Almost....

Hi-ya!  On Friday, we went to Jenny's house and were dressed in Vikings gear.  Jenny's family are Vikings fans, so she always loves when we show up in purple and yellow.  Jenny sent Mommy these pictures from the day b/c it was "basket" day at her house; we had tons of fun climbing in and out of the bins and baskets all day long.  It's a good reminder that the simplest gadgets become the best toys ever!

 I named the post "Almost" since there are some happenings in this post that fall under this title.  For example, the Vikings ALMOST beat the Packers, which would resulted in one.mad.Dad and one.ecstatic.Mom.  Mommy and Daddy went to the game with Uncle Jim, Aunt Karri, Grandma and Grandpa.  They also saw Daddy's cousin, Dawn, at the game (thanks for sharing the photo!)  It was a nail biter of a game, but the Packers won fair and square.  Not bad for a rookie's debut game.

Mommy "ALMOST" went off the road laughing last week when she turned to see Cooper doing the sprinkler dance with his arm to "Party Rock" on the radio.  We all had a great laugh seeing him jam out in his carseat (yes, he still uses his pacifier for bedtime and fussy times... one more month and then it will be "bye, bye paci.")

Mommy "ALMOST" continued to work full-time as Heather threatened to stay home with baby Hadley and Finley and not return to teaching.  Thankfully, this was just a funny joke (ha, ha, right!?!?!?)  Heather returned last week in time for ground-breaking at their school.  The school they work at will be receiving a multi-million dollar addition including a new Kindergarten wing with huge classrooms, storage closets and bathrooms in the classroom! 

I could have "ALMOST" fallen and broken my neck or butt with this stunt.  When it is quiet in our house, it means someone is up to no good. After going potty, I decided to help myself to the Aveda soap and lotion in the bathroom (this is for guests as we have Bath/Body for everyday use).  Mommy snuck up on me with her camera and caught me red-handed with a sink full of soap.  Cheese :)  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I mean kitchen... Cooper got his hands on the bathroom garbage can and found a new use for it.  It became his helmet as he ran into the cupboards and walls while laughing hysterically.  Yup, this is a snapshot of life at our house.  Does it make sense to why my parents are still "unsure" about wanting a third child????

Whoa Nelly!  I rode my first big horse at a hoe-down put on by Daddy's work a few weeks ago.  I had a choice between a big horse or little pony so I chose to ride Mr. Ed.  The helmet makes me look fast and I just couldn't stop smiling.  Cooper was placed on Mr. Ed with me, but he didn't care to sit longer than 1 second to enjoy the ride.

 The hoe-down wouldn't have been complete without a hayride.  Mommy is MIA in these pictures because it was her scrapbook weekend.  Daddy was a trooper and still took us boys to the fun event.  We enjoyed a hayride and the pedal tractors before calling it a day.  Being a farmer is hard work but I loved every minute of it!

 Daddy had one job while Mommy scrapbooked, besides keeping us alive, and that was to hang up the A-Z art cable/clips from Pottery Barn Kids.  This was a birthday gift but we didn't know where to put it so it has sat in the box for several months now.  Daddy decided to hang it under my name~ so this is where I will hang up my preschool and Sunday School masterpieces.

On Mommy's first day off as a job-share partner we had a PJ day at home.  We love having a PJ day from time to time.  We made huge messes all over the house with our toys and even took our afternoon naps in our jammies!  Don't worry, we did take a bath and got new jammies on before bedtime that night.  Daddy was very confused when he got home and saw we were still in our jams.

 It was Boss' Day last week and since Mommy didn't work on Wednesday, we went to the hospital to have lunch with him.  Daddy's department had a Mexican fiesta for lunch to celebrate him.  It was thoughtful and fun.  As usual, it was most exciting to ride the elevators, use the hand sanitizers that are stationed every few feet and a bonus was looking at the construction machinery in the front of the hospital as they are creating a healing garden.

We must have done it big last week, because another favorite stop was the mall.  Mommy always lets me bring my monkey wallet with quarters from my piggy bank.  We go on the same three rides each time and it is always the most exciting event of the week.  Cooper and I resume our positions on the "hot dog" bus and we push buttons and laugh like crazy.  It's funny how Cooper never fights me on the bus to be the driver~ he is perfectly content with being a backseat passenger.

The helicopter "ALMOST" took flight... hmmmm... where would we go?  Easy decision, somewhere warm!  Winter seems to be coming so soon now.  We hear it might snow in the next few days, yuck!  Speaking of flying, we booked our tickets to Georgia for Thanksgiving and can't wait to see Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, Bennett and Kyra for five days!  Next post will be a fun one with Halloween festivities...stay tuned!

For Sale....Cheap!

Hi ya!  This week's blog post was chosen by Mommy.  She said the pictures will show exactly why she titled the post, For Sale, Cheap!  First off, we attempted the pumpkin patch today.  It was a "no go" as Cooper has been battling a horrible cough and cold for a week now.  Do you remember how we dealt with this all last winter?!?!?  We are seriously hoping this isn't a start of another L-O-N-G winter.  My parents snuck in a few photos in hopes of the golden one.  The photo above captures it all.

 Cooper eats everything in sight these days.  Acorns, leaves, dirt, you name it.  It is no wonder he is in the 100% for his height (more to come on this later in the blog).  Maybe we need to nickname him the garbage disposal.

 A sweet brotherly moment fighting over a pumpkin (For Sale...Cheap!)

 Cooper showing us he had enough of the pumpkin patch.  2 hours in the unfall-like heat aggravated by his cold= a not so fun day after all.

 A few happy photos....

As cute as the animals were in the petting zoo area, my parents refused to let me buy a $10 kitten.  If anyone recalls the devil cat, Dusty, my parents once owned, they will understand why a cat will never live in our house.  Period.

Another special moment of brotherly love on the tractor.  Thankfully, we both stayed on and no one was injured.

Do you like my extra-cheesy smiles these days.  Mommy reminds me to LOOK and OPEN MY EYES, but this kind of smile is something that only three year olds seem to master.

 I led the family through the corn maze.  Mommy hates, hates corn mazes as she is majorly claustrophobic.  Cooper was a bit surprised by the huge corn and bumpy terrain.  We made it through, all four of us.  I wonder how larger families do this without losing someone?!?!

 Probably our favorite part of the pumpkin patch was the pedal tractor/tricycle area.  Cooper and I were quite content with these toys.  I am quite fast on my bike (with training wheels) and Radio Flyer tricycle.  This summer, I mastered the pedaling technique.

 Our first stop at the pumpkin patch was a hayride.  This past week at preschool, we went to an orchard.  I was a little hesitant on the field trip to ride along, but I did great and I was super excited to ride again.  On our ride, we saw pretty fall leaves and Christmas trees.  We return to the same place late November to cut down our Christmas tree each year.  Despite our crazy warm weather, Christmas will be here before you know it!

 You might wonder why Cooper and I are standing/sitting in a huge hole... scroll down two photos and you will see the culprit.  Liberty has decided to dig at the base of our deck.  We are not sure why she is doing this.  At 8 1/2 years old, she definitely knows better and should probably resort to laying around the house for the next few years of her life.  The little spunk in her that is still there thought this was a good idea.  Daddy patched the hole and two days later, she did it again.  For sale, cheap dog (kidding....really.... but she is not winning any brownie points these days).

We have 2 Regents apple trees in our yard that produced the largest yield to date.  I am a good little helper with using our apple peeler and corer machine.  We have made applesauce, apple muffins and soon will make apple butter and apple pies.  If you need apples, PLEASE let us know.  We have more than my muscles can handle! 

 Cooper absolutely loves eating apples.  I am certain that 15 month olds are not supposed to eat apples, especially with peels on them.  Being that he is the second child, my parents let him pull the apples off of our tree and eat them anyways.  They sometimes don't even wash them because he is so quick (don't tell child protective services).  It is not unusual to find apples scattered here and there in our yard with only one bite out of them.

Cooper James... 15 month appointment.  Just look at all of those chompers!  His mouth has exploded teeth in the past month or two.  He has a full grill which might explain why everything is in his mouth these days.  Cooper's appointment was a bit of a shock.  Daddy took him to the doctor this time and after two measurements, yes two, they determined he grew 3 inches in the past 3 months.  Our doctor wasn't sure if there was an error last visit, but they measured twice this time around.  He is a tall kid, just like Uncle Matt and a "few" others in our family (there really is only a few tall ones).  Cooper stands at 33 1/4 inches (100% for his age)!  His weight was 24 pounds (25%) and his head was 18 inches (25%).  The kid is literally growing like a weed!  He is meeting all milestones~ he walks, runs, pushes backwards in the coupe, talks (mama, dada, ball, boat, HI-YA!, down... this goes with his favorite Ring-Around-A-Rosie, and he makes animal sounds and lots of other silly noises).  We think his talent is in sports as he can play hockey/golf, kick a ball pretty far, and throw a ball overhand with some serious skill. 

 We made a trip to the cities which I forgot to blog about last time, but there is good reason.  First, we went to the cities in hopes of finding a Kitty Cat snowmobile.  We went to Hay Days which is a huge snowmobile swap.  We found a new helmet for me to wear this winter.  If you stop by, you will most likely see me wearing this on my head, backwards with ears crunched.  We were bummed not to find a Kitty Cat at the swap, but we found another one that we should be receiving in the next few weeks as the seller is removing it from storage, yay!

In the cities, we stopped over at Grandma and Grandpa's house to have a September birthday celebration.  Daddy, Auntie Karri, Grandma and Uncle Bruce all have birthdays in September.  We had a party for everyone, visited, ate cake and finally got to watch Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Karri's wedding video.  It was hilarious to watch and fun to reminisce.

 Auntie Karri is a photo junky, in a good way!  She had 900+ professional photos taken at the wedding and we did go through them on our computer.  Whew, that took some time!  We are adding a few photos below since these are new ones and some of our favorites from their special day!

We are saving the best for last.... Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Karri are expecting baby Lindell this May!  I am sure you are doing the math.... married in July, pregnant two weeks later, so yes, a crazy year for them, but this is exactly what they hoped and dreamed for.  They are excited to add a little monkey to their family.  I keep calling the baby a girl and can't wait to give her a pink John Deere t-shirt when she is born.  Of course, baby Lindell might be a boy, time will tell.  Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Karri are going to find out the gender when that time comes.  So far, the baby is healthy and Auntie Karri is feeling tired but well. Even though my parents want to sell us at times (Jim and Karri, you will have the same feeling from time to time), know that being born was the best thing that ever happened to me and Cooper!!  For more Lindell news, they have started a blog which can be accessed through our blog list.  We love good news and especially love bloggers for keeping us in the loop.  Congrats :)