Treats and Sweets!

 What a fun Sunday we had! Fun began on Saturday night with a trip to my folk's to take Mom home (the house always seems emptier after she leaves!). The kids weren't feeling very well and David had been feverish. I knew he was tired when I asked him if he was ready to go to bed and he said, "yeah."

Sunday morning we went to church with Mom and Dad and skipped Godfather's (much to my chagrin!) in favor of faster food at Burger King. Both kids like the mac and cheese, and Kassy ate more than David! We headed down the road for Brookings to trick-or-treat at Great Grandma's house. We put the kids in their costumes before we got to her apartment. David had fun playing with his sister puppy that he didn't argue very much when I put him in his Bedtime Carebear costume.



David and Kassy



The kids played with Grandma and Grandpa Pickard and all was fine until David bumped his nose on the toy he was playing with. Bloody nose! Blood on the carpet, costume, his shirt, my shirt, used a LOT of kleenexes and wet wipes to get cleaned up. Lucky for me, Allen was fast with a rag on the carpet and got all of the blood out.

Pretty Puppy Kassy

Cute Carebear David

Back in the Expedition again headed for Grandpa Mike and Grandma Pam's house. Grandma knew of a good place to get David's hair cut (his 3rd, someday I suppose I'll lose count).  Then back to Grandpa and Grandma's for play time with them and Nate. Ate some candy too, of course!

"Flo" cut David's hair!

David fed Grandma sweet tarts



David and Nate having fun



Next we went to Grandpa Doug and Grandma Linda's house. Grandma fixed supper for us and we ate while Uncle Parker (in a gas mask) handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Kassy had a fever and wasn't feeling very well, which she evidenced at supper by throwing up in the high chair. Between David's blood and Kassy's puke, it's time to wash my sweater! After supper Allen, Grandpa, and Kassy went to get pedialite while Grandma and I went trick-or-treating with David. He did really well but wouldn't say "trick-or-treat" to the person with the candy. The last four or five houses he wanted to be carried, and he'd say, "Care-a-bear, carry me!" Grandma proudly introduced David as her grandson at the neighbor's homes, which totally blessed my heart!

Grandpa and David, Grandma and Kassy, Uncle Parker

 



Cousin Fun!

Today Conrad and Johanna came to our house to play. Conrad was first in the door--he didn't even have time to tell me "hi" or take off his coat and shoes before heading for the toy box in the living room. Johanna toddled in too, and wanted to join the boys right off, but was a little unsure what they were doing. Numerous tractors and implements were scattered across the floor but if you pick up the wrong one, the boys didn't like it very much.

Part of the morning was spent standing on stools in Kassy's room looking out the window. The concrete guys were here to pour the basement floor today. I can't believe how fast it's progressing! The boys stood on the stools and asked each other if they were ready to go play but  it took them awhile to leave their perches.

We had hamburgers, hotdogs, tater tots, and apples for lunch. Johanna fell asleep during "Word World" and had a super good nap--she got up at 3! Mom took David and Kassy for a ride and Conrad and I laid down on David's bed with two books. We read them, I gave him a kiss, put the rail on the side of the bed up, and left the room. He fell asleep all by himself! It was wonderful! Mom came back and I put David on our bed and Kassy was free to roam. Johanna woke up and got to eat dinner. Then she and Kassy sang and danced with the "microphone."

Kassy and Johanna each had another nap and for afternoon snack we had sugar cookies with pumpkins on them. They weren't too bad for not containing any chocolate!



The boys enjoyed watching "Word World."



Johanna and Kassy

 

Milk with our cookies

Other highlights from today and last week:
Kassy stood up on her own quite a bit today. In fact, at one point Mom and I thought she was going to take a step!

David took off his shoes, socks, and pants at a friend's house and ran around the yard. when I asked him what he was doing, he said, "I needed to pee." I asked him where he peed (he was still wearing a diaper) and he said, "Over there." He may have peed, but it wasn't outside of his diaper. Still funny to see him running around with only his shirt and diaper on.

More Birthday Celebrations

October 10th found us on the way to a bowling birthday party in Sioux Falls with the Stoops family. We all went bowling! We met lots of relatives and had a wonderful time sharing David with them. The bowling alley had a neat wood thing for the little kids that helped them send the ball down the lane. One time David thought he could do without the little contraption and he set the ball on the floor and pushed. I bet it took 2 minutes for the ball to reach the pins! Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike planned ahead and had cake and ice cream for snacks. This time Nate had to help David with the candles. Allen and I bowled against each other in two different games with each of us winning one. The big thing for me was that I broke 100! Kassy bowled with other relatives who bowled much better than we did, so hopefully she took notes.

Grandma Pam helped David bowl.

 

After bowling we went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house for another birthday present. Nate had been shopping and found a sweet black and white police car--a 2-seater--complete with gas pedel, CB and siren! It's wonderful that there's room for 2--Kassy gets to ride too!   David is still working on his hand-eye-foot coordination, but we're making progress. This car will last the kids forever! It won't take long and David will be pulling Kassy over on her bicycle for speeding or some other infraction. Boy, I'm not ready for that!!!!!! It's wonderful how thoughtful Nate is towards David and Kassy too. We love to see how much Nate loves David through his actions and inclusion of Kassy.

Nate introduced David to his first car.

Grandma shares some love with Kassy.

Our next birthday celebration was October 16 for the Pickard side of the family. Cousin Conrad turned 3 on October 7th and it was fun to celebrate together. We began the celebration with a train ride to a pumpkin patch at Prairie Village in Madison. We waited a long time to get on the train but it was worth it! There was entertainment for the kids while we waited and even entertainment on the train. David picked a nice pumpkin, and hopefully we will be able to carve it before October's over.

Aunt Christine entertains her daughter Johanna and Kassy

Conrad and David practice "pumpkin standing"

If the boys can stand, Kassy will sit

Johanna had her face painted while we waited for the train.

David and his pumpkin.

Kurt and Conrad, Allen and David

After the train ride we went back to Aunt Christine and Uncle Kurt's house for supper, ice cream cake, and presents, not to mention the relatives who came to celebrate.

The final birthday party (number 7, did you lose count?) was October 17th at Grandma Linda and Grandpa Doug's. We spent the afternoon visiting Grandpa's new shop, jumping on the neighbor's trampoline, eating cookies and playing with the kids. It is wonderful to see just how many people love our kids! We had yummy burritos and my favorite cabbage salad and hot dogs for the kids. We learned that Kassy likes burrito beans and apparently they like her!

Grandma Linda and David jumped on the trampoline.

Aunt Teresa and David had fun playing together.

Grandpa Doug and David try to figure out David's new view finder.

Thank you so much to all of our family members for helping us celebrate the life of our son. He is very precious to us and we are very grateful for the love you all have for him too!

Happy Birthday David!

Yesterday was David's 2nd birthday. If you ask him how old he is, he will insist that he's 3, but if you count his years, he's still only 2. Whew-time really doesn't wait for anything. Earlier in the week we celebrated with my folk's-two star-shaped candles in his ice cream (he's not a cake eater). He was a bit afraid of the fire at the top of the candles and didn't want to get close enough to even try to blow them out. Grandpa had to help him blow out the candles but David managed to eat the ice cream all by himself.

Grandpa helped David blow out his candles.

Next celebration was October 7th with Great Grandma Laabs at her condo in Huron. We also had an honorary celebration of Great Grandpa's birthday. The kids played and ate cake, cookies, and banana bread.

The next celebration was October 8 (his actual birthday) with his birthmom, Sylvia. She met us in Brookings for dinner at Zesto (2 more candles on his ice cream, only this time Sylvia helped him blow them out. The smoke in his eyes freaked him out a bit but not to the extent that he couldn't eat the ice cream. Sylvia brought him a Tonka dump truck which he pushed up and down the floor in th aisle and benches at Zesto. Allen had to go back to work but the rest of us went to Lions Park and played in the sand with the dump truck, and enjoyed the slides, roller, and swings. Kassy enjoyed the swings and even crawling in the grass. I'm a bit hesitant to let her play in the sand-she eats it by the handful! It was pretty warm for October (85+ degrees!) so I boiled myself in my long-sleeved tee shirt. The kids fared better but David played up a sweat so much that his curls were plastered to his head. When we were ready for a break, we got in the Expedition and enjoyed the air conditioning. Sylvia almost had Kassy fall asleep in her lap! We really enjoy spending time with Sylvia. I love that David will grow up knowing her and how much she loves him!

Roller fun!

Today we spent the afternoon with my brother's family in Webster. We ate dinner (and sang 'Happy Birthday' to David) at Pizza Hut and explored the Museum (23 buildings!). It struck me that as hard as it is for me to relate to some of the tools that were used in the Pioneer Days, it will be even harder for my kids to understand. At least they didn't have any computers on display, so my era isn't quite antique. David and Jonah found a merry-go-round to play on. Kassy and Caleb could only watch. I'm sure that they were anticipating their turn.

After the museum we went to Matthew and Sabrina's for Subway supper and chocolate cupcakes. We enjoyed wrestling with the kids and read books too. David was pretty tired, so Uncle Matt helped David, Kassy, Jonah, and Caleb with showers and we headed for home. David and Kassy were both asleep within 15 minutes.

What wonderful celebrations of a little boy's life! Thank you Lord for our precious kids!

Catch Me!

David loves to bail out of the tractors, payloader, and as we recently learned, the combine is no exception. David and I rode in the combine with my dad as he was combining soybeans a couple of days ago. Time came to get out of the combine and move to the tractor and grain cart. Dad climbed down the ladder and quickly turned around, anticipating that David wouldn't wait very long before he jumped (what would it be like if I trusted God with the same abandon?). Dad caught David without problem, and I jokingly said, "Ok, now it's my turn!" Dad was still holding David and my little boy put his arms up above his head, ready to catch me when I jumped! What a sweet little boy!

I'll catch you, Mom!

Kassy and my mom had a good time hanging out with Sabrina, Jonah, and Caleb. The two little ones played very well together. Jonah entertained them with the shape sorter. He pretended that it contained popcorn and it popped out of the container. Made the little ones and the big ones smile!

I'll add picture and video to this post tomorrow.

Farm Boy

Fall on the farm brings a new season of work. Allen and some of the neighbors helped my dad bring the cows and calves home from pasture today and wean the calves. David and I took cookies over to the guys for lunch and of course managed to snag a 4-wheeler ride. After the sorting cows from calves was finished there was equipment to put away and other things (involving the payloader, of course) to do to get ready for the vets to come tomorrow. Allen and David went to scoop the old, rotten, wet feed out of the feed bunks and Dad and I worked a bit in the barn then went to help Allen. We found Allen taking his turn at a break and David working the shovel. Talk about a memory maker!

It was really windy today, so we all came in with dirt caked on our faces. Allen even got wind burnt! I think we'll sleep well tonight. Hopefully won't have to re-scoop the bunks in my dreams!

Silly Songs With David

Our little David is a singer. He listens intently whenever we sing a new song or one that he hasn't heard very many times. More often than not, he says "again" at the end of the song. I specifically remember singing "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" 15 times because he kept saying "again."

On our way to my folk's this afternoon, David entertained us with "the wheels on the bus go round round round." Sometimes the monkey on the bus goes "round round round" too. He has lots of songs in his memory, but this is the current favorite.

A couple weeks ago I heard, "Old McDonald had a Pribyl, EIEIO." That's a verse I've not heard before!

Parade and Cooking with Chef David

This afternoon the kids and I went to the Sioux Valley homecoming parade in Volga. This was a first for both kids. I had my hands full trying to help David understand that there will be more candy coming-you don't have to try to eat it all right now. David would pick up a handful of candy off the ground and try to open a piece to eat with both hands full of candy. Kassy sat in the leaf-filled gutter and ate leaves and dirt. Hopefully that's all she ate! David came home with lots of candy, Kassy came home with dirt on her face and I came home with mosquito bites.



David and his parade sucker

After we got home from the parade, I wanted to make chocolate chip cookie dough and put the pizzas together for supper at  Allen's cousin's house. David asked, "What you doing, Mommy? What you doing?" I told him I was going to make cookie dough. "Cookie dough? I want to help!" I got a stick of butter out of the refrigerator and asked him to put it on the counter for me. He was very serious about wanting to help, so rather than doing as I asked, he proceeded to peel the paper off the stick of butter. I redirected him to the bowl on the counter and he climbed up on his stool. I gave him a spoon to stir with and he dumped in the oil and eggs. I never dreamed that making cookies could be so much fun! He was so interested in every part. His favorite part though, came at the end. He dumped in the bag of chocolate chips and reached in for a handful. He also got to taste the cookie dough, which disappeared almost as fast as peanut butter does.

After the cookie dough, I got ready to put the pizza dough in the pans. David was a little unhappy that I put the cookie dough away, but all was forgiven when I got the dough roller out to roll the pizza dough in the pans. I think he enjoyed rolling the pizza dough more than he liked the cookie dough but only David knows for sure! The final product did taste pretty good though.

More Memphis

Here are a few more photos of Kassy with her birthfamily in Memphis.

Antavius, D'Tarius, Darnisha, Apria, Latrice, Kassy, and Marquez

Kassy and Latrice

"Hey, Family! Lookin' Good!"

Big brother D'Tarius and little sister, Kassy

Allen and Apria in the "deep" (5 ft.) area of the pool

Big sister, Apria, Little sister Kassy, and Birthmom, Latrice

Big brother Antavius and Little sister Kassy