Cat at Aunt Lois and Uncle John's

Willy and me sliding down the huge slide at our neighborhood's Beaverdale Fall Festival.

(He wasn't a fan)

Caillou

"Guess what's on? Baby-talk guy."

-WDB, turning on the tv this morning

Tasty!

"MmmmmM! Now this is what I call good!"

-WDB, enjoying the whipped cream atop his sprinkle pancakes

A Visit to the Farm

Over this past weekend the kids and I, along with my mom and sister Christina, took a trip up to northwestern Iowa to visit my grandma, aunt and uncle, and cousin and his wife and kids. While we were there we went to visit the farm my cousin John lives on and runs- the same farm his father and his father's father farmed. We were only there for a couple hours, but it was a fun-packed couple hours! We got to:

* see a couple barn kittens- Whitey and Pumpkin
* play with Billy, their boxer/black lab mix (Catie LOVED him!)
* watch Uncle John and Cousin John and Cousin Collin cleaning 50 bass that Collin and Big John caught that morning
* see and sit in the GIGANTIC tractor in the barn (Aunt Tina has pictures...hopefully she'll send them tomorrow!)
* ride in and drive a golf cart out to their pond (Will did this)
* ride on a 4-wheeler back to the house (Christina did this...and fell off the back!)
* go fishing for the first time ever (Will and Catie) and catch a bluegill (Will)! (Cousin John offered to let Will kiss his first fish- Will declined.)

And on our way home this morning, Will and Catie got to experience another first- a car accident! We were driving through a small town at about 35 mph when I saw an oncoming car turning right in front of me. I slammed on my breaks and honked the horn and pulled right into a parking lot, but was unable to avoid colliding with the other car. The driver was an 86-year-old woman who said she was paying attention to someone else pulling out instead of oncoming traffic. Everyone was fine and the car we were driving, Tom and Jean's Caravan, suffered only minor damage (we think!). The other driver's car had some pretty major front-end damage. She made mention that her insurance company "always sends her right to so-and-so body shop" which makes me wonder how often this happens!

And although we had a very nice visit, it's always nice to be home. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight!

Like a Trap, I Tell You!

We were supposed to meet some friends at the mall play area today. I mentioned it to Will and he asked me if Elliott was going to be there. I told him that Elliott couldn't play because he was sick. Will said, "Oh right...he has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease". I swear I only said that in front of him one time!

What are the Chances?

I have received 2 phone calls this morning.

The first was from my friend Amy, whose son Elliott was diagnosed with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease this morning. The kids have played with Elliott and his brothers a couple times in the past week.

The second was from my sister-in-law Sarah telling me that Cousin Ethan was diagnosed with Strep Throat this morning. The kids were playing with Ethan and company yesterday.

What are the chances the kids don't catch something? Little? None?

Oh well...kids get sick! What are you going to do? I suppose we should cancel our plans to go to the Y this afternoon just in case.

A Mish-mash of Stuff

1. It's September 8 and we've already hit our high temperature of the day- 57*. It's dropping, and by mid-afternoon we're looking at 52*. I do love that the kids can wear their new fall clothes; they look so cute! My wardrobe, however...

2. On Saturday evening, Grandpa Tom arrived home safely after spending 30 days in Egypt. We made a quick trip up to visit him yesterday afternoon. The babies (Catie and Isaac) had no problem remembering Grandpa. Tom made an important announcement to the family- he loves his grandkids more than the rest of us. We thought he was going to tell us he wasn't going to go on crazy trips anymore!

3. While we were in Marshalltown, Will cut his toe really badly while riding a tricycle sans shoes. (He was expected to have them on, not the tricycle.) He was freaking out and we couldn't quite tell how deep the cut was, so we took him to Urgent Care. The PA cleaned him all up and snipped off some skin, but that's it. You'd think he cut his toe off, though, considering how he's walking around this morning. And yes, we've discussed the importance of shoes while playing on equipment. Now he knows why.

Be Still My Heart

Friday was Will's first full day (well, all 2.5 hours of it) of preschool. Dave took Will to school, then came home so Catie and I could drop him off at work and then go grocery shopping. The three of us got into the car and as I got Catie buckled in she said, with this adorable, concerned look on her face, "Weewee?" Which in Catie-speak is "Willy?"

Awwww!

Good "awww" of the day: Catie just went through a cognitive growth spurt. She's saying so many more things! Her newest was today- she gave me a big hug and said, "Ah yuh you." Which I'm pretty sure means, "I love you."

Sad "awww" of the day: Will was just so owly today! I figured he must not be feeling well, but he kept insisting that he was fine even though he complained/whined the whole time we were at the mall play area AND while we were at a very fun afternoon play group. Shortly after we got home from playing he told me his tummy didn't feel well. I went to hug him and he was burning up! Took his temperature and it was 102.5. The temperature isn't the "awww"...the fact that his first day of preschool is tomorrow is.

Zoiks!

Tomorrow is Will's first day of preschool and I just put together two and two-

No working camera + first day of school = no photos of this huge occasion!

I'm seriously considering going to Best Buy tonight to buy one.

Spelling Bee

Catie has picked up that written and typed characters are letters and numbers. She's also seen Dave working with Will on his reading. So now when she sees words and numbers, she imitates her big brother by "spelling" the word.

Today we went to a car show (moreso for the free bounce house) and they had numbers written on little signs to indicate where certain cars were. Catie went up to several signs and spelled them out; the sign that said "100" read "e...e...c...bah!"