Claire Joy

Claire had her 9 month well child appointment on Wednesday (a few weeks late). She is growing well and is 29 1/4 inches (89%) & 21 lbs. 10 oz. (84%). Claire and Reese both got their flu shot (Drew got his on Monday). The doctor asked, "so we're doing a flu shot today for Reese too, right?"
"Yup"
Dr. T left the room and Reese came up to me and said, "Mom, I don't want a flee shot!"


Big news - Claire is crawling!! She's been working on it for a while now but she finally took off this week. It's so much harder to keep the house baby proofed with the boys around. They leave so many crumbs & small pieces of trash or dirt on the floor. I'm going to have to vacuum several times a day to make sure Claire doesn't get to all the "goodies" on the floor first. The days of blopping her on the floor and having her stay in one spot are now gone...

Doctor's Appointment

Drew has his 5 year well child check up today. He was very brave even though he got poked 4 times! He weighs 47 lbs. and is 45 inches tall. We are so thankful that he is a wonderfully healthy child!

After the doctor appointment we went to play group for our Halloween Party. Claire is a ladybug. Reese a dragon. Drew is Batman.Left to Right: Makana holding her twin brothers Josiah and Cruz, Claire, Calla holding her sister Lyla, Mallory, Reese, Matthew, and Batman aka Drew. Unfortunately Dylan couldn't be with us today.

Claire was smiling at first but not so happy by the time we were done taking pictures.

Good Manners

Last weekend we went to Ohio to visit Tom's family. We had a great time and loved spending time with Mom, Dad, Tami, Anthony & Levi. We also enjoyed the bonfire (complete with hayride) with the extended family. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of our weekend. If you want to see pics just check out Tami's blog: http://www.delimpodays.blogspot.com/. I'm sure she'll have a wonderful post up soon (no pressure, Tam). :-)

Tom took this picture of Drew's balancing act at Fulton Farms.

Drew and Reese have been playing computers games lately. I wish I could say that the games they play are educational but, unless elf bowling teaches a "life lesson" I'm not aware of, that's not the case.

Reese...

... and his stamps.
Tom's been working late a lot this week so we go into SRC to have dinner with him. Reese loves the stamps and "tattoos" his arms every time we're there. Although you can't tell, the red stamp says "closed." The blue stamp says "verified."

Claire after her bath tonight.

Yesterday at breakfast:

The boys were sitting down eating their food when Drew asks, "Mom, may I please have a glass of milk and my vitamin?" Reese follows, "May I please have my milk and vitamins too?" Of course I was thrilled and wanted to affirm their good manners, "Yes, when you boys ask so nicely, I'm happy to get you what you ask for!" Without missing a beat Reese replies, "Mom, may I please have a sucker?"

Music Class

Drew's music class had an open house today where the parents were welcome to come visit and observe the class. Claire and I went and enjoyed seeing Drew at school. It's nice to get a glimpse of what his day is like in the hours he is not at home. Drew is in the blue shirt and jeans motioning that the music is high. The kids would sit on the floor when a low note was played.

Claire was so happy this morning during breakfast. I would take a picture of her and then show it to her and she would crack up. She's definitely got her daddy's beautiful blue eyes.

High Five!

On Friday Drew turned 5!! His class celebrated his birthday at school and he brought in a birthday snack to share. He loved his homemade birthday card. Thankfully he doesn't realize yet that I'm not artistic and simply appreciated my efforts at creativity.

Friday morning we went to Flap Jacks for breakfast - this is where all the grandparents went together the morning Drew was born. After school we went hiking and then to a high school football game with Drew's friend Tristan.

Drew loves to be a superhero - Batman!!

On Saturday we went to Hawk Island with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Dave, Aunt Leah, and cousin Jacob. We enjoyed the walk around the lake (except the mosquitoes) and the beautiful fall colors.

The boys rode their bikes while the rest of us walked the 1.5 miles.

We stopped at the playground. Claire enjoyed the swings...

so did Tom!

We tried to make it a weekend to remember. I truly hope Drew enjoyed it!

Party Time!

We had Drew's birthday party today at Twistars Gymnastics. He had a blast playing on all the equipment with his friends. Calla jumping on the trampoline.
Gracie, Reese, Makanna, Drew, and Ellie waiting for their turn on the tramp.

Ellie, Drew, Jaden, and Reese getting instruction on "playing safe" at the gym.

Drew loved his "Batman" cake. Thanks Grandma Reusser!!

All the kids in the party room.

The kids enjoyed the cake after playing hard for 90 minutes!

The adults had fun playing on all the equipment as well. Hopefully Tom will posted some video footage soon. The guys had a competition performing various stunts on the apparatus. It goes without saying that most of them ended up getting hurt in the process. Case in point: Tom is laying on the couch with ice on his foot as I write this.

Bi Lingual

The boys are sitting at the table eating lunch. This is what I'm overhearing:

Reese: "This is how you eat applesauce in French." He proceeds to slurp it off his spoon.
Drew: "Well this is how you eat applesauce in Spanish... and how you eat chicken nuggets in Chinese..." And on and on they go.

BTW - Tom did find the camera last night. He was right, the kids hid it (in an obscure cabinet). I have no idea how he found it other than, if you know Tom, you know he doesn't do anything half-hearted. He was prepared to look all night if that's what it took. :)

Desperate

It's 8:30. The boys should be in bed but instead they are helping Tom look for the camera. FYI - He told the boys that whoever found the camera would get a sucker. I think Tom is convinced that one of them hid it. However, with the promise of a sucker, I'm pretty sure they would have fessed up by now.

Toast

I'm sitting at the kitchen table feeding Claire and watching Drew teach Reese how to make toast. If only you could be a fly on the wall to watch this!! I think this is the cutest thing I've seen. Drew is so encouraging in his instruction. "Now you put the bread here and press this button... Good job, Buddy! Now, when I wait for the toast I sit right here like this. Reese, you're doing such a great job."

I can't even count how many slices of bread they've toasted! They are all business and so very proud of themselves. I'm just sitting back watching the show :) I absolutely LOVE watching them interact when they're not fighting.

Proud Mamma:
I don't think I've ever been as proud of Drew as I was yesterday. I was picking him up from school when the aid of a special needs student in his class stopped me in the hall. She told me how wonderful Drew is with Lilly (the little girl that she works with). She said Drew is very sweet to her and also very helpful. I almost started crying right there in the hall I was so proud of him! We see Drew's compassion and tender heart every day but it is wonderful to know that others notice as well.

Missing

Right now I'm missing two things: Tom... and my camera. Tom is on his way home from Dallas. It was a quick trip but we definitely missed him a lot! I thought maybe he took the camera with him but I guess it's hiding somewhere in the house. Hopefully it will turn up soon, but until it does the blog will be picture-less.

My mom took the kids this morning so I could work out (essential for my mental health), and then she kept the boys while Claire and I went to play group. While Drew was in school we took Reese to get his hair cut. This was his first hair cut by someone other than me and it is more obvious than ever that I don't know how to cut hair. He looks really cute!

Thanks, Mom, for all your help today!

Country Mill Farms

A bunch of us went to Country Mill Farms on Saturday. We picked apples, attempted a corn maze, petted the goats,played on the playground, and enjoyed fresh doughnuts and cider. Fun, fun, fun!! Some of the cousins: Annabelle, Gracie, Drew, and Ellie (left to right).

Makana and Mathew on the train while the other kids "mill" around :)

Uncle Nate picking apples.

Ellie, Grace, and Drew eating apples.

Makana enjoying a snack. She would have eaten the entire apple if her dad didn't stop her once she hit the core :)

Uncle Nate getting us all lost in the corn maze.

It wasn't a true petting zoo but the kids enjoyed the goats through the fence. Ellie kept asking, "Aunt Sarah, will they bite me?!?!"

Later Saturday afternoon Tom needed to mow the grass so my mom and I took the kids for a hike. We found a really nice trail along the Grand River. The leaves are starting to turn and their reflection on the water was beautiful. Of course the boys didn't notice the scenery. They spent most of the time hauling tree branches saying they were going to take them home so we could roast marshmallows. After Reese took a limb to his ear and Drew almost lost an eye my mom and I talked them into dropping their arm load of branches. We might need to talk Grandpa Gheen into having a bonfire (with marshmallows) when we head south in a few weeks.