Our Trip to Iowa

The last weekend of September we went to Iowa to visit Nana, Great-Grandma Hayes, Great-Grandma Betty, and Great Aunt Karen. The girls enjoyed playing at Nana's new condo. Katie played with some old dolls of Nana's, while Delaney enjoyed chasing Boo. Both, as usual, enjoyed their tea party. Nana's condo is set back in some woods, and is so nice and relaxing. The girls got to enjoy seeing wild turkeys pass through the backwoods while sitting on the screen-porch. They also took a short walk to Nana's school to play at the park. After that we got in the car and drove to Fort Dodge to visit Great-Grandma Hayes. The girls gave her lots of hugs and kisses, and Katie serenaded her a couple of times. On the way to Fort Dodge, Delaney had to pee so bad, and because there's a whole bunch of nothing out there, we had to stop on the side of the highway, and she pee'd in the grass. I think that was the highlight on the trip for her! ahahah. She laughed so hard, and thought it was great that she was peeing like a dog! Saturday night, Delaney had a bit of an allergic reaction to Boo-and her eyes swelled shut. Poor thing. She looks fine now, but it took almost 48 hours for the swelling to be gone! On Sunday, Great-Grandma Betty and Great-Aunt Karen came from Mason City to visit us. We had a great lunch and wonderful visit. We miss you all already, and hope everyone is doing well. Thanks to our great hostess, as well as those who travelled to see us! LOVE YOU!

Updates coming

I have a bunch of pictures from our Iowa trip last weekend to post on here, and will have pictures from the Pumpkin Farm (that we're going to tomorrow). I'll get those posted along with some recaps of stuff within the next few days. We are very excited for a visit from Uncle Brian-whom we haven't seen in 14 months!!! YEA!!! I think I also might have some videos to post on here as well...I'll have to look.

Favorite Hat Day

Today was "Wear Your Favorite Hat" day...so this is what the girls wore...

Katie's Sense of Humor

Kate just really cracks us up sometimes. I wish I kept a list of all the things that girl does! I have to share these two things...

1. Tonight we were watching the Emmy's and in the beginning Howie Mandel and Jeff Probst were on the stage-with a few others. Katie looks at the TV and gets all excited and says, "oh, look, Uncle Joe and Uncle Jeff." ahahahaha

2. The girls have big sunglasses...because they're so trendy and they crack me up. With Katie's new bob cut and how white-blond her hair is, when she puts them on, all I can think of is Paris Hilton. So-I tried getting her to say "That's Hot!" but instead she said "That's Warm!" I mean-come on! That's not only hilarious, but pretty clever!

Don't get me wrong, Delaney cracks us up all the time too...she's quite hilarious. These things just happened with Kate within the past couple of days, and were a clear memory in my mind. I do need to start writing the things these girls do that crack us up...

Happy 5th Birthday to Griffin! (OMGosh!)

I can't believe our kids are getting so old! Today we went to Griffin (Brown)'s 5th birthday party at the Brunswick Zone...and the girls had their very first bowling experience. Delaney did great, and Kate did pretty well too. I think both could beat Uncle Wesley! The girls LOVED it! I think we're gonna go back when Uncle Brian is in town. Also-Henderson Clan...this would be something tres fun to do when you're in town for Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Cookie

We wanted to make a cake today, and Delaney said it was for Cookie's birthday (btw-Cookie is Delaney's webkinz). I guess he/she is 6 years old today. So-we had a cake and sang Happy Birthday. I'm sure (Jeff) Cozzo was happy that he was here to help us celebrate!

The Girls and Dogs like IKE!

After we got the basement mostly taken care of, the girls and dogs went out to play in the neighbors flooded yard. They had a blast, but because it was so cold, we didn't stay out long at all!

Damn you IKE! You flooded our basement

That's right...the 2+days that it has been raining straight in Illinois proved to be too much for our pump, which quit so conviently during the middle of the Bears game. We went downstairs to check out some annoying alarm going off. My VERY smart husband happened to buy a flood alert 6+ years ago when we moved here. Thank goodness for his thoughtfulness! It saved our basement!

I think it took about an hour to get the pump working again, after many failed attempts. We ended up only having about 2-3" of water, and since our basement is a split level-it only affected 1/2 of the room. I moved out the toys and stuff as quickly as I could as PJ worked on the pump. Then I ran and got the help of our awesome neighbor, who helped Pete with some stuff, like moving our heavy, HEAVY couch and the chair. Curt ripped up the carpet, I ripped up the padding, and Pete carried load after load after load (etc.) upstairs to the garage. Then we swept and shoveled the water to the pump. Once the pump started working, the water left quick.

I have a lot of laundry to do-like towels and such, and we purchased some fans to dry things out. Underneath the stairs is cleaned out-thanks to Pete and Cozzo. I guess I can go through that stuff now vs. this spring! ahaha

Luckily the water didn't even climb the bottom stair-so our carpet on the higher level in the basement is all good-as are all the toys and furniture. Thankgoodness (again) for Pete's smart move 6 years ago, our neighbor-Curt, and Cozzo. Whew. Now-it's time to relax...I mean do homework.

School, Butterflies, and Grasshoppers

The girls enjoyed their first full day of school...and their first Show-and-Tell Day. Delaney brought in her Webkinz, Cookie, and Katie (surprise, surprise) brought in her princesses. I have NO idea what they share with their classmates, because neither will tell me too much. But-when picking up Katie from school yesterday, she ran out with the biggest smile on her face and telling me all about the Big Bad Wolf who huffs and puffs and blows the houses in. It was pretty cute. She seemed a little dazed or distracted when I was watching her through the classroom windows during rug time, until it was story time. Delaney seemed a bit antsy when I peeked in on her class during Show-and-Tell time. Girls walked home, the 'secret' way, and enjoyed playing outside until about 6:30 or so. It has been so beautiful here lately, that our windows are open 24-7 (Thanks, Feldco!!!), and we've been outside quite a bit.

The bushes around our deck...that haven't been destroyed by Riggs napping on them, have bloomed and are attracting a lot more than a thousand bees this year. The very first day of school, the girls and I watched, touched, and were in awe of all of the grasshoppers, butterflies, and bees (which we didn't touch). It was pretty amazing.

Katie ended up finding a (sigh) dead grasshopper, so it became Delaney and Julia's pet. They made it a home, bed, and playground. So thoughtful!

Ahhhh...NFL! It's Great to Have You BACK!

Here's to our LOVELY CHICAGO BEARS! Not many expect much of you...but I'm hoping you can at least pull off a winning season, to match that of our beloved CUBBIES and the White Sox! Come on...make Chicago a WINNING CITY!

We all enjoyed breakfast this morning, with lighter hearts as the Cubs finally broke their 6-game losing streak to the Reds last night. We're getting all full with some yummy cheesy-scrambled, toast, and sausage so we can have enough energy to root on the Cubs this afternoon and DA Bears this evening! The girls even brought their doll and puppy to the table for our weekly weekend breakfasts together.