Fall Fling

On Saturday, October 15, we ran errands as a family in the morning including getting more advil for Daddy. Then Mamaw called to go shopping, and Shawn suggested I go myself with her and enjoy some time out as the boys napped. It was fun! We looked at silly hats, fun rings and came home with new Clark shoes for both of us and Daddy (thanks, Mamaw!!!). Since the boys were still sleeping when I got home, I went for a jog. It was a lovely fall day.

The following morning, I tried to take the boys to my sister's church to see if I'd see any old friends and because one of our friends was preaching that morning. Since Shawn still needs recovery time, I was going solo and thought maybe this would be a better option than our regular church. It wasn't a good experience, unfortunately. She slept in that morning and didn't go, the church didn't have a great system for checking in new folks so it took forever. Not only did I miss most of worship, I ended up getting called out of the service just as Brian was starting to preach because there weren't enough nursery workers and all the babies were fussy. I realize that one kiddo can cause all the rest to get upset. :( I ended up leaving. No worship, no teaching, nothing but a long drive and a lot of hassle.

That afternoon was our neighborhood "fall fling." This is the first year that I remember being invited to fall fling in our neighborhood. Each year they talk about doing something with chili, but I don't think they've done it for a few years. Cathy, the host of all our neighborhood gatherings, made a bit crock pot of chili. Another neighbor made white chicken chili. Then another neighbor made hot dogs & sauerkraut. Cathy said to bring any kind of "fall food" and lawn chairs. I asked Shawn if I should go or not since I knew that he wouldn't be up for walking around. He said "we're not moving anytime soon, so go and represent." :) :) :) He also told me to leave the kiddos behind and he would take care of them. I thought I would make an appearance. But, I wasn't sure about what fall food to take. I was thinking about pumpkin dip, but eventually I decided just to go to the store and buy something. It had been a relatively busy weekend, and I wasn't sure I'd have time to get creative.

Weis had advertised cute cupcakes, so I decided to go there and pick some up. When I got there, I saw a platter of these leaf cookies. The cupcakes weren't as cute in person, and I thought cookies would be easy to pick up, especially for kiddos. So I purchased them. They said $7.49 on the package, but when I got to the register and swiped my credit card, I saw on the receipt that I was charged $7.99. I asked and the gal told me to go to customer service. I truly debated on whether or not it was worth my time for .50 cents. But, since there wasn't a line, I decided to pursue it. It wasn't a huge deal but more annoying to pay more than what I had expected to. Then, because of their error, the girl gave me the cookies for free. She put the entire $8 back on my card. Woohoo! Free is the best price. :) :) :) And then I didn't feel so guilty for not making something creative on my own. I ended up taking cookies and chips with me to share in the festivities.

The group was smaller this time than the summer one - or maybe the same size and it just seemed smaller because we were outside rather than all together in their garage (no rain on this day!), but there were different people there, too. I met a couple more school teachers and their kiddos. At first I was solo. I love hearing all the neighborhood gossip. And, I must admit that it's not really gossip because it's each family sharing their own stories. I heard about the untimely death of a ground hog, a fugitive, and all sorts of other interesting tales of children in school, dances, driving, etc. It was fun! Two of the "new" families had younger children. Many of the other families had older children there. The one family had  six-year-old who kept wanting to play with the older kids. They had set up a game of "Sprite 'pong" rather than "beer pong" as you can see behind the picture of my men below. Then they were riding on a homemade skate board and doing other activities that weren't wrong but not necessarily great for a six-year-old. She told her mommy that she wanted someone to play with. Her little brother (2 years old, I would guess) was there as well. I told the mom that I would go home and get my boys to play and some younger activities. That's when I brought them down, and Shawn said he would come for the last little bit and eat some dinner as well.

They played with our balls that we brought and the sidewalk chalk they had, and then they went to play soccer in the LBC field behind their house. They were having a blast when I saw on my watch that it was time to go. :) It had been a fun afternoon. :) I'm glad we live in such a nice neighborhood. They were joking that we have a little bit of everything as far as workers - nurses, police detectives, firemen, teachers, etc. :) It's a nice place to live and raise a family. The houses are old and need work but the feeling of community is great!

On the move!

Our little Ryan Josiah is getting better and better and more controlled with his rolling. He loves his feet and can easily roll back and forth. He's a mover and a shaker!

You're BRAVE!

The boys were cleaning up their toys in the office (Joshua, of course, being the best cleaner upper as Caleb gets easily distracted). Then, they saw their big cars that they had brought up from the toy box from our family room downstairs. Since the lights were all off down on the lower floors, Joshua whispered "Caleb you go first!" Caleb said "okay!" Then I heard big brother tell little brother in a hushed voice "You're brave!"

That Bounce Place

 

On Friday, October 21, I had plans to go with the Garner's to "That Bounce Place" which opened fairly recently in Granite Run. We love "Bounce U" in Annville, so I was excited to check out this new one. I will say that I think it's nicer that Annville allows parents to bounce with their kiddos for free, BUT the drive is not nearly as nice. When we saw a Living Social deal for two hours of bouncing and a hot dog for $5, we bought two of them, one for each kiddo. Then I saw on the website that Friday mornings are reserved for "preschool bounce" and only children five and under are allowed on the equipment. I thought that was a PERFECT time to go. My friend Julie posted on facebook that she also bought a living social deal, and I suggested we go together. Jude is being homeschooled and doesn't have online classes on Fridays, so she agreed that this was also a great day for her family.

We were to meet there at 10 am, and she got there about a quarter after with a fireman costume for Joshua to borrow (thanks so much!). We went inside and got our bouncing wristbands for the kiddos. Then Caleb said he had to go potty first. So, that was my kids' first stop. Then they bounced away! Instead of it being two rooms like Bounce U, it's one room, but it's sort of divided awkwardly, so it's a little more difficult to see the kids than it should be. We walked back and forth, back and forth, with Ryan being very content in his car seat and stroller combo.

The kids LOVED it! They climbed up the big slide and kept coming down. Unlike the other place, there were no sacks to go down on. So, they could keep going over and over and over again. There also wasn't anyone monitoring the activity (maybe it's just for preschool bounce days since all the parents are there to watch the behavior?). I liked that there were workers at Bounce U to monitor children's behavior; on the other hand, most of the mamas were keeping a good eye that morning, and most of the children were very well behaved, especially this young.

I loved Kate's face in the above picture. My camera - even on the pets & kids setting - could not keep up with how fast they would come down the slide. I was trying to get her mid-slide and ended up snapping when she was getting up with a big cheese on her face!

Ryan is SUCH a good baby! I love that he's typically content and allows me time to spend with my other boys in fun atmospheres. I also LOVE his stroller/car seat combo. Thank you, Kristen, for your old car seat and thank you, Craig's List, for the stroller!

Jude & Kate slid down together. They were having fun! I thought Joshua was "cutting covenant" with Jude at the one point when he looked at him and said "Jude, wherever you go, I'll go!" I laughed and looked at Julie and said "you're people will be my people." :) :) :)

The kids bounced and climbed and played and were WORN OUT by the time we left. I'm glad they had water fountains because they would get a break to get a drink and were HOT!

Since our coupons came with a hot dog, just before noon I said we should go get lunch (our wristbands had 12:20 written on them - which was when our two hours was up). Julie hadn't gotten the hot dog special but instead got the seven-bounce pass. Her kids were hungry, though, so she decided to buy a whole pizza (which was cheaper than buying individual slices).

I ordered first, and the woman said "Whoops! We only have one hot dog left and you have two tickets. Would either of your kids like a slice of pizza instead? If not, we can make another package of hot dogs." I asked them, and Joshua said "Hot dog" while Caleb said "Pizza." Perfect! I paid for a drink for me, and I gave Julie $2 toward the entire pizza so I could have a slice (which is what slices there cost, roughly). Then Julie ordered her pizza, and they said "Whoops! We just gave a slice away out of it" (Caleb's). She said "We could make another whole pizza, but it will be 20 minutes or we could knock a couple bucks off this pizza and give you the seven slices that are left." PERFECT! So, we got our lunches and I paid for two juice boxes and we sat down and enjoyed our lunch.

At that moment, though, I realized that the place that had been relatively full was completely empty. Did it close at noon typically (after all, 10 am to noon would be two hours of bounce if you got there right when it opened!)? I had no idea. But, the workers were SO NICE! No one kicked us out. They didn't make a big deal about the food. They let us enjoy our lunch there and we left when we were finished. I would say they were extremely friendly. It was a nice morning out!

We all had a great time. It is definitely somewhere I would go again. The kids had a blast, and I love that they have "preschool" mornings so I don't have to bounce with them or leave Ryan. At some ages, I think an adult is needed to save their kids or help them climb. But, my older two boys can handle themselves and are kind to other children. I am thankful that they are well-behaved generally!

Thanks, Garners, for a fun morning! We'll have to go again sometime!

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm

On Thursday, October 20, Joshua's preschool class had a field trip to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm. I asked Mom if she would be willing to watch Caleb & Ryan and she agreed. My nephew Daniel's preschool class had the field trip there on the same day, so I offered to swing by Aunt Jen's house and pick them up; and she agreed that it would be fun to ride together. I warned her that I may have to leave early to come home if I got a call from Mamaw that the Schnook needed me, and she said that was fine. I'm glad it worked out!

When we got there, it was chillier than I had expected it to be. In the photo above, little Sarah is pictured next to Joshua in the train car as we wait for the other classmates to arrive. She's the daughter of my friend Tammy from Study & Share. I thought her cat hat was cute!

Our first stop was the petting zoo. I remembered from last year that for the kiddos to feed the animals, they need quarters. So, I was prepared and Joshua began to feed everything right away as other parents scrambled (we also shared some of our food with others). He loved the goats (and baby goats!) eating right out of his hands.

Soon his buddy Spencer came up to him - they seem to enjoy playing together!

Next we put food on the feeder wheel to send up to some of the goats up top. The kids LOVE this thing!

And he fed some of the sheep (reminding me of the Bible verse, "Peter, if you love me, feed my sheep!").

We also saw the pigs, ducks, bunnies and all sorts of other animals that they can touch.

Joshua's favorite part of the day was getting to hold the peeps. He was SO gentle with these little soft creatures that were just three days old. While the gentleman had to keep telling other kids not to squeeze or drop them, Joshua held his little peep like a prized possession - so gently and so sweet! When Daddy got home that night, Joshua told him that he got to hold the baby peeps!

He tried to milk the cow, but there wasn't any "milk" in it. Then we heard "screaming" from baby goats. One preschool mom said "I think the mother is trapped over there and her babies are in this pen over here. Do you hear them crying for her? I wonder why they are separated." The noise made me sad. All the sudden the mama goat JUMPED the fence of the area she was confined to and ran purposefully through the crowds to get to her young. Someone guessed that the feeding people had made a mistake when they separated them, and another said "watch out because she'll knock over the little kids to get to her own." But, the minute she got into the pen, her babies latched hold of her. It looked painful to me, but all the goats seemed happy then! The crying had stopped. In some ways, it mad me miss my baby Ryan, but I was grateful for the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with Joshua. Next year, he'll be in school already!

Of course, I had to take some pictures! He's used to these requests. :) :) :)

Then we lined up for our wagon ride. I saw another mom with all three of her kids, including one Joshua's age, then one who I would guess is younger than Caleb by a year or so and a tiny baby. Another mom offered to hold the baby for her and took him out of his car seat. The mom then held the other little guy. But, when the ride was finished, the "helper mom" simply dumped the baby into this other woman's arms. No stroller, no car seat, no extra hands. I know what that feels like! I told her to stay put and I would go and get all her stuff for her so she could put the baby in the stroller combo and have her hands for her other kids. She seemed appreciative - then she asked me if my baby came in May or June. She remembered seeing me "extremely pregnant" and I couldn't have said that I had ever seen her before in my life. How funny!

Our wagon ride was FREEZING cold. Joshua & Spencer sat together once again. I snuggled my big guy and told him to keep me warm and I would do the same for him. :) :) :) After it was over and we were done helping the parent out (once again I was so glad that Mamaw was watching my other two boys!), we headed for the big bounce "pillows." I had to get a picture of my Bean being a "Lil' Kernel."

Joshua jumped and jumped, but he could NOT keep his pants up. They were a 5T slim, but they still kept falling down. His friend Spencer jumped on him, and I told Joshua to tell him "no thank you" since the Bean did NOT like it. I also went over and rescued him. Spencer's dad was talking my ear off and had their baby strapped to him in a bjorn but didn't seem terribly concerned about his older son's behavior. Finally when the Bean's pants fell completely down, I suggested we find a new activity to do. We had already spent a half an hour jumping at that point. I think this is Joshua's favorite thing to do at Cherry Crest!

We found the hay tunnel, but he didn't want to go in. His teacher was there, though, and asked to get a picture of him.

So, I snapped one of her with him. Here's Mrs. Zimmerman and Joshua. I love his teacher this year! She prays for the kids each morning on her way to school. She's teaching them Bible verses and is more 'strict' about the quality of their letters and education. What a great role model she is!

Then I saw Mrs. Perez, the aide, and I asked for her picture as well. Joshua loves her! He always asks to sit at her table first since she does the crafts in the morning. He likes that she talks "differently" and is teaching them a couple Spanish words.

After these pictures, we climbed the big hill together and slid down together. He LOVED it! So, we went again. This is an area that I couldn't have gone with a baby, so I'm glad that we could go together. We "raced" down the hill. It was fun!

That's when we found Aunt Jen in the same area. It was almost 11:30 or my little Schnookie's eating time. We got a picture of the boys together on the horses. Other than this moment, our classes had been separate - or at least our groups. Half our class went with Mrs. Kile's preschool class, the "Redskins," and the other half went with a different teacher's group "the Steelers." I thought it would have been more appropriate to be a Redskin, but we were assigned to the Steelers.

Before leaving, Daniel saw this shooter thing and wanted to try it. I was AMAZED at how well Joshua did with it. After the first shot, he hit the upper net EVERY SINGLE TIME! It was truly impressive as some of the bigger kids weren't even getting it where it was supposed to be! Maybe we have a little "David" with his sling shot on our hands!

We took a photo together, and I took one of Aunt Jen & Daniel together with her camera before we started walking out.

The boys found this spider web and climbed on it before we left. It was windy that day, and an entire bin of napkins blew through the area when a worker opened it to restock it. As we left, we helped pick a few up to put in the trash can.

Then we headed home. It was a really fun day together! Mamaw & Caleb had swept our floors while we were gone - BONUS! (Thanks, Mamaw!). We were covered in mud, so upon arriving at home, we took our shoes & clothes to the laundry room where I washed them (thank God his sneakers are washable!). We cleaned right up and enjoyed playing that afternoon before I had to leave for class that night. It was a busy but FUN day!

I Tell You the Truth, Ryan Josiah Has His First TOOTH!

My little Schnook-a-lou got his first tooth on Friday, October 28, 2011. It's his bottom left front tooth. Great job, little buddy!

This outfit was originally Caleb's, and I LOVE the little matching socks with the shirt. He reminds me of "Where's Waldo?" as a baby!

Then a Spider Sat Down Beside Her...

Last Wednesday, October 19, I went to preschool to help out in Joshua's classroom. Since there was a field trip the following day, Mrs. Zimmerman wanted to make sure that the children finished their letter books that morning, so I helped out at a station with those while Mrs. Perez and Mrs. Zimmerman had their own letter and craft stations. It was fun! I loved seeing the kids in action. Ryan slept in his car seat/stroller off to the side while I helped the preschool kiddos write two words that the letter "a" in their letter books. Then they had to draw a picture of the word that they chose. I was impressed by two little girls and their artistic ability - one drew an ambulance and another drew an angel that were very impressive. Some of the little boys did well drawing "antlers" and "ants." Joshua chose the words "ax" and "alligator." And while he did well with writing the letters, he didn't know how to draw the pictures. I realized that we haven't done enough at home with drawing pictures.

So, this past Monday we worked on drawing different pictures. He told me that he knows how to draw a house, which is true. I would give him a picture to draw and we would think through the shapes in the picture together to make one. We did a pumpkin, a baby, a banana, a book, a car and a few other ones. He did great! At first he got frustrated that it didn't come to him naturally, but I held him and explained that Ryan doesn't know how to draw pictures, go potty or play Wii. These are things that we will teach him as he gets bigger. So, I need to teach Joshua how to draw. It made sense to him then, and he calmed down and enjoyed the rest of our craft time. Caleb also sat with us and drew a jack-o-lantern and a baby. He loses interest in activities quicker than Joshua does, but I think that's a sign of their ages and personality types.

Anyway, on that Wednesday, I only helped out in the classroom for about half an hour, and then Ryan & I came home. When we went back to preschool, I picked up Caleb from his classroom first. He had a SPIDER hat! It was SO cute! And he had a spider craft in his bag. When we got Joshua, he was also wearing a black hat. I asked him if he was a spider too - and he said "I'm an ANT!" Of course, it was "A" week! So, I had a spider and an ant who walked out of preschool together. We picked up Daddy right away and all ate lunch together.

Then Mamaw came over to watch the boys for a half hour while Daddy got his stitches out at the doctor. We saw Dr. Hughes who seemed confused at first - then he laughed and said "No wonder I don't remember your surgery - I didn't perform it!" Indeed, Dr. Effis had performed it, but he was on vacation so Dr. Hughes was the surgeon we saw for his follow-up appointment. The nurse took out the stitches and said "these are tight" as Shawn winced in pain. I felt terrible for him! I told him it's rough to see him in so much pain, and he laughed at me and said "sounds like YOU have had a rough day" as he winked at me. I laughed and told him maybe I needed to lie down... ha!

When we got home, one of the boys accidentally kicked Shawn's foot, and blood was EVERYWHERE! My poor carpet (I know, my priorities, right?). I called the doctor's office who said that it could bleed for a little bit and not be a problem unless the sterile strips fell off and the wound was open or if the wound looked infected. So, we figured it was probably fine. Poor hubby! He worked from home that afternoon, as I recall, and then that night we watched TV in bed after the kids went to sleep, I think. We love the show "Modern Family" that airs Wednesday night. It was a fairly relaxing day!

I'm glad the 'ant' and 'spider' we saw in our house that day were these two adorable faces. Otherwise, these are not welcome in our house! But, if they come in the form of sweet hats, we'll let them dwell with us! :) :) :)

A Severe Weather Drill

 Last Tuesday, October 18, we had a severe weather drill at Study & Share. When I dropped my little Ryan off, there were two very sweet elderly ladies in the nursery. I was glad to see them both there and ready to love on my little Ry-guy! But, when I saw the worried look on their faces, they told me that they were having a fire drill in the nursery. They weren't quite sure if they could wheel multiple babies in a crib and she needed to ask someone. I told her that I would easily come back for Ryan and help them when she responded, "NO! That's the whole point. If something would happen, you can't come here for your kids. You need to be safe and trust that we get your baby out." Well, I wasn't so sure about trusting that morning. I got to class and heard that we were having a "severe weather drill" and had to go to an interior room downstairs in the event of a tornado. One of my mommy friends told me that she was in the building last year when they called for a tornado warning and it wasn't a drill when the kids were in the hallway face in between their laps singing songs to keep them calm. Oh my goodness!

I worry far too much about my kids anyway. But, this morning I kept praying for my little men - all three of them because I figured they might all have drills if Ryan was and we as women were. Would the little old ladies be okay with my little man, I wondered? I shuddered at the thought of real severe weather or a real fire when they tell us that we can't go and get our kids. At least the woman in charge told us she realizes that it goes against every fiber of our mommy being not to go get our kids. But, I also realize why they say that and make evacuation routes for the safety over everyone.

The morning's lesson was good (after the drill was done) and once again I was thankful to be there. I love my group and I love learning about God's word. We're studying "Covenant" by Kay Arthur and I would highly recommend it! When I went back to the nursery to see how Ryan was after it was over, he was the ONLY BABY THERE! The two little old women told me that he did just fine but didn't like to be wheeled around in the crib until they turned him over so he could see out. But, he was fine and they said that they tried to keep him happy all morning. Two workers to one child is my kind of ratio!!! I was SO glad. They seemed relieved too. Often they have four or more babies to two workers, but on this day Ryan was the only one. :) :) :)

This past Tuesday, there was the same woman (who I like) in there and another volunteer mom. The volunteer mom told me that she has a 10 and 11 year old and enjoyed having Ryan. This time there were two babies to two workers. So, this woman held him all morning long. :) Again, I felt very blessed. I realize that it won't always go this way, but I'm thankful when I get a morning to be in study & share and I think it makes me a better mom to have the occasional break to reflect on the important things of life and be encouraged and challenged by other mamas walking the same path.

In these pictures, Ryan is playing on his quilt made by Mamaw's own hands, and Joshua decided to go play with him. He is a kind big brother, and so is Caleb! Ryan loves his soft blanket. :)