Our Bountiful Harvest

Here's a photo of another gardening project. This is the massive harvest of red peppers produced on our patio over the summer. I felt compelled to document the achievement because it was such a battle to get to this point. Anytime something attractive made an appearance on this plant, Bailey was drawn to it and would use her powers for evil by plucking all that was beautiful right off of the plant. At one point she even managed to snap the entire top layer off the poor plant. Needless to say all of this gardening drama led me to feel fairly heroic for eeking out three little peppers to play a role in our dinner one night. Some people have to worry about the deer getting their growable grub, I have to police my dainty daughter!

Tending Our Wannabee Garden...

About two years ago while we were still living in Maryland, my MOMS Club there had a speaker on organic gardening and all of the kids got to plant seeds. Hayden chose to plant Marigold seeds and his little flower just flourished in its teensy bathroom cup. This happened about the same time we were going to be visiting my folks so we brought his flower along and he planted it in my Mother's flower bed. Since then this plant has continued to grow like mad and got so large this year that my Mom divided it and sent some to our house. So I let H pick a spot to plant the beast.

Once I dug the hole, he and Bailey did such a nice job of working together to cover the roots with soil and pat everything down. We made a big production of watering once the dirty work was wrapped up. It should be interesting to see what come of this flora come springtime! It was alot of fun and we'll have to get the kids more involved with planting in the spring. Hopefully Bailey will do alot less tearing up of foliage...

Ready to Regulate...

Towards the end of October as soccer season was winding down a bit the kids curiousity about Daddy's big soccer bag seemed to overcome them. Hayden had figured out there were brightly colored flags inside and Bailey was unable to keep her busy fingers off of the many zippers and buttons around the big duffle of gear. So on the evening of October 26th Michael let them have a big soccer dressup party and they paraded around the house in their referee gear.

Hayden ran laps and danced around the family room while Bailey waved her flag wildly through the air.

And as they began to wear themselves out a bit, we were finally able to get our little ref's to pose together. What a way to fill an evening that was!

Puddin' on the Ritz

Just had to post these pics of Hayden and Bailey. One day in the middle of October everyone had just been very good and even eaten well so we treated ourselves to some chocolate pudding. Despite their highly decorated faces, I can vouch for the fact that most of the pudding made it to their tummies. In fact, every now and then I need to break out the pudding just to prove to myself and to Hayden that he can indeed painlessly use a spoon! Like many things in life, it's all about the motivation...

La, La, La, La - La, La, La, La Elmo's Pizza!

Sometime this fall, I came across directions for making Elmo Pizza. Both of my kidlets have loved this furry creature so that seemed like a great idea for lunch. On October 1oth, we scrubbed up and assembled our pizzas.

As you can see, they were a big hit with the MiniMarx's. Bailey kept saying "Emmoh" and naming his face parts. Hayden thought they were very silly. If you look real closely you can see that sneaky Mommy included a little spinach puree under the sauce. Luckily, the kids are a big fan of green as well so this worked out pretty nicely for all involved. We'll have to rustle up some pizza again one of these days!

Our Little Pumpkin...

On October 7th, Bailey and I dropped Sir Hayden off at preschool and scooted up to a local pumpkin patch for an outing with our MOMS Club. I took both kids on this trip last year and we had a grand old time. It was a special treat to have an outing with just Bailey. She was so tickled to wander at her own pace and explore the fall scenery. They have a cute little frame house that gets filled with pumpkins. The kids get a huge kick out of this sight. Bailey was looking festive and cozy in her hoodie from Grandma Joyce's trip to Ireland. That came just in time for our big outing, Thanks Grandma! So many pumpkins! Bailey thought they were just grand to pal around with.

Here's our BusyBee exploring the corn maze. She was so excited I almost didn't get the shot! After this we scurried off to take a hayride out to the official pumpkin picking patch.

Here is our girl posing as an Autumn Witch. Spooky!

Let them Eat Cake!

I have long been a fan of food that looks like something else. Birthdays are always the perfect chance for edible fun. Grandpa Ken got a cake topped by his favorite animal. Everytime Bailey sees this cake picture she starts wiggling her arms and making penguin noises. As you can see from the picture below, this cake made for some funny faces!

For my Dad's birthday this year, we made a tractor cake since he enjoys all things John Deere. Hayden got to add sprinkles to make the tractor extra festive.

While the cake was clearly a tractor, all of the adults got a kick out of the "Princess Leia" look created by the gigantic rear tires.

And lastly, here is a sweet pic of Bailey and my grandmother Mimi keeping busy while Hayden & I decorated the tractor cake. Michael and I both feel very fortunate that our kids have had a chance to know several of their Great Grandparents.

A Weekend at BlamMa & BlamPa's

The kids and I went to my folks for a visit during the first weekend of October 2008. Hayden and Bailey had both gotten into playing Hide and Seek so we started a round. Somehow, when they chose to hide behind the kitchen counter the game changed a bit. When I found them it had morphed into a little thing we chose to call Hide and Snack. That's really code for busted at the snack cabinet by Mommy and her camera!

Each year we have been forunate to spend lots of time pondering about the perfect Halloween costume. We have been even more fortunate that Ma is willing to make these imaginings come to life. This year H was pretty fascinated with watching his cotume come together. Thanks Mom!

There was some sort of community parade that weekend as well. Here's a fun pick of Bailey on one of her favorite perches...Pa!

Apple Pickin' Time

On September 28th, we found ourselves with a pleasant sunny weekend morning free of soccer for Michael. It is a rare warm weather treat to have the whole family home together so we gathered our things and headed out for an adventure. The kids and I had missed plans to visit a local orchard with our moms club and I still wanted to get the kids out for this excursion. This was the perfect opportunity and turned out to be great fun for all of us.

Bailey was ready to sink her teeth into the action right away. About this time she had just started saying the word apple but was also still using the sign for apple on a regular basis. In her excitement she couldn't stop saying and signing what she was surrounded by. Her enthusiasm was rather infectious.

The lady at the orchard was wonderful and fun to chat with. She seemed a bit out of a storybook sitting amidst the trees with her orchard attire and her adopted cats curled up around the apple picking gear. She gave us some kind of gadget with which to pick the apples that were up high and walked us all over the orchard explaining about the varieties to be found and asking what type of apples we were in search of. Not being much of an apple connoisseur (not to mention being the Mother of two pint sized snackers) I assured her that we would be pleased as punch to just pick red and green apples.

Hayden had tons of fun scampering about under the trees and found tons of apples at just the right height for a little fellow. He was very excited to be in an 'apple forest'. This was the best explanation Mommy and Daddy could cook up for the word Orchard.

Sweet Bailey wanted to share an apple with her Daddy.

After we filled our bag we wandered a bit and found a fun little bench for the kids to play on.

There was even a huge old tractor that the kids could climb on and 'drive'. H loved this! Bailey wasn't so sure of things but was willing to give it a go if Mama came along for the ride.
After a picnic lunch under the trees, we fed the horses and then strolled back down lovely country lane to find our car. Later that day, we had some fun trying out an apple pockets recipe that I found. We had such fun and can't wait to harvest some apples next year!

aPEARantly it was time to celebrate...

Sometime in September as H got used to helping with his calendar at home, he began to feel somewhat curious and then rather excited about his birthday which was all the way in November. So one afternoon in September after preschool, he constructed the delicacy above as I was preparing lunch. "Do you see Mommy? Do you see that it is my birthday?"

He then proceeded to exuberantly sing to himself and we had to blow out the grape tomato candle with much fanfare. If only all birthday cakes could be this healthy!

Box Car Children

Here's another fun pic of the MiniMarx's from September. Can you guess what they are playing? That's right...trains. Too bad there is not audio for this, Hayden narrated quite an extensive train journey while they played in the boxes. Long live cardboard!

A Potty Pro...Eventually

It was about this time last year that we began to more officially pursue a diaper free Hayden. That journey has certainly come with it's up and downs. Our biggest frustration has been that H just struggles to stop what he is doing and answer natures call. Ok, let's be honest -he's not struggling with it that much - we are!

So imagine how pleased I was when we were all puttering downstairs today on our own individual projects and I hear him taking care of business. I wandered in and asked what he was doing on the potty when I hadn't told him it was time to take a break. He matter of factly let me know that his body told him and so he went. HOOORAY!!!! This is a wonderful and uncommon gift from my boy. I told him I just might have to call Daddy and tell him how proud I was of Hayden's good choices. So I did this within earshot of my dear child to let him overhear me brag about his super duper choices and he was visibly pleased with the whole situation.

After quiet time I picked him up and he announced his desire to go downstairs but only after he went potty first. Ahhhh, the porcelain gods were smiling on us big time today! We talked more about how good he should feel inside about taking care of himself. He looked at me and said, "Mommy would this make Daddy smile and feel happy?"

I assured him that it indeed would and he said, "Would it make Daddy really happy - from his buffers to his funnel?" He repeated this while gesturing from his toes to his head to help me understand how his train example pertained to mere mortals. I laughed and agreed that it would indeed make Daddy that happy. It continues to amaze us how his passion for all things locomotive can permeate just about every facet of his existence.

And then just to keep the universe (or my perspective on it) in check, our attempts at quiet celebration failed since we woke poor Bailey up with our excited whispers. Drat!

Dress Up Time...

Here is a fun pic of Miss Bailey in September. She had just started a phase where dress up seemed like the thing to do and decided to put on one of Mommy's shirts all by herself. I was getting Hayden settled in the bath and saw this little purple shadow drift passed the bathroom. This is what I found when I went to take a closer look. We are now officially working on our dress up collection so that she has better options. Of course, everything will work better once she figures out how to get her arms in the sleeves independently!

Expendable Maternal One

So this afternoon after putting Bailey down for her nap, I popped into H's room to help him get started with quiet time. He felt a strong need to put together a new train track so we decided to skip storytime and set him up.

While I was getting Bailey all set, Hayden was scouring the house for coaches. Apparantly this morning he decided that since Douglas is engine number 9, Douglas required 9 coaches. We have alot of trains at our house but 9 coaches sounded like I tall order to me so I suggested he consider drafting scrap and box cars to help out as well. This kept him running for a bit and by the time Bailey was in her crib he had nine "coaches" as well as a red caboose. Hooray!

So we set to work creating a track with multiple bridges and loops to keep things interesting. When all was complete, Hayden was most satisified and complimented me on my efforts. Hooray again! Then he abruptly informed me that I could stay and watch Douglas drive his coaches over the bridge and after that I had to leave right away. Huh? So I watched him chuff around and then as Douglas approached the first bridge Hayden looked up and said....

"You can go now Mommy, I am all done with you."

I will freely admit that I had lots of plans for myself during his quiet time so I was willing to scoot. However, I was fully expecting to scoot on my own terms not his. What a jolt for an apparantly expendable Mommy to take! We'll just see who he calls on if Douglas and his 8 bazillion coaches derail.....

Not So Best Foot Forward...

I have known for some time that Bailey plans to lead Michael and I on quite a merry chase as we do our darndest to mold her into a good and productive citizen. This past September gave me a chance to document her early attempts at rebellion. I do realize that my attempts at discipline would probably be more effective if I didn't stop to take photographs but sometimes it can't be helped.Like many families with youngins' we are making an effort to eat at the table as a family. All of the books and articles tell us this will keep us close and happy. These experts are clearly not dining at our abode! Bailey went through a less than exotic phase were she was quite certain that her feet ought to be propped on the table regardless of any epicurian events on the schedule. YUCK! She was reminded, prodded, cajoled - you name it and these photos are her determined response to parental guidance.

I guess sometimes you put your metaphorical foot down by putting your literal foot up. Yep - in a decade or so things will really be lively!

Creature Feature...

In the middle of September, we had the chance to go to a local animal rescue/mini-zoo with our playgroup friends for a birthday party. All of the kids got a bag of carrots to share with the animals and we had a blast just moseying through the facility.

Hayden found a fun frog statuette to play on...

Bailey had a few close encounters with the llamas. I must say they found her pineapple pigtail to be quite the temptation! More than one Mommy helped keep our Busybee from having an exotic haircut!

Bailey had lots of fun feeding the animals but needed some coaxing to let go of the carrot at times.

And finally here's are my bundles of joy taking in the scenery. What a fun day with the wildlife! it was a kick to watch the kids react to the many creatures we got to greet.

Press Play on Words...

Well, we continue to battle germs at Casa Marx. Along with the germ warfare comes the inevitable movie marathon. This morning during Bambi, I snuck upstairs to grab a few things and Miss Bailey followed. She very much wanted to take a bath and who am I to deny her a chance to decontaminate? So we got that going.

Not much later, Sir Hayden ambled up muttering about soem technical difficulty. As he rounded the corner to the bathroom I heard his pleas more clearly, "Mama, pleeeeease can I watch the bonus feet? I just really want to watch the bonus feet."

Haha!!! Yesterday Michael found an aged minicartoon about an old mill on the bonus features. It was chock full animated o'slapstick and had Hayden in stitches. He just couldn't figure out how to get to it on his own. So I assured him that he could choose a few upstairs toys to play with as we finished up Miss B's bathtime and then we could explore the 'bonus feet'.

In no time at all we were done with bathtime... Bailey announced "Poop in Water Mama, Poop in Water...." We wrapped up the soak lickity split!

Bailey Busts BoBo

Yesterday morning while Hayden was at school Miss Bailey and I curled up to watch some inauguration coverage. She is battling a cold and was content to curl up with me while I caught some actual grown up news. After a bit she did decide to check out happenings in the kitchen and found BoBo grooming on the area rug.

Miss B planted both feet and gave the poor beleagured feline a rather harsh face. And then her little speech began...

No BoBo - No, No! No Eat pfeet!

She carried on for another minute or so but switched back to 100% Bailey-ese, which I am unable to adequately capture in this format. Suffice it to say that poor BoBo was most certainly put in his place for grooming his paws in the prescence of Princess Busybee.

My Country Tis'... the Season?

As we were getting our day started Tuesday, it occured to me that on this rather momentous day in the history of our country I should help Hayden understand a teensy bit about what was happening in America. With that in mind I struck up the following conversation during his morning potty break...

A: Hayden, today is a very big day for America.

H: It is? Why Mommy?

A: Well, today we are getting a new president. His name is...

H: What is it? What is it Mommy? I want to open it!

A: Oh honey, not present. Prez-ih-dent!

H: What is it? Can I have one?

A: Yes you can have a president. A president is the person in charge of America. It is alot of work.

H: Like Miss Diane at St. John Preschool?

A: Sure, a bit like that. Miss Diane is sort of the President of St. John Preschool. And Barack Obama is going to the the Miss Diane for America.

And that my friends is Civics 0.101!

Notions that are Out of this World..

Yesterday morning as we scurried through our morning routine Hayden managed to give me a much needed good giggle. As we cruised down our country road to drop him off at preschool we got to chatting about the weather. I remarked that it sure was a gray day and that I didn't think we would see much sunshine. Hayden agreed and added that we could even say it was a cloudy day. As I complimented him on his accurate weather forefast the wheels in his little noggin kept a turnin'. He said, "Mommy, I think -- I - I think that the cold from Pluto is coming down to Earth and making us cold. That's what I think is happening."

We have a book on outer space that has been an occaisional bedtime read. He was fascinated earlier this month with the idea that things close to the sun are hot and things far away from the sun are very cold. This concept must have stuck with him and surfaced on our morning drive.

So naturally I cracked up and then Sir Hayden felt pretty proud of himself, "Mommy I know how to make you giggle. I can make you giggle and that makes you happy!" I agreed and thanked him profusely for the funny observations.

Hayden the Wannabe Night Owl

Like many kidlets, Hayden and Bailey have a fondness for animals. We have enjoyed two different Nature magazines subscriptions as gifts from Uncle Jake and my folks. They are apparently helping us do more that pass the time as evidenced by my conversation with H this afternoon.

After lunch, Bailey did her new favorite thing while I was trying to clean up, she tugged at my sleeve, pulled me into the family room, pushed me towards the sofa and in a firm but throaty little voice said "Sit Mama, sit sit." Once I complied she scampered up, sat down right next to me and rested her little hand on my leg. Very sweet. So we snuggled and bit and Hayden was not far behind. Pretty soon we were all huddled up on the love seat and being the crafty mom that I am, I suggested we take a quick pretend nap. Hooray!

After a few mock snores, Hayden says to me, "Mama, I want to sleep all day. Can we sleep all day while it is light out?" Before I could respond to this, (I was busy censoring myself. I wanted so badly to get on board with that plan but knew that it would come with dire night time consequences) H tosses out the zinger...

Mommy, please can we be a nocturnal family? I want to be a nocturnal family like the owls. Then we can stay up allllll night."

So, I smiled and kissed his silly face. I assured him that I would give this idea some serious thought since it was so creative and then ushered him upstairs for naptime. He didn't seem to see the irony in that.

S'more Trouble for Bailey Boo

No, this post is not about Christmas. Yes, I know that it is not caught up. I am at least three holidays behind at this point but let's examine some day to day fun anyhow...

I am hosting a gathering for our neighborhood Bunco group tomorrow evening and have been preparing a few edibles to share. This afternoon I mixed up the ingredients for a Chocolate Chip Cookie Ball while each of our offspring was either napping or pretending to nap. Being the uber-focused gal that I am I neglected to pack up the extra minichips when I headed upstairs to retrieve the snuggliest noisemakers around. Thank heavens they were mini, read on for that explanation...

Not surprisingly it took about 3 milliseconds for the MiniMarx's to find the minichips. This was certainly not the "Explore the Inside of a Giant Grapefruit" snack that we discussed after lunch. But in the interest of harmony, I agreed that a few would be no biggie as long as we forged ahead with the original fruity gameplan.

Somewhere along the line, things happened that I did not observe with my own two eyes. Somewhere along the line, the kids decided to rough around in the family room and I saw something stuck in Bailey's hair. Not so alarming, there is often more stuff than hair with my walking, talking Glamour Don't (typed with much love). At some point I wandered over, encouraged everyone to settle down a bit and pulled some melted chocolate out of Bailey's hair. Again, not shocking given the way snacktime went. Other than feeling it was a waste of decent chocolate I was rather unperturbed by the sugary discovery.

That is until later this evening when I was assisting with a delicate playdough extruder procedure. I glanced at my sweet daughter and thought perhaps she had gotten a wee bloody nose during the great sofa smackdown. No biggie - this can be cleaned up and obviously didn't bother her enough to fuss earlier. Since I am such a veteran Mom now, I gave her schnoz a quick sweep with my pinkie fingernail to remedy things.

What do I find? A gooey mess! Goshdarnit - my delicate flower has finally gone and shoved something up her nose. I knew this day was coming, and now that it is here I would like to say.....

Thank you Bailey Sue for stuffing your sweet little nostril with something that melts! Kisses for everyone!!!

And by kisses I don't mean Hershey's, clearly that would be ill advised at our house right now.

She's Got Alot of Pluck for a Little Gal...

So I am thinking that one of my New Year's Resolutions ought to be more alone time at the bathroom sink. Why, you ask? I am certain it is obvious that every Mother of little ones craves privacy in all its forms but this goes beyond your typical Mommy craving. This morning Bailey was playing with the tongs from the toy kitchen. She sauntered on over to me (It turns out there is no age limit on sauntering.) climbed up on my lap and proceeded with an attempt to shape my eyebrows with what to her seemed like an enormous tweezer. Lovely! Not the makeover I was looking for but I appreciate the crafty love that was shown nonethelesss...