Fall Family Fun

Last week was a Daddy-stay-home week (aka vacation, without the traveling) so he helped pack in some family fun (and some house projects... chopped down a tree, cleaned my car, fixed a million little things, etc. all while we got a new roof!). We had a blast going to Stuckey farm again this year for apple and pumpkin picking. Everyone was old enough to participate instead of just scream, and we did a LOT of walking, picking, and eating.

Dani snacktime!

Daddy helps pick

Benny is thankful for teeth




Pumpkins were especially fun, even just to see how different each of our kids can be. Total time taken to pick a pumpkin: Alex - 45 seconds, Dani - 20 minutes and a half mile of walking, Ben - happy to have one chosen by Ama.

Dani is happy with her choice




Alex's new pet ladybug




Despite 50 degree nights, we let the girls camp out in the backyard with our new tent. Jack had first shift while I stayed inside with Ben (and my work) and then I went out to finish the night. It was COLD but dry and I slept really really well in the perfect smells of fall...


Finally, at the end of the week we took time for some crafts (My fav!) and got in the Halloween spirit. ;)

Sound bites from the breakfast table

"Mommy, can we start having our birthday in September?"

"Benny, that bow looks cute in your hair."

"Hurt my lungs, Mommy! Hurt my lungs please!"

We start our days around here with a nutritious breakfast of fruit, milk, carbs, and silliness.

In Memory of Opi

It's been an emotional few weeks since our visit to Chicago and I've been trying to find a way to express myself in the aftermath. That visit turned out to be my last chance to be with Opi, and I'm thankful for that time and all the other times he and I were together. He was not ill these last few months but just sort of gave up. At age 92, he was ready to move on and he did. I miss him. For the memorial service, I was able to scan pictures from Omi's beautiful heritage albums for a slide show. It was nice to spend time with Opi and his happy moments. He lived a simple but rich life, and he and his music touched those around him.

Dani's meltdown

The scene: outside Ama's house, just before naptime.

Dani: "Oh no! My balloon!" (shrieks of fear and sadness begin)

Daddy: "I asked you if you wanted me to put it on your wrist and you told me you would hold onto the balloon."

Dani: (wailing and throwing herself to the pavement) "Daaaaaddyyyyyy, you shouldn't have listened to me!!!!"

(on the sidelines, Mommy works hard not to laugh)

Lovin' Summer

As you can see, we've been busy busy busy having fun this summer...

Last week the girls got haircuts, so I snapped a few pics in front of our newly painted house.

Dani loves flowers:



Alex loves to make people laugh... and laugh herself!


Then after haircuts, we visited Omi and Opi in Chicago (and Gramma and Opa and Romeo, not pictured but much beloved.)





Ben's first playdate. We got together with his buddy Zach whose sister Lily is in preschool with the girls now:





Swim lessons!




The kids LOVE their new swingset, sandbox (thanks Aunt Jean and Uncle Aaron!) and playing in water. Ben's fav is to run in the hose while I'm watering the veggies. And we have a bike seat for him now so we can all go for a ride.

Alex's sand creation:





Sandy Dani:


Daddy worked hard to build it so he gets to play too!


Eh, you hosers...






He's normally not too happy to wear it, but when he does... so cute!



Growin' lots of veggies (tomatoes are finally ripening too!) My baseball bat zuc made 3 batches of bread with 1/4 of it still to spare!



Alex in the carrot frame...


Monday, August 10, Alex and Dani started a new school with Mrs. L. They have had 2 days of fun so far! (even if they didn't think they would when they got there. This is their "first day" picture...)


More fun to come! Hard to believe the school year has begun. Maybe once Ben is at school 2 days a week in September I'll post more often!

A full week of fun

Since last Saturday, we have managed to find time for: the girls to have a sleep over at Ama's house, biking as a family, the girls' first fishing trip, a visit to the girls' new school and a visit for Benny at his new school, swim lessons, trips to Costco, Trader Joes, Marsh, the farmer's market, and Target (our usual routine), the girls' last day at Goddard School (after 2 years!) complete with treats and homemade gifts from both us and them, a picnic and splash day at Dillon Spray Park, and (last but not least) the local church carnival for games, rides, cotton candy, and face painting. Here are the highlights in picture form...

Ben in his new bike seat. 
Dani and Alex love wearing their goggles now! Alex the fisher...and her fish! She wasn't so sure about touching it (and after recent reports of toxic algae in area lakes, that's probably for the better...) Dani loved fishing too! Both girls caught 2 fish.

For their last day, the girls gave each teacher a drawing it painting they had made special just for that person. In return, "the cows room" gave us a mural all the kids had worked on and it now proudly resides in the playroom:

Tonight after dinner all 3 Wei girls had an outing to St. Elizabeth Seton's Setonfest. The highlight for Dani & Alex was getting facepainted. Alex plans to be an astronaut for Halloween so she picked a rocketship. And our resident girlie girl picked a princess crown:

I don't have a picture handy, but our other excitement this week has been dogsitting Emma Hildebrand who is a wonderful, calm, non-neurotic shepherd mix. Who knew you could have a dog and leave it at home alone now and then! Dogs are fun! The kids ADORE her and will be sad tomorrow when she goes home, I'm sure. Ben walks out to the deck yelling her name and patting his thigh. "Memma! Memma!" I'll post a video of him kissing her soon. It's unreal cute.

All in all, a good week for us. However, it's been a rough week for my grandfather, so everyone please keep him and my grandmother in your thoughts. Opi is in the hospital again for a potential stroke. I'll post more as we know more. The kids and I are going for a visit to Chicago next week which I'm hoping will help cheer him up.

Snacktime Banter

Dani: "Cookie Monster eats his cookies messier. He should eat more neatly."

Alex: "Yeah, and he shouldn't say 'Coookie.' He should say 'Can I have a cookie please?'. And he shouldn't eat so many."

Do I have good kids or what?!

Ben the artist

Bennie has gotten almost as excited about drawing as his sister Dani is, and he's really good at keeping at it for 10-15 minutes at a time! Here are today's products!

Kids Say the Funniest Things, episode 10,886

The girls have been making a lot of books lately stapling together pages of their drawings (I'm so PROUD!) and tonight Dani wanted to read one of her books at bedtime instead of picking a storybook. She said, "The title is "Everything I Do Is Perfect", pictures by Dani, words by Dani." She has used this title before. Apparently it's an idea she likes a lot. (Additional funnies came when Alex said, "Me too!" after Dani said the author and illustrator, to which Dani replied, "No Alex. You didn't help.")

Jack and I both find it generally hilarious that both girls refer to Alexa as "Ow-wah-lex" and Alex often refers to herself in the third person. Yesterday as we drove to the zoo, she accidentally called herself Dani and then said, "Gah! I just called myself Dani by accident!"

When I gave the girls mozzarella cheese on their noodles a few nights ago, Dani gobbled hers up and then, "More Cindarella cheese please!"

As I drove to school one morning, Dani announced, out of the blue last week, "Even when I'm a grown up, I'll still spell my name D-A-N-I."

We've been talking about how old you need to be to do certain things. On that same drive to school, Dani said (again out of the blue) - "People who are 16 can drive. But even though Mommy is - How old are you Mommy? - even though Mommy is 31 she can still drive."

During playtime, Alex will often refer to something needing to be a certain way by saying, "There's a sign that says...." My favorite one so far was during a trip to the park, "There's a sign that says 'No coughing in this park.'"

Kids. They keep you laughing! Which is good because otherwise I might go batty.