Marine Corps Ball 2008

We attended the Marine Corps ball on Nov. 8 in DesMoines. The event itself was fine, but I wasn't feeling the greatest so we were the old couple that retired early that evening. I went to a regular doctor's appt. on the following Monday to find that both babies had flipped and were now breech....which explains why I was feeling like I was feeling at the ball. At least I wasn't imagining things!! Stinkers. I am having a c section so their position isn't as important but their "road trip" if you will wasn't at all pleasant for me. Yet another reminder that I'm not in control!! Due to my lack of excitement there are very few pictures from that night.....such is life.

Halloween, etc.

I'm a bit behind, but here are the pics from Trick or Treat night. The kids decided to match...I'm sure it'll never happen again, but Superman and Super girl it was. To complete our super hero troop Buddy was Batman/dog. As you can tell from the picture he wasn't at all too please to be partaking in the festivities. The kids enjoyed walking the neighborhood collecting goodies. They like carving pumpkins too. Brett wasn't at all interested in using his hands to remove the goop and seeds....no big surprise for me......he wouldn't finger paint at preschool either. If only he were as concerned about his room not being dirty!!

Included is a picture of Brett holding their new cousin, Zhara. Both kids just love to hold her and help feed her. They are pretty much baby hogs when she's around. I'm just hoping the excitement of a baby only multiplies come January!!! As you may see in the picture Brett has a nice scrape on his nose/face. He had a meeting with the neighbor's driveway...and lost....I had just told him to stop hopping and jumping around like a nut, sure enough seconds later came the scream heard across the earth. Boys....I tell you!!

One picture is of the kid's with their cousins, Jana and Tyler on a tractor ride. We visited a pumpkin/fun farm. It was a good time...minus the cat crap my kids sat in on a hay bail and the strange llama encounter I had. Have you really ever looked at one of those things in the face....I don't advise it....they are a bit scary...and yes, they do spit!

Another picture is of Reagan at gymnastics. They had camera day so Mom's got to go in and take pictures during their workout. She really is enjoying learning the moves. I love that she loves it...I feel it's a good confidence booster for any kid. Brett is super jealous that Rea gets to go and he doesn't but rules are rules and I didn't win the lotto so he has to wait until next year.

As for the babes we are doing well. I'm 28 weeks along now and one twin weighs just under 2 lbs and the other just over. They are a tad small, but with twins I guess that is normal. I'm having a fear that they'll decide to arrive early so am trying to get things together for Christmas so I don't have to worry about that should they come early. Also, the more prego I become I probably won't be a very nice shopper so I guess it's a favor to all other humans as well!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

Here are some of my favorite leaf pics from our trip.

Galena, Ill

After spending Sat. in Dubuque we headed across the state line into Illinois to visit the town of Galena. I'm a sucker for old towns and it was beautiful. The leaves were a bit more colorful there. We found a neat park for the kids to play in. We took a little nature walk and had a leaf fight which was great. After the park we went downtown to tour that and see what it had to offer. We tackled a few antique stores searching for an old milk can to store Buddy's dog food in and were successful. Yippy for no more Iams dog food bag in the dining room!!!

On our way home we stopped off in a random little town and had another picnic their local park. It was a great weekend. I think the kids had a great time....and I got my leaf fix!!!

On to Dubuque

After the Field of Dreams we continued on to Dubuque. We visited the River Walk that they have and had a picnic lunch and watched the boats and birds. I even spotted a bald eagle, which was cool. The leaves weren't as changed there as I had hoped, but it was still a beautiful day. After our picnic we visited the Mississippi River museum where they have exhibits of all of the animals that live in and around the Mississippi. The kids enjoyed seeing all of the animals. After the museum we headed to the hotel to check in a relax for a bit.

For dinner we went to my beloved Olive Garden (love the chicken scampi and sangria.....I skipped the sangria this time around). Tiffany, the daughter of friends of ours from Japan is attending college in Dubuque so we took her to dinner with us to catch up. Her folks are still in Japan so it was important to me to make sure we touched base with her so she could see some familiar faces. It was great to see her and she seems to be doing well.

After dinner we let the kids swim at the hotel pool for a bit and then hit the sack. I was pooped!

Here are pics of the kids at our picnic, Brett trying without success to touch some large fish at the museum, us all in front of a river boat paddle, a river boat as it paddled down the river, and the kiddos with Tiffany. Tiff used to babysit for us a lot on nights and weekends. Brett doesn't remember her since he wasn't even one yet, but Reagan was a complete leach and loved seeing her again.

Field of Dreams

Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa. We went on a road trip this weekend to North Eastern Iowa to check out the fall foliage. Fall is my favorite time of year so I planned the weekend as one of my last "outings" before we have four kids!!! Our destination was Dubuque, but we first stopped off in Dyersville to visit the site where the movie Field of Dreams was filmed. Brett is slightly obsessed with the sport (and pretty good I might add) so I thought it would be a hit, and it was. Scott, Reagan, and Brett took their ball gloves so they could play catch on the field. We watched the movie when we got home on Sunday night and the kids thought it was pretty cool that they were just at the farm they were talking about in the movie.

Apples and Tomatoes

Brett and I had a farm day last week. We visited the apple orchard and selected some perfect apples for making apple crisp for dessert that night after dinner. We checked out all the trees and even enjoyed an apple turnover for a snack....it was great! Today I made applesauce and tomorrow night am attempting apple turnovers of my own for a dessert. Brett got to tell all about the orchard at preschool and they even used apples as stamps for their art project so he felt he was somewhat of an apple expert. We spotted pumpkins at the orchard as well and will have to make a return trip in a week or so with Reagan and Daddy to search for the perfect pumpkins for carving and for a ride on the hay rack and tractor!! Here are some pics of Brett checking out the apples in the trees and of him enjoying his snack at the orchard.

After the orchard we continued on to our vegetable cooperative for our weekly pickup. We visited the wall of cherry tomatoes for Brett to sample. Reagan got to do so the week before while Brett slept in the car. He was excited for his turn to eat them right off the vine, not that you could tell by the photo......I think I took 10 pictures and this was the best one. Apparently the dogs and kittens running around the farm were more interesting than Mom trying to take yet another picture of him.

Of course no drive in the country is complete for Brett if we don't HAVE to stop on the side of the road to pee. He thinks its the best thing ever...I'm pretty sure he holds it all day on veggie trip days just so he CAN do it. Seriously. On these particular days when Scott comes home and asks what he did today the very first thing from his lips is he peed in the grass. Choose your battles, right?!!?