Boo at the Zoo

Two excited knights heading over to the zoo on a shuttle bus.

Gigi joined us for our last year vsiting Boo at the Zoo.

Warming up with the cutest jester ever on the way back to the car.



Bowling

 Bug is participating in a homeschool gym class. It has really been helping him come out of his shell and in dealing with his competitiveness.  We got to join him for a bowling field trip last week.

Bear had the highest score, matching my all-time record of 104.  For the rest of the day he was telling every one how on his last turn he got a spare (spear) and got another turn and won (much to his older brother's chagrin.)

11 Months

Seeing as how this little one is rapidly approaching her first birthday, I better get her 11 month post under my belt.

This past month has been huge for Belle.  She is really coming in to her own and acting more like a toddler than a baby. 

First words other that Dada and Mama include doggie, baby, and uh-oh.

She loves to wave hello, give "loves" by resting her forehead on your head, and signs "all done!"

She is starting to find her legs and stood up for the first time on the side of the tub.

She LOVES her brothers and is more than happy to play among them, under them, on top of them, and with all of their stuff.
She enjoys putting toys in and on things and when she finds her brothers clothes, socks, or underwear (clean or dirty) laying around she puts them on her head.

She has begun to pull her headbands and bows off.....oh well, it lasted longer than I thought. :)

And last but definitely NOT least......SHE IS SLEEPING THOUGH THE NIGHT!

 

The Real Deal

We got our hands on about 50 pounds of free apples from a friend of a friend's apple tree. 

 We ordered a food strainer and went to town making applesauce.  My friend, Anna, and her babe came over to help and after 6 hours we canned about 16 quarts of applesauce. 

 We literally could not have done it without Bug's help.  That thing was HARD to crank.  He did almost ALL of the manual cranking labor.  He went from one outfit, to shirtless, to another outfit because he was getting so juicy and sweaty.  

 A few weeks later we tried tomato sauce which was wayyy easier.  These boys are good workers.  Can't wait to get them on a farm.

Fall Soccer

We tried to sign Bug up for Soccer at the Y again this Fall, but they scheduled all the games for Sundays, so we started our own Saturday Soccer Club and it was a huge success.  Bond coached the 5 and 6 year olds.  I coached the 3 and four year olds.

 Bug cannot stand to lose.  The first two weeks he quit, and left the field crying because the other team scored.  The third week we bribed him with cash.....$1 for every time the other team scored and he continued to play without crying.  It worked!  And the following two weeks after that he was able to contain his emotions without the monetary incentive.  He is an awesome little defender and even though his team lost every game and tied the final game, he played great.  It was a good learning experience for him. 

 

 Bear's group was comical. I couldn't keep them interested the entire hour...only about 40 minutes of it.  Then I would hear things like, "My feet hurt! I'm done."  They were a little young for it, but it was nice to have something Bear could do too.  We love soccer!

Roca Scary Farm

 This was our third and final year at our FAVORITE Pumpkin Patch. I took the kids on a weekday after it had just opened for the season.  The weather was PERFECT and we had the place almost all to ourselves.

 Bug running and sliding on the huge bounce pad.

 Entering the corn maze.

 Belle was entranced by the hens.

 I had to put a few pictures on here to document her hilarious hair. 

 Finding the perfect pumkins to bring home.