Monday, September 26, 2011

Zadie Creek

We'll post more pictures from our Fall Tour later this week. Here is one of the highlights of our trip. This creek is in Missouri. Must be named after somebody's great-great grandmother.


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Minnesota Bound

We took the whole family out for dinner for what I think might be the first time. It was a McDonald's in Butler, Missouri. It was a nice McDonald's with friendly people. The kids were great.

Here we are unloading cargo in Des Moines.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Super Fun Karine Birthday Weekend 2011!

We did a ton of super fun things this weekend. It was Karine's birthday. The first thing we did was spend a little time in a forest where all the trees are labeled. (That's my kind of forest!) After that we had some great food at restaurant called Table Mesa on the square in Bentonville. The do a Thai-curry burrito there that is serious business.


On Saturday we went golfing with Papa and Zeke. It was a great foursome.

After, we went to Nana and Papa's for real-deal chocolate cake and ice-cream. Nana made the cake from scratch. We met up with the twins there and enjoyed a nice afternoon in the backyard.






Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Labor Day Fun

We had a fantastic Labor Day, and spent some great quality time together. We started out in the morning with a women and children visit over at my parents' house. My aunt Kathleen and uncle Terry were in town for the weekend from Florida, so it was great to be able to spend some time with them.

While the women and children visited and took a little walk, the men hit the golf course. Tom had two holes where he chipped in the hole. For you non-golfers out there, this means he got it in the hole without needing to putt it in from the green. This requires a great deal of skill and concentration. Pictured here is a guy that is not Tom, but he is demonstrating what great chipping looks like.


Zadie was all smiles as we grilled out in the backyard. We're considering a September camping trip with the kids. To try out the idea, we set up the tent in the backyard. The kids loved climbing in and out.

We grilled brats, sliced up some watermelon, and played in the tent and yard. I don't know if it would be practical to bring high chairs on an actual camping trip, but it was great in the backyard. I got some nice snuggles in with each of the kids.





After dinner, we piled in the minivan and went to Braums to pick up some ice cream. We came home and partied till the sun went down. Zeke got a chocolate ice cream cone, and Tom and I got some blizzard-type things with Reese's. Yummy!


We hope your weekend was as nice as ours!

Friday, September 2, 2011

August Accomplishments and Activities

Hey August- we had fun with you, but you just up and left so suddenly. What's up with that?
I didn't get a chance to do any great recaps. Here's what happened in August for us (youngest to oldest)...

Zadie started crawling! Our happy little girl is on the move now. She tries so hard to keep up with her speedy brothers and delights in being able to get herself from room to room. She's slimmed down a bit this month and doesn't have quite so many rolls. I think she and Ezra are starting to look a lot more alike. Here's a 36 second video of Zadie crawling.


Ezra loves clapping. Seriously. If anyone uses a positive-sounding tone in what they are saying, Ezra picks up on the cue and starts clapping. His sister is usually quick to join in behind him, but he's a real cheerleader. Ezra is also a champ in the highchair. He loves to eat any kind of finger food, and does so with great enthusiasm. Since mealtimes are often hectic around here, the babies have been feeding themselves pretty often. They love peas, carrots, butternut and pasta, chicken, and cheerios.

Zeke successfully beat the paci habit. Giving up his "bepe" was a bit brutal (on all of us) for about a week. It was really tough for us to watch our little guy who had always looked forward to bedtime and hardly ever fussed about it have complete emotional breakdowns. Luckily, the Bepe Fairy doesn't do tradebacks, so we all toughed it out. Zeke has been able to fall asleep pretty peacefully without his paci now for a week, and we congratulate him for it. (Ezra is always game for applauding him) Besides playing all the time with his new big-boy trucks, Zeke happily spends hours playing with his "hooker". (a 12 inch bungee cord with hooks on the ends). Hookers make great cranes, tow trucks, and are just generally great to have a conversation with. (Quote from the living room 5 seconds ago: "Do you have a lot of cranes at your house, hooker?" ) So fun!


I thought that taking care of 3 kids age 2 and under was too easy. I began taking care of a little two year old girl at the beginning of August. The first week was definitely tough, but since then, things have almost been easier than before. Zeke LOVES having a little playmate in the house (and the backyard, and the park, and the library...) and I enjoy having a little side income too. C comes here Monday-Friday during the day, and we're still able to do all of the fun activities we have come to enjoy. She's a really sweet little girl, and I think the arrangement will work out well for everyone!

Tom went back to grad school! Tom is now a full time student and a full time employee, meaning he works and works to squeeze as much into his week as possible. His classes have begun for his Masters in Social Work degree. Tom will be super busy for the next 2 years, but will graduate in Spring 2013. He likes his classes and has made some friends too! I suggested that he find a group of type-A ladies to join for group projects and presentations. So far, he's been keeping up with his homework and even learned a few things about social work.

Well, that's all for us. Happy Labor Day weekend!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Raffle Winners

Thank you to everyone that purchased a raffle ticket. Though we didn't quite sell 50 tickets, we did sell enough to get our home internet started and hooked up. SO without further ado... I have used a very complicated technique, involving small pieces of paper, a bowl, and a list of prizes. Below, I have listed the prizes with the winner's initials next to each one. (You know if you bought a ticket!) I will be sending out an email to each of you during naptime today.

1. Homemade Tag Blanket (made by Karine) for a boy/girl- AO
2. Homemade Tag Blanket (made by Karine) for a girl/boy- LZ
3. Baby Legwarmers (made by Karine)- NSB
4. Personalized mix CD (made by Tom, tailored to your tastes with some exciting new music for you!)- NSB
5. 20 Monster Cookies made and mailed to your home! (made by Zeke and Karine)- LZ
6. Reusable Cloth Baby Wipes (made by Karine) awesome for cloth diapering families.- JM
7. One Blog Post dedicated entirely to YOU (or someone you love and want to surprise) complete with a personalized original song/video. - JC


Thanks for playing! The blog is still alive thanks to you!