This morning we decided to go apple picking. Unfortunately when we got to our orchard of choice we found out that they aren’t doing PYO yet, and possibly not at all this season because of a late frost this past spring. Bummer! We headed to another orchard, but along the way we saw a low flying emergency helicopter and signs for a Fire Safety day put on by the local fire department. The kids unanimously chose fire trucks over apple picking, so we stopped there instead. We explored the fire trucks (my town has an awesome one!) and the rescue helicopter. We watched them burn a small building, but that was scary so we watched from a distance. On the way out we had a nice chat with a fireman who squatted down and spoke gently to the kids and they had a long talk about what to do in case of a fire. He did a great job holding their attention and listening to them and not being too scary. The whole subject is so scary! We came home with a few pamphlets and continued the conversation through lunch. I sure hope we never need that information though!

My kids are getting so big! I took Eve to a thrift store the other day and we had to pass through half the kid section before we got to their sizes. Eek!

But put her in a massive fire truck and she looks pretty small :)

These moments melt my heart.

"Eve," I ask, "Are you flying the helicopter?" "No mom, I'm just pretending!"

Nothing better than arriving home to find presents on the table.

This is what Eve thinks of M&Ms :)

She hugged and cuddled her new Toy Story pjs for a long time.

Lex loves his presents too, but he gets surly when I take his picture :) Won't stop me!

We went outside with popsicles for snack and Eve decided to put the new pjs on. She then wore them all over the yard for awhile and only took them off when I told her should couldn't wear them to KAF. Bummer mommy, I know, but I didn't want to get holes in the feet on the first day!

I have been baking too much lately.  How do I know this?  Lex has come to expect dessert every night.  After school Thursday he said that he wanted brownies for dessert.  I said no (too much sugar/chocolate/deliciousness), so he asked for sugar cookies instead.  I said ok, if he helps.  He said, “No mom, I’m going to play outside.  You make cookies.”  Umm… NO!  Ha!  We all went to play outside for awhile and when we came in he said he was ready to make cookies.  Ok, twist my arm.  They both helped me for a few minutes, then retired into the living room to read books to themselves while I finished up.  As the first batch was coming out of the oven Lex walked into the kitchen.  He sniffed the air and said, “Yumm.. those cookies smell delicious.  I love dessert.  Tomorrow night let’s have chocolate chip cookies.”  Not only does he expect dessert each night, but he wants a different dessert each night!  Ha!  Then Friday morning he said, “Oh mom, I notice there a few cookies left.  Can I have one for breakfast.”  This cracked me up because he must think that Alan and I (or maybe just me!) eat ALL of the cookies each night.  Lex and Eve had one each for dessert and he saw how many there were all together, so the fact that he was surprised the next morning to see “a few cookies left” really amuses me.  Sigh.  This was all much funnier in reality.  It’s hard to convey in text several days later.  But the moral of the story is I need to do less baking! (and yes, I did let him have one for breakfast)

Along those lines, I signed up for a “Lose Big” challenge at the local gym.  It starts next week.  We meet 2x week for six weeks and during that time I am a full member of the gym with access to everything.  Eve and I toured the gym this week and she was soooo sweet! The two ladies giving the tour kept commenting on how wonderful she was. Dressed in a mishmash of clothes (boys and girls, nothing matching), she walked along calmly and examined everything they were pointing out. She even picked up some stray tennis balls and put them away, unasked. So sweet! Eve also starts preschool next week so my plan is to be at the gym while she is in school, plus 2x for the meetings (while she goes to the drop-in daycare there), and then whenever else Alan is around to watch the kids for me.  I’m hoping to be a gym rat for 6 weeks :)  I have gained way too much weight this year between the pregnancy, miscarriage, and all around stressful summer.  Hopefully I can get it off again easily enough.  HOPEFULLY!  If only “easy come, easy go” applied to weight as well!