A rocky start to a 6th birthday!

Boy, what a crazy few days before the girls' birthday!!! I had plans to be out of town with some friends on Monday and part of Tuesday but it was rescheduled last minute - and good thing it was because I wouldn't have been able to go as it was! Ana came down with a fever at bedtime Saturday night and continued to run her fever all the way through Tuesday (THEIR BIRTHDAY!). Poor Ana didn't even get to go to school to help her sister pass out their treats! Ever since she started having seizures and we've found out what to do to help eliminate the possibility of having them occur again, I get SO nervous when she gets a fever or a cold, for fear they will start again. I got very scared when I took her temp and it was 104 degrees. She was so off balance, but stood in the shower for 30 minutes to cool down until the medicine kicked in. She's definitely a trooper. And, thank God, no seizures!! We were finally able to get together with Grandma and Grandpa Kerber, and Grandma Fank. Grandpa Fank was still busy in the field and Grandma and Grandpa Luedtke are gone to Hawaii enjoying their anniversary. The girls asked to go to the chinese restaurant here in town for their meal, so that's what we did (last night because they had dance on their birthday). Our babies are SIX!!! Such beautiful and wonderful little girls - we are truly blessed.

The countdown is on...

For the last few weeks the girls have been asking "how many days until our birthday?" Well, once we hit 15 days, they have been counting down the days ever since. We are now down to 3!!! My babies are going to be 6! Where did the time go?? It's amazing how much they have grown in the time since Kale was born - I think I've noticed it mostly because I have been here to see them grow. I feel so sad when I think that I missed out on 3 years of watching them grow, so I think I notice even the smallest of things now! I find great joy in the smallest of things now too. Before I know it, Kale will be leaving me for school too - so I have to take advantage of all of the minutes I have remaining!

With the cruddy weather we had this past week, I have found really quickly that it's going to be a LONG winter with Kale. He's such an "outside" kid so being limited to the inside has been hard. We've enjoyed our fair share of snow, rain, cold, and wind this past week and I hope that it's not a sign of what's to come.

Now we look forward to the girls' birthday and Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for!!

Gotta love Fall!!!

You know you're in Iowa when...it can be almost 80 degrees on Monday and then have a chance for snow by Thursday!!! This is the one thing I dislike most about Fall - I wish it would just stay 60 degrees in the winter and then be about 80-85 degrees in the summer. I'm not asking too much!!

The best thing about Fall though is all the fun things there are to do with the kids. I've added some pictures from some of the things we've been doing this fall.

Carving pumpkins was fun this year because Kale loved digging his hands in to pull everything out. Ana, our kid that will try anything, was all about getting in and getting dirty to clean out her pumpkin as well. Mia, on the other hand, didn't want to even get near the gunk inside. It's so amazing how she can be such a tough kid, but can be so apprehensive when it comes to trying anything!! Swimming lessons concluded as well and both of the girls passed and can now move on to the next level. They are begging me to get them signed up again and I have to constantly tell them that I can't sign them up until they tell us that they will be offering them again!! Ana, once again, was the brave one and jumped off the diving board like 6 times while Mia was too scared to try. I remember being nervous doing it the first time to so I had the talk with her about "you will never know if you enjoy it unless you try it - you have to try it at least once". So maybe next time, she'll give it a shot! Both girls have become very comfortable with swimming under water, floating, etc. I hope to get them in level two when they offer them again so they don't lose interest!!!

Halloween was a fun night. Aunt Nikki and Cousin Hailey came and trick or treated with us. If you remember, Hailey was here when Kale ended up in a dress, so it was bound to be a fun night for all of them! Kale took everything in stride - although was very unsure about all of the other kids being dressed up. He quickly got though it though and acted like an 'ol pro as he walked up to people's doors and got candy. The funniest things though were the fact that starting off he insisted on EATING all of his candy instead of putting it in his bag, and the other being that once he couldn't keep up with eating it - he thought he should carry all of it. I began to wonder why we even brought a bag. He finally started putting it in his bag and ended up with a lot!!! This was the first year that we have actually walked the streets. In the past we have just gone to people's homes that we know because it has always been so chilly. It was a perfect night this year - no coats needed!

Kale has been completely content this fall spending time with Grandpa or Daddy in the combine. Next year, they're in trouble. I'm sure he's taking mental notes and will be expecting to steer the steering wheel!! The girls have put in a little time as well, but no where near as much as their brother. Thankfully, harvest has gone fairly smoothly as far as time, but the wind did a real number on it a little over a week ago. Lots of farmers with corn down. I guess if it's not one thing, it's another!!

Have a wonderful fall everyone, and hopefully we aren't talking about snow any time soon!!!

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"!!!