These Small Hours

Ouch

2009-05-20T19:29:00.003-05:00

Cade took a major dive off of his bike Monday night...right into the sidewalk. I'm not sure who it was more traumatic for...him or me, but we're both slowly healing.

2008 in Photos

2009-04-26T13:51:00.003-05:00

2008 Year in Review from Erin Morse on Vimeo.

There is sound (music) and yeah, it's long...still haven't gotten good at cutting!

Take me out to the ball game

2009-04-23T07:44:00.002-05:00

The neighbor kids were over last night for an intense game of baseball

Wrigley Watched from the outfield

Breck on the deck

2009-04-23T07:37:00.002-05:00

A picture from last night w/ the new camera lens.

Winter ~ Please Go

2009-04-06T08:06:00.004-05:00

Dear Winter,

Please go away. You are not welcome here anymore. We really enjoyed you back in November and December, but it's now April and you are still hanging around...it's time to go. Seriously. we've had enough hot cocoa and we've been cooped up inside long enough...we will welcome you back again, but for now, you MUST GO. Please, just pack up your suitcase and leave us alone. Take our coats, hats, and mittens with you. We are ready for green grass and flowers, flip-flops and warm sun.

TTFN,

The Morses

A Couple Friday Funnies

2009-02-27T13:19:00.005-06:00

Cade is familiar with Harry Potter because we have one or two of the movies and he has watched with Jim but I guess it's been awhile. Well a few weeks ago, the kids and I went to the library. Cade picked out some books while I chased Brecken around and picked up after her. Before we left, Cade saw the DVDs and wanted to pick one out so he's looking through them and all of a sudden yells out, "Hey Mom, they have Harry Peter!" I realize that some may not find that funny, but I personally had to stop myself from laughing out loud. Then later that night, I'm telling the story to Jim and Cade pipes in, "Yeah, they had lots of Harry Peters!"

My stepsister, Cindy, and her family were watching the movie "Guess Who" starring Ashton Kutcher. When Hope, her youngest daughter, who is 5, saw Ashton for the first time, she said, "Hey...I didn't know that Uncle Jim was in this movie!"

**Happy Friday!!**

How Do You Measure Your Love?

2009-02-14T15:36:00.003-06:00

A fun site: http://iloveyoumorethanblank.com/

Mine would be: I love you more than making lists, white chocolate mochas, and Palmer's brownies.

Jim's would (probably) be: I love you more than Tiger Woods Golf for the Wii, Lost, and my thermos (that keeps my coffee hot for 24+ hrs).

Cade's would be: I love you more than Star Wars, chewing gum, and scissors.

Brecken's would be: I love you more than bath time, my pacifiers, and toilets.

How do you measure your love?

Happy Valentine's Day!!

December

2009-02-09T21:40:00.002-06:00

The highlights of our December...

We counted down the days until Christmas!

I attended an Advent by Candlelight at my aunt's church...she invited 10 people and then has to decorate a table and serve dessert. We were entertained by choir, a band (with a clarinet, who knew anyone played after high school?), and bells. It was a nice, relaxing way to begin the holiday season. And the dessert was awesome...Italian wedding cake. How cute is her table?!

We had pictures taken with Julia and Lauren for Christmas gifts for grandparents and Brecken had her 1-Year pictures taken.

We celebrated our niece Julia's sixth birthday at her house and then to Pizza Ranch for dinner...we were babysitting Jim's little cousin Sarah, so she went with and the kids were WILD! Thank goodness for party rooms!

I took a day off to finish up my Christmas shopping...except I didn't finish. Accomplished a lot though and got to meet Jim for lunch at P.F. Chang's. Our first meal without children in quite some time! I lost my list half way through the day...that didn't help!

Jim had a night out with his Investment Club. They went to All Play downtown...it's a Chuck E. Cheese for adults basically.

Listened to lots of Christmas music (yes, I'm one that doesn't mind that it starts playing before Thanksgiving).

I had a "night out" to go watch my cousin Ali perform in the Nutcracker Ballet at the Hoyt Sherman Theater downtown. She was an angel and had a limited part, but she was awesome. Another little girl in her group fell down when she was running out onto the stage...twice! These are second graders, felt so bad for her, she was crying afterwards. Broke my heart! Afterwards we went out to dinner at Spaghetti Works with my mom, aunts, the Cases, Ali, and her friends. Jim and the kids stayed home with Grandpa Clark.

Had an early Christmas with my Dad & Celeste. While they were here, we went and saw Santa at the Winterfest here in town. It was freezing cold, but we waited in line for Santa. Cade told him he wanted a sled and a snowblower. I don't think Santa is going to deliver on the snowblower! Brecken sat on his lap, but was pretty emotionless. I personally, thought he looked a little scary! There was someone carving ice sculptures, cookies and cocoa at the community center, and horse & wagon rides. It's a really cute little celebration, but it was soooo cold.

We also got together with my aunt and her kids for dinner. My aunt made lutefisk (fish) and lefse (like tortillas, but Norwegian I guess?) like my grandparents used to. She went to a lot of work and it brought back memories of holidays spent with my grandparents. The best was taking the leftover lefse or potato cakes and putting butter and sugar on them...yum! My four cousins all live near us, but we really only see them once or twice a year. It's fun to see all of our kids together...the older boys (Steven, Nathan, and Alec) are so good with the younger kids (Cade, Brecken, Julia, Lauren, Olivia, Danika, Cale, and Lola)and Cade had a blast playing rough and doing what little boys do. He kept calling Alec, Alex but thought it was pretty cool that they had the same Puma shoes. Cale had a toy gun so I'm pretty sure Cade thought he was the coolest kid he'd ever met. Brecken was a little overwhelmed, but was happy to wander around exploring their house and take ornaments off their tree. Our contribution to the night was Swedish Meatballs...made mainly by Jim and my dad...they were delish too!

We attempted to get a good family photo...

We celebrated Christmas with my mom and Clark, my brother and family, and Clark's kids and families. We cut back this year, can't you tell?

Thumbs up Jer!

We drove through the Jolly Holiday Lights and stopped at Santa's Village at the end and visited him again...highly recommend this for seeing Santa...not much of a line at all and they have cookies, hot cocoa, etc. Cade asked "if Santa cut his beard because the last time we saw Santa he had a long, curly one."

We spent Christmas Eve at home which was a little weird but nice. Most of the day was spent preparing food. We decided that taking Brecken to church was just not the best idea, so just Jim and Cade went to the 3:30 mass. Cade did pretty good. We had an interesting dinner at home, the food was good, the behavior was not. I think Brecken ate before us and then Cade sat in time-out while we were eating...it was really peaceful and relaxing. ; ) We opened some presents that evening and then got ready for Santa by leaving cookies, milk, and carrots...Cade fell asleep watching "Cars" on our new ipod. I think his favorite gift was the "Star Wars" t-shirt...would wear it 24/7 if we would let him.

Brecken just could not keep her little hands off of the Christmas tree...we found ornaments strung about the house...I think she ended up breaking three and by the end of the season, our tree was only decorated on the upper half because every time she took one off, it got put up a little bit higher.

We woke Christmas morning to find that Santa had visited. It was really iffy there for awhile! He brought a Cabbage Patch Kid (named Nelda), a tent and tunnel (did he think we had room for that?), a sled, a wheelbarrow, and a Wii as a "family gift." : )

After playing for a bit, we headed to my mom and Clark's to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We stayed there for a few days which is always fun because Cade loves it there and we can relax and kind of disconnect from everything at home. We ate, played a lot of games, and ate more. Seriously, we were like on the two-hour plan for eating.

My cousin Troy is a Husker fan so every year there is at least one or two "gifts" exchanged...one year it was a mug plastered with pictures of Cade in a Husker hat, this year my mom wrapped up 5 boxes of Cyclone Crunch for him.

Brecken was up to her ornament snatching at Grandma's too...

Cade got to try out his new sled...

We also had a chance to visit our friends, the Wilsons, and have dinner with them. Kaleigh made some delicious Cornish hens and made her famous Creme Brulee. Cade thought "the torch" was pretty cool!

Jim also had a chance to visit his grandparents. Grandma Eileen had knee replacement surgery right after Christmas so Jim took them some meals that we had prepared so they could have some easy dinners while she was recovering.

Our little Rudolphs...Sue helped the kids make these at daycare...such a cute idea! The reindeer antlers are their traced hands.

What a busy month! We loved every minute of it and can't wait 'til next (or this) year!

Thanksgiving

2009-01-14T20:30:00.005-06:00

Everything between Brecken's birthday and now is pretty much a blur, but I am going to do my best to jot down the highlights!

For Thanksgiving, we went to Jim's grandparents' house for dinner/lunch. It was a smaller group than usual and Brecken wasn't feeling well. Teeth or a bug, still not sure. She was pretty much miserable and we didn't take a pack-n-play so she didn't get to nap and it was just pretty darn rough for her! Jim played an intense game or games of cribbage. And Cade played (with help from Grandma Berta) a cool game of Dominoes (it had a train with sound effects) that Aunt Margaret brought. We had a nice visit and always enjoy going to Grandpa Don and Grandma Eileen's. They are in their 80's, but you would never know it. We left there early evening and were planning to just head back to my mom's, but decided to go to my aunt's house to say hi to my family. My cousin Jami and her husband Daniele were back from Chicago and would be in Italy for Christmas, so it was nice to see them for a bit. Cade got to play with Ali, Corbin, and Conner and Jim got to play a game or two or three of pool.

Thanksgiving with my mom's family is traditionally at my aunt's house and *4* years ago it was where we announced that a new family member was on the way. Such a special memory. I suggested that we all say something that we were thankful for, which I know everyone loves to do! ; ) When it was my turn, through lots of tears, I explained how the past year had been difficult for us, but that we had something extra special to be thankful for...we were pregnant!!

{Just to clarify, that was 4 years ago, not this Thanksgiving!}

My mom and I did a little shopping on "Black Friday" but we didn't go out early with the crazies. Although I wanted to, just to say I have done it!! We had Brecken's party with Jim's family on that Saturday and then headed back home to get ready for Christmas!!!

Still Here

2009-01-08T22:14:00.005-06:00

We're still here...planning to post some of our holiday happenings, but until then a few pictures. What have we been up to? A month of Christmases and three weekends of traveling...looking forward to doing nothing for awhile!

Cade and I had dentist appointments yesterday (his second). He did great, goes in there by himself while I'm getting my teeth cleaned. He was done before me and then came into my room, saw me lying there, and promptly gave me the sweetest little kiss on the cheek. He can be so sweet when he wants to. And no, he didn't have to get dentures...found these in the basement, Dad...had no idea you guys bought these during your trip to the candy store. I wouldn't recommend eating them!

Happy Birthday to Jim on the 2nd! We held our annual Surf-n-Turf with the Cases on New Year's Day and celebrated Jim's birthday by playing Blokus. Before they came over, Jim told me I should go out and buy the game (we had played it at Christmas and he became addicted to it.) Not knowing anything, I said, "oh Anne probably already bought it." Because she was more addicted to it than Jim I think! ; ) So Jim calls her and asks if she bought it and she says, "maybe." So we laughed about that...Jim just thought she was embarrassed that she had bought it already. Turns out she had bought it as a birthday gift for him! If you haven't played this game, you need to...so much fun! If you look closely, you may see a blood stain on Cade's shirt. About 10 minutes before the Cases arrived, he decided to yank on a stocking...and found out that stocking hangers are heavy and when one falls on your head it hurts bad and bleeds a lot! Thankfully it was just a little nick and no emergency care was needed. And he wouldn't change his shirt because, according to him, it didn't bleed.

Merry Christmas...

2008-12-29T22:35:00.006-06:00

Technically I'm posting this a little late, but hoping all had a Merry Christmas!

We love displaying holiday cards we receive from our friends and family so we can enjoy them throughout the holiday season. This year I decided to try making a card wreath that I saw on Shutterfly. I just didn't realize how many pictures I would be trying to fit onto the wreath! Because we had so many, I only used the photos we received and not all of the cards. And it's still growing as we received cards in the mail today. Mine really looks nothing like theirs and it's a little crooked, but it's still my favorite way we've displayed them so far.

Merry Christmas from some Iowa elves...

2008-12-20T09:44:00.002-06:00

This is so much fun...and addictive!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Brecken's 1st Birthday Party II

2008-12-14T07:45:00.006-06:00

We had the second of Brecken's parties over Thanksgiving weekend. Our niece Jacelyn was also turning one so we had a double celebration with Jim's family. It was another fun party! I don't think it's possible for a first birthday party to not be fun, is it?! In attendance were Great Grandpa Don, Great Grandma Eileen, Grandpa Darrell, Grandma Berta, Aunt Amy, Uncle Zac, Jacelyn, Aunt Katie, Uncle Dan, Britany, Trevor, Uncle Andy, Great Uncle Don, Great Aunt Margaret, Laura, Great Uncle Jeff, Great Aunt Cindy, Josh, Jared, Emily, and of course all of us. Great Aunt Sally, Great Uncle Gene, and Sarah were unable to attend because of the nasty flu bug.

Aunt Amy and Grandma Berta made three Twinkie cakes, one large one and two smaller butterflies for the girls. Yum! I wasn't about to compete with them on the cake making...they are the masters! Brecken is definitely a more messy eater than her cousin...apparently Zac and Amy have been working on manners more than we have!

She got many nice gifts including the cutest little cupcake ornament that Great Grandma Eileen painted. Thanks to all who made the day special!

So Long to the So Long Couch

2008-12-02T19:03:00.004-06:00

We said goodbye to our extra long (8.5 ft) couch tonight. I know it seems ridiculous, but it was somewhat hard for me to part with it because it's one of the few physical reminders I have of my grandparents. We really wanted to keep it, but we are going to repurpose our front living room and we just don't have the room to store it for "someday." This couch belonged to my Grandpa and Grandma Evans and I'm guessing was purchased in the 1960s or 70s. It eventually became their basement couch. When my grandpa passed away, it became the basement couch at my mom's. When I got my first apartment at college, it moved to Ames and then to two more of my college apartments. When Jim and I moved into our apartment after graduation, it was our only piece of furniture and since moving to our house, it has been in our front living room, covered, but still in great shape. It's such a great couch, comfy, and long enough to seat many and sleep the tall. We gave it away for free and the guy who came to get it seemed to appreciate its "beauty" and size. ;) They brought a mini van to pick it up so obviously they couldn't close the back door and the couch hung out of the back as they hauled it. Shortly after they left, our phone rings and it's my brother on his cell phone..."Uh, I could be mistaken, but I think I'm following Grandma's old couch down the highway!" HA HA! We got a good laugh out of that one. And I think it was a sign that it was okay to "let it go."

Thankful

2008-11-27T10:41:00.000-06:00

We are thankful for:

1. Family & Friends - this may be a no-brainer, but it's important to tell our loved ones how meaningful they are in our lives…ideally not just at Thanksgiving. We are so grateful to have a support system to lean on and laugh with. Our children LOVE to be around our family and friends because of the LOVE they receive from them…so very thankful for that.

2. Health - as we all know too well, this can change at any moment. In the past year, we have lost a loved one, my uncle Greg, to cancer and witnessed too many others that we know lose loved ones or become ill.

3. Our Home - I complain about our house a lot. It's too small. There are too many stairs. It needs painted. It needs new carpet. The list goes on and on. But in the big picture, it's cozy, it's safe, and it provides shelter. One day we will move and I will be sad to leave because of all of the memories we have here.

4. Jobs - as we also know, this can change at any moment, especially in our economy today. The number of layoffs we hear about in the news lately is extremely scary. We complain about them and always will, but the bottom line is, we are thankful to have jobs to get up and go to.

5. Childcare - we are blessed to have an awesome provider for the kids (we know how important this is because we've been on the other end of the spectrum) and a good preschool for Cade to attend. Both are convenient and we don't have to worry while we are at work...we know they are happy and well taken care of.

6. Transportation - our vehicles are nothing to brag about…they are 4 and 8 years old. The car is too little for all four of us to travel comfortably in, the truck is a gas guzzler and needs some sort of repair every 3 months, they aren't the latest and greatest models, but they still run and they're almost paid off, and they get us where we need to be. Can't ask for more than that!

Sure there are things that we want that we can't afford…we pinch our pennies and pass up things that we would like to have or do. Times are tough right now in our country. But these are the basics (+food and clothing) that we are thankful for and don't take for granted.

Our hearts go out to everyone who is experiencing hardship, however large or small it may be. May they all find something to be thankful for…even if it is just the hope that things will get better.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Year Stats

2008-11-26T15:35:00.000-06:00

Brecken had her one-year check-up last week...had to get 5 shots! I was not prepared for that. She was so happy and then that...so sad! She recovered quickly though. I know I've been through the shots many times between the two of them, but it never gets easier.

She has turned the corner with sippy cups, so no more bottles. She still loses a lot of milk and lets it run down her chin, but she's getting better and if Cade ever has a sippy cup of anything sitting around, she grabs it and starts drinking!

Weight:23 lb 10 oz (84%)
Height: 30 in (77%)
Head Circumference: 47.5 cm (97%)

She's been pretty needy lately and I think it's teeth. Possibly a molar coming in on one side. And there's some sort of bruise/dark spot on her gums...not really sure if that's normal or not. I don't really remember anything like that with Cade.

Vacation 2008...Getting There

2008-11-23T20:31:00.000-06:00

Back in July, we went on a vacation to northern Minnesota with Jim's family. We took an old fishing boat that I have inherited from my Grandpa Evans. The boat and trailer are pretty old and my brother had already had issues with the trailer when he had taken it up there a couple months before we went. So...I wanted to leave the boat and trailer at home. But I didn't win that one, Jim was set on taking it.

Our trip started out fine...we left on a Friday afternoon so that the kids could nap for the first part of our journey. We stopped shortly after we got into Minnesota and Jim was concerned about the tires on the trailer looking a little low. He put some air in them but was still feeling uneasy. Turns out his feeling was right and a few miles down the road, we had this...

Thankfully we didn't lose control or anything like that. There was an exit not too far from where this happened, so we were able to drive slowly to the end of the ramp and we were off the interstate. After having to remove some of our "luggage" from the truck to get to the jack, Jim got it changed and we were back on the road. But...Jim wasn't feeling the greatest about the other tire and wanted to add some air to the tire he had changed, so we went into the small town off the exit and again thankfully, there was a co-op type service station thing that was still open (by this time it was about 6 pm.) So...both tires are changed and aired up to the correct pressure and we were on our way again.

So we get about halfway in between where the tire blew and our first night's destination (my friend Holly's home in Apple Valley) and probably 2 hrs behind schedule and a conversation begins.
Jim: I don't think I put the bags back in the truck after I changed the tire.
Erin: What?
Jim: Are there two sacks back there?
Erin: No. There are no sacks back there. (Somewhere in here, I said something like, "if you left those bags back there...we are turning around and going home!) : )
Jim: Should we go back and see if they are there?
Erin: No. They aren't going to be there, it would be a waste of time, we need to get to Holly's and get the kids out of the car.

We arrive at Holly, Jesse, and Kennedy's home...tossed around the idea of going to check on the bags or going to Target to replace the lost items. It was a garbage bag of beach and bath towels and a shopping bag with our clothes/items needed for the next morning (so much for that planning!) Then someone came up with the idea that Jim's sister Amy and her family would be traveling that same route the next morning. So we called them, asked them to check on their way by, and then decided if it was meant to be, the bags would be there and if not, it's all replaceable. We enjoyed our time with the Buenos...at the time Holly was about 7.5 months pregnant, Jesse was studying for a major exam, and they were trying to pack up their townhome to move to Wisconsin in a few weeks...but they graciously opened their home to us. It was great to save the money that we would have had to spend on a hotel, but even better to get to see them before their move. (They since have welcomed a baby boy, Gage, into their family!)

The next morning, we head out for the second half of our trip. Amy, Zac, and Jacelyn got an early start, so I think they went by "the exit" at about 8 am or so and our bags were still there...untouched! We couldn't believe it. I guess we were fortunate that we were slightly on the exit ramp and it was a tiny town and little traffic. It probably helped that one was a garbage bag! And the name of the town was Hope so I guess we had that going for us!

The overnight stop was the way to go...we only had 4-5 hours of driving the next day...luckily no tires blew, no bags were removed from the truck, and we made it to our destination...let the fun begin!

Fun with Markers

2008-11-22T21:33:00.003-06:00

Believe it or not...this was the second time she did this in one day! And I'm out of the running for this year's mother-of-the-year. So Cade is sitting in the kitchen coloring with markers. He drops one. Brecken and I are in the family room and she crawls up to the kitchen. Unbeknownst to me, she finds the marker on the floor that Cade had dropped and goes around the corner where I can't see her. I'm thinking, "oh she's fine," because I knew the gate was up so she couldn't climb upstairs to the bedrooms. So a small amount of time passes by and I start walking up to the kitchen and all of a sudden Cade is getting down off the stool he had been sitting on and running towards Brecken. I see him grab something from her, I see it's a marker, I see her face...her perfect little baby mouth...is covered in marker. It's like she was trying to put on lipstick! Later, I realize she was just trying to eat it. She was so proud too. Our camera was charging so I had to take a photo with my cell phone. So I get her cleaned up (thankfully they were washable markers) and we continue on with our day.

Some time later in the day, I notice she is back over by the stairs messing with something. I go to her, and there she is, covered in marker again! What the...? I know we put the markers away! Then I realize she has something in her mouth...oh yeah, it's the tip of the marker that she had BIT off earlier. I never bothered to look at the marker the first time, we just put it away...had I done that, I might have noticed a chunk of it missing! Duh! This time I got a little worried that she may have swallowed some of it so I call the Poison Control Center (but not before I grab the now-charged camera and snap a picture) and she assured me that they were non-toxic and she would be fine, just had some pretty poop the next day! ;)

Brecken's 1st Birthday Party I

2008-11-22T20:40:00.005-06:00

We had a great time at the first of Brecken's first birthday parties. In attendance were Grandma Bonni, Grandpa Clark, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Anne, Julia, Lauren, Great Aunt Vicki, Great Aunt Rocko, and Ali. She was pretty tired by the time we got to cake and pretty messy by the time she got done, so she went straight to an outfit change and nap. Thanks to those who shared her special day with her! (Jim was sad that there were no pictures of him, so we will be sure to get lots at her next party...I also wanted to get a family picture and we never got that!)

The rest of her actual birthday (Saturday) was spent running errands, cleaning, and hanging out with Grandma Bonni who came early to help us get ready...thank you so much! We also got to do a video call with Grandpa Steve and Nanna Celeste and Grandpa Darrell and Grandma Roberta stopped by to say hi on their way home from a wine event in Ames. So she got to "see" all her grandparents on her birthday...how neat! That night we went out for pizza at Red Rossa with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Anne, Julia and Lauren. The kids were WILD!!

On Tuesday, we made mini cupcakes and took them to daycare. The "pink" frosting turned out great Grandma Roberta...thanks!

One more celebration to go and then I can be sad that it's over! ;)

Brecken's First Year Video

2008-11-16T21:05:00.009-06:00

We made a picture montage to remember Brecken's first year...it's pretty long but it was hard to leave out any memories!

Brecken's First Year from Erin Morse on Vimeo.

Walkin'

2008-11-15T11:12:00.003-06:00

Some video of our little Frankenstein...

Happy 1st Birthday Brecken!

2008-11-15T10:39:00.002-06:00

Still can't believe she's 1! We celebrated this morning with sprinkle donuts (her first) and she opened her gift from us. We are having a party for her with my family tomorrow at our house. And in a couple of weeks, she will have another party with Jim's family and her cousin Jacey who is turning 1 also.

Walking and Tubes

2008-11-06T20:11:00.000-06:00

This is what the time change and no nap does for Cade...he fell asleep sitting by me on the couch Sunday night at about 8:45.

I got gas for $1.90 a gallon Monday!! Love that!!

I called Jim "Jim" the other day and Cade said, "Hey, that' s not his name, it's Michael James."

I don't know when you can actually say "Brecken walked," but she definitely made some big progress today...she was walking several steps at a time pretty steadily around the family room. Whenever she would make it from one point to another, she would turn around and look at us and we would all clap and cheer for her and then she would do the same. So much fun to see her excitement! And Cade's too.

Cade has his tubes put in today and his adenoids removed. Everything went pretty well and he is back to his rambunctious self tonight. He had to have an IV put in for the adenoid removal and I guess it infiltrated or something like that? So his hand and part of his arm was very swollen, but that has slowly gone down over the day. He did very well at the surgery center, got upset because he didn't want to wear the gown, but he did keep it on and went off with the nurse without a problem. It was when he woke up that he was pretty upset, I think partially because we weren't there and partially because it's just a weird experience coming out of the anesthesia. The doctor said his adenoids were huge and that there was lots of gunk in there. He drank quite a bit of apple juice while in the recovery room and then threw up on the way home. We're just thankful all went well and happy to have our Cader back to normal!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T21:34:00.003-06:00

(Click on the picture to make it larger).

Thursday we went out trick-or-treating for Beggar's Night. Cade really got into it this year and went for the full two hours...he was definitely in the zone. He would go up to the door by himself and sometimes say trick-or-treat, sometimes not, sometimes say thank you, sometimes not. Des Moines and the surrounding communities have a tradition of telling a joke before you can get the candy, but I figured that he is still young enough that he could get away with not doing it. But several houses asked him if he had a joke and he just looked at them like, "Huh?" and then I'd have to yell from the sidewalk that we didn't get into that yet. Come on people, he's 3, just give him the candy! ; ) Brecken was a trooper riding around in the wagon, trying to eat leaves off the floor of it and snacking on Puffs that our neighbors had gotten as a special treat for her. We saw some of their friends from Sue's, neighbor friends, went to Sue's and even got to see JuJu and LoLo when they came over after their trick-or-treating! I heard one of the dad's taking his kids around say, "Trick-or-Beer," and thought, "well there's a concept!" ; )

It's hard to explain the Beggar's Night/Halloween thing to little ones. The kids have Halloween shirts and I wanted them to wear them on Friday to get one last use out of them and Cade, with his biggest eyes, says, "Is it Halloween again?" Um yeah, actually it is Halloween today, but not the trick-or-treat Halloween. So confusing!

Friday I took the kids downtown for Cade's ear doc appointment. Barack Obama was speaking down there and on our way out, we could hear him from the parking garage! I wish we would have went. What a cool experience it would have been to put in the kids' scrapbooks if he ends up becoming our next president. Cade calls him "Rock Omabama."

At the doctor's appointment, we found out that Cade will be getting tubes put back in his ears and set that up for this Thursday. He has a lot of fluid in there and it is affecting his hearing. So that's why he says, "What?" and "Huh?" all the time. So hopefully the tubes will correct the hearing problem, but unfortunately I don't think they are going to do much for the listening problem!

Saturday night we got to babysit our nieces/cousins Julia and Lauren and they even got to stay overnight! Cade was pumped because they both got to sleep in his room. Julia on the top bunk and Lauren on Cade's "Thomas bed" on the floor. They were so wound up, playing tent, jumping on the couch, eating treats, playing games that they did not settle down and go to bed until 11:45 (old time)! Anne and Ryan went to a costume party dressed as Miami Ink, which involved mesh-like shirts that make you look like you are covered in tattoos...I wish I had a picture to share, as it was pretty funny.

The rest of the weekend involved working around the house (seems to be a common theme). Jim did a bunch of yard work and put things in the shed for the winter. The weather was unbelievably nice for November in Iowa. Our neighbor was putting his Christmas lights up! Brecken and I ran to Target and got Cade a new car set...we needed to get her infant carrier out of my car and then switch the rest of them around...it's complicated figuring out what type of seat they are supposed to sit in, what direction it's supposed to be facing, and when they can switch! I guess the one I picked out for Cade wasn't so easy to put in our truck...Jim almost lost a thumb in the process, or so you would have thought...it only bled a little though. ; )

While the Cat is Away...

2008-10-29T12:34:00.000-05:00

the Mice will Play!

Yes this is Lil' Miss Brecken playing in her big brother's room when he is not home. She absolutely loves it in there and I have to say I don't blame her. Cade doesn't mind her in there too much...yet. But I know the day will come. My older brother and I shared a room for awhile and then he moved to the basement (and got the coolest room ever.) At least to me it was. I would sneak in there when he wasn't home and play with his toys, listen to his music, and eventually read his notes from his girlfriend (shhh...don't tell!)

I think Brecken will be somewhat of a tomboy just from having Cade's influence...she already plays with trucks (we need some girl toys!) When I was little, I always wanted to wear the long striped tube socks because my brother did, which eventually led to me having the nickname Ervin. See Mom & Dad, it was just a phase and I did eventually realize that I was a female. : )

So my little Brecken, even though your big brother is sometimes rough with you and is sometimes unwilling to share with you, he does adore you and I promise, having a big brother is pretty cool.