Toothbrush

Kaitlynn LOVES to brush her teeth. Actually I am not sure if it is the brushing she likes or the toothpaste- either way every day she goes into the bathroom drawer and pulls out her little bear toothpaste and asked for her brush. It so cute to see her just hanging out in the living room, watching her Diego or Dora and brushing her teeth. Once in a while I worry that she will wear off her enamel but the more I watch her it seems that she is just biting on the bristles. Which I guess is okay since she is teething again and I bet it feels pretty good on her gums. It’s funny though because I just recently had to go to Target and buy a four pack of toothbrushes because she went through a few already. Who would have thought that she would love a toothbrush- now if I could only get her to give up the NUK.

Nice Weather

This week's weather has been AWESOME! I cant tell you how nice it is to go outside right now and feel 50 degrees or more. My mom and I decided to embrace this and take the girls to the wildlife sanctuary and trails. I had forgotten how cool this place is! My mom brought AJ and I here alot as kids but you forget things with age I guess ;) There is no charge to use the property so we strapped on our bags (or in my case a baby) and headed out to get some exercise while the weather was cooperating. Kaitlynn had a great time exploring all the different paths and finding the animal's homes. She especially liked the red fox's lair where she stopped, reached out her hand very seriously and said "Swiper no swiping." As some of you know this is from a popular kids show called Dora the Explorer but let me tell you, I was laughing for quite a long time. We meandered all over the grounds and found ducks and geese, squirrels and chipmunks. Kaitlynn was even quiet enough for a deer to cross our path but it didn't hang out for long. She just looked at it like "Whoa- that's a big one" and then he was gone. Good thing poor AJ wasn't here, he would have wanted to shoot this buckaroo

Sisters

Kaitlynn and Olivia are 22 months apart and it is amazing how similar they are. Well not right now, but I see things in Livi that I saw in Kaitlynn at that age. Even physically they are similar. Kaitlynn was a bit bigger though. We call Olivia our itty bitty because she is so petite and a great little baby. Which is a definite must in this house right now seeing Bella is a holy terror... I shouldn't say that- how about a strong, independent little bruiser- better? Little Olivia is such a happy and content baby just sitting in her swing or being held by someone- unfortunately I am sure that will not last for long in this house- we can hope right?

Fall has fallen

Today we raked leaves as a family. Every fall it takes a few shots to get it all taken care of. We are hoping that this will be one of our last times. Since we traded the truck in for the SUV we no longer have the big bed to fill up with the leaves( hindsight is 20/20 I tell ya). So now we take a giant tarp and drag them to the curb. It sounds like its pretty easy but let me tell you, its not. And then the trick is to time it right with the leaf collection trucks because other wise they sit on the curb and blow around. Which means you could get your neighbors leaves in your yard too, which is not cool. Kaitlynn loves to take her handful of leaves and put them in her little house or down the slide. Kyra is not a fan of raking leaves because we can no longer trick her into thinking that it is all fun and games (darn her for growing up!) Tim's parents paid us a visit to see the girls and we wrangled Andy into helping us rake too.

First Sleepover

Today was Kyra's first sleep over- well with us that is. I guess over the summer she had convinced my very generous father into having this fiesta at his house. Which is better than at ours because frankly our house is itty bitty for four 10 year old girls. Mom had made it very clear that she would have no major roll in the ordeal so that left dad... and me. So I picked the girls up after school and met Tim and my little girls out at my parents house. Mom volunteered to watch Olivia while I took the party girls to of all places- Chucky Cheese! (I know its crazy talk- but it wasn't too bad). Tim kept Kaitlynn for the night so that she wouldn't be too upset by being left out of the festivities. Around 5 or so Dad showed up for pizza (and to pick up the bill) and he and I had a nice conversation while Kyra and her friends ran around playing games. I am not sure how many tokens we went through but it must have been alot because the girls were thoroughly content when it was time to head out. Dad had left a little ahead of us to stop at Copps and pick up food for their breakfst in thte morning. Not to mention the fact that it was super loud in there and his poor hearing was even worse than usual. So we got back to mom and dads and the girls had fun playing the Wii and trying on all of Kyra's dress up clothes (thank you mom!). Kyra told me that they were up until 3am but I have a feeling that was a bit of an exaggeration. At any rate though, I heard them at 1am and said it was time for bed- then I hit the couch with Olivia in the living room (she was in the bassinet so don't worry). At 6 little "Via" as Kaitlynn calls her, woke up for her breakfast. Luckily for me my mom was wide awake already so i got to snooze for a bit longer. Kyra and her friends were up at 9 and just plain old tired- it was late night for sure. They ate their breakfast that "Big Al" had made (too much to eat but awesomely good) and then I encouraged them to start cleaning up. I snuck downstairs a few moments later to find all four girls playing "Just dance" all in a row- it was adorable. Parents started showing up a little after 10 and we were all wrapped up by lunch time (thank God). I have to say that it went better than I expected but I think we are done for a while. I forgot just how much work these things can be and I am so happy it was here at my parents rather than my house-I hope Kyra knows just how lucky she is- sheesh what a day!

That's too Loud!

It has been about 6 months or so since Dad has been done with his Chemo and Radiation. His hair is starting to really come back in and it is dark like it used to be. He lost about 70 lbs total with the surgery and recovery but the chemo and radiation really kicked his butt and knocked down his spirit. I know it is hard to get used to, but this is just the way its going to be I guess. One of the hardest things for him (besides not being able to eat much) is the fact that his hearing is shot. It turns out that not only did the chemo ruin his memory but his ability to hear things clearly too. So if he ever turns to you and says "Come again"- that's normal. The part that my girls are not too found of is the fact that he can't tolerate loud or high pitched noises- uh oh is right. So big groups are hard for him and anything like a generator, or motor is painful too. So last week he decided to fix his problem... he went out and bought some earmuffs to dampen the noise... Kaitlynn thinks its a good idea too! (don't worry- hearing aides are on the way)

Tree Down

So about two weeks ago we had the apple tree in the front yard cut down. Not only was it growing up into the power lines- but it was driving Timmy nuts when he mowed the lawn- so it was truly a two-fer (as my mother would say). I cannot tell you just how fast they brought that thing down. I swear it was in less than 15 minutes from start to finish. Kaitlynn and I watched out the front windows while the group of probably 10 guys ripped this thing down. I was a little nervous because Tim and I had already gotten all the Halloween decoration put out in that yard and I didn’t want them to get in the guys way- but they didn’t. Actually the guys got a kick out of all the grave stones and staked heads- they walked all the way around to see them. One guy actually sat down and had a quick sandwich next to a zombie mask- it was awesome! Timmy should be happy now not to slip on the tiny little apples next summer. Although I will definitely miss the pretty blossoms in the spring- oh well, we can’t win them all.