Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
BOO @ The Zoo
Yesterday was a big day. They had a Halloween party at the zoo which meant all our favorite animals AND candy! Put that together with perfect weather (for both human and animal) and we could not have asked for a better day. Daddy and Uncle Joel went to the Van Halen concert on Friday night and Uncle Joel stayed the night with us so he could go with us which was very fun. We started our morning off with some trick-or-treating. They had several stations set up around the zoo where the children could go and collect yummy things to eat. We did have to wear our Halloween costumes but now that we have discovered that it gets us candy [corn] we are all about putting it on. (Noah will walk around the kitchen knocking on whatever he can find and screaming "Trick or Treat". Reinforcing this behavior, it is my parental duty to respond positively so, needless to say, he has been receiving a lot of candy this week... for training purposes, of course.) Noah soon discovered what many of the other children missed -> more than one person handing out candy at the station, meant more than one stop. He would go right up to each person with his bag. He waited very nicely for his turn and remembered his thank you's as he was running back to show us what he got. Thankfully, some of the handouts were tatooes and light-glow bracelets because everything that was food had to be consumed right now.
We met up with our friends, the Potts family, for some lunch and Noah and Eric got to do lots of running around.
Their favorite game was actually ring-around-the-trash can. Although, rolling around in the leaves on the patio was a close second. They had a costume parade that could have been a little bit more organized but earned us a free ride on the carousel, none the less.
After that we headed back to the elephants to watch them do some painting. Uncle Joel commissioned a painting for Noah and we got to watch Lea paint it herself. It was pretty funny to watch.
We got to bring the painting home and will find some place special to hang it in Noah’s room. Next we took a ride on the train for a little rest. Then we were back to looking for animals. The perfect weather made for a great day of animal viewing. All the animals were out and wandering around which isn't something that we always experience since we are typically at the zoo in July.
Benjamin was quite the trooper, riding in his stroller and wearing his costume (even though he wasn’t going to get any candy for it). Daddy carried him around for a while and he got some up-close encounters with some of the animals. He liked the lions the best. They must have reminded him of his funny kitties at home. We were having such a nice time that we didn't leave until almost 4:00. Benjamin sneaked in a nap after lunch but Noah went without and did so beautifully. Mommy thought a neighborhood church was having trunk-or-treat at 6:30 so we hurried home for that only to discover that it is actually Sunday at 6:00. Oops. Once we understood that we could not take our trick-or-treat bag to bed, everyone got to sleep for a well-deserved night of rest. Four more Halloween activities to go - wish us luck. (Oh, and costumes will be revealed on Wednesday. Until then, you will just have to take our word for it - they are adorable!)
We met up with our friends, the Potts family, for some lunch and Noah and Eric got to do lots of running around.
Their favorite game was actually ring-around-the-trash can. Although, rolling around in the leaves on the patio was a close second. They had a costume parade that could have been a little bit more organized but earned us a free ride on the carousel, none the less.
After that we headed back to the elephants to watch them do some painting. Uncle Joel commissioned a painting for Noah and we got to watch Lea paint it herself. It was pretty funny to watch.
We got to bring the painting home and will find some place special to hang it in Noah’s room. Next we took a ride on the train for a little rest. Then we were back to looking for animals. The perfect weather made for a great day of animal viewing. All the animals were out and wandering around which isn't something that we always experience since we are typically at the zoo in July.
Benjamin was quite the trooper, riding in his stroller and wearing his costume (even though he wasn’t going to get any candy for it). Daddy carried him around for a while and he got some up-close encounters with some of the animals. He liked the lions the best. They must have reminded him of his funny kitties at home. We were having such a nice time that we didn't leave until almost 4:00. Benjamin sneaked in a nap after lunch but Noah went without and did so beautifully. Mommy thought a neighborhood church was having trunk-or-treat at 6:30 so we hurried home for that only to discover that it is actually Sunday at 6:00. Oops. Once we understood that we could not take our trick-or-treat bag to bed, everyone got to sleep for a well-deserved night of rest. Four more Halloween activities to go - wish us luck. (Oh, and costumes will be revealed on Wednesday. Until then, you will just have to take our word for it - they are adorable!)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Noah Update
As Noah is now closer to 3 than he is to 2, we thought it time for an update. He is still going to school every Wednesday and he appears to really like it. We still cannot get him to tell us any details of his day but he does like to talk about Miss Sue and Mister Bar (Miss Barb) and he gets upset sometimes when he finds out it in not a school day. We really wish they had a camera in their room so we could watch him during the day. I would love to know if he is playing with other kids and how he sits to eat his lunch. Guess I will just have to leave that to my imagination.
Since our last trip to the 'haircut house' in August, Noah has been asking to go and get his hair cut. He uses many objects to pretend to cut his hair including daddy's old electric razor and his Halloween flashlight. He makes them buzz like bees and rubs them over his head and chin. Well, last week was school pictures so we got a hair cut first. I pulled in to the parking lot and he started cheering and clapping in the back seat. "The Haircut House. Yeah, Mommy! You did it!" We got inside and he went right over and told Miss LeAnn that he wanted a pink bunny lollipop. He picked out the police car to sit in and Thomas to watch but then he was not so excited anymore. He sat holding a lollipop in each hand but ducked every time LeAnn came toward him. He also did a little crying, but certainly better than it has been in the past.
Due to some behavioral issues, TV time has been cut down considerably (like to nothing). We listen to lots of music and Noah knows a lot of songs. He will ask for them by random sentences within the songs so it is a good thing that his mom listens to the lyrics too. (His dad, on the other hand, not so lucky...) Unfortunately, he no longers lets his mother sing along. "No, Mommy! Stop singing! Let the guy do it!" (This cracks Uncle Joel right up as he has been telling me the same thing for 30 years now...) But daddy is usually allowed to sing. Go figure. This past month we went to the library and got some new books and CDs to listen to. 'Jack Quack' became a quick favorite and was read at almost every bedtime. It is fun to read with Noah because his memory is so good. He can recite most books while we read and loves to help end the sentences. He is also starting to talk in voices. Not in a freaky-sense, but like when he recites a monologue from a movie, he tries to replicate the voice. I think this is hilarious which makes him do it over and over.
Thanks to his Dumbo book, Noah learned the letter 'D' (which Dumbo waves on his flag). He loves to find writing and he will search for all the letters 'D' to point out. His bedding also has letters on it. He mostly talks about 'D' (which in this case is for Donald Duck). Last night at dinner he was playing with the magnets on the fridge and he brought over 'G' for Goofy and 'M' for Mickey. And he was right!!!
It is so exciting to see him growing up and yet so sad at the same time. I was talking an older lady one day who told me that 2 was her favorite age. I questioned that because it is enough to drive a person crazy at times, but she said, "They are just so fun. They have no inhibitions. If something is fun, they do it. Everything is new and exciting and they have so much to explore and discover. Soon they will start school and their free spirit will disappear." I found this conversation quite depressing. But I try to keep it in mind when we are arguing over how many vitamins he gets to take in the morning or who is going to feed him his yogurt or when I am chasing him around the house to get him up to nap time or to change a diap.
Since our last trip to the 'haircut house' in August, Noah has been asking to go and get his hair cut. He uses many objects to pretend to cut his hair including daddy's old electric razor and his Halloween flashlight. He makes them buzz like bees and rubs them over his head and chin. Well, last week was school pictures so we got a hair cut first. I pulled in to the parking lot and he started cheering and clapping in the back seat. "The Haircut House. Yeah, Mommy! You did it!" We got inside and he went right over and told Miss LeAnn that he wanted a pink bunny lollipop. He picked out the police car to sit in and Thomas to watch but then he was not so excited anymore. He sat holding a lollipop in each hand but ducked every time LeAnn came toward him. He also did a little crying, but certainly better than it has been in the past.
Due to some behavioral issues, TV time has been cut down considerably (like to nothing). We listen to lots of music and Noah knows a lot of songs. He will ask for them by random sentences within the songs so it is a good thing that his mom listens to the lyrics too. (His dad, on the other hand, not so lucky...) Unfortunately, he no longers lets his mother sing along. "No, Mommy! Stop singing! Let the guy do it!" (This cracks Uncle Joel right up as he has been telling me the same thing for 30 years now...) But daddy is usually allowed to sing. Go figure. This past month we went to the library and got some new books and CDs to listen to. 'Jack Quack' became a quick favorite and was read at almost every bedtime. It is fun to read with Noah because his memory is so good. He can recite most books while we read and loves to help end the sentences. He is also starting to talk in voices. Not in a freaky-sense, but like when he recites a monologue from a movie, he tries to replicate the voice. I think this is hilarious which makes him do it over and over.
Thanks to his Dumbo book, Noah learned the letter 'D' (which Dumbo waves on his flag). He loves to find writing and he will search for all the letters 'D' to point out. His bedding also has letters on it. He mostly talks about 'D' (which in this case is for Donald Duck). Last night at dinner he was playing with the magnets on the fridge and he brought over 'G' for Goofy and 'M' for Mickey. And he was right!!!
It is so exciting to see him growing up and yet so sad at the same time. I was talking an older lady one day who told me that 2 was her favorite age. I questioned that because it is enough to drive a person crazy at times, but she said, "They are just so fun. They have no inhibitions. If something is fun, they do it. Everything is new and exciting and they have so much to explore and discover. Soon they will start school and their free spirit will disappear." I found this conversation quite depressing. But I try to keep it in mind when we are arguing over how many vitamins he gets to take in the morning or who is going to feed him his yogurt or when I am chasing him around the house to get him up to nap time or to change a diap.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
D for Dumbo!
A number of years back I learned that today was the day Dumbo was first released. October 23, 1941.
Now many people would read that maybe remember for a day or two, but then it would be forgotten. That is not the case for me, you see, because that exact day is also the birthday of a very special person in my life. (More on that this weekend, after we celebrate properly.) Many jokes were made about this lady and Dumbo being 'twins' but I did not realize at the time how very important it would be for me to know Dumbo's birthday. It just so happens, our oldest son is in love with Dumbo. So for something different, we had a birthday party today.
Complete with party hats, popcorn, and the oh-so-popular movie. Dumbo even got his own birthday cake made out of Circus Peanuts - which Noah helped himself too almost immediately.
We'll have to be sure to start a little earlier next year, though. 
Benjamin barely made it to the start of the movie and Noah was way tired when it was over. I guess he thought we were going to have a movie marathon or something because he was really disappointed to find out we were not watching Bambi next. Maybe next year...
Now many people would read that maybe remember for a day or two, but then it would be forgotten. That is not the case for me, you see, because that exact day is also the birthday of a very special person in my life. (More on that this weekend, after we celebrate properly.) Many jokes were made about this lady and Dumbo being 'twins' but I did not realize at the time how very important it would be for me to know Dumbo's birthday. It just so happens, our oldest son is in love with Dumbo. So for something different, we had a birthday party today.
Complete with party hats, popcorn, and the oh-so-popular movie. Dumbo even got his own birthday cake made out of Circus Peanuts - which Noah helped himself too almost immediately.
We'll have to be sure to start a little earlier next year, though. 
Benjamin barely made it to the start of the movie and Noah was way tired when it was over. I guess he thought we were going to have a movie marathon or something because he was really disappointed to find out we were not watching Bambi next. Maybe next year...
The Farmer's Pumpkin Patch
This past weekend we went to the Farmer. During the month of October, they have a special pumpkin patch. You get to take the hay ride back to the patch.
They had a corn maze, a hay bale tower to climb,
a big tub of corn to play in and pour out, and of course pumpkins!
It was a beautiful day and we had a good time. The perfect picture in my mind never really came to fruition but I did manage to get some with both boys in the same frame. I guess that is a step in the right direction.
Noah says his favorite part was the corn tub. Benjamin's favorite part was the pumpkin patch.
Mommy put him down to try to get some pictures and he busily tried to taste every wood chip within a 100 ft. radius. Yuck. We didn't head to the farmer until after soccer camp and lunch, so we chose not to stay and see the animals. Must be Noah was worn out enough because he did not even complain about it. Unfortunately, the farmer closes 11/1 for the winter. I am definitely going to try to get Noah back a couple of times before then. What if he doesn't think it is as fun next year? (He will be 3, you know...) Hopefully Benjamin likes animals...
They had a corn maze, a hay bale tower to climb,
a big tub of corn to play in and pour out, and of course pumpkins!
It was a beautiful day and we had a good time. The perfect picture in my mind never really came to fruition but I did manage to get some with both boys in the same frame. I guess that is a step in the right direction.
Noah says his favorite part was the corn tub. Benjamin's favorite part was the pumpkin patch.
Mommy put him down to try to get some pictures and he busily tried to taste every wood chip within a 100 ft. radius. Yuck. We didn't head to the farmer until after soccer camp and lunch, so we chose not to stay and see the animals. Must be Noah was worn out enough because he did not even complain about it. Unfortunately, the farmer closes 11/1 for the winter. I am definitely going to try to get Noah back a couple of times before then. What if he doesn't think it is as fun next year? (He will be 3, you know...) Hopefully Benjamin likes animals...
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Fall Festival 2007
Sunday was the fall festival out at Lake Quivira. The thunderstorms on Saturday postponed the event which unfortunately created a conflict with Rachel's baby shower. So Daddy and Noah went to the festival while Benjamin and Mommy went to the party.
The festival turned out to be great. We met Betsy at the gate and received our pumpkin bracelets as we entered the stable yard. Our first activity was to find a pumpkin. Grace, Ian and Brant were already checking out the pumpkin patch. We looked at almost every pumpkin, and tried to pick up a few as well. I am not sure that Noah knew that we were going to take it home with us. Of course he was a bit distracted by some of the other activities that would turn out to be a lot more fun.
Next stop was the big fire truck. Noah wasn't really interested in climbing up on the truck. I think the fireman threw him off a little. After a quick look it was on to find some dinner.
A hamburger for Noah and a hot dog for Daddy. Don't forget the pretzels Daddy! Actually they were Cheetos. Noah made sure to pick those up as we went through the line. Needless to say we weren't very focused on eating. Plenty of kids to watch, and talk with, plus there were lots of flies to swat at. We traded bites of hamburger and "pretzels" until it was time to move on.
Finally it was time to see the horses! Giddy up boys! At first Noah did not want to wear the riding helmet but after we saw a few kids wearing them we decide it was ok. Noah rode a nice horse, named Fancy, I think. He did very well hanging on to the saddle as we went around the ring three times. The expression on his face as he rode looked a bit pained at times but I know he loved it.
So what is as fun as riding a horse? Climbing up on the fence of course. Daddy helped him up the first time but he could manage it just fine on his own.
As we finished up with the ride it was time for the horses to go to bed. As we walked back to the festival I asked Noah if he wanted to have a "friendly ghost" tatoo. Earlier he had see a boy with a spider painted on his face and Noah thought that was pretty cool. So we stopped at the table and Noah asked for a spider. I didn't really think he would go for a painting on his face but he held reasonably still while the girl painted a brown spider on his cheek. I took a picture and showed him how he looked.
As we wandered back amongst the tables Betty came by with a bag of chocolate, graham cracker, and marshmallow. I had not intended to try making S'mores because I was sure that Noah would not be interested, but if nothing else Noah would eat the pieces individually. Noah helped me find a coat hanger, and then he ate a piece of chocolate while I heated up the marshmallow. When it was all ready I put it together and offered a bite to Noah. To my great surprise he took a bite! Of course he didn't like it but hey at least he tried it. I also managed to convince him to try the uncooked marshmallow and that didn't seem so bad. I should stop underestimating this kid. He really is big you know.
As we finished up the marshmallow Noah said he wanted to take a walk in the woods. So we walked back an forth under a few trees and talked about the animals that lived there. It was starting to get dark so I pointed us back toward the stable gate and the car. As we reached the fence we saw our horse getting brushed. We stopped to say thanks and good night to the horse. What a great day!
The festival turned out to be great. We met Betsy at the gate and received our pumpkin bracelets as we entered the stable yard. Our first activity was to find a pumpkin. Grace, Ian and Brant were already checking out the pumpkin patch. We looked at almost every pumpkin, and tried to pick up a few as well. I am not sure that Noah knew that we were going to take it home with us. Of course he was a bit distracted by some of the other activities that would turn out to be a lot more fun.
Next stop was the big fire truck. Noah wasn't really interested in climbing up on the truck. I think the fireman threw him off a little. After a quick look it was on to find some dinner.
A hamburger for Noah and a hot dog for Daddy. Don't forget the pretzels Daddy! Actually they were Cheetos. Noah made sure to pick those up as we went through the line. Needless to say we weren't very focused on eating. Plenty of kids to watch, and talk with, plus there were lots of flies to swat at. We traded bites of hamburger and "pretzels" until it was time to move on.
Finally it was time to see the horses! Giddy up boys! At first Noah did not want to wear the riding helmet but after we saw a few kids wearing them we decide it was ok. Noah rode a nice horse, named Fancy, I think. He did very well hanging on to the saddle as we went around the ring three times. The expression on his face as he rode looked a bit pained at times but I know he loved it.
So what is as fun as riding a horse? Climbing up on the fence of course. Daddy helped him up the first time but he could manage it just fine on his own.
As we finished up with the ride it was time for the horses to go to bed. As we walked back to the festival I asked Noah if he wanted to have a "friendly ghost" tatoo. Earlier he had see a boy with a spider painted on his face and Noah thought that was pretty cool. So we stopped at the table and Noah asked for a spider. I didn't really think he would go for a painting on his face but he held reasonably still while the girl painted a brown spider on his cheek. I took a picture and showed him how he looked.
As we wandered back amongst the tables Betty came by with a bag of chocolate, graham cracker, and marshmallow. I had not intended to try making S'mores because I was sure that Noah would not be interested, but if nothing else Noah would eat the pieces individually. Noah helped me find a coat hanger, and then he ate a piece of chocolate while I heated up the marshmallow. When it was all ready I put it together and offered a bite to Noah. To my great surprise he took a bite! Of course he didn't like it but hey at least he tried it. I also managed to convince him to try the uncooked marshmallow and that didn't seem so bad. I should stop underestimating this kid. He really is big you know.
As we finished up the marshmallow Noah said he wanted to take a walk in the woods. So we walked back an forth under a few trees and talked about the animals that lived there. It was starting to get dark so I pointed us back toward the stable gate and the car. As we reached the fence we saw our horse getting brushed. We stopped to say thanks and good night to the horse. What a great day!
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