Happy Halloween!

Superman, Kitty, & Belle, ready to go!!

Trick-or-treating at our neighbor Julie's house (she is such the decorator!!)

Waiting at our other neighbor's house.:)

Church harvest carnival

Playing ring toss.:)

Annika's turn!

Women of Faith

'Doughnuts' with pear butter & marscapone....yum!

The ladies! (Yes, I am super-close...) Dinner at Serious Pie.

Our pizza, yum!

Abby's birthday pizookie at BJ's. Yes, we hit 3 restaurants in about 3 hours...!

Brenda Warner (Kurt Warner's wife - bad picture by me)

Patsy Clairmont - ALWAYS a hoot! Love her!!!

OH YES! That's BLAIR!;) Lisa Whelchel

Mandisa!

Worship team

This past weekend I had the privilege to attend the Women of Faith conference in Seattle with a couple of friends. I had received a free ticket as part of my MOPS convention registration (yay!) & it worked out for me to go. I had been before, but I am guessing it's been 13 or more years since I did. It was so fun!:) Most of what was fun about it are little things that won't sound funny if I try to tell you about them (ha), so you'll just have to take my word for it.;) But I did hear many great words of encouragement to keep me going in this crazy life! And I got a nice break (thanks, hubby!!), fun with friends, great food, & LOTS of laughs!! Pictures probably tell it better.

And it continues

September & October have really not been good months for Kaarin...she can now add to her list a broken clavicle!! Yep. Sigh. My disclaimer is that I wasn't even home.;) She was playing with the other 2 & they had built a mountain on the couch. She was on the mountain, & apparently it erupted, & she was spewed to the floor. Erik thought it was broken then, but she is such a trooper that by the next day she seemed to be doing fine. So we didn't pursue it, until a few days later when she was saying that her shoulder hurt & once when I picked her up she cried a lot. :( So on Thurs. Erik took her to the Dr., & they sent her for an x-ray, & sure enough, it's broken. In the end, it didn't really matter that we took her in because they don't do anything for it. The Dr. said it will heal itself in a few weeks. They tried to fit her for a sling, but it's really just too big so she slips her arm out of it...plus, she's 2.

Such a Funny Day!

Today, for some reason, was especially funny. Maybe it was all the sugar. Maybe it was the cold weather. Who knows, but here are a few of the things that happened, beginning with the picture above: Kaarin made this pumpkin with our babysitter, Kasey. She was showing it to me, & I was asking her about it. She pointed out the eyes & the mouth & I asked her what the other part (stem) was. She says, "Penis." Huh? I didn't even know she knew the word...I guess I can see it....;)

Kellen came home from school & stopped as he came in. "What's that noise?" I told him it was the heater...today was the first day we've turned it on since April!

Later, I was reading books to Kaarin & it came on again. She stopped, "What noise?" I told her it was the heater & she said, "That too loud." :)

Kellen took a bite of my sandwich today & then said, "Mmmm! It has wheatgrass on it!" :) (It was actually sprouts)

Earlier today Kellen was calling me a 'kombucha-head.' :)

Annika has decided that she is going to be a princess for Halloween. She asked Kellen what he was going to be for Halloween. He said, "I don't know yet, but I'll know before Halloween!"

I was taking Kaarin into her room to read books before bed & she was taking a long time. I finally said, "Come on, stinker." She said, "No I toot." :)

When Kaarin was brushing her teeth she said she wanted to sleep in Kellen's bed (she had been playing in it earlier). I said if she slept in his bed, where would he sleep? She said, "Sleep a-gether." :)

Annika (YES! She was funny too!) was in her bed & said, "I want my hunk." Huh? She said it again, "I want my hunk." Flying over from Kellen came her SKunk!:)

Annika was in the bathroom tonight (this story may be a bit TMI...) -- she was on the big potty, since that is where she goes #2. She was sitting there, & I heard her say, "Hello, booty!" :)

Cracking me up...

Microwaves & MOPS

I sold my microwave yesterday. I know, weird, right? I have read a lot of research lately that has convinced me that microwaving food really makes it unhealthy for human consumption. I unplugged ours a couple of months ago, just to see if I could do without it, & then decided that I could. So I posted it on craigslist & lewisyardsales (just like CL, but only in Pierce county). I was shocked at how many people wanted my 14 yr. old microwave! ;) And yes, I did ponder whether I should just destroy the thing or sell it to some unsuspecting soul who will transform their own food into frankenfood....I decided that each person can make their own choice on microwaves (aren't they in pretty much every household in America??) & this is my choice: to not have one. Anyway, I first heard from a gal named Christy, so being the nice person that I am (ha!) AND also having experienced in the past telling someone that I wanted to buy their item only to have them sell it from under me, I patiently waited for her to respond each time to my e-mail about when/where to meet. I was putting together a profile in my mind that she must work nights (though most people on LewisYS are military) because she always e-mailed me at 3:00 a.m. I thought this might make it a tad difficult to meet, since I am normally asleep at this time (& $20 wasn't really worth it to me...). Finally, we ended up connecting & planned to meet on Sat. p.m. at a gas station. This coincided with me heading out to a girls' night out, so I thought the plan was coming together well.:) I met Christy at the 76 station, & as she got out of her Chevy Blazer, it of course started to rain. We introduced ourselves, & she said, "I'm so glad this finally worked out. I just got out of the hospital after having a baby, my 3rd boy. I've been pregnant for 3 yrs!" Ha ha! I said that I, too, was pregnant for 3 yrs.!!:) Her kids are 13 months apart & then 22 months apart, whereas mine are 16 & 17 months apart, but close enough....we ended up talking for 45 minutes (yes, in the rain!) & I invited her to our MOPS group (Mothers of PreSchoolers, check it out at www.mops.org if this is new to you!). Being the publicity person this year, I had made business cards to give out for just this sort of occasion! AND....they were in my van....& I had Erik's car, since I was kidless going to a girls' night....!!!!!!!! I dug around in my purse a bit, hoping I had stuck one in there, but no. Fortunately I had her e-mail address, so I e-mailed her the info. :) She will probably not come this week, since she JUST had a baby, but hopefully she will make it sometime later this year. :) So, all in all, I decided that it really was a good idea to sell my microwave!

Pumpkin Patch

This year, with both Kellen & Annika at Little Church we had 2 pumpkin patch field trips back-to-back! We ended up with a great day (rain was forecast) & just spent the whole day there, with a short lunch break at Round Table Pizza.:) Here are a few pictures from the day:
Annika's class! With Miss Karen & Miss Karen

Kellen, 5: 45.5"

Annika, 3.5: 42"

Kaarin, 2.5: 34"

Sitting with the pumpkins

Kellen's class, with Miss Jessica & Miss Mary!

A Couple More...

Kellen: "Kaarin's favorite word is 'why.'" (yes, yes it is...)

Kellen: "Sometimes I say 'No way, Jose' & pretend I'm talking to a Jose." :)

Annika: "Here's the book that makes you cry..." (Love You Forever)

We had some friends coming over for dinner the other night who don't have any kids. I told Annika that some of mommy & daddy's friends were coming for dinner, but that they weren't bringing any kids to play with. Annika said, "Are they still in their tummies?" :)

Kaarin, almost when eating anything: "Yummy in my tummy." OR "Hungry hippo!" :)

Tonight I said to Kaarin, "We can't read yet, no one else is here. You're the only one!"
Kaarin: "I two!"
:)

Sick girl

Poor Kaarin has had a very rough month! She is such a good sport all the time, we don't always realize right away how sick she is!! In Sept. we had just returned home from a week at Lopez Island when she woke up in the night crying (she really only does this when she is sick) & she was breathing very strangely, almost like it hurt. We were debating what to do, because we felt like we really needed to do something but it was 2:30 a.m. so doing something was either a trip to the ER or calling the paramedics...In the end we opted to call the paramedics because it is much easier than one of us dragging the poor kid to the ER. (We had to call once before on Annika). So, the EMTs came out, checked her out, & told us they thought she was getting a cold (NICE. We really wasted their time...!). The next day (Friday) she was a little better, but still not herself, but we were busy most of the day (opening day of the Fair, etc.) & she seemed o.k. The next day (Sat.) she was worse, so I called to make an appt. for her, feeling a bit silly & that they were also going to tell me she had a cold...but I took her in anyway. So glad that I did! As it turned out, the Dr. sent us for a chest x-ray (Kaarin did awesome!) & she was diagnosed with pneumonia & a partially collapsed lung!!!!!! HELLO! No wonder she was breathing like it hurt on Thurs. night -- IT DID!! So she was given an antibiotic, a steroid & breathing treatments, & then she started feeling better.:)

But then about 10 days after that, she woke up again during the night, crying that her ear hurt. :( This of course was on Sat. night, so she had to wait until Monday morning to go in...the Dr. said this time she had an ear infection where she had blisters on her eardrum!! :( Poor baby! He said that this is a particularly painful type of ear infection. She took an antibiotic for that as well, then 3 days after she finished it she woke up in the morning saying her ear hurt AGAIN. :( I took her in that day, thinking maybe the blisters didn't clear up completely...but Dr. said her ears looked good. He thought it was either another infection starting (oh no!) or just feeling a little pain left over. She woke up every morning last week saying that her ear hurt (same ear, even) but other than that has been fine. I haven't taken her back in, so hopefully it's all cleared up. The poor thing doesn't need anything more right now!!

Kid Funnies

Here are a few kid funnies from recently:

Annika: "My tummy hurts!"
Mommy: "Do you need to go poo poo?"
Annika: "No, I only need to go when my tummy AND my bottom hurts....(heavy sigh) WHY you keep asking me that??!"


Kaarin was in her crib one day at nap time, going to sleep. She was singing away, over & over, "I love you, too! I love you, too!" So. cute.

I asked Kellen one day who the teacher helper at school was for the day. He answered "Bailey." I asked him if Bailey was a boy or a girl. He said, "I don't know. Probably a girl. They're pretty much all girls!" (Last year there were 10 boys & 5 girls in his class...)

Today I was getting ready to take a shower & Annika was in the bathroom with me. She said, "I see your booty!" I said, "Does it look like your booty?" She said, "Well, yours is not as cute as mine..."
:)

I got out one of Annika's old Halloween costumes (the cow) to see if it would fit Kaarin this year. Kaarin looked at it & said, "AW! So cute!"

This one is for Papa

Kellen & his cousin Jude were drawing some pictures together tonight. Here is their conversation:

Kellen: "I'm drawing a donkasaurus!"
Jude: "A what?"
Kellen: "A donkasaurus!"
Jude: "What's that?"
Kellen: "Well, Kendall (other cousin) was looking at one one time...."
(a couple minutes later)
Kellen: "Hmmmm....I wonder what color a donkasaurus is?"
Jude: "Gray. They're gray."
Kellen: "You just said you didn't know what they were!"

Long Beach, WA

Loving the beach!

It was a little windy.:)

The pool was WARM!

Kite flying!

Grandma & Grandpa!

Grandma & Grandpa invited us to come to Long Beach with them. So we did! The first day was REALLY windy (even for the ocean) & the kids weren't real fond of that. The next day was windy in the morning, but sunny by the afternoon & was a beautiful day. It was also a perfect kite-flying day! Then the 3rd day rained all day. Kind of a mixed bag, weather-wise, but overall we had a good time!

First Day of School -- x2!

This year we had 2 first days of school! Kellen started pre-k at Little Church on the Prairie on Sept. 12...

....And Annika started the Jr. Class on Sept. 13th! She has been SO ready to start school, especially after bringing Kellen for the last 2 years!! So the day finally came.

I think her first day wore her out -- here she is, after lunch on that day.:)

Second day of school, with her cubby. You would never know that she is excited, but she really is.

Annika LOVES school, & she talks about it all the time at home. She is so proud to be able to say "my school" now, & tell us all the things she did. HOWEVER -- she is still Annika, stubborn when she chooses to be (where does she get this?? ha), so I don't think she's had any juice at school for snack so far because she refuses to say "yes, please" in order to get some...today she wouldn't put on her coat (& she was wearing a sleeveless dress similar to the one above) so Miss Karen let her stay inside because she was too cold -- um, no, that will not happen again. She can either wear her coat or dress more appropriately for the weather! She chose her clothes & refused to put a shirt under it. That doesn't get you a pass to stay inside! Sorry, chica. Anyway, it's only been 6 days of school so far, so I'm sure she'll warm up - hee hee.;) Miss Karen & Miss Karen will bring out the best in her!

Kellen actually seems to be having a good year so far! I'm not sure if it's the afternoon class, the staff, the fact that he goes 4 days in a row, or just that he's another year older, but he seems more relaxed with school this year. He still has his motto "I don't play at school" (I'm tellin' ya -- where do they get this??) but I think he has explored a bit more this year. Kellen's quote of the year: (Me) "Kellen, is Bailey a boy or a girl?" Kellen: "I don't know. Probably a girl. They're pretty much all girls..." (last year in his class there were 10 boys & 5 girls...)