apples galore

this weekend we went to the apple orchard. the kids had lots of fun. i think their favorite part was "sampling" the apples at each spot the wagon stopped at.

yum yum!

no we didn't intend to get this many apples, but...
when you have to pay for 5 admissions, you get 5 bags of apples :)

josie was wishing her mom had finished her apple hat.
her mom wished she could fit into the one that caryn made for olivia :)
someday i'll get it done!

olivia's main goal was to get the most apples in her bags.

i think ryan could live in an orchard. the kid was so happy there.
his favorite thing - picking up apples off the ground and eating them.
oh, and throwing them off the moving wagon.
yup, he's the middle child!

what family outing is complete without an "i need to use the bathroom!!" moment?
click on the picture and see tim helping olivia find a spot.
and of course, the brothers are curious what all the drama is about.

goodbye summer

these pictures were taken just a mere 2 days ago...

this morning the kids wore fleece coats to school
i boycotted the weather with no coat and my chacco sandals
the weather won - my feet were very cold

goodbye summer
we miss you already!!!

a typical night

strange, but true!
you can imagine how fun it is when ryan sleeps with us :)

oh and it was a warm night. and i had just gotten out garrett's bin of size 4 clothes to start putting away. guess what he found? nothing like a cozy flannel sleeper on a warm night :)

a little miley

i must confess that i recently downloaded some miley cyrus songs for my ipod. i've been playing them for the kids (cuz that's who i downloaded them for. well at least that's what i tell myself.) one of their/my/our new favorite songs is her newest song "7 things".

in case you haven't heard the song- it's 7 things she hates about her x-boyfriend (one of the jonas brothers - or so US weekly tells me). i know, it sounds like the perfect song for little kids to dance around to. ha ha.

think what you may, but there's a really cute line in the song that says "you make me love you!"

so last night i listened in while garrett was talking to josie - you know what he said to her?
"you make me love you!"


and in case you want to be cool like us, play this song real loud and dance around :)

homework helper and library memories (updated)

i'm sitting here doing my homework
new fall shows started this week
argh
unfortunately i cannot both read and watch good drama

have i mentioned i love tivo?
more specifically tivo with a dual tuner :)

how did i survive when i was in college the first time around?
ahh the lovely memories of the library...
i was such a nerd
but we had fun, right?

this fall i'm taking american government. the only 2 non-sciency classes that i need, but didn't take at calvin are american govt and sociology. i figured with the election this fall, that a govt class could be interesting - since i know zilch about the government works (except for what i hear on the view - just kidding!) so far, it's not bad. the book is extremely current (copyright date is 2009 - how does that work?) so i really like that. and it's an online class which makes it super convenient!

wordless wednesday

somewhere there's a bare butt walking around my house...

sun salutation - seated pose

don't worry
i have adult supervision...most of the time

dr. seuss on the loose

garrett's new obsession the past few weeks has been rhyming. at first his attempts went something like "cat...frog" or "sit...tooth brush". child prodigy, he was not.

then he started to catch on and his rhymes became "ba...ga" or "lo...bo".

in the past few days, he's actually started putting real words together. "cat...bat"

but sometimes, there's one real word and 2nd is just a new consonant. "cat...lat"

ok, not my most interesting post thus far.

so yesterday the kids created an outdoor house of sorts in our driveway. it included beach chairs, an old carseat and a kitchen set we keep in the garage.

sometimes the kids call the kitchen set kitch for short. (olivia is a big fan of shortening words and thinking it sounds really cool. like "is it time for sup mom?")

well, guess what garrett thought rhymed well with kitch.

and just in case you think we're totally lacking in our parenting skills, i'm pretty sure garrett has never heard that word before. clearly a case of trying out a new consonant. but let's just hope he doesn't work on his rhyming skills at school anytime soon!

my top 20

well i think the last time sarah tagged me, i dropped the ball -
so here goes - in no particular order...

1. internet shopping
2. running skirts
3. tivo & new fall shows :)
4. dark chocolate
5. yoga
6. that moment at night when my kids are all asleep
7. all things apple in the fall
8. peonies in the spring
9. getting my kids' clothes out each new season and finding out what fun stuff i got on sale the previous year (see #1)
10. nursing covers
11. vacations with friends
12. finishing a race
13. new running shoes
14. my kids' smiles
15. ice water after a long run
16. gap, old navy, ann taylor & pottery barn
17. running/walking the lakes in mpls with friends when i'm in town
18. disney's beach club resort
19. a summer tan
20. tim, olivia, garrett, ryan & josie :)



so, who to tag???

caryn & kristin you're it!

i'd like to tag a few others too, but apparently they have started their blogs yet.
you know who you are!!

big brother - wii style

a few weeks ago we got wii fit. basically how it works is that each person sets up their own mii (me) and each time you "play" you log on as yourself. it's so sensitive that if garrett is logged on and i stand on the balance board it won't work b/c it is already programmed with garrett's weight. so it knows exactly who does it each day. (although, ryan can play as garrett b/c they basically weigh the same. ha ha)

so last week i didn't do it much b/c i was running during the week, then i ran the 1/2 marathon on sunday, then monday i went to cardio kick class. so tuesday i logged on. right away the game says "do you realize it's been 6 days since you last logged on? working out each day is the key to achieving your fitness goals." ha ha. thanks, wii.

not only does wii hold each person accountable, it also uses peer pressure. last night when olivia logged on the game says "do you know daddy? it's been a long time since he's logged on. how would you rate his overall fitness today?" then it gave 4 choices: better, worse, about the same or don't know. i just about died laughing.

this morning garrett logged on and it started out asking him about daddy too. this time it wondered about his posture. since i was the one with the remote, i picked "don't know." it then proceeded to say something about how dogs do better when their masters pay attention and how important eye contact is. ha ha!!! wii cracks me up.

so basically don't slack off because big brother, i mean wii, is watching!!

the great chicago flood of 2008*

ALL weekend it rained...

race day was no exception

thankfully the freezing horizontal rain didn't start until
we had made a turn so it could be at our backs!
one lady on the sidelines called it "tailwind ike" - indeed

the last few miles my running skirt was so wet that i could feel it sagging lower & lower
now that's wet!!!

crowds were pretty sparse due to the lovely weather, but we had a great cheering section!
thanks sarah & bekah




13.1 wet miles later we finished!!!

*not to be confused with the chicago milk scare of '89 (that's for you joy!)

one of these things is not like the other

january 2003

september 2008

mmm... can you tell we got at least 1 new camera in 5 years :)
zoom in and guess what josie had for dinner.
i'll give you a hint...
whatever it was cost 2/$4
obviously, she won't be eating too many meals of this!
oh and it was olivia's favorite food, too.

got a question???

not too long ago, i wrote about my little question guy garrett. his questions are still fast & furious. the most recent being "how do the stars say up in the sky?" no clue.

the other day i stumbled upon a little bit of help.

garrett absolutely LOVES the show.
so if you have a little question monster in your house, check this show out.
it's on pbs*kids :)

wordless wednesday

from a 3 yr old...

mom, can you NOT bother us. we're making a fort.

oops. my bad. i didn't realize walking into a room constituted bothering anyone.
is 3 the new 13?

in my head, here's what i said to him...

ok, garrett i won't bother you...as long as you don't bother me when --
i'm on the phone
paying for groceries
having a conversation with another adult
watching a show that doesn't involve a kid with a rescue pack
using the bathroom
taking a shower
sleeping at night

well i don't think garrett could uphold his end of that deal. so i'll keep bothering my 3 yr old :)

excited

september 14th

the race will be fun
hanging out with friends will be great

BUT
2 nights in chicago with NO kids...
i'm so EXCITED to sleep ALLLLLL night :)

the verdict is in... (part 2)

i guess i forgot to share how i feel about my kiddos going to school. well...having 2 non-napping kids gone in the afternoon is sweet. this summer was pretty rough in terms of keeping olivia & garrett quiet while ryan & josie slept. garrett has 1 volume and it's NOT quiet. garrett tends to bug olivia. olivia is prone to drama... so being quiet was very hard.

olivia goes to school ALL day, EVERY day. that's the strange part. it's so crazy not having her here at all during the day. she was my eyes & ears. if i needed to go clean the kitchen and josie was playing on the floor in the living room, she'd be sure to yell if ryan was thinking about sitting on josie. garrett is not so helpful.

but she loves school, so that's what counts. and i have quiet afternoons 4 days a week :)


so a funny story from the 1st day of school...

i was walking down the hall to pick up olivia. i had josie in the bjorn, was holding ryan's hand (much to his dismay - have i mentioned that i do NOT like this stage? well, i don't!) and garrett was walking next to me. i passed another guy in the hallway (about 18-20 yrs old). he takes one look at us and says "wow, i'd hate to be you. you have 3 kids and must be picking up another. man that sucks!"

what kind of moron says that?

my response? i looked right at him and said "THANKS" in a snotty voice. childish, i know. but i was in the kindergarten wing - it's hard to be grown up there :)

the verdict is in...

how was school??

"25 thumbs up"

"i'm not telling"

and it's still hard to get a 1st day of school group shot!

09.02.08

09.05.07




for more 1st day of school pictures, check out "our pictures" on the side.

words that make me smile

kids, it's time for bed.
you have school tomorrow :)