This Weekend...Here Comes Fall

This weekend was the complete opposite. It seems fall has finally decided to set in. It was cold and rainy. We spent the weekend doing the things around the house that have been put off while we were enjoying the warm weather. We even brought Frick and Frack (names thanks to Grandma!) out of hibernation.

Last Weekend's Fun

So last weekend (Sept. 27 & 28) was warm and sunny. A perfect weekend for fun with friends. We enjoyed a walk and a picnic, as well as some football watching. All in all, a perfect September weekend, ending in exhaustion!

Breaking Habits

Little Sis has this habit of wiping her face and hands with her shirt. This results in a lot of extra scrubbing for me on laundry day, and still many of her tops have stains. Very frustrating! I have been working very hard with her to break this habit by providing extra napkins and reminders of how her favorite tops will be ruined. I have even resorted to threatening to throw her soiled tops away. Slowly, she has been making progress.
After the third time she wiped her face with her shirt at dinner tonight, I told her yet again that her shirt would be ruined and that stains won't wash out. To this she smiled and replied, "Yes, they will, Mommy. You are a great washer." And preceded to wipe her face once more. UGH! Need I say more?

On a side note, I will plug the camera in and get some photos from the weekend up tomorrow.

Dance?

I had this music from my blog playing while cleaning up dinner tonight. The kids and daddy were having some ice cream at the table and I was doing a little dance as I cleaned up. At least I thought it was a dance until Little Sis looked up and seriously asked "Do you have to go pee?" Okay, maybe some dance lessons are in order!

Thank You

Just a very short post tonight to tell all of you who contributed to Caleb's fundraiser THANK YOU! He was able to meet his personal goal, which pleases him immensely. We are very grateful for the support of our friends and family. (And Caleb was especially surprised to learn that although Unc Brad may be too old to drive, he can still shop by computer!)

Feeling Pretty

I got on the floor today for a little playtime with the boys and Little Sis this afternoon. We were playing this game where they would attempt to get past me and I would grab them and tickle them until they escaped and ran back to the other side of the room. This resulted in so much giggling my cheeks were sore!
Little Sis stopped in the middle of the fun, looked at me and proclaimed "Mommy you look really pretty today!" Here I was with my hair a mess and no make-up on, not exactly my idea of pretty. But my little girl found my happiness beautiful and I actually felt pretty at the time too! Shows what a little childhood play can do for your self-image!

Party Time

We traveled over to the "West Side" (it always cracks me up how people refer to the Seattle area as that!) for a friend's birthday party. What a blast we had, wet weather and all. I wanted to post some photos but have yet to recharge my camera battery, so these photos are courtesy of Melissa. You can see lots more B-Day fun on her blog!



















Fun in the Hay Pit!!



































Tike-Sized Rides


































One Wet Fun-Filled Day!

Battle with the Playground!

You deliver them to school in clean clothes, hair combed, teeth brushed...the works! Then you pick them up and you get this!!! Seems Big Bro took a spill off the fire pole at recess today, HEAD FIRST. He has bruises and cuts on his cheek, elbow and knee. Actually he looks much worse in person than in these photos, more black & blue. But, all in all, he's okay.

Ready for Snow?

I am so not ready for the snow but Little Sis seems to think she is. While clearing out snow wear to give to friends, she found her new coat, pants and boots. She insisted on wearing them for a while even though it was 90 outside. Good thing we have central air now!
Big Bro thought she was crazy and kept asking if she was hot. "No, just perfect," was her reply.

Much Better!

Okay, so the last post was not meant to make anyone feel bad and I was not looking for sympathy (although I did feel a little poor me at the time). But just so everyone knows I am back in mommy mode after a weekend with the family.
We took the kids and dogs for a hike. It was super fun. We didn't get in as much hiking this summer as I would have liked to but fall seems like a much better time to hike anyway. Hopefully we will get in another trip or two before it gets too cold.
The leaves are already changing, which seems crazy because the temperatures have been in the 80's. Perfect weather for me.
The dogs and kids even got in some water play. I also took Deuce for a playdate with my friend's horse of a dog. I know it seems slightly odd to set up playdates for the dog but it's nice to give Bailey a break and we want to socialize him as much as possible. Although he is still timid with this monster dog, he did do better. Hopefully they will become great buds!
I was also able to get in some much needed yard work. Although there is much more to be done, it's nice to drive up to the house and see it looking somewhat presentable. I even got some fall mums and winter pansies to help brighten it up.

The kids got some much needed daddy time in today. They played baseball in the front yard and Bailey acted as the outfielder by fetching all the balls. (Yes, Sis does have her suit on backwards...don't ask!)
I must admit that although weekends aren't complete off time for me, they do give me a small break from the kids because they adore their daddy so. Even though he isn't the best at picking up his dirty laundry (or shoes or other miscellaneous items), I must give credit where credit is due. He is one great dad! (This is Cameron- I normally let Heather do this on her own but I had to add a little here. Heather will VERY GRUDGINGLY admit that I have been doing ALOT better in the picking up of my own stuff as of recent (she consistently strives for perfection so she can't give me too much props). Anyway very fun weekend! CVT )