~Pumpkin Carving 2012~

As is tradition in the Parkinson household, for FHE we made our way over to the Walmart parking lot to pick out three fantastic $3 pumpkins for carving.  A few days later we let our kids stay up way too late (on a school night even) to help us carve their pumpkins.  We had a blast! 

I think we listened to "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas 100 times that evening.  I wouldn't be surprised if the kids know almost every word to that song.  There was lots of laughing, lots of fun and lots of silliness.

We let the kids each pick out what they wanted carved and they usually help with poking holes on the template.  The mom and dad do most of the actual carving.  Cordy went with a very cute owl, Elyssa picked a simple butterfly, and Alec went for Darth Vader.  I was able to carve and clean up almost all of our mess in the time it took Nick and Alec to complete their time consuming masterpiece.

 The kids were all so excited with how they turned out and I must say we did a pretty good job.  I just count my lucky stars that the girls are still easy to please!  

~Ledges State Park~

Camping is one of our family favorite pass times in the Fall.  This year we didn't make it out as many times as the kids would like, but that's okay.  We all still had a great time when we did go and that is what matters most.  This weekend we decided to try Ledges State Park.  The camp sites were a little too close for our taste, but we still had a great time with our friends, the Teeds, and enjoyed all the fall leaves and hiking the next morning.  

 Finding the beaver chewed trees was very exciting for the kiddos.  We also found an assortment of leaves, sticks and rocks they all wanted to bring home.  I opted to take a picture instead.  :-)

We can't wait to go camping again next year, with a baby in tow instead of inside my tummy making me sick.  :-)

~November~

Where did November go?  I feel like Halloween was last week.  Probably because I'm blocking out my memories from most of the month.  Yeah.  Honestly, November wasn't all that great.  We spent the first half of the month in our pajamas all day at home sick.

 We drank A LOT of gatorade and ate very little.  I washed a ridiculous amount of laundry and bleached my bathroom like crazy.  Despite it all I still got really sick and spent about a week trying to get back my steam.

 In the mix of all this sickness we had our first snow fall of the season.  Elyssa was actually feeling better at this point and would have gone to school that day, but school was cancelled!  Cancelled for that little bit of snow?  No.  The snow and ice took down some powerlines and there was no power at our house or at the school.  Lyssa bundled up and headed outside to play.  I was glad she was so excited about the snow.  Someone should be excited even if it's not me, right?  It was a real bummer for her when she came in asking for hot chocolate and got a great lesson about electricity... and how most of our house runs on it. 

 Have I told you Cordy love books?  She REALLY love books and spends a fair amount of her day sitting in front of the bookcase.  Her very favorite book is "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb".  She carries it around everywhere she goes like a lovie.  Though she loves books, she won't sit through most of them, but she'll spend a lot of time pouring over them by herself!

 Cordy also really turned her crawling and teeter tottering around the house into a full blown walk now!  She rarely crawls, and gets into EVERYTHING.  I turn my back for a second and she is emptying my tupperwear cupboard, or on this particular day, my plastic bags.  You've been caught red handed, Curious little girl!

I really did try to start the month off on a positive note, joining the facebook world posting daily gratitudes, but after weeks of being sick and Nick going on an international adventure without me, I just kind of lost my steam.  

While Nick was away we all got nasty coughs and Alec decided to start sleeping like a newborn.  Not cool.  Everyone was sleep deprived and by the end of the week I was spent.  I hired the first teenage sitter my kids have ever had just so I could go to the Saturday adult session of Stake Conference.  I needed that little get away and despite my anxiety the kids were just fine.  :-)  

I opted out of our two hour Stake Conference Sunday meeting, knowing Cordy was exhausted and desperately needed her nap.  She had a rough night cutting a giant big front tooth.  (Yeah for THREE teeth instead of two!)  It also happened to be my seventh anniversary that day, and all I wanted to do was relax, and make cookies with my kids.  Thanks to two video chats with my parents, kind friends who invited us over at the last minute for dinner, and a little bit of cold medicine (so my hacking almost five year old could get some sleep), it turned out to be a decent day.  See, I was the nice mom that day!  I even let the kids do my hair....

I know there is much to be thankful for.  I know there is always someone who has it worse off than I do.  I'm not trying to complain.  I'm just trying to keep it real, and it was just kind of a lousy month.  

So yeah, November was what it was... and next month is guaranteed to be much better. :-)

~Last Daddy Lunch at the Park~

We found an awesome park up by Nick's work where we love to eat lunch and play over his lunch break during the warm months.  We haven't been meeting up with him as often and I would like to this fall, but we had a warm day at the end of October that I just couldn't pass up, so we called him up and headed over after preschool for some fun.

 We long ago named these rocking horses Golden, Mocha, Negro, and Blondie.  The kids love it when we all climb on.  

 The leaves at this park have been stunning every year, and this year was no exception.

When it was time for Nick to go back to work, the kids and I loaded up and headed to another park for an hour, soaking up all the warm sunshine we could before the real cold sets in.  Then we had to run home for bathroom breaks.  The parks here all have restrooms, but they were closed for the season.  Too bad.  

Can't wait until we get to go back and play in the Spring!

~Packages~

We love getting mail.  Seriously, it makes our day around here.  And packages?  They make us jump for joy!  The last week of October we got a package from Grandma Shannon delivered while the girls were taking naps.  It took all of Alec's self control to wait to open it until the girls woke up on their own.  When it was finally time to open it the kids were giddy with excitement as we pulled things out one by one, each with its own "I love you more than..." note attached.  So thoughtful and so fun!

The kids got notebooks, little toys, stamps, bubble wrap, pencils, rulers, books, pez... all sorts of cool things!  They each got their very own winter hat.   I think they look totally awesome. 

 Thank you, Grandma Shannon, for making our week with so many fun things to do, read, and play.  

We love you, and miss you and can't wait to see you at Christmas time!

~Trick or Treating~

On Beggars Night we got dressed up for the third night in a row and headed out for trick or treating with Jakob and Sophie.

 There were a lot of kids and it was a little overwhelming for Alec and Elyssa at first, but once they caught on we were almost running to keep up with them, going house to house.

 Lyssa always wanted to stay with her brother, but once he was ready it was time to go!

 It was a pretty evening, but kind of a chilly one so we let Cordy dress up in the Tigger costume that  they other two kiddos wore when they were little.  Much warmer that her treasure onsie.  Cordy loved watching her siblings get excited.

 We had a great Halloween season, celebrating it to it's fullest, watching spooky movies, carving pumpkins (Nick, where are the pictures???), and loading up on a ridiculous amount of candy.  When it was time for it to be over, I was ready, and happy to take down the decorations.  The kids got their 5 pieces of candy each to eat at their leisure and I'll save the rest for special occasions... until I end up throwing it away.  

Goodbye Halloween!  We enjoyed you and the kids can't wait to do it all again next year. 

~October in Pictures... and few words~

Well, it's mid-November and I'm still playing catch up on the blog, but not for long.  Here is a basic summary of our every day October life in pictures.

These three spent lots of time healthy, happy, and outside.

She ate a lot of dirt.

 We practiced our jumping skills... 

and my stop action photography skills for my photography class.

We played in a lot of leaves....

 

Alec continued to pump on the swing to higher and higher heights.

 We rode bikes on the driveway a lot.  Lyssa showed off her pedaling, steering and breaking skills she worked so hard on this summer. 

I worked on my panning action photography skills.

Lyssa continued to dominate as the ruling Diva of the house.  Who doesn't love all that rockstar personality?

Alec discovered the damper pedal and took up playing the piano. A lot. All while making silly faces. 

 I worked on my showing action photography skills.

Oh!  And I finally washed the van all by myself (with the help of a ladder) after months of nasty mud, and filth from our camping trips.

The kids enjoyed weekend mornings when they didn't have to be dressed and out the door by 9AM.

The continued to be healthy and happy and wear as little clothing as possible whenever possible. 

Happy little miss Cordy continued to grow a rocking mullet until her dad buzzed it off.

Cordy also decided that her Daddy is her first love, and favorite person.  I think it's safe to say he's pretty fond of her too.

These two also continued to be the best of friends, making each other laugh,  playing games of pretend together for hours on end, and fighting only like siblings and best friends can.

 In the mix of it all were flu shots, school days, lots of costume dress up days, photography sessions for clients, game nights, date nights, pizza nights, Nick's last semester of graduate school and much Halloween merry making.... more on that another day.

~Center Grove Apple Orchard 2011~

September 20, 2011

It was supposed to be a rainy afternoon with possible thunderstorms, but we decided to brave it anyway.  I picked up Alec from preschool with lunches in tow and we headed out to the Apple Orchard to meet up with Jakob, Sophie and Ms. Tiffany, some of our very favorite friends. 

 

 Turns out the weather was beautiful and we practically had the place to our silly selves!

 This has always been one of Alec's favorite parts of the Apple Orchard.  This year he could finally reach the pedals and really get around the course.  He wanted to stay there all day.

 Eventually we made our way over to the cornpool... one of my first favorite things in Iowa.

Lyssa loved catching air, corn style.

I wondered how Cordy would feel about it as my older two kiddos weren't big fans when they were tiny.    She is light enough that she figured out she could crawl all over the top of it without sinking down and seemed to think it was pretty fantastic. 

 Then we made our way over to the big slides and the giant bouncy pillow before taking a hay ride around the orchards and picking up some absolutely amazing honeycrisp apples.  They may be pricey at almost $2.75/lb. but they are worth every penny.

 Just another fabulous day to record and remember how much I love Fall in Iowa. :-)

~Because I'm Morning the Loss of Warm Weather~

Back in the beginning of October on a sunny Saturday morning Nick and I decided that we needed to get out and go on a little adventure with the kids.  We decided to head out to Saylorville Lake and find the amazing wooden park that everyone talks about.  At the last minute we invited some good friends (that luckily have a sense of humor) and headed out on our adventure, not telling the kids where we were going.  Well, it turns out that we really DIDN'T know where we were going, and what should have taken 30 minutes ended up taking an hour and a half to find.  At least there were lots of beautiful colorful leaves to see along the way.  After stopping for directions a couple times we finally made it there.  We played the late morning and early afternoon away, dined on pb&j, and throughly enjoyed the sunshine with friends.

The Amazing Park

I spy Lyssa Lou!

On a GREAT ADVENTURE!

Hide and seek.

Down a dark whole.

I'VE BEEN CAUGHT!

Taking the wheel.

Beautiful Sophie wide awake.

Sleeping Cordy, wishing we had brought the front pack.

Flying, zip-line style.

Giggling friends.

Cheese!

Cordy... still sleeping.

Trying to take a family picture with three small people is not easy.

Eventually we got something we could send to preschool with Alec for "family week".

Oh, warm sunny days... I sure do miss you.