Community Group

Thursdays are now community group night. Tonight I decided to give the kids a bath before leaving. They were in desperate need. We then headed to community group. They love going. The little boy has a bunch of trains...and my boys love trains. I'm glad they have a good time. Charley gets to head to bed as soon as we get there. She is usually wiped out.

Jon and I love community group as well. It's a great time connecting with people from our church.

Bug Hater

Justus is not a bug lover. Actually anytime he sees a bug he yells for me to come smash it. I think he might be a little scared of them. It doesn't matter what kind of bug either...if it is moving he wants it killed. Today he took matters into his own hands. That poor ant.

I See You

While Justus was at school we headed to Sam's. I purchased a box of wipes and a few other things. This afternoon Matthias decided to wear the box around and peep out the hole saying "I see you." It was pretty cute.

Homework

It was such a beautiful day today! I love fall weather, and so do the kids. Our homework for today was to burn off some of Justus' energy. His teacher said he was extremely hyper today. We headed out after nap time and I let the kids run around. They had a good time, and I'm happy to go outside with them now that the weather has begun to cool off.

Musical Chairs

Today turned into a little game of musical chairs. Jonathan won tickets to the Rams game...and the tickets were in the suite. Well...I had to work and I couldn't get out of it, so I recruited my friend Kelly to watch the kids for a couple of hours. After Jon had left for the game and I had left for work, Jon realized that he had the kickoff time wrong and that it was actually an hour later than he had originally thought. He called Kelly, but she had to leave our house by 5 o'clock. He then had to call his sister to come down to watch the kids so that Kelly could leave and so that he could enjoy the game. In the end it all worked out and I'm sure the kids loved having a variety of guests to entertain them.

Payback

Today was Founder's Day for Edward Jones, which meant that we headed to Grant's Farm to celebrate. Each year Ed Jones rents out an event/place. Other things they have done include the St. Louis Zoo, Grant's Farm, and Barnum & Bailey's. Anyways, we headed to Grant's Farm this afternoon. We got lunch, free Grant Bucks that could be used anywhere in Grant's Farm, free bottles for the goats, free carousel rides...okay so pretty much everything was free. So the goats at Grant's Farm are pretty aggressive. They know what's coming when people come inside their area....bottles full of milk being held by small children. They will do just about anything to get at those bottles. Last year Matthias got pinned up against the fence by a small, aggressive goat. This year the boys decided to tag team and chase this poor unsuspecting goat around as payback.

The Little Red Wagon

In addition to the swing, our neighbor got her wagon out of her shed yesterday and cleaned it up so the boys could play with it. The boys have had so much fun with it. Today they took turns giving each other rides on the sidewalk.

Swingin Good Time

Our very sweet neighbor surprised Charley today with her very own swing! It's fun and pink! I'm really excited to finally have a swing for her so that she can enjoy the breeze in her hair. I'm hoping we will get a lot of use out of it once the weather cools down this week!

The Bigger the Better

That's my philosophy for sunglasses anyways...at least according to my husband. I'm hoping to pass that little tidbit down to my daughter, and I'm starting while she is young and impressionable.

Waiting...

It's been a little over a week since we took Charley's pacifier away, and I am still waiting for my sweet little princess to return. She used to be such a happy child...now she is kind of cranky and needy. It has gotten a little better though...but still not back to normal. I'm almost to the pointing of hoping she has an ear infection just so that there is a different reason for her being so cranky....something that will go away with a trip to the doctor's office. I don't think that's the case though. I guess we'll just have to keep moving forward and hope she returns to a happy girl sooner rather than later.

Lipstick Thi

Matthias got into my purse this afternoon and decided to try on my lipstick. I think he thought it was chapstick. He actually did a good job of putting it on. I was impressed.

Success

For the first time in a very long time we attempted eating out for lunch. We decided to do something quick and easy for our first attempt....McDonald's. Once we had our food it went really well. The kids all did great! It definitely gives us hope that we will be able to do it more often.

Buzz & Woody

Have I mentioned that the boys LOVE Toy Story. They can't get enough. I'm super excited for the third one to come out on DVD so that we can get it for the boys. Anyways, thanks to my parents who have kept many a children toys over the years...two of which were a Buzz doll and a Woody doll. We now have them at our house and the boys love playing with them.

Celebrate Good Times

Today Jon took his big test at work! I'm so glad he is done. The kids went to Mt. Vernon for the evening so Jon and I got to celebrate. I met him at work after his test for lunch and then we headed out with our friends the Wilson's. We had a really fun night celebrating. Doesn't Jon look happy?

My Little Monkey

Matthias loves bananas. I can hardly keep them in the house when I buy them. They usually only last a couple of days because Matthias wants one with every meal. At least he is eating fruit.

A Boy and His Bugs

Every time we go over to our friends' the Ward's house Justus tries to sneak some of thier squishy bug toys with him. So today while he was at school I went to Wal-Mart and got him some of his very own bugs. I wish I had a video of just how excited he was when he got in the car and I gave them to him.

Roby

Today I took some friends dinner. They just had a sweet baby girl. We headed over there this afternoon to drop off their dinner for this evening. While there Charley discovered thier Roby...she loved it! She was bouncing and smiling.

Bye Bye Paci

Jon decided yesterday was going to be the day we stopped letting Charley take a pacifier. We have been delaying in taking it away....and when I say "we" I mean me. She just loves the pacifier...although until the yesterday I didn't realize how much she really liked it. She has been super cranky since we took it away from her. I guess I just didn't realize how much she depended on it to pacify herself. Needless to say I have seen a lot of the face in the picture since taking the paci away.

Where's Justus?

This morning I had to give Jonathan a haircut. I then asked Justus if he wanted his hair cut. He ran to his room and hid under his blankets. Needless to say he doesn't like getting his hair cut. I guess it's a good thing he didn't need one this morning.

Oh, There It Is...

After getting home from work, I opened a soda and then set it somewhere. I decided to put away laundry and pick the house up. I then couldn't remember where I put my soda. I soon found it...but not before Justus had.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Jonathan's birthday. The big 2-9. His last year in his twenties. The kids celebrated by letting Daddy feed them birthday cake. Jon and I celebrated by putting the kids to bed and ordering pizza! Yum. I got Jonathan a picture of me for his desk....dorky I know, but I'm okay with that. I also got our fridge hooked up to the waterline. It just so happened that our friend could come do it today...so that was perfect. Jonathan has really wanted our fridge hooked up since we moved in. It has only taken us 6 years to get there. Now Jonathan gets to have crushed ice in his drink.

Trend Setter

So Justus has quite the fashion sense...or lack thereof. I'm pretty sure he must get his fashion sense from his dad : ) I do love this boy though...even if he wants to wear red crew socks.

Sleeping Beauty

During naptime today I had to sneak into our room to grab something. Charley looked so peaceful and sweet. I couldn't resist going to grab my camera to get a quick picture.

P.S. Day two of pre-school went much smoother. No fit throwing and no potty accidents.

First Day

Justus started pre-school today! It was a big day. I think it went okay....a little rough, but hopefully it will get better. The drop off was pretty hectic. The parents got to go back to the classroom for a few minutes, so I headed back. Justus of course only wanted to play with all the toys, which he wasn't supposed to do. I was also trying to control all three kids who wanted to run in three different directions. Anyways, when it came time to leave Justus didn't want us to go...he also didn't want to participate in the class activity. Then, as I finally get out the door Matthias starts melting down and screaming, "My Justus, my Justus." He was fine after a few minutes though. When I picked Justus up the first thing I noticed is that he was in his extra pants I had packed. He had a little accident, which isn't a big surprise since when he gets distracted sometimes he forgets he has to go to the bathroom. Hopefully that won't be a reoccurring event. The first thing he told me was that he had fun, so that is good news. He is excited to go back tomorrow, and hopefully he will fall into routine soon.

Home Sweet Home

I picked the kids up from Mimi and Papa's house this afternoon. I sure did miss them. I missed their giggles and seeing them play together. I was very thankful for the kid-free weekend though. The kids are pretty wiped out this evening. I'm thinking they will drift off to sleep pretty easily...at least I hope so.

The Suite Life

Jon and I went to the Cardinals game today. We got to sit in the Ed Jones suite, and got free food...yum! We had a great time and it was the perfect day for a baseball game! We're Cubs fans, but we aren't Cardinal haters....we cheered on the home team to beat the Reds.

School Supply Shopping

We headed to Target this morning to do a little school supply shopping. Justus got a new backpack, which he got to pick out. The great thing is it was on clearance for $7.48...and I also got my discount, which means it cost less than $6! He was super excited about his Toy Story backpack. He wore it around the store. He also got some crayons and got to pick out a folder, which is also Toy Story. I can't believe he starts school on Tuesday! Anyways, my mom met us at Target and took the kids for the remainder of the weekend. Jon and I get to enjoy a date this evening and a Cardinals game tomorrow afternoon, which we get to view from the Ed Jones suite!

The Face of a 3 Year-Old

This is the face of our 3 year-old...who starts pre-school on Tuesday! Can you believe it!?! I'm in total shock. Tomorrow morning we are headed to Target to pick out a backpack and get a few supplies. Justus went to the doctor yesterday. He weighed in at 41.8 lbs and is 41 inches tall.

Finally Home

Today was a very busy, eventful day. It all started this morning with a home visit from Justus' preschool teacher, which went very well. Just basically an informative meeting. We then headed to the gym, then back home for nap time. Once the kids were up we headed to Maryville for a doctor's appointment for Justus. Today was the last day to get in his pre-k physical paperwork....nothing like waiting until the last minute, right? After that we made a late afternoon trip over to see Jonathan at work. With him staying late to study for his big test, which is 2 weeks away, he hasn't gotten to see much of the kids. I decided to surprise him by bringing them over to see him for a little while. I'm really glad I did. By the time we got home it was already after 6 o'clock. It was a crazy day, and I'm glad we are finally home.

Converse Cutie

Today I busted out Charley's pink Converse. Of course she looked super cute.