Today into tonight we visited the pumpkin patch near our home. Friends of ours invited us and they had rented a fire pit. Oh, how fun! Vala's is fun anyway, but with a camp fire, hot dogs, & smores it was even more fun! The kids had fun on all the many slides, the "jumpy jump" thing they have there, riding the train, watching the pig races & riding on those crazy trike bikes. There is so much to do and see there that we may have to go back again this season.
There are many things I could not do as a working Mommy. Now that I am a SAHM, I do not want our kids to miss out on anything. Over the summer, we started visited our local library. They have a fun little kids section with toys, puzzles, and of course, books. The kids had so much fun and asked to go back! During the school year, this same library has story time. They break it up by age, so Addison goes to her little group on Tuesdays and Alivia can go to a different group on Thursdays. Well, today was our first visit to story time. How fun! The "teacher" sang the name song first, then reviewed some letters, read 3-4 books all about trains, before letting the children make a craft of a train while having a little snack! It was so much fun (at least I thought so). Alivia sat under my legs for the first half at least, then complained of being hungry during the last story (I think she saw the snacks). She did like the art project though. As the days get shorter and cooler, this will be a activity we will try to do at least monthly per child.
And, I feel so lucky to be able to go to story time with our kids!
The final results of the corporate cup run were posted online today. Chris finished in 58 minutes, 32 seconds and I finished in 47 minutes. (Our previous times from 1999 were 1:01 for Chris and 55 for me). So, some things do improve with age! Oh, and the female winner, oh that was a girl I used to run against in high school! Small world!
Today is the official beginning of fall. So, the kids and I made leaf cookies this morning before Alivia went to dance class with her cousin Cora. The girls have fun cutting out the cookies, although Alivia eats more dough than anything (Addison actually does not like the cookie dough). Alivia was so excited to take cookies to share with her classmates at school.
As for dance class, as you can see in the pictures, Alivia just is not a fan. She told me when we left, "I don't ever want to do that again." She did participate some, probably because cousin Cora was there encouraging her. Alivia wants to stick with gymnastics for now.
Happy Fall everyone...
Topher was awarded a cash prize for winning the poster contest at work. Shortly after this, his boss called him into the office and gave him a bonus for his hard work and commitment (wow, how nice!)). Then, my boss (Topher) decided to pay it forward and give me a bonus, a laptop!
So, you see, not only did Topher get a double bonus, but I did, too. I get a loving husband & a man who likes to give me a nice gift for just being his wife. Or, is it that he just does not like to share the desktop computer? Well, I care to believe he just got the laptop for me because he loves me.
Today Chris & I ran the 2008 Corporate Cup Run under Chris Dad's work (HDR). I felt bad asking Chris' Mom to come over to our house to watch the kiddos, give up her time and sleep, so Chris & I could go for a little jog. But, Chris kept telling me it was for a good cause, and I really wanted to run it.
Chris, with his asthma and sprained ankle (& he is 3 years older than me as he always says), ran with me the first 2 miles or so. Then he needed to slow down. I then tried to find a good runner to follow at a good pace (my goal was to run a 8 1/2 minute mile or so). This is a steady paced run. I never seemed to find the mile markers, so I had no idea what mile I was at during the run. I finally saw the mile 5 timer (out of the 6.2 mile run) and knew I could make it to the end. We were turning corners that looked familiar and then it hit me. The smell of donuts that I smelled when we started the run. Yuck! It totally made me sick. Obviously, that and the steady run, made the guy in front of me sick too, right into the gutter! Yeah, I was sure glad that I could see the tents ahead.
I finished the run in 47 minutes exactly! and Chris finished in 58 minutes, 32 seconds! The official results will be posted tommow (there are little timing device each runner wears on their shoes to time from the starting line to the finish line).
So, today, Chris and I ran in support of the American Lung Association and got ourselves some sore legs and a bright green coozies...all before 10 AM!
Today was our annual fly with Daddy Day. For now, we are only making this an annual event (although we should be doing it more often than that). Alivia got a little hot shortly after take-off and wanted to go back to the airport. Addison, who went along with Alivia, loved it. She jumped in the co-pilot seat and took over. She was a natural born pilot! Next was Asher's turn. He sat into the co-pilot seat with Mommy and wanted to touch everything! I gave him the play "panic button" to play with. He loved looking out the window too.
Just another day in flight when you have a pilot Daddy! (I will try to get Topher to load some video of our flight later).
Today's adventure was our first visit to the Lauritzen Gardens. Knowing how Grandma Bet likes flowers, we invited her along. Boy, was I glad we did, too! We needed help getting up and down the hills and in and out of the gardens. There is a fun kids complex area and a really need train exhibit that I could have watched for hours (but with our 3 kids, time is limited). It is such a beautiful place to visit, that we will definitely go back (wearing sneakers!).
As I mentioned in my previous post, I painted the laundry room over the last couple of days. I am not a painter. Not hardly. I have been pregnant so much over the last few years that I have gotten out of a lot of the painting that Chris has undertaken in our home. Let's just say we have painted every single square inch in our home inside and out with the exception of our master closet (which we will probably never paint). Or should I say Chris has painted...
Anyway, the laundry room is a walkway from the garage and it is our laundry room. I am no architect, but who thought that up? We have just enough space to shimmy through. We have a huge front loading wash machine/dryer (which I have to have to keep up on my laundry and get out stains. Between Tide and my wash machine, I can get anything clean!). Painting this small space while keeping the wash machine and dryer in the room was no easy task. I had to climb up on top of the wash machine or dryer (which have drawers under them so they are not short) and then jump behind them in this small space Chris created to paint back there. Oh, what a mess...lint, soap, stickers, yuck! I think I need to clean back there more often than just when I paint! After being covered in paint, overcome by fumes and getting low blood sugar in the process, the room looks so much better (and cleaner).
Now, off to catch up on the laundry I did not do in the process! But, it was soooo worth it!
For the past 3 weeks or so, Asher has been waking up in the wee hours of the morning, thinking it is time to nurse. It all started when he awoke while teething just before turning 9 months old, and I nursed him. Bad Mommy. Anyway, 2 nights ago I decided to buckle down and try to break this bad habit. I picked him up (bad Mommy) and rocked him. He would lay his head on my shoulder, but he was still crying. After doing this a few times and waiting so many minutes between visits, I must have fell asleep. Chris reported when he got up for work (which is also in the wee hours of the morning) that Asher was still awake. Well, I am not sure if he EVER went back to sleep that night.
Well, last night I nursed him at 7:30 and put him to bed around 8. Then, I went for a 5 1/2 mile jog and finished painting the laundry room. When I went to bed at 11:30, I was exhausted and not ready to get up with Asher at 1,2, 3, or even 4 AM.
So, imagine my excitement when Asher awoke talking at 7:38 this morning (not crying as he normally does at 4 AM!). So, now you can see why I am doing a jig! Yeah for Asher! Now, let's just repeat it...
The idea came from a Curious George episode to go camping. Then, Chris suggested we try camping in our backyard first. He made this suggestion in May. Tonight, they are outside sleeping under the stars as I type inside and Asher sleeps upstairs.
We went on a little shopping trip and Alivia picked out sleeping bags. Meanwhile, Chris was at home setting up the tent. We grilled hotdogs as we would if we were actually camping someplace (I only know this through TV as I have never camped. Growing up, my Dad, after having to live in a tent in Vietnam, refused to go camping in a tent. Now he will go camping in a tent under his airplane wing, though). The girls were so excited. After dinner, we took our baths inside before the treats came out...smores! Alivia had had smore before (They have smores in a Barney video, so I had made them before for a snack), but I am unsure if Addison has had them before. Then, they went into the tent and really roughed it by watching a movie on their dvd player! A few stories by a flashlight and prayers, then they went to sleep with Daddy. I am guessing it took Alivia a while to fall to sleep, but Daddy and Addison were asleep before I zipped them in. At last check, they were all still quiet. I sure miss them inside!
This is the girls' first official night under the starlit sky. Maybe next year Asher and I will join them!
So, how did their night go? Well, short. They slept until the front came through bringing the wind gusts. Addison woke up first asking Daddy, "What's that?" to every noise. After bringing Addi inside, the tent inself started blowing more in the wind preventing Daddy from going back to sleep. So, he and Alivia came inside. Good thing they were in the backyard!
...and head out on the highway!
Chris and a friend went out a little fall bike ride today. This is something Chris has wanted to do for a while, but never takes the time way to do it (but, you only live once I keep telling him!). He was only gone a couple of hours and I think he had fun. And, the kids and I just went to visit his Grandma (and he can fit that in another day). Check out the pictures of the boys on their toys!
Alivia, who turned 4 in May, has turned into our little rambler. That girl can talk. This morning, she started telling me this story, going on and on and on (until I was almost crazy) before ending it with, "Do you remember that Mommy." I smiled and said I did. The story, something we did months ago. Sometimes her stories are from years ago, and they always end with, remember that, Mommy? I am sure someday we will miss this (as I am sure she will not talk to us like this forever, will she?) like Chris and I occasionally miss her sleeping with us. Until then, we will continue to listen and listen to Alivia's little (or long) stories.
Okay, Topher and I get really annoyed when are driving (especially when Topher is on his motorcycle), and the driver in front of us throws out litter, especially if it is a cigarette butt! That is so annoying, dangerous, & illegal!
Topher told me about this website. So, after having a butt thrown our way on the way to preschool today, I decided to investigate it.
http://www.knb.org/litterhotline.html in Nebraska
http://www.keepiowabeautiful.com/nolittr.html in Iowa
What you do is go to the website and fill out the information (license number, what was littered, where and when it occurred) and the State will send the person a warning letter. All types of trash and all types of vehicles are subject to be reported, whether a cigarette butt or whether thrown from a commercial vehicle, as long as the license plate number is provided.
So driver beware, I am watching you and what you are throwing out the window at us!
For those that don't know me very well, I love to run. There are a few reasons:
1. Exercise makes me feel better
2. I am Chris' wife first, so I need to stay in shape for him (but not too in shape, as he puts it, because that would be bad :) ).
3. I run outside so I get out of the house. I tried running inside on the treadmill and did this for a while. However, I would see toys laying around, and stop to pick up. Or I would think of all the things I had to do and quit and go and do them. Running is a break for me and gives me much needed QUIET time.
So, last night I put the kids to bed and got ready for my evening jog. But, when I looked outside, it was seriously pouring rain. Okay, I have ran in just about everything since I started consistently running outside at night after the kids are asleep. I have run in rain, snow, sleet, blizzard conditions, thunderstorms, etc. Some nights I kept hoping somebody I knew would drive by so I could RIDE home, but that never happened. Anyway, I went to the basement to tell Chris, who was doing his weight training, that I would not be running outside because it was raining. He joked to me, "What are you going to melt." in the rain that is? Ugh! I will show him! I will go anyway!
Okay, anyone who knows me knows that if you say it can't be done, I will prove you wrong. Like, "You can not stay home, just get that out of your head." I proved HER wrong. "You will never get cash to buy a car." Um, that is what you think!
So, I went out to prove Chris wrong. I have to say, it was a downpour like a block into it. The streets were flooded with water up to my ankles. Rain was landing in my eyes and messing with my contacts. I had decided to wear long sleeves before seeing the rain, and I was beginning to carry more from the water weight in my clothes. I laughed to myself thinking that either 1. Chris would not go out in this weather or 2. It would stop raining when I get home and he would go for his jog with just wet sidewalks to contend with. All the while, I WAS melting!!
I got home, totally soaked. Chris, laughed (and is probably still laughing). The rain, had stopped of course. And Chris went out for his jog. Oh, and when he got back, he actually complained that he had to contend with some worms!
Trying to live up to our monthly goal, the kids and I loaded up for a trip to the zoo this morning. It was a beautiful morning, & there were few people there. We visited the aquarium, butterflies (Addison's favorite), giraffes, zebras (we eat at the picnic tables there), ostriches, and Alivia's favorite, the desert dome. Asher really seemed interested this visit, which was fun to watch. He seemed to like the dessert dome and the fish. It was a fun morning. We came home and the little kids sacked out while Alivia & I mowed. I would share pictures, but Topher has the camera up in an airplane somewhere today. He is off doing his biennial so he can take us all up for a "spin" sometime soon.
Now, I need to rest before Addison & Asher wake up!
...to waste time I don't have. I have 2 people that brought up facebook. Having my plate full keeping up the vox (which I find VERY helpful in my scrapbooking and photobooking hobbies), I ignored my one friend's request. Well, I caved this week. What is facebook? Um, I am still figuring that out. You are welcome to join me, though!
It's official, I have more to chase after. Asher crawled up the stairs after the girls and I tonight! Yikes! Chris was there following him. He had attempted this before, but I always peeled him away from the steps. I guess getting his 6th tooth yesterday made Asher feel like he was big enough to conquer the stairs! Uh oh, now how will I do dishes? (sign in to see pictures of our little guy in action!).
This is the first year we have gone to the Labor Day Parade. It was fun. Hot, but fun. Saw a big Curious George, metal helicopter, and got lots of candy. We left after an hour or so after getting our fill of fun. We think we will try and make this an annual event. We ended the morning going down the slides and having lunch at Mama's pizza. What a treat! Happy Labor Day!
