Quote of the week

"Dear God, thank you that you are Santa. Amen."

P.S.

Grant's cold never went to his lungs. He's on the mend. Thanks for praying!

Biter

Kate is starting to get a very strong personality. She is not quite as laid back as she used to be. The other day Grant had a broom that she wanted so she went up to him and bit him really hard in the arm. (This has continued to happen several times since- we're working on it!) Grant became hysterical but when I finally got him to calm down he asked me, "Mom, why did Kate bite me?" I said, "I think she wanted your broom." He answered, "No, I think she thought I was her food."

Grant started a basketball league for 3 year olds last night. He's the only 3 year old in the class who can't dribble. Do parents of 3 year olds really teach their kids to dribble a basketball? Jim felt like a failure of a dad (not really) so they are going to work on it this weekend. Gosh, this whole sports competition thing starts young. I swore I'd never be a part of it and I only signed Grant up for it so he'd get some exercise. But, now I feel like I'm being sucked in. The weirdest part is that there was a group of moms on the sideline who brought juice boxes and snacks for all the kids as they came off the court. I remember that happening after tennis matches in high school, but a 30 minute 3 year old basketball practice?! It was a nice gesture but the whole thing weirded me out. But, I'm sure we'll go back next week.

The Learning Tower

Lindsay bought this thing called "The Learning Tower" at a garage sale for $15. This is such a steal because it is usually around $200. Oliver is a bit young to use it so she let us borrow it for a little while. It is basically a structure that allows kids to participate in the kitchen helping cook, doing dishes etc without the risk of falling off a chair. My kids love it! Kate played in the sink the other day for two straight hours! The floor (and kids) end up quite wet but it is worth it.

Get Well Prayers

Grant seems to have come down with a cold/cough in the last few days. Last time this happened he ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. We are hopeful that it is just your average cough, but with Grant's lungs it always risky. Please pray for healing for him and that everyone else stays healthy. Thanks!

House Guests

Jim's best childhood friend, Corey, and his family came to visit us last weekend. Corey and Katie have infant twins and a two year old. In case you haven't added it up yet that made 5 children under the age of 3 under one roof! We had an absolute blast. Kate and Grant were intrigued by the babies. Grant is still talking about his new friend, Gavin. We hope to make it up north to visit them one day soon!

Taking a break

Grant: Mom, tell me the story about when I was a baby. (for the thousandth time)
Mom: Actually, my mouth is taking a break.
Grant: Again?? Your mouth already took a break today.
Mom: Well, it looks like it needs a break again.
Grant: Oh. My mouth never needs a break!

Halloween stories

Halloween was a blast. Grant pounded furiously on every door as he yelled, "Trick or Treat." When people came to the door he literally ran past them into their houses. Then, when they said, "take a candy" he put down his pumpkin bucket and dove in with both hands. Thankfully everyone thought he was pretty funny. We ended up with a lot of candy for only hitting a dozen houses.

Another funny thing has been happening concerning Grant. You see, we named our kids Grant and Kate because we purposely wanted short, easy to spell names to go with our long last name. But, somehow we've ended up giving the kids long nick names. Jim calls Grant "Granteous Maximus" (don't ask) and I call Kate "Katerator". The other day at the park Grant introduced himself to someone as Granteous Maximus and his sister Katerator.

Halloween

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell

Two Lunches for $.50

The other day I took the kids grocery shopping at 11:30am. In the produce section there were samples of nectarines. In the bakery there was french bread. Halfway through the store I was about to stop giving them samples when I realized that if instead I continued giving them samples I could count this as lunch! In the end there was not enough protein so I bought some salami and they ate it in the checkout line. All in all I spent $.53 and there was no mess at home to clean up. What a treat!

McD's Playland

Tonight we wanted to do something as a family to get out of the house. Because it was raining our options were limited. Being the germ freaks and health nuts that we are this probably seems like a crazy idea, but we ended up at McDonald's playland. It actually turned out to be quite fun. There were only two other kids in the whole place and Grant and Kate could both navigate their appropriate terrain pretty well. Afterwards the kids even got to eat fast food (in my defense I did bring cut up veggies). All in all it was a great night!

It seems that Kate has transitioned to one nap which is making my life way more enjoyable. She actually sleeps in until 7 (as opposed to 5) and takes a nap in the afternoon at the same time as Grant. It is so much fun to be able to do an activity in the morning with both kids instead of waiting around for Kate to wake up. Grant's napping is hit or miss these days, but I at least make him hang out in his crib for a while so I can have some down time. Yesterday he was talking away in his crib so I went up and told him to please quiet down and go to sleep. He responded, "But, mom, I'm just talking about my day."

California

Jim and I took a long weekend (without kids) to visit my brother, Bryan, and his new wife, Kristen, in Los Angeles. We had many laughs, which is always guaranteed when Bryan is around. The first night Bryan and Jim wore the same shirt out to dinner. But, because it was LA no one thought it was that weird. The next day we drove to Santa Barbara Wine Country and visited the beautiful vineyards. We rented a surrey and drove around the little dutch town where we stayed the night. In the morning we went for a hike and then Bryan and Kristen dropped us off in Santa Monica where we spent a night overlooking the ocean. It was a busy weekend, yet we came home feeling refreshed. Thank you mom and dad for looking after Grant and Kate so we could enjoy this special weekend!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Koss

Here are a few fun pictures of the kids eating Grandma's birthday cake. The best part of the evening though was when Grant pushed a chair into the burning fireplace. The flames grew huge very quickly before anyone noticed. (We were eating dinner and Grant had just excused himself.) Thankfully, Papa thought quickly and picked up the burning chair and threw it outside. Jim and Mom followed close behind with buckets of water. The alarms were going off so the kids were screaming and I was just trying to keep them calm. It looks like my parents are out a very nice chair and a gorgeous rug. But, both grandkids are burn free. Whooh.

A New Cousin

Sweet baby Oliver was welcomed into the world this morning. Mama and baby are healthy and happy. Congratulations Lindsay and Josh!

A day at the zoo

This is the first fall that Grant is officially allowed to be out of the house. We're taking full advantage of it going to the zoo, gym class, swimming and the mall. I even went to the park with him the other day without hand wipes. :) It is hard for me to believe that last winter I couldn't take him places. Someone asked me the other day what I have done inside the last two years. I don't remember. It is all a blur. God got me through it though and now I'm just thankful that Grant's health has improved so much.

Scratch and Sniff

Both of our kids did some scratching this weekend. Grant got ahold of a sharp rock and "colored" all over the back of my car. It looks like someone keyed the car. Jim took it really well and recalled a story of when he was little and found himself in a room with a can of paint and a brush. He said he remembers thinking this probably isn't okay, but he kept doing it anyway. When I told my brother, Bryan, he recounted two stories of coloring on walls growing up. One was with a can of spray paint. In one instance he used a marker to write his name on the walls and when he was asked if he did it he adamantly denied it. Boys.

This weekend Kate noticed a new tattoo on Derme's leg. At first it looked like she was blowing on the tattoo but then we realized she was sniffing it. She thought it was a scratch and sniff sticker!

Grant's mouth

So...last night I finally decided to take Grant's complaint seriously and I looked in his mouth. Much to my surprise I found a giant white sore in the middle of his tongue. Ouch! I took him to urgent care this morning and they think it is a yeast infection. Poor guy. He's not up for eating, so it is a good thing protein shakes flow like rivers over here.

This morning, I saw a very concrete of how different girls are from boys. Kate and Jim were quietly having a tea party when Grant found them. He came blazing through with a hanger, knocking every cup and saucer over yelling, "I'm Captain Hook and I'm going to wreck you."

Grant also has this new saying if you ask him to do anything. He says, "I'll try my best and that's all you can ask."

Peter Pan

Grant seems to be having a lot of ailments lately. I can't tell if he really is in pain or he's just saying it. Every time we are in the car he says his stomach hurts. I pretty much ignored this until he puked in his carseat the other day. Lately he is saying his mouth hurts when he eats. I wasn't really taking this seriously either but yesterday he was sobbing saying he couldn't eat. Please pray for Grant to be healthy and for wisdom for me.

On a different note, Grant and I watched Peter Pan last night. The kids are going to be Peter Pan and Tinkerbell for Halloween so I thought they should at least see the movie. When I was taking Grant up to bed he asked, "Mom, why is Captain Hook so mean? I want to throw the hooker in the trash can."

Hugs

Grant loves to give Kate hugs and say, "Kate, you are such a cute yittle (little) baby!" I love this picture where she is trying to escape his hug.