What can I say...

about my little Bear. This birthday tribute is a little late, but just as heartfelt.

This is one handsome fella!! Is he not the cutest thing?!

Little J has the cutest smile (if you catch the dimples, they're from me) and most contagious giggle. This is one of my favorite things about him. It's infectious. He is a kid who wakes up early and chooses things to do like play quietly, unload the dishwasher, practice piano or read books before the rest of us make an appearance. He also follows the rules of staying in bed at night but looks at his Where's Waldo books in the dark until he's ready to sleep. We let it go because he stays in bed. My little buddy is not a complainer either. At least usually. For his birthday lunch I took him out to a place that has a pager. I told him all about watching for the lights to come on in a circle and that will tell us our food is ready. He was really excited about that! We sat waiting patiently for our food to be ready. He held on to that pager, barely taking his eyes off it while we chatted.

Getting silly while waiting for our pager

I started to notice a plate up on the counter that hadn't been taken by several people and continued to sit there. I finally began to wonder if it was perhaps ours and our now much anticipated birthday lunch pager didn't go off. I went up to the counter and sure enough it was ours. A manager happened to be right there and I don't like to waste food so I tested the food and it was still warm enough but mentioned that we were disappointed our pager didn't light up. Well, we went back to our table and ate and he acted like nothing disappointing had happened. But here I was trying to gauge how he felt and thinking, man this is his birthday lunch! We almost never go out to eat and never just me and my little man and he's going to go home and say, "our pager didn't light up" even though he never showed typical 5-year old disappointment. Well, I decided that just couldn't happen. I asked first if he was sad about our pager not lighting up and he said yes so I suggested we ask if someone can't help us out. He was all for that. I guess in some ways I'd hoped he wouldn't be. Complaining isn't my strong suite either. But, I guess my desire to make my little birthday boy happy outweighed my anxiety to get out of my comfort zone and ask for a favor. I went back to the same manager and said he was disappointed our pager didn't go off and asked that if we could perhaps get a pager that would just light up for him then that would make his day. After she agreed we thanked her and told her that would make him happy, especially because this is his birthday lunch. She came back with a pager and said that she put a to-go mac and cheese on the house for him. Boy, did that make his day!! And it made mine too to know that me going out of my way to make him happy was appreciated by him. That it did indeed make him happy. And our beeper did come on that time and the smile and excitement on his face made it worth it! Now hopefully he won't think that kind of treatment always happens; but it is fun when it does!

Leaf fight!!!

First day of school, first day of school!

Little J is always surprising me. I worried about him starting preschool this past fall. In fact, if he were too much younger I wouldn't have considered it because it is full day every day. I spoke with the teachers, the same from B's year, talked to the school nurse about him and thought A LOT about it. But, he's done very well with it and has made a lot of new friends. Boys! He has sisters at home, girls in his church class and he does really well with that and likes them but this gives him a chance to play with someone who may think a little more like he does. The first day of school I hovered a little during lunch time. I worry with his allergies that he may feel different or not included. And obviously at the same time I worry about his safety. The nurse and I had spoken several times about him, so she had it more in her head who this kids was mostly, and I had talked about wanting him to safely eat with the rest of his class. They were kind enough to come up with a solution that seems to work pretty well. They wheel over a desk every day and put it at the end of the table so he can sit with his class but still maintain at least a nut allergy safety zone. Well, I was in the cafeteria when his class came in and he right away sat down and he just opened his bag and started eating. No big deal mom. We went to an orientation a few days prior and he seemed to really want to be in the right place at the right time. He didn't want to miss anything important that he needed to know. Every day he comes home and tells me about his day and at least for several months and still sometimes he held my hand walking from the bus stop to home. It is so sweet. He craves my attention when he gets home. He'll often quickly volunteer if I ask if anyone wants to help do dishes or set the table or play a game. I hope he always likes to hang out with his momma!

My little birthday buddy

The Community Pool for lessons. Not his favorite summer activity.

At the Jersey Shore Beach

At the zoo

Sometimes it seems like birthday celebrations around here last for weeks. Celebrating on the day with a choice of food, streamers, etc. with just our fam, birthday party with friends, birthday lunches, cards and phone calls, and now school cupcakes. It's never ending. But, at the same time, I truly celebrate each day I have with kiddos and this time of year especially my little buddy and his sweet presence in our home. I guess with him I do think about this more. Every day he goes off to school I have to give myself a pep talk, "no, he's not going to be exposed to one of his allergies, not tell anyone and have problems". Every time we go out to eat I'm watching him like a mother hen I suppose, seeing if there are any allergic reactions. Every time he gets winded running or coughs or says he has a sore throat I worry that it's possible we have a hospital bed to get to soon. Thankfully, nothing big has happened in the last 2 years but it's a chance that could happen any day. And trying to balance my feelings on it to be appropriate (not crazy lady and not apathetic either) can sometimes be hard. I suppose seeing him suffer so much and complain so little has given me a special place in my heart for him. I love my little bear dearly and think the world of him. Happy Birthday little man!!!

Preschool Fire Station and Little J Birthday!!

One of the things I love about doing preschool for my kidlets is going on field trips with them!! The fire station is one of our favorites that we do and this go around we had a blast! I had called the station to set up a tour somewhat near where we all live and they accommodated us nicely. In fact, the fireman that we had was a man who had been a fire fighter since 1974!! And he was really great with our rambunctious group. We started with a video about fire safety and then we got to get in the trucks and see what it would be like to be a fire fighter!

Little A got to see what it would be like to drive this beast of a vehicle! Look, the wheel is bigger than she is. And the tires too, we checked. :)

Our little miss future fire fighter! The tour guide got in full uniform for the kids so that in the case of a fire they would have seen this somewhere before and hopefully not run and hide!

My little J is getting so big!!! This group is kids from the neighborhood, preschool and church. What a fun group! We made shields, did relay races, had cake and ice cream and had a catapult battle. I found a fun tutorial online and got really giddy when my catapult worked! Big J suggested we use cats or bunnies for ammo when I suggested using something soft but luckily I found small pom poms to use before he could round up some bunnies. Whew!

Little J requested a simple cake this year. A cake with knights on horses with lances. Done. Easy peasy. Turned out great, I thought!! And yummy too, perhaps my best tasting eggless cake yet.

Sir J. Isn't he too cute?!

The catapult battle. These babies were definitely time consuming to make but they had a blast with them and I have a feeling they will be played with a lot over the next few weeks, or until they break. Whichever comes sooner. :)

Mazing and Climbing

I took the kids out to Terhune Orchards for pumpkin picking this year and the kids loved doing the corn maze, as usual. It was muddy, of course, but we remembered to wear boots so didn't fear the mess. We found the exit after only a couple turns so had to go back in to really get lost and then find our way out, haha. They have little tractors and John Deere tricycles that the kids had a blast riding on also. A beautiful day at the farm!!

Funny how they each picked out a pumpkin appropriate to their size all on their own. Mmmm....apples!

Big J took the kids climbing at this lone boulder in the middle of the woods. Leave it to climbers to find a rock big enough to climb even with no indication there would be one this size in the proximate area! We wanted to go as a family but I was not feeling well so the kids had some Daddy time while I napped and cleaned house. Cleaning seems to always put me in a good mood these days.

Look at the size of that thing! All three kidlets made it up this side of the rock, up the largest crack in the middle.
B attempted the other side which is far more difficult with fewer and smaller holds.

Look at the size of that crimper!! She is gaining quite the technique and made it to the top!! And Big J kept his promise not to have to take anyone to the ER.

I thought this was adorable and had to capture the moment. When our bunk bed had had enough we took it apart and put the mattresses next to each other. Little Bug took this to her advantage and got Big Sis to snuggle up with her. So sweet!!

September in a Nutshell

I love fall. I love every season because there's so many fun things about each season. With fall I love the leaves changing color the most. I'm not a fan of cold winds or temperatures so early fall is great; I love the colorful world around me during the fall. I love seeing the different leaves as they fall gracefully to the ground and crunching those that have browned. I love pumpkins: the rich orange color, big & little, tall & plumpy and carving them into fun designs. We picked ours out at Terhune Orchards this year. (pics to come) We love it there in the fall, the yummy apple cider and the corn maze and animals. I love the taste of pumpkin and love making pumpkin logs and muffins. Halloween is such a fun holiday too, ignoring all the gory stuff of course. Not my style. But the fun part, the happy ghosts, and fun black cats and trying to conjure up some creativity for costumes without letting them dominate my October. I'm trying something new this year I've wanted to do for a while--can applesauce. It's so easy!! But time consuming. But made more fun to learn with a friend! I've tended to look wistfully at 'domestic' women somewhat wishing I enjoyed that stuff more. Now, I do. September was BUSY with school starting for all 3 kids and a new calling in our church to work with the 12-18 year old girls and also doing new, and old, projects. Big J has also been busy working to find job openings and applying and spending a weekend at a conference in Texas. Ah Texas. I was jealous. I'll say it. He had Texas BBQ. One of my favorite things about TX. Alright, enough talk, on to pictures!

B placed 1st in her division in the 5K race our church does every year. This was her first 5K and from how she sounded after, it won't be her last. Kudos to her!!

B receiving her award

Running the 5K as a team (B saved more at the end than I did and beat me! I take some consolation that I woke up not feeling well that morning & thought that may be the case)

Family Pic

Little A dead to the world. During quiet time she had come in telling me she wasn't tired but I wondered otherwise. 5 minutes later I go in to find this. Apparently she changed her mind.

Little A starts preschool!!! We are doing another co-op preschool between me and four other moms and this year I get to do my youngest! Now I'll have done one year for each child. So fun! We'll see if I end up with another year for her or not.

What an exciting, super busy week!!!

This week started with getting fully ready for school and then the first day of school for our B and little J!! B got just the teacher she wanted and has loved her first week. Little J I was a bit worried about but he did so super the first day and really seems to be enjoying being a 'big kid' in his big sisters school. Little A and I went to a park close to the school the first day and then went back to the school to have lunch with J; mostly for me to scope out where he was sitting, etc. I didn't want him sitting alone at a peanut table by himself but they were able to accommodate him at a rollover table right with his class while still maintaining a nut-free zone. Whew! I'll be a happy mommy if his allergies aren't pestered while he's away from me. Little A hasn't seemed to change much this past week except perhaps reminding me more than usual that she is the baby of the family. She plays well by herself and as the above picture points out she is still terribly adorable. I heard her sweet little voice one day and went in to find her with her 'working' goggles on from Lowe's on top of her spread out lovey reading her spider book. Goofy girl! We were hardly home this week and she was probably very happy just to do something quiet!

We also went camping this weekend on a church campout and Sat. morning went to a sculpture garden. They were having a free day in memory of 9/11. I had wanted to come for a long time but wasn't sure how it would be with the kids and all. We loved it! The rules are a little strict about outside food and such but we snuck in some snacks and taught the kids that sculptures with green labels were ok to touch but not red ones. The place was actually quite accommodating to children and we walked what felt like 5 miles. It is huge!! They had one fun, big sculpture where you could bang on metal with metal to make 'music' that the kids loved and a long snake that you could walk along and a tree house, several beautiful water garden areas and a few inside buildings with really cool exhibits. I liked both: one was sculptures made of rubber tires by Chakaia Booker (pictured above and linked for examples) and the other 3 dimensional thin people by Keith Haring. This place had something to look at everywhere we turned and we all had so much fun! I definitely recommend going if you are in the area!

Other than that I've stayed super busy between Young Womens at church, making playdough for J's class, baking A LOT, playgroup, B's first gymnastics this fall, going to the zoo for the kids day off school for Rosh Hashanah etc., etc. I've discovered a fun alternative to s'mores for little J and all the kids ended up choosing them over the s'more's themselves. B doesn't like the melted marshmallow with the crackers and chocolate and neither does her daddy. I made shortbread cookies and while they were still warm put Hershey's chocolate in between so it melted a little. Yummm!

Art and Science Weeks!!!

We joined some friends for the Crayola Factory! At first I thought, "Crayola Factory? That's what I feel like my house is sometimes with endless fun art projects to do, why do I need to go pay for this? But, then I saw it was also educational. They showed us how they make crayons and markers and we got free merchandise. The kids all loved doing the art projects they had there and easily could have spent much longer than me there. Also, our Crayola admission got us into the Canal Museum, which showed a little about how canals work with each child getting their own boat to take through the river. They also had ways to learn about pulley's and turning a boat. Then the kids spent time building with blocks and playing together. All in all it was a fun day! Little J started to get car sick but a few minutes outside the car and the books put away helped. Whew!

Cute little kidlets with Mr. Crayon

We also successfully grew our own crystals!! We tried once, but mostly failed--the crystals only grew on the string, not the snowflake. But, I reviewed the instructions again since it'd been a while since I'd read them and tried again. This time--GREEN CRYSTALS!!!! And we also made blue salt crystals so we could compare the two but there weren't as many of those so we didn't photograph it. But, the kids observed that the two types of crystals were quite different in size and shape so the experiment was successful! For these green crystals you just put 1 cup boiling water into a plastic jar and slowly stir in 1 Tbsp. Borax. Then you can color it with food coloring and put in this snowflake (or any shape) as shown and wait about 24 hours and voila! Crystals!! And if you need Borax I have a TON so come get some! The salt crystals work just about the same way but I think it was 1/4-1/2 c. salt to 1 c. boiling water and used a paperclip instead.

And, speaking of science, we didn't picture it but we went to the mall one day where they were having a guy, who was obviously very pumped up about this lesson, demonstrate how liquid nitrogen works. What?! So cool!!! The demo was quite a bit longer than we expected but worth it. The kids were so into it. At the end he made ice cream with the liquid nitrogen. He surprised me by adding the liquid nitrogen right into the milk/cream mixture. So cool! And the kids all agreed that it was super yummy!!! The way he presented it reminded me of the kind of science 'magic' some friends here did and I loved it! Thanks Wondergy science guy!

Fun Times In the Summer

A couple weekends ago our family checked out the nearby canal, we've been down to the canal many, many times and it is one of our favorite spots here, but hadn't been to this particular area. We rented a canoe and a kayak to accommodate all of us. As Big J is the stronger one he got to handle the canoe for the majority of the time but we switched off for a bit. The kids LOVED this experience and it is probably will rank high on one of their favorite things for the summer. They loved for us to steer them under the branch 'tunnels' and while I had the two older ones on the canoe we found some ripe blackberries along the edge and were able to slide over and grab some for everyone. It was my first time on a kayak and I really liked it. Big J's trying to convince me to splurge and buy a few, but I think we'll hold off for a while. It would, however, be a hard choice whether to get those and a truck or a bigger house......

Michael's had these foam hats on sale 3/$1 so I decided they would make a great affordable summer activity. I wasn't sure how they would go over, but they have been wearing them everywhere. Love it! Fun and functional is hard to beat and it being super cheap makes it all the cooler. Fun times in Philly! The orangutans were at the Philadelphia Zoo. We got to see the new baby, Batu. The parents really liked to stay cool under the sheets. After the zoo we went to a playground that we'd heard about, Smith Playground, which is practically right next door to the zoo. They had a huge slide that you slid down on potato sacks with and the kids and us went down numerous times.

Other than that and our vacation this summer we've spent lots of time with friends, lots of time outside and on bikes, lots of time reading and at the library and farmer's market and lots and lots of time at the pool. We got discounted pool membership and the kids have had lessons the past three weeks. This is our last week of lessons but we still plan to go a couple times a week. B's swim strokes are really improving, little A loves having a class and little J, well, he's doing better than last year. We also recently went to the airport to check out the planes with some friends. The kids loved watching the planes take off and land and sitting in the pilot seat of this Cessna. Our summer is going by so fast!!!!! Only a month left!

NY/Canada Trip: Part 4: Finale: Watkin's Glen

We had our very own, in-camp witch doctor! B gets very creative while in the outdoors. She came up with this idea and how to implement it all on her own. And even got her siblings to help and made one for each of them too!

We stopped at the south end of Seneca Lake (one of the Finger Lakes in NY) and camped and hiked at Watkin's Glen on the way back home. This is one of the nicer camp grounds we've ever been to. Very flat accommodations (nice for tents), nice size and decently far from your neighbors. We did have a train that was quite a bit closer than we thought but with 3 kids that's one just one more thing to add the excitement and luckily didn't wake them the once or twice Big J and I heard it early in the morning. This time around we tried putting the kids in one tent and us in the other, but little A ended up coming in with us both nights. I had highly questioned whether she was ready. The other two reveled in their independence and were only slightly terrified of the Daddy Long Legs that creeped in between the tent and rain fly at night and the one who managed to make it inside. I admit, even thought they are harmless they are still a little creepy. We had a great time here; I love camping with my family!!

This bridge crossing in the top picture is the beginning of the 2+ mile round trip hike we did down and back up the gorgeous glen. It was easily within walking distance of our tent site and a nice trail. Little A has discovered silly faces, as you can tell. :) There was hardly a spot on the trail that did not have a large or small waterfall. It was absolutely lovely!!

The glen is SO incredibly green, particularly on the south face that doesn't get as much sun. There are bridges, tunnels, and waterfalls galore and it was all amazingly scenic.

There was a lily pond at the end of our hike and we stopped to rest and have a snack and enjoy our beautiful, lush surroundings.

Fun at camp! There was quite a bit of wildlife here. Within minutes of arriving at our campsite B had found an Eastern Newt (Little A, bottom left; species courtesy of J's sister, who studies Biology) and we all got a chance to hold it before putting it back in its home. It was a brilliant red and very smooth. We also saw and caught many tiny little frogs, the size of the end of my pointer finger. I already mentioned the Daddy Long Leg spiders and we saw TONS of them--there was a play structure in the shape of one (top picture) at the playground near our campsite. Little J enjoyed hearing my stories of Daddy Long Leg encounters growing up in Texas. Bottom Right picture is of the kids putting Little A to bed--the leaves are her blanket, of course. We also drove down the hill to an on-site large pool complete with diving boards and a larger playground. What a great way to end a fantastic vacation!! I guess we are considering this our last full summer in the area and want to make the most of it!

NY/Canada Trip: Part 3: Palmyra

The night we arrived in Palmyra was a little wet, so we headed out for dinner instead and watched Toy Story 3 until the rain subsided. Setting up tents in the rain is not my favorite time to set up tents so we were glad it was pretty well over by the time the movie was out. B and the adults LOVED the movie; it was so fun! It was a little much for the two little ones and little J needed quite a bit of coaxing to stay in the theater.

Here we are at the Smith Farm outside of Palmyra. Big J's sister and her husband were able to join us for this leg of the trip. Yay! It was a nice day in Palmyra, though a little busier than usual, I suspect from all the pageant goers. The Smith farm is on a lovely spot of land and it was interesting to go get a little more personal with the location and learn some information about the farm.

This is inside the Smith home, which seemed a decent size. Good thing since there were 11 people residing in it much of the time. Lucy loved herbs so we got a pic with what her drying herbs may have looked like.

In the sacred grove. The woods are very still, other than my rambunctious children. I did get them to be still and listen to the quiet still for a few moments. According to everyone who likes berries, which means all but me, the grove has some very scrumptious blackberry and raspberry bushes.

Atop Hill Cumorah. From here we could look out a ways and most prominent is the set up of the pageant stage down the steep hill.

The printing press where the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were run and sold. It's quite a process to get that many pages run back in the day!!

This bookstore/print shop is right on Main Street in Palmyra.

We also went and checked out the Eerie Canal. This is a pic our brother-in-law took of us standing on the bridge above the lock.
So super cool that we got to see the lock work!! Two boats were headed downstream and we watched the water drain out of the lock and the doors open to allow the boats passage downriver. This lock is over 100 years old!

Saying goodbye's to Aunt and Uncle and Grandma and Grandpa. And the fairgrounds. Even if we went again we don't know if we'd camp here. Between no privacy and noisy neighbors it was not our favorite camp spot. In fact, I'm pretty sure it would rank dead last. Oh well, it was cheap.
The Palmyra Temple. After we said goodbye's to family we drove up to the temple and hung out on the grass and read books for a while of peace and quiet downtime. We walked around the temple and enjoyed the beautiful gardens. Temple grounds are always so well kept and beautiful.

After a bit of downtime we drove for a ways before reaching the Peter Whitmer farm, which is where the LDS church was officially organized. We had our picnic lunch outside and then went into the visitor's center--which doubles as a meeting house, and the Whitmer log cabin home. There was entirely too much talking in the tour for our kids to listen longer than a couple minutes.