Happy (Early) Birthday, Thi!

Can you believe that we celebrated Thi's THIRD birthday today! I can't believe he is 3. Time sure does fly. He is getting big fast...I guess kids do that. Anyways...we celebrated with the family. He got a Woody doll, a Toy Story 3 book, a Buzz Lightyear sleeping bag and a pirate ship water table. He loved all his gifts! We also had birthday cake and went out for our second round of Trick-or-Treating. We only went to a local church's trunk or treat, and spent maybe a half hour there. It was pretty cold. I'm pretty sure Matthias had a great 3rd birthday party. His actual birthday is tomorrow....and I still can't believe he is 3!

Trunk or Treat

We headed to Edward Jones this afternoon for their annual Trunk or Treat. The kids love it and it makes trick or treating much easier for us. Anyways...we let the boys pick their costumes...Justus was Thomas the train and Matthias was Superman. Jon and I picked out Charley's costume...Dorothy. She was by far the cutest little girl there.

Toast with Sprinkles

So one of the kids' favorite snacks is toast with "sprinkles". The sprinkles being cinnamon and sugar. Matthias tends to eat the side of the toast with the sprinkles on it, which of course makes a huge mess on his face.

Fall Fest

Today Justus' class had a Fall Fest...aka a Halloween party..but they aren't aloud to do Halloween I guess. Anyways...he came home with a bag of treats. One of which was this fancy sucker.

Why?

I just do not understand why my little girl loves eating dirt. But sure enough everytime we are outside she finds some dirt and eats it. She was super upset that I brought her in to clean her up.

Hoping for the Best

We took Charley back to the doctor yesterday. One ear infection was getting better, but the other was still pretty bad, so that meant she had to get a shot. She wasn't too happy about it either. We have to take her back on Friday to make sure her ear is getting better. I'm really hoping it is so that we can go see the specialist.

Poopy on the Potty

Success!! We finally decided it was time to take Justus' diapers completely away. We were giving one to him at nap time and night time. We took the nap time diaper away a few weeks ago to see if maybe he would start pooping on the potty...since that's what he uses the diapers for. It didn't work, so this weekend we finally decided it was time to take all diapers away from him. It seems to work...he just holds it a lot longer and no longer goes twice a day like he did when he had the diapers. He usually stays dry overnight as well...so all in all I think we made the right decision.

Snuggle Baby

Charley LOVES her daddy. She will crawl up in his lap like this all the time. She loves snuggling with him and just sitting with him...something she definitely never does with me. I think it is the sweetest thing ever....and I'm pretty sure Jon doesn't mind it either.

Peace & Quiet

I had to work this morning at 8 a.m. until 245 p.m. As soon as I walked in the door I was greeted by my three children who then asked me for milk. I felt loved. Anyways...the great thing was as soon as I gave them milk and a snack they were nice and quiet for a few moments so that I could relax.

Round 2

This morning we headed back to the doctor to have Charley's ears looked into. She had been so cranky the past couple of days and her runny nose made its return also. I was pretty sure her ear infections had come back...although I don't think they ever really went away. Anyways...my suspensions were confirmed...she still has a double ear infection. So we are on antibiotic #2. We have to go back Monday morning to have her ears checked and if they haven't improved then she will have to get a shot. I'm just ready for these ear infections to clear up so that we can go see the specialist about getting tubes in her ears.

Future Photographer?

This picture is compliments of Thi. He wanted to take a picture of Charley. Pretty good considering. I'm also not convinced that Charley is over her ear infection. She has been super cranky today...and I do mean cranky. Her runny nose has also returned. I guess we'll see what tomorrow morning is like...but we may be heading back to the doctor.

Visitor

Today we had a special little visitor...a dog! A cute little beagle puppy. I'm not sure who she belongs to, but she loved getting attention from me and the kids. I haven't seen her before and she looks a little skinny, so I'm really hoping she wasn't abandoned. The kids really loved playing with her as long as she didn't jump on them. She was very friendly and obviously at one point belonged to someone. She also has a flea collar on. Hopefully her owners will pick her up soon. I really don't want to have to call the pound.

Candy Land

Tonight we played a rousing game of Candy Land with Justus. It's something we haven't tried in quite a while. He LOVED it. It's great now that he understands the concept of taking turns and colors. We will probably try to play with him more often.

Jumpin Jelly Bean

Charley has figured out how to jump. It's pretty cute. She squats down and then springs up. I also put her hair in pigtails...LOVE it!

Bounce House

We had a church picnic today...complete with a bounce house. The kids had a blast although they were a little cranky. Running on less than normal sleep and being woken from their nap didn't help. Oh well...they will recover.

Day Trip

We got up this morning and headed to Springfield. Jon had his 11 year high school reunion....yes 11 years. Anyways, we made a day of it by visiting Jon's mom and hanging out with his dad and sister. Jon's dad and sister watched the kids for us while we were at Jon's reunion. We had a good time.

Future President

Today Justus was supposed to wear white to class. Thankfully one of the white shirts we have is super cute...and one of my favorites. I think he would make a very handsome president someday.

Field Trip

This morning I got the privilege to join Justus' class on a field trip. We went to a local orchard to feed animals and pick pumpkins. We got to see pigs, feed chickens, and feed cows. We also got to take a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch. Justus was a little indecisive about picking a pumpkin, but in the end picked a great one. Justus loved feeding the animals. He was very excited about it. I think Justus' favorite part was riding the bus though. He really liked it. The whole way there he smiled and babbled about everything. I thought it was cute to see him so excited.

Tae Kwon Do

One of the boys' favorite shows is Yo Gabba Gabba. Well they have a segment on there called "Cool Tricks". They have various people display their talents. The halloween episodes cool trick is a girl doing tae kwon do. Matthias likes imitating her and it is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

No Juice For You

Jon and I have made the decision to longer give juice to the kids. Mainly because we are concerned about Justus being too hyper. So we have started giving the kids water instead. Let's just say they are less than excited about the change. Justus is refusing to drink water. He says, "I can't like water." I guess he'll get used to it though.

Sick Day

I was awakened this morning around 430 a.m. by a little someone who wasn't feeling well. My poor little Justus. He got sick a few times between 430 and 7 a.m., but then was fine after that. He was a little sluggish this morning, but perked up pretty quickly after nap time. Since he was sick he missed school this morning.

Pumpkin Time

We headed to the pumpkin patch today. We have been wanting to take the kids, and finally made it today. We were planning on taking the hayride out to the actual pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins...but the line was so stinkin long. We didn't think our children would be patient enough to wait...and it was nearing naptime. Anyways...in the end the kids were perfectly happy with getting pre-picked pumpkins. And they all wanted a mini pumpkin...so it ended up costing us $2.17...not bad.

The Time Has Come

It's time to start potty training Matthias. He is so ready. He tells me all the time he wants to sit on the potty, and sometimes will even tell me and then go sit on the potty and actually go. I guess we'll see how it goes. Two down...one to go.

All Aboard!

I took the kids on a little wagon ride this afternoon around the neighborhood. They are heavy! They had a lot of fun though. We very rarely leave our yard, so they thought it was super exciting to walk past the edge of our driveway. Our neighborhood isn't very big and there aren't sidewalks on every street, so it's not very convenient to take walks, but I'm glad that I pulled them around.

Boo Boo

This morning Matthias fell and hit his chin pretty hard on his bed. He immediately started crying and wanted a band-aid...even though there was no blood and no real need for a band-aid. But, some battles just aren't worth fighting.

Snackin' and Relaxin'

I found Justus like this after giving him a snack this afternoon. In our bedroom, on the pack n play watching TV.

The Barbie

Matthias has an obsession with the Barbie. It's his favorite toy. Sometimes he takes her to bed. He really likes her. He gets excited about going to the gym because they have TWO Barbies.

Relief

After dropping Justus off at school this morning, Charley and I headed to the doctor's office to get her ears checked out. Jonathan stayed home with Matthias, so that was nice. Sure enough Charley has not just one...but two ear infections. The doctor also recommended that we got see and Ear, Nose and Throat doctor once this one is cleared up to see about getting tubes put in her ears. This is her 6th ear infection since March. At this point I'm ready for our pretty little girl to have some relief from ear infections.

What a Mess

Yuck-o! Charley has been a snotty, cranky mess for most of the day. We will be heading to the doctor's office first thing in the morning.

Cookie Monster

My sweet little girl has been extremely cranky the past couple of days. She has a runny nose and was running a very slight fever this afternoon. I'm thinking she may have an ear infection, but we will have to wait until Monday to take her to the doctor. Hopefully if she has an ear infection it will help with her being so cranky lately...although the past couple days have been worse than normal. I guess we'll find out Monday.

Octopus

We headed to Target this afternoon to get my paycheck. Today I decided to be nice to the boys and let them pick out a toy from the dollar spot. they both pick out an octopus. Somehow Justus ended up with both of them...which really isn't a surprise.