Fall/Halloween Part 1

Our annual trip to Anderson Farms:

Caroline loved the "cock-a-doo's". She spent a lot of time yelling at them.

The tractor-pulled barrels. Maggie's expression in this picture kills me! She is very seriously focused on steering that silly barrel.

We picked a lot of great pumpkins and as we were happily headed back to the tractor with our loot we hear Maggie start crying. Both Patrick and I look at each other wondering what could possibly be wrong. As Patrick got closer he realized Maggie was standing IN a huge pumpkin. She had tried to stand on it not realising it was rotting. She sunk in a good 4 inches--I really wish I'd snapped a picture of the deep foot prints she left behind when her daddy came to pull her out. After a few minutes of us laughing at her she was able to see the humor in the situation and that helped to dry the tears.

What a great day.

Video of Caroline

Grammy Visits

Grammy came to Colorado...and boy did we celebrate. My mother loves to eat out. We ate out almost every night and had plenty of candy and sweets at home! Maggie and Grammy shared more than one Jelly Belly eating session--they have that in common.

One of the days we spent at the park. The kids really thought it was great to have Grammy there too.

The big highlight for my mom was a trip up to Estes Park to see the fall leaves, check out the elk wandering around, and hit the Stanley Hotel. We ate at our favorite little pizza joint then spent a good part of the afternoon at the hotel. My mom loves that place. Could it be that she is a horror story fanatic and this hotel was the very place Stephen King wrote The Shining??

Maggie throwing a coin in the fountain out back:

Caroline and Maggie truly enjoyed the big banquet rooms open to the public.

Grammy enjoying one of the many roaring fires.

Chilling out on the front porch:

Grammy by the fountain in back:

Me and my mom on the front steps:

Pristine Sleep

So I had minor (and by that I mean really minor) surgery a couple of weeks back. My sisters Julie and Ellen came to help out. It's a sad day when you actually look forward to surgery so you can sleep--the pristine sleep of general anesthetic. I cringe to admit that it's the best sleep I've had in FIVE YEARS. Hands down. Upon returning home I was presented a lovely plate of snacks in bed. Then I took a three hour nap. Three hours!! People, there are no words for that kind of desperately needed break.
Sadly, by the time I came out of the fog (two short, short days later) my sisters were on their way back to Utah and I felt cheated of their company...but my girls had the time of their lives.
I was not really up for picture taking myself so here are some (terrible quality scans) of pictures Julie took while here.

I include the following shot for reasons unknown to me. As I type I'm second guessing it. But this is exactly what I look like the day after surgery...at the grocery store.

There are so few pics of me with my girls. Fewer of me with just Caroline. Julie took this while we did some singing. Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pat-a-Cake, and Popcorn Popping.

Slide Down

I almost tossed our slide this year. Maggie played with it briefly when we first brought it home and it's been a huge thorn in my backyard side ever since. I'm so glad I didn't because Caroline has loved it this year! And if Caroline is enjoying something so is Maggie.

Of course it's not fun to help Caroline slide down over and over and over (and over) again.

One of Each

The Girls--More Randoms Pics (Again!)

Caroline lovey loves balls. Ball was one of her first words. She rolls them under the couch and does the cutest little attempt at getting them out. I mean, just look at that toe in the air!! How can I say no to digging a ball out from under our couch for the 642nd time?



Maggie proving how very brave she is to stand outside in the rain.



Shoe. Another one of Caroline's first words. Oh, how she loves shoes. But shoes on the feet? Not so much. It's hysterical to hear her clacking around the kitchen at full crawling speed with Maggie's dress up shoes.


I totally love my new Droid phone. It has everything imaginable on there. Problem is Caroline has figured that out too. If she sees my phone (in the car, on the counter, sitting next to me on the couch) she points frantically and says, "Dora, Dora, Dora" until I get to YouTube and find some Dora clips. It works out great until I'm in public trying to talk to someone on the phone and she's flat melting down over not seeing Dora.

My worn out hippie chick. That's a flower from our yard that she asked to have tied onto some yarn for a "beautiful crown". Um...ok.

Maggie Starting Preschool

Even though she was still recovering from a nasty stomach bug Maggie was not about to miss her first day of preschool. I kept telling her how she was recovering and still very weak so she had to take it easy, go slow, etc.

Miss Andrea was so kind and sweet with her--welcoming her back after missing her all summer long. I knew she was going to have a great time and that this was a great school!

Patrick picked her up and she happily showed him all the artwork she'd done but made sure to add, "But don't worry, I went slow...cause I'm sick". I wonder how many people she told that to at school.

The Eye Thing

So Caroline has had (for a good portion of her life) a little nodule under her eyelid. It was virtually invisible unless you rubbed her eyelid and felt for it. Well, a few weeks ago it got...angry. It started to get bigger and bigger. And more and more red as well.
I took this picture thinking it couldn't possibly get worse.

It did. Get worse.

She looked SO bad! Every time I took her out people stared or couldn't help but ask what had happened. I took her to the pediatrician who referred us to a pediatric opthamologist in Boulder. He took a brief look at Caroline and decided it was most likely a stye. He gave us instructions to use warm compresses and give it a week to drain on it's own.
We are a little over two weeks out from that appointment and I'd say the thing is 80% gone. I'm not convinced it is a stye but will wait a few more days before I start harassing the doctor for more answers. Through it all Caroline has remained totally and completely UNbothered.

Plugging Along...

First pigtails. Love 'em!

"Hat!" She screams until you put it on her. Then she gets really mad if it comes off.

Daddy reads LOTS of books.

My church carnival. Maggie got a tattoo. I kept pointing to my freshly lasered tattoo and explaining what a real tattoo is all about and how awful they are to remove. Not like it sunk in.

Caroline found the "fishing pond" and could not be persuaded away.

Randoms

Caroline has moved into a booster chair at the table. I cannot express how happy I am to ditch the high chair for good! I'm of course heart broken over my kids growing up but that silly thing was HUGE. Love my babies...hate some of the baby gear they inevitably come with.

Dress I "sewed" for Maggie. It started as a womens XL t-shirt from WalMart so it was more like altered than totally sewn. Love it though!

Caroline is obsessed with shoes. Normally they are worn on her hands as she crawls around the house (doesn't matter who the shoes belong to--even Daddy's shoes have been worn on the hands). This time I put a cute pair on her feet and stood her up. Result? Confusion...

Just chillin' as I stroll them through Lowes:

Ok, kids, just sit here and be good while the mama's chat it up and sew. Please!

Wipes and toilet paper = Caroline's current loves. She cannot get enough of either and likes to make huge piles of it to play in. I stopped her pretty early on with the package of wipes--this time. Do you SEE that devilish look on her face?

Patrick's Birthday

Patrick celebrated his birthday at home with just us family about. He picked out a lovely steak and let Maggie help in the preparations:

And cake. There is always his cake.

His request for a gift was golf lessons for ME. After discussing our youngest's stanger anxiety (no baby sitter for this girl) we thought it best to put that gift off til next year. He bought himself books instead...golf books. He's been busily engaged in reading them then heading to the range to "practice" what he's learned. Just another excuse to hit the course.