Scarecrow

So, today Esther and Peter and I made a "scarecrow" for the front porch. I alway used to call those things a "dummy," but figured Laura would "correct" my choice of words in front of the kids, so we settled on "scarecrow." (I know it's hard for all of you to believe, but on occassion I find out about words we do not use... usually right after I have used that word in front of the kids. Though, ever since an unfortunate incident with Esther and her expanding vocabulary at the time, I have never referred to the "poopy" diapers as filled with s**t.)

Anyway, back to the "scarecrow." We do not have many leaves in our backyard, so last night we invited ourselves over to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Renee's house for pizza. We raked up some of their leaves and stuffed some jeans and a shirt. This morning after we got back from getting donuts, Esther and I put our creation together, topping it off with the pumpkin that Esther decorated at school. (She is very excited to take a picture of this back to show Mrs. M on Monday). Peter didn't want to go outside with us, but he did want to come out and have his picture taken.

We haven't come up with a name yet... Esther seems to think we should name it Peter. If we do, then it's a good thing we are calling this a "scarecrow" and not a "dummy"!

New Hair Style

It's Peter....does anything else really need to be said?

Fall Fun!

Today was a beautiful day for a fun outdoor activity so we headed out this morning to Orchard Hill Farm, a little place not too far from our house. We've gone there the past couple years and it's nothing fancy, but great fun for little kiddos like ours.

I called before we left to make sure they'd be doing hayrides and was told that they would as soon as there were enough people there for them to do one. As we pulled in, Casey commented that there might not be enough people for a hayride since there were only a couple other cars. Then I saw a family walking toward the barn and said, "Hey, maybe those people will want to go on a hayride with us." Then I looked again and realized that it was our friends, the Meengs family! We had a great time hanging out with them and their 3 girls (poor Peter, he's often the only boy in our groups of friends).

We started with the corn maze, checked out the animals (peacocks, bunnies, deer, geese and sheep), and then enjoyed our hayride. We finished up with a donut and apple cider. It was a great way to spend a summery-feeling autumn morning!

Mr. Sinke's Train

Today was Esther's field trip to ride on Mr. Sinke's train. Since Mr. Sinke is my Uncle Carl, this was an extra special field trip for us! Esther has ridden the train a couple times before, and she had a lot of fun today riding with her friends. It was a beautiful day and my cousin Chuck patiently gave ride after ride to these excited pre-schoolers.

We also sang happy birthday to Uncle Carl in celebration of his 80th birthday coming up next week. He was quite a sport wearing the crown that Mrs. M brought for him!

Smiley Girl

Miriam seems to be smiling or laughing much of the time. She is also starting to wave and it's just so cute when she does it! I managed to get a few fun pictures of her today when she was actually sitting still for a minute, which doesn't happen very often. I especially love the one of her and Esther. Esther is such a sweet, helpful big sister and I love watching them together. Of course Peter and Esther wanted their pictures taken too...

Plan B

What do you do when you're a 2-1/2 year old boy and your mom says you can't watch a video?

You get all the DVDs out of the cabinet and make a road for your matchbox cars!

"Surprise" Party

My Mom turned the big 6-0 this weekend and we tried to surprise her by having all her siblings and their spouses come from out of town to celebrate. I say tried because unfortunately Mom knows us too well and suspected something was going on. The only surprise was that she was thinking they might show up on Friday and the surprise didn't happen until Saturday at lunch!

Despite the non-surprise, we had a great time celebrating and being together with family. We spent lots of time eating, talking, and laughing this weekend. It was really fun and I'm thankful that they were all able to make the trip for this special day.

We are so thankful for the gift of my Mom to our family. She is generous, selfless, patient and kind-hearted. She's an amazing example of a godly mother and is a wonderful grandma to our kids as well.

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you very much.

Esther Quotes

Our 4-year old can be quite funny.

Last night as Daddy was climbing into her bed to read books with her...

"Whoa, Daddy, you're WAY bigger than Mommy!"

Immediately followed by.....

"Daddy, I don't EVER have to move over this far for Mommy to fit in bed with me."

(for the record, Daddy has recently lost 16 pounds....apparently my daughter hasn't noticed.)

After getting a haircut yesterday Esther rubbed my head and stated:

"Wow Daddy, I better remember to draw you with no hair!"

Crazy kid.

Grandparents Day

Today was Grandparents Day at Esther's school. I remember having all 4 of my grandparents at school several times when I was in elementary school and thinking that was pretty special. I'm so thankful that Esther was able to have all 4 of her grandparents there today as well. Grandpa K. even took the afternoon off work for the occasion! They had a great time making a clay bug and a crown and enjoying the other activities of the day.

Little Bakers

Our neighbor Dore, aka "The Easter Bunny," dropped off a fun fall Halloween gift for us the other day. It was a kit for baking 5 mini cakes and decorating them with icing. Of course the kids wanted to do it right away, so Thursday afternoon while Miriam was taking her nap we did some cake baking and decorating. I don't think they're ready to compete with Grandma K. yet, but they did pretty well!