Lily, get down.

Lily, get down.

Lily, don't do it.

Lily! I told you not...

LILY!

(faceplant)

sigh....

Playing until dark

After such a short non-existant spring and a LONG HOT summer, I am happy to report the fall weather is great. We are taking full advantage of it! We are getting outdoors as much as possible now that all the various plagues have vacated the house.

What have we been up to!

Well, since finding out we are MOVING TO BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (not Wisconsin fyi), life has been pretty hectic.

Jason and I went to Puerto Aventuras, Mexico for our friends Lisa & Todd's wedding. I wish I had a sunny beach picture to show you but unfortunately it rained the whole time we were there. We watched a lot of HBO, read a lot of books and ordered a lot of room service, which is not that bad and a much needed break.

And a huge thanks to Pop & NéeNée and Uncle Chris, who watched Zane and Lily for us while we were in Mexico. They had a great time and got to see their first Aggie football game.

Next, Jason took off for the Middle East after taking about a seconds worth of a break and so mom & the kids are taking care of business here at the house.

After we got back from Mexico and Houston, Zane begged not to go to school that Thursday. Pleaded in fact. Normally, he loves school but I thought he was just wanting more time at home, since we had just returned.. Mean mommy sent him anyway but little did I know he was coming down with strep. Poor kid, I guess I should listen better?

Lily got new shampoo/conditioner. She was very excited because it smells like strawberries, has Dora on it and made her hair "soft and shiny!". She is a marketing person's dream.

Lily woke up crying on Sunday morning, she had gotten sick all over herself and her bed. Turns out she came down with strep as well. Who knew throwing up was a symptom of strep?

But, antibiotics are distributed (including to mom, ouch) and all are feeling better...except mom. Because she's not 3 and can't recover instantly. Lucky ducks.

And now, I shall go pass out in an Advil induced coma.

Domino Man

Zane has a new hobby. Setting up dominos and watching them fall. Not only does it help him work on his fine motor skills, it keeps him busy for hours!

National Night Out and Check Up

Tuesday was National Night Out and our neighborhood closed down one of the cul-de-sacs, served hot dogs and pizza, and had a fire truck come visit. Zane and Lily had a great time!...until Zane was chasing after some girls and skidded across the sidewalk. Ouch. That pretty much ended our night.

It was interesting though to hear Lily right before the accident. She yelled out "Hey GIRLS, that's MY brother!" and was not too happy he was playing with different female companions.

On Wednesday Lily got her check up to make sure she didn't have anymore kidney stones. None were found, woohoo!

School trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Each year at Compass the school walks across the street to the Pumpkin Patch so that the kids may play and pick out a pumpkin. Zane and Lily had a blast this year and I was happy to come along for the trip.

Zane's class (The Sea Otters)

Lily's class (The Seals)

Lily decided on this pumpkin because it was broken. It had no stem and she thought we needed to take it home to fix it.

We also went on a hay ride (or a sneezing, coughing, skin hive ride of back misalignment, whichever you choose to call it). We went out to the farm area and fed the cows and the donkeys. Most kids were too afraid to approach the animals but we all know my kids have no fear.

Hey guys! Are we up-to-date on our Tetanus shots? Yes? GREAT!

Playing in the hay jail

Lily with some of her classmates hiding under the slide.

Zane on top of the slide. I'm pretty sure he set the record for most number of slides in an hour.

Guess what he did!

Don't let the smile fool you. He knew he was in trouble :)

Ugggghhhhhh

Whose idea was this?

What are my children doing?

When am I going to learn I can't take a phone call in another room for longer than 5 minutes?

Where did they get the cheese from?

Why are they always naked?

How did Lily get the helmet on her head?

Eck!

Fall is here

The thing about fall is...it always makes me reflective.

One of my good friends is about to have her baby and it brings up feelings of how fast time is going.

I found this picture while cleaning out a closet yesterday. It makes me laugh so hard I snort. Poor children. This was their second day at daycare and the daycare women woke them up from their naps to take their pictures. They were obviously terrified and confused.

And wooosh...they are three

Visit to Comfort, Texas

Ah hummingbirds, I love these little guys and luckily for me, there are plenty of them on my parent's back porches. Sit still enough with your camera and you can get some pretty neat pictures of the little guys. Sometimes it's hard to imagine that inside the streaks are actual birds.

Zane, Lily and I got to travel the distance between Dallas and Comfort, Texas in about twice as long as the time it should take any normal person. Why? Because each child decided every 30 minutes to tell mom that they needed to stop and use the bathroom FOR REAL this time. It's going to come out, it hurts, I can't hold it mommy, pleeeeaase...only to get a " 'drop drop drop'...I all done, can I get a snack?!?" at the local Exxon of whatever city.

Once we arrived however we got to relax in my favorite part of Texas and also hang out at Singing Water Vineyards where Grandma spends too much of her time (working not drinking!).

(Click on the pictures to play Where's Zane?)

You see that up in the hills? YES, RAIN!!!! Not only did we bring rain to Destin, Florida AND Houston, Texas but also the Hill Country. To see the area so dry is quite sad and even sadder are all the animals desperate to find food. Your welcome! Need rain? Send us on a road trip.

On Sunday we all took a trip to Sea World San Antonio!

The kids had a great time and so did Zane and Lily.

Zane said, Look a WAYA!

I think I disagreed with a part of the show or something.

Maybe a bird wasn't being properly handled or a dolphin had it's civil liberties offended who knows.

I'm not sure what Zane was doing but it looked like he was praying for a dolphin to follow him home.

Aww Shamu

Roller coasters...Lily is a BIG fan.

Zane was a little unsure but kept asking to ride the train again so, they did, again and again.

See that purple horse behind Lily? There was a little girl riding it with FULL FLEDGED chicken pox. Not just 'recovering and not contagious' anymore chicken pox, the real deal.

Zane loved the merry go round but not so much the seat belt strap that required to keep him in place.

OH! What's that you say? Did Lily jump on the pox-ridden purple horse the next time around? Of course she did! At least she's had one vaccination right? Fingers crossed.

Giddy-up purple pox pony.

Short story. It was HOT. Lily and I were trapped on a metal ferris wheel while Sea World crew members had to clean up a code A-6 (?). When we finally got off of the easy-bake oven she was bright red, I had sweated through my shirt and had sun burns on my hands. WHAT LUCK! Sea World has a splash pad area.

I did not bring swim suits but I had brought a change of shorts/underwear each for the kids. I took Zane's shirt off and he ran full force into the water to cool down, I took Lily's top off and she too ran into the water fountains.

That is, until the Sea World Splash Pad attendant told Grandma that Lily was not allowed in the area because her breasts were showing. Apparently it's offensive for a topless 3-year old little girl to run through some water however, it is ok to let little boys walk around with their shorts so low that their butt-cracks hang out for all to see. That was fun to try and explain to my daughter as she whimpered and wondered why she couldn't play in the water.

Well little 3 year old girl, Sea World says: It's important to teach you at an early age to be ashamed of your body, viewed as a sexual being and always remember Uncle McCreepy is around every corner waiting to stare or take pictures of little girls.

ANYWAY! ...back at the farm...

Zane & Lily helped Grandpa pick the "squish"

Feeding the deers, deers corn

Lily got the concept of large piles, Zane preferred the throw as hard as you can method.

They liked the gator. We took it out at night to look at all the stars. It was the most stars this mama has ever seen in her whole life.

We also took a trip up to Marble Falls to visit Grandpa Stone (my Grandpa). The kids swung on the same tire swing that their Mommy and Uncle Dave used to swing on as kids.

Don't judge Lily's clothes, she's picking them all out on her own now :)

Two kids looking at the camera and smiling at the same time! That never happens.

Grandpa Stone told me there's a reason why 92 year old men don't raise 3 year old little boys. And Zane proved his point a couple of times on the visit...ah hem.

We had a great time and only wish the drive down there wasn't so long. Texas needs to hurry up on that whole high-speed land rail idea. Maybe for my Grandkids anyway.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the wonderful visit!