Randomness

For a playgroup activity we went to Rolling Ridge Ranch. We took a wagon ride through their property where the kids were able to feed "wild" animals they have on the property. I had left Cara with my mom - so I had two hands for two kids which was so nice! The kids had tons of fun.

This is a camel sticking it's head under the bench I was sitting on to eat the food that had spilled on the floor. Better under your seat than in your car, right Mom and Dad?

This was a picture of us pulling away from the main gate - I thought it was hilarious, this random mash of animals. It reminded me of Jumanji.

Talie LOVED feeding the animals - and bossing the other kids around about how they should be feeding the animals.

There is some inside joke in my family - of which I am not "in" - about llamas. Anyway, this goofy picture of Dominic and a llama is for those who are.

Most of Cara's hair fell out - she was left with a patch of long hair on the top. I attempted to put it in a pony tail and then cracked up at how ridiculous she looked. She reminded me of a biker boy from the 90s who shaved their head except for the top and then would pull it back in a nasty greasy pony tail. I'm sorry baby - and I promise to never style your hair like this again. (I quickly changed the pony tail position to the very top of her head - much cuter and baby girl appropriate).

Dominic dressed up in empty pop boxes :)

Natalie's Birthday Continued

Here are some more of the pictures from Natalie's Birthday (over a month late). The kids love birthdays - to them it means cake! They love blowing out the candles and I will catch them "playing birthday" where they find something that resembles candles and will do their best to sing "happy birthday" and then blow it out. Trust me, it's supper cute. By next year they will probably have caught onto the idea of presents and the cake won't be the highlight much longer...

Akron Marathon

I'm way behind on posting, so here's my attempt to catch up. At the end of September, I ran a leg of the Akron Marathon Relay (about 6 miles) We weren't shooting for a certain time, we just all wanted to finish - but for those who care - I ran my leg in about 56 minutes. No records shattered here, but I beat my goal of within an hour so I was happy, and we had tons of fun! Below are my teammates, minus Jessie, and I after the event was over. (left to right; Beth, me, Jennifer, and Rachel)

The Next Phantom of the Opera...

Kirk and I have been playing the Phantom of the Opera sound track lately, and the kids realized they could watch their favorite songs (either from the movie or on YouTube). Dominic has started trying to mimic the actions of Gerard Butler and today insisted he wear his phantom mask. Apparently a 'phantom mask' is another use for a Jason Halloween mask. Anyway, Dominic was reenacting the scene right at the end of Point of No Return and Natalie joins in... I think this is hilarious (of course I am biased). And please, ignore my singing in the video that is neither cute nor on key ;)

Dinner Dilema

Dominic: "I think I need some food".
Me: "It's almost dinner time. What should we have for dinner?"
D: "Lunch!"
M: "You want lunch for dinner?"
D: "Ok".
M: "What do you want for lunch?"
D: mumbles something that sounds like 'idea'.
M: "You have an idea?"
D: "Yep, I have GREAT idea".
M: "What's your idea?"
D: "We need to eat food".

Thanks buddy! What a help planning the menu :)

Tackle!

I have a ton of pictures to post, but time is limited these days. Aunt Bethany asked for an update (aparently she could use something to do – I've got plenty of work to share :) So here's my attempt at posting a video. I haven't done videos before because I plan to print out the blog at the end of the year and videos won't work so well for that. But, I thought I'd try it out anyway.

Dominic is all about football this season. Kirk found him a football shirt, and he knows that at Christmas he's probably getting his helmet! Anyway, for now he uses the old banged up motorcycle helmet and runs around the house with a football so he can "tackle". I've caught him trying to push his sister around under the guise of playing football and we are trying to teaching him that our society has set aside a proper place and time for violence - the football field. As you can tell from this playful video, I am not looking forward to the day when my baby boy wants to play football for real. Actually, it's not all that exciting. Just father and son rough housing :)