Fall

I love fall. Correction, we love fall. It is one of those things that Dave and I see eye to eye on. Everything about it leaves me with a warm and cozy feeling. The colors, the sounds, the smells, the food, the laughter. This year especially the laughter. Ben doesn't eat candy and really doesn't like scary so the Halloween part of fall has not been a big deal for him in years past. Not this year! This year he loves to dress up, loves to pretend, loves to say "trick or treat", loves getting the treats and loves showing Kiera how to do all of it. She is taking his lead and is having a ball. One of the fun things about this year is that they don't care what they get. We have two treat bags that they haven't even looked into. They don't eat the candy and play with only a couple of the toys. When I asked if we should share some of our toys they said yeah. It is Halloween for the fun of it!

We started early this year with trips to the orchard and then moved right into a Halloween train ride. What a blast! It was a really cool old train that made me think of movies about the 1920's. It was geared toward preschool age children with fun, singing (not scary) witches and snacks. The ride was an hour long which turned out to be perfect. When we pulled back into the station the kids were still excited to be on a train. It didn't hurt that we had a ton of friends there too.

Our next adventure took us to the Zoo. I have never done this before and I am so glad that we did! The Zoo that we visit the most has a couple days of Halloween fun for older kids and about three years ago started two days just for preschoolers. Again, nothing scary. We got to trick or treat and see monkeys all in one day! Who could ask for anything more. Dave got to go with us so it was that much more fun.

Today was our busiest day yet. We had two parties to go to and were determined to make it to both. We made it to the barn where Ben has Hippotherapy and got to see a few friends from our initial CP support group that we haven't seen in a while as well as some school friends. Then we dashed off to my sisters for pumpkin carving. This is now a tradition and one of our favorite events of the year. There were thirteen of us this year and the rule is everyone has to carve a pumpkin. Ben and Kiera had goopy pumpkin hands, very briefly, but they gave it a try and we all were treated to the wonderful smells of fall comfort food. Ahh... the fall.

AHH! THE FALL! We had been lulled into cozy complacency (it has been 4 days since I "found" the hair clip Kiera swallowed) and Ben took a header into a chair. We are pretty sure that it was a pumpkin related injury because it happened at the edge of the pumpkin carving table. Just slip and bam! Five minutes later we were in the local ER for our first parental stitches. It occurred to me when we got there how amazing it is that we have never had stitches before. With all of the falling and lack of reflexes, you would think that at 4 1/2 we might have already traveled this road. No, this is a first. So now he has 6 stitches right above his eyebrow. It wasn't fun. Let me say that again, IT WASN'T FUN. He got it together really well by the time we got to the hospital (3 blocks away) and as soon as the stitches were done he calmed right down again. He was a trouper, but boy was he mad. Thankfully, mad at the stitcher and not us. We made it back in time for dinner and pumpkin lighting then took our exhausted selves home.

Three days until Halloween ; )

Shannon and Dave

Shannon and Dave. These are two words rarely spoken with out the addition of "Ben and Kiera". Even more rarely would you hear "Shannon and Dave are out of town."

In fact it has been three years. Three years since Dave and I have been away for a weekend together. The last time was a bit good (the away part) and a bit bad (the coming home part). Ben was 18 months old and decided to pay us back for leaving him to suffer with my wonderful, doting, loving, Ben worshiping sister. He hit us where it hurt- for Mama he decided that eating was an option and for Daddy he decided not to hug, talk to or even look at him for about two weeks. We were all (accept my sister who had a great time with Ben) a bit scarred by the experience.

It took us a while to figure out how to leave not one but two children, but Dave worked it out. Behind my back. And happy anniversary, we were on our way to a cozy cabin in the Michigan woods overlooking a beautiful little lake edged in fall colors. It was fantastic. We enjoyed every moment of just us. No stress, no bills, no projects to catch up on, no house work, no crying. We had a minute to have a conversation and actually found each other interesting. We had fun, just to two of us. Then, 43 hours after we left, we got to scoop up our kids and love all over them again. A wonderful weekend!

UMMMMMMM.....

And this is what happens when you put away laundry and your daughter figures out that she can climb the trim on the cupboards to get what she wants off the counter.

When I walked around the corner (she was being really quiet) she jumped and said "uh-oh! Mommy hiccups on the floor". I have come to learn that hiccups are in fact makeup and not easy to wash off a little girl. The sharpies were all me. The hiccups, all her. After today if she did it again THEN I would take responsibility but you just can't predict when your children are going to learn to climb walls.

Ben was helping me put away the laundry, came into the kitchen, took one look at Kiera and RAN to her saying "Kiera what happened? Are you OK?" He was really worried until I told him what had happened. Then he looked at her and said "Kiera just dirty. Kiera dirty and in big trouble." He thought it was pretty funny. So do I. Now. Ask me again when I try to get the "warmth" off my carpet.

Ummm...

This is what happens when you leave 2 Sharpies out and leave Hubby at home with the kids. That is, if you have a great Hubby that tries to get laundry done so you don't have to think about it. At least Kiera has the grace to look sheepish. If you can believe it, Dave took these pics then CLEANED THE WHOLE FLOOR so that I wouldn't have to. Am I the luckiest wife ever? Love you Dave!