Fun with Pumpkins and Hay

We've been getting into the fall spirit recently. We took a trip to a local harvest festival with some friends and last night we carved our pumpkins. The kids love the festival. They played in the nearby stream and climbed around on a mountain of hay. We picked out our pumpkins over the weekend and last night we carved them up. Erin had a lot of fun scooping out the guts and helping separate the seeds. My non-slimy man wasn't so sure about the guts, but did dig in at least once. Erin designed her pumpkin all on her own and helped mommy carve it. Jeffrey and daddy did his. Both wanted them to be spooky pumpkins -- I think we achieved that goal.

So here's some photos of the trip to the festival and pumpkin carving. I'll be back over the weekend with costume pictures.

Boys will be boys

That's how the saying goes. I've always really tried to refute it though, thinking "let's not pigeon-hole him." He's a loving, caring, sweet little boy. He adores his sister and his kitty (Mr. Drake) and spends at least 50% of the day within 2 feet of his beloved blankie. He gives the best hugs and kisses.

But there's just something in him that's not in Erin. This mischievous devilishness. The one who MUST dump out every toy in the play area and then decide it's time to watch a movie. He runs around and gets covered in mud in ways I never thought possible. Every toy can be turned into either a gun or a sword for "powing" or "poking" (I'm working on this, but I'm not getting through in the slightest). These past few days he's been verging on out of control. I never, ever remember Erin being like this. She had her moments certainly, but...

Boys will be boys I guess.


Erin has 2 fish in her room - Marlin and Teddy Bear. They are female betas and we keep them on her dresser in a little 1-gallon tank. Jeffrey loves to watch the fish. Yesterday afternoon he was fighting his nap in a way he generally doesn't fight it. He was up every 5 minutes for this or that. Pooped his pants. Ran downstairs to get a truck for his bed. Finally he quieted down. I was trying to get some work done in the basement, so I assumed he'd gone to sleep. Boy oh boy was I wrong.

When I went up to get him so we could go pick Erin up from the bus stop, I noticed his door was open and Erin's door was shut. Noise was coming from Erin's room. I peeked in there and he was cowering on her bed.

"What are you doing in here?"
"Ummmm...nothing?" Clearly stated as a question - What was I doing?

Mommy now noticing Erin's dresser is a mess looks more closely. The fish tank is totally disheveled. Lid all askew. Water everywhere. Little cave for fish lying on the floor. Fish water the color of....well sewage. Most disturbing, a little fishnet from the bathtub on the floor near the now mangled tank.

"Really. Nothing?"
"I was getting Erin's fishies in the bathtub net. See?"

(deep breath)(deep breath)(don't beat child)(not working)"Oh My God...what did you do?????" screamed certainly much too loudly.

"Got Erin's fishies see?"

Upon closer inspection I discovered 2 small fish hovering near the bottom of the tank, miraculously still alive.

Luckily for the boy, we had to head out to the bus stop to get Erin immediately and I had time to cool down. He did spend the rest of the afternoon in his room though after a long talk about NOT playing with Erin's fish because they are living things.

Fast Forward about 26 hours. Tom and I are cooking dinner and chatting. Erin is playing in the living room listening to Aaron Copeland music. I figure Jeffrey's playing her game with her. It suddenly dawns on me that Erin's not complaining enough for Jeff to be playing with her.

"Erin...where's your brother?"
"He's upstairs drinking water."
"Oh dear......(bad words here that Erin's sure to repeat in class on Monday) JEFFREY ANDERSON!!!!!!!"

Young boy is discovered not in the bathroom but in Erin's room....tube of toothpaste in hand. That's right. Toothpaste. He's squirting toothpaste into the fish tank. And then trying to rescue Marlin and Teddy Bear with the bathtub fish net. He's soaked. Dresser is soaked. Fish are completely traumatized.

After 2 swift slaps to his bottom (say what you want but clearly the lesson from 26 hours ago hadn't sunk in a bit) he's sent back to his room. Mommy's able to rescue Marlin and Teddy Bear. Fish tank is emptied and cleaned of all pasty pollutant. Fish are currently living in a small Tupperware on the kitchen counter and tank has been removed from Erin's room to the kitchen where it's slightly more Jeffrey proof.

I have no idea what got into him. What inspired him to torture the fish (with toothpaste even). There will be more discussions on treatment of living animals. More time outs. More slaps to the bottom (sad to say).

Boys will be boys I guess.

At Ye Olde Faire

We headed off to one of our favorite places this past weekend.....the Renaissance Fair. Tom and I have loved going to the Fair since we were dating and took the kids when we went 2 years ago. So this year we decided to make a big trip of it, drag along Noni, Grandpa and Uncle Jon (and it's not really dragging since they're the ones who discovered the one in MD).

Two years ago doesn't seem like such a long time, but Jeffrey was only 1 and barely aware of where we were. And Erin wasn't much more understanding about it either. This year was different. Both the kids were super excited about it. We talked about going to the fair for a week or so. On the drive to DC both kids kept talking about all the rides that would be there - I mean what's a fair without rides? So Tom and I tried explaining it to them, like they would be visiting a castle and see all kinds of cool shows and people dressed up. After the initial disappointment that no Roller Coasters would be involved in the trip they decided it might be fun after all.

This year everyone got all dressed up. Tom and I wore our costumes and Erin and Jeff had some as well. Jeffrey's got this cool knight costume and Erin has a sweet princess costume...but not a Disney princess. Think Lucy from Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe (or really Prince Caspian). The both LOVED being in their costumes. Right after we got there, someone from the fair walked up to Jeffrey took a little plastic gem out of her bag and handed it to him, declaring him the most regal knight in the realm that day. Let's say that's now a very beloved piece of plastic. Erin got lots of comments on her dress as well.

Erin headed straight for the face painting station. She really wanted her face painted and we decided to do it early before the lines got too long and so she could show it off all day. She picked out a unicorn and sat wonderfully still for the Maiden to paint it on her cheek. It looked fantastic.

There was a cool knighting ceremony for the kids. They got to get in line, fill out a card and get their name announced along with their "good deed" for being knighted. Jeff's good deed is that he helps feed the cats. Erin decided she picks up her toys (which is true when under duress). Then they got their names called out and got to sit on a pillow while the Queen knighted them with a real-fake sword. Very cool. And they both got little certificates introducing Knight Jeffrey and Dame Erin.

We spent much of the day just wandering around. We caught a few of the shows - A magician, a comedian we all like and some of the musical groups (there was this awesome drumming corps with a bagpipe guy that was just FANTASTIC). The kids like the music as it was really easy to get up and dance to.

We did do the fun kiddie stuff. There's a big wooden slide (as close to a roller coaster as they were gonna get) that they loved, a play area with a big wooden pirate ship, and free pony rides. Uncle Jon got to introduce them both to his favorite honey vendor and the kids are now officially addicted to honey.

The highlight of the day was certainly the bubble blowing station. I remembered from last time we went that you had to have your own bubble wand to blow bubbles (and Noni is a sucker so Erin has one) so I made sure to pack it. Both Erin and Jeff we able to blow some bubbles with the bubble fairies. At the end of the day we made one last stop. The fairy working at the station was very playful and blowing suds and bubbles everywhere. Both the kids thought that this was just awesome and were giggling and laughing with her. Erin was actually able to get some really nice bubbles blown too.

It was a really fun day and I'm glad we could share it with the kids and with Noni, Grandpa and Uncle Jon. The fact that the kids imaginations are wild enough for them to believe in fairies and princesses and castles makes it all the better.

Kitchen Fun

Both Erin and Jeffrey have been spending a lot of time helping out in the kitchen these days. They LOVE to help measure/stir/knead and especially eat the end products. Mostly they help make bread with Daddy. Both kids will help measure the flour and other ingredients. Erin really loves to help knead. Jeff's not so into that as it makes his hands sticky. Erin can even tell you what are the ingredients that generally go into baking bread. She's been having so much fun in the kitchen that she decided instead of a butterfly, she's going to be a chef when she grows up.



Last week we spent a lot of time in the kitchen. We made peanut butter cookies one evening. They made bread a few times. Erin and I made some apple crisp with the fresh apples from Jeff's field trip. We all made applesauce together as well.



It's so great that they are learning that foods are cooked and not just unwrapped. Cookies have all these ingredients in them and don't just come out of a bag. Applesauce is really fun to make (what can be more fun than a food mill) and doesn't just come out of a jar. Bread can be made with just 4 ingredients and tastes AWESOME.



I've gotten a few pictures of our activities lately, and thought I'd share a few of them here so you can see how much fun we're all having in the kitchen.

Peanut Butter Cookie Fun

Measuring Carefully

Silly Bread Fun

Kneading the Dough

A New Mommy

It appears I've been replaced.

Jeffrey has announced to me that he has a New Mommy. Apparently a nicer mommy.

Yesterday morning was a day off from school - meaning optimal "sleep in" day. I think the kids didn't get the message. They were both still up at the first sound of Tom's shower running. Bounding into the big bed with me until daddy's shower was over. Then it was off to follow daddy around for the morning (or at least until he left the house at 6:45). BUT there was no school, no need to be up that early, no need to be waking Mommy up that early. I corralled them into the big bed after Tom left and let them watch Playhouse Disney until I was sufficiently awake (which happened to be after Rocket).

So when I went downstairs to find the living room and dining room look as if they'd been caught in the middle of a cyclone, I was noticeably frustrated with my early birds. After requesting that they put the cushions back ON the good couch and getting a defiant NO from Jeffrey he got 1 warning. After asking him again he responded by throwing the truck-in-hand across the room. This immediately leads to time out which elicits and even bigger fit. I decide it's not worth the fight and go hunting for coffee. Jeffrey calms himself down and wanders into the kitchen with a sad and pouty look about him.

"I have a new mommy. My new mommy says I don't have to go to time out."

And then walked back out of the kitchen to continue his general destruction of the living room. For the rest of the day any time I'd try to discipline or "talk" to him he'd remind me that his new mommy says he doesn't have to go to time out.

So clearly I've been replaced. There's a new and better mommy out there. I just hope she's willing to wipe his bum and cook his lunches too.

Meet Cindy Circle

This is Cindy Circle. We hear from her quite frequently. At home, in the car, at dinner, at church during the invocation..... I figured you'd all like to meet her too.

Cindy Circle Goes Around and Around

From the Sky to the Ground She Goes Around

She is On the Ferris Wheel

She's a Beachball For a Seal

Cindy Circle Goes Around and Around

Cindy Circle Goes Around and Around

You Can See Her On the Stoplight in the Town

She Can Bend From End to End

Roller Skating With a Friend

Cindy Circle Goes Around and Around