Simple Saturday

Scott had a conference to attend on Saturday, so the boys and I planned a day at home relaxing and playing.  I had wanted to make pumpkin granola and Karsten wanted to help, so we got everything ready to cook.  When Karsten brought his stool over, Liam immediately ran to get his stepstool.

While Karsten can stir and help mix ingredients, Liam needs a bit of work to keep the ingredients in the bowl.  To help Liam feel like he was helping, I gave him a bowl with water and a couple of measuring spoons.  He stired (aka sloshed) the water around, took sips of the water from the measuring spoons and played in it.  But that's all good - he was happy and Karsten and I were able to get the granola done!  It was tasty, but next time I will add more pumpkin so the pumpkin flavor is stronger.


After we got dressed, we went out to play and enjoy the beautiful fall day.  Liam wanted to wear his hat which means that Karsten wanted to wear his hat as well.


There were a lot of sticks on the ground in the backyard and the boys had fun hunting them down and poking the ground with them.


'I AM SMILING'


The boys couldn't resist the sandbox so they did some digging for treasures in the sand.  Karsten was burying rocks and Liam decided to dig where Karsten was working - holy cow, did you hear them argueing? I'm pretty sure my neighbors did!




While the sandbox has been a fun idea and the boys really like it, I'll admit that I regret it each time we come come into the house.  Our kitchen floor has a gritty layer of sand - guess it should be time to clean.

Giddyup

While Scott and I were cleaning up dinner dishes, the boys pulled the cushions off the chairs and decided they were horses.  They grabbed the strings and Liam would say 'HEE HEEE' and he would scoot forward.  Karsten got a cushion and made his 'horse' move.  Then it became a race to see who could go fastest.



It's the simple things. :)  I love how this picture captures how much fun they were having - they were both cracking up the whole time!

Wordless Wednesday - CMA Dance Party

Tis the season for ick

Cold and flu season is in full force at our house. Liam got sick on Friday, Karsten on Sunday and I started feeling sick on Monday afternoon and made a beeline for home.  

Karsten was feeling a-ok on Monday, but Scott stayed home with him to ensure he was better.  They did some shredding of old receipts which was apparently a hit with Karsten.  He also likes to use the wand on the vacuum, so it was double the fun when he got to clean up the shredding mess.


Once the stomach bug hit me, I went downhill quickly and got dehydrated. After a quick trip to the ER to get fluids and anti nausea medicine, I was feeling much better.


Scott and I both stayed home on Tuesday to rest and by the end of the day were feeling much better but not completely normal.  When the boys got home from school and Gail's, we had a low key night relaxing and an early bed time.  Let's hope we have a healthy fall and winter season from here on out.

Two year pictures

Liam's pictures were scheduled for this evening and while I was at a friend's baby shower earlier in the afternoon, Scott texted me and said 'Karsten just got sick, you don't have to come home, just wanted you to know'.  DRAT - that is NOT a text you ever want to see.

We thought about cancelling Liam's pics, but we decided that I would go ahead and take him while Scott and Karsten stayed home.  Liam was such a bear during family pictures, I was nervous to see how he would act as the star of the show, but it ended up being a fantastic shoot.

I picked up balloons so he could hold two balloons in the pictures, and they entertained him the entire drive.  Thankfully, they flew away during the shoot so they didn't have to be in every picture.  (I promise it was an accident - really!)


He did so good he got to choose a piece of candy and a surprise from the photographer's treat bag.  He was thrilled to find a ball and a sucker - what more could a guy want?  Now I just have to wait patiently to see a sneak preview of his pics!

Errands and fun

We scheduled the supervan for an oil change on Saturday and decided to walk over to the farmers market and have lunch while the oil change was being done.  It was a bit chilly out but a beautiful fall day.  We picked up some squash, honey butter, bread and zucchini before we headed over to our favorite olive oil store to stock up on some necessities.

We walked quite a bit, and Karsten picked up a ton of leaves along the way.  He had fun finding the different colors and would proudly present them to us.
 

After lunch, we had some additional time to kill, so we walked back to a cupcake shop we saw earlier.  Karsten chose the cupcake the boys shared - it was birthday cake, basically white cake with lots of sprinkles.


After all that fun, we still made it back to the dealership before my car was done.  We had them check out a traction light that kept coming on, so it took way longer than we anticipated.  The boys waited so patiently watching a movie together then playing legos in the kids waiting room.


Then we finally got out car and headed home.  It was a fun fall day together.

Halloween at school

When we got a paper in Karsten's backpack telling us when the Halloween party was scheduled, I was excited to see him with his friends and put faces with all the kids we hear him talking about.  When I got there, his teacher was getting the Halloween snacks handed out and the kids were (trying) to wait patiently.

Someone brought these amazing pretzels with hersheys kisses melted on top.  The perfect salty sweet mix - Karsten loved them (so did I!) so we'll definitely be making some of these for Christmas!


Karsten and all his friends.  He was the 'special helper' on Halloween which means that he got to sit at the special table and choose a friend to sit with him.  When I got there, I was confused about why he was sitting at the small table - who knew it was a good thing that they all covet?


We signed up for healthy treats, and Kati saved the day by sharing these adorable printables with me!  The kids loved it and almost everyone ate all of their Witch's Warts or Spider Eggs!  SUCCESS!


The frosting on these cupcakes must have been fantastic, because Karsten licked it clean and barely touched the actual cupcake!


Showing me the important jobs of the special helper.  They get to use this hand to point to the day of the week, month of the year, date, season, etc.  He was so excited to show me - I loved it!


Then it was time for goodie bags.  His teacher, Mrs. H, does such a good job wrangling all the kids and getting them to listen.


One of Karsten's teachers insisted on taking a picture of me with him before I left.  So thoughtful of her!  Visiting his classroom was fun and I can't wait to do it for other holidays and for many years to come!