hunting season

Yes, Yes... I understand that I knew Tim was a hunter when I married him. Yes, I don't expect him to change, however, that doesn't mean I cannot be frustrated sometimes when he is gone so much. I tried to tell him that my hunting season starts in January - He can expect me to be gone for 3 full weekends and random days also. My hunting season - Shoe Hunting. He didn't quite buy it.... All-in-all I don't care too much, but sometimes when I miss out things that I would like to do because he is gone, it is frustrating. The nice thing though, is that the kids are getting older and we can do fun stuff. That will only get easier.

It is fun though to see how excited the kids are to see him come back. Emma and Evan were besides themselves tonight. Yes, they did get to see him this morning, but not for too long. Tonight, it was all about Daddy time. Evan was yelling and jabbering when he first saw him... pointing, reaching for him, etc. It was pretty cute. Emma could not get close enough too him. She was hugging him, giving him kisses, and had to place her chair right next to his at supper. There wasn't a half-inch between the two, she had them that close. And that was after "Daddy, I can't sit on your lap for supper, right? I will just sit right next to you! Yup (as she grunts and pushes) I will just move these right by each other!" She was giddy. I never get that reception... although I never leave, so I guess that is the difference :-)

The kids and I did have a great weekend. Friday we went to the waterpark with the neighbors. Fun was had by all, mostly. Evan did okay. He enjoyed splashing and going down the slides with either Kristen or I. He was pretty sleepy towards the end and just wanted to be held and bundles up in a towel. After that, we went to the farm. It was a beautiful weekend to be there. We went four-wheeling, rode in the combine, and played outside. Emma enjoyed the combine so much that she even rode in the combine by herself with Papa. She is getting so big! It would have been a beautiful weekend to climb the bluff, but alas, it didn't happen.

The kids are good. They started swimming lessons - both of them. Emma loves them and Evan had a great time splashing. There was a little mix-up in the scheduling, so Evan may not continue with them, which would be too bad, but hopefully it will work out next time. Sunday school is continuing. The frustrating thing is that Emma does not remember (or at least does not tell me) what she learns. AND I AM THE TEACHER!! I ask her to tell me what we learned or to tell Daddy or someone else what the lesson was and she looks at me and smiles "I don't know Mama!" So, this last lesson, we did a LOT of repetition. "What did God make? Food and Water!" over and over again.. hopefully it works. They start practicing for their concert soon. Yes, little Emma will be singing in a concert in February. I cannot wait - I think it will be cute.

Evan is still crawling all over and has started jabbering. Which is great - that's all I need - another one talking :-) If he wants sometime, he will grab it, throw it at me and start jabbering. He does that with cereal in the morning, apples anytime, and books after bath. Actually, he does that with many things. He has also started to be more cuddly - which I LOVE! He will put his head on my shoulder, hang onto my leg, or give me kisses. Well, I think they are kisses anyway. I find that he is also understanding a lot more too. If I ask him to grab me something, such as a diaper or a specific toy, he will get it and throw it at me. Last week, we were upstairs and I told him to tell Daddy to come up. He leaves our bedroom, goes to the top of the stairs, stands on the baby gate, and yells down the stairs. Which, made Tim come up. That boy is a genius!!

Pictures of carving pumpkins and Halloween. Let it be known that the only way I got a picture of the kids with their hands in the pumpkins was to put something in the pumpkins. Emma thought it was pretty gross (hence the skeleton carving gloves, which she loved!) and Evan was just too little. He rode his little bike around the garage for most of it.











A few random pictures. Evan loves it when I push him around in the laundry basket. This time, I put a pillow in it and he climbed right in and made himself comfortable.