Apple Orchard

It was time once again for our apple orchard weekend with the Smith family We went to an apple orchard in the cities this year to change things up. It was a little bit chilly out, but we were all dressed and ready to pick some apples. The kids spent time picking their own apples and following the rules while the big kids played a game of let's throw apples at each other. :) We got all of our apples and made our way to Jolene's house to make apple pies. My dad, Chris, and Jolene took over the apple pie making duties this year. After lots of playing together with all the cousins, we went to Soren's soccer game to take in more of the fall weather and to cheer on Soren. Afterward, we went back to Jolene's for supper and apple pie. The daddies took the kiddos outside for awhile too to play football and run around before the sun went down. It was a fun fall afternoon and evening. I look forward to this weekend every year. It has become a great tradition that I hope we continue for a long time to come.

You're Going Where?

Last night's play session went like this:

Kelsey: Mommy, I am going to my boyfriend's house.

Me: (after composing myself) Where are you going?

Kelsey: To my boyfriend's house.

Me: You better check with your daddy about that.

Kelsey to Daddy: I'm going to my boyfriend's house.

Daddy: (in the most serious tone possible) No, you're not.

And that was the end of that. Seriously, not ready for that conversation for a long time!

New Roof

Our house got a new roof this week! It was in need of it. and we are so glad to have this big item off our list of things to do.Yesterday, when the girls and I got home from school, they were still working  on it, and it was really loud in the house. Kelsey was not a fan and had to eat supper with her fingers in her ears while I fed her. Well, monkey see, monkey do, and Megan soon had her fingers in her ears for most of dinner, too. After supper, Kelsey put her head phones on and disappeared. I found her hiding in our closet. She got teary and said she was really scared of the noise. (However, when I went to take a picture, those two little monkeys both smiled and said cheese!) So, we packed up and went to Grandma and Grandpa's house until they finished. The roof looks great and so far we are happy with the upgrade.

 Roof pics to come!

18 months

Megan is 18 months and doing great! We went to the doctor for her check-up and (drumroll please), she weighs 20 pounds! Finally! And so what if she just finished drinking her cup and had on a sweatshirt when they weighed her. This whopping number puts her at the 2%. So she is back on the charts. Woot-woot! She is 33 inches tall, which is the 36%. Doc says all looks good.

She is so darn cute right now. She loves to do whatever we are doing right now. If we stick out our tongue, so does she. If I am making the grocery list, she wants a piece of paper and crayon to "write" hers. Oh, and if Kelsey screams because she knows Megan will scream too, then we have two little girls screaming at the top of their lungs because they think it is funny. Oh the joys :)

Megan is really into her books right now, especially animals books. She makes the noises for the  cow, kitty, cow, owl, and lion. I learned the hard way that I probably shouldn't bring those books to church as Megan was meowing and growling out loud.

Megan has also started to notice the TV. Up until this point, she has never actually sat to watch it. She is still quite selective in what she will pay attention to. Her favorite show is Little Einsteins. She likes to pat her lap when they do on the show.

She has started to get really good at bedtime. When we say it is time for night night, she gets her blanket and nuk and stands in front of the crib. We hold her for a second and cuddle, and then she lays down and goes to sleep. If you recall, Kelsey has always had a difficult time with bedtime. Or maybe more that I have had a hard time figuring out what to do to get Kelsey to stay in her bed. It is still a work in progress. Stay tuned!

Kelsey and Megan are great buddies. They play so well together. Kelsey likes to "read" to Megan and also makes Megan be the patient when they play doctor. They also have this thing of running around the table when dinner is over. Once I get Megan out of her chair and Kelsey is finished, they run around the table chase each other while I clean up. I am so glad they want to play together, but I wonder how long it will be until one of them gets an owie?

Megan likes to be a little ham and can be quite mischievious. It will get really quiet, and I will find her pulling all the plastic baggies out, rearranging and giving my tupperware cupboard a facelift, or playing with  one of Kelsey's toys that Kelsey has just put down and Megan wants dibs on. She is so with it now and when we ask her to do something, she does it! She fully understands us and that is so cool to see her development continue to flourish.

She loves this little stool that goes with the girls' vanity set. However, she doesn't use it to sit on, she uses it to stand on and reach things. Her new favorite item to try to get is Kelsey's jewelry box. We have since had to find a new home for the jewelry box. Megan will carry the stool wherever she needs it and proceed to attempt to reach the previously unreachable.

Megan likes to sing the song If You're Happy and You Know It. She follows along and does all the actions.

Megan's favorite game is Duck, Duck, Goose. She will touch your head and said "daaaaaaaa" and as she says it her voice pitch goes up. If we are all sitting on the floor, she will come up and start touching our heads to let us know she wants to play.

As we enter church, she puts her finger to her lips and says shhhhh. Now we just need to get her to follow her own advice. She can be quite the jabber box. Only once have we gotten "the look"  to which I had Mattey take her out.

Megan is the best. We adore this tiny little peanut. She is so smart and fun. We love her like crazy. What an incredible gift from God she is! Both of our girls make our life so incredibly joyous. We are blessed. Love you 18 month Megan!

Grandparent's Day

Happy Grandparent's Day to two sets of wonderful grandparents to our girls. We were able to celebrate with Dave and Vickie. And even though Dad and Chris are far away, we are lucky for modern technology and we were able to Skype. Our girls are very lucky and blessed to have you all in their lives. We love you very much!

First Day of Preschool

Kelsey started preschool this week. She has been so excited for this day for quite awhile. She was more than ready to go when we woke her up this morning. Kelsey is not usually a morning girl and today she jumped right out of bed. When we went to take her picture, the smile on her face was so precious.  I don't think it could have gotten any bigger. She loved that she finally got to wear her princess backpack! With Matt and I both being teachers, we unfortunately were not able to take her to school because we have our own students to greet for their first day. Thankfully, we are very fortunate to have Stacey teaching in the same building as where Kelsey goes to preschool. Stacey was gracious enough to walk Kelsey to her classroom on Tuesday and took a few pictures, too. I must admit, I had made Kelsey go to school a few days earlier and have a "pretend" first day of school so I could take her picture, too :) We just know Kelsey is going to do great at preschool, and we hope all her first days of school are just as exciting!

With Miss Jane

With her friend Ava

Dance and Football

Kelsey started dance class last week. She gets to do ballet and tap this year. She is rather excited to have tap shoes. This means she has to learn 2 dances this year. She loves it! Of course little Megan wanted to get in on the picture taking.

We went to Matt's first football game. They pushed the start time back to 8pm due to the extreme heat, so it made it pretty late to take the girls. The heat must have kept some people away, along with it being a week night game so we had our pick of seats. This allowed the girls to move around in the stands. Thank goodness for me because Megan was a busy body and wanted to be all over. Not sure what we will do when the stands are full. Nevertheless, it was fun to go. Football starting is one of my favorite parts of fall. Oh, and the Huskies won!