A trip to the pumpkin patch

We signed up to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm this summer. Every Thursday we picked up a bag of fresh produce from the farm at our local farmer's market. The farm invited all of their customers (are we "share" holders?) to the farm for a day to see where they grow our stuff and to pick out pumpkins from their pumpkin patch.



After reviewing my photos, I didn't get that many. Hmmm......must have something to do with these three kids that keep following me around! Here's what I did get:

Everyone loves inflatables, right?

Our first stop was their hay barn. I guess that's what it was. A big barn - full of hay. 8 ) They had bales of hay spread out to make a track and little tricycles that the kids could ride around on. One of my girls was too big and one of my girls was too little.

Too big, huh? Not on your life!

If only I could reach the pedals!

There was also a maze made out of hay bales and some hay bales that you could climb on. EasternStar wasn't too sure about walking on the hay. I think she was a little unsure because it was slippery and uneven. She's not too keen on uneven surfaces. She was willing to climb up and take a picture with Daddy though.

Cheese!

Then we went to the animal barn. TinyDancer deemed this "stinky" and insisted that we leave immediately. 8 )

They had pony rides, but EasternStar is terrified of ponies (up close, but she likes to look at them from far away) and TinyDancer is still reeling from almost falling off of the horse the last time that she rode one (don't get me started on that debacle). So, if was off to wait for the tractor ride. Don't the look excited to be waiting for the tractor?

Wheeeeeeeen is it going to beeeee heeeeerrrreeeee?
Can't you just hear them? 8 )

RainbowBaby was not excited at all to be on the tractor ride:

You can't take a baby on a hay ride!

It was fun to see the farm and to pick our pumpkins fresh off of the vine. Somehow, I don't have a picture of the pumpkins. Guess you'll have to wait for Halloween and see them carved. 8 )

Classy!

You know you are raising some neat eaters when your oldest stands up during dinner, tilts her chair and exclaims "I've got to get some of these crumbs off of my chair", brushes off the offending crumbs onto the floor and then sits down to resume eating.

Classy!

Paper bag pumpkins

A few days ago we started on some decorations for Halloween. This craft was making pumpkins for our mantel using brown paper bags. We painted the bags orange (obviously) and used popsicle sticks for the stems.

I am so proud of EasternStar! She helped to stuff the bags and then tie them with green pipe cleaners. Then when I busted out the paint, she knew just what to do. She had her own ideas of how to paint - dip the brush in the water, then the paint, then the water again. 8 ) But, she got the job done in her own way.


We have four cute pumpkin bags on our mantel. One for each of my darling pumpkins. 8 )

Look at how proud she is!!

Beautiful work baby girl!

Matching jammies!

What's more fun than leopard print???



PINK LEOPARD PRINT!!!



How about three sets of pink leopard print??



The girls love their matching jammies. Stay tuned for their Halloween jammies. Hopefully we'll have a photo shoot this week.

Notice how RainbowBaby is always on alert when she is photographed with her sisters. Hee hee hee!

3

Every year October seems to sneak in. And with it comes the increase in the neverending ache. The grief. The girl we were only meant to know for a short while. The what ifs and the why nots. The foot stomping and the heart breaking all over again. The desire to lay down and throw the mother of all tantrums. Would it help to roll around and pound my fists into the ground like EasternStar does? The heaviness as we force our bodies to plod through the day. Focus on the chores that need to be done. Focus on meeting the need of the child that is standing in front of you and crying. Focus on checking off the tasks so that you can make it through the day. The days grow shorter and our bodies grow heavier. It could be seasonal drepression - 'cept that this always used to be our favorite time of year. We used to be in our element - energized by the crisp air, the falling leaves, the hint of wood burning in the air. Now we just feel tired and old. Old. Tired. If we can just make it to November we'll be ok. Don't think about what we should be doing. What would we get her for her birthday? Which weekend would we have her party? What would she be into?



Even without consciously thinking about it our bodies feel it. Why do I feel so crappy? You look a the calendar. And it hits you. It's coming. Even TinyDancer feels it. Out of the blue, after days or weeks without mentioning her, SleepingAngel becomes the center of her artwork. Suddenly, where she drew princesses and castles; now she draws angels. Lots of angels. Only angels. Are you talking about angels in school? No. I just felt like drawing them. The focus of her questions. What is she doing up in Heaven? Is she watching us?


Three.


Three years today. Is it three years old today? Do you say that someone is three years old if they died at only two weeks?


There has been healing for us. Finding our daughter EasternStar, giving birth to RainbowBaby. There has been healing. But some wounds never heal completely. Call me greedy, but I want all three of them. Why couldn't we have all three of them. Together. How much fun would it have been to have all four of them?

Happy Birthday sweet baby.

We love you. We miss you. We wait to spend an eternity with you.

6 Months Old!

Can you believe that RainbowBaby is 6 months old already? Me neither!

She is the perfect baby - easy going enough to be drug all over town for her older sister's activities with just a touch of crankiness to keep us on our toes.


Here are some fun facts that we've learned about her:

- Stranger took her to the doctor today for her 6 month visit and she is cruising along in the 10% percentile for weight. What a change! TinyDancer was always at the top - between 90th and 95th!
- She loves to sing and dance. Most night she sings for her supper.
- She can fall asleep just about anywhere! A good trait for the youngest!
- She can eat her weight in squash.
- Carrots make her spit up. Good times! 8 )
- She prefers to be held facing outward. Gotta stay on alert! You never know when big sisters will attack with kisses.
- She has learned to roll in all directions and uses it as a means to get around.
- She loves her bath and could stay in the tub all night. A girl after my own heart.

Here are some recent pictures:

Lounging while EasternStar does a dance for her.

Just finished dinner. Pardon the squash on my shirt!

A new stage....

We've reached a new stage in our house.....it's called "Crayon in the nose". For the past two days, every time EasternStar has colored, something has ended up in her nose.

I really want to take a picture but that would only encourage her more. 8 )

Princesses

I love coming home to this! RainbowBaby can't wait to particiate. They try to include her now but she usually just drops her wand and cries. 8 )

Super girl

EasternStar has recently started a super hero phase. I love to her her say "Super (her name)." Cracks me up every time!

Apple picking

Last weekend we went apple picking. The girls had a blast and we ended up with 50 lbs of apples. That's a lot of apples!!



So far we've made 14 pints of homemade applesauce and about 3 gallons of apple juice. I'm planning to also make a few pies. I hope the pies last until Thanksgiving. I might have to store them at my moms house to make that happen. Stranger is a big fan of pie! Although my dad likes pie more than Stranger likes pie, so the pies might not be safe anywhere! Poor pies!




EasternStar was much more excited about the apple picking than she was about strawberry picking. Apples are one of her favorite foods! I think she ate two or three right off of the tree. She was not happy about walking on all of the apples that had fallen off of the tree though. All of that uneven terrain was good PT though! 8 )

Success!! Can I eat it now?

RainbowBaby had a good time hanging out in the wagon.

TinyDancer found "the best" apple for pie making

Yum!!

Just waiting to be picked.

1/2 bushel of apples - enough to make 14 pints of applesauce!

A pot full of baby!

When babies attack!

It might be time to retire the bouncy seat soon!

A most inconvenient place to sleep

What do you think would be the most inconvenient place for your child to fall asleep?

On your lap? Maybe.




On your lap while you are going potty? Hmmm......that would be pretty inconvenient.




On your lap while you are going potty in a public restroom?? BINGO!!!!!



On Saturday, the company that Stranger and I work for had their company picnic. Our company is HUGE - over 10,000 employees and the picnic was at a local amusement park. Because of other activities that we had going that day, we let EasternStar skip her nap and headed out to the park in the early afternoon.

After a few hours of walking in the humidity and the excitement of riding the rides, EasternStar was done! I dashed into the potty as we were packing up to go. She climbed into my lap, shouted "Loud!" (not me - the bathroom had those hand dryers that sound like jet engines), put her head down and fell asleep!

That's a cool feeling!

I sat there for a few minutes, dumbfounded. I called Stranger but all he had to offer was chuckles.

She was tired as she slept through the finishing up, hand washing, and the trek back to the stroller and being fastened in the stroller.




Next time, I'm going solo!!

Knock knock!!

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?


Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?


Knock knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?

Orange you glad I'm so cute?

Potty training - Day 1 - Recap

Sooo, potty training today only lasted about 3.5 hours. Our stats weren't too good - 3 hits and 7 misses. At least towards the end, EasternStar realized that she was peeing, so I guess that is progress.

We were going every 10 minutes, so I think what hurt our stats is that the volume wasn't very much. If she's not emptying her bladder, is that a sign that she isn't ready? Hmmm..... Even the accidents were very small volume.

You'd think with a pediatrician for a husband that he'd be able to offer some insight. But, you'd be wrong. Seven years of medical education and I'll be consulting a book - or better yet, my neighbor that's trained her three boys! 8 )

Mommy bliss!

Mommy bliss - everyone sleeping at the same time!!!


Yay!!!