Happy fall and Happy Birthday Papa A.J

Fall is here! Walter has been fascinated by the leaves this year. He loves to talk about the colors and kind of tree that they came off of. In these pictures we raked them into a pile and jumped as well as drove his trucks through them, if you look closely in his dump truck he has a leaf driver too. I've been thinking lately about the cute phrases that he says and how some day I will miss them such as "instruction (construction) trucks" and " they ch other (each other)" and "thats the nough (enough)." Jeff has been taking him to a few of our high school football games too which has been fun for them, it's an exciting year for the team as for they are undefeated so far.

Yesterday, Jeff replaced his rope lighting on his train layout and as you can see he now has another side kick. This little girl admires that Daddy just as much as her brother. She has been pretending to call him on her toy phone lately and says "hello, hi daddy" (today I said sing Daddy a song) and she said "Daddy addy addy." We have shown her that video that we made for Auntie Amy's Birthday a few times and she says "happy Birthday" too. It has been a topic around here lately I guess. Which reminds me, on Friday we also took out the camaro, went to Jeff's parents house and went out to eat. Anyway, after the restaurant Walter said "it feel like we went out to eat for someones Birthday." Which also reminds me, Happy Birthday to you Papa A.J (it was yesterday)!

Mama's little angels!

This house has been on a sticky craze lately! Rose E is totally digging those stickers, we take out her sticker book and she rearranges them 5 million times and then decorates her body with them! That brother of hers' is definitely rubbing off on her too as for she has been running around this house pretending to be a train and saying "ding, ding." Her newest word "thanks" just melts my heart too, she will ask for something by saying "this, this" and when I give it to her she says "thanks."

Walter has still been into his calendar. We where talking about October and the things to look forward to in that month. Anyway, he saw that my Birthday is in that month so he has been wrapping his toys up in tape and saying "mama I wrapped-up a birthday present for you." Today I received a toy car wheel, an airplane, and a mega block, every girls dream! Talk about heartwarming too. He is such a sweetheart lately just out of the blue he will say "mama I love you" and then say how he likes what we are doing at the moment. We have been labeling his art supplies so that he will learn how to recognize the words (the former head start teacher coming out in me) anyway he taped some shapes next to the words and said "this is a motel on fire" and then next to it he taped a heart and wrote "mama(and) Walter"(it's hard to make out the letters as for he likes to write big big letters and they got crunched together) because "we are friends."

Last but not least I couldn't resist this picture of Rose E last night. Sometimes I like to watch them while they sleep as for they look so angelic.

Happy Birthday Auntie Mamy (Amy)!

Hope you have a great day!

A year ago on this day we had Rose E baptized too, what a special day indeed!

I'm a big kid now!

The other day I made french toast, we broke off some small pieces and put them onto Rose E's plate and she just refused to eat it so when it was time to clear the table she grabbed a whole piece of of the serving plate and mowed it down. What a goof! Yesterday then I gave her a half of grilled cheese sandwich and she was in her glory. She defineatly has a mind of her own these days! She is also now calling out "mama" when she needs me. Yesterday Walter said "Rose E that car is too little for you" and took it away then she looked at me and said "Mama?!?" (like come on wheres the justice here?) Her other new word lately has been "thanks."
Walter cracked me up the other night we where heading upstairs to bed and he said "mama I'm scared of my shadow" when I said "why?" He said "because it moves with me."

Our trip to Tomahawk

This weekend we took a trip to Wisconsin to visit with my family and to go to my Grandparent's Birthday party (they are a day apart). This first picture was taken in parents yard and the next three are of a walk that we went on to see the train track (for guess who?) we didn't see any train action but stopped to see this big truck(as you can see in the picture with Jeff, Walter, my Dad, my Mom, Rose E, my sister Jenny and her baby Colton) and to play in the park.

At the party we took a pontoon boat ride and Walter got to be co captain with my Uncle Joe, he took his job pretty seriously it was cute.

Warning crazy shopper up ahead!

We'll I guess the kids are getting a little used to being star stage in my photo ops because in this first photo Walter said "mama, Rose E looks so cute with jelly all over her face quick go get your camera." Which was during breakfast the other day and she loved her English muffin but he on the other hand tried to get out of eating his by saying "my tummy is saying I want to play."
Speaking of playing, this Walmart cart has been the focus of entertainment the past couple of days. Rose E has now discovered my spice rack(and as you can see my muffin liners too) and has been loading her cart with them and yes my hallway now smells like minced garlic, and no it isn't from last nights supper! Although last night I did make shepherds pie and boy was that a cruel trick according to Walter, I heard today about how he no longer likes pie (they take everything so literally). Anyway, back to the cart it has been fun to watch. Walter has been "buying" his toys and making-up scenarios. Such as "my vacuum broke so I am buying this one (his toy one) from Walmart" or "this deer needed a friend so I am buying him." It's been kinda funny, this deer has been pretty popular with these kids lately especially after we hit the deer with our van. Anyway, Walter told me a couple of days ago "when I'm not with him (the deer) he says I'm lonely, I miss Walter."
This last picture is of Rose E's curly Q's. The longer it gets the curlier, although the amount of curls depends on the weather too. I had to smile because every time I tried to take this picture she would turn her head around and say "cheese." I guess it could be a bit confusing why I would want to take a picture of the back of her head!

Our latest adventure

Yesterday after church we dropped Rose E off at Jeff's parents house and then trailered the Ranger four wheeler to Sidnaw, Mi (which is about an hour away from their house). Then we went on a beautiful ride. These first three pictures where taken at the Agate falls. Of course the pictures don't do it justice. In it's hay day loggers sent logs rolling down it leading to a mill. There was a boardwalk underneath this bridge as well as a gift shop so that was neat too.
Walter was in his glory on this trip as for we went over several old train bridges, saw an old depot and some track as well as train cars. We drove all the way to Bergland and saw Lake Gogebic which is where the last picture of the trip was taken and then headed back to our starting point. It was a fun trip where we got to see many many deer, birds and lots of pretty scenery. I was surprised to see how many leaves on the trees where still green, not for long I'm sure! Walter is anxiously awaiting that snow but not me!

This boy of ours must have asked a million questions yesterday. Even ones such as why did they make this toy this way or why didn't they do this when they made it. Anyway, it was funny because he told us that he likes to ask a lot of questions because "that's the way god made me." Gotta love it. Speaking of God, in this last picture I took a picture of Walter's "airplane" created out of boxes. He worked on this contraption for hours taping one box to the next and making me, Rose E and his toy's scoot around in it. Anyway, he decorated it with marker and put on "crosses for Jesus and one with Jesus dying on the cross." As well as other artwork.

Rose E has been into singing "Eieio" lately. It is the cutest thing. She is also holding those dolls and stuffed animals (along with shoes) near and dear to her these days. It was cute because on Saturday we ate at Mc Donald's with Jeff's mom and she got a little Dorothy doll in her happy meal (which thrilled her) anyway Jeff's mom said give the doll a kiss and now she has been kissing all of her toys (as well as us). Yesterday too, when we went to pick her up from their house she had a monkey and said "hug monkey" and then gave it a hug. Her other new word has been "yes" although she still loves the power of shaking that head no with a "no, no, no."

Last but not, least I am tickled pink to finally have our van back after our whole deer ordeal. Thank goodness for insurance as for it would have cost us over $4,000 to repair but is as good as new now.

Imaginations at work!

That pretend play is coming out more and more with little Miss Rose E! On her own today she took a few bites out of this cracker and then drove it around making car noises. When all was said and done we had cracker crumbs everywhere but oh well it was fun to watch. Walter just loves it of course! Yesterday too I caught her driving her finger along the top of her crib doing the same. Oh and I had to laugh at this meal because she grabbed Walter's bowl of grapes and excitedly said "balls."
Today she also said to Jeff "what's this?" When she was playing with a little people building. She just loves hauling those little people around along with dolls, stuffed animals, and toys with strings. Back to that pretend play, today we took a trip to the dollar store and bought pipe cleaners and glitter glue. It was cute because Rose E turned a pipe cleaner into a snake and was going around saying "sss." Then when Rose E took a nap they entertained Walter for almost two hours (up until I said it's time for dinner). This boy sure does have an amazing attention span!
Anyway, it was cute because he glued the pipe cleaners onto the paper and then said they where roads and bridges leading to our house, Cyrus's house, his cousin's Kirsten and Cale's house, and both Papa's houses. Then he said he was viewing them all from his airplane in the sky.
Some of the ways he says things lately are just so cute too such as "that's the nough (that's enough) and "that's engusting (disgusting). It just puts a grand old smile on my face every time.

The kids and their expressions!

Last night at story hour I took this picture of Walter and his friend Cyrus sitting in his mom's lap while Linn the librarian read to them. Walter looks forward to going every week and as he would say he gets "encited" (excited) when Tuesdays come. He is really starting to do some deep thinking lately. The other day we drove past a smokestack and he said "mama the mining building isn't their anymore, did it get hit by a tornado?" I never thought I would be explaining the mining strike to my 3 year old son, that is for sure. He was cute tonight, he helped me with supper. I had him help me cut up vegetables for soup I made and mix in ingredients for cookies and when we where all done he said "I is proud." Talk about melt my heart. It was also cute because last week when we had our rummage sale he saw we had change for it and he said "can I borrow some money (who knows where he picked that expression up from)" when we asked what for he said "geo trax trains." So we made a deal that for chores such as helping clear the table after meals he can put ten cents into his piggy bank and when he has enough we will go out and buy some new geo trax. He was usually willing to help before but now he is really into it and loves putting his money into the bank. It is also teaching him to recognize some coins.

Yesterday I also recorded this video of Rose E's precious little voice. She had just gotten done playing with playdoh so she was holding a Popsicle stick and she was saying "see?" (see what I have) then Walter ran by in his pajamas and she said "bye bye" and you can hear her say "oopsie" and oopsie daisy" after she dropped her stick. She is saying so much now it just blows me away. Tonight I was sitting next to her when she had a snack and she said "oopsie" and I said did you drop it and she said "see this?" as she pointed to the piece of cereal that she dropped.

The latest projects

These kids sure do love their daddy!!! Don't you just love this picture of Jeff with his arms and hair sticking out of his head, looks just like him eh? I don't know if you can make it out, but Walter also copied "Daddy" there.
For a couple of years now I have been saving anything that has a picture on it, greeting cards, post cards , etc. Anyway, Walter has been practicing cutting and then gluing them onto paper to make collages. I thought this one was cute because he told me to write this little message on it for Jeff (he also copied his name on their) and then we had to tape it onto the door for him to see when he got home, what a little sweet heart! A couple days ago too I caught Rose E singing "daddy, daddy, daddy I love daddy."


Yesterday was the first day of Sunday school and then we had our annual picnic at Mclain's park. The kids love it because they always have games too and Walter won this playdoh there. Anyway, usually Rose E is napping when Walter plays with playdoh so she was thrilled to have her first stab at that funny looking green stuff. She mostly used this Popsicle stick and her fingers to poke at it and then thought it would be fun to launch pieces off the table onto the floor. She has been so into throwing lately, I can always tell when she is done eating because she starts to launch her food to the dog before saying "down" (get down). Also, when she wants something she has been saying "want that." We had to laugh too because the other night she didn't want to go to sleep so she was in her bedroom saying "me all done, down." As a protest too she will throw out her socks, toys and books from her crib then get even more mad, what a goof! Her other new words have been "chocolate" "bock, bock" for chicken and "horsey."

I also added this last picture of Walter. To keep him entertained while I was getting lunch ready today I had him sort out these fruit loops by color. Then we counted them and talked about which colors we had the most of and which colors we had the least of. I had to laugh though because they all turned into trains and each one was labeled as a train, a train plow, a hopper car, a gondola, a box car or a caboose. He sure does have a passion for those trains!

Out for a cruise

Today we had a garage sale. For our home tour we went through everything and after a month have weeded through what we don't need anymore, such as our old entertainment center. We where glad to get rid of most of what we wanted to. The kids greeted people for awhile and then Jeff let Walter take out his other power wheels (he has a lightning race car too that he has been driving lately) anyway this one can seat two so Rose E got her first ride. Jeff took this short video of the two of them cruising around the yard.They sure seem to have a good time. Talk about a couple of lucky kids!

My kooks!

This weather has been so crazy! One day it is so hot and humid outside that we can barely stand to breath outside and the next day we are in pants and jackets! Anyway Walter enjoyed his probably last swim for the summer the other day. Of course the hose was a train and it was getting "water in it's muscles." This kid just cracks me up,yesterday he told me that I won the piston cup by driving a John Deere tractor!


I had to do a double take of Chevy yesterday I thought at first,what in the heck,and then I remembered that the kids put stickers in sticker books (Rose E for the first time and she loved it,however she kept re arranging them,so I am sure that is how this happened). It was too funny to pass -up. Miss Rose E, our little dolly,has been digging the dolls lately too. It is cute she halls them around the house,feeds them, puts them into her bathtub and covers them up with blankets and a doll towel. A true girl indeed. She has also been into giving us kisses too. It is so precious just out of the blue she will come-up to Jeff or I and kiss us on the lips. As you can see in her picture with her doll she is not wearing socks. As soon as I put them on her lately they are off and chucked across the room. Walter on the other hand can't stand not to wear them or when somebody else isn't wearing them. It's funny how different they are already.

Here's the promised picture of our new/old armoire. We re arranged our living room furniture once we got it set-up and as you can see the animals approve. And my thoughts were.... and whose couch is it? oh well it's not like anybody else was using it.

On another side note. Jeff had a doctor's appointment today and his doctor said he would like him to meet with a surgeon to have his gallbladder removed. His appointment is scheduled to discuss it on Tuesday. Poor guy.

The good the bad and the ugly!

Yesterday afternoon we went out to the camp and before going there Rose E signed are we taking the Ranger four wheeler?(she made-up her own sign for Ranger) so since we hadn't planned on taking it out yesterday today we took her for her first long journey on it. I just had to snap this first picture of them walking with their helmets on, they reminded me of little bobble heads! The next one is of Rose E ready for take-off and the last two are taken up past Mohawk. It was just breathtaking! Walter of course was ecstatic to see some old mining ruins and Rose E talked to me the whole time saying "see" and then would sign tree or flower or point to something that is until she fell asleep.
It was also cute yesterday at the camp she was looking-up at the clouds and said "kitty" (a few nights ago we read a book where the kids where finding shapes in the clouds and I couldn't believe she made that association). Everyday she, we'll I should say they amaze me! Yesterday when I was changing her she started to rub her tummy and said "belly." Thank goodness she has been a happy camper because we counted today and this poor girl is getting in six teeth at once!
We also have added another piece of furniture to our decor, an old armoire (I'll have to post a picture later). After our home tour we took out our t.v in our living room and decided to get rid of our entertainment center. Anyway for a month we have debated about what to do, if we wanted to bring a t.v back in there or not and what to put it in so it doesn't stand out so much with our furniture. We liked the idea of having something antique and being able to close it off so we went with the armoire and got a new flat screen t.v and entertainment center to go in it. I am pleased with how it looks. Walter made me laugh though when we bought it he said "does that t.v play cartoons?"
Well the good also comes with the bad and the ugly because after we set-up our t.v we decided to go rent a movie, which we haven't done in ages. Needless to say we never came home with a movie because as we where heading-up the calumet hill and a deer ran right into our van. Their was no way to avoid it. It did some serious damage to our grill, headlights as well as the front section. Our poor van and that poor deer.