Fun with horsey

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Eve LOVES this new horse balloon. Thanks Greg and Kathy! This morning she decided it was tired and tried to put a blanket on it for a nap. Hilarity ensued as the hovering horse kept slipping out from underneath the blanket, much to Eve’s frustration (and mine that I didn’t have the camera in hand!) Instead we decided to use the blanket for a picnic. Horse got her own plate.

snack

Eve was happy to "help" horse pull her head down to reach the snack.

socks

This is Eve's very disappointed face when she discovered that her new Hello Kitty socks don't fit the horse.

While we ate lunch we decided to play a game of Candy Land. Horse got to play too, with a little help from Eve.

red

Horse is the red player because she has a red harness and therefore it must be her favorite color. :)

stools

Do you like the stools Eve gathered so the horse could reach the table? I suggested a chair but she insisted stools would be better.

This last one is just a funny picture. You wonder where she gets her energy from?!?

tea

Just kidding, it's blueberry tea and I drank most of it.

Linked up to the Happiness Is… blog hop over at Rub Some Dirt On It.
Photobucket

Artwork by Lex

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Sometimes Lex gets very quiet and I find him standing in front of the easel, dry erase marker in hand, as though inspiration just struck! Lately he has been turning out complex drawings with lots of details. There was a great one last week, and here is yesterday’s masterpiece.

easel

Starting from the top, there are trees, and a parking lot with cars (top view, I think) and a beach. On the beach is a golf cart (because their is a golf course nearby but "I didn't have enough room to draw the golf course too!"), a sand castle, a life guard chair, a person lying on a towel, and a kid playing with a bucket. In the water you see starfish and other fish and right at the bottom in the middle is a crab.

I LOVE his creativity and attention to detail!

Horse walks slowly.

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After dinner tonight Eve got out a notebook and crayon and settled down on the chair with Pinky by her side.

eve writing
I said, “It’s time for bath, what are you doing?”
She said, “I need to write something down real quick. You need to help me.”
Me: “Ok, what do you need to write?”
Her: “Horse walks slowly. Horse jumps. I have the H, what comes next?”

How could I say no to that? So we sat for awhile and I said the sounds for each letter and she wrote them. When she was done she smiled for the camera, put her things away, and went upstairs for bath. I guess she just had to get that off her mind.

eve

writing

Horse walks slowly. Horse jumps.

A fun surprise weekend!

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My what a busy weekend! We had a surprise birthday celebration for Grandma this weekend. Much of the family came to town. I had to be the one to get her to the party (luckily she cooperated well with me!) and I think she was sufficiently surprised :) The party started with a surprise breakfast. The Collier crew wasn't there yet, but my little family was there and Greg and Kathy and Carl, and Grandpa and Grandma, of course!

breakfast

Surprise!

Greg and Kathy brought the coolest balloons for the kids. They are helium balloon animals, but with slightly weighted feet so they just hover above the ground. They were a huge hit!

walking pinky

Eve walked "Pinky" around the restaurant for a long time and even taught her to jump!

grandpa and eve

Grandpa and Eve

walking the animals

This picture makes me laugh. Everything about it. :)

In the afternoon we went over to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for presents and dinner.

hottie

This was our gift to Grandma. Eve picked it out. At the party Eve named her "Hottie." Why? I don't know. But I think Grandma liked the present :)

dinner

Once again we managed to sqeeze everyone around the table (with the help of a fold-up card table too!) and we all enjoyed a delicious meal of lentil soup and salad and bread. Yum!

candles

Dinner was followed, of course, by dessert! This lucky woman got TWO cakes.. well, a crumbcake and an apple pie. We also had chocolate cookies and LOTS of ice cream.

After dinner I took the kids outside (ok, really they took ME outside) to watch fireworks the neighbors were shooting off. We also enjoyed the super bright moon (almost full) and we did lots of running around. Remember the desserts I mentioned above? The kids ate lots! As we were getting ready to leave Kathy told us that the giant leaf pile the kids had been eye had been raked just for them. So instead of leaving we played in the leaves for awhile.

late night leaves

Leaves by moonlight. The kids were in heaven!

This morning we went apple picking. It was hot and sunny and packed. Good times! :)

birds in a tree

I was hoping to get a nice sibling picture here, but Eve wasn't cooperating.

big bird

Barney was happy to cooperate :)

eve p1

Eve wanted the apples that were "just" out of her reach. Foruntately she had a helpful uncle nearby.

eve p2

When the helpful uncle wasn't nearby she had to take care matters into her own hands!

They make homemade donuts at this place and sell them by the million, I think. Today we saw the donut making process. If you look closely you can see a huge mixer in the back, the next nearest thing is full of batter and slowly pumps out rounds of batter, dropping them into the hot oil. There they boil for a minute or so until a rotating screen lifts them up and flips them over. Another minute or so later they arrive on a conveyor belt which brings them out of the oil and dumps them into the big paper-towel lined bowl in front. It’s a pretty cool process.

donuts

Donuts!

pumpkin lex

Lex got tired and sat down next to Barney to wait for Rosy and Eve. Then he grabbed some pumpkins and laid down. Had I left him alone for a few minutes maybe he would have taken a nap in the sun. :)

cool dudes

Once again helpful uncle was there to give these kids a lift. This time is was a tired boy who needed a ride back to the car. A grownup to kid ration of 3:2 is helpful at times :)

A cold bike ride!

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image

Today was Walk/Ride To School day.  Close by kids walk or ride their bikes and the busses drop other kids off at the end of the mile long bike path between the village and the school.  Kids usually enjoy it.  It’s great exercise for them and a great way to get some morning energy out before class starts.  We’ve missed it every week this school year so far.  This morning we had the right combination of remembering, enough time, and interest.  Three important factors.  Alan even stayed home with Eve so that we could make it happen.  Turns out it was COLD outside!  It was about 31° when we left.  Lex and I made it about one house down the road before turning around to come back and dig some gloves out of storage.  I guess I should bring the whole box of winter gear down soon :(    Anyway, we rode and walked to school because Lex kept getting too tired to pedal anymore.  Poor boy.  We made it, and we were only about five minutes late!  I left him with bright red cheeks and a runny nose.  It was fun, but this might be our one Walk/Ride To School day until spring.

A few random pictures…

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do you like my picture?

Do you like my picture? There are geese flying south (dark blue Vs), monarch butterflies (brown Vs), wind, clouds, I forget what the light blue Vs are, cars, a tree with falling leaves, a street sign, a sun (I think, just above the street sign), and a stop sign. I love his artwork!

sleeping kids

This is how we found the kids one night last week. Doesn't it look like they were trying to get to each other but fell asleep mid way? Silly sleepers :)

lex's papers

Comments like these are why I love the Friday folder :)

pirate eve

Eve went to a pirate party this weekend (one of three birthday parties my kids attended this weekend!)

sweets

Look at all the sweets options available at this kids party?! Crazy. There was a whole other table of crackers, cheese, fruits, and veggies. All for a mid-afternoon party. Wheee! The options seemed endless.

glasses

"Sunglasses on my glasses?!? That's CRAZY!"

eve

Eve. What more can I say?

my trip

This came home in the Friday folder recently too. :)

apple picking

Eve went apple picking with her class today and I got to chaperon! I was so excited.

apples for applesauce

Apples for applesauce (see the sad outcome below, posted earlier this afternoon)

Four posts in one day and I’m officially caught up! Off the camera anyway! In life, well details are fleeting. My weeks are fleeting. I have a big post-it note on my dayplanner saying “Over scheduled, over tired, over eating!” I’ve started canceling social engagements this week because I can’t keep up. Rough life, eh? This was supposed to be the week I hit lifetime at WW, but that won’t happen. After six weeks of failing at maintenance I’m a few good pounds over my goal weight. Because I’m so busy and don’t have time to take care of me. I should say not MAKING the time to take care of me. Next week will be calm, right? Next week. If I make it so. In the meantime I will grab every lovely moment I’ve got with my little monkeys, with or without the camera. We had a nice afternoon today (applesauce disappointment aside) and I will make sure there are many more such afternoons to come.