Reese

Still adorable.  Still crazy.
This is her classic 'I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm going to stare you down and smile while I climb up the stairs you don't want me to go up'

Eckerts....revisited

This place is just a little slice of heaven for a nice fall day. We went back to Eckerts farm, but this time the Millstadt location which, simply put, is like crack for kids. And adorable crack at that. Grandma, Grandpa and Jack joined in the fun. Straight out of the gate we stumbled upon the giant pumpkin launch - which is good, clean fun as the farmer loads pumpkins in a giant cannon-type thingy (that's a word) and blasts them out a hundred plus yards into the orchard. Of course he needs volunteers. Of course Ryan had her hand a waving away to be called up on stage. Of course he eventually called her up. And be still my beating heart when he asked her to speak into the microphone and tell everyone her name and she said "Ryan Stiff", only it was at warp speed and one word "ryanstiff" - the poor farmer had not a clue what she had uttered, but he went with it anyway....
Farmer, cannon launch thingy, Ryan with a little hay on her tush soaking in her 15 minutes of fame
Picking our her pumpkin to be launched, doing so with a little sass in her step
Reese was jealous. In case you were wondering.  She kept trying to run up on stage to join her sister so we let her run wild with Jack for a bit:
Petting zoo --- well hello there Reese
I will poke every crevice of your face and you will not attack. Deal?
Apple time
Wagon ride
Getting down to business
Dad gave Reese a little lift so she could get hers...
Then we moved onto the 'jumping pillow' and talk about striking gold - Jack and Ryan were in heaven
Just when it can't get any better, well....why the hell not throw in a camel ride?
These two had perma-grins the entire ride
A little love before we head home....
And that, my friends, is a kick-ass fall Saturday!

School days....

I'm a few weeks behind on the obligatory first-day-of-school photos but with good reason.  We just enrolled Ryan in a little two day a week preschool and her first day was yesterday.  She was really pumped to learn she has to bring a backpack to school each day.  And the fun for me starts Wednesday when it's my first day to help out in her classroom - the school has a nice little program where moms can volunteer about once a month to help the teacher and in return, you get a lovely discount on tuition.

Three stitches and a pie.....

So Tuesday night was eventful......Reese, or shall we call her 'kamikaze' as she is now known, fell off a little step stool and sent us off to the ER.  Our first visit.  Of course it was Reese who did us the honors.  Ryan is a bit more calculated and controlled in her craziness.  She was great, hated the Doctor and nurses (whom we loved) but enjoyed a few hours eating ice and playing with mom's wallet.  Thankfully for her parents, we were lucky enough that the hour we waited for the numbing gel to kick in on Reese's forehead coincided with the season premiere of Parenthood.  A slight win in an unfortunate situation.
And if you're wondering.....she clearly hasn't learned a lesson because our little kamikaze is as crazy as ever.
And, and, if you're wondering....I was a little under impressed with the Parenthood opener - what is up with Maddie and Amber's hairdos?
In other news, prior to our hospital pit stop, the highlight of my day had been this:
A little background info here - I have NEVER made a pie myself, let alone completely homemade (crust and all) but have always wanted to make my own apple pie in the fall. Seems like a must in the stay-at-home-mom-and-it's-fall handbook. So I gave it a whirl and by golly, it was delish! One point for mom. And I suppose the ER visit for my baby takes away a few points but let's just gloss over that for now....

Firefighters in training...

I came out of retirement for a brief moment to help plan the neighborhood block party last weekend.  As part of my responsibilities, securing a visit from the Glendale Fire Department was priority number one.
Does it surprise you at all that my children were eager beavers to get inside?

The staples...

Ryan sat down this morning and decided to work on her 'grocery list'
She rattled off a long list of items we needed to go buy...
In case you can't read her cursive, she told me (in a very particular order) that we must buy:
french toast
raspberries
blueberries
chocolate cake
breakfast
granola

Cheap labor

As we prepare the 'estate' for mulch, it was time to put the ladies to work.....and eager to help they were.
Naturally, a disagreement or two...
Yard work with attitude
Kissing or strangling? It's a toss up....
Manual labor is tiring...
A little play time was in order:

5 years....

Hard to believe it's been five years since this:
Our small, surprise wedding up in Boulder, CO.
A little solitude before jumping into this crazy life that is living with me...
I do believe that the appropriate 5 year anniversary gift from man to woman is a third child. I swear. I read it somewhere.

Love you Grant!!!!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

from my two little monkeys...
Be safe out there this weekend...try not to strangle anyone