A Visit with Santa

We have seen Santa many times this year. Until today, Wally has only wanted to wave to Santa. We went to lunch with Van, Stacy, Sander, and Levi and then found Santa. First, only Levi thought Santa was ok. Wally and Sander needed each other to talk to Santa.

Some how, Santa knows that little boys like Thomas!

Eventually, Wally got brave and decided that maybe Santa was ok. Santa was in a very good mood today and was very good with the kids.

He even decided that he needed to whisper in Santa's ear that he wants a "flippy car" for Christmas. Wally has been very consistant with this wish...too bad I don't think Santa will be getting him one. Santa found other stuff for Wally already.

Needless to say, Wally is just a little bit excited for Chirstmas. Kids are so much fun!

Pink

As I was working on getting a short photo album ready for our dossier, I came across this picture. I had to take a couple minutes to get this posted. In a few weeks, when our dossier is mailed off, I will try to get more posted.

Baby Lord Jesus, Rum Pa Pum Pum!

Wally is very excited about Christmas this year. He has been talking and singing about "Baby Lord Jesus" all the time. In Sunday school they have been singing Away in a Manger. I think that is where Lord Jesus comes from. He has been into making up his own songs for quite a while now, but now this songs are getting a bit more complex, not just 1 or 2 words repeated over and over again. Wally and Joel have also been singing Little Drummer Boy a lot because Uncle Eric gave Wally a book about the little drummer boy for Christmas one year. So, what follows is Wally's rendition of "Baby Lord Jesus, Rum Pa Pum Pum."

Fall Colors, Grandma and Papa, Halloween...

The fall colors were beautiful this year. To see trees like this all over town was just amazing! We made it outside to go to the park. I'm surprised these things are still being installed in parks. I think everyone has been bucked off them at some point. Though I guess we have all survived.

While my parents were visiting, we went to Lake MacBride. Though many of the trees had already lost their leaves or they turned from red to brown already, it was still magnificant! Wally had a great time climbing, fishing, and who knows what else he was doing with Grandma, Papa, and his imaginary friend Oso. Not too shaby!

I think he knows he is cute!

This is what happens when Joel goes to work while my parents are in town...last time it was holes in the porch roof, this time it was a hole in our kitchen!

Thanks Mom and Dad! I love my new cabinets! We did play a little while they were here. We went to the Children's Museum. They have a new airplane room. Not sure who enjoyed it more, Papa or Wally.

Bath time with Grandma and Papa is always more fun than with Mom and Dad.

Now to Halloween. We had a party at the Coop for all of the kids. We had games, trick-or-treating, and snacks. All in all a great time. It was so much fun to see all of the kids in costume! Wally made a pretty good spider-throwing cowboy.

Wally apparently had a good time at the party. We stopped by Joel's lab on the way home to show off his cowboy costume. He was out cold very shortly after leaving the lab. That night was family fun night at the mall, so we went with Stacy and Sander. The boys have discovered the arcade next to the museum. They don't mind if we don't put money into the games. We later made it to the museum. Wally was so excited to see the airplanes again that he bolted as soon as we got there. We needed to tickets to get into the airplane room, so we were looking all over for Wally. Finally a friend of ours asked the airplane room bouncers if she could look for a lost child in there. Sure enough, there was Wally. We explained to him that he can't just run off from us like that and if he did that again, we would go home and not go to the airplane room again. Well, after a few minutes, I saw him run out of the room we were in and down the hall. By the time I dodged other parents and kids, he was no where to be found. This time, we found him coming out of the men's bathroom. He was so pround of himself because he had washed his hand (what?). Anyway, we told him that we had to leave the museum because he had run away from us again. I have never seen a kid so sad. He was so sad that I almost cried! But, we went home anyway. Maybe next time.

Saturday (Halloween) we carved Wally's pumpkin that Sander's Papa had given him.

It took him a while to get the nerve up to dig into the pumpkin, but he did.First Wally "carved" the pumpkin with his markers. Then Daddy had a go at it with a knife.Nicely done Daddy!

That night we went trick-or-treating with Sander, Stacy, Van and Levi. The boys had a great time. I really think Wally was meant to be a cowboy! Wally didn't want his picture taken in this video, so he was pouting. I love how kids can change emotions so quickly!

Check out the "Rocking W Lazy G" belt buckle!

Milking Cows

Yesterday I came downstairs and found Wally sitting in his chair beside his rocking horse. I asked him what he was doing. He replied matter-of-factly, "Milking my cow." So, I proceded to ask him, "Who taught you how to milk a cow." He replied with his normal answer when I ask him who taught him really random things, "Grandma Mary teach me this!" Really? Tonight Wally was thirsty, so he had to milk his cow to get some milk to drink. When Joel asked him who taught him how to milk a cow, he replied, "Papa Steve teach me this!" Equally believable.

Wally's imaginary friend Oso had gone home to his house with his Mom and Dad, but he needed to come back so he could milk the cow. So, logically, Wally called him.

Then I had to take a picture of Wally with Oso. After milking the cow, Wally had to wash his hands.

I took this picture that made Wally throw himself on the floor crying because I was supposed to take a picture of Oso washing his hands, not another picture of Wally.So we took a picture of Oso washing his hands.

Anyone see Poison Ivy?

This post is out of order, but I wanted to share pictures anyway.

We went to the lake a couple weeks ago. U of I was having a beginners sailing class, so there were 13 sail boats on the water. We got to watch them capsize, crash into eachother, and just be beautiful on the water. We first took the canoe out. Wally wanted to paddle along with the sail boats. We thought better of it and just paddled all the way around them.

After a picnic on the shore watching the sail boats, Joel and Wally did some fishing, while I throroughly enjoyed just sitting and watching and enjoying the sun. Though there aren't mountains, it is hard to beat a sunny day at the lake watching sail boats and fishing.After a lesson from Dad, Wally tried fishing. I made him a pole out of a stick, some fishing line from the shore, and a rock. (We just found his real SpongeBob fishing pole the other day). My boys are quite the fishermen.

After fishing with Dad, Wally decided to venture out on his own, and into the water. No fish were caught that day, but Wally apparently caught posion ivy. Last week I noticed he had a couple "bug bites" on his leg that he had scratched and were open. I kept and eye on them, and one seemed to get infected. We tried antibiotic ointment on them, but they just weren't getting better, they were getting worse. Thinking of MRSA, I decided to take him to the doctor. She took one look at it and said, "He has poison ivy!" What?!?!? All we can figure is that he got into it at the lake and that it took 1-2 weeks to show up. Since then, he has gotten a few more small spots on his legs, but the steroid cream the doctor gave us is clearing it up nicely.

Random and unrelated...

Wally got a train whistle and and engineer's hat at Sander's birthday party. What perfect party favors! Wally loves his hat. Here, he is wearing PJs with a cape and his engineer's hat, blowing his whistle, and playing with is trains. Can life get better?

We figure Wally is old enough to help around the house. After meals, his job is to put away hot pads and dips. He is really good at helping, though sometimes, it takes a while to get the dips into the refrigerator...

Bed Buddies, Birthdays, Balloons, and Snowflakes?

Wally has gotten a new Bed Buddy, besides his usual plethora of stuffed animals...Scout. Wally insists that he is scared of the dark and that he needs his night light and lamp left on and his door open when he falls asleep. This allows for Scout, always looking for a soft warm place to sleep, to wander right in. Wally certainly doesn't mind.My big boy is 31! We didn't do much for his birthday, but it was a nice weekend anyway. We had a couple friends over for pizza and apple pie, and to watch the Iowa football game. The Hawkeyes are fun to watch this year. I guess when you are as old as Joel, you need a little help blowing out your candle. I made the pie with the apples we picked at the orchard. It was yummy! Wally only wanted to eat the soggy, not-so-good crust. He said the apples were yucky. I actually enjoyed sharing my piece with him!I found the "blow your own plastic balloon" stuff that Wally got at Christmas, so we had to make some. After I made a few, Wally had to try. He actually was pretty good at it, except the balloons were more like water balloons...they were full of an amazing amount of spit! He had to keep a close eye on the balloons as he inflated them (notice his eye). Though it is hard to see in the pictures, it actually snowed in Iowa on Saturday (my garden is done...bummer). Some of the grass got a slight hint of white for a little while, but that was all. Considering Wally "loves snow." He and Joel went outside to catch snowflakes on their tongues.

Wally found a great stick that is his "sprayer." He really likes to pretend everything is on fire and that everything is his sprayer. Apparently, Daisy thought that Wally's sprayer was her stick, so they played tug-o-war.

Daisy decided just to ambush the unsuspecting fireman to get her stick back. It is fun to watch Wally (and the dogs for that matter) get older and interact with eachother more. Moose loves to play "Duck, Duck, Goose" with us. He is pretty much confused most of the time, but has a big smile as he chases us around the basement. I can tell he is getting older because he doesn't last many rounds before he falls asleep. As for Daisy, she and Wally are quite the buddies. Wally is constantly hugging and kissing her, and just generally harassing her. But, I think she likes the attention.

Apple Farm

We decided to do something a little different today. We had seen signs pointing down Dingleberry Lane for Wilson's Orchard. People had also told us it was a lot of fun, so we decided to head there this morning. Wally was super excited to go to an apple farm. When we got there, there was a tractor pulling a wagon ready to head out into the orchard. Once Wally saw the tractor, apples didn't seem so exciting. But,we got a couple baskets and headed down the hill with a promise of a wagon ride after apple picking.

We were kinda late for getting some of the apples, so we had to look really hard to find them, and use some creative apple picking techniques...Especially so that Wally could pick them.But Wally managed to pick a bucket full. We got some that are good for eating, and some that are good for cooking. Guess I better get busy in the kitchen again!We all got carmel apples as a "special treat." As predicted, Wally ate most of the carmel off of his apple, and left the apple untouched. It was a beautiful day for roaming the hills of an orchard. We did get a tractor ride back to the barn after picking our apples. Pretty sure Wally thought that was the best part. He is such a boy when it comes to loud things that move. We will definitely head to the orchard next year for more fun and apples. I learned yesterday that next year we likely won't get many pears on our tree, so I'll need something to keep me busy!

Harvest Time (aka: Why I haven't blogged)

I never realized how busy harvest time can be. I have been picking tomatoes, green beans, broccoli and more like crazy. I just can't seem to keep up. I was disappointed in my pumpkin plant. It has taken over the garden and I couldn't find any pumpkins, just a lot of flowers.

Finally, I found a pumpkin:

It was suspended in air on a vine that had climbed over our fence and into our neighbors yard. I cut off excess vines and flowers, and hauled it back over the fence onto the ground. It is now the size of a beach ball. I did find another smaller pumpkin that is about the size of a football now. Wally and I like to check them out everyday.

Believe it or not, but I already picked a bunch of tomatoes from this plant (and took them to Montana). We've been buying friends with tomatoes this season.I've been able to freeze a lot of green beans, carrots, and some broccoli. I'm excited to be able to eat "fresh" produce year round.My biggest endevour lately has been pears. Our pear tree is huge, and was completely covered with pears this year. I've picked so many pears and given a lot away. I've made pear crisp, pear cobbler, pear fruit salad, and my biggest adventure... canned pears and pear butter. My pear peelling and cutting skills are quite fine-tuned now. I filled that black bucket more than full with pears.Wally was so excited to eat the pears I canned, until they were on his plate. Then he decided he doesn't like them. Hopefully he will change his mind, because I only have a mere 24 quarts! I also have 26 jars of pear butter. It is quite yummy!

Now that I no longer have pears in pear form, I hope I will have more time for blogging. Just so I don't get in too much trouble for not blogging in a long time, and then not including any pictures of Wally, here are some pictures of Wally getting himself dressed : "I did it, all by mine self!"