Who's that?

I thought you might like to see a picture of our family trick-or-treat adventure. Do you see the three of us in the picture?

This is our son being his usual goofy self. Do you think he gets this from his mom or dad?

new floor and mop head to go with it...

Hi all, I just wanted to share pictures of the floor that we replaced this past weekend. We just did linoleum in the kitchen and porch, but it looks really nice. (Thanks dad for helping us out!) Phil and I had the joy of the weekend to ourselves (Grandma and Grandpa H. took Wendell for the weekend) so we took the opportunity to get this last big project of the year done. We have some paint touch ups and then we'll be done with this project. We also had a date night Saturday night, went to a movie, out to eat, and cruised around like a couple of teenagers. We've already decided that we'll need to do this again soon!

The last picture is just a wild hair day, and no we didn't use this "mop head" to mop our new floor. Sometimes, Wendell's hair has a mind of it's own.. it's long over due for a haircut but when you get these wild hair days it's makes it hard to want to cut it short.

Who's that doggie in the window?

Ruff, ruff... it's Wendell, dressed in his Halloween costume. We had the joy of surprising my grandparents and a few other people as well. Phil and I also dressed up so when we knocked they didn't know who we were. Since we traveled an hour to see them without calling then they didn't expect us. I don't have any pictures of Phil and me in our costumes but my mom took some.. maybe I'll post them when I get a copy, depending on how dorky we look.

The second picture was just too funny not to grab the camera. Wendell and I went out to an apple orchard yesterday and this is what he did on his way home. I pulled 12 apples out of his car seat. I ordered a "bushel" of apples and really didn't know how much that was.. so now I have two boxes loaded up (you can see one of them in the picture) and a lot of work ahead of me. I'm hoping to make applesauce, apple pie and apple crisp. And hopefully freeze some apples for this winter. Let me know if you have any good recipes that includes apples.

** And no, this doggie is NOT for sale : )

What is a placemat?

According to Wikipedia a placemat is a protective table pad used to protect the dinner table from water marks, food stains or heat damage. Wendell had a different idea for his new Halloween placemat that he got from Grandma Val and Grandpa Jim. As soon as he got up from his nap and I showed it to him, he knew just what to do with it. Kids do the darnedest things.. what have your little ones done lately?

Our little helper's...

This weekend we played outside in the leaves and raked them all up, it's just too bad we didn't bag them too because they are now gone with the wind, our piles are pretty much gone. We had fun though.

Buster did his part by breaking down sticks for us.

Wendell decided to he was going to help out by raking, here he is with the BIG rake.

Here Wendell is getting a kick out the leaves, he enjoyed throwing them up and letting them fall on his face.

KWWL Channel 7 News Station

If you get a minute, you can watch this on KWWL channel 7. It will be on at random times.. possibly at the end of the noon news tomorrow (Wed.)

Update on my Life

Attached is my most recent favorite picture of Wendell... my little angel.

Recently, Wendell went out to a local farm fall festival and he got to touch hay bales (but didn't want to climb on them), he touched the pony (but didn't want to ride it), went on a hay ride (and amazing sat on my lap the whole time) and played with Kirby the Kangaroo. So that was a fun afternoon.

This past weekend we went to Davenport to see Phil's family. We had a nice relaxing time.

And I thought I'd take a moment to update all of you on my life. If you've kept up on my posts you will see that discipline and cleaning have been of concern lately. I agreed to do my 30 minutes of cleaning per day (see other post), and did quite well for a few days. I'd say my house is pretty organized right now, but there are still lots of projects that could be done... I know this will be a forever battle but if I do a little bit each day then I don't have to feel guilty (thanks for the advice Sarah!). I'm also looking forward to my parents taking Wendell for a few days as a mommy vacation is long overdue. As far as discipline goes... well the time outs continue to go well (he sits for them and it at least gives me a break). He continues to not listen to me when I am talking to him and this can be very frustrating. Yesterday morning didn't go so well, I had become quite frustrated because it seemed like I'd put one thing away and Wendell would pull two things out.. I was not making good progress with cleaning up and Wendell wasn't really helping matters. Basically, I got really angry and yelled him (because he wasn't following my directions nor listening). Of course, 3 seconds later, he's smiling like it never happened (and I'm red at a tomato with fire coming out of my ears). So I tell him very sternly " you need to listen to me" and point to my ears (did I mention I'm not very happy at this point). So what does he do?? He smiles his little happy grin and points to his ears like we're playing a game. Well, at least he doesn't hold grudges... I am learning that as a human, I become angry (even with my precious little child), and it's okay to be angry but sometimes I need to take a break and get some space... so the game plan for next time, is that instead of yelling at him, he will be going to his room (great idea Kathryn!) so I can cool off in a more loving manner. Any other ideas on how to deal with anger?