Apple Picking for Preschool!

Yesterday we had a group activity day for preschool- Apple Picking at Alstede Farms!   There was so much to do with haystack climbing and tunneling, feeding animals, photo ops, looking at newborn kittens in the hay shed, hay rides, apple cider donut eating, and of course, picking apples!

Mykee's "two favorite parts of the activity were apple picking, going on a hay ride, AND going through the tunnel, AND going up the tower!"  Evan's favorite part, "Me too, me too!"  Same as Mykee :)

Happy smiles

Angry smiles

Birds and the Bees

Yes, we are starting the "Birds and the Bees" talk at our house!  And Mykee's only 4!!  The kids had Joy School this morning and one of the moms is expecting.  Mykelle just LOVES babies so on the ride home she was telling me all about Cailee's little brother being in her mommy's belly.  Then the conversation went like this:

Mykee:  How does the baby get in the Mommy's belly?

Me:  The Daddy helps put it there. (I considered saying Daddy and Heavenly Father, but I didn't want to confuse her that much...)

Mykee:  How does Daddy put it there?

Me:  When Daddies and Mommies get married then they can get pregnant and have a baby.  (Thought I dodged the bullet pretty well with that one!)

Mykee:  Why does the baby have to come out?

Me:  So that it can breath and live.  Could a baby stay in the belly forever?

Mykee:  No, it would get too big.  How does the baby come out of the belly?

Me:  (Hmmmm... What to do here... Dr. Laura flashing through my mind, talking about answering questions truthfully, but not necessarily in great detail)  Well, when the mommy's belly is really big she goes to the hospital and a doctor helps her baby come out.

Mykee:  (Sounding horrified) They CUT the mommy's belly and take the baby out?!?

Me:  They don't have to cut the baby out (I'll save that conversation for another day) but the mommy has to push and then the baby comes out of her giney.  (yes, that is our crazy word for vagina at our house!)  Then the doctor helps make sure the baby is safe, and lets the mommy and daddy hold it!  Isn't that amazing and wonderful??

Mykee:  Yeah.  Why does the baby have to come out of the giney?

Me:  Because that's the hole that leads to your belly.

Mykee:  Why does it lead to your belly?

Me:  Because that's how Heavenly Father and Jesus made it.

Mykee:  When I'm big and tall like you do I get to have a baby?

Me:  Yes, after you're married.

Mykee:  I don't want the baby to come out, I want it to stay in my belly!

I love my little girl!  We have conversations like this on almost a daily basis- but it's usually about more easily answered things like- "Where does bread (or grapes, or couches, or toys, etc) come from?"  Or "Why does Rapunzel hit Flynn Ryder with a frying pan?"  She is getting so curious, it's fun to see how her mind works.  I can't wait to hear the follow up questions after she thinks a little longer about our earlier conversation about babies.  I'm sure I'll have to get creative with my answers!

No-bake cookies- I like the way the kid's turned out!

Sesame Street on the computer- Mykee and Evan love it!

The following is a video of the kids at breakfast and their conversation that's quite typical around here.  It gets a little long so feel free to pass it up!

Friday and Saturday we had a garage sale.  I was asked by several people how I even had stuff to sell, since we live in such a small place and sold everything before we moved out here!  Surprisingly, we had loads of stuff and the amount of money we made helped make the busy weekend worth the effort!  I had the help of some friends who gave me stuff to sell for them to make the sale look a little better (in ads and in person) and they also helped with sitting the kids- or I couldn't have done it!  The kids were only slightly miffed that I sold some of their things and have accepted it quite well!  It might be a year or two before I do another one, but I'll definitely be doing one again!  What can I say, I learned from the best- my mom is the queen of garage sales.

 On Sunday we attended a cancer survivor festival at Liberty State Park given by my hospital and doctors.  It was a fun day of games, food, and entertainment.

Free hats, and hand painting! 

Free Rita's Italian Ice... YUM

The kids showed their moves as they danced to the Infernos

Delicious cake from CAKE BOSS!!  In your face Taryl :)

"My Bad Mean Dream Last Week"

   

I asked Evan if he'd slept well and if he had good dreams last night.  He answered, "No, I had a bad mean dream last week.  And you were in it, and me, and Mykee, and Daddy, and Gracie, and Andrew, and Johnny, and Kate, and me, and YOU!  I got hit in the head [he hit's himself here, quite forcefully in the face] and blood started COMING OUT OF MY NECK!!  That was my bad mean dream last week."  All of this he tells with big round eyes and a lot of energy.  He never says he has good dreams either, though I think he's just making stuff up- right?

    Mykee had a dream a couple weeks ago where she woke up screaming.  After getting her settled down she told us how she had her head taken off by a witch and a doll head was put on top of her neck.  Sounds pretty scary to me!  And I don't know where she's getting this- I promise we're not letting our kids watch Chucky! :)

    Evan and Mykelle have been enjoying preschool quite a bit so far (though they've only had three class days).  It's crazy to look at Mykee and see how much she's changed over the last year.  Mykelle was similar to Evan- jumping and rolling around, unable to sit and listen to a story for more than 2 minutes.  Now she's wonderful!  So here's to hoping Evan and Johnny pick it up this year too!  They have class tomorrow, we'll see if anything improves.

    Meanwhile, I've been trying to enjoy my time without both kids, and it hasn't happened!  True, I've only had two days with a total of 4 hours... But it seems like I'm running around doing errands in that short amount of time and then I have to go pick them up!  I love my kids but I can't help longing for the days when both kids will be in school all day long!  And then I question my choice of waiting until each child is six to start school...  Maybe if I move to a place that has 1/2 day Kindergarten instead of full day I could change my mind.

    Adam has been busy as can be at work.  He has two student workers to help him but it's not enough.  He's also started grad school (again!) so he has to go to class three times a week along with all of the studying involved.  Also, he is teaching 8 class periods for an engineering class this semester.  On top of all of this AND his job requirements, he's been asked to write a chapter of a "How To" book on libraries and a book proposal to some publishers.  Yeah, he's pretty amazing!  With all of this he can still find time to be with us on evenings and weekends!

Winger Family Photo Shoot

Taryl took our family pics again this year- she did a great job!  Here are some of my favorites: