Shopping with Mommy

It's always fun shopping with two little ones. It takes twice as long, it's unpredictable (to say the least!), people are friendlier (that is, if your children are being sweet at the time!), and it is FUN. Especially when there is a cool grocery cart like this one.

Here is my expert grocery cart driver this morning.


And his precious cargo.


In case you're wondering, Olivia rarely sleeps when we are out like this. Today, however, we had just taken an extremely long walk and the fresh air tired her plum out! She fell asleep in the car while we were driving to the grocery store so I left her in her carseat. She ended up sleeping most of time in the store and when she did wake up she was very sweet. All in all a succesful shopping trip: happy children, happy mommy, and the groceries bought!

Um...we do do homework...I promise

We had a rare warm October day so Patience and I worked outside while Stefan played. And Stefan and Patience found a way to ride the tricycle together.


Patience is a very kind and patient (no pun intended!) big cousin.

Oh and it works like this, too!

And yes, we did do her homework. I promise. Here is her ever present smile to prove it.

Drawing

Stefan was given this sketchbook awhile back. I would have never thought to give him an empty sketch book. Coloring book, yes, but a sketch book? Who knew? He absolutely LOVES it. Sometimes he colors wildly with lots of crayons, other times he "writes" with his pen. It's been so much fun seeing him develop in this area.

It's Sleep Sack Season!

I love me a good sleep sack. Oh yes I do. It saves me many trips into the room at night time to cover the kids up with blankets once again. Kids just do NOT keep their blankets on. I have never seen sleep sacks this nice in the US. And I definitely have not seen ones big enough for toddlers. Mimi to the rescue! Stefan is just about to grow out of his this year, but I think we'll make it through the winter (I hope!).

It is getting colder and I pulled these out tonight for the first time. Stefan was excited to sleep in it. He thinks it's like a sleeping bag! Here they are fast asleep---and nice and warm, too!

Cold Fall Day!

Saturday we headed up to Wisconsin to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Hanson. We also stopped by a farmer's market and enjoyed some free fun. This market had a petting zoo, but there were way more animals than most petting zoos have. They also had free train rides and horse and carriage rides. Stefan loved it. It was a bit chilly but it just made it all the more fun!

Do you see how big those pumpkins are? Gigantic! And the squash was dirt cheap. We bought a ton of it. I sense a lot of squash dishes this fall, and maybe a big baby food making day, as well!

Here is Stefan visiting with his great-grandparents (and their dog!). We had a nice visit with them. Grandpa seemed to be extra spry which was nice to see. He loved watching Olivia crawl around.

We also stopped (but no pictures) at an apple orchard very close to their place. One of Brian's Aunts and a cousin were working there so we stopped in to say hi and enjoy some hot apple cider and apple cider donuts! It was a fun day, and we were all exhausted when we got home. But it's a good kind of exhaustion:)

Olivia keeps us smiling!

Getting a share of Daddy's apple. She thought it was a very tasty teether!

Always busy. Always on the go. Always into EVERYTHING.
Atleast this thing is safe;)

Afternoon Reading Time

How long do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition? I don't know, but the last couple of weeks Stefan and I have been adding something into our daily routine and we're both loving it. Maybe it has something to do with it being apple season? I'm not sure. Anyway, when Stefan wakes up from his afternoon nap we always sit down with some cut up apples and peanut butter (Love that combination, and my son is following in my footsteps!) and a stack of books. You'll just have to imagine me sitting there with Stefan because I couldn't take a picture of us together. Anyway, we have such a nice time reading together and we usually get through a lot of books in the 20 or so minutes that we do it.

Besides being a good Mommy/son time, good for reading, etc, it also helps the rest of the afternoon go smoothly. I've heard it called the "witching hour" but in any case if you are a parent of small children you know that the late afternoon time can be the fussiest, crankiest time of the day. Usually this is the time that the most whining takes place, discipline issues increase, and of course this is when the littlest member wants to be in my arms and not playing on the floor. Not to mention that as a Mom you're pretty tired out yourself and dinner needs to get on the table. Somehow. Yes, it can be a frustrating couple of hours. Everyone is ready for a change of scenery (i.e. Daddy coming home!). I've found that I can either get cranky right along with my children, or I can embrace that time and find ways to make it better. This is when I need to be the most on my guard as a Mom to be preventative. Seeing discipline issues before they arise. Doing what I can to make those couple of hours go smoothly.

This is one of those things. It is amazing how when I give Stefan 20 minutes of focused time he is much happier for the rest of the afternoon. It's kind of that transition from nap time back to the reality of the day. He will usually very willingly either play on his own while I get dinner, or help me ~sweetly!~ with the dinner prep once he has had some "special" time with me.

I don't know how long we'll keep up this little ritual but for right now I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is so rewarding. We've gotten through books that at other times are more difficult to sit through (like three French books right in a row!). We just enjoy being together, and then I have a happier, sweeter boy, to boot! I'd say it's a good routine and it's working for us right now.

Our budding reader!

Thursdays with Patience

Every Thursday Patience comes over after school for a piano lesson, homework help, and whatever else we decide to do! We all enjoy it:) Today Stefan and Patience were playing duets on the piano for awhile. I had to take a picture!

No stopping her!

Olivia gets around!

Here is a very short video clip to show you how Olivia gets around these days. Just this week she kind of took off. Though it isn't a real crawl, she definitely can get to whatever she wants with no problem! My life just got more complicated;)

Happy Birthday!

Wife, mommy, best friend, teacher, nurse, cook, cleaner, etc...Johanna is all this and more to the three of us. We love her and aspire to model the same grace and mercy she has displayed in our home. We hope that today will be a special day for you, Johanna! Happy Birthday!
Love,
Brian, Stefan, and Olivia

Visitors!

We enjoyed a brief visit from Erik and Bethany this weekend. It was great to see the newlyweds. We only wish it could have been a little longer. Here are a couple of shots of them with the kids.

More shots of Olivia!

Because we all know that for every one shot I post, I took (precisely) a gazillion others.

I can't get enough of this smile.

This is for all of you that thought I might have waited too long to start her on solids. Ummm check out the thighs!

The thighs and the giggles. More cuteness than one girl ought to be allowed.