First Field Trip!

Brooke's Class went to the Pumpkin Patch. Her first official field trip ... and she got to ride on a bus!
 

Pumpkin Decorating!

Brooke got to decorate her own pumpking with a cool kit I got from Target (the best place in the whole world). She was pretty psyched ... and the outcome was pretty awesome, I must admit.

The kids also helped Daddy carve a pumpkin a few days later. Here they are with their pumpkin (specially picked by Uncle Tim at the pumpkin patch!).

This was a team effort, though most of the work was done by Daddy ... since both kids were totally disgusted by the inside of the pumpkin.

Both kids thought the actual carving was pretty awesome ... though they quickly lost patience when they realized how long it took to carve from start to finish.

Ultimately, they were happy with the final outcome ... essentially because we got a fancy flashing light that made our pumpking really "scary".

Family Portrait

 

Brooke came home with a drawing of her family. I believe both she and I are wearing capes ... or robes? I think we must be princesses. Obviously.

Birthday Pumpkinpalooza

Since the kids birthdays are just a few weeks apart, with some fun fall weekends in between, we decided to do a combination pumpkin picking - cake eating festivity. First, Brooke & Ryan invited their Grandparents, Uncles & Aunts along to pick some pumpkins. The weather had been questionable, but cleared with a small window that fit perfectly into our plans. While the skies held up, the previous days of rain made for some messy trudging through the fields. Neither kid minded, and the grown ups handled it all in stride ;)


Both kids really wanted to pull their own wagons, so we took two. Of course, both kids later abandoned them and left us to do the work



Both kids were excited about all the tractors ... grownups would get near them, but nobody had the guts to hop on one :)

While Brooke hunted for the best pumpkin,
Ryan spent his time exploring the field.

Brooke psyched about picking pumpkins, putting every one she touched into the wagon. Ryan, on the other hand, touched every pumpkin ... but did not select a single one.




After the pumpkin search, we head back for a bit of lunch ... and cake!


Brooke picked two cakes:
An Ariel cake that was vanilla, and a Thomas cake which was chocolate. It met the needs of of both kids and kids-at-heart alike.

Of course, there were a few gifts too!

Overall it was a great day. Brooke and Ryan were the center of attention for an entire day ... just the way they like it. After pumpkin picking, cake and presents, there wasn't a single thing either kid could have wanted. Both ended the day exhausted, and with big smiles :)

Sunday She Said / He Said

Brooke (to Ryan): Say Ice Ice Baby!

Ryan: Ice Ice ... balloon


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Brooke summarized what she learned when a female fire-fighter came to her classroom

"When there is a fire we can't take a bath, because fire travels in the water"

"When there is a fire outside we throw all our stuff out the window and then we can get new toys. Even the firefighter can get us new toys"


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Hawk Walk

Brooke's school had their annual "Hawk Walk", an event to raise money while teaching the kids about the importance of exercise and physical activity.

The kids were buddied up, and were supposed to walk around the school 5 times. Unfortunately ... it was COLD. The kids got outside and were all shivering, so they had them run around for a bit to warm up. Then, they only made it around three times before they had to call it quits ;)

Ryan and I went out to support. For the first lap, we stood there and shouted "Go, Brooke Go!" When Brooke came around again, the little guy just couldnt be a spectator anymore.
He decided he needed to support his sister by walking along ;)

After the three laps, the kids got to play some games in the garden.
Here they are playing "What time is it Mr. Fox?" :)

She's 4. She Can Do it All By Herself Now.

Brooke woke up early today, as she has been doing lately. So early that I was not yet up, showered or ready. I sent her downstairs by herself and hoped for the best. I showered as fast as I could and came out, and could hear the water running downstairs ... then she turned it off. I figured she was washing her hands. I got dressed, searched for some clothes for her, and then heard the water again. Hmm...


"Brooke, what are you doing?" I yelled down the stairs.

"Washing grapes!" she replied. Then I got a bit worried.


When Ryan and I got downstairs she had made breakfast for her and her brother. There were two bowls each with about 10 pieces of cereal, two cups of water and a plate of grapes. She also had a box of squeeze yogurts on the counter that she had pulled from the fridge. She told her brother to sit down for breakfast, and he did. She then placed the two squeeze yogurts on the kitchen table and told him they were "for dessert" before she sat herself.


I'm all about independence. But, Brooke had to take a stool, move it to the kitchen counter, and then climb up on that counter to get those bowls and cups. While I was in the shower she could have fallen, and at that height, the outcome could have been pretty bad. Now tonight I've got another item on my to-do list. I have to somehow find cabinet or drawer space at kid-friendly height so that little-miss-independent can continue on this path, without me having to worry about her breaking her neck. Soon, perhaps we can train her to get her brother out of bed, bring him downstairs, put on the television, and make them both breakfast ... so that Mommy & Daddy can sleep in on the weekends. Now that's a parents dream come true.

He's Decided to be a Cat

For the past two weeks or so, Ryan has decided he is a kitty-cat. He meows at me constantly. He meows and then cuddles up to me, and wants me to call him a kitty-cat. If you call him another animal, he meows ... to reaffirm that he is a kitty-cat.


Im not sure where this came from. We dont have a cat. We arent around cats. In fact, we just arent cat people. Well, I thought we werent cat people. I guess the little guy is into cats ;)


Its hard to talk to a kid who responds with meowing, or crawls around the floor meowing while you are trying to get him dressed in the morning. But, I have to admit I dont mind the fact he is extra cuddly when in kitty-cat-mode. If it provides me a few extra snuggles then I'm ok with the whole thing for now, but I'm hoping he decides to be something with a little more potential when he grows up...

The Birthday Recap

We planned a low-key birthday for Brooke followed up with a family party in a few weeks. Brooke had school on her birthday and I wanted to do a little something special. Her school has a no-treat policy for birthdays, meaning I couldnt send along cake or cupcakes for a classroom celebration.

Instead I decided to put something special in her lunch. I ran to the store and realized I could purchase a single bakery item. Why? Because her school has a no-nut policy, and the bakery cannot guarantee that their items are nut-free. So, I roamed around the grocery store for about an hour feeling sad and panicked. Until I came across Jell-O Mix-Ins. Pudding with sprinkles! Perfect! I thought that little treat would be perfect in her birthday lunch and that we were all set.

Unfortunately, her and I were not on the same page. She woke up in the morning and proclaimed her excitement for: all the decorations, presents, and blowing out all the candles. I had not exactly planned any of those things, and found myself in a Monday-morning-frenzy. I got Brooke dressed and off to school ...

And then ran to the grocery store to pick up balloons, cupcakes and decorations :) I dropped off the goodies and told the sitter that her and Ryan had a project - make a grand welcome-home for the birthday girl. And, they did! The front door had streamers and decorations...

And when we walked in Ana had personally decorated and cut out all the letters for "Happy Birthday". Additionally, they decorated most of the house in streamers. Brooke was psyched.

She got to make her own pizza for dinner, and while that was cooking she opened up a few presents. After dinner she got to blow out some candles on a mini-cupcake ... and then we went out for ice-cream!

I'd like to say the kids patiently waited, but that wouldnt quite be the truth.

However, once the ice-cream arrived (Brooke chose "birthday cake" as a flavor!) we had a good 10 minutes of silence.

Even the little guy was content. It was bliss!

Uncle Brad came and met us for ice-cream, and both kids got to show off their new Oberweis balloons and ice-cream covered faces. Then, we rushed home as fast as possible to get our ticking-time-bombs into bed. It was a whirlwind day and Brooke was both overwhelmed and exhausted, but she hadnt had any time to really explore her presents. It made it a bit challenging to get her into bed, but there was one motivation. Ryan got Brooke a butterfly Dreamlite for her birthday and the kids were dying to see it work.

Mom and Dad were a bit leery about this gift, with the worries that it might keep her up at night playing, and we were right ;) She spent a good 20 minutes playing with it in bed. Then she called me up and said "I dont know how to sleep on this thing." Though it looks like a stuffed animal, it has a hard shell ... and she was trying to use it as a pillow. When I explained it had to be next to her instead of under her, she seemed to get it and was quickly asleep. She woke up at 2:30 with her usual coughing fit, and I then heard her pressing the button on her dreamlite for another good 15-20 minutes. Not a surprise, she overslept this morning and we had to rush off to school in a panic :)

Guess Who Is 4?

Post-Dated: Brooke had a checkup with her asthma/allergy doctor on 10/2. She is 41 lbs and 41.2 inches tall.