Seen and Heard Lately

Thought I'd throw together some of what has been going on the past couple of months. Don't want to leave anything out. And since I'm never going to feel like I'm caught up on much in life right now...maybe if I was caught up with my blog, I would feel maybe a little sense of completion.The Branson branch of our family came down to meet their new little doggie cousins. This is Owen with Ghetti.

And Grace with Roni. These kids have been wanting a pet as much as my kids have...and their parents had been wrestling with the idea of getting one - for their kids' sake. Their mom was convinced they were going to get them a cat (because a cat is a little less needy, a little less work). They hadn't been here five minutes when their mother (and kids, too...as my brother stood off to the side, shaking his head...although, he DID sneak in some puppy lovin', too) was convinced this was just the kind of pup they needed, too. (And they are now the proud owners of Ghetti and Roni's brother, Ethan...:)...we can't wait for them to all play together!)

Sissy and Clara - cute, little cousin pals. This is just a still from our new video recorder. And one of these days, we WILL learn how to post some videos on here.

My nephew Pierson couldn't have drawn on a more perfect black bean goatee. The kid loves beans.

Cary, Winnie, and Rush also got to meet their doggie relatives the weekend they were here. Too bad Puddy missed out on the fun.

look at that little face

How could I have failed to mention the Chicago Diner cheesecake my sister brought with her from Whole Foods in St. Louis?! Thank you, again!
I didn't want to leave little Rushie out of this post.

In not so cute puppy news...they are like completely different dogs when they are soaking wet from their bath. I told the kids it's just like in Harry the Dirty Dog (Harry gets so dirty they don't recognize him; they think he's another dog and go out looking for their dog.). If I didn't know any better, I would never assume these were ours.

Here we are excited about our 15 pounds of Daiya cheese we got in the mail. I seriously cannot keep Sissy from making these crazy faces in pictures sometimes. She and Dash are experts in absurd faces. We also had to try Allison's Gourmet Fudge...since we were paying for the freezer pack with shipping anyway. It was yummy. I probably wouldn't order it again just because it tastes like fudge I can make. What I WOULD order again (so if anyone needs a Christmas idea, hint, hint) is Allison's Gourmet Almond Toffee. Mmm.

Sis has learned at school to associate stickers placed on the body as a positive thing. They get a sticker on their hand as they're leaving if they had good behavior. Now she often wants a sticker on her hand. And one day, she wore these around on her face all day.
THIS is what we saw on the road in front of our house. I'm surprised Dash didn't want to scoop it up and bring it inside. You're never coming to our house again, are you, Lori?

THIS was the first day in awhile that didn't require coats or umbrellas. I insisted that we go outside and soak in the goodness...and again, today I sit here, looking at the pouring rain outside my window.

Tornado planned this activity all on his own. He told us we were going to go on a nature walk and find leaves, pine needles, etc. to make pictures. All I had to do was bring out the glue, crayons, and paper, and they stayed outside, busy with this for quite awhile.

We were excited to get our 2 sets of popsicle molds in the mail. We only had 5 individual molds before, and that was clearly not enough. Now it's easier to make bigger batches at once. These are BPA free and a lot better than our old ones, as far as removing them from the mold. However, it still takes a bit of effort to remove them. I think the silicone kind can be removed without running it under water...if anyone needs another Christmas gift idea, hint hint...

There was a lot of painting going on one day...Here, Tornado is making a gift for his cousin Grace.
I've been looking at this thing for weeks. Dash brought it in and said he wanted to add it to his cicada shell collection. Do we have a cicada collection? Oh, probably around here somewhere.

We got to enjoy the 1st b-day of our little friend Atticus. The kids are eating their "mush" at the cute Goodnight, Moon party.

At another b-day party of a classmate, Dash got to have Mom and Dad to himself for a few hours. It was at Johnston's Pumpkin Farm near Greenbrier, and they had so many great activities planned for the kids, including this ring toss.

Dash, with his veggie dog...he EVEN got a dinosaur painted on his face. It doesn't get much better for him than that. The other day, he wanted to know information about something mechanical, and I said he would have to ask Daddy about it because I didn't know. He said, "Daddy is really smart. And so is Troodons." (FYI: Troodons are thought to have been the smartest dinosaur. I never told him this, though. I think he might have learned it on Dinosaur Train.)

Look at these fun Organic Ladies we bought at the store. They weren't the greatest tasting apples we've ever had, but they sure were cute.

Dash and Daddy have been participating in the Micro division of Arkansas Rush soccer. The kids work through different skills during practice, alongside a parent and led by the coach. Dash LOVES it. He is always showing me things he learned. It's fun to have a kid on a sports team. This is our first experience with that. (Tornado=not interested.)
Sissy has always been so sweet about saying "thank you" without being reminded. A few days ago, I gave her a popsicle, and she said very exuberantly, all in one breath, "Thank you you're welcome!"

And once again, lest anyone should think my life is storybook, organized, and glistening...Pam, these are especially for you. And for the record, I even photoshopped some of the messy faces of my children in the pictures above.

the seemingly permanent condition of my photo/scrapbook table...as long as it stays like this, I will not be able to work here...we're going on about 6 months now...

And then there's also the seemingly permanent method of storing my daughter's clothes...

But, at least, now my blog is up to date.