Other happenings

We took very few pictures in August and September. So pathetic. Here are few that we did take:

We've been spending a LOT of time outside enjoying the perfect weather. I'm so glad we bought this swing set - it has been a great addition to our backyard!

Blaise got these capes for his birthday last year and every morning Isaac puts one on and then asks Blaise to put the other one on and play superhero with him. These two boys are getting along really well right now and it's so fun to see Blaise get a chance to be the big kid. He is so good with Isaac - so patient and let's him choose what to play (so unlike his sister!)

I'm doing "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons"
with Blaise right now. I stole my sister's idea and after he finishes
25 lessons he gets to go on a date with me. He finished his first set last week
and we went out to Dairy Queen!

He is such a good big brother. He's so good with Claire and she just adores him. (yeah, I'll admit Blaise is my favorite child right now) :)

Claire found her feet recently. Yummy. Nice to have built-in chew toys when you are teething.

Claire is not the only one teething! Rae finally lost another tooth on Friday Sept.30th. She lost two back in November and this is the first one she has lost since then. She has three more that are pretty wiggly. She went to the dentist on Wednesday and everything is great!

This girl is growing up too fast! She is scooting and rolling everywhere! Ahhh, I'm not ready!

And this little guy is just as cute as ever! We've been having a hard time with jealously issues, but making sure he gets a good dose of mom in the morning and then getting Rae and Blaise to include him in their play really helps him be happy. He's talking more and more and if he takes his thumb out of his mouth you can actually understand him!

Hello Fall

We welcomed October with a trip to a farm/pumpkin patch. We didn't do any pumpkin pickin' (umm, they are cheaper at Aldi) but we did enjoy a hayride, straw maze, animal feeding/admiring and beautiful weather and scenery.

Teasing Blaise (what she does best)

Isaac was not fond of the straw maze. It had a roof over it,
so that made it quite dark and a bit too scary for this little guy.

But Rae and Blaise loved it! (You see Claire? She slept almost the whole time)

That's one cool scarecrow!

Hauling away the prisoners!

Giant catfish

Tiny bunnies

The goats were just regular-sized though

Baby chicks and baby pigs

One more hayride while I took Claire to the car to change and feed her.

"Yay, hay!"

Aren't the colors beautiful??

Camping with Oma and Opa

At beginning of every summer the kids start begging to go camping, this summer we told them that we would go when Oma and Opa came to visit for Claire's blessing. We went the last week of June (when it tends to be nice and dry) We figured it'd be easier with 2 extra adults, and we know that Opa likes to camp but Oma doesn't, so they never go camping. (we didn't tell Oma before they came -heehee) Actually, the original plan was to have the men sleep at the campsite with the kids while the women and Claire went back to the house to sleep - but the place we wanted to camp was too far to drive back for the night. So, we all stuck it out and did one night. We ended up going to the part of the campground with electric sites because the spots were much bigger and nicer. Turns out it is a lot quieter too, because the old people go back into their RVs at 8 :) Here are some pictures of the adventure:

This is Roy doing his "everyone just go away and let
me set the tent up by myself" dance

We always forget to bring a hammer!

The campground was nicer than our backyard!

Make-shift changing table

Just hanging out by the fire

Smores for dessert (of course!)

There were cicadas everywhere!

Thank goodness Oma was there to keep Claire happy!
They went on lots and lots of walks!

The next morning we did some exploring around the lake nearby.
They are looking for snakes.

We camped outside this little historic town called "Arrow Rock", so in the morning we
went into town to explore. The kids were exhausted and it was hot, so we didn't
enjoy ourselves very much.

Ended it all with some lunch and ice cream on the way home. Whew.

Family Pictures

I really hate that I am so behind on blogging. Most of my pictures are on the computer upstairs, and I rarely get a chance to use that one since Claire is usually napping in my room. I have about 20 other excuses, but I'll spare you :) Goal is to write one blog a night... seriously this time.

When we were in Charlotte my sister took us out to an empty field and took pictures of our family. They turned out great and I'm so glad she was willing to do it. It was hot, the kids were not very cooperative and we are horrible posers, so she had her work cut out for her. Here are some of my favorites:

Is it just me or does Claire look like a doll in this picture?
(Don't worry, Roy was right there to catch her when she started to lean too far!)

We got Blaise to smile by making some jokes that Chad had been making all week
"Hey Blaise, are you driving yet? You're like, 16 now, right?"

Yes, Roy completely edited this one - took the best of all of us and put it into one picture for my mom and his mom to have on their wall. I love having a husband that can photo shop :)

We didn't get a very good one of Isaac, but we have lots of other good ones of him from other occasions, so someday when I get around to it I can get prints of all of these and get them on my walls, but maybe not - I don't have any other pictures hanging and we'll probably be moving next year, so I may never hang any. That's the trouble with renting - very little motivation to hang stuff up when you know you'll be packing it up again soon! Roy has these all hanging in his office - so at least they are getting some use! Thanks again Katie!