Earring Update

For those of you following the earring saga, as of last night they are back in. She decided I could give it a try and I was pretty surprised that they went back in. She was upset that she wouldn't be able to wear the turtle earrings that Aunt Sara had given her she let the holes close up. We are going to keep the starter earrings in for awhile and give them a chance to heal up again. We will see how it goes. I think she may have sensitive ears and that when she wore the cheap earrings for a few days it wasn't too good for her ears.

Pumpkin Patch

This morning we went to Apple Blossom Farm with Audrey's class. It was pretty cold at first but as the morning went on we warmed up. Here are a few pictures from the playground area. I don't have any at the actual pumpkin patch because keeping track of Audrey, carrying the pumpkins, trying to get Henry to hold my hand, and picking him up off of the ground at least a dozen times after he tripped on vines, proved to be no little task. I tried to get my phone out once to take a picture, but they were telling everyone to head back to the hay rack. I am going to try to carve my pumpkin tonight and will take pictures of Henry and Audrey's pumpkins and probably post them tomorrow.

Henry the goat, Eliza the sheep, Marilyn the horse, Meghan the cow, and Audrey the pig
Henry went right for the choo-choo
Audrey decided to skip the gunny sack and just slide down on her belly. Henry and I went down a couple of time, though not on our bellies. We didn't go very fast. We got stuck and had to walk the rest of the way down.
I'm not sure the new pink coat will ever be the same.

Earring Trauma

Well Audrey's days of having pierced ears was pretty short lived. She had been doing fine with them and they were healed nicely. We had even changed them a couple of times. When she went to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Drozd she had in some different earrings and one fell out while she was sleeping. She wouldn't let Grandma go near her ear to put it back in and said that it hurt. Well, when she got home I wasn't as nice as Grandma Karin and made her let me put it back in. It was a little sore but I thought that was the end of it. Well I thought that the one ear looked a little red so I was cleaning it more often and putting antibacterial ointment on it. Audrey was really complaining about having it cleaned and last night I took the earrings out to clean them really good and she wouldn't let me put them back in. I was afraid she would change her mind later when it was too late to put them back in, but so far she insists that she doesn't care if they close up, that she doesn't want to have pierced ears anymore. I am kinda aggravated about the whole thing, we spent good $ getting them pierced, and she had received quite a few pairs of really cute earrings as gifts. I decided that it wasn't worth fighting her about it anymore. Grandma Kay will be pleased. She didn't think she should have had them pierced in the first place.

Audrey Phonics

This is a picture that Karin took when the kids were there a couple of weeks ago. Audrey sounded out some words and wrote them on the chalkboard. It says Today's Breakfast Bowl. Do you see it?

Playdate Lunch

We had lunch at Karianne's today. She hosted a neighborhood playgroup/lunch. There were 2 other 4-year-olds there, 1 girl and 1 boy. Audrey had a really good time hiding with Norah from Mason, who was pretending to be a monster. Henry played with Tristan and a couple of other little boys about his age. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how well Audrey did with Norah. They are both very opinionated, outspoken little girls that like to be the boss. I was sitting with them around the kitchen table and Audrey was looking at Norah. Norah said "stop looking at me". Audrey just kind of looked at her like what's the big deal, but didn't say anything. Norah said "why are you looking at me, stop it!" I told Norah that Audrey probably just thought she was pretty. Norah says again to stop looking at her and Audrey deliberately looked away and intently stared at her sandwich and said "I'm not looking at you." The whole thing was pretty funny. I was surprised that Audrey did what Norah said and didn't yell at her or keep looking at her just to make her mad. You could tell by the look on Audrey's face that she thought Norah was a little crazy. I think Norah was trying to pick a fight and Audrey didn't take the bait.

Cat House

Here are some pics of the cat house Audrey made for Daisy. The cat actually hangs out in there, without being coerced, even if it doesn't look like it in these pictures.

Happy Birthday Jason!!

Today was Jason's Birthday. Yesterday afternoon Audrey and I went shopping for his gifts. She wanted to get him a waffle iron so that he could make polka dot waffles like Emma's daddy made for them at her last sleepover. Jason had mentioned that he would make waffles if we had a waffle iron, so I thought he might actually enjoy Audrey's self-serving gift idea. He and Audrey make pancakes together sometimes on Saturday mornings. I have to admit that I don't ever cook a big breakfast. I'm not a morning person and am usually being drug out of bed by Jason and/or the kids in the morning. I got him a Wii game. We went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. We always comment on how there seem to be 20 birthdays and hour there, and how it is pretty obnoxious when they bring out the saddle on the sawhorse and whoop and holler. Audrey however thinks it is really fun. She just assumed that they would do this for her daddy's birthday too. Jason hates anything that draws attention to him and even downplays his birthday as a whole. I however agreed with Audrey that it would be fun to see Daddy on the sawhorse and saddle and hear everyone give him a big "Texas Roadhouse YEE HAW" I knew if I told the waitress that it was his birthday he would be perturbed, but if Audrey did it he would have to play along. Audrey told the waitress and Jason wasn't even mad because he saw how excited for Audrey was about it. He did try to put her in the saddle instead, but we told him he had to "ride" because it was his birthday. The people sitting around us were very rowdy and enthusiastic, which made it all the more hilarious. Here is the picture to prove it. I took it with my cell phone and it isn't very good, but I got a picture none-the-less.

Pictures from last weekend

Well, John and Karin wore the kids out over the long weekend! They had a great time and slept really well last night. If fact we were a little late getting around this morning because everyone was sleeping in. Henry is a little under the weather and Audrey is sleeping in the spare bedroom until further notice. We decided that we would wait to let Audrey see her room when it was all finished. Jason patched holes and taped tonight, so we should be ready to prime tomorrow night. It is going so much slower than planned! Audrey's most recent project is building a "cat house". Last night we put a cardboard box in the living room for the kids to play with. Henry was crawling in and out of it and Audrey would close him in. Audrey then wanted to decorate it and make it a house for Daisy. She saw something like this on an episode of Caillou. She worked on decorating it for a long time last night and today. She drew pictures on it with markers and put stickers and stamps all over it. She even drew rugs inside. We have a house full of toys and the cardboard box is what has been keeping her occupied.

Ughhhhh!

Words cannot express my hatred for wallpaper!! The plan of surprising Audrey with a redecorated room isn't really going to work out how I had planned. The kids are at Grandma Karin and Grandpa John's this weekend and we started on Audrey's room. We have now been working on removing the wallpaper for several hours. We were having a lot of trouble until we discovered the trick was to peel the top layer off while it was completely dry, in as big of sheets as possible, scrapping the little pieces with whatever is left of your fingernails, and then use the Diff wallpaper remover to get the backing layer and some of the glue down, and then scrub the entire wall with soapy water to get the little scraps and glue residue off. Needless to say it is going to take awhile! I have made a vow to NEVER put wallpaper on any wall of any house that I ever own!!! I will post a picture when we get the walls done.....someday.

Halloween Tree

Here is a picture of Henry and Tristan with the coveted Halloween tree. I watched Tristan again this morning. There were no meltdowns today over the tree. When Tristan is over it is almost like having twins. They actually play better together than Henry and Audrey do! They keep each other occupied, when they aren't fighting over the tree :) I might try to find a tree on ebay for Tristan. Again, like twins you need two of the favorite toys!

Leaf Hunt

Audrey has been wanting to go on a walk and look for pretty leaves. She is really interested in the changing leaves this year. She points them out whenever we drive. We took the big trick-or-treat pumpkins that the kids got in their Halloween package and went out in the neighborhood to find beautiful leaves of all shapes and colors. Audrey also found a few pinecones and acorns. After the incident with the acorn collection last year (they hatched worms!!) I told her that all the "collections" needed to stay outside. Henry didn't come back with any leaves. He picked up a few as we went along, but then would empty them out again. The long walk and fresh air seemed to wear them out pretty well. They both went right down for their naps with no trouble at all : )

Big Boy Haircut

Today has been a busy day! I took Audrey to school and we actually got there early. Then Henry and I went to Cub to get some ground chuck that was on sale. A few days ago I got a freezer cookbook and was all motivated to make a few meals and put them in the freezer for days that I didn't feel like cooking. All of this is an attempt to eat out less. Henry and I came home and I started cooking. I had a turkey breast going in the oven, made a big batch of oven baked spaghetti, was working on taco stuffed pasta shells. I got quite a bit done before I had to pick up Audrey. After lunch Henry and I got haircuts. I decided I had had enough of my hair and got it cut quite a bit shorter and Henry's is pretty short this time too. He looks so much older. Audrey said that we both looked completely different. When we came back home the kids both took a nap and I finished up a batch of crescent ham bundles, and started to clean up the huge mess that our kitchen had become. I think I dirtied every pan, skillet, and mixing bowl we have! I still have a couple of things to make for the freezer but am too tired and think I will work on them sometime else this week. Audrey and Henry got a package in the mail today and they were very excited. It was Halloween treats from GAB and GURay. Both kids tore into the box and now we have little pieces of packing peanuts all over the floor. Audrey can hardly wait for Halloween. She was very excited to put up decorations and she has creepy spiders, bats, and black cat window decals up in her room. My camera batteries are charging so I will post a picture of Henry's new do tomorrow. He looks like a big boy and I don't think I like it!!

Parent Teacher Conference

This morning I went to parent teacher conference at Audrey's school. Our neighbors Karianne and Tristan came over to play and stayed with Audrey and Henry while I ran to the conference. It is really nice to have someone close that can help out with the kids. I told Audrey before I left that I was going to her school to talk to her teacher and that her teacher was going to tell me if she had been good or not. I asked Audrey what she thought the teacher would say. She said "that I have been good.... I hope that's what she says!" Well, the teacher said Audrey is doing good and that she is very bright and a leader (code for bossy, know-it-all). I told her my concerns about her always wanting to be the boss when she played with other kids and being pushy. She said that that is sometimes a problem, but that she has made a lot of improvement since school started. She is a really good teacher I think. She has taught kindergarten through 2nd grade in the past. After I came home we all went to IHOP for lunch.