Not a good thing!

As witnessed by me this morning:

Evan wanted his Nuk. Well, we only let him have his Nuk's when he is in his crib (mostly!). So, he comes to me with his pitiful, blue eyes. . . "Nuk? Nuk, Mama?" "No Evan - You know the rule. Only in your crib." So, he drops his head, droops his shoulders, and walks to his room. Then, I see him climb up the side of his crib and drop/fall into his crib. He joyfully gets his Nuk and pops it into his mouth. Then (and I have never seen him to do this) he puts his arms up on the top of his crib, hoists one leg over, struggles at the top, then hoists the other over and hangs there. He is moving his little feet back and forth to find something stable, finds the lower bar with his foot, braces it and then drops to the ground. He gets up on his feet, runs to me while smiling the whole way, "Nuk MAMA!" I just shake my head (hide my smile/laugh) and know that this is NOT a good thing.

We have truly been enjoying the beautiful weather (well of last week). The kids and I have been outside as much as possible taking it all in, as we know that soon, we will not have the warm/sunny days. Last weekend we went to the farm for 2 days & 1 night so we can experience fall on the farm. Evan and Emma were very excited to ride in the combine, so that is one of the first things we did. They easily climbed up the ladder and got in. Emma thought it was so awesome (yes, her words) that there was a little seat in there just for her. It was a tight fit with 3 of us on the seat, but we made it work! Both loved it - we rode with Dad for probably 2 hours in the combine; talking, listening to the radio and to Evan say excitedly "Tractor!! Tractor!" as the tractor would drive alongside of the combine so he could unload the corn. Evan got very excited about the tractors and eventually Papa took him on a tractor ride also.

After the combine was the pumpkin patch! Mom and Dad planted a little pumpkin and gourd patch and the kids loved picking pumpkins. Emma was a huge helper here, skipping from one to another and putting them in the wagon. Luckily, they had plenty to go around as the Kellogg's joined us later on Friday afternoon for the autumn festivities. We tried a few times to get some pictures of the everyone, but we really only got this.


That night we decided to go to Club 10 for supper. After a lot of greasy food and one tasty beer :-) we decided to take the kids bowling for the first time. Up came the bumpers and out came a bowling ball ramp (which is pure genius for the under 6 year olds) and with 8 stocking feet, we had a recipe for awesomeness! Evan was first and he could not have been more excited! He picked out a ball, then we found him a lighter ball, and up it went on the ramp. (Keep in mind that he was exclaiming "Ball!" every 5 seconds) Papa was in charge of the ramp aim, so all the littles had to do was push. Evan marched up there, gave the ball a push and everyone clapped! Then, he was off like a shot down the lanes to try and retrieve his ball! "No Evan! Come back!" we all yelled as I went to go and get the little guy. Obviously, no one told him that he couldn't run after it; thankfully we were the only ones in the alleys. After Evan, all the little ones proceeded through and had a great time! This was the first time for Emma as well and she had a lot of fun picking out other balls to use (no matter what the weight) because some were more pretty and sparkly! Many of the kids got strikes, more got spares, but in the end, Evan was the big winner!! All of the kids had a blast and I am hoping we do it again soon.

The next day we picked more pumpkins, decorated Halloween cookies and roasted hotdogs and made smores outside. I again stress that the weather could not have been more beautiful! The kids loved playing outside and I wanted to be out there as well. After a much needed nap by everyone, we toured a neighbor's "cabin" in the woods, played in a creek, and went on a nature hike. The nature hike was a great time. We gave each of the little kids a plastic bag and drove to the coulee in Dad's big farm pick-up so the kids could ride in the back. (yes, adventure at every turn!) Emma was good at scouting out acorns and pretty leaves. She marched along the path like a trouper. Evan did okay. He easily tripped over sticks and was a bit behind, but every once in awhile he would bend over and stuff leaves and sticks in his bag. The big adventure was climbing the bluff - or the partial bluff. We shortened it a bit due to age and leg length. The girls actually ran up most of it - Emma and Kaylee taking turns at who was in the lead. Evan did okay for a little while. I carried him up for some and Dad did the other. We made it to the top and everyone liked the view. Emma was excited as she thought she could slide down to the bottom on the leaves on her butt, but we quickly changed her mind on that, so she ran down some of it.

After that was a quick supper and then the kids and I left the farm for home. Everyone had a great time and was exhausted when we got home. The combination of fresh air and exercise did us in.

Sunday we had Sunday School and Emma is really enjoying it this year. She doesn't want to miss a class and excitedly tells me about the projects they worked on and the stories they heard. Evan does not do well in church, even with the snack, coloring books, cars, and crayons/notebooks I try to be prepared with. I have found the best thing is when the children's center is open or (gulp) a Nuk. I know, I have to let my "Nuk only in crib" rule slide for church. I think God understands....

After that - leaves!! We had a lot of leaves in our front yard so we grabbed a rake and a snow shovel and started to make the piles. Emma really enjoys jumping in leaves and throwing them in the air. She will plop right in the middle of the pile and hurl them in the air. She will do somersaults in the pile and chase me around with her arms full of leaves, just waiting to throw them. Evan... not so much. He preferred to rake them in a pile.

After all the fall fun - the predictable work week:
Monday - kids at daycare, Tim and I work. I do homework most of the night.
Tuesday - kids at daycare, Tim and I work. I have school that night, kids have a "Daddy night"
Wednesday - kids at daycare, Tim and I work; Sage has puppy class, kids have swimming lessons. Unfortunately, there was a bit of drama at swimming lessons last week. There was, hmmm... let's say an accident at swimming lessons, so the pool was closed. Unfortunately, we found that out at the time of swimming lessons, after the kids and I had changed into bathing suits and showered. Emma understood why we couldn't swim and was enjoying sharing her newfound knowledge about the pool and their cleaning system. Evan, however, did not understand, and had to be carried away from the pool screaming "Swim! Swim!" and crying the whole way. No fun....
Thursday - kids at daycare, Tim and I work - we have a family night at home, usually dividing up cleaning duties and errands.
Friday - Mama day! (although now Evan will announce that he wants a "Daddy Day" too!"

This past weekend we were up at the cabin so Tim could finish the garage. Finally! It is mostly done. With the crappy weather (which Emma did tell me this weekend that the weather was crappy) we stayed in.

A few more short things:
--Yeah Packers!! We needed that win!
--Yeah kids! They both slept in until 7:30 this morning!! Love it! I got to take advantage of it as I had today off from work and Tim didn't set his alarm. Unfortunately, I work Friday - boo.
-- AND.... looking forward to Sunday!

Pictures!! I have TONS of pictures- but I am having difficulty loading them tonight. I will try soon!