Living in Town...

I guess that time has come when we have neighbor kids stopping over at our house, randomly, to play. It has happened a couple of times now, while we've been playing outside after school. The boys who come over ride their bikes...and Bryton knows them from school. Of course he loves unscheduled visitors, and they all play well together so far. This mom, however, is still getting used to the idea of being responsible for a few extra's she barely knows.

"Milky Milk"

This is Avery's favorite drink of choice, and yes...this is what she calls it more often than not. Today, however, she didn't get a sippy cup with milk in it all day...not when she woke up, not before naptime, and not after naptime. So, when she was drinking her beloved milk before bedtime tonight, her eyes were merely slits and she was making this purr-like sound. I laughed, and then I asked her, "does it taste good?" She shut her eyes and shook her head "yes" very slowly. She was in heaven!

Gym and Swim

Avery had her first "gym and swim" class at the Y in Freeport this morning. Its a Mom and Tot class...the first 1/2 of class Avery calls "exercise" and the second half of class is swimming. She loved it all! This picture was taken at the end of class, when we were all in a circle

singing songs. See how all the other moms are sitting right by their kids? Well, Avery wanted me to sit somewhere else! She was a very loud singer this morning, belting out the songs!

Happy Fall!

To our family, Fall means...

school-time, the Fall Festival, Halloween costumes, the Galena Country Fair, bow season, football games, apple picking, wearing sweatshirts and jeans, shorter days, and great open-window sleeping weather. What does Fall mean at your house?

My Theory is Blown

I've always thought Bryton and Avery preferred foods they weren't forced to eat while they were in my womb. Avery, for example, prefers hot and spicy stuff like "zesty pickles" and salsa, while I craved sweets when I was pregnant with her. Bryton prefers sweets, even though I went through a bottle of hot sauce a week, as a condiment, the entire time I was pregnant with him. Avery has since blown that little theory of mine out of the water. I had an immense craving for Ramen Noodles the last 2 months of my pregnancy with her (this didn't help my sky-rocketing blood pressure, at the time). So I let Avery try them a few months ago and now she'd eat Ramen Noodles for every meal if I'd let her - but don't worry, I don't let her. I can only blame myself, and I just hate that!

One Batch Down...

Yesterday I put up a triple batch of salsa, according to the recipe I use...which sounds like a lot, but really only produced 15 pints. So, I'm considering this one batch. The way we go through salsa, we'll need a little more than that to last 'til next summer :)

Mommmm....

This morning Bryton's school bus pulled up, and as I was shuffling Bryton down the stairs in my bare feet, (I was showered and dressed for the day, just no shoes yet) I slipped and missed a step. Let me tell ya, it hurt because I managed to land with my leg completely straight, causing a lovely jarring effect on my back. Anyways...we had to keep on a movin' to the bus and because I was too busy thinking about how much that little slip hurt and how great it must have looked from the bus driver's perspective...I didn't think about how embarrassed Bryton was 'til awhile later. He said, "Mommm" a few times in that tone :) Should I just warn him now that his mother is a klutz, and this is only one example of the many times throughout his life that I will embarrass him, purposefully or not?! Nahhh...we'll let him figure that one out on his own.