I'm Hungry!

If I hear this once, I hear with fifteen times a day! Elizabeth must be going through a growth spurt.  If she isn't inches taller by the time winter is over, she will be inches wider!!  Part of the problem is all of the candy right now.  I am going to have to lower the whammy on eating good a good meal or there is no snacks and snacks are going to be bananas and apples! (note to self...buy more bananas, one bunch isn't enough!)  Elizabeth will eat anything if you put sprinkles on it or serve it with a side of ranch! 

Grant is still a little garbage disposable.  There isn't much this kids will turn away! I will know he doesn't feel good when he looses his appetite! 

Chinese Acrobats

At our community center where Elizabeth takes her swim lessons I noticed signs for the Chinese Acrobats.  I thought this might be something that Elizabeth would enjoy and something Grant wouldn't!  So I asked a friend if her and her daughter would like to join us.  We went out for Mexican with the guys before the show.

Our seats were fantastic.  So good that I was actually a little worried that the girls might run to the stage.  Especially after they announced that these stunts took extreme concentration and that there could not be any distractions!  Great - and here we sit with two 3 year olds in the second row with stage access!  All in all the girls did wonderful.  Elizabeth only clapped at the wrong time twice ;)  The performers are truly talented and it was a lot of fun to watch and at times a little tense (a platform, 4 bottles and 7 chairs...with a guy doing a one handed hand stand on top)!  Most of all I just felt blessed to be able to spend the evening with my daughter doing something special.

Lauren & Elizabeth ready for the show!

Boo Bash

 I found another Halloween event!  The Boo Bash takes places at the high school and is sponsored by the service groups.  The kids get to trick or treat in the warm, decorated hallways! I only wished I would have known that we would be standing outside for 15 minutes to get in!  Poor Minnie was freezing.  My friend even took her coat off to put her around her. 

The home economics department had cookies for the kids to decorate and there were games in the gym.  Mickey stayed home with daddy and shared some quality time together! 

Oh Jack

What I learned today: If your kids don't embarrass you, your dog will.

Yes, I know everyone poops. However, I still find it a bit humiliating when Jack does his business in the front yard and cars are driving by. I always nod and smile, as if to say, "everyone poops people, what are you staring at?" (that's just me being sensitive) I guess cats and their litter boxes have a pretty good deal...well they have privacy anyway! Obviously none of this bothers a dog. When I took Jack out this afternoon he was having some "tummy troubles" in the front yard of course. He then began a lot of scooting and I knew something was wrong. I called the vet and they got us right in. It is no small task to load and unload two children and a dog and get inside the vet with no one tangled in the leash or knocked over. Jack has a little anxiety about going to the vet, because let's face it, what good has ever happened to him there. Today I was very thankful that Grant was on his feet and not crawling. Do you know how much animal hair he would have swept up?! Eww.

We finally get into the examination room. Jack is calm. Grant is now trying to crawl onto the examination table. Elizabeth has asked me at least five times when she can play with Lauren. This doctor's visit is apparently messing with her social schedule! The doctor comes in and starts asking the routine questions and then asks if Jack has been around other dogs or perhaps a groomer (Jack has a fresh haircut). I say, "oh no, my husband does the grooming!" Then I have to admit that we are concerned that perhaps Brandon cut him when trimming under the tail area. My face was probably red. Being a mother is a lovely job, not only do you get to talk to the pediatrician about your kids bm's and privates, but now I get to discuss my dog's private areas with our vet! After a brief examination it was determined that his anal glands were full and needed to be expressed. Fellow dog owners will know what I mean and if you don't, there is this thing called google - I am sparing you the details! The vet offered to show me how to do it the future or said groomers would do it as well. I figure Brandon is the master dog groomer at our house, he can deal with this issue next time! Elizabeth's eyes were so wide (ok, so were Jack's) I had to lean down to her level and give her a reassuring rub on the back and a "he's ok." A tube of ointment, an antibiotic, an anal gland release and $130 later we were out the door.

As we were loading up Elizabeth finally asks, "what was he doing to Jack's tail?" Oh my sweet Elizabeth, don't worry, Jack feels better now. Oh Jack, I hope you feel better now!

Witches Walk

As promised, our second Halloween event of the year! The Witches Walk is held at Farm Park. Brandon's parent's joined us for the event.

There are no advance purchase tickets so we stood in line for quite a while to get in The park was decorated very cute, complete with floating jack-o-lanterns in the pond. The kids didn't really get that much, but they enjoyed walking around and doing the trick or treating thing. The stuffed chickens laid plastic Halloween eggs.

We waited a very long time to see the fortune teller. Once we got there she did a very good job and played the part well. She could "see" that Elizabeth liked to dance and "predicted" she would be in the movies and make lots of money, but to always mind her parents!

The kids also enjoyed the playground equipment.

Grant really liked the orange lights, but the flash went off when we took the picture and my father in-law said it best, "it looks much less romantic with the flash!"

Grant kept his Mickey hat on for longer this time (and it was warmer out - go figure!). I had sewed Minnnie's ears onto a stocking cap in fear we would have a chilly night, but it was beautiful. So we clipped the thread and Robin anchored the ears in Elizabeth's pigtails, which she always does perfectly even! It worked really well. Elizabeth did a much better job not touching her black nose and instead asked me to itch it for her when it bothered her! I am the official wiper (nose, hands, bottoms) in the family, why wouldn't I want to be the scratcher too?!

Elizabethisms

I haven't posted any of these in a while, but here are a couple of her latest: She comes into our bed one morning and she sneezes on my pillow and I say, "Bless you!" She responds, "Sorry I blessed on your pillow mommy!" She was eating breakfast and Grant woke up, so I went up to get him and when Elizabeth saw his still sleepy face she exclaimed, "Mommy he is making a bad face at me, make him stop! He looks bad!" She woke up yesterday morning and asked if it was Christmas. I explained that we still had to have Halloween and Thanksgiving. She looked at me confused and said, "we already had Halloween." I told her we were having it again!! Then last night she asked Brandon if it was Christmas and if Christmas was after Gavin's birthday (which is in November) Unfortunately, Daddy didn't know when Gavin's birthday was. Again this morning she asked if it was Christmas....this could be a long Advent!

And He's Off!!!

"Hey mom, I've been thinking about this walking thing for awhile and I have been watching a lot of people do it. I have been practicing here and there with a few steps for the last week or so, but I think I'm ready. My knees could use a break and I'm getting to be pretty stable on my feet, so I think I will just walk now!" That is probably what he is thinking right?! Tonight he has just taken off. I haven't seen him crawl since Brandon got home from work. The sweet part though is that he still walks to somebody with a big grin on his face, as if he is saying "watch me! I am walking!" And he still walks with a landing in sight and plops on it when he gets there. We still have a few nose dives into the floor! I love how he walks with his hands up in the air, always ready to steady and catch himself. He is so much fun to watch!

Howlzooween (Halloween Take 1)

So this is the official Halloween 2011 picture of our little Minnie and Mickey Mouse! I don't know how many more years I will have to dress them in matching costumes! And yes,typically I would try to make their costumes but not this year! The zoo has trick or treating for the kids that they call Howlzooween. The animals aren't out, but they have a ton of candy on the trick or treat trail. It is good trick or treating and "thank you" practice as well as a dry run for the costumes. For instance, you may notice in the following pictures that Grant refuses to wear the Micky head piece the majority of the time. And Elizabeth hands got cold and she wore Grant's Mickey gloves. Her headband doesn't stay in well in the wind and we may be looking to sew it onto a black stocking cap to help keep it on her head and her ears warm! We were all dressed warm as it was a fairly cool, breezy fall night.

Grant actually walked some of the trail. He really got into putting his hand out for candy and putting it in his bag! At one stop he even tried to get candy twice!

Biscuits and Gravy are the Bob Evans dogs that come out for this event. This was probably Elizabeth's favorite and insisted on pictures with both of them!

I am trying to maximize our costume usage this year, so look for the Witches Walk, OMG Halloween party and the real deal on the 31st in upcoming posts!

Harvest

Each year we go to my grandparents to "farm" with them during the harvest. I joked with my uncles that we don't all rush to my dad's office and sit in his chair with him when earnings are announced! However, when it's time to harvest the crops we flock to the farm and sit right up there in the combine with them! My grandma drives the blue van, affectionately named the "chuck wagon" out to the fields and brings all of the men lunch. We got there at lunch time and enjoyed dessert to celebrate my grandpa's 81st birthday. My uncle Randall was the combine operator. David got to ride first. After Elizabeth asked if there was a potty in the combine and we cleared the air on that topic, it was our turn. Grandpa drove us out to the combine in his pick-up. Elizabeth was confused, she thought we were going for a combine ride and didn't understand why we were in the truck. She began whimpering and said, "this would be more fun if we were in the combine!" A few seconds later we were in the combine! Grandpa went to another field to drill wheat, which I learned you say "drill" instead of "plant" when referring to wheat.

If you have never been in a combine you would truly be amazed by the amount of technology. I should have taken a picture of the inside of the cab. The combine can actually steer itself using GPS. At one point we were unloading, while harvesting, and talking on the cell phone - talk about multi-tasking!

After some time in the field we headed back to the house. Elizabeth's favorite thing to do is play in grandma's basement because she has baby dolls and all other kinds of toys. We even ended up bringing one of the toys home, a Little Tikes ride on train that Grant fell in love with!

It was such a beautiful day that we insisted on some more fresh air. Elizabeth was fascinated with the hickory nuts. Grandma showed her how to break them open and use a very special tool (a dental pick!) to get the nuts out.

We all sampled some very tasty hickory nuts. They are a lot of work and very hard to open. My mom even remembered that great grandma Briggs used to run them over with the car to break them open!

It was a fun day and it was extra special to have my brother there. My mom took some great pictures of David and Grant.

Lesson Learned

Here is what I learned yesterday: Just because something goes ok the first time doesn't necessarily guarantee the same outcome the second time. Here's what happened... As our last warm fall days come to a close I decided to squeeze in one more bike ride to the park. I loaded the kids in the bike trailer and off we went. Grant really liked the slides at Tanners and gravitated towards them at the park near our house. Now there are three sets of slides on the same playground set...small, medium and steep! I don't even let Elizabeth do the big dog! Both kids had done the little one and were getting kind of board. Grant being the monkey he is, easily climbed to the next level where you access the two bigger slides. Elizabeth went down the medium one first and was waiting at the bottom. She says, "I will catch Grant! I will catch Grant!" Grant really wants to go down the slide. There is do way I can leave him at the top (there is an opening off the backside that if he backed away from the slide could fall off of) and there is no way I can be at the bottom too. I have seen Elizabeth do the slide, it isn't that fast and she is going to catch him at the bottom. Now, I know what you are thinking, "Alison, shouldn't your lesson learned be: Don't let your 3 year old catch your one year old at the bottom of the slide?" Well, no because that part went well. He went sooo slow that he actually stopped half way down. Oh so much fun! Let's do it again!! Same drill, Elizabeth does first and then waits for Grant at the bottom. Well, he gets a little more momentum this time, but makes it down OK. He is sitting at the bottom of the slide, but he loses his balance and falls off. Face plants right into the mulch. I run around to pick up my baby and find mulch stuck ALL over his face. As soon as I hold him he stops crying, so I know he was just scared, not really hurt. In the bike trailer I have a package of kleenex and a bottle of water, and those were a last minute grab! Thank goodness. I was at least able to get the dirt and mulch off. His lip did have a small cut on it and as the day progressed his face started to show little scabs and rashes from the mulch. When I sent him the down the slide was I thinking to myself, "this really isn't a good idea", YES of course I was, but he is a kid and wants to go down the slide! In hindsight, all in all it was a horrible idea, and I knew it at the time, but still did it. What is wrong with me?! Kind of like taking my three year old through a haunted house. I mean really Alison, come on!! Well every kids needs their "how my mother screwed me up story right?" Well my kids each have one now. Maybe I can try a little harder to not add to this list!

We recently visited Tanners for our fall pumpkin and apple fix. We were so lucky to have Aunt Amber and Stella in town to join us. I took 297 pictures. It was defienetly quantity over quality but I still had a hard time choosing just a few to post! Pops taught Grant how to feed the goats. Grant loved the slide too! Elizabeth and Mimi even rolled down the big hill! It was a perfect evening!

hey

Don't Blink

So after weeks of worrying if my baby was ever going to take any steps, the wait is over! Today he stood up in the middle of the family room. I ran to get the camera and he stood up again and took about four steps!! I'm trying to figure out a way to post the video, it is priceless! I caught the actual, real, first steps on video! You can hear the pure excitement in my voice and then Elizabeth shouts, "I'm so proud of you!" It was such a proud mama bear moment that I will cherish forever. At dinner tonight he used his fork to eat his pasta, as if he had been doing it all his life! I joked and said he was going to write his first book tonight too! It's like he just blossomed over the course of the day. In my mind I fast forward 15 years and can see a boy being an awkward teenager wake up one day and turn into a jock who asks a girl to prom! Time slow down, PLEASE!!! Don't grow up on me too fast baby boy! Grant Ryan, you filled your mama's heart with a lot of joy today!

The Penny System

Our latest parenting technique with Elizabeth is what we refer to as the penny system. We give her ten pennies at the start of the day. They are kept in a tiny Rubbermaid container that she and Grant can't get the lid off of. This is important because I don't want either of them swallowing a penny and it lets her play with them, without actually playing with them. The principle is simple, if she misbehaves we take pennies away, if she does something good, we reward her with pennies. Brandon can call on his way home and ask how many pennies she has and judge what kind of day she is having. One day he called and I think my response was something like, "we started the day with negative five and I am about to start taking away from tomorrows, so if you don't want to come home I completely understand!" At bed time she gets to "feed" her piggy. Most days she has more than five to deposit, once she had 12. There are a few flaws. 1) When I forget to load the penny cup in the morning and don't remember until the undesirable behavior happens and then we start. 2) Sometimes piggy gets breakfast, because we forget to do it at bed time! 3) When she says, "If I do (fill in the blank) I get a penny right?" Um no, you don't get to tell us when you get a penny! We will reward pennies when we think you deserve them! For the most part it gets her attention and she knows she is in big trouble we when take all of the pennies at one time, because she will cry, "don't take all of my pennies!" You also have to have spare pennies and the penny cup with you where ever you go. I pulled the cart into the small appliance section at Target a few weeks ago to take pennies away, it wasn't pretty, but the behavior was corrected. What do we do with all of these pennies? We told her she could save her money and buy something that she wanted. I asked if she wanted to count the money in her piggy bank. Obviously, we have had a few other contributors feeding piggy, but she had been doing good so it was time for a bigger reward. Trying to build the picture that you get money for doing good things and that pennies turn into quarters and quarters into bills and money buys things you want is not an easy concept. I thought she could help me sort the coins, but that even proved to be hard for her. Why do dimes have to be the smallest? Why do they have to be different colors? I am pretty sure she thought that a bill was less than a coin because it was lighter! Anyway, she had plenty of money so I asked what she would like to buy. She had seen a play camera at the check out line at Wal-Mart the day before and that is what she wanted. So we put her money in her Hello Kitty sequin purse and went to Wal-Mart and picked out a Minnie Mouse camera. She looked so cute and like such a big girl! It was $2.50. I helped her pay because she said it was too tall for her to reach! Sadly, she was probably thinking of the credit card swiper that she couldn't reach! As we walked out the security sensor went off and the lady had to take it from her to desensor it. You should have seen the look on her face! "Why is this lady taking my new toy?!" We put some extra quarters in her purse so she could feed the goats/pony and llama a little extra at the zoo too! I can't wait to see what she wants to spend her money on next!

Grant Uses a Spoon

What a great season to be an Illini fan!

Brandon and I had the opportunity to go to the first conference game this weekend. Illinois played Northwestern and although we didn't deserve to win, we scored a touch down with 1:15 left on the clock to take home the W. The Chief made an appearance in the horseshoe during half time. It was homecoming. The Alma Mater was even wearing an orange t-shirt! Brandon and I walked through campus a little. Driving home we both made the same two comments, more than once. One: What a great game! Two: Illinois is a huge school. I truly don't remember having anxiety about being lost, but I don't know how I couldn't have! I am very directionally challenged and Illinois' campus is just massive! Actually, there was three things, we also commented what a beautiful campus is it, especially this time of the year. The red brick buildings with white trim set against the fall colors is really pretty. Being on campus always brings back such great memories and stories. Often we don't take the time to see campus, we just walk into the game. It was nice to have the time to take in the scenery. The Illini are 5-0 and that hasn't happened in 60 years! It's always a good day to be an Illini, but it's just even better when your team is winning!