Happy 3rd Birthday Landon Gary!!

We are making today all about Landon. It is the first year where he actually understands that it is his birthday (although he probably doesn't quite grasp what that means). I think he is liking this whole birthday idea-especially since the celebration started last Saturday at Grandpa Gary and Grandma Sue's house and will continue through this weekend with Grandpa Ken and Grandma Debbie at our house.

He was pretty excited after the doorbell rang and he realized the big package was for him-BALLOONS!!! He was just thrilled and even sat nicely and smiled for me-amazing. Thank you Grandpa Ken and Grandma Debbie for the birthday surprise!

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!

We were at Gary and Sue's for the weekend which was fun as always! We took the kids into Miller to go trick-or-treating at a few places. The kids sure had a good time. And...of course ate WAY too much candy :)

Pumpkins!

Tonight we carved pumpkins-a first for our family if you can believe that! Landon was pretty excited the whole time and helped Ryan quite a bit. Kadence was interested for about 30 seconds and would come and go from the living room back to the kitchen to help (or get into trouble).
The kids were both pretty excited when the pumpkins were carved and the candles were lit. We had to take all of our pictures with the lights off so the pumpkins would glow.
These two have been extremely hard to get a picture with both of them looking and smiling-guess I'll just keep on trying.
Then...we put the pumpkins back outside. I guess this was a BAD IDEA!! Both of the kids were very unhappy we were leaving our fun, glowing pumpkins outside.
Yay for pumpkin carving 09. Happy Halloween!!

Falling Leaves

I love this time of year! The leaves turning a beautiful array of colors and then magically falling to the ground. I love raking leaves and the crunchy noise they make when you walk on them. Autumn decorations are in full swing with pumpkins and fall colors everywhere. It is just such a beautiful time of the year!

Yesterday it was extremely nice outside and I took the kids out for about 10 minutes (didn't want to make Landon any worse). I think we all felt a little better after getting outside after a long week inside and at home. I raked up a bunch of leaves into one big pile and the kids had a blast throwing them, jumping in them, and hiding in them.

Kadence definitely had the most fun throwing them up!

They liked to be buried underneath the leaves together. Although this picture doesn't show it, they were giggling up a storm. It is just hard to get them both to look at the camera and smile:)

It is amazing what a little fresh air does for my sanity!

Happy Fall! Love it!

ZooBoo 09

I had the chance to take my little bumblebee to ZooBoo this year. Landon had to stay home since he has pneumonia. It actually worked out okay because he happened to be sleeping the whole time we were gone (he has been taking 3-4 hour naps since he has been sick). Arin was in town so she came with and Ryan stayed home and sulked over the Vikings loss-I mean hung out while Landon was sleeping.

Kadence had an absolute blast. She walked/ran the entire time and either really enjoyed the activities or was just ecstatic to be out of the house after a week of quarantine.

This hand holding business was short lived. She was Miss Independent for the majority of the trip.

They had hundreds of carved pumpkins. I think she stopped to look at almost each one.

Once she figured out that they were putting all kinds of candy in her Elmo basket, she wouldn't let me or Arin help carry it-even when it was heavy and filled to the brim!

This just plain cracks me up. It was kind of chilly towards the end, so Arin and I decided to stop at Starbucks on our way home. While we were in line (an extremely long line), I let her have her basket leaving just some of the candy in it. She preceded to stuff her mouth full-it was HILARIOUS! For a couple pieces, she didn't even wait for help to get the wrapper off!

This is probably my favorite picture. 1.) I don't think she can believe that her mom is letting her eat this yummy candy. 2.) I think she realized that it was ALL hers and she didn't have to share with her brother (until she got home of course).

Even though I was bummed I didn't get to bring Landon, we still had a fabulous time. Since he didn't know the difference anyway, it was fun to have some time with just Kadence.

Landon is finally feeling a little better and hasn't had a fever since Sunday morning. He is on antibiotics for 10 days so hopefully we can get rid of the pneumonia-his nasty cough especially!

Investment Idea?

I think after the past 5 days it would make sense for my family to invest in both children's Tylenol and Motrin. We have most definitely had a rough week.
This little guy has been infected with some nasty nasty bug! We are going on day 5 of a fever and nasty cough. we thought he might be getting better until we woke him up last night to give him some Motrin to find he had a 104 temp. Not fun. Although he has been feeling pretty rough, he has been a very good boy. Thankfully he is drinking fluids and eating some, so I think we'll give it another day. I did call his Pediatrician today who said he probably has H1N1 (I think they are telling everyone that though).

So, say a little prayer for this guy and let's hope he continues his non-sharing toy policy with his bug too and doesn't share it with Kadence.

Fun in Omaha!

We ventured down to Omaha for a weekend of family and fun. The kids of course had a blast with their cousins and everyone else and Ryan and I sure enjoyed some time away filled with only relaxation. The fun started Saturday morning with some popcorn ball making with GG and some caramel apples with Sue. Here's an action shot of Kristy and GG making the good part of the popcorn balls.

Landon and Jessie were very good helpers :) Here's a picture of them looking pretty interested in that good old popcorn popper. I think the two of them ate more than they helped!
During most of the cooking, Kadence spent time in Aunty Arin's bathroom playing with all of her jewelry. She is my little girly girl.
She also found time to rest on the couch with her new buddy cousin Tyler. She doesn't warm up too easily to many people (especially males) but she sure was loving Tyler.
I love this shot of the kids and Kristy eating a caramel apple...one big gooey mess.
Later that day we ventured out to a pumpkin patch which was a lot of fun. There was a lot to do and even though it was a tad chilly, we all had a good time. We got a great shot of these three cuties, Kadence was not cooperating at this point-such is the life of an 18 month old!
This photo proves that Landon did in fact tear himself away from Grandma Sue for a bit! I love this pic of him holding his cousin Tyler's hand! As most of you know, Landon is a pretty picky eater, so we always tell him he has to eat his meals so he'll grow big and strong like cousin Tyler (and boy is that cousin Tyler getting big and strong). Landon also had a blast wrestling with Tyler.
We took a little hayride (minus the hay) out to where all the pumpkins were. The kids thought that it was pretty fun.
Just the right size pumpkin for my little pumpkin:)
Landon of course wanted a much larger pumpkin, but I convinced him to pick one that was a little easier for him to carry.
Upstairs in the barn the kids had a blast shoveling up and playing with the corn.
Farmer Landon, Papa Gary should be proud (minus the color of the tractor).
Jessie had her hair colored, it was purple, pink, black and very sparkly! It was pretty cool.
Landon sat very still like a big boy to get his face painted. He picked it out himself-a pumpkin cowboy-too cute!
Kadence is pretty fearless when it comes to animals and always has been. She was actually really mad inside the little petting zoo barn because she couldn't hop right in the stall with the rabbits and the baby goats. One of the workers happened to see her pointing and saying repeatedly "in there" so she put her in there with her and Kadence was amazed. She didn't want to leave. Here is a picture of her trying to feed one of the goats some straw.
We had such a fun time in Omaha. A much needed break from reality. We love spending time with family! Thanks GG, Grandma Sue, Aunty Kristy, Aunty Arin, Jessie, Tyler and of course Leonard for an AWESOME weekend!

Unfortunately, both of the kiddos are sick now. Such is life with little ones in the fall.