Appleknocker 2010

We have had a fabulous week!  Wait til you hear all about it.  You're gonna be wishing you were there and you'll be hungry for french fries..

Saturday was the annual Appleknocker Festival held in Flora every year and we had a great time.  It was an absolutely beee-autiful day and it was perfect for the outdoor activities.  Maleah's Das-zle group danced and she did a terrific job and made me super proud.  She had a fun time and enjoyed herself. 

Carissa had a fun time too.  She enjoyed seeing the petting zoo animals, eating ice cream, seeing the guy on stilts, and watching the dancers with her Grandma Debby, Grandpa David, and Great-Grandma Zelda.  She also enjoyed tasting a french fry she found on the ground (she is fast, that's all I can say about that), digging in the gravel, trying to lose me in the crowd, and constantly asking "Where's Dada?" over and over again. 

I enjoyed watching Maleah dance, seeing a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while, seeing the O'Fallon Madrigal singers perform, and the taco in a bag that I had for lunch.  My least favorite parts were fishing that french fry out of Carissa's mouth and saying "He's at work" five hundred times.  But oh well.  You can't have it all.  She can't help it that she really misses her Dad when he's at work.  He was able to go with us for a hour or so before he had to go to work so that was good.  He had to miss Maleah's performance though but hopefully he'll see the next one!

Maleah loved performing but she also liked getting her face painted, coloring pictures, opening presents, and seeing the petting zoo animals.  I took a couple of videos of her dancing.  I hope I can get them to upload.  We'll see.

I bought some homemade ice cream with hot fudge sauce on it while we were there.  It was delicious!  Carissa thought so too, but then she stuck her whole hand in it, licked her fingers, and wiped most of it down the front of her.  That explains why she is such a mess.  Also, she is saying "cheese" in this picture.  It was so cute to hear her say it and then give her best smile. 

After Appleknocker we took Carissa to Grandma and Grandpa's house and Maleah and I went to Fairfield to the skating rink for our friends' Lane and Luke's birthday party.  It was super fun!  We hadn't skated in several months (our summer was just way too busy!) so I was a little worried that Maleah might be a little nervous about doing it again.  But nope!  We got there and she immediately got her skates on and said "Can I go?" and I said "yep, go".  So she was off and skating like a pro in no time.  There were a lot of five year olds there but I think her and Luke (who was turning six) were the two best skaters in that age group.  I was so proud of her!

We had so much fun at the birthday party that we decided to stay a little while longer.  So we paid for the next session and skated some more.  We had a 30 minute break in between the party and the public skate.  When we came back to skate again they told us that they had hidden coupons all over the building and to look for them.  It was like an Easter egg hunt sort of.  We got lucky and found a coupon for free fries, one for a free pretzel, and one for a free drink!  How awesome was that?  Then later Maleah's number was drawn in a drawing and she won a purse!  It was perfect because I don't think there was a kid there who would've loved that purse any more than her.  The purse looks like a stuffed pink and purple dog but it's a purse.  She immediately (and I mean, immediately) named it Hersheys.  I think her exact quote when handed the dog/purse was "Oh, I love him so much!  I'm going to name him Hersheys!"  I wonder if she had that name stored away in that brain of hers, just waiting for the next stuffed animal to enter her life and need a name of if she just saw it and suddenly "Hersheys" just popped into her head.  I'll have to ask her. 

So we had a great day!!  Sunday was fun too because Jason had the day off.  That hadn't happened in a couple of weeks.  After church we got to celebrate Chloey's 13th birthday with her.  Happy birthday Chloey!  We love you!  We had cake and ice cream at my Mom and Dad's house and it was nice to see everyone and visit.  So after all that, Daddy and Carissa needed a little bit of down time so while they napped, Maleah and I went to my cousin Mason's Junior Football League game.  He is in 5th grade and got to play in the game.  It was fun to see those little guys out there on the field but sitting there freezing our butts off was the not-so-fun part.  We had on jeans, long-sleeved shirts, and jackets and we were frrreeeeezzzzing!!!  Maleah had brought her special "Chloey blanket" (so named because Chloey made it for her when Maleah was born) and covered up with it.  I love fall weather but I don't know if I love sitting on cold metal bleachers in fifty degree, incredibly windy, weather. 

So we had an awesome weekend and then a great week too.  Maleah is loving school more and more.  She is doing great and all of her papers in her backpack say things like "wow!" and "great job".  I'm so proud of her!  She told me today that she is the "smartest kid in her class."  I know I've told you before that she has a pretty big ego.  We're working on that.  (But she is pretty smart!)

On Monday my friend Bethany came over and we crafted all day.  We've been working the last few weeks on cutting fabric on my Cricut and then appliqueing cute shapes and words onto shirts and skirts.  I made Maleah a super cute matching fall skirt and shirt and I put Carissa's name on a hoodie for her and decorated it with cute shapes.  I'll have to take some pics and post them.  I've also been busy making some vintage-style aprons.  Bethany has made some really cute shirts for her little boy too.  We could totally be designers.  If we only knew how to break into the business...  Who knows?  Maybe the right person will read this blog and write us, begging to see our designs.  It could happen.  It could.  Really.

And I am now officially a "columnist."  I have had two columns printed in The Hometown Journal and have had a great response to them.  Thanks everybody for your compliments!

And for the record, I can not get the videos of Maleah dancing to upload for anything.  Sorry. 

Mini Cooper's Mini Vacation

Okay.  I know I missed a week but we didnt fall off of the face of the earth or anything.  We're all fine.  Just really busy.  Our fall schedule has kicked in and let me tell you we've got something going every night.  If it's not Survivor, it's Dancing with the Stars, and if it's not Dancing with the Stars, it's Glee, and if it's not Glee, it's the Duggar's, and if it's not the Duggar's, it could be one of several other reality shows.  Ha ha!  Thankfully we now have that DVR recorder and I'm able to still have a life other than my tv addiction.  I had to spend most of the morning today getting caught up on all my shows though.  It's exhausting to keep up with all of these shows!

So here's what we've really been up to...

Last week Maleah celebrated Grandparent's Week at her school by having her grandparents eat lunch with her.  Grandma Debby, Great-Grandma Zelda, Grandma Sherrel, and Grandpa Clarence all took time out from their day to go eat with Maleah.  After lunch she got to take them to her classroom and show them around.  She loved having them at her school!  She thought it was very exciting.

Maleah and Great-Grandma Zelda

Grandpa Clarence, Grandma Sherrel, and Maleah

Grandma Debby and Maleah

We also took a short Mini Cooper Mini Vacation this past weekend.  It was me and Jason's 11th Anniversary (woo hoo!  yay us!) and we decided to get away for a night or two and take the kids with us.  We thought some fun family time would be great.  It was fun but there were moments when I was totally re-thinking the idea of bringing the kids.  I really do understand why some people leave their kids at home and get away alone for their anniversaries.  We stayed one night in the hotel and were more than ready to come home the next day.  My kids just sleep better at home.  My husband just sleeps better at home.  And I for sure sleep better at home.  It didn't help matters at all that all I've been hearing about for the past few weeks on the St. Louis news is about the bed bug problem that is going on over there.  That can definitely affect your sleep in a hotel.  Especially one that sort of smells funny. 

So we went to St. Louis, had a nice dinner out, and then swam at the hotel pool (brrr!!!).  Saturday morning we headed to Grant's Farm.  I hadn't been there since I was a kid myself.  All I remembered about it was feeding the goats.  I couldn't remember anything else.  Well, that's probably because there's not really much there but the goats!  Okay.  Not really.  But there wasn't as much to do as I thought.  We took a tram ride around the grounds and saw Ulysses S. Grant's log cabin (pictured below), saw some cool animals, and fed those ravenous goats.  We also met the author of I Don't Want to Kiss a Llama, Byron von Rosenburg.  He signed a copy of the book for the girls.  That part was pretty neat.  But after that we were outta there.  Grant's Farm was two hours worth of fun.

Okay, so after that we had Red Lobster for lunch, which was one of the highlights of the trip.  Here's why:  it was air-conditioned and the food was good.  It was really warming up outside and we were hot!  I don't know why it suddenly had to get so hot on the day we were supposed to be having family fun!  What happened to 75 degrees and breezy?  Saturday was 95 and not breezy.  Bummer for us.

So next we decided to explore the St. Louis Science Center.  I love the planetarium and really wanted to show that to Maleah.  I heard there was a room there for Maleah's age group and we thought it would be fun.  Here is what Carissa thought of the Science Center (actually this is what we all thought of the Science Center):

Carissa slept through the whole hour and a half that we were there just about.  So that part worked out pretty good because that kid needed a nap.  We missed the planetarium show and the next one didn't start for another two hours so we didn't get to do that at all.  And the Discovery Kids room was closed too so we didn't get to do that either.  I saw a mummified baby which only made me sad instead of curious.  My heart went out to that ancient Egyptian mother whose baby boy died thousands of years ago.  So I was bummed, Maleah was scared of the giant dinosaur model that kept growling and moving, Carissa was asleep, and Jason was disappointed that there wasn't more to do there.  Fun, huh?

Sooo, moving on.  Event number three of the day:  St. Louis Zoo.  We chose to do this because we obviously hadn't crammed in enough activities in our day.  We really needed one more.  Not!  Maleah really wanted to go the zoo.  It was right across the street and we usually love the zoo.  We know our way around pretty well and I thought we would "just hit the high spots".  So that's what we did.  That place was packed!  We were miserable.  It felt like it was a 130 degrees.  Maleah's energy was just about kaput.  She was now the one riding in the stroller and Carissa (who was by now very well rested just hot and cranky) was really wanting to stretch her legs and run.  She likes to run, not walk.  I don't know how many of you have experienced pushing a forty-five pound child up and down those hills at the zoo but for those of you who haven't done it, let me tell you, it stinks!!  Jason and I took turns pushing Maleah and wrangling Carissa.  It was a trade off really because Carissa couldn't keep up, so she had to be carried a lot.  What's worse, pushing the bigger kid up a hill in a stroller or carrying a twenty pound kid up the hill?  I still don't know.  It was around this time that I began thinking "What in the world were we thinking?"  It was also the time that I started daydreaming about a couples get-away without the kids.  I also started looking at the other parents.  We all seemed to have the same looks our faces - that look of misery and regret.  We were all wondering why we chose to visit the zoo on such a hot day and why we chose to visit the zoo at the exact same time as the rest of the world.  I don't have to tell you guys how hot and tired we all were because you were there too, right?  At least it seemed as if everyone was there.

Maleah took our picture in the butterfly house. 

But on the bright side, the girls were really pretty good and had fun.  We had good meals and we went home on Saturday night.  That was the best part.  But then I had to unload all of our laundry directly from the car into laundry baskets.  I quarantined everything that went with us on the trip that I couldn't throw into the washer.  I was more than slightly paranoid about bed bugs to say the least.  Do yourself a favor and don't google that.

On Sunday me and the girls went over to the Kinmundy Log Cabin Days with Grandma Debby.  We had a fun time and visited with our friends Bethany, Kari, and Trudy.  Maleah got a Christmas tutu made by Kari and let me tell you - she loves that thing!  She wore it the rest of the evening and added a few other accessories to it.  Check out her ensemble below (and ignore the quarantine/laundry area in the back).

Hear no evil, see no evil??

Carissa loves chocolate pudding.  She found an unattended cup of pudding in the kitchen this morning, left behind by a kindergartener who was hurrying to get ready for school.  Maleah is not a breakfast eater at all so anything I can get in her belly in the morning is great.  So she had chocolate pudding today.  Maybe not the healthiest choice but something is better than nothing in my opinion.  Anyway, Carissa ate what was left while I was catching up on my dvr shows.  Thank goodness for Shout! is all I can say. 

She loves chocolate as much as the rest of us.  That's the most she's eaten in a week.  I think I'll title this picture "Sweet Thing".  Hope you all have a sweet week!

I would like to thank the Illinois State Lottery...

Hey everybody!  I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!  We sure did.  We were busy busy.  The retired lady across the street saw me on the driveway this week and said "Boy, you sure are a busy lady.  You are always runnin' and headed somewhere."  I said "Yep.  I'm always goin' somewhere."  It makes my life more fun.  I can't stay home all the time.  It would kill me.  Besides, if I did, what would I write about??

Jason found out on Thursday night that his company was calling for mandatory overtime all weekend.  That translates to he didn't get a day off.  And that translates to our weekend plans had to be altered.  It was such a bummer!  We had planned to go out to dinner on Saturday night with our friends Deb and Paul.  We had a sitter lined out to watch all of our kids and everything. All of the kids were totally psyched about seeing each other and Calli (our beloved babysitter).  We were all a little sad that suddenly Jason had to work so we decided to just stick to our original plans, just minus Jason.  So we went out for dinner anyway without him. 

I felt a little bad about that but it was nice to get out without the kids for a little bit.  I had a great time.  Carissa is incredibly needy during meals and it is really no fun to eat with her.  She herself doesn't eat so she is bored and whines and cries the whole time that we're trying to eat.  We are those people in the restaurant that you really don't want to sit by.  We are that family that is always loud and always has a crying baby.  We are those people that you look at and do one of three things:  a.) you feel really sorry for them because you yourself are a parent and have been there, done that so you give them a real pitiful look or b.)  you are not nor do you ever plan to be a parent and you give them a very dirty look for the fact that they are totally disturbing your nice relaxing evening or c.)  you do plan to be a parent at some point but you know that you will never let your future perfect child ever act like that so you give us a look that indicates that we are unfit parents.  It's interesting.  Maybe I'll write a book about that sometime.

Monday we went to the DuQuoin State Fair and had a lot of fun.  I would like to thank the Illinois State Lottery and the IBEW Local 702 for making it a completely free day.  That's right, folks.  I won the lottery!  One of the first booths we stopped at was the Illinois Lottery Booth.  I bought one $1 scratch-off ticket and I won $25.00.  Woo-hoo!!!  I bought two more tickets and won $2.00.  Woo-hoo again!!  I bought two more tickets and won a free ticket!  I came out of there $23.00 ahead.  Yay me!!  Our lunch, parking, and armbands were free for all union members.  So that rocked!  My Mom and Dad went with me and the girls.  Again, Jason was supposed to have went but had to work.  We had a great time!  On the way home we stopped and ate at Lonestar and the Illinois State Lottery paid for that.  I think I spent about five dollars of my own money that I left the house with that morning.  How cool is that??  I love it. 

Maleah rode a couple of different rides but she loved this big airplane ride so much that she rode it over and over again.  She had a blast.  Carissa was a little less than thrilled about waiting on her sister a lot but she did okay.  Maleah's favorite things at the fair, besides the airplane, was seeing the bears (real brown bears) and the lemonade.  Carissa's favorite things were the lemonade and the Diet Pepsi. 

Friday night we went to the football game here in town.  The team (and the town) remembered Bryce and it was very special.  It's hard for me to write about because it was pretty emotional but here are a few pics.  Smiley was Bryce's nickname, his number was 25, and his little brother Mason is wearing his jersey on the field.  We also found out that Carissa likes to cheer and tried to do everything the cheerleaders did and said "go, go!" about 5,000 times.

We also picked apples at my Mom and Dad's house again.  This time I brought my camera (and only one girl because Maleah was at school).  Here are some of my faves of Carissa during apple pickin' time at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Here is a funny conversation that Maleah and I had this week:
"Mom?  Didn't you tell me once that you don't have to be married to have kids?  Didn't you say that once?  That sometimes people have kids even though they're not married?  How does that work exactly?  Does God watch you to see how good you are with baby dolls when you're a little girl?  Does he chuckle and say I think that girl will be a great mommy one day?  Hmmm?  Does He?"  Then she takes a breath.  I take a deeper breath and then say "Hmm, I don't know.  Maybe He does.  Just not sure."  I completely avoided the question of "how does that work exactly?"  I have a feeling it will come up again.

So, not much else is new with us.  Oh yeah, there is one other little thing.  Last spring, The Hometown Journal asked me to start writing a column for them and I've been playing around with the idea all summer.  Well, I finally decided to do it.  So if you want to hear more about us, buy a subscription to their paper.  I hope I can make it interesting and funny.  I guess we'll see.  I would love to hear feedback on it when it starts and I like a little bit of constructive criticism.  I think.  I guess it depends on how nice you are about it.  Haha.