Two Little Monkeys

It's hard to beat good-smelling kids, wrapped in jammies, full of giggles, energy, and snuggles!  They continue to be best buds when Drew isn't biting or hitting Sage. :( She takes it like a champ...most days!

Apparently time-outs aren't enough for our little monkey. Friends at work have suggested lemon juice, lime juice, or soy sauce in his mouth after he bites... I have tried all three and he wasn't phased. Instead, he smiled, smacked his lips, and said, "Mmmm, Mommy, juice!" I sure taught him! I can't wait until he can communicate with more than his teeth!

Four!

 Sager is FOUR! That seems so old. She had been talking about her birthday party since going to Claire's back in August. This year she wanted a rainbow party, so that's what she got.

 Grandma made her a special rainbow birthday shirt.

 Drew helped her color rainbows before her guests arrived. 

 We covered the counters in a rainbow of fruits and veggies...

 and, of course, rainbow desserts.

 She was spoiled with lots of presents and blew out her rainbow cake...

 before painting pumpkins with loads of colors.

On Sunday, Ross took her on a Daddy-Daughter date to the zoo for Night Eyes.

 Did I mention that she loves rainbows?

It was a weekend that I think she will remember for a long time. :) 

We are so proud of our little four-year-old.

Honey Creek Resort

Last weekend Ross planned a family trip to Honey Creek Resort by Lake Rathbun. We've been wanting to go for awhile now, but have always had something get in the way. I'd highly recommend going. We spent a lot of our time in the indoor water park. We also took a few hikes around the park with the kids and went on a bike ride. The rainy Saturday was perfect for our three hour family nap and pizza in our hotel room, watching the Iowa game.  The nearby playground was well-used by the kids.  It was a much-needed relaxing weekend and we look forward to going back.

No Means Yes

This is what it's like trying to communicate with an almost-two-year-old. This also happens to be his biting, hitting, crying, screaming, tantrum phase. He had a stand-off with us at Costco tonight, but we won in the end. One point Ross and Amber, zero points Drew.  Bubba is going to be a handful this next year!

But he's also really cute!

September

Fall is here... for now! It's my favorite time of year to spend time outdoors with the kids. If I could just work a little less and have more time to get caught up on sleep, life would be perfect. But, I can't complain, we are enjoying the goofiness that Sage and Drew bring to our lives on a daily basis.

 If we can't find Drew, he's probably playing in the sink or the toilet. He's especially fond of plungers and toilet brushes--so gross.

 True happiness. She has a million dollar smile. :)

 This sort of thing happens when I'm out of town--Sage dressing herself. She seriously thinks that is how a headband is worn...and she wears it for hours this way! She's pretty proud of the shirt she is wearing that she painted with puffy paint.

 Drew is so much more engaged at the science center this year. We ended up getting a yearly pass. Both kids love it and it's just a block from the farmer's market. Drew got called a girl by two different people last time we were there. Perhaps it is time to cut his hair?

Notice the headband... I wasn't joking. Again, Ross was on his own this day. :) They seem to have the best outings when I leave town! (I surprised Lauren for her birthday and took her to Minneapolis overnight.)

 What? Drew's not eating in this picture? I'm sure that he just finished a snack.

 Travis, our neighbor, made this out of paper/foam. However, Sage thinks Drew should be a crocodile for Halloween. I think she's been watching too many episodes of Wild Kratts.

 Sage enjoyed helping make chemical reactions at the science center.

 A trip to the Fighting Burrito led to an impromptu trip to the sculpture garden downtown.

 Did you know that if you climb on a sculpture, a voice comes over a loud speaker and tells you to "move away from the sculpture"?

How could you not think this was a giant slide?

It's almost time for pumpkin patches and apple orchards. What can be better than that?

Old Friends

This little guy continues to melt our hearts on a daily basis.

 

 

Sage and Joey hadn't seen each other in months, but they acted like old friends.

 

 

 Our get-togethers with friends are looking a bit different these days... :)

Power Outage

Yep, our first official school night of the 2013 school year and we had a power outage. Do you think it's a sign that the last day of the 2012 school year was extended with a tornado warning and this year is starting with a power outage? Hmmm...

Generally, this really wouldn't be a big deal, but when you fully rely on access through your garage to get into your house and your garage door won't open, then you are SOL. No, we didn't have any keys with us, other than the car key.

Let me back up a bit. A little after three today I decided to jog with Sage in the stroller to the library as a fun afternoon together (in 90+ degree heat). She loved our run, but was disappointed when the library was closed. Oops. So, we returned our books and instead of going back home the way we came, she wanted to go the "long way". Four miles into the run I thought I was going to stroke out so I called Ross and had him meet us at our favorite frozen yogurt place, just around the corner.

Since Drew was just getting up from a nap and I had asked Ross to pack swimsuits to go to the splash park afterwards, we had a few minutes to kill. Just our luck, there was a live band playing at a sports bar, so we parked ourselves under the tree to cool off and enjoyed a pretty good cover band. Shortly after, Ross and Drew joined us for some Fro-Yo and it was off to the splash park.

The kids had a blast, as usual, in the water and on the playground. It was already approaching bedtime when we returned home, expecting baths and bed. (It was a full day with church and the zoo in the morning.) However, our garage door wouldn't open because the power was out. We were locked out without keys to the house.

So, quick thinking, we high-tailed it to McDonald's and enjoyed a little picnic at yet another playground nearby, hoping our neighbors would soon text us with the wonderful news that our power was back on.  Not so lucky.  Another hour passed before we returned home and Ross and Travis (our wonderful neighbor) tried to unlock our garage door with a piece of wood and clothes hanger. It would have helped if we had windows in the door and they could have seen what they were doing. 

It was approaching 9:00 when Ross called a locksmith. He rolled up in an unmarked black SUV... and wanted to break into our house. (That's such an interesting profession...) After five minutes or so of being unsuccessful, our power went back on and we just had to pay him for the service call. Meanwhile Sage and Drew were highly-entertained in the front yard with a flashlight, happy meal toys, and wooden shim catapults, and some pretty awesome neighbors!

They are probably hoping for another power outage tomorrow!

Fun Weekend

This was our first weekend home in quite some time and we made the most of it!  Saturday morning we strolled around the Farmer's Market and grabbed breakfast along the way. Since we were on the south side of town and the weather was beautiful, we decided to head to the zoo. We've been there about once a week this summer, but have never taken a ride on the train or let Sage get her face painted. She got to do both this time, so she was ecstatic!

After the zoo we headed home for naps and work around the house. We made it to the 5pm service at church and then stuck around for Taste of Hope, which is like a huge free carnival, with awesome food, plenty of rides, and activities for the kids, only without the dirt and toothless smiles of the carnies you'd see at the state fair. Good, clean, fun. Both kids had a ball.

Sunday we did a little shopping and then headed to Raccoon River Park after nap time to play on the playground--totally forgetting there was a beach. Sage and Drew found a little stretch of shoreline after playing on the playground and flying a kite. They were thrilled.

I'm starting to get a bit teary-eyed thinking about going back to work in a week. We'll be back to three hours together each night during the week and we will have to maximize our weekends. We have sure had a lot of fun this summer!

Sage's City

After we returned from Target this morning with a new set of watercolor paints, I noticed Sage taking a bit longer to get into the house from the garage. After a minute or two I peeked out to check on her. She was going through a pile of wood scraps next to our miter saw (leftover from the insane amount of Pinterest projects that I have completed lately). She informed me that she wanted to paint the little pieces of wood. So, for the next 45 minutes or so, Drew helped me organize the toys in the basement (another Pinterest project) and Sage painted. Every once in awhile she called me up to check on her progress. I suggested that she could build a house and I would glue it together for her.  Then I returned downstairs. A bit more time went by and when I was called up again, Sage was so excited to show me the "city" that she built, "a view from a plane". As she described every building and piece in detail, I was amazed at her creativity and ability to even picture a city from an aerial view, when she has never even been in an airplane. I told her that I would bring up some bits of scrapbook paper if she wanted to add that to her city as well and then I would glue it all together. (I helped with the cutting, tearing, and gluing, at this point).

So, there you have it--Sage's city, which she calls "Hello Kitty City". Starting in the back row (from left), she has an amusement park and zoo. Next to that is a hotel, "because they are really tall!". The heart of the city is next, with all of the tall buildings and "Daddy's work". The train station is in the far back right corner. There is a rooftop garden on top of the building and those are three tiny steps next to the building "so the people can get on the train". Yes, that is a train in the foreground, five cars in all. What an awesome imagination she has! It turns out that Sage can take a pile of scraps and turn it into a beautiful city! ...and that's how we've been spending our summer. :)

More Summer Fun

Every day this summer I've been reminded of how grateful I am to be a teacher and have this time home with Sage and Drew. We are enjoying every simple moment together.

 Farmer's markets

 Picnics at the zoo

 

 Parks, parks, and more parks... who knew there were so many in WDM?

 Grandpa's retirement in CF

 Parks in CF...

 with their cousins

 Des Moines Arts Festival

 Feeding ducks...well, at least some of us were.

 Spontaneous trips to the splash park after frozen yogurt at Menchie's

 Laughs, laughs, and more laughs

Sparklers, swimming, smores, and Rasmusons at Grandma and Opa's

 Trips to the library

 Climbing at the mall

 PB for breakfast

 Playing in the backyard

 Drew at 19 mos.

 Sage at 3 1/2

Life is good.