Radish brain

Lincoln & I cleaned out more of the garden this afternoon and found a long-forgotten radish among the wildflowers.

Silver sparkle

I am a far cry from a fashionista.  The boots in our house are for wearing in the snow or rain.  I have never tried on a pair of jeggings (just the name is kind of creepy to me).  I usually don't buy trendy stuff for the kids either.  However, I've had a little fun with fall clothes shopping and got this cute little outfit for Emily.  I think she likes it. :o)

Thomas hat

We made a big trip to Waterloo this week to get all the necessary gear to survive another Iowa winter.  Lincoln picked out a new Thomas hat and has insisted on wearing it every time he goes outside.

Heartland Farms field trip

Emily had an exciting week at school.  On Tuesday, the kindergarten classes at West Cedar took a field trip to the Waverly Fire Department.  I think Emily was more excited for her first bus ride than to see the fire trucks!  Then on Friday, they took their big field trip to the Heartland Farms pumpkin patch.  I traded daycare hours for Lincoln with the mom of the little boy I'm watching so I could go along as a parent volunteer.  It was pretty chilly and windy, but fun to be with Emily and meet her classmates.  The kids enjoyed bouncy houses, a wagon ride through the patch, a corn maze, farm animals, watching the "Pumpkinator" shoot pumpkins at a school bus, sack lunches in a greenhouse building and each came home with a small pumpkin.

Handyman helper

Because every handyman helper requires fairy wings when installing a new toilet...

**It's another 10+ post run, so be sure to click on "Older Posts" to see everything**

Cousin weekend

The kids & I spent the weekend with my family in NW Iowa.  It was jam-packed with cousin time, including a trip to Cousin Ryan's house to deliver a belated birthday present and play with all his new toys.  Each kid also got to do the one thing they were looking forward to most: Emily read Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm and played with Dream Builders while Lincoln spent a couple hours outside with Grandpa Boote hauling branches with the Kubota and feeding cows with the tractor, as well as helping feed calves.  I sort of purposely didn't get out the camera to just enjoy time with family.  We made one attempt at a cousin picture before leaving on Sunday.  This is the best out of the 103 shots I took on Hi-Speed burst.

Kid art

A typical work of art by Lincoln

Emily's underwater explorer

Front of birthday card Emily made for herself

Inside

Back

Winter gear

With the chillier weather, it was time to haul out the crate of winter gear and take inventory.  Lincoln is ready to go!

Piano tuning

We got our piano tuned today!  Lincoln thought he better help Quentin fix the squeaky suspension pedal.

Fun in the leaves

This week was the peak of fall color in the Cedar Valley.  Today was the perfect leaf day.  Small gusts of wind rained leaves down from the ash and maple trees.  It was an early out day, and we took full advantage.  Our first activity was catching leaves in butterfly nets.  I caught about a dozen before the kids started cheating and scooping up leaves off the ground.

Next we raked paths in the leaves, and Lincoln got out his lawn mower.

Then we got out the bubbles.

Lincoln decided he was going to have a party, so he decorated the bushes.

The day ended running through a big pile in the back yard.  Lincoln insisted on a countdown each time and applause as he ran.  There's nothing like the pure joy of a kid running through the crunchy leaves!