I Win...

We had been driving a long time and Amelia and Gemma were playing an I-Spy game. You say "I spy with my little eye, something (add a color)." It was Amelia's turn and she said she saw something orange. Gemma couldn't figure it out so Amelia told her "the sunset". Gemma said "It's not orange it is yellow!" They then started arguing about it. We were nearing the end of a long drive and Kelly and I told them to stop it and do something else. They stopped and Gemma said "It is my turn. I spy with my little eye something yellow".


Amelia answered "The sunset."

Gemma replied "You are right!"

Girls slide at rest stop

The hair! The hair!!

Fall break to Memphis

Most years, the school builds into the calendar a short break in October. Last year, we went to Chicago. We enjoyed that so very much, we wanted to try and do that again. However, we missed the reduced price deal and then Chicago didn't work out.

We always like to take the kids to places they haven't ever been, especially new states. I think kids need to see different parts of the country (and world) to understand how different and similar people are in different places as well as the differences in the landscapes. Anyway, we like to travel and we love exposing our kids to new experiences.

The criteria for the trip is that it has to be within 5-6 hours driving distance, be within the small budgeted amount we determined, allow us to see something new or visit a new place we haven't been before or show the kids something we have seen before, but want them to experience.

The top contender this time was Chicago, but when it landed outside of the budget parameters, it was off the table.

The next two contenders were Oklahoma City (never been there or to Oklahoma), Memphis, or Nashville.

In this case, Memphis was the winner! We made a long weekend of October 15-18.

So, we packed the van and hit the road for Memphis.

Here are the kids at the a rest stop close to the border of Missouri and Arkansas. It was very close to the New Madrid fault line, which is very interesting topic of you are looking for an Internet rabbit hole to fall into.

Amelia and William are different

All kids are different. Even siblings are different. William and Amelia have always had some similarities, but I have always been struck by how individual they are.

This year, they have been selected to participate in some enrichment class work. They go one day a week to a different school building and have some enrichment class time. As they are so close in age, they frequently end up in the same classes together. One day they brought home the same worksheet about joining a circus that was identical. See how differently they think?

Amelia's zig zag braid

So neat looking!

William's project

We went to our town's small Fall Festival. Home Depot was there with some projects for the kids. All three kids wanted to do a project and all three picked something different.

John set out to help Amelia get started and I opened up Gemma's package of supplies. I told William I would help him as soon as I got Gemma underway.

William agrees, but then took his bag of prepackaged supplies and moved to the cement ground area and spread everything out. Moments later, he was hammering together industriously with a craft sized hammer. He seemed to have a handle on the situation and wasn't asking any questions. I helped Gemma complete her project and then turned to check on William.

It was perfect timing as he had all the pieces of the project together except one and it wouldn't fit. I asked William what step he was on in his enclosed direction sheet. He looked up at me, surprised.

"There are directions?"

I showed him the step by step directions page.

"Oh. Huh. I just looked at the picture on the box and put it together."

This made John and I both laugh out loud as this is totally what grandpa Kevin would do.

In this case, we needed to take a few things apart and rotate one piece to make everything work.

William's first 5k

At the last minute, I asked William if he wanted to run a 5k with me. He has been interested in running lately and has been asking frequently to run on our treadmill.

When he agreed, I signed us up!

It was cold that morning standing around, but I quickly realized we were overdressed.

William easily ran the first 1 and a half miles with me and then ran out of steam. We walked most of the rest of the route with occasional bursts of jogging.

Just before we turned the last corner, William told me he NEVER wanted to run one of these again. After we crossed the finish line, he had himself 2 pieces of cake and multiple glasses of juice. (Mom had a banana). When we got home, daddy was cooking up pancakes to celebrate his race.

I asked him again that afternoon if he would run another race with me and he said he would love to- just not tomorrow!

Feed the birds 10/9

At Grant's Farm, we decided to try their new attraction of feeding the parakeets. For $1, we were given a Popsicle stick with birdseed stuck to it with honey? Or peanut butter?

You walk into a huge cage full of many parakeets. You hold out your stick and soon, you are covered with parakeets.

William, in particular, loved this! At one point, I looked over and saw he had 5 birds on his arms, shoulders and even head.

Fun day off school

The kids had a day off school, so I loaded them up to go to a local attraction called Grant's Farm with a friend.

We saw the animals, rode the tram, took in a show and fed the birds!

The fall parties

The fall season is in full swing! Things are a little more complicated this year as the three kids are at 3 different schools. This makes it complicated to schedule to be at the different parties on 3 separate days and two do not allow siblings. There has been a lot of juggling!

Mom got to go to William and Amelia's parties. She only took pictures at Amelia's party. William's party was too crazy! It was very fun to see the kids at school and meet their friends!

My cuddly spider

I picked up the stuffed spiders a few years ago on clearance after Halloween. Every year, I pull them out and they are a hit all over again. I like them too, but I won't say it isn't creepy to find your 3 year old cuddled up with an 8 legged friend.

Oct 5

Look who I found sleeping in my bed!

Halloween

You never know what you are going to find at Walmart! Gemma requested a photo with "the green guy".

Daddy would be so proud!

Gemma's letters

Gemma eats her sandwiches and makes letters. Maybe John remembers what letters she was making here?

Music lesson

Apparently, this is the music lessons William is supposed to be learning these days.

Where is the frog?

Can you spot him? I didn't see him until I touched him. I hate to admit that I let out a little scream.

Gemma colors with John

She is honest!

Gemma colors

Capitol city

The day after returning from our boy scouting adventure, I was scheduled to travel to our state Capitol: Jefferson City.

(Also: a lot of laundry had to be done and Amelia attended a birthday party in the afternoon- see why there is no time for journaling?)

I arrived in the evening and there wasn't much to see. I was excited about the next day as I was presenting just down the street from the Capitol building. As you can see by the first photo, there wasn't much to see on the way to my presentation! I was disappointed as fog covered the whole area!

Luckily, it cleared up by lunch time and I got a good view!

That is as close as I got as after I completed the presentation, it was on home for me to prepare for work the next day!

Gemma the Boy Scout

When the Boy Scouts camp, there are always a few item we had no idea existed. Gemma became enamored with a big vacuum and a plastic sword this time. The bug vacuum was to be used for collecting bug specimens. You would find an interesting item, turn on the vacuum and suck it up. It somehow emptied into another container where you could then examine your quarry more closely.


The look on her face here says it all!

Apple picking

The Boy Scout camp site was pretty close to our favorite apple picking place. We ate lunch on the way and went for some apple picking fun!

Trash collecting hike

The scouts were up with birds, so they were ready to hit the trail bright and early for a trash collecting mission.

John earned my everlasting love on this 3 ish mile hike by carrying Gemma almost the entire way. She said she wanted to walk and then changed her mind 0.0000002 miles into the trek. His back would pay for it the next day, but he was a trooper! The view from the top was amazing- that is the Mississippi River from the Illinois side within Pere Marquette state park.

September 19- camping with the Boy Scouts!

Are you keeping track? Camping with the Girl Scouts one weekend. To Minnesota for the long weekend the very next weekend. A week off and then camping with the Boy Scouts the next weekend. Craziness!


Gemma was very upset she was not included on the Girl Scout camp out weekend. Luckily, we were scheduled t camp out with the Boy Scouts just 2 weeks later! It was a family camp, which means the whole family is invited to come and camp!


Gemma was delighted to be included in the Boy Scout weekend!

A spot on the house

I noticed a spot on the house and spent several minutes trying to figure out what it was. The answer: a frog had found his way up there. I don't know how he got up there and I don't know how he got down!

Gemma's new shirt

I saw this shirt and couldn't pass it up! So fitting for my crazy haired girl!

Tooth #4

Amelia lost her other top front tooth on September 10! I love the toothless look, although it won't last long! I can see the new teeth peeking through!

Amelia's 3rd tooth

Amelia lost her 3rd tooth on September 5! If you look carefully, you can see she is missing the top right side tooth!

Younger boy cousins

Here are the boys! These three were hard to get a picture of as they play hard together!

Little girl cousins!

The little girls like to play too! They spend a lot of their time trying to keep up with their older siblings, but they are fun to watch together!


Here they have grandpa Heidt taking a ride on their restaurant train!

Girl cousins

These girls are close in age and so sweet to each other! It is fun to watch them play and have fun!

Labor Day to Minnesota

We spent Labor Day in Minnesota visiting John's family. They so rarely get together, we try to make the most of it. The weather wasn't very cooperative, but we still had a great time visiting.

It is especially fun to see the kids play with their cousins! They range from 2-16 years, but they find a way to play!