A big brother who reads...

The BEST thing about having a big brother who can read, is that he can read stories to his little sisters!

Thanksgiving Prep

The night before Thanksgiving we started some of our meal prep for the next day. Aaron and Claire helped me make cranberry salad, a family tradition receipe, using Grandma's old crank grinder to grind the fresh cranberries. Aaron even said, "Hey, I remember this from last year!"

After they had baths, they came back to the kitchen to help with the pies...pecan and (fresh) pumpkin. Even Hannah pulled a seat up to the counter.






I really don't like this picture...it was the end of a long day filled with doctor's visits, antibiotics, and cold medicine, and I looked terrible. But, since I'm rarely in pictures, I guess I'll treasure this one.


I love Hannah's face in this one. Huh? She looks so much like her dad!


Sweet sisters!




My kids are the best!

Hannah's latest milestones

Hannah is growing so much. She has changed so much!

She is officially a hip baby...she loves for me to carry her around just slung over on my hip. My favorite onesie is one Claire had that has a stick mom wearing sunglasses and carrying a cute purse, holding a baby on her hip. The shirt says "My Mom's Hip". Love it! And now Hannah fits into it! (I love all of those shirt designs...I want to get Claire one that says "Drama Queen"!)

About a week and a half ago I let Hannah try rice cereal for the first time. We started with it really runny and she liked it, and gradually I've been making it thicker so it's easier for her to eat.

The first bite...


She wasn't so sure at first, but once she really liked it I let the kids have a turn feeding her.


Look how she reached for it!




Now she is moving on to sweet potatoes, which she seems to really like. She tried applesauce once last week and liked it, too. Here's hoping she continues to be an eager eater!

She also is learning to sit up by herself. I'm so proud! I tried to capture some pictures of this a couple of days ago when Claire and I were playing in her room.

This first one cracks me up--Hannah had started falling over just as I snapped the picture. Don't worry--I caught her!



The next time she fell Claire caught her.


Then I realized that sitting in a wet diaper makes it a bit hard to balance, so we changed her diaper and tried again.

Claire loves to hold her.


Claire scooted back (and started sucking her thumb!) so Hannah could sit up by herself.


Here she is playing the Dora game with Claire.


This one is blurry but I love her facial expression!

The best robot ever

Today during rest time Aaron wanted to make his Christmas list. At the top of the list he decided to put "Robot". I asked him what the robot should do, and he said, "I want it to be able to make food so you don't have to." Then he batted his long eyelashes at me and grinned. It melted my heart!

But then I realized Santa can't deliver a robot that makes food, so I told him, "Awww, that's sweet, but I like to make food."

Then he said, "Then I want it to be able to do all my chores." Ha! Smart kid!

The spelling phase

I vividly remember my younger brother going through a phase where he spelled words instead of saying them. Well, Aaron has entered that phase. He spells so many words it makes me laugh. Of course he knows "N-O" and "Y-E-S" and all the color words, and some words he sounds out to spell instead of saying them.

And of course, guess who follows suit? His adoring 3-year-old sister. She really does think she's as smart as a five-year-old.

Yesterday I was nursing Hannah in her bedroom with the door closed, trying to keep it quiet so she could go to sleep. I heard the kids playing, and then a bang and Claire started crying and yelling. I could hear her running to the back of the house, yelling, "NO! You're NOT sorry Aaron!" He said, "Y-E-S, I am, Claire, I'm sorry!" and Claire screamed, "N-O you're NOT sorry!" Then they got into a "Y-E-S" and "N-O" yelling match.

If not for all the yelling, it would have been a moment to make a mama proud. (They really do love each other!)

Aaron's Kindergarten picture

I can hardly believe my baby boy is big enough for a real school picture. He just looks so big!

The zip line

A few months ago, Chris scored 3 spools of metal cable from work--they were going to throw it away so he brought him home. He didn't have any immediate plans for it, but then his wheels started turning. He and his dad concocted a plan to build a zip line through the woods at his parents' house. His dad is also building an enormous tree house to go along with this. He has plans for a firepole, a rock wall, rustic wood siding, a porch with cedar railing, and lots of other fun stuff. I can't wait to see the finished product. The kids are going to enjoy the treehouse for many many years!

Back to the zip line...last weekend Chris spent the day out there working on it, and I was shocked when he called late in the day and told me it was done! He and his dad had already tested it, and they were hooking up his mom for a ride!

The next day after Sunday naps, we headed out to try it. First Chris demonstrated how to ride it with just the handlebars. This is just for the grownups.



Aaron could hardly wait for his turn. We harnessed him up...



...and he climbed the ladder. The ladder is temporary until the treehouse platform is built. You can see the 4 steel beams that make the perimeter of the playhouse.


Aaron was a bit hesitant at first. He really wanted to do it but he was scared to let go.



When he finally did he had so much fun! I didn't get to video the 1st run, but I did get his 2nd run on video! He freaked out because he turned backwards during the run so he couldn't see where he was headed. I think Chris is going to work that out.

Then it was my turn. Do you know that ladder is TALL?




I insisted on using the harness, as I didn't want to break my leg or anything. It really is fun!


I also turned backwards, which made the end interesting. Pa was at the end to stop me from running into the tree where the zip line ends. They still have some finishing touches to make on the ride...such as a better way to STOP! But for now it's alot of fun! Aaron rode it about 8 times that day and can't wait to try it more!

Hannah is 5 months old!

I can hardly believe Hannah is already 5 months old. That's only one month from being half-a-year old. In another 5 months, she'll be crawling, talking, eating solid food...make the growing stop!! She's about to start eating food, sitting on her own, crawling...all things that I'm just going to pretend aren't really happening. I want to keep her little! (If I could get more sleep...)

She is growing and changing so much. She rolls belly to back all the time. Most of the time when I get her up from naps she is on her back kicking her feet around in the air. In this picture I tried to capture a cute belly shot, but she rolled before I could snap it...




She loves to chew on our fingers. The kids think this is just hilarious. She is getting more skilled with using her hands. She can pick up little toys and bring them to her mouth, and is learning how to put her own paci in her mouth. We're about to have to get more vigilent about the big kids' little toys that seem to always be all over the house.

She loves to stick her tongue out. I'm not sure if that's a milestone or what but she does it all the time.


I did let her taste a banana one day...I was eating one while she sat on my hip (another milestone...she's getting to be a hip baby now!) and she kept watching me bring it to my mouth, so I let her taste a little bit. She really liked it and kept diving for more. The next day I let her sit in her Bumbo seat and try it more...






So I guess in a couple of weeks I'll start the traditional regimine of rice cereal and then start adding new foods every week or so. Hopefully she'll be an eager eater.

She's on a pretty decent, predictable schedule. She naps about 3 times a day, and nurses every 3-4 hours during the day. Nights are touch-and-go. Lately she's been grumpy with a little cold, so it's hard to say how well she's sleeping. Some nights she's up several times and some nights she sleeps longer. I just keep remembering that one day she'll sleep 12 solid hours (if she's anything like my other two) and I will barely remember these sleep deprived days!

Pre-Halloween Fun

I just realized I forgot to post pictures from our pre-Halloween festivities. Since when did Halloween turn into a week-long celebration?

We always love attending the fall festival at church. They have trunk-or-treat, bounce houses, a train, and more. Mostly I just love visiting with people. I used to love to get my little cousin to take before we had kids so I had an excuse to go.

Here are the kids in their full costumes. Aaron is a fireman in a fire truck, and Claire is a princess riding a unicorn.



They like to do sideways pictures to mess up my photo ops.



Claire lost the unicorn pretty quickly as it tripped her up just after this picture. Luckily Mammaw had a Dora band-aid in her purse.

The firetruck was a last minute labor of love. I had known for a full year that Aaron wanted to be a firetruck, after the roaring success of his garbage truck costume last year. Of course I waited until the day of the fall festival to throw it together, but it came out quite nicely! It's two cardboard boxes held together with box rivets, then spray painted and accessorized. It took most of my Saturday to make, but we had a good time doing it.

Aaron kept requesting all kinds of accessories for the truck. This is his water hose, which is rolled up construction paper covered in aluminum foil.


We velcroed some fireman accessories he had bought at Dollar Tree to the sides and back...






There were actually two other firetrucks at the fall festival! What are the chances of that?


Claire is a choosy trick-or-treater.


Isn't my princess pretty?


Hannah happily hung out in her stroller. I never actually got her costume on that day...I had too much other stuff going on.



There was a DORA bounce house!!


Claire and her best friend, the spider!






(Check out Claire's braids...those are her first french braids!)

Mammaw came to the festival for a little while to see the kids...


What a fun day! Here are all the pictures...