The cutest thing!

This morning after I got back from walking the dog 2 miles everyone was up. I sat down on the floor to change Little Mans diaper and he put his hands on my face. I said "ooh! your fingers are cold! Mommys face is hot!" He said "Hot!!" and started blowing on my face! It was so sweet!

We'll get back to Vacation in a moment...

This is what happens when my children get really quiet. I was in on the computer, Bobby was on the couch...maybe also on the laptop. Our children were right behind him in the dining room.... See the couch? That is where Bobby was. I guess that means they were REALLY quiet! Yes, that would be wood glue on our nice hardwood floors! Thanks for asking!


Little Man is not thrilled to have glue on his fingers! That was a punishment in itself for him.

Vacation Day 2 Apple Hill

All the cousins at Abels Acres. Little Man was not thrilled.

Look at those eyes! :)


Hanging out by the pond.
Boo!
The first good picture I have of Little Man and the pumpkins.
Grandma and Papa with all of the kids.
I do all of my own stunts!

Vacation Day 2

Our second day in California was spent touring Apple Hill in Camino, CA. We started off at Abels Acres where we had a potty break for the kiddos, visited a couple of vendors, ran down to the pumpkin patch and my sister Kim picked up a Chocolate caramel Apple. The next farm we visited included a fish pond, pony rides, and The Fudge Factory. I can't remember the name of this ranch but (Mom, a little help?) we spent the bulk of our time there. As soon as we got there mom picked up some apple donuts to share and this is where I got my Chocolate caramel Apple. I am convinced mine was better than Kims since the caramel was made right there on the premises. Papa paid for all four of the kids to have pony rides. Bobby walked next to Little Man who was none to happy at first but once he got used to being on the pony did ok. Munchkin LOVED the ride and it was a really long ride. The kids all laughed when we had to stop for a horsey potty break. While we were here we came upon a box of macintosh apples. Bobby said "The people who buy these apples pay twice as much and get a superiority complex from eating them..." He and I got a good laugh out of it!

Kim really wanted to find a letterbox at one of the farms so we went to that one next. I think it was Plubells if I am not mistaken. We couldn't find the box but that did not deter us from looking for another one on our way out of Apple Hill. Once we got to Placerville we thought we would try and find 2 more boxes. The first one a girl came out and asked if we needed a hint since she saw us poking around outside her store. The second one was not there. We concluded the evening by having pizza at Round Table! Yum! Bobby and I miss good pizza! Maybe someday there will be a Round Table in the Tennessee area.

Vacation Day 1 Letterboxing

Much of our time was spent stamping into the logbooks. It was difficult to sit because there were so many sticker things. We managed though. This is Kim and Ally stamping in.



Cousin in a pink hat.


A baby rattlesnake we saw while on our adventure.

Me and Munchkin taking a little break on a rock. There was a pretty steep drop off so she held my hand the whole time we hiked in this area. She was such a trooper and never complained.

Munchkin says check out my dirty face!

Oh yeah! And my dirty bum! :)

Vacation Day 1 Pictures

Grandma and the girls at a tea house in Antioch, CA.

Aargh I am a pirate!
When at tea, you must always hold your pinky up! Especially when you are drinking chocolate milk from a fancy tea cup!
All the sisters and our girls! Like our fancy umbrellas?
Ally and Megs

Vacation Day 1

These last two weeks have been so busy but have gone by fast. After Little Mans physical therapy 2 weeks ago we went straight to the airport to hop a plane to California. My dad picked us up in Oakland during rushhour and the onset of an A's game to get us home. Both of the kids did fantastic on the flight and chattered all the way to my parents house. My sister Kim was also there from Alaska with her two kids so it was a full house.
The first full day we were there my mom took all of us girls out to tea and then we took a 2.5 mile hike to find some letterboxes at Black Diamond Regional Park. Our "little" hike turned into a 5 hour trek. That was with a lot of stops though for letterboxes plus we were hiking with a 4 and 5 year old. Both Munchkin and her cousin enjoyed stamping in their books when we found the boxes. I thought we would get through the entire trip without physical incident. I was wrong AND I get the bad aunt award. On our home stretch I told the girls they could run because it was fairly flat. I guess Munchkin was holding onto her cousins shirt, cousin stopped and Munckin fell over the top of her. It looked really funny from where I was until Cousin turned around with an extremely bloody nose. I had no idea what to do. My kids have never had bloody noses before but apparently she gets them often. My sister Kim got to where we were and pulled her handy roll of toilet paper out of her backpack and stopped the flow. (Honestly if I had anything to stop the blood with I probably would not have been so helpless but all I had was an empty bottle of water...) Once her nose was fixed we finished our hike out to the car and headed for home.
While we were having this adventure Dad took Bobby and the boys to Scandia for some miniature golf. There is a reason my nephew needs to have a harness. He is a very active little boy and when people don't pay attention he gets lost. The harness is really cute I think it is a little bear and he likes to hug it.

When we finally got back together with the boys we had some of my moms famous burritos. Yum! :) What a full first day. Stay tuned for Day 2!

More Pumpkin patch

Here are a few more pics from the Pumpkin Patch we went to a couple of weeks ago:




When we got out of the car this was the first thing spotted. Both kids wanted to swing and they both loved it!



This was right before I hurt myself. Apparently I held onto Munchkin and my camera so that neither of them got hurt when I slid off this teeter totter onto my backside!


A fun moment on the train.

This is what Little Man really thinks of the Pumpkin Patch!

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we went to the Pumpkin Patch. The one we have been to the past 3 years was destroyed by the tornados in April so we went to a different one this time. We had a really good time. I managed to fall off of a teeter totter onto my backside not long after we got there. While trying to get a shot of Bobby and Little Man from my side I slid off the back with Munchkin and my camera. They were both ok but I am pretty sore. There was a lot to do at the new patch but the selection of pumpkins was not great. There were lots of little bitty pumpkins on the vine but not too many big ones. I suppose it could be due to the pumpkin fungus sweeping the nation...

After riding the train out to the patch we came back and walked around the little "town", rode some tricycles around a sweetheart track, listened to a Native American talk, and let the kids slide down the giant slide. By the time we were done we were all exhausted but we had a good time!

What is God doing in your life this week?

Or How have you seen God at work this week? These are a couple of questions our connect group facilitator Craig asks us often at church. There are some weeks that I hesitate to answer that question for fear of what others will think or for fear that I didn't really see God at work. (There is a great discussion going on about fear over at AddisonRd). I think there are a lot of weeks that I don't look for what God is doing. I wonder if I fear giving myself completely over to God because of what I will have to give up or let go of to serve Him. I know I am a Christian I know why I believe what I believe and I want my children to know Him too. But, there are so many things that come up that I ask why me? Why do I have to face another challenge in my life? Why do my children have to face challenges and have to experience pain?

I think the answer to the questions usually tend to be my child prayed out loud willingly and openly, we had a fantastic conversation about people not being allowed to pray in public in other countries, I got to have lunch with my friend that does not go to church and have a conversation that didn't have to be all about church, I got to have lunch with friends that love the Lord and have kids the same age and are going through similar things, I got to see my son learn how to climb into the car by himself.

I know I am blessed beyond measure, I know it! I have a Christian husband that loves me, I have 2 beautiful children that obey at least some of the time :), I get to stay home with my kids, and I have Christian friends that I adore. But, how have I seen God move? I guess I want to see something miraculous. Am I a doubting Thomas for this or am I just in a rut spiritually? I don't know...I think I will go read my Bible and pray on it....

Google Search

This are some of the google searches that have led to my site:
Pampered Chef Sarah Oakes
how to get vaseline out of carpet
amy hawkins extreme home makeover
arbonne shake recipes (by far the most popular)
reasons to love a housewife

It is just funny to me the people that come to my blog because of those items up there. I will have to edit this list the next time I get a funny google hit.

Fishy Funeral

About a year and a half ago we went to the carnival. Munchkin and I won 3 fish. The first two, Toady and Mr. Scaley, died within a couple of days. The third fish, Fluffy, went to meet her maker last night. Munchkin feeds the fish most of the time and she knows only to put a pinch in the bowl. Yesterday she asked if she could feed Fluffy and of course we said yes. Apparently she needed us to remind her that she only got a pinch because she dumped half the container of food in the dish. Bobby cleaned the bowl out maybe an hour later and Fluffy was fine. When I got back from my meeting though she was laying on the bottom of the bowl and you could see the food in her stomach. We waited until this morning to have her funeral so Munchkin could see what happens when you feed fish too much food.

We took Fluffy to the bathroom in a cup and Munchkin said "Fluffy, you were a good fish and I am sorry for feeding you too much food!" Then she dumped her in the potty and both the kids waved while saying "Bye Fluffy" as she swirled away. I half expected her to come back up so I am glad it only took one flush!

Munchkin didn't seem too broken up about it until I asked her to tell someone this morning at therapy what happened. Then she looked pretty sad. I have never been a big fan of fish so I wasn't heartbroken but Bobby surprised me. He was the one who cleaned her bowl and I think he will miss her.

In a funny coincidence my friend Joy posted about carnival fish today too!

Bite me!

There is nothing funnier than hearing your 2 year old say "Bite me!" Well, actually there probably is. This is not a phrase that we say in our house but Little Man has started saying it about Kelsey. Kelsey will lick Little Mans hands and he will say "Bite me!" With a big grin on his face. Then he will say "Bite you!" and pretend to bite your leg or whatever is close and make chomping noises. Who knew a 2 year old could be so entertaining?

On a different note...Munchkin has a fever tonight. Not my happy place especially after hanging out with some friends and their 18 day old baby today. I had to call and let them know that she has a fever and told them how sorry we were. She wasn't sick earlier today so who knows..maybe she picked it up in the nursery this morning. I am taking her to the dr in the morning.