I can be a bit slow

OK, so this morning I was checking all the blogs that I read daily. One of my favorites is LollyChops, and I was all excited about her weekly Friday Giveaway. As I was perusing the post, I clicked on the link to see who won last week's giveaway. I was so totally confused because all that came up was my own blog. Like what kind of crazy bug do we have in our computer that makes it so that I can't click on any links? So I shut the tab and click the link again. Oh. Wait. (Light bulb suddenly goes on.) YIPPEE! I'm the winner from last week! As Mer, Jesse, and I say a million times a day, "Woo-Hoo!" (You must do this in a really high and loud voice to get the full effect!) I'm so excited about the necklace that I've wonand the fact that a Wendy bird and tards are included in the package! If you've never visited LollyChops, then hop on over there and get ready for a chuckle!

a taste of what's to come

Meredith has been waiting and waiting for Halloween. The most exciting thing to her? No, not the candy or getting dressed up - it's the fact that we're going to spray her hair black (can you tell in the picture that just a strip is sprayed black?) Since Mer is going to be Dora, we thought that Jesse would be Boots - as in Dora's trusty sidekick. This whole time I've been thinking that making Jesse a brown monkey wouldn't be that hard...that is until I actually looked at Boots the monkey. He's purpley-blue!Dressing my little boy in head-to-toe light purple was too much for me. So now he will be Diego. Much more manageable costume anyway!

Jesse at the mall

A few weeks ago Jesse and I went to Des Moines with my mom. Mom went to a quilt show and Jesse and I found all sorts of fun things to do. One of the things was going to the mall so Jesse could play on the toys...The toys at that mall are much better than the toys at the mall close to us. There's only one slide at our mall, and there were at least 5 different slides at the Des Moines mall...which, to a 1 year-old, this makes all the difference in the world!

the little things...

Oh the little joys in life...But Mommy, it's so much more fun to eat craisins out of this ladle that's as big as my face!

Pumpkin fun!

Meredith had fun getting the guts out of her pumpkin, drawing the face for me to cut out, and playing with the guts while I did the cutting.

Oh pumpkin, how I love you!

Yes, mine is the plain 'ole polka dot one!

Wanna come over?

So this was my afternoon...A cold and blustery day deserves a warm and cozy spot to curl up and look at a magazine, don't ya think?

Meredith was thrilled to see the fire when she got home from school. So she sat on my lap, put her feet up, and told me all about her day. Do you want to come over and put your feet up next to our cozy fire?

Meredith, it's for you!

Meredith received her very first phone call from a fellow 5-year-old a few weeks ago. Believe it or not, this picture is from the actual phone call (I'm getting better at having my camera nearby so I can take pic's of things as they happen...) This is how the phone call went:

Meredith: Hi
Mystery Caller: [Long conversation] (Who really knows what she said because I certainly couldn't hear.)
Meredith: Uh huh.
Mystery Caller: [Long conversation]
Meredith: Oh.
Mystery Caller: [Long conversation]
Meredith: Uh huh.
Mystery Caller: [Long conversation]
Meredith: Bye.

And that was it, folks! What an exciting first call for Meredith (just to clarify, this isn't the first time she's talked on the phone, but the first time a person her age called just for her.) Apparently her friend Cara lost her tooth, and tried to call both her grandparents, but neither was home. She was desperate to tell someone, so she called Meredith.

Fall Soccer

More soccer pictures...this coming Sunday will be Meredith's last game. She's already bummed out that soccer is almost over!
She insisted that she wear the velvety black headband with the pretty bow for pictures. But after pictures were done, it's down to business: a ponytail was definitely needed!
Pictures from this game are a bit misleading. This team certainly had the most girls - usually there are only a few on each team.

Can I get to the ball first?

The game is over already? (Yes, she's the second one in line - and one of two girls on the team.)

You may wonder what Jesse does when Meredith is playing... He finds ways to keep busy!

Breakfast time

I know what you are thinking, what's up with the bowl of frosted mini-wheats? This morning I put Jesse on the kitchen counter while I got him his breakfast. He was quite adamant about two things: 1) he DID NOT want to get off of the counter and sit in his high chair and 2) he was thrilled about the frosted mini-wheats, but just wanted to eat the frosting off each mini-wheat. As you can see in the picture above. Since I was about to make oatmeal raisin bars for my exciting crafty retreat tonight, I was fine with leaving him on the counter while I made the bars...and he was equally fine with eating raisins, oatmeal, or anything else from the mixing bowl!Since so many recent posts have centered around Jesse, I felt the need to share a little Meredith video with you. This is how things usually happen at our house: Meredith in the forefront playing, singing, dancing, etc. while Jesse is in the background somewhat doing his own thing, but also just hoping that Meredith will play with him.

Happy Birthday Bev!

We hope you have a wonderful day, Bev (a.k.a. Mom and Grandma). Neither Kent nor I are on the ball with getting your birthday gift sent so that you will get it on time - but you're probably used to that by now! So here are your virtual flowers for your birthday

your birthday song from Meredith

(no, you were not hearing wrong, it is "birfday" and "Bramma") and your actual gift will be coming soon...

Combine Rides

Meredith and Jesse finally got to ride in the combine today...both have been waiting for the right time, and both were ecstatic to ride! Jesse rode before his afternoon nap, but he talked the whole time (in his own language, of course.) Meredith rode as soon as she got home from school, and was quiet almost the whole time until she decided to sing songs to herself. Later, she told me that she almost fell asleep - the loud noise of the combine does seem to lull you to sleep.

Grandpa, what happens when I pull this lever?

Meredith is in there with Grandpa - but you're going to have to take my word for it!

Jesse and the tractor

Jesse pulled the top of the ottoman off this morning and has been obsessed with riding his tractor on top of the cushion ever since. It only took a few tumbles (he didn't hurt himself when falling off) to realize that he can't actually go anywhere once on the tractor. But he still wants to put the tractor on the cushion and sit on top of the tractor.

He's now talking up a storm - hopefully soon it will be words that we can understand! But he does know how to blow kisses and wave goodbye...too cute, right?!?

Jesse's Day

Today Meredith didn't have school, so she had her friend Suzanna over to play. Did Jesse mind that he wasn't allowed to play with the girls? Not really. (Thank goodness I just happened to mop the floor this morning! And yes, almost every cabinet door is open.)

So maybe he did mind that he couldn't play with the girls when they went outside...

A Saturday in the life of...

"Mommy, you're not going to be able to guess what I draw..."

"This one's going to be really good!"

"Can you guess what I'll draw next?!?"

"Hey, let me in on the fun!"
"You're not really going to post that, are you?"

Meredith's First Soccer Game

Last Sunday was Meredith's first soccer game. She had a great time and we had a great time watching her. We weren't quite prepared for her to play, but we now have the right soccer shorts, soccer shoes, and shin guards (thanks Mike for the hand-me-downs!)
There are 8 kids on her team, and they split them up so 4 play on one small field, and 4 play on another. That way all the kids get a lot of time to play and it's not just a gigantic blob of people going after the soccer ball all of the time! The coach for the other team and the ref were both really really good with the kids. (Meredith's coach was with the other group of 4 on the other field.) It's definitely about learning the game and not about winning.

For the last period Meredith was a goalie - just like her dad! She did great - I don't think a ball got past her!