Happy Halloween Week!

October 27, 2009, 1:59 pm

We finally got our pumpkins last weekend. Noah picked the largest pumpkin (of course), Lily picked the roundest pumpkin, and Nathan and I got smaller pumpkins. Lily also fell in love with a green pumpkin which she brought home and dressed in baby clothes and decorated with markers.

We are having a Halloween party on Thursday, and Lily can't wait. It's just our family, but she is counting down like it's the biggest event ever. We're going to carve our pumpkins, make Halloween sugar cookies, and drink apple cider. I'm sure Lily will dress up for the occasion.

Happy Halloween!

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A Fall Adventure

October 25, 2009, 8:04 am

We have spent the past 3 weekends traveling or at home with sick children. Finally we had a weekend of beautiful fall weather and everyone was well! We set out for the Mississippi Palisades with the idea of stopping along the way for pumpkins. We never ended up getting any pumpkins because we all had too much fun hiking and looking at the beautiful trees.

Noah discovered Sunset Trail, and he set off at a fast pace through the trail (it's hard to keep up with that competitive 8-year-old).



Nathan and Lily lagged behind identifying trees. Lily collected a number of beautiful leaves and can tell you the difference between a maple and oak leaf. She even found a tree bigger than Papa's head.



When we started our adventure, Noah seemed a little bored. I just love when kids have fun in spite of themselves...

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A Little About Lily

October 18, 2009, 9:55 am

Lily is quite a character these days. She loves Kindergarten even though she complains about getting up early and the bus ride. She always comes off the bus with a big smile and some stories to tell. The best story so far makes her giggle uncontrollably. There is a boy named Ayden in her class who makes Lily laugh. During lunchtime, Ayden will yell, “Bon Appetit!” to the lunchroom helpers when they open milk cartons for all of the Kindergarteners. Lily told us that the helpers told Ayden if he says it again they won’t come over and help him. The next day the lunchroom helpers would yell, “Bon Appetit!” after helping the kids. Lily thinks this is hilarious and yells Bon Appetit randomly while eating, playing, and most of all when we tuck her into bed. Hilarious! Oh and she pronounces it Bon Appe-teeee!



Lily was given her very own caterpillar at school which quickly got in the J-Hang position (Lily loves this term since my name starts with a J). Lily asks me to sing the alphabet song and insert J-Hang for J-K (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i, j-hang,l,m, etc.) This makes her laugh uncontrollably. For some reason bedtime is a silly time for Lily. Her butterfly then turned into a chrysalis and finally a Monarch butterfly. Lily named her butterfly Jessica and got to hold her and set her free. Lily decided that the perfect costume for Halloween is a Monarch butterfly in honor of Jessica (who is on her way to Mexico or already sunning herself on the beaches there) and because Monarchs are orange and black, the colors of Halloween.

Lily is a rule follower just like her older brother. When I take her to school she will ask me, “Is that allowed?” after every comment. One morning she had to go to the bathroom, so I suggested she stop at the bathroom on the way into school, but she got very upset and was concerned it was not allowed. During spirit week Lily wore a tiara for crazy hat day and sunglasses on beach day after I told her probably100 times that they were allowed. Lily’s teacher started using clips which are on green at the start of each day and are moved to yellow or red due to misbehavior. Lily is happy to report every afternoon that she is, “Still on green!” She also reports all bad behavior from her classmates which she finds pretty funny (especially when a boy poured his entire carton of milk on his face).



Lily started school unsure about free choice time because she was too shy to ask anyone to play with her. I talked to her about playing on her own and doing what she wants to do and then other kids will join her. She now plays alone at times but also has some friends: Riley, Allison, and Kailyn are the girls she talks about the most (although they aren’t as funny as that crazy boy Ayden).

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A Special Fall Trip to The City

October 15, 2009, 12:36 pm

Of course I always visit the Schremmers in March for Huck's birthday. I look forward to my trip every winter, and I can't even describe how much fun I have with those three. Lately I started complaining to Nathan that I need to add another trip in to NY. A year is a long time to wait... Nathan is so amazingly supportive about me getting time with my family, and he encouraged me to go this fall.

Then I heard that my Dad was unsure about traveling alone to NY, so I had my mission. I found very cheap tickets out of Kansas City, and I drove to KC to meet up with my Dad for a fun fall trip to NYC!

My Dad is great to travel with. We got through security together (not a fun task) and enjoyed talking and drinking coffee together on the plane.

The Schremmers took us to Time Square the night we arrived. The lights and action of Times Square never disappoint. My Dad and I were in awe. Then we saw a wonderful Broadways musical called Memphis. We were in the 5th row center, and the experience was incredible!



We spent the next day at The Metropolitan Museum of Art which is my Dad's favorite spot in NY (as he's an artist). I always enjoy looking at art with him and hearing his interpretations. We spent the afternoon walking through Central Park and the evening in Little Italy drinking wine, eating good food, and shopping.




We spent Sunday morning at the Schremmer's church and enjoyed watching Troy in action. Then we went to the Bronx Zoo for Boo at the Zoo where Huck had fun running through hay mazes, watching a magician (his highlight for sure), and looking at animals.



Huck and I had a great time sharing chilled rolos (I taught him how to suck on them until it's just caramel which he said is, "very hard work!") and spraying lots of spray cheese on crackers and into each other's mouths. (We're kind of sneaky.)




I slept in Huck's room for the first time, and he woke me up at 6 a.m. on the 2nd morning when I was fast asleep. I told him it was the middle of the night and that he needed to watch his clock until it said 7 a.m. and then go wake up his Mom. I still have an image of Huck sitting on the edge of his bed watching his clock. He is such a sweet boy.

The last morning of the trip Huck and I woke up around 7:30 and stayed in bed talking for a while. He told me that he didn't want me to go and that I should stay until the night before the Harvest Festival. I asked him why I needed to leave that night, and he said, "Because you're allergic to hay! There is hay all over the Harvest Festival! But I think that you could climb over the fence and stand on the rocks and be ok!"

What great memories...

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