The "make-up" trip to Augusta

Back in July I had planned a trip up to see my parents with the girls, but then we all got sick and had to cancel. So this past week was our "make-up" trip :)

All in all, it was a great visit, with the only trouble being that Anna got up WAY too early both mornings. At least that meant that I got to have a really, really quiet trip home on Friday afternoon; Anna slept almost the whole way!

Some of the girls' hightlights from the trip included hikes in the woods with Grandpa, a wagon ride behind Grandpa's tractor, both girls getting a chance to drive the tractor, a boat ride on a beautiful afternoon, a campfire, and kayaking with Grandma on Friday morning. My main highlight was not having any food preparation/clean up responsibilities ;) That and being able to hang out with my parents, of course!

Fall begins!

A few weeks back we went from summer weather to fall weather in about 36 hours. Seriously ... on Monday and Tuesday the highs were in the 80s and by Thursday and Friday the highs were in the 60s. Crazy, right?

The first week of school in our house passed once again with the only noticable change being that we now see the school bus go by in the morning and afternoon. It's kind of nice that once again neither Mommy nor daughters need to worry about school schedules :)

The day that school started here, we went to the new Madison Children's Museum, thinking that it wouldn't be as busy as it had been in the prior few weeks. We were right that it wasn't quite as busy, but it was pretty crowded nonetheless. Still, it's a great place to visit and I'm sure we'll be heading that way again this fall and winter :) The only problem is that the girls are practically guaranteed to catch something whenever we visit; there's just too many people/kids who go through on a daily basis for us NOT to be exposed to unknown germs. Oh, well. This time the cold was pretty mild.

We also made a trip over to Milwaukee to visit Gretchen and Josh one more time before their baby comes. Everyone did well with the traveling and it was really nice to be able to visit with Gretchen again.

Labor Day weekend was low key in our house, especially since both girls were still working through the MCM cold. The highlight for me was probably my birthday (31 ... ahh!). My brother surprised me with flowers and chocolate (yum!) and then Matt and the girls got me flowers and balloons. Anna and Matt also made me my birthday muffin and hid some 31s for me in the afternoon (that I just finished finding!). The highlight of the day, though, was probably my trip up to the Dells to go shopping and have lunch with my mom; several hours of being kid-free was really nice :) The lowlight was the fact that Anna had some pretty rough sleeping troubles the previous night and we both had very little sleep that night :(

In the midst of all of this, Kate has been entertaining us a lot. A few weeks back she said something that sounded like "I'll bite you!"; Matt thought it was hilarious and so she kept saying it to get him to laugh. This girl will do just about anything for a laugh. Anyway, I figured that if she could say "I'll bite you", she should be able to say "I love you." So whenever she would say "I'll bite you", I would try to change the topic to "I love you". She picked up on the phrase pretty quickly, but then got the two connected in her mind so that if we told her "I love you", she'd respond with "I'll bite you". Silly girl. Now we're a little past that and she'll say "I yuv oo" on her own :)

I haven't ever uploaded a video so we'll see how this one goes. It's from a week ago or so and when Matt and I looked at it today, we realized that she's already different from when it was taken. It's amazing how much Kate is changing and learning in such a short time!

Another week!

Last week we did a pretty decent job of filling the spaces in the schedule, thanks in part to an absolutely gorgeous weather week. We had a few playdates at some parks, some picnics, some canning (grape jelly and first round of applesauce), and then our fun Friday.

By Thursday evening, I knew I needed something to get excited about on Friday, so we decided to have a "Green Day". Not "green" as in environmentally green ... we're not there yet, but just the color green. We had some green turtle shaped pancakes for breakfast, went for a hike at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum (lots of green trees, right?), did some green art projects outside in the afternoon, and had green crust pizza with zucchini (and other things) for dinner. It was actually pretty fun and since then Anna has asked for her day to be different colors. To which I give the standard reply "If we do it all the time, it's not special."

So how are these girls doing? Pretty well, for the most part. Anna is still very conscious of her feelings and those of the people around her. She's also started this phase where she tries to compromise and explain herself fully so she can get her way. Here's an example. Last week we had a playdate at a park with someone Kate's age; I suggested Anna bring along her doll to the park for a playmate. Since then every time we leave the house she asks to bring along the baby. If I say no, she responds with "Well, but I could bring the stroller along for her also, or maybe I could leave her in her carseat in the car. I think she'd really like to come along with us. She might be lonely if she stays here at home." We often go back and forth and back and forth until I either say yes, or respond with "I'm the mom so I'm in charge and I say not this time." To this she'll say "Well, when I'm the mom then I get to be in charge." True enough.


As you can see, both girls like to play in Daddy's truck :)

Kate is still learning and changing every day. She's picking up words like a sponge now and most of her favorite words have to do with food ... imagine that :) She can actually identify most of the fruit bearing trees in our yard now. She'll go to the plum tree and say "pum! pum!" or to the pear tree and say "peh! peh!" A friend of ours brought us a box of peaches back from Michigan yesterday so when Kate sees those she says "peach! peach!" The repetition and exlamation marks are on purpose :)

The girls still doing well together, most of the time. I think like anyone, however, they get a little tired of being around one another and just need some time apart. One evening recently, Matt took Anna on some errands and left Kate home with me. Kate was in HEAVEN. She found a toy in Anna's room and proceeded to play with it for about a half hour! I think she relished the fact that she could play by herself in Anna's room without someone (Anna) coming in and telling her she couldn't do whatever she was doing.


Anyway, quick garden update. Yesterday my friend Amy came over and we canned 28 quarts of spaghetti sauce ... yum. Now that the tomatoes are mostly done, we're into the fruit season. Amy brought me a box of peaches to can; we've got grapes that are ripe; apples to make into applesauce; and plums and raspberries to pick every few days. Lots of work, but lots of "yum" :)

Filling Time?

Last week I realized that we didn't have anything on the calendar for almost three weeks ... zip, nothing, nada. Yikes! Most of the summer programs ended at the beginning of August and the school year ones designed for little ones don't start up until the middle of September, so I've been working hard to fill in the gaps in our schedule ... mainly for my sanity, but also for the girls' well-being.

My favorite "gap filler" last week was a field trip to the airport (before we went to the grocery store and the shoe store). Both Anna and Kate loved it and Matt was pretty jealous that he didn't get to go. After investigating the baggage claim area, the security section, the ticket counter, and the hanging airplane in the terminal, we waited outside for the real airplanes. We didn't see too many taking off or landing, but the ones we did see made the trip worth it :)

Another filler activity has been pool time. It was warm enough on Sunday that we filled up our backyard pool again and had some family time out there after naps. Then yesterday is was nice enough for me to take the girls to the Monona outdoor pool. I hadn't done that by myself before and it went surprisingly well, even better than expected. Anna and I both learned that she's tall enough now to stand on her own in the shallow end and she LOVED it. Of course, that made things easier for me, too, because then I didn't have to have a hand on her and hold Kate all the time ;)

With the weather becoming more and more comfortable lately, we've also been doing a lot of playdates at parks. This morning Anna brought her baby doll, which she has actually grown quite attached to in the past week or so, along to the park. Good idea. The baby got to swing, slide, play in the sand, etc, in addition to Anna doing those things.

We've got "stuff to do" the rest of this week, but then the next task is to plan things for next week. Once Labor Day hits, we should be set; I'm planning a trip up to see my parents the week after Labor Day and then our school year activities (Kindermusik, library story times, Bible Study at church, playgroups, etc.) should be starting up. It's been a great summer and we'll be sad to see it go, but it will be nice not to be responsible for coming up with all of the engaging activities for these curious girls!

Harvesting

The garden has virtually taken over our lives for the time being. Well, not exactly, but it certainly feels like it. Last week Matt took a couple of "harvest days" to help process the corn and then to make salsa. At least both of those tasks are done now and we'll have lots of salsa and sweet corn to enjoy in the coming months! We've also canned some stewed tomatoes, dried more cherry tomatoes (which Anna literally eats like candy!), dug up the potatoes, picked and frozen more and more zucchini, continued to pick peppers and cucumbers, and harvested our first few pumpkins. Whew! I've been trying to get the girls out of the house in the mornings and tire them out so they take good naps and then I can rush outside and start picking and preserving. So far it's working ;)

Last week it was SO hot and humid that I was stretching my imagination a bit to find some interesting, free, indoor activities for us. So on Thursday morning we checked out the Wisconsin State Capitol. What fun! We made it all the way up to the observation deck in addition to checking out the rotunda, the governor's conference room, and the assembly chamber. On the way out, Anna said "Mom, that was fun! We should come here again with Daddy sometime." She has asked to go to the Capitol at least once a day since we went :)

Sunday the weather finally let up and we were able to turn off the air for the first time in weeks! We went to early church, got home by 9:30, and spent most of the rest of the day outside catching up on some home and yard maintenance, and then took a family bike ride to McDaniel park for a picnic dinner.

Yesterday the girls and I did a "hike" in the morning at Lake Kegonsa State Park. After going about five feet into the shady trail we were surrounded by hundreds of mosquitoes, so we opted for the sunny trail. The girls did surprisingly well with our 3/4 mile hike. Kate rode in the backpack for about half the time, and we stopped often for snacks and to check out the flowers, acorns, butterflies, animal tracks, etc.

On a very different note, Anna has been showing evidence of her budding faith lately. On Friday night there was a beautiful full double rainbow across the field in our back yard. Of her own initiative, she said "Thanks, God, for the beautiful rainbow." Sweet girl.


Then on Sunday morning she was taking a break in her room by herself before lunch. Here's part of the conversation we then had during lunch.

Me: What were you doing in your room?
Anna: Praying.
Me: Oh? What were you praying about?
Anna: I was praying for all the people who don't love Jesus yet.
Me: Well, that's a good thing to pray about.

Matt and I just stared at each other with this this-is-great-but-where-did-she-ever-get-the-idea-to-pray-about-that kind of look.

And yet there's more. Before bed every night we usually read one or two stories from the Bible that Grandma and Grandpa Mischnick gave her. On Sunday night, I was reading the story to her about Jesus' baptism. When I read the part about God's voice coming from the sky, she stopped me and said "But, Mom, Jesus is God. So shouldn't his voice come from the water where He is standing and not from the sky?" Well, I wasn't quite prepared to explain the concept of the Trinity to my three year old, so I kind of fumbled through a general idea that she already knows (how sounds can come from things we may not be able to see). She seemed satisfied.

And then last night after dinner she started asking Matt if I was going to die someday. Where did that come from? So we said that sure, I would, but not for a long time and then I would get to go and live with Jesus in heaven. To which she responded "I'd like to die, too, so that I can live with Jesus and Mommy in heaven." Or something along those lines ... I think I was canning tomatoes at the time and so I didn't catch the whole conversation.

There are certainly some amazing things that are going on in that little brain of hers.

Kate, on the other hand, has a pretty one track mind (me, me, me) and is getting increasingly vocal about everything. Her newest phrase is "my turr!" which means that she REALLY wants to take a turn next with whatever is going on. She also likes to say "Ready!" and run towards a door after we've all put our shoes on to go out. Even though she can tell us a lot of things, she loses all of that ability when she throws a fit. Then we just hear lots of crying, screaming, kicking, and a generally loud and physical tantrum. As we learned early on with Kate, she's just a very intense kid.

Okay, I should probably go and pick something from the garden :)

A busy few days

Now that things are back to normal in our house, we had quite a few busy days last week. Anna had a class on Wednesday morning at Olbrich Gardens called "Eating the Alphabet". Lots of mosquitoes were out, but we ended up having a good time.

Thursday was a BEAUTIFUL day so I took the girls to the zoo for the morning and then we had a picnic lunch. I love being able to do these things just the three of us; then we can go at our own pace and really enjoy our time together. Anna gets a kick right now out of telling me that first she gets to take a turn choosing something (like what animal to see next), then Kate should get a turn choosing, and then I should get a turn choosing. Kate LOVED seeing all of the animals and hearing their sounds. She learned quite a few more animal sounds after that visit.

Friday morning my parents came down to spend a few days with us and watch Kate on Saturday. They got to remember all of the glories of having a vegetable garden for a few days :) Not only did they eat plenty of fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and corn on the cob, but on Friday they also helped make a batch of spaghetti sauce and helped me pull up and harvest the last of the green beans.

Saturday morning we all went to Olbrich Gardens (have I mentioned recently that we love it there?) to show my parents around and then to go through the butterfly exhibit. Anna and I actually got to see a butterfly hatching from its chrysalis! I still think the girls' favorite parts are the fountains at the rose garden :)


After lunch, Matt, Anna, and I headed up to Green Bay to meet some friends for the Packers Family Night. Gretchen, Tim, and Josh invited us to join them and since Anna calls every football field she sees a Packers' Field, we figured we couldn't pass up the opportunity.


We tailgated, hiked the several blocks to Lambeau Field, visited with friends, watched the warm-ups, watched the scrimmage, watched the fireworks, and then headed home. What a memorable time we had! I doubt that Anna will realize for quite awhile how special it was that she got to go to Lambeau Field when she was only 3! These are only a couple of the pictures we took; more are posted on Facebook if you're interested.


After a really late night (home around 12:30), a rough middle of the night with Kate, and an early morning on Sunday, we were exhausted. However, we made it to church with my parents, came home, and were surprised that Anna DID NOT NAP! Yikes! Actually, she may have dozed off, but then got up to go to the bathroom and was pretty much up for good at that point. Oh, well. She crashed early and hard last night and still took a nap today, waking up much happier than she'd been in awhile :)

In addition to all of this craziness, we've realized that Kate can communicate with us now! She's started copying words we say in the past few weeks and loves to try out all kinds of new words on her own. She's also really good at making her wants known (i.e. walking over to the fridge, pointing at the door, and saying "dah, dah, dah" over and over again until Matt finally realizes she's asking for a drink). She also communicates yes ("ah huh") and no very well. Hooray! We love this stage when it's not a mystery anymore what's going on in that little brain! It's even more fun this time around because she copies things Anna says, too, or answers questions that Anna asks her.

This week we've got our neighbor lined up for a few harvest days (corn and salsa), Anna has swimming lessons again in the evenings, and we have a few playdates scheduled. Hopefully we all continue to stay healthy!

Recovering

We've been working really hard the past week or so on recovering and returning to normalcy. It's taken awhile, but the girls are finally free of coughs and clear of snot, for the most part. Matt and I are still battling a lingering cough, but we haven't been able to rest nearly as much as Kate and Anna. I ended up with some antibiotics because mine turned into a sinus infection ... yuck.

Anyway, since Matt went back to work last Thursday we've been doing a little bit more each day to get back into summer mode. Thursday the girls and I did a few errands in McFarland, Friday we went to the grocery store, Saturday we went to the local fire department parade, Sunday we did church, and by Monday we were pretty much back to normal.

In addition to leaving the house, I'm having to come to terms with the garden production. Things are being close to out of control ... the tomatoes are ripening with a vengance, the corn is almost ripe, and the zucchini and cucmbers are still in prime production mode. Thankfully we're all healthy enough to be able to deal with harvesting/canning/freezing. It's certainly a lot of work this time of year, but we reap the benefits all winter long :)

Here's a few photos of our silly girls (and some of the garden produce).


Mmmm ... corn on the cob.


Mmm ... more corn on the cob.


I've only dug a few potato plants and most of the potatoes are this size or bigger!

Pigtails! Anna's taking swimming lessons in the evening for the next few weeks so Kate and I had some good, quality time tonight. That kid has a LOT of energy and can be SO silly. (Yes, those are teeth on the top; Kate's tooth count is now up to 5. And yes, that's a big mosquito bite in the middle of her forehead; we do what we can, but still get eaten alive.)