Wordless Wednesday

What Big Brothers are Good For...

I.about.died.laughing.

Dear Ernie,

I sincerely apologize. I am so sorry that you had the misfortune to be captured by my children. I realize that the conditions in the baby wipe container were not ideal. I'm sorry that you were forced to do tricks, and that you were assigned such an unfortunate name. Truly, it must have been a harrowing 8 hours. Seriously, I freed you as soon as I could. But hey, at least you can tell your buddies that you got to drive this SWEET scooter!Sincerely,

Hannah and Seth's Mom

Farming...

It has become a family tradition to head out to a local farm each fall and let the kids get a little redneck.

MaKaty has always been a little young to really experience it. Not anymore. She was in heaven. Dirty. Corny. Fly covered. Heaven. (and yes, I did mean corny to be a pun)

Corn Slide:
Red Neck Merry Go Round
Corn Pit:
Petting Zoo:
Kate is obsessed with cows. She was so excited that she kept squealing...so the cow kept moving. So funny.
This is what happens when I just hold my camera down by my knees and snap pictures...I kinda like it.
Anyone want a lamb, beef, and MaKaty sandwich?
Hannah has always had a thing for llamas. One llama kissed her right in the middle of the forehead when we came a couple years ago. This year Hannah noticed that "her" llama was not part of the group. So sad.
Cru was a good sport. He just hung out in the stroller.
Seth was really hard to photograph because he wouldn't hold still for two seconds...
The hay swing was new this year...at least for us. Hannah loved it!
Ah, the beloved Cow Train. Lily. Katy. Frank. Hannah. Elise. Shelly. Seth. Alex.

This is what Cru looks like when he's trying to say, "I'm getting a little cold, and I'm sort of tired of this, guys." He's not very convincing...
On to the pumpkin patch:


We ended up with four pumpkins, of various sizes. We are hoping that they will last until the week of Halloween when we carve them. So far. So good.

Here's Katy with her chosen pumpkin. It's a good picture of her bruised nose. She had cracked her head into another child on a slide at the park. Her nose had bled and both eyes went black. Three days later, this was the bruised look she sported...Our little bruiser.

His Name is Not Noodle: The Story of a Dog

The only response you will get from MaKaty if you ask her what her doggie's name is: "His name is not Noodle." Ummmmm, OK.
No, this is not a two headed dog. There are actually two doggies in this photo. Perhaps one of them is named Noodle, and the other one is Not Noodle. We may never know. All I know is that the original doggie, given to her on her first birthday by Brandon and Heather, is an absolute necessity. So much so, that being smart parents, we procured a "back-up" from the same store. (thank-you again, Heather.) But...being not-so-smart parents, we neglected to keep back-up doggie hidden. As soon as she realized that there were two, it was necessary to have two with her, AT ALL TIMES. Thankfully, that has phased out now. Both dogs kick around the house all day long, but when it comes to nap or bed time, she is a purist. Only the original will do. And if you get confused or desperate, and try to pass off back-up doggie for original doggie...well, it's not pretty. She looks the doggie right in the eyes and says, "Where is my other-one doggie?", and promptly drops back-up doggie like a bag of rocks.

Even in the middle of the night, she will wake up crying if she can't find original doggie. Back-up doggie in arms, she will cry and cry as I fumble around in the darkness, trying to find the original. As soon as he is found and placed in her arms, she is instantly back to sleep. She carries doggie around draped over one arm, and periodically hugs him to her chest and proclaims emphatically, "I lub you." (I admit it was a little blow to the ego when I mistakenly thought she had uttered the words for me...I was quickly corrected.)

As you can imagine, a fluffy white doggie occasionally loses his fluffiness and whiteness, and needs a little trip to the "doggie salon." Those are rough days for Kate. She stands in front of the washing machine crying. She gets to move doggie from one machine to the other, and is slightly less disturbed by the drying procedure. My hunch is that it's because of the warm fluffiness straight from the dryer. She has been known to tell visitors that she is sad because "Doggie in the washing machine." Trauma, I tell you. I still shudder to think of the day he got peanut butter on his paw. Doggie is no longer allowed anywhere near the peanut butter.

And apparently doggie gets cold in the mornings. Because lately she has been insisting on bringing doggie in the mornings when we head to the bus stop. And Katy needs a jacket. And doggie needs a jacket. But Katy gets the jacket that is a little too small and not nearly so cute...but DOGGIE gets the good jacket because "it is more comfy for him."

No one will ever accuse her of being a girl without priorities...Welcome to the family, NotNoodle.

Cru @ 7

Seven months. So much closer to a year old than a newborn. Times are changing. He's growing up so much, so fast. And I'm loving every minute of it. How could I not? This is Cru...95% of the time!
I'm a lucky mama.
Mr. Buckets-Of-Drool pushed through two more teeth this month. Can you tell?

You may remember the blue suitcase from his 9-day old photoshoot. (photo by my friend Amy)
I meant to use it in his 6 month and 1 year photo shoots as well...whoops. Was that last month? Here it is...a month later than planned. It shrunk just a bit.
I tried to limit my pictures...honest, I did. He's just too.darn.cute.

Things we love about Cru @ 7 months...

• this "Alfalfa" hair thing he has going on. It's all natural, baby.
• his deep belly laugh...especially when he's laughing at Katy. It's the best!
• the way he talks to his doggie that is in his crib
• his wet and enthusiastic kisses
• how he lays his head on my chest for a snuggle
• his "yelling"...it's not sad, it's just noise experimentation
• his mellow nature
• how he responds to the sound of my voice...even over the phone...and gets excited when he sees me from across the room
• those blue eyes (no eye brightening actions were used...they are just THAT blue)
• his enthusiasm for food, especially for squash and sweet potatoes
• his sleep habits
• his coping ability
• his unique rolling-pushing-squirming form of mobility (and the fact that he's NOT crawling yet)

Oh, how we love you, Cru.
Good night.

My Favorite Color is Orange...

For family night Rick took off a little early and we headed off to the mountains to catch some beautiful leaf action. We got there at that magical time of the evening when the light from the sun setting makes everything glow. There were leaves that had already changed and fallen; as well as leaves that were still green in the trees. It was perfect. The types of trees were varied enough to pop out yellows and reds, and all shades of orange in between. It's going to be a beautiful fall!
There was a little too much orange here...the leaves, the light from the sunset, and Cru's natural skin tones...but it's still so so cute.
Hannah loved collecting leaves, and discovered her own little "thicket" where she and Seth set up a little picnic area for their dinner.



I think this one looks like Seth is sitting in front of one of those cheesy fall backdrops they used to have at the photo center at Wal Mart, and the like...


Katy has temporarily abandoned the cow boots in favor of her new shoe obsession...the high top pink chuck taylors...
So pretty...
MaKaty does not hold still for ANYTHING! So this is the best I could do with her level of cooperation!


Rick got some great shots of the trees and the sunset just as we were losing the last bit of sun behind the mountains.



We have spent the last three years trying to find the perfect spot to get pictures of the fall leaves. I think we found it...

Friday Night is Movie Night, Right?

So here are a few "Indie" films for your enjoyment. The first one stars Miss MaKaty. Her acting skills are refreshingly natural. Her co-star, Cru, does little more than lay down on the job, but he more than makes up for it with his good looks. Enjoy! (but don't bother popping any popcorn...these videos are all around 1 minute or less)

Cru has found his voice.

MaKaty reading a book. Don't feel bad if you can't understand a word she is saying...neither could we. That was the purpose of the video. She is already talking far far more clearly, so we wanted to get the JabberJabber on video before it was gone for good.

Seth was talking and singing to Cru and making him smile and laugh. This video makes me laugh and cry...nothing like brotherly love.

This is NOT a video of Katy reading...not really. It's a video of Katy singing. It just looks like a video of Katy reading.

Life is good.