Daddy Time

The kids (and I) have been so happy to have Dad around more now that his tournament season is finally done. I know they love their mama, but Dad is the fun one who wrestles with them, spins them around, throws them in the air and lets them climb all over him.

The first day after the last tournament he had to work we celebrated by going out for a family lunch and spending some time at the park.

Brennan was being a little too brave, but with a little help from Dad at the end he made it to the top.

Waiting to see who wins the stick race.

Important lessons from Dad: How to throw stones in the creek

About 30 seconds after this I turned around to find him ankle deep in the water.

And now the daily routine when Dad gets home (by 5:30!) from work involves some roughhousing, playing ball, tickling and lots of giggles.  Brennan is learning he has to wait and take turns with his sister. And the common refrain from Kaelyn is, "Do that to me Daddy!" whenever he even gets near Brennan. Neither likes to be left out of the fun.

We especially like to go outside when the weather is nice enough.

Happy (early) Birthday Baby! We love you!

Leaves

All summer long I complain and wish that we had trees in our yard. Playing outside in 90+ degree heat would be so much more bearable if we had a little shade. Then I try to make myself feel better by telling myself, "Hey, at least we won't have to deal with raking in the fall." But  now it's fall and I still wish we had trees. Because even though raking can be hard work it seems like we're missing out on a quintessential fall activity. As a kid raking leaves into big piles and then jumping in them is the best. I don't want my kids to miss out on all the fun. Plus, fall leaves are so pretty. Some of my favorite colors.

Since we don't have any trees we decided to go all the way to Wisconsin to enjoy some leafy activities. Ok, not true. Because Maya and Buppa don't have any trees either. But their neighbors do!

Oh yeah, and neither of them even knew how to hold a rake.

There were some sharing issues with the rake so eventually Brennan just started shoveling the leaves.

And then Maya brought out the "big gun."

A serious moment with the leaves.

And we also found time to go to a nature preserve and do a leaf walk. Maya and Kaelyn collected a lot of pretty leaves.

Isn't the fall so picturesque?

Checking out the teepee before our walk. According to Kaelyn it smelled like buffalo. Hmm, interesting. Not sure when she's ever smelled buffalo before.

 It's a good thing I'm not a photographer.  I took over a hundred pictures while we were there and this is the only one where they are both (sort of) looking at the camera.

With hair blowing in the wind (it was quite a blustery day) they are ready to set sail! Now if only we had some paddles...

Do you know the Muffin Man?

He's about 2 1/2 feet tall and lives in my house.
 

Seriously, this kid has muffin mania.  But that's probably a good thing. Sometimes zucchini muffins are his only daily intake of vegetables. I think I ought to try carrot next just so he gets a variety of veggies.  Apple have also been a hit. And I recently made some pumpkin oat bars, that are basically like pumpkin muffins with oats in them.  Luckily I like baking. And Kaelyn likes helping. Because we've been going through at least a dozen a week.

In case you couldn't tell, these had chocolate chunks in them. Yum!

Metamorphosis

Change can be difficult.

But change is good.

Without change we wouldn't have beautiful butterflies. We got to witness first-hand the beauty of the life-cycle by watching caterpillars grow into butterflies. Kaelyn got a butterfly garden with voucher for live caterpillars, along with some other various butterfly paraphernalia for her birthday this year.  So we ordered the caterpillars and watched them change.

The caterpillars

Chrysalis

One butterfly is born

Four butterflies eventually emerged

Observing and feeding the butterflies

The Painted Lady. Beautiful wings.

Preparing to release.

Crawling to freedom

Looking for the opening

Free butterfly!

We've been going through some changes ourselves lately.  It seems like the kids are growing so fast.  Sometimes I look at Kaelyn and can't believe my baby has grown into this little girl who talks, and thinks and has a mind all her own. She can write her own name and is reading a few words.

And Brennan. Oh my Lordy, Brennan!  I'm not sure how it happened, but about a month ago I blinked and when I opened my eyes my sweet little cuddly baby boy was gone.  And in his place was a boy (still very cuddly, and sometimes sweet) with a stubborn streak, a mind of his own and a pension for running away when told to do something and pulling off his diaper. I hate to put a negative label on it, but it seems we have entered the "terrible two's."  This is not going to be easy.  Brennan is very strong-willed. And very strong. (Yes, I know I am a lot bigger and stronger than him. But when trying to change his diaper or get him buckled in his seat it takes two hands and pretty much my whole upper body to just to hold him still, which leaves me with legs and feet to do the buckle or strap the diaper. Not very effective.)

I have to think up new tricks just about every day just to get a poopy diaper off and the boy dressed.  You see, he's also getting very smart so he only falls for the same trick once or twice and then it's back to the drawing board.  We've already pulled out the little potty for him to sit on since he often refuses to wear his diaper. And I've had to clean up several messes on the floors. One which still shows evidence and will probably need a professional carpet cleaner.  When I tell him he either has to put on his diaper or sit on the potty he gets a big smile and runs to the potty. He loves to just sit there (like his big sister) but then he'll squat in front of it and pee all over the floor.

So, while I try to keep telling myself that these changes in him are good - they show that he is developmentally on track and will one day become a strong, independent person - when we're running late to take Kaelyn to school and Brennan has wedged himself between the car and trash can to avoid getting in his car seat, I might need some friendly reminders from others about why this is a good thing.  And any new tricks to use would be appreciated too!

An apple a day

Lately Kaelyn has been asking a lot, "Is {insert whatever food she's eating} a healthy food for me?"  I'm glad she's so concerned with eating healthy. I like to think I talk to her about eating healthy. Maybe they've been talking about healthy food at school. Or, more likely, she's heard it from those little 5-minute mini cartoons they show between her "shows" on Disney Junior and PBS. Maybe I should be a little ashamed that my daughter has to learn about eating healthy from TV, but, well I just really don't have time to worry about that. And I'm just glad she's learning and asking questions about food.  But my favorite is when she asks something like, "Is ice cream (or chips or cookies) a healthy food for me? Is that why I like it so much?"

 So, on our recent trip to the apple orchard for our annual apple picking, I was very happy to answer "yes" and then watch her eat two whole apples straight from the tree.  And I was glad that Brennan at least tried to eat the apples.  He carried one around with several bite marks the whole time repeating "app-bowl, app-bowl." I'm not sure why but I guess he was having issues with the texture or something.  But he really wanted to eat one because he saw all the other kids eating them. At least he's trying. That's a step up from when he sits - I mean stands - in his chair at dinner and doesn't touch a single food on his plate.

The kids really do like a lot of healthy foods.  But they also like a lot of junk foods when they're allowed to have them.  Just like me. So I can't fault them too much.

With buddy Hudson, our apple picking partner

And for the record, we went through an entire bushel of apples in about a week and a half.  Some just for eating, 2 frozen apple pie fillings, 2 batches of apple sauce, apple chips (which I was surprised were not a big hit with the kids) and apple muffins.  Hopefully the orchard hasn't run out of apples yet, because I don't think we're quite done eating them yet for the season. Especially since I finally got Brennan to eat an entire slice of apple the other day! Baby steps people, baby steps.

A big thank you to my friend Heather for bringing along props and getting this great smile out of him. Being friends with a professional photographer definitely has it's perks. :)