Kale loves to color

What a crazy few days around the Fank house!! As you can see by the picture with the trees - we spent most of the day Sunday stuck at our house because the 60 mph winds blew a tree across our driveway! It wasn't a day I would have wanted to be outside with the kids anyway, but knowing that I COULDN'T leave about killed me! Chad tried to work in the field that morning so had to walk up the driveway when he returned home. Gotta love the country living!!

By the other picture, you will see that Kale decided to try out my wall as a coloring book. I wasn't real excited about the fact he chose a wall that has textured paint to color on (which makes it impossible to scrub off, so I guess painting is in my future), but with him in his "terrible two's", I've come to find that I'm going to deal with a lot of these types of things with him!!! Each day is an adventure!

That darn full moon

I've always been told that the full moon means your kids are going to be growly, and I've come to find that it's true! Either that, or boys have as many mood swings as girls do! The past couple of days have shown many different moods from Kale - and I've always tried to be as patient as possible, but he has definitely tested me. It's amazing how we can have a really wonderful day of cuddling and playing, and then the next he is terribly crabby and throwing "on the floor, rolling around" fits. This morning started as one of those mornings where I wish I could have just put him back in bed to sleep it off, but then he found the girls' kitty and literally amazed me as he sat in the chair for almost an hour just playing and talking to her. It was SO sweet. So, to the kitty, I say THANK YOU for making him happy!!! Since then, he's been such a happy and playful little boy - the boy that he normally is, and the one that you just want to squeeze and hug all the time. But the best thing, is that now - he's sleeping!!! I definitely don't take my quiet moments for granted.

The girls continue to grow and learn so quickly. I find it very rewarding to sit with them after school and work on sight words, sounding out words, and phonics. The joy on their faces as they figure out the words is so wonderful. Where did my babies go?? They are also busy with swimming lessons this week and next and that has been really fun for them. Busy for me, but fun for them and that's all that matters. I honestly have selfishly enjoyed the time spent talking to all the other mothers while they're in lessons.

A day with the pumpkins

What a day we had!!! After getting the call that our carpet layer wouldn't be coming for two weeks, we decided that we'd pick up Grandma Fank and meet Chad's sister, Nikki, and their little girl, Hailey and go to a pumpkin farm. We had MORE fun that day! We spent close to an hour and a half trying to get through the corn maze - mostly because the three girls were determined we were going to find all of the mailboxes to punch our papers so they could get their free treat! Kale was such a trooper and was very content to just pick up fallen corn stalks and carry them around - he's such a farm kid. He walked the WHOLE time because I told him I would not be carrying him, and even though he would ask me to carry him now and then, he didn't fuss when I told him no...he just kept on truckin'! They also had a petting zoo there, so we pet the animals and let the kids play and enjoy their treats before we picked out pumpkins. Once us "adults" picked out our pumpkins, we let the kids pick theirs and we honestly all ended up coming home with more pumpkins than there were bodies!! It was a beautiful day though and it wore everyone out. Even though I poked Kale in the eye with the pumpkin stem, he was asleep within about 4 miles of the pumpkin farm!!

Those of you with girls will understand...

I have been dreading this day for such a long time...the day when I'd have to deal with a car full of screaming girls!! The girls were able to invite a friend along to their dance class last night so they each invited a girl friend. I have managed to keep from entertaining a bunch of girls for quite some time (although Ana and Mia have been asking for a couple of years now to invite friends to their birthday party) - explaining to them that their birthday is just so close to Thanksgiving so while they're young it's more important to spend their birthday's with their family and their friends are probably busy with their families too (and it's worked!!). But, I gave in and allowed them to invite a girl friend to dance. I don't think the first little girl was in the car for 2 minutes and they were all screaming, snorting, giggling, etc. Then we picked up the next little girl (who I thought was a shy little girl) and the screaming got worse!!! I kept thinking back to what it was like for my parents when I was younger and understood exactly why I only had ONE sleep over party! They had a wonderful time though, and really they were all well behaved. I even learned a thing or two - like who has a boyfriend (which the other two girls assured me that Ana and Mia DO NOT have a boyfriend!), and that boys are always the ones to kiss the girls - which I said "and we're not going to let boys kiss us, are we??" and they all screamed "NO, YUCK". Oh dear, I'm not ready for this. Ana and Mia had a lot of fun though and look forward to when they can spend some time with their friends again outside of school - to which I said "you can if they invite you to THEIR house"!!!

Tidyness is getting expensive

I was so excited when I noticed that Kale had some of my crazy cleaning tendencies...like all the shoes needing to be in line by the door, when he takes his shoes off they need to go back by the door, when there is anything that can be thrown away - he HAS to throw them away for you, he puts his plate and glass on the counter by the sink when he's done, etc. Not to say that he puts his toys away or anything, because that mess doesn't seem to bother him - but I tell ya, I'm loving that I have at least ONE child that puts a few things away without me asking and likes to be somewhat tidy!! My other two children are definitely not that way...but I guess as I was growing up, I wasn't that way either until I got older so maybe that's a girl thing. But here's my problem...his love of throwing things away is starting to get expensive!! He seems to think that when he's done with anything that it should be thrown away!!! I've had to replace quite a few things - and odd things at that. The latest being fingernail clippers!

An exciting update on the girls - probably one of the most amazing days for me was listening to them read me their first book!!! They have been working on a different letter each week, and with that letter they create books that have objects that begin with that letter. It was so fun to hear them read the first book in their sweet little voices, "The pig can run; the pony can run; the peacock can run; and the puppy can run to me!" They are learning so much and growing up so quickly. It was definitely one of my proudest moments as their mom. It's become a day of excitement as Fridays rolls around and they will get to read us their books.

We knew it would happen

Well, the title says it all. We all knew that eventually Kale would end up wearing a dress and the time has come! I babysat our niece, Hailey, on Saturday and with three girls in the house, Kale ended up playing "girly" games. I just had to share it with you all because it was too darn cute!! Today, Kale found the girls' purple lipstick and thought he needed to try that out too.

Harvest seems to be in full swing, and the weather has cooperated. We can only hope that this fall goes a lot more smoothly than last year. (knock on wood) I hope to see Chad walk through the door at the normal end of harvest rather than almost 4 months after it started like last year!

Happy Fall!!