Sunday, October 30, 2011

After stalking Amazon for a week, I finally received my lens for my new camera and saw that my camera body had been checked into the post office. After a very nice phone call with the post office I jetted off there and picked up my camera and was able to get it 2 days early! And also? On a Saturday, when Dusty and the kids were gone, so I had all day to just play around with my new camera. Do you want to know how excited I was? Excited enough to take a picture of the two boxes together!


I soon got bored taking pictures of stationary images. I mean, I got this camera for taking pictures of family and friends, not all the toys around the house. Thankfully Reb was home and she let me jet over there for a couple minutes to take pictures of Jane.


That evening I had Ladies' potsticker night where Bridget and Anna did a great job decorating with fall decor and Halloween fun.


And of course, our chef's did an amazing job, like always.


I'm still learning my new camera, and I haven't had a chance to really do some fun shooting in some natural light, but I am so freaking excited right now. As I stated on Facebook, I'm pretty sure this new camera is going to lead to a paparazzi like lifestyle. You've all been warned.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

It's time to tell some funny stories and talk about how poop is ruining my life. To make things interesting, I'm going to separate each story with some fun pictures from my phone. This way I get to kill two posts at once, and you get to really giggle. Enjoy!

Rory not only has decided she is not going to go #2 on the toilet anymore. But she also decided that she does not enjoy having it in her pull-up and has been scooping it out. She started doing this at Rosemary's birthday party, where the whole family was, and dropped her turd on the floor of Grammy and Dido's house, where her cousin Lyla was kind enough to get a napkin and start picking it up!


Max has started his extra naughty streaks again and started out by sneaking out of bed, taking his toothpaste from the bathroom and started smearing it all over his bedding, himself, and even a couple books before Dusty got to him! That following morning Max got up, climbed up the drawers of our kitchen, crawled/walked over the entire counter top, stove and sink to get to the far corner where the suckers were and helped himself. I found him in bed sucking triumphantly on his sucker. This boy has every plan to give us gray hair prematurely!


In the spirit of Halloween, I've brought down the wigs and fun hats that I've accumulated and the kids have been playing with them. Say hello to Dolly Parton!


Yes, that is, unfortunately, the best picture I had of her in it but seriously, can you imagine the giggles over here with that wig?!

You're welcome internet, you're welcome.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Today the kids and I went to the Minnesota Children's Museum. Since I've been almost fully in charge of the kids these last couple days (Dusty has been working odd hours and has had other plans) it's been a bit overwhelming. So instead of sitting at home getting irritated I figured we'd load up and try something new.

Max took this picture of Rory and I.


The kids were pretending to be a sleep with the Mama Gorilla and her babies. As you can see, they are really good at pretend sleeping.


We got to enjoy their story time which was ah-ma-zing. This guy? He was hilarious with the kids!


And they got to toss leaves and play in the big parachute after the story was over.


Rory worked on her shopping skills.


Max worked on the construction site.


Let's not forget about the whole water section, the left our sleeves quite damp.


We even got to paint our own faces!


The finished results. (I know, Rory just needs vampire teeth and she'd be complete.)


And while going to and from the museum we got to enjoy the skyway which was an experience in itself! The kids had so much fun watching the cars, buses and especially the big trucks drive below us.


It was a nice way to spend a chunk of our day. Now if only our car naps could have been longer, I think tonight is going to get really long!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Last night we had quite the crowd over as we all worked on carving our pumpkins for Halloween!

First you have to clean them out, and make sure everyone smells them!


Then you have to play around a little.


Then you start the intricate design work.


If you're Uncle Randy, you sit in the corner complaining until someone hands you the baby.


While the adults clean up the mess, you make sure to hog pile on Auntie Katie!


And then you setup for the photos of the pumpkins and the kids that really didn't do much but why would you want to see the adults behind the pumpkins?



Now wasn't that easy?

Sunday, October 23, 2011

A few funny picture from my phone!

Max has been doing really well with out a nap in the afternoon. Except for one day a week. Then he just crashes. Last week he fell asleep while he and I were rocking in a chair. This week? He kicked daddy out of the chair and not even twenty minutes later I found him curled up like this.


Yes, I did put a blanket on him after I took the picture. Little man needed that hour of shut eye.

Rory has taken to yelling at me to take her picture. Which of course I'm in love with! So say hello to a horribly lit picture of her in my sunglasses.


We were getting ready to leave and she put them on while on the stairs and would not leave me alone until I took the picture.

And lastly, Max and I usually try to find some quiet activities to do while Rory is taking her nap. Usually after he has finished his chore (sweeping after lunch) he'll watch a video and then we'll do some arts, he'll play by himself, or our recent favorite, we'll goof around with play-doh.


Max also loves taking pictures with my camera and since I so rarely get to be in front of the lens I had to show this one off, goofy and all.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Today the kids and I took Maya for a walk at the state park. Instead of heading to the waterfalls like we normally do, we decided to take the shorter trail that leads to upstream since it was colder. Once we got moving we found a smaller trail and decided to try that one out.


We were able to get up on top of the bluffs by the waterfalls, which was really neat to see! Max threw a couple sticks towards the water.


Rory continued to fall, or purposely fall, just because she's Rory.


And then we headed back, because it was stressful having a dog on a leash and two small children so close to the bluffs. And the trek back up lead to lots of falls and pushes from one or the other as someone else slid backwards. We stayed pretty close together for the walk back.


I even had to take turns picking up the kids to walk back up a particularly steep part. The kids could not do it on their own. Maya was set free to wait at the top and she would lick each kid as I set them down as if she needed to reassure herself we were all there.

It was a fun, off the beaten path, type of walk. I don't think we'll be doing that again anytime soon though! My adrenaline is still pumping pretty hard.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

It's story sharing day. Some giggles, some set backs, and some things I just want to remember.
  1. Yesterday morning Max came into bed with me and decided he wasn't going to wait until 7am (which is the time I will get out of bed and get him cereal). So fifteen minutes later I rolled out of bed and found Max laying on the couch covered with the blanket, with his back against the heating pad which he had turned on, and the TV showing the P90X exercise program infomercial. Seriously you guys, it was like walking into another dimension and seeing Dusty as a little boy since that is his position every night!

  2. Rory is back into her pull-ups for the time being. While she is going to the bathroom very well, she has decided that she no longer wants to take care of #2 on the toilet and goes in her pants. This has been going on for almost a week now and we pulled the pull-ups out after day 3. Seriously? I'm done doing that kind of laundry, we can just wait it out.

  3. The kids decided to trash Rory's bedroom the other day while we were cleaning up so I could vacuum. They seriously picked up the floor in every room and then went into Rory's room and tossed everything she had on to the floor instead and just thought it was hilarious. I, on the other hand, was furious. So I shut the door and told them they couldn't come out until it was all cleaned up. Dusty got home about twenty minutes later and I left to go to the gym. I get home to find out that Dusty walked in to them spreading Vaseline all over. He cleaned up most of the mess but I was stuck figuring out how to get it out of Rory's brand new drapes. I plan to know all the secrets to removing stains, dirt and grime by Max's fourth birthday. I mean, that is the pace we're moving at here.

  4. Rory can't say "fart" instead she says "sart" which gets me giggling every single time. This is so not going to lead to proper little girl behavior. Then again, having Max and Daddy around pretty much guaranteed we weren't going that route.

  5. And lastly, we are going to have to move the little girl from her crib and into her toddler bed. Yesterday at nap time she climbed out of her crib, opened her door and told me "Mommy I awake" about ten minutes after I put her into her bed. Today at nap time? She kept opening her bedroom door to see if I was still sitting outside her room. I finally just locked it and she must have crawled back into her crib because she's asleep now. I'm really not looking forward to having two kids that can get out of their beds as they wish. This is going to be interesting.
Well I hope you got a few giggles out of those, I on the other hand, feel like I'm running a zoo! They are so lucky they are cute.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

As the weather gets colder and we spend more and more time indoors, my house becomes more of a storage closet. Seriously people, where did all this stuff even come from? And worse, the kids are already showing signs of being bored with their stuff! So the other day I figured it was time to try something new. Say hello to a tea party in the living room.


It did not go over well. I thought that adding water to the tea set and some mini marshmallows would entice them but instead we just poured water all over everything and had soggy marshmallow matter all over the table.


So my girl doesn't enjoy too many girly things, and Max was really not buying into the "finger out" rule while drinking your tea. I don't think we'll be pulling that idea out again soon which will certainly help out my OCD. That water spillage was causing me to consider ripping my hair out as I tried to remain the parent that doesn't mind a little spilled water. I DO! I so do.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Today was Rory's last day of tumbling class. We didn't enjoy it nearly as much this time around. The director of the activities lead the class as the regular teacher took a job elsewhere and it really wasn't the same. We didn't sing songs, the activities remained exactly the same for the six weeks, and the kids just got bored.

Although Rory did thrive at a couple things. She is now a master at somersaults!




And she loves acting like a monkey while swinging on the bar.


And although I couldn't get a clear picture, she bounced in that bounce house like it was going out of style. Thankfully, I was able to sign both kids up for a cooking class this next session and I'm really looking forward to it!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Today the kids and I had lunch with GG as she wasn't able to make Rory's birthday party. The kids were so excited to see her! In fact, they were so incredibly excited that they refused to sit quietly and instead insisted on holding on to GG as she laughed and rocked them back and forth with hugs and kisses.


As if GG couldn't love them enough she also made sure that Max got a few presents while Rory opened up all of hers.


After lunch I brought all 10 presents (seriously you guys, we are so spoiled when it comes to GG) to my car and then met up with the kids at GG's car. I get there and they are all crammed into Grandma's little beamer pretending to drive.


(Don't you LOVE the new coat GG got Rory?! She insisted on wearing it the minute she got it and it matches so well with Max's plaid coat. Photo ops will be coming soon with those!)

There were promises for sleepovers and fish feedings and movies before we could finally load them up in the car to head home. It was a great visit!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Yesterday the kids and I went and visited with my grandpa (GG John). His days are getting numbered so it was extremely important for me to get up to see him. I didn't take any pictures while we were there and instead spent my time just being in the moment. He really is one of my most favorite people to be with and I'm really glad we made the trip.

I'm also extremely happy that Dusty surprised me with two portable DVD players for the kids! Let me tell you, that made a mountain of difference for the long car rides I faced alone with the kids. Just look at how happy they are!


On our way home the kids took a late nap in the car and I ended up waking them up for dinner. Usually I don't do a sit down dinner alone with the kids, it's stressful trying to keep an eye on both of them, but as you can see by the picture they were a little road weary so getting out and stretching our legs a bit was a necessity. Thankfully the kids were extremely well behaved. 


It was a long two days of traveling and things did not go smoothly at all, but I would do it again in a heartbeat for those 3 hours we spent with Grandpa. We love you GG John!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Last night we went downtown Stillwater to celebrate my dad's birthday. Before dinner we spent a little time down by the river.


The kids even got to watch one of the big boats head up river which they thought was really cool.


Afterwards we enjoyed dinner on the patio of The Freighthouse were we listened to the boats toot their horns and watched the bridge rise and fall. Happy Birthday Bopa!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Yesterday's post was far to photo heavy for me to be able to accurately show two very fun moments in an otherwise very chaotic weekend. So here are some more pictures from Nora's baptism.


What a happy baby.


Max, Lyla and Rory were able to stand up front to watch Nora getting baptized.


Another fun moment this weekend was when the children were playing in our dirt garden.



And the jackpot, catching Max in the act of pushing Rory down.


I hope you enjoyed them!