To Cut or Not To Cut

That is the question. As I'm sure you have noticed from the pictures I have posted, Nathan's hair is getting a little long. I keep going back and forth on whether or not we should cut it. Dominic wanted to take him a long time ago but I didn't want to because then he wouldn't look like a baby anymore. Now that Nathan and Brooke's birthday is approaching, I'm thinking more about getting it done.

We waited until Lenny was 15 months old before getting his cut. When we finally got it cut, I wondered why we didn't do it sooner because he looked so cute with a hair cut.

We have an appointment on November 12 to get our pictures taken for our Christmas cards. Do I get it cut before the pictures? I've made my decision but I'm curious to see what others think about it. Please let me know what you think and when you cut your baby's hair.
These pictures were taken last week after he got a bath. His hair is so long all along the back.

On another subject, Brooke has become obsessed with her hair brush. She loves it and won't let anyone else have it. Nathan tries to take it from her and when he succeeds in doing so, Brooke cries and cries until she gets it back. I was able to get it away from her long enough to show her how to brush her brother's hair. She loves that. She will brush Nathan and Lenny's hair and smile real big when she is doing it. It is very cute.

It is so much fun to have a boy and a girl that are the same age. Nathan goes for the footballs and Brooke likes the hair brush. If Nathan falls down, he gets back up and doesn't even cry. Brooke, on the other hand, will cry for ten minutes. This will always be interesting watching them grow up together.

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

Lenny has a bruise on his head. I asked him how he got the bruise. He said that it happened when he kicked a pumpkin and fell on his head. This did not happen that I'm aware of so I asked a few more questions. I asked where he was when he kicked the pumpkin. He said he was at the pumpkin patch when he kicked the pumpkin. Then he said, "I shouldn't do that. Silly Lenny." I'm sure he knew that I was going to say that next.

He didn't kick a pumpkin and fall on his head when we were at the pumpkin patch. He is really in to making up stories when he doesn't know the answer to something. One thing that tipped me off that it didn't happen was that he pointed to the top of his head for the bruise, it was on his forehead. And, I was with him at the pumpkin patch. Yes, that's right. Silly Lenny.

Stink Bugs

We had an interesting ending to our weekend this evening during dinner. Brooke and Nathan had already finished their dinner so I took them out of their highchairs to crawl around. Dominic, Lenny, and I were almost finished with dinner but we were still sitting at the table talking. All of a sudden I felt one of the babies grab my leg so I looked down and saw that it was Nathan. Immediately after I saw Nathan, I smelled something terrible. I asked Dominic what it was and if he smelled it. He said that he didn't. I said that I didn't notice it until Nathan came over. I picked Nathan up and found that it was him! It was awful. I was immediately afraid that he had gotten in to something because it smelled like some kind of chemical. I couldn't imagine what it could have been. Dominic soon smelled it too. I took Nathan over to the living room and decided to check his diaper.

Well, at the edge of his diaper was a pretty little flat green bug. I yelled to Dominic that there was a stink bug on Nathan and told him to come and get it off. I wasn't about to touch it. Dominic was very hesitant. He had never heard of a stink bug before and thought I was playing a joke on him. Finally he came over and got the bug. When he took it outside I told him to smell it. He could not believe the odor from this little bug. I am not one bit surprised that of all the kids, Nathan would be the one to find a stink bug.

After we got done laughing about it, I searched for it on the computer to show Dominic that I wasn't making up names of bugs. I found a perfect picture of Nathan's little "stink bug".

Needless to say, I took Nathan straight upstairs and gave him and Brooke a bath.

The rest of our weekend was real nice.

Lenny has been a busy little traveler. Saturday we took him to stay with Nunny and Papoo for the night. He always has a great time when he stays with them but it was even more exciting this time because his cousins Anthony and Catherine were spending the night too. As soon as we got there he went off with them to play. I don't think he even realized that we left.

Dominic took the babies with him to pick up Lenny today. This was the first time that Dominic traveled with all three of the kids by himself. He has stayed home with all three of them before while I've gone out but it's totally different to load them all up and go out somewhere. This was my first time to be at home by myself since Brooke and Nathan were born. I turned my music up real loud and cleaned the house without any little ones around. It was so nice! Dominic did a great job, all of the kids came home fed and happy!

We took advantage of the nice, yet cooler, weather today and snapped some pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes. We laughed so much because they just look so cute! Brooke and Nathan were so interested in everything around them that it was almost impossible to get a picture with them smiling.

I was so happy when Lenny agreed to be a monkey. I just love this costume. Lenny made sure he had a banana. I'm not sure where it was for the picture though. It looks like he must have just eaten it. :-)


Brooke and Nathan had no objections to the costumes I picked out for them. I think they were a perfect fit for their personality. :-)


We had a wonderful weekend but I did learn a big lesson. Don't leave your door open for any small amount of time unless you want to take the chance of a stink bug joining you for the evening.

Leg Piercing?

As everyone knows, that time of year is approaching again--flu season. We took all three of the kids to the pediatrician a few weeks ago to get the flu shot. Brooke and Nathan got theirs but Lenny had a slight fever and couldn't get it that day. What that means to me? I have to load all of the kids up and take them to the pediatrician one more time. Lots of fun especially since the pediatrician's office is in a new building that has at least three doors to go through before you get back to the room. It's not real easy to maneuver a side by side double stroller through all those doors while at the same time getting Lenny to go where you want him to go.

Anyway, Nathan got his shot first. There was a long pause and then he let it all out. He only cried for about 10 seconds though. Next was Brooke. She was happy and smiling right before the shot. Then she got her shot and her face started to sour and she stuck her bottom lip out as far as it would go but she didn't cry one bit.

By this point, you may be wondering about the title of this post. I'll explain now. Lenny had his rescheduled appointment this morning to get his flu shot. We were talking about his "doctor appointment" this morning. I wasn't about to tell him that he was getting the flu shot before we got there. I couldn't imagine how I would get all of them in the doors with Lenny fighting me the entire way. Lenny remembered our last visit when the babies got their shot and he said, "I don't want to get my leg pierced." It took us a few minutes and then Dominic and I realized what he meant. He didn't want the shot in his leg.

We all finally made it to his appointment this morning in the rain of course. Lenny thought he was just going to see his doctor. When he got back to the room and the nurse told me that she would need to get to his leg. Well, let's just say it got very loud in there. He was screaming. He was so scared to get it and I felt terrible for not warning him. After it was over he was fine. He was even better when I told him we could stop and get him a milkshake from McDonalds. He got a chocolate one.

Believe it or not, I didn't take any new pictures today. It was rainy and gloomy all day and when it is like that I just don't take as many pictures.

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

Lenny is the biggest baby when he gets a boo boo. It's always some tragic event. When we were at the Forest Festival, he skinned his knee pretty good. I did feel real bad for him because it looked terrible. When that happened he always wanted help pulling his pants up after he used the potty because he wanted to be careful of his boo boo. He always says, "Don't forget to jump over my boo boo." That's his way of telling us to make sure the waist of the pants don't scrape his knee.

He has been saying the same thing about the spot on his leg where he got his flu shot. Finally the band-aid came off and we don't have to jump over his boo boo anymore.

Lenny is Home!

We are so happy that Lenny is home. He has so much fun when he stays with Meemaw but Dominic and I always miss him so much. We start missing him only five minutes after he leaves. I'm sure that Nathan didn't miss his daily wrestling match too much which is always provoked by Lenny. With Brooke, Lenny is much more gentle and only gives her hugs that knock her over. Should that still be called gentle? I'm not too sure of that.

Out of all of us here at home, who do you think Lenny missed? Mom said it was "Chunky Boy". That's what Lenny told her. I thought for sure it would be his mommy.

He had a great time. They went to the pumpkin patch, to Pack's for ice cream, watched movies, baked cookies, and went to one of his favorite stores--WalMart.

Lenny is terrible about getting his picture taken. It's almost impossible to get him to smile for the camera, much less even look at it. Finally, he told us that he has a "smiley face". I asked him to show it to me and then I snapped the picture below.
We've been very busy since Lenny got home last night. Mom and Lenny walked in the door about five minutes before I had to leave to take Brooke to her pediatrician to make sure she didn't have an ear infection or fluid in her ears so that she could have her hearing test today.

This morning Dominic headed to work and I later met him there with Brooke so that we could make our journey to Fairfax Hospital for Brooke's hearing test. Mom stayed with the boys. The reason that Dominic and I both had to go is so that one of us could stay in the back seat to make sure Brooke didn't fall asleep on the way there. That's very difficult! She isn't supposed to sleep for three hours before the test so that she can sleep during the test. Brooke is very much one for her nap. She loves her nap and always lets me know when it is nap time, so keeping her awake was certainly not easy.

She did great and slept for two hours for her test. For those who don't know, we've been trying to get her to pass a hearing test since she was born. She can definitely hear, we aren't worried about that at all, she just needs to pass the test. In the past, she would either breathe too heavy (when she was wearing her NAM appliance) or she was moving too much. Then she had fluid in her ears and couldn't pass the test. After she got the tubes in her ears at 6 months, we had to try a different type of test (ABR) because of the tubes. Finally, she passed the test for her left ear but still hasn't for her right ear. The audiologist is almost certain that there is still fluid in the ear behind the tube and stated that many patients with a cleft lip and palate have this problem. He assured us that it is only temporary. We will still need to go back for one more test on her right ear. Follow that with a hearing test every six months until she is three years old because she was born with the cleft lip and palate.

My sweet baby girl has been through so much. It is fun to get her out by herself and without her brothers. She just flourishes. Every turn we made in the hospital, there would be a group of people and every one of them would say how sweet and cute she is. We know she is too but it was so exciting to see so many people go on about her. We of course loved it.

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NEWS ALERT

Nathan took his first steps today! He really did. He was standing at the coffee table, let go and took three steps. So of course after we saw him do it, we've been making him walk to us. It's so cute! He just turned eleven months old last Sunday.

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Story About Brooke and Nathan

Yesterday morning I was feeding Brooke and Nathan in their highchairs and Nathan reached over for Brooke's hand. They sat there holding hands and smiling at each other. It was so cute and sweet. I looked at Brooke and said "Oh, you love each other!" and she smiled and started shaking her head back and forth like she was saying "No". I laughed and said, "Yes you do, you love each other." and looked at Nathan. Then he started smiling and shaking his head no. I don't care what they think, they do love each other!

Double Trouble

Today and tomorrow we will be down to only two kids in the house. Lenny is staying with my mom for a few days. I dropped him off yesterday and mom will be bringing him home tomorrow. He was so excited! I know he will have so much fun.

I was thinking that maybe I could get a few things done around the house while Lenny is with Meemaw. I'm not so sure that will be happening. I realized that even though there hasn't been any crashes in our house today (mom said there have been a few at her house) and it's a little less noisy, I am still constantly chasing two little ones. And believe me, they are double trouble.

They always team up on us and I'm sure will continue to do so. It's almost impossible to open the dishwasher without two babies trying to climb inside. If one sees that it is open, I think that they somehow signal to the other that it's time to head over and climb in. I take one off and then the other one climbs on. It's crazy. And don't even think about sitting on the floor without both of them climbing all over you. They even do that to Lenny. I think Lenny likes it though, that is until they go for his toys.

It's hilarious to see them when Dominic gets home from work. As soon as they hear him open the door, they both start crawling for him. Of course Nathan gets there first because he can crawl fast and Brooke takes her time when she crawls. It's very loud in our house when Dominic gets home. It's not only the babies greeting him but Lenny and Daisy do too but they are just running around the house excited that he's home.

It's been so much fun to watch them interact with each other. It's very cute. They even look at each other and one will smile and then the other one will too. But they also like to have the same toy. If one has a toy, you know that pretty soon the other one will notice and then try to take it. If one of them throws their cup on the floor, the other thinks it's a great idea and joins in. And so on. :-)

They were playing with their house this morning and playing peek-a-boo with me. As soon as I got the camera to take a picture, Nathan got too excited and started crawling for me.

Bath time is a lot of fun until they both start trying to climb out. I don't know what I would do without those bath seats. It's much easier when Dominic is home and helps.

We are waiting for the day that they start to walk. I don't think it will be long. They are both getting to that point but in different ways. Nathan stands on his own and balances without holding on to anything. He can even bend over and pick something up and stand back up but he won't walk pushing a walker.

Brooke is the exact opposite. She can't stand on her own and balance but she can definitely walk when pushing a walker. Most of the time she uses a chair from the kitchen table and pushes it across the kitchen floor.

I will need to stop typing now and end this post. I thought it was a little quiet in the other room. I just checked and they were both in the pantry. Silly kids. I can tell you without even seeing it which one opened the door--it was Nathan. And of course, Brooke followed him.

Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch on Saturday. Even though it wasn't a real pumpkin patch, we still had fun. Lenny had fun running all around and looking for a "heavy pumpkin". That's what he said he wanted to find when he got there. Brooke and Nathan were able to play in the pumpkins some too.

We brought a couple pumpkins of our own. :-) They are 11 months old today!

We will be going to the real pumpkin patch at Belvedere Plantation next weekend. We always look forward to that.

Lenny had fun playing in the leaves today with Daisy.
From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

We ended up going to Meadows Farms Nursery to get our pumpkin and a few other things. I picked out a mum and was carrying it around when we started looking at some pumpkins. I sat the mum down to look at them and Lenny said, "Mommy, don't forget your burgundy flower."

The flower was burgundy but Dominic or I did not say the color of the mum. Lenny has a Thomas engine that is burgundy and that is how he knows the color. It's funny that a three year old knows that color.

The other thing that I find cute is that Lenny is alway so descriptive and thorough in what he says. He couldn't just say, "Don't forget your flower", he had to add the color to it. Silly boy.

The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Can anyone tell me if the Charlie Brown show will be airing on TV? I checked the TV guide web site last week and I got a message saying that it won't air in the next 14 days. Is it not going to be on TV this year? I will be so disappointed if not because I really want Lenny to be able to watch it just like we did when we were kids.

Update: Since posting this, I have found that ABC owns the rights to Charlie Brown and they will air it on Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. I'm so happy!

I finally ended up buying Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph last year because I always seem to miss it when it is on TV. I thought I was doing good by checking early for Charlie Brown this year.

I've included my favorite Halloween picture. This is Lenny's first Halloween in 2004 when he was 8 months old.


From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

The other morning I was getting breakfast ready for Lenny. I asked him if he wanted to watch Jay Jay for a minute while I finished. He said, "I want to watch it for a big minute".

Sesame Street

Yesterday morning Lenny was watching Sesame Street while the babies were taking their morning nap. He made sure that he had Elmo, Bert and Ernie so that they could watch it with him. They all looked very comfortable on the couch. That was until Brooke and Nathan woke up. It wasn't long before Lenny was left with just Elmo.



I don't have much more to post today. I just realized yesterday that in one month Brooke and Nathan will turn one. It's really hard to believe. I spent yesterday evening trying to get ideas on what I can do for their birthday. This should be interesting each year for us to make it fun for each of them.

I almost forgot to talk about the play date that Lenny had on Wednesday. I think that Lenny had a good time playing. It wasn't all that I had hoped it would be. I might try the play group a few more times and see how it goes. Other than that, I will definitely attend the monthly MOMs club meetings where they will have activities for moms and kids.

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

Early this morning I noticed Lenny going in to the bathroom. He had just used the bathroom shortly before that so I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I'm trying to clean my hair. My hair got in slobber." I looked at the side of his head and his hair was soaked. I guess Brooke gave him a kiss or either was trying to bite his ear. She drools all over him when she does that. It was hilarious.

Play Date Tomorrow

Lenny is looking forward to a playgroup that he has tomorrow. I finally decided to join the local MOMs club and that will be our first activity. I'm so excited for Lenny to be able to play with other kids his age. That's the main reason that I've decided to join the club. Although, I'm sure it will be nice for me to meet some local moms too. Gloria will be coming to watch Brooke and Nathan so that Lenny and I can go alone.

Here are some pictures from today.

Today is the first day that I know of when Brooke has been gentle with Daisy. She usually pulls Daisy's hair as soon as she gets close to her. I feel so bad for Daisy because she never gets upset or learns to run from Brooke. You can always tell because Brooke gets a handful of hair. Brooke is the same way with people. You better watch out when you hold her or she'll get a handful of your hair too. That must be why Lenny has nicknamed her "hair pull girl". That's one of the names, he also calls her "spit up girl".

As I look at the picture above, I realize that Daisy does look a little nervous. She was probably afraid that she was going to lose some more hair. :-)

I have a great story to go with this picture of Nathan. Immediately after I took this picture he started twisting at the waist and swinging his arms from side to side very fast. Then he stopped and had a funny look on his face. Dominic said "He's dizzy." We kind of looked at him and laughed. Then all of a sudden he fell straight back. After we knew he was OK, we started laughing again. He didn't know what had just happened to him.

By the way, Lenny's nickname for Nathan is "chunky boy" and "trouble boy". Luckily he doesn't call them by their nicknames too often. :-)

Here is a picture of Nathan and Brooke with Nunny. They'll be happy to see her tomorrow when she stays with them while Lenny and I are at his playgroup.

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

If Lenny is having a difficult time falling asleep at night, I sometimes have to tell him some stories. He always wants me to come up with a good Thomas story. Lately, Lenny has been making up his own Thomas stories. This evening Lenny was playing with his engines and told me that he was going to tell me a story about Diesel. As soon as he was done, I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it. Here it is exactly as he told me:

This is a story called Diesel's Splendid Life.

Diesel was on a windy road. I think that's the smelter's shed. He said. Diesel puffed along. Then he saw Arie and Bert and they pushed him in the water. He had sand all over his paint. He needed a wash down. The end.

It may not be as funny written down but it was so cute to hear him tell the story. And he used his famous "he said" in the story. And at the end he always asks me, "Was that a good story?"

Happy Birthday Chip!

We would like to wish Chip a very Happy 41st Birthday! Chip is Dominic's brother and a wonderful Uncle to the kids. They love their Uncle Chip. Lenny gets his love of puzzles from him.

He also happens to be Brooke and Nathan's Godfather. Here is a picture of him with Nathan from the Baptism.

If you are reading this post, please leave a comment and wish Chip a happy birthday. We'll make sure he reads all of them.

Thanks!

What We Learn From Daddy

Dominic is always teaching Lenny something new and I usually worry what it will be next. :-) Now, he is also teaching the babies. He's been off of work this week for a vacation. I'm not sure he would call it much of a vacation staying at home with all of us. Not to mention the long list of home improvement projects I made for him.

Anyway, he's been spending a lot of time with the kids. Here is a little of what they have been learning this week.

How to climb a tree.

This is something that Dominic taught Lenny a long time ago and Lenny loves to do it. It makes me a nervous wreck but they have fun. I was inside today and Dominic asked me to come out front. Lenny was so high up in the tree that I couldn't even see him from the house. He had to shake the limb so that I could find him. From what I understand, Dominic was quite a tree climber when he was young. It doesn't really surprise me especially knowing that Dominic isn't afraid to do anything. And now he is teaching our kids. Yikes!

How to drive a tractor.

Ok. It isn't a real tractor but he can now drive it. Nunny and Papoo bought this for Lenny a while ago. He tries to ride it every now and then but has never quite remembered to keep his foot on the gas. Now he has finally mastered that. The only problem now is that he won't steer it. So there are lots of crashes. The crash king has taken to the roads. For those of you who know Lenny real well, he loves to have crashes with his engines. Seriously, there are lots of crashes at our house. Every few minutes I'm called to come and "check out the damage" of a crash with his engines. Now, he has started new crashes. He has ran his tractor into the gate, the fence, the bushes, the bird feeder, and even a pile of brush from a tree Dominic took down. It's crazy.

How to make silly faces.

I came into the family room one day after Dominic had been watching the babies. He told me to watch Brooke make a funny face. This is the look she had. It was hilarious. All Dominic had to do was make a face and she mimicked it. She sticks her neck up, squints her eyes and presses her lips together. It's adorable.

How to stand and clap.

Nathan and Brooke have been clapping their hands for a long time now. But they have never been able to stand on their own and balance while clapping. Dominic taught Nathan how to do it and Nathan thinks he is so cool. It's very cute. He loves to stand on his own now and does a great job balancing himself. I don't think it will be long until he starts walking.

I just thought this picture below was cute so I had to add it.

Dominic's vacation will be over on Monday and he will go back to work. It's been nice having him at home all this time and I know that Lenny has really enjoyed it. They always spend a lot of time together but this week it was even more. They made plenty of trips to Lowes and Home Depot. And of course, they always have to stop to get Bug Juice for the ride even though both stores are only five minutes from our house.

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

This is just a story. Lenny now knows how to put on a DVD or VCR movie and switch the system from the satellite. It took me a long time to remember how to do that. There are lots of steps. Our DVD and VCR player are together in one so after you put in your movie you have to select either VCR or DVD. He can do that. Then you have to turn the knob from "Satellite" to "Video 1". He can also do that. And he does it completely by himself. It saves us some time. :-) He is sure to tell you if you do it wrong. One day Dominic pushed the DVD tray in to close it instead of using the button. Lenny reminds him every time now that he has to use the button to close it.

What Kind of Spider?

Can anyone tell us what kind of spider this is?

Dominic found it in our driveway last week. It was very big! I really don't like spiders at all and it gives me the shivers just looking at this picture. When he saw it, he made me come outside to look at it. Ever since then, Dominic has been trying to find out what kind it is. I sure hope it isn't dangerous because we have no idea where it is now. Just as long is it doesn't come in the house.

I was afraid that it was someone's pet that got away, it was that big.

Dominic is always finding something outside and has to show me. I like it better when he finds frogs. I can do without the spiders and snakes.

Please help us identify this spider.

We're back!

Actually we've been back for a few days. It takes me a while to get back in the swing of things after a trip with the kids. We had a great time! It didn't rain which is always good but it was extremely hot especially for October.

We arrived in Elkins on Thursday afternoon and headed straight for the park. The first thing we did was go to the petting zoo. Lenny and I decided that we will never do that again at least not with a cup full of food for them. The animals swarmed us as soon as we got in there.

There were lots of other activities at the park to enjoy. There were pig races, magic shows, reptile shows, and lots of vendors. It was nice and shady in the park so it was much cooler than at the carnival.

Lenny made a new friend, Issy. She is very cute. Issy is the daughter of JB, a friend of dads. They already had plans to ride on the rides at the carnival that night. They hit it off great.

When we asked them where they were going, they said "We are going to the swings." Too bad they were heading in the wrong direction. JB directed them to the swings.

Nathan and Brooke decided to try out the swings as well. They loved it.

My sister and her kids arrived on Friday. Between the two of us we have six kids, four of them are age 3 and under. It gets kind of loud and crazy at times but it's fun. Here is a picture of Kristi with Lenny on her shoulders and our mom with Anthony-Glen on her shoulders.

Here's Papaw with Nathan. Dad did a lot of cooking for us for the Forest Festival. It's become a tradition that he makes a huge pot full of potato soup and another one full of chili. Yummy!

Later Friday we went to the carnival for some rides. Brooke and Nathan weren't able to ride the carousel because I didn't have shoes on them. I've never heard of that rule before. Here's Dominic and Lenny enjoying the ride.Mom got Lenny some cotton candy. He loved it. It was almost as big as him.
Wait a minute, is that Meemaw trying to sneak a bite from Lenny?
We ended the day with the Elkins Volunteer Fire Department Fireman's Parade. It didn't start until 8 p.m. so I knew that the babies would be asleep. Although I didn't think they would sleep for long since we were staying with dad and he lives on the parade route and the room we stayed in is on the street side. For anyone not familiar with a fireman's parade, just know it can get very loud. I'm not sure how many fire trucks there were but there had to have been at least 100. No joke. And every one of them blew their horn and sirens the entire time. It's very exciting but loud. Believe it or not, all three of the kids slept through the entire parade (about an hour). I don't know how they did it. Kristi said that Anthony-Glen fell asleep outside while watching it. I was able to watch from the window and enjoy it.

Saturday was another day of visiting the park and the carnival. The grand parade was at 1 p.m. Here is Brooke and Nathan waiting for the parade. Ok, maybe Nathan wasn't really waiting for the parade, he was very tired. It was so hot outside that I ended up taking Brooke, Nathan, and Lenny inside to watch the parade. Dominic and I took turns watching the parade outside and staying inside with the kids.
If you wonder what that mark on Brooke's nose is, she somehow bumped it and none of us know how it happened. We noticed it was red as can be and then it looked like a scrape. Poor thing. And, Lenny fell twice and scraped his knee while we were there. He limped along for a few days. :-(

Sunday morning Kristi, Aleah, Kiana, and Anthony-Glen watched Brooke and Nathan for me while Lenny and I went with mom and Ernie to get Buckwheat cakes and sausage. Yummy! It's a beautiful ride out to the Izaac Walton League to the Buckwheat and Sausage Feed. Yes, that's what it's called. I feel like cattle going to a Feed. :-) But it's definitely worth it.

Dominic got the fun job of packing up the van for the trip home.

Here's Aleah with Brooke.

And Kiana with Nathan.

And mom with both of them.

We had a great time and will be looking forward to going again next year!

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

Lenny wanted to warn Aunt Kristi about the animals in the petting zoo. We were talking about it and he said that we will tell her not to go. I said, "That's right. They come after you when you walk in.". Lenny said, "Yes, and I carried one on my back." While we were in there, a goat was trying to get the food from Lenny. Lenny was walking away and the goat jumped up and put his feet on Lenny's back. He even had marks on his shirt to prove it.

Mountain State Forest Festival

On Thursday we will be on our way to the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins, WV. I get so excited for this every year. This has been a family tradition of ours and we have lots of family and friends that we meet up with there. My sister and I have only missed a handful in our lifetime. Last year I wasn't able to go because I was very pregnant with the twins and was under doctor's orders not to travel too far from home. I was so sad and also jealous knowing that everyone else was there.

Lenny is so excited, he asks me about the Forest Festival every day. He's mostly looking forward to the rides at the carnival and being able to play with all his cousins. At the last one we went to, he REALLY enjoyed the parade. I wasn't sure how he would handle the loud fire trucks but he loved them. We'll see how that goes this year for Brooke and Nathan. My bet is that Nathan will be the one to cry. He may be the brute of the kids and the most curious but he is also the one that scares easy and has to be held the most. That's my little boy.

Packing is the tough part but with a few trips under our belt now, it's getting a little easier. That could also be because the babies are getting bigger and growing out of some of the "baby" things that we have to haul with us. Compared to when we packed for just Lenny as a baby, we now have to take two pack and plays, double the bibs, burp cloths, diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, food, and blankets. Whew. Packing for two babies to go on a trip takes a lot of planning. Thank goodness Lenny is easy these days. He just has his one little Thomas suitcase and that's it. I love it.

I won't be posting again until Monday. Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Nathan and Brooke playing in Lenny's room as I was packing.
They LOVE Lenny's room.

Lenny playing in our room to get away from the babies.
He can run but they always find him.

Caught in the act! (From earlier post)

From the Mouth of...a Different 10 month Old

I thought I would tell a Brooke story today. She loves to smile at you with those big beautiful eyes and then lay her head on your shoulder sideways so that she can still see you and then smile at you again. It doesn't even have to be your shoulder, it can be the table, floor, blanket, just where ever she may be at the time. It's so sweet.

Anyway, she had quite a few doctor appointments in the Tysons Corner area last Wednesday so Dominic and I took her while Nunny watched the boys at home. We had to go see her ENT doctor first. As soon as he saw her, he picked her up and was talking to her. She smiled at him great big and then laid her head down on his shoulder. He and the nurse both smiled and laughed about how cute that was. She's a big hit whenever we take her anywhere.

Fall leaves

The leaves on our dogwood tree in the back yard are finally starting to change. We are so excited to see some fall colors. Lenny couldn't wait to show daddy the tree yesterday morning. He then told daddy that they would fall off the tree and he would have to rake them.

The kids and I decided to try an art project today. When Lenny was in daycare he made all kinds of projects. I feel bad that he doesn't get to do that anymore so I try to do some with him as often as I can at home.

They each made their own tree with fall colors.

It appears to have been a very windy day in Lenny's picture.

Nathan was the easiest one to work with on this project.

Brooke enjoyed it after she got her fingers in the paint.

This was taken right after we finished the project. They were holding hands until I was ready to snap the picture.

Lenny showing us his nice work.

We are getting really excited about our upcoming trip at the end of the week. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

From the Mouth of...a 10 month old?

Today I have a cute story about Nathan. Ok, it isn't a "from the mouth" necessarily but it is still cute. He has recently learned how to turn off the TV. He knows that he isn't supposed to do it. He'll get over to the TV and turn it off, then turn to me and smile, then he giggles like crazy and crawls off as fast as he can go. It's the cutest thing ever. I definitely have to videotape it sometime.

What a Beautiful Weekend

The weather was so nice this weekend. We really enjoyed some time outside. It was good to have the nice weather to cheer us up after the big WVU loss Friday night. No, I don't really want to talk about it. :-( I will say that it was a crazy game to watch. I can't believe how many turnovers there were in one game. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Here are some pictures of us over the weekend.

Dominic and Lenny in the treehouse.

Me, Brooke and Nathan watching Lenny play.

Two babies trying to escape.

From the Mouth of a Three Year Old

I need to start this story by telling of a habit that I have. Anytime I ask Lenny to stop doing something and he doesn't listen, I finally end up saying, "I'm tired of it, Lenny." And he knows then that I mean business.

Last night Lenny was watching a movie and I was checking my e-mail. He told me that the movie was over and I said I would be there in just a minute. Well, I guess I was taking a little too long. He had reminded me a few times to change the movie. Next he said, "It's over. Come on. I'm tired of it, Mommy." He must have meant business and wanted me to know it. He even used the same tone in his voice.