Bushue's Farm

Kari had her first school field trip today to the pumpkin patch, and thanks to G&G babysitting Joel and Aubrey, I was able to go with her. It was a lot of fun and good for me to see her classmates and learn a little more about what goes on in her class. Joel and Aubrey had a good time with Grandpa and Grandma, too. Joel was devastated when he found out he didn't get to go with Kari and wasn't going to get to ride on the school bus or go pick another pumpkin, so Grandma and Grandpa did all kinds of fun things with him at home while we were gone. Kari was even a little jealous. :)

Here she is on the school bus with her friend, Jake--both very excited about riding on the bus.
On the hayride out to pick their pumpkins.


Very, very muddy pumpkin patch!

In the greenhouse, listening to how to make a "dirt baby" (see below). At this point, it was POURING down rain and very loud in the greenhouse. We were glad we'd already gotten our pumpkins. The poor other class had to go out in the downpour.

Coming out of the child-size, dark hay maze in the greenhouse. The kids went through it over and over.

We'll keep this fellow watered, and within the next week or two, he'll be growing hair (grass seed in the top). Kari can't wait to give him a hair trim.

Jack-O-Lanterns

Joel's face is classic in that first photo: "I know I'm supposed to be enjoying this, but it sure is yucky!" Greg's pumpkin-carving kit Walmart purchase made things easier this go around--should have had the proper tools years ago.

My, but we have grown

The Sunday/Monday Night Football crew this year. We get together with a bunch of friends to watch either the SNF or MNF game, and it's become a tradition each year to have the kids wear their costumes the week before Halloween. As you may guess, some of us do not exactly watch the football game, but some do! :)

On the couch: Ty, Lorelai, Elsie, Jake (aka. Spiderman), Matt, Jack
On the floor: Joel, Jenna, Aubrey, Kari, Ashlynn

Two years ago in 2006 (we didn't go last year): Joel (yes, he was a lion when he was 10 months old and is insisting on being the bigger lion this year), Jenna, Jake, Ty, and Kari (Matt was MIA)

2005: Jake, Kari, Ashlynn, Jenna

The baby

Our baby turned 8 months old this last weekend, and she celebrated by getting another cold. She's been a healthy baby and only seen the doctor for well-child visits, but this is her third significant cold. She's pretty happy this morning, as you can see here. Notice the pacifier. About a month ago, she decided she didn't really care for her binkie anymore. Then about two weeks ago, she completely refused to take it--pursed her lips and batted it away when we tried to give it to her. I realized once she wouldn't take it anymore that I DO care about her binkie, for I have become her one and only pacifier--not good. So, I've been on a mission this week to bring back the bink. I got her some bigger onces, 6month+, and she's taking them, sort of. We'll see how it goes. I'm sure there are those who think this is not a good idea, and I may later (as in, a year from now when I'm trying to take it away) come to regret this decision, but for now I am hoping she becomes reattached.

The 8-month-old toothy grin. She's been making some great scrunch faces lately. These photos make her hair look red, but really it seems to be turning more brown than red. It's a color somewhere between Kari and Joel's hair colors. What else is new...Aubrey doesn't seem to be in any hurry to crawl. She is content to just sit and play and hates it when she falls over or ends up on her tummy. Will she be a bottom scooter like Joel? I hope not. Kari crawled at 9 months, so maybe Aubrey will, too.

Aubrey loves her big sister and brother. They are both so good with her. She gets so excited when she sees them, especially first thing in the morning and after naps. She waves frantically and squeals with happiness. I'm sure once she's on the move, knocking down their towers, and getting into their things, her older siblings won't always think she's so very cute, but for now, it sure is fun to watch their interactions.

Maybe we should get a fish

Our conversation on the way home from preschool--

Kari: Mrs. Weber asked us about our pets today.
Me: Oh really! What did you say?
Kari: Well, when she asked me, I told her I have a little white puppy [my thought at this point: Oh, no! She lied!] STUFFED pet.
Me: Ahh! Well, that was a good thing to tell her.
Kari: Uh-huh, and I think Syndey has the same kind of pet, too.

We are a pet-free household right now, and it's likely to stay that way for quite some time (at least until we no longer have very small children, or forever, if Greg has his way), so thank you, Sydney's parents, for not making us the only parents in the class who are depriving their children of the joy of pet ownership.

A cinch

Joel had his first visit to the dentist today, and he did great! He sat and watched Kari, the old pro, get her teeth cleaned, and then he hopped right up into the chair, opened his mouth wide, and let Melissa clean his teeth--not bad for a 2 1/2 year old little guy. Today I truly appreciated the fact that Joel wants to do EVERYTHING his big sister does. I remember feeling stressed at 3-year-old Kari's first dental appointment (for good reason). Joel's was a breeze!

A little this, a little that

Walking back to our car last week after picking up Kari from preschool, we saw a lady walking in to pick up her child with three small children in hand and a baby on her back. Kari watched them go by, quietly added up the total number of children as she climbed into the car, and then I heard, "I KNOW we're going to have five kids someday." Really. Wouldn't count on it, my dear. I often think about having another baby, but on days like today, I feel that three is plenty. Five? I don't think so.

Her expression made me laugh.

Look at the big teeth we have now. She's getting so old! She learned how to wave this last week. We've been saying lots of "hi" to get her to do it. Doesn't work for "good-bye" yet, though. We're working on it.

Kari earned a gift certificate to a local Bible book store by saying 32 verses this last year, and she's been asking for a Bible of her very own that "has all the words that Mommy and Daddy's Bibles have," so we used the gift certificate to get her a "real" Bible. She gave Joel her little New Testament, and the two of them sat down after lunch and told Aubrey Bible stories. Aubrey learned about the wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his on the sand, and she heard about David and Goliath and various other biblical figures.

Pumpkin

Aubrey--October 2008

Kari--October 2004

I was so glad that Aubrey fit into the pumpkin suit Aunt Emily got for Kari when she was a baby. Kari's pumpkin photo is one of my favorites. Now I have an Aubrey pumpkin, too!

Unnerving

Our next-door neighbor's house was broken into and burglarized yesterday in broad daylight, through the front door! I was gone for a total of an hour all day, so it's very likely it occurred while I was here at home with the kids. Our neighbor lives alone and is always gone during the day. He has a note attached to his front door that instructs postal workers/delivery people to leave packages around back, so it is obvious to any passerby that he is not home. But I am!! We live on a very quiet street, and I have always felt very safe in our neighborhood, but I will be keeping my doors locked and will be more vigilant for a while now, especially knowing some of what they stole--guns, probably to pawn, as two of them were heirloom, but still...

Ironically enough, last night I got the best night of sleep I've had in over 2 months. Aubrey finally slept through the night again (up at 6:30am instead of 3 or 4am), and Joel did not wet the bed, which has been happening a couple times a week lately, so I got 8 blessed hours of uninterrupted slumber. Had some scary dreams about intruders, but at least I was asleep.

Festive Fall Farm Fun (do you like my alliteration?)

(double click for a closer look)
We made our annual trek through the corn maze at Liepold Farms Saturday morning. This year's theme was Alice in Wonderland (much more kid-friendly than last year's Wizard of Oz). Whoever designed the sets did a great job. Joel didn't like the Queen of Hearts part, though. He says she's "scary" (with a tremor in his voice). The kids took turns picking which way to go, and so even though we pretty much knew some of their choices were going to take us in a big loop, right back where we started, we let them choose anyway. We spent about 45 minutes in the maze (a lot of walking for little 2 and 4-year-old legs), which is probably why Joel started to fall apart when we were choosing pumpkins and probably part of the reason Kari launched into one of her no fun, hour-long, disobedient tantrum/fits once we got home--gotta add a little authenicity every now and then to these fun family outing posts. :) We really did have a good time, though. The kids were SO excited to go and always enjoy it. I love doing these kinds of things with our kids. And my husband is a great sport. Yes, that's a yawn in that last photo. :)

Here's last year's visit and links to the previous year, if you enjoy the comparisons as I do.

Have I become a once a week blogger? Just temporarily--been busy.

Aubrey's learned that blowing air out your mouth with your lips pursed makes fun noises, and so she practices her new trick at various times throughout the day. It makes meal times more exciting, for sure.
I call this one "scary baby eyes."

Sweet baby girl

You can't see it very well, but she got her right front tooth in earlier this week and is working hard on the left one.

Kari's face is on the mend from her accident on Sunday. She's had green bruises on her cheek. Her pale, pale skin makes every little mark and bruise stand out for all to see. I was thankful she was looking better by Thursday when she went to preschool.

New hats for the older two. Take a look at the very last photo. Notice Joel's "Clearly Lasik" hat and his very proud, excited facial expression. Last week Greg brought a bunch of stuff home for the kids from the health fair at work, and Joel LOVED that hat. He wore it all week, everywhere we went, much to my chagrin. I tried all summer (unsuccessfully) to get him to wear a hat, and then Greg brings home this hideous one, and he loves it. Crazy kid. So, while he did look pretty cute in his Clearly Lasik too-big-for-him hat, I thought I'd give it another try. The Children's Place bear hat did the trick. You may still see him sporting "Clearly Lasik" occasionally, since I don't have the heart to take away Daddy's beloved "gift," but at least we have another option.

Beat Up

Kari had a run-in with the computer armoire last night, just before we were supposed to leave to go to our Sunday Night Football gathering. No one actually witnessed the collision, and she had blood coming from her nose and mouth, so we had a difficult time determining what exactly happened. Kari's explanation later was that she was running "really, really fast, and just couldn't stop" when she fell. The threat of staying home with Mom was enough to get her to calm down, so we did end up going to SNF, and as the evening went on, we saw some evidence emerge. A diagonal red mark appeared on her cheek, a mark that resembles the width of our slide-out keyboard shelf, so we at least know the point of impact before she hit the ground and banged up her lip. She ended up having a great time running around with all the other kids last night--gonna be fine, just not so cute for the next few days.

"Prince of East" and "Ford of Heaven"

I've been meaning to video the kids singing in the car for a while now, and I finally remembered to do it on the way to Hood River to pick apples last week. It's so funny the words kids mix up and "mishear." Both kids LOVE this Veggie Tale Worship album, and I enjoy listening to music we actually sing in church, even if the songs are sung by Bob, Larry, and Junior.

[Kind of lengthy for the average viewer. I don't know how to edit video and our computer doesn't really allow for it anyhow. Someday...]

"You're my Prince of Peace [Kari: "East"], and I will live my life for you..."

"Alleluia,to the Lord [Kari: "Ford"] of heaven and earth..."