Halloween

Well, this wasn't our best Halloween ever. We went to see an amazing display of lots of carved pumpkins Saturday night and on the way home Julia complained that she felt sick. It was bed time anyway so I put her to bed and figured she'd be fine in the morning. She wasn't. She threw up a few times in the night and still didn't fell well Sunday. Somewhere between feeding Philip and taking care of Julia I started feeling sick too and by Sunday morning I felt too bad to go to Mass. By noon Julia was fine again but I laid around the house all day. Then, an hour before Trick or Treating, Thomas went down. He felt so sick he wasn't even very upset about not being able to go out. (Samuel and Julia brought him home some treats.) By Monday Thomas and I felt fine again, but we must have let Thomas do too much and not fed him bland enough things because he got sick again Monday night. He seems to fine again now and I'm being more careful about what he does and eats today. Philip hasn't been himself either. Monday he took three two hour naps and today he's fussy. He's not spitting up much though. Amazingly enough Samuel the Puker has not gotten sick (perhaps he's already had this bug earlier in life) and Jeremy's been fine. We did make it to the Halloween Parade before we all got sick so I have a couple pictures.

We just picked costumes out of our dress up box this year.

Daddy handled pumpkin carving

and dinner- Mummy dogs and ghosts.

Good thing Halloween isn't anyone's favorite holiday around here!

Fine

I've had their school pictures for awhile. Thomas's is fine. Much better than last year's! Samuel's is actually pretty cute. I like it.
We had conferences yesterday. Thomas is doing well. He understands all the concepts, gets along well with the other kids and is no more distracted than any other 5 year old boy who has to be at school when there are holes he could be digging and games he could be playing. His teacher is concerned about his fine motor skills. She actually said if they were a public school she'd have him working with an Occupational Therapist on his hand strength. But she gave us some fun things to do at home that will help and we all know it will come with time. She seems to enjoy having him in her class.
Samuel's teacher says he is doing just fine. And she's right. He is doing just fine. But today, after having time to think about it and "ponder in my heart," if you will, I want to go back and exclaim, "But he's not a 'fine' kid! He's capable of good, great, wonderful and perhaps, with the right inspiration, even marvelous!" But I just don't think his personality meshes right with hers to produce any marvels this year. I'm going to have to make a conscious effort to provide him with some opportunities to be marvelous at home.
But you know, I'm okay with that, it'll be... fine.

What a Seven Month Old Thinks is Hilarious

He's the first one to enjoy the Johnny Jump Up. It only lasts five or ten minutes (The fun, not the video!) but it sure is a fun five or ten minutes!

Babies

One last picture of our St. Patrick's day baby in the clover before it frosts. (Much happier than the first time.) He's seven months old already!

Don't all little girls go through a stage when their babies have to be naked? Of course after Julia told me her babies were boys I understood. I'd be embarrassed to have my boys wearing pink dresses too.

Apples, Apples, More Apples and a few Pumpkins

We ventured to a nearby apple orchard with Aunt Jen this weekend. Poor Daddy, he never gets to go because you can only pick apples during harvest season so he's always busy at work. Of course he says picking apples is not fun, it's work, but that's because he's never been with us to see how much fun it is!

Anyway... I love this little orchard, it's not commercialized and it's just the right size to be fun and not ridiculously overwhelming. The only complaint I have is the hill. You go down the hill picking apples and then have to push them all back up the hill. I had to kick Philip out of the stroller, his 20 pounds put me over the edge. Thank goodness Aunt Jen came and carried him for me! I suppose if I was smart we'd go down first and pick apples coming back up, I hope I remember that next year!

They had some new fun things and all the old things the boys were looking forward to. Both older boys really love the corn maze and it's small enough I don't worry about them getting lost in it. In fact, I'm pretty sure you can't get lost in it.

I can't get a picture of this kid's face while we're outside because he's so fascinated with the textures and stuff on the ground. Good thing the top of his head is cute too.The new trikes were a hit but again the hill was a bit of an issue.

We picked and ate quite a few apples. You can pick a lot of apples in a relatively short amount of time!The kids loved the tire swing.I was at least smart enough to have them pick pumpkins last. We rode the hay rack out which was fun.I told them they had to be able to carry their pumpkins by themselves. So of course they picked the very heaviest they could manage. This is the pumpkin Samuel chose (it's 16 pounds)but Thomas did not get the one he is sitting on. He picked a much more manageable one, we just liked this photo op. Julia chose two little gourds but I got her a little pumpkin too so we wouldn't have problems when it comes time to carve them. I got a cute green one just because I liked it and yes, I could carry it all by myself.This is forty pounds of apples. They're mostly Haralson and Melrose with a few Golden Delicious and Braeburns. So far we've had apples with Dulce de Leche (the real stuff from my mom's friend in Argentina), apple cake and lots of apple slices. I'm planning on making some applesauce to freeze and maybe a pie. Yummy!And about 31 pounds of pumpkins!So glad you came, Aunt Jen. My legs and back thank you!

Oh Julia Rosie!

Julia recently hosted St. Joseph and the Baby Jesus at a tea party. It was quite delightful.

And then later that same day she lied to me. Yes, she's only two but she flat out lied to me. I spotted this

and asked "Julia, did you color on the wall?!" "No," she replied. Taking in my unhappy look and tone she added, "Samuel do it." Now I'm not too surprised at the denial but blaming her brother? That seems a little advanced.

Oh, Julia Rosie...

He Never Would Have Guessed

Last night I told the kids Daddy was bringing home a surprise and they'd never guess what it was...

a new truck!

Jeremy has needed a new truck about as long as we've been married and really needed a new one about the last year or so. We've been trying to reconcile the truck he wanted with what we could afford. So when Chad's dad got a new truck we got a deal on his old one!

I love Jeremy's face in this one.

Daddy got a new truck?!

It's a 2000 Silverado Chevy (Jeremy has upgraded more than a decade!) with a short box and it's automatic! I can drive it! This may revolutionize our world a bit. It also has air conditioning! It's got a back seat that fits two boosters and Julia's big car seat but the front seat is buckets so we can't all go in it. Oh well.

The big kids got to take a ride in it but Philip and I stayed home. Maybe tonight I'll get a turn.

Julia was a bit confused over the whole thing. She told me "That John's truck." "No, Julia that's Daddy's truck, he got a new one!" "Ohh, John get his old one?" I don't know who John is. John Deere?

After they looked the truck over Samuel turned to me and said, "You're right Mommy. I'd never have guessed a new truck!"

Anyone need/want a 1988 stick shift Chevy with no air conditioning and over 100,000 miles that still runs pretty good? The price is right...

What a 6 Month Old Thinks is Hilarious...

Tumbling blocks and a big brother.

I have a longer video but they take so long to up load that this will have to do. He laughed for about five minutes, harder than I've ever seen him laugh!

Fall Portraits

Samuel 7

Thomas 5 1/2

Julia 2 1/2

Philip 6 months

Philip and Mommy

Philip and I have been having trouble getting a cute picture together. (He's very distressed about it, let me tell you.) Here's my latest try.