Happy Halloween!!!



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Oh, Mother... I CANNOT believe you actually
expect me to wear this ridiculous cow hat!



Ahhh, now we're talkin'



Very shy



A fireman and a Care Bear



The cutest little fireman



Olivia LOVES this costume



One mustn't forget to show off
the heart on one's butt...



Check out the tail!



We' re havin' a good time!

posted by Elena

A Quiet Saturday at the House

Just a Happy Girl



Being Silly



Any Guesses What I Had for Supper?



Playing with Trucks and Trains

Reading Pat the Bunny

posted by Elena

Just Another Monday?

Have you ever had one of those days where you wake up and feel like you actually got enough sleep for once, and you feel pretty good and think to yourself, Man, this is gonna be a great day! ? Well, I have to come to the conclusion that either this is: a) a cruel joke from up above at my expense or b) somebody up above thought that I needed to feel good first to put up with the day that today has become...

So, this morning Zach had speech class from 9:15-11:00. So get out of bed and proceed to argue with Olivia the entire morning about going to school, because she has decided that she doesn't want to go. Between getting myself and the kids ready, I quickly get behind and don't leave the house until 9:15am. So we're only 15 minutes late; oh, man. We get to school , get the girls dropped off at sibling care, Zach into his class and then I'm off to parent's class (no comment), and everything is going well. About a half hour later, I get pulled out of class because Maddie has had an explosion, and I do mean that quite literally: she had icky stuff from her diaper running down her pants legs and even into her shoes! Oh, gross. Apparently that's too gross for the sitters to change too so I got the job (one of the perks of parenting, I'm told). And then back to parent class where now I can smell that icky smell on me (those with medical backgrounds, think C.dif), even though I don't have any on me.

So after class we head home to make a quick lunch because in an hour it's time to take Livi to preschool. So I pull into the garage and hear this major leaking sound and of course, the tire is quickly deflating - and the hits just keep on coming, but then quickly think, At least we made it home and we didn't have a blow-out on the highway! So I run into the house to call Scott and... (drumroll please)... our phone line is dead! So to get any phone help I am to call this 800 number, but the phone doesn't work!!! And this concept is lost on the company as I have now been told via chat mail (with the company rep, no less) that you need to phone in for telephone support; you can't get help online. Really thought that through, didn't they?!? And we don't get cell phone service out here in the "sticks." And guess I can't drive into town so I can get to a phone. Guess I could go meet the neighbors a bit more...

You know, this is stuff that you just can't make up!!! I can't even read through this post without laughing...

Although, on a more serious note, it really makes one think about how vulnerable this leaves any of us. I mean, we live out here about 5 miles from town and most of our neighbors are at work and/or school right now. What if something happens? So I can't call for help, and now can't drive (safely, at least) to get that help. It really makes one stop to think about getting a back-up plan...

So, we're now enjoying a quieter afternoon here at home. This is a good thing right now; maybe this is all part of some master plan, even though it's kind of irritating, although funny too!

posted by Elena

Frere Jacques

Olivia loves to sing. She usually doesn't like to participate in group singing; she's really more of a solo act, except when she's with Grandma Watson. Then they sing together. Livi's learned many songs from Grandma. This morning Olivia was out swinging on her swing and singing her little heart out. It was so precious! She was trying to sing Frere Jacques, and this is what came out:

Where is Zach-a? Where is Zach-a?
Darling Boo. Darling Boo.
Sa may eenee dee na. Sa may eenee dee na.
Ding ding dong. Ding dong dong.

Over and over again she sang this. Very sweet...

posted by Elena

Post-Wapsi Pictures

I didn't get ANY pictures from the Wapsi this year; had the camera in my bag the whole weekend, though. Good place for it, huh? Anyway, left Wapsi country Sunday morning and drove to Grandpa and Grandma's house to chill out for a few hours. The kids had a blast playing in their front yard full of leaves:

And then later reading a story to Mouse:

posted by Elena

Went to Des Moines this weekend to see the Grandparents. Maddie and I went down early to Decorah and Elena and the other two went on later straight to DM. We didn't want the kids to miss out on too much of their schooling. It was nice that my parents could go too to help out with watching the kids.

We had a good time down there. The kids really enjoyed the pool and running the long hallway to get to their apartment. We went to the zoo with my Dad and then to Chinese Buffet. Both were a hit with the kids.

I've been doing Fantasy Football for the first time this year. There are eight guys in our league and it has been really fun. Right now I'm 3-1 and probably going to win this week so I should be tied for first. Ben, who is not a football fan, has been calling me about twice a week to talk about our teams and what has been going on. He is really into number and enjoys figuring out matchups based on the players numbers. He has made the most trade/pickups among us. He is 2-2.

Been watching the first few episodes of Dirty Sexy Money. I like it so far. We've been a fan of Peter Krause since we watched him in Six Feet Under. I'm glad that they picked up Donald Sutherland to give it a more well known actor to give it some weight. Elena tells me that Jill Clayburgh has done a lot of things too so that is good.

Moles are still invading our lawn. Gophers, not as much now. Not so good.

The kids are opening up quite a bit. Today when we dropped them off at daycare, Olivia ran right off to play with the other kids. I had never seen her do that. Zach has a bit of separation anxiety now but not so bad. Maddie just wants somebody to carry her around. She is however getting very good at crawling around when she needs something.

On my first week of vacation from my new job at US Bank. I started there this January 2nd and it has been going really well. Eight to five is fitting well on me.

Just watched "Stranger than Fiction" with Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman. It was a good time. I'm a minor fan of Emma and she does a great job. I'm not sure if someone else could have done the main character better but Will was fine.

Last weekend we went to the Wapsi. Lots of mosquitoes. Next year a few weeks later should be better. We shot the .22 at matches and did fairly well at picking them off. The fishing wasn't so hot for us but our neighbor caught a striped bass that the kids had fun playing with. We had stir fry chicken and spaghetti for suppers along with Elena's 7-layer bars. We had a good time with Timm, Aaron and Jen. I'm not sure how outdoorsy everyone was but we all seemed to have a good time at the camp.

This week on my vacation Elena scheduled for me an appointment with the dentist and the doctor. Everything checked out OK but I did get a tetanus shot. The nurse was awesome at giving shots but the juice in the thing is making my arm sore.

Olivia has been having a great time in pre-school. She goes three times a week. The school has a large play area for the kids and a fence-divided playground so the different ages don't mix. Today the teachers said that she was very interactive by talking and laughing with the other kids. Something that she hasn't been doing.

Zach has loads of fun pointing out the moon up in the sky to everyone on a continual basis. His language is getting much better over the past month. He goes to school once a week and to a speech specialist once a week. I'm not exactly sure how much those are helping but it gives him a different teacher besides his parents and Olivia.

Maddie is getting to be a great crawler but still likes to be carried around quite a bit. She has six teeth and really likes to eat cherrio-s.