Fall is here...

So fall, it should read 'Autumn', is here and now comes all the 'fun stuff' of family traditions. I say 'fun stuff' because though Dan and I have been married for 5.5 years, have had kids for 2.5years we are still working the 'kinks' out of the traditions we came from and how they will work, or not work, within our family.

Take Halloween for example...Dan grew up trick or treating, I did not. Now when I say that we don't celebrate Halloween most people assume that it is because of all the 'evil' that is associated with it. Though that may have played a small part in my mom not allowing us to celebrate Halloween the bigger reason was strangers. A stranger was described as someone who hadn’t come over to dinner, or who wouldn’t come over for dinner. Made sense to me and it has carried with me through the years. Growing up we didn’t have any neighbors on our block our age, so we weren’t friends with any one, therefore we didn’t know any of them. So we didn’t go trick or treating. It made sense to me and because it made sense I have a hard time moving past this thought when it comes to my children. How can you allow your children to take candy from a stranger ONE day a year and not expect them to do it another time?? Confusing if you ask me.

Then comes Dan’s prospective…wouldn’t it be a great way to MEET the neighbors? Is taking candy from a ‘stranger’ at Halloween any different than taking candy during a parade? That too makes sense…ugh! What do I do now?? I’m not good at this ‘make up new traditions’ thing…I like the way they were when I grew up, it made sense. Oh the joys of having your own family. J

Well, this year Dan has won and I will be taking my children trick or treating, along with my sister and her 4 children. Madelynn will be a MOO cow-fitting don’t you think?? And Joshua will be a brown bear. Though I will admit I am anxious about it, even though it’s still a week away, I know that it will be fun for them…I hope!

But I will leave you with this little poem-which is also a book!

Five little pumpkins were sitting on the gate.

The first one said, my it's getting late.

The second one said, there are witches in the air.

The third one said, ah we don't care.

The fourth one said, let's run, run, run.

The fifth one said, isn't halloween fun?

Then OOOOOOO went the wind, out went the lights and those 5 little pumpkins ran out of sight.

What's Happening?!?!

My house is a mess, my cupboards are bare and we move out on Sunday!! I'm so not liking this 'limbo' stage of moving...SO ready for next Wednesday when we will be in our new place and most of my stuff unpacked-I'm a little crazy! Our last move I had my ENTIRE house decorated and every box empty in 3days!!! Perhaps I am a little more crazy than just a little :)

I want to highlight some new, or not new, things that is going on with the kids before our move. We will be internet less for a few days so I want to do a final entry before then. Here's what's going on with the kiddos :D

*****MADELYNN*****

*is walking more and more BUT only when SHE decides she wants to. If I put him her on the spot to 'perform' then she won't do any new tricks :) She's such a stinker!!

*has decided that it is more fun to boycott homemade baby food and much better to try and eat with her hands foods that she can pick up. Now this is usually the cleaner method, I would rather just feed her things that I have made myself and pureed for her. Thankfully she's a nursing champ and would rather nurse more often than not.

*still does NOT have any teeth. She's not really showing signs of teething other than chewing on things and she continues to be such a happy little girl.

*can sign 'milk', 'hi', and 'dad'! Whenever she gets tired she signs 'milk' as she is always nursed before being laid down. She's getting more forceful in her requests so we have started to work on breastfeeding etiquette...something a 9month, nearly 10month old, doesn't quiet get...yet!

*gives the sweetest kisses EVER!

*****JOSHUA*****

*just transitioned from his crib to a toddler bed. It's been a rough road but everyday we are getting better. I didn't want to do it before the move, but we were unable to keep him in his crib and it became a safety issues so it had to be done. Tonight will be day 4 in this toddler bed...and I pray that he does what he did last night, or better (last night, 3 times out of bed and only 6mins of crying before he was asleep @8:15pm)

*is still addicted to his pacifiers, he calls them 'bees', and still sleeps with 1 in his mouth, 1 in his left hand and 1 in his right...3total.

*has kicked this 'attitude' into hyper-drive and now rolls his eyes, stomps his feet, crosses his arms and throws mini tantrums...thank you cousins! Oh how I do not like it when my kids pick up things from other children.

*is having a really hard time with his 4th-2year molar and it has been 'stuck' halfway in for a while now. Since it is giving him such a hard time he is back to being a biter :( Fortunately *I* am the only one he bites and has not bitten anyone else, never has, just me!

*is a lover of A-1 sauce, frozen peas, cooking, and baths!!

*loves to watch Signing Time!, The Wiggles, Barney, Yo Gabba Gabba, Toy Story and Jack's Big Music Show! The sad thing is that we'll be loosing some of these shows when we move as we will no longer have cable :( but are excited to get back to the 'basics'

Wordless Wednesday

Well it isn't completely wordless, but still...sorry for the lack of posting, life is a little crazy here as we get closer to our move (1.5weeks!!)

I have to share this photo with you...my sweet, sweet boy...

Wordless Wednesday

Toddler Time Tuesday

I am always on the look out for things to do with Joshua when the babies take their morning nap. Though we both love to be outside, it is hard to venture too far from the door with the babies sleeping so going to the park or pool is out of the question. Plus living in an apartment it isn't always the best environment for 'parental play' unless you want every single unsupervised child wanting you to play with them too-and trust me, there are a TON around here. So the search for indoor quiet time activities began about a month ago, when Joshua dropped down to 1 nap.

A friend of mine, she blogs here, did a post a while back about Do-A-Dot paints.

I loved her post and I have been on the search for them-if I remembered while I was out. Well this past week I found them at Micheal's! We are in LOVE! Joshua loves to do art, as long as he doesn't get too messy, and he is learning the concept of objects and staying in the line. I can tell Joshua to paint the cloud, and away he goes dotting up the cloud. "

Joshua can you paint the tires orange?" and he stares at the colors for a moment and correctly picks the orange do-a-dot bottle and dots in the tires...we are in love! Later covering over the orange with green :)

I highly recommend the Do-A-Dot paints and coloring book for all my toddler and preschool mom's!!

What do you do for quiet time activities in your house?

Chef Joshua

Joshua and I needed something to do today. It's too humid to go outside, humidity allows mosquitoes to eat you alive in MN, so today we decided to bake cookies.

I told Joshua to go get his chef hat and apron and he hopped to it. He was so proud of himself in his outfit and thought that he was born to make cookies today.

I allowed him to do as much as possible, for a 2year old, and he was on Cloud 9! He added the sugar and brown sugar...

He added the butter and eggs...

and then we mixed it all together :)

Then we added baking powder, baking soda, and salt

whole wheat flour and oatmeal.

Then we added the good stuff-butterscotch chips!!

Gotta make sure they are all out of there...look at that focus!

Then Joshua got to mix it all together. He was lovin' it!

Then it was time to scoop out the dough into perfectly shaped cookies...again I let Joshua do it and he was so proud of himself!

The finished product:

10 on Tuesday

Has it really been almost 2 weeks since I last updated this thing?? I'm sorry to all my followers...life has been overwhelming here as we prepare for our move-though it isn't until the end of August.

Shall we begin this 10 on Tuesday?

1.) I have lost my cell phone and I feel as though I have lost my right arm. I had it last night, and now it is gone. It rings so it is not dead...yet...and I pray that it holds up until it is found! If not, I am going to cry.

2.) Madelynn is 8months old now. She's the happiest thing I have ever seen! She just started babbling and makes the 'bababa', 'mamama' and 'dadada' sounds. It is so cute!!

3.) Joshua played with shaving cream on my kitchen table for the first time this week. It took FOREVER to convince him it was ok to touch and that it was ok for him to get it on his hands. After probably 30 or so mins, he was in love :)

4.) I love having a little girl! Madelynn's hair is 'barely' long enough to be able to put it into a pony tail, but I managed to do it last Wednesday for the first time! And yesterday was the first time I attempted pigtails! She looks SO cute!! Madelynn is a champ, no tears no fuss to put them in and she just sits in her highchair munching on peas all happy! Joshua calls them her 'pitties' and tells her that she's cute!

5.) Joshua is getting SO good at talking with words and ASL! He will babble in toddler language throwing in some English along the way but will sign every word in his story that he knows. It is the cutest thing and it makes my heart melt!

6.) We recently had a 'scare' with Madelynn and we are still awaiting some direction from the dr. They believe that Madelynn may have a peanut allergy, but this is not known for sure. After direct contact, and eating, with a wheat teething biscuit. She eats pastas and breads so we doubt it is the wheat, but it is processed in a plant that also uses peanuts so the dr thinks it could be a possibility. We are waiting direction from the dr to see what our next step should be, in the meantime we are trying our best to protect Moo's exposure to peanut products. It is amazing how hard it is when you think about all the places that we go into each week that could have peanuts. Luckily her issues have been when she eats or holds something, not really noticing change when she is in the same room as a peanut product (before this we had taken her into DQ for example) so we are hoping this is not the case. We would appreciate prayers for the doctors and for Moo.

7.) 4th of July we took a trip to great-grandma's house and spent the weekend at the lake. Joshua wanted nothing to do with the water, didn't care to play in the sand and get dirty. The only thing he wanted to do was run in the sprinkler! Now Miss Maddie Moo on the other hand didn't want to get out of the water...she is my little fish! We swam in the lake forever and she was in heaven...how crazy is that??

8.) Summer here is the season of parades! Madelynn was very concerned at her first parade but now enjoys them! Joshua dances to the music, claps and cheers for the bands and our last parade that we went to, he even removed his hat-without being asked-when the flags walked by! I was such a proud mama! My kids bring me such joy!! I love every min of it!!

9.) Did I mention we are moving? I think I did briefly at the start of this. We will be moving the end of August/1st of September and I am super excited! We will be moving into a bigger place and it has an elevator!!! Joshua is going to be in heaven! My house is in a complete disaray as the packing, sorting and throwing of things has begun, but this is how I like it!

10.) Craigslist is my new friend! In 2 days I made nearly $100 in things that I sold and I have more to sell! I love being able to get rid of the old so I can bring some new in! The kids have enjoyed the change in toys and I love that I am clearing out the things they don't play with!