Cat Autumn Adventure

The Caterpillar Autumn Adventure is one of our favorite fall events every year. They hold it at Sommer Park in Peoria, and for a measly $7, you get pony rides, face painting, bouncy houses, monster truck rides, hayrack rides, lunch, snacks...basically a fun day at the park for the kids. We were really excited about it this year because Brady is VERY into bouncy houses so we knew he'd have a great time. We got there a little earlier than usual, which was good because after about 45 minutes the sky just opened up and it stormed like crazy. Unfortunately we were still in the face painting booth at this point...so we got swamped (and some green face paint on the Pathfinder seats, but we don't like to remind Jason of that!)

We got Lily in the bouncy house...one of her first times...of course she got lost in there and panicked so there were some tears!

That's Jason in the green shirt and Brady is just behind him.

A beautiful butterly...she is very serious about getting her face painted...it's makeup you know!

A very scary monster...the clown told Brady she was giving him blood because he just ate. So all day he was "I'm so full because I just ate boys and girls!"

And a little flower for little Callie

PFest 2010

Every September the town of Morton celebrates their Pumpkin Festival. For those of you who don't know, Morton is the largest pumpkin-producer in the world (admit it, you're impressed). And every year that we've lived here, we drag our kids out to the festivities, and hope that next year will be easier :) We had a pretty good time this year; the kids are getting bigger and starting to become a little more manageable in public. Thursday night we hit the kiddie parade and managed to get a curb seat (mommy was wrong about the start time so we were there with 30 minutes to spare) so the kids scored tons of candy. Then Friday we walked around and let the kids choose some rides. The highlight of the night was Brady's adorable smile on the ferris wheel - he loved it. Callie went down the Super Slide on daddy's lap. We didn't get Lily on anything this year - she has some of me in her and is very cautious - so maybe next year!

Grabbing for the candy

Big smiles from up high

Backyard Camping!

Daddy took Brady and Lily camping in the backyard! I stayed inside with Callie - I am always more than happy to sleep in a bed, rather than out with the bugs :) I figured that no one would get any sleep that night, but the kids actually slept great, and even slept late the next morning. Jason is really excited now; it looks like he may be able to do a "real" camping trip with the kids soon!

All ready to go!

The Dancing Queen

Lily started up dance class again on Monday night! She was pretty excited, but I think it was more about the new leotard than the actual dancing ;) It looks like there are about 5 kids in her class - a little different than the "private class" she had over the summer. She seemed pretty happy to have some other kids in with her this time. She did great - I could tell that she remembered some of her stretches and steps from the summer session. Mark your calendars for a recital in June!!!

Before class...nervous excitement!

Happy Birthday!!!

On September 12, we helped celebrate my grandma's 84th birthday! It was a special day...the whole family was there, the weather was gorgeous, and the food was great. We love you grandma...here's to many more birthdays!!!

Brady's "Me Bag"

So for his second day of school, Brady had an assignment to fill a brown paper lunch bag with things he liked, and then the class did kind of a show and tell with them. I thought that was a pretty cute idea...to help the kids get to know each other, and to find other kids with common interests (there was another little guy in his class that also had a tractor in his bag, this was HUGE to Brady!) Thought we would share with you what was in the bag...

His newest obsession....airplanes

Tractor (To be specific, a Backhoe Loader, because mommy used to work on those)
A car

Green Lego (also represents his favorite color)

Baseball (Sports in general...was the only ball we could fit in the bag)

Crayons

Sticker book

Lucky Charms :)

Sillybands

...and the bag.

First Day of School!

September 7 was the big kids' first day of school! We have TWO preschoolers this year...Brady is doing a Pre-K program 5 afternoons a week, and Lily is in the 3 year old class which meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This means that mommy and Callie are pretty much living in the car ;) Hopefully next year we can work this out so they both are in school at the same time...

Anyway, Brady and Lily were both VERY excited for their first day...they met their teacher, Mrs. Legel, on the playground and then followed her inside to learn their everyday "getting to school routine." I think being outside always helps the drop off separation anxiety, but there was really none of that to be found! I knew Brady would have no trouble - he's already been there a year...kind of one of the big kids now...but I thought maybe Lily would have some tears for me. Not a chance! She marched in there like she's been doing it for years. Sniff. Both kids had a great day and have been excited to go back!

Labor Day Weekend

This Labor Day Weekend we packed up our things and headed off to visit grandma and grandpa in Merom, IN. The ride there was fairly eventful...heading down I-74 we turned around to find that Callie had managed to get both arms out of her carseat and was trying to get her bottom to follow...then stopped at Dairy Queen for dinner where she tried to cram too much hot dog in her mouth at once and threw up at the table...then she ripped an entire page out of a library book...but this is why we love Callie so much. Never a dull moment :) Things improved once we got there though. The weather was gorgeous so we were able to take advatange of the fun parks that are in walking distance from the house. We also got to celebrate grandma's birthday with her on Sunday...but the best part of the trip was meeting the newest member of our family!!! Jennifer and Chase have a gorgeous new baby girl, Lennon Grace, born August 27. Jason and I left the kids with grandma and grandpa and drove out to see her on Saturday...she was a perfect angel and we can't wait until the next time we get to see her!

Lennon Grace Blevins

All snuggled up...

Fun times at the park...

And some playing in the yard!

Haircuts!!!

Last Thursday night the girls and I headed out in the pouring rain to Allure Salon...Lily for a back to school trim, and Callie for her first haircut ever! It started out poorly...there was something going on that night that caused the parking lot to be totally full...so we had to park about three rows into the grass and trudge through the mud to get there. Needless to say, the girls were drenched and unhappy when we finally made it in...but they turned it around quickly! Lily is always excited for anything to do with beauty (haircuts, manicures, lip gloss...wonder where she gets that?) We let her go first and she was all business. Callie watched with interest and then eagerly hopped into the chair when it was her turn. She did great...no tears...but also no holding still...poor Brooke really earned her money that night, running circles around Callie to try and keep with with her ever-swivelling head! But we made it out of there with two fresh cuts and an evelope full of Callie's baby curls :)

Lily up first...see what I mean? Very serious.

Callie...goodbye mullet!

Let's see if a lollipop will keep that head still...

The finished look...all tousled up like a big girl :)

All done!