Catching Up

I've missed a few months and thought I would "catch up" on things that I wanted to post about but never got the chance.  Life is busy even with only two kids.  I'm still amazed at my parents, Bill's parents and everyone who has kids.  We get stuff done and we survive.....somehow!

So first thing that I want to remember, yet don't want to remember at the same time was the earwigs!  Really!  Last year it was hornets and box elder bugs everywhere.  This year not a single hornet, not a single box elder bug, but hundreds of earwigs!  So gross.  We discovered the earwigs one night when we were enjoying a cool breeze coming through the screen door.  The kids were asleep, it was dark,  we finally had a few minutes to talk.  The screen door doesn't have a perfect seal on the bottom.  We flipped on the lights to clean up the kitchen and there were earwigs crawling in from the bottom corner.  They were in this massive pile around the door base and floor.  I screamed!  Bill grabbed the vacuum.  We got a lot of them, but didn't realize until later how many had escaped into the house.  I think I killed at least 10 earwigs a day for the next two weeks.  Now I find maybe one a week.  Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!.  Bill went and bought a really good bug repellant for earwigs and spread it all around the house.  That really helped.  We found out that it wasn't just our house, but the entire city that has been dealing with them.  So strange.  Can't wait to see what next year brings.

I made the kids each an apron.  It was a fun project.  They got to pick out the fabric at the store and when we were done we made bread.  Oden has his out for every cooking endeavor.  We make pancakes every Sunday to last through the week and he loves to put on his apron and help me measure the flour. 

Quickyn fell in the lake!

Bill took the kids on a bike ride around the loop in our neighborhood.  There is a dock at the top of the loop.  The kids love to throw rocks and watch the fish.  Well, Quickyn was leaning over a little too far to see the fish and SPLASH!  Bill was sitting right next to her when it happened, so he just reached over and pulled her out.  He said her helmet kept her from going down too far.  So, now she likes to remind us that her helmet floats but she sinks.  This picture is what greeted me when they got home.  I have to admit that I bust out laughing when I probably should have been more sympathetic.  It was just so funny to see her little scrunched up mad face on this drenched rat body. 

Oden has a silly side that reminds me of my youngest brother soooo much!  He gets into these goofy moods and doesn't get inhibited.  He also has some really good dance moves. 

We setup our little pool for the kids to cool off in this summer.  They had so much more fun when Bill jumped in with them.  According to him it was much easier to be out there with them in the pool than out of the pool.  It was really hot.  They also loved going to Grandma Grandpa Buff's house and playing in their new pool.  In fact I keep getting asked if we are going to go splash in their pool anytime soon.  Oden wants to put ours back up!  It's fall, its cold, he wants to go swimming!

Daddy makes everything fun!  He spent a lot of time this summer getting ready for labs and demos for his science classes.  One day he was playing with bubbles.  He got the kids involved too.  They had fun trying to make the most bubbles.  Quickyn gave up the minute she got too sticky.  Oden played for hours and soaked through three towels.  I'm surprised this bubble ball got so big when he was giggling with every breath.

Before school started we spent a day at the zoo with my sister and her little family.  I love that we have kids that are close in age and they enjoy playing with each other.  I love these pictures.  I remember the laughing, the screaming, and the excitement by looking at them.  Good times.

We grew tomatoes, corn and pumpkins this year.  I tried to keep the garden small because I knew harvest time would be during my last month of pregnancy.  I remember planting the two pumpkin plants and crossing my fingers that at least two big pumpkins would grow so the kids could carve them for Halloween.  Well I got my wish.  Two big pumpkins grew.  We might have one or two more little ones if the frost doesn't get too bad.  Last year we planted six tomato plants that never grew a single tomato.  This year we planted 8 and have them coming out our ears!  So glad our friends have taken some off our hands.  The corn turned out delicious too and the dried stocks are great decorations for the front porch.

I started my own little preschool with Oden when Quickyn started school.  We go over a letter a week.  He's known for awhile now that his name starts with and "O".  So his art and papers always have O's on them.  But he started showing an interest in writing because Q is learning to read and write.  So, I taught him his name.  He LOVES it.  This is just one example of the hard work and concentration he puts into his name.  He does this at least once a day if not more.  I get handed lots of "name" papers.  This was one of the first ones when he was writing Oben instead of Oden.  Now he writes it with a "d".  It is so amazing to watch him focus on writing his name.  I am so proud of him.

 

So that sums up the last few months.  It sure has been fun and challenging.  We have about 3 weeks until little number three joins the fun.  Love you all!