Out Of Mouths Of Babies

Kyra asked me again if we can please have have a baby. I reminded her that she had put a baby sister on her Christmas list last year. I asked her if she remembered how babies are made. She said she remembers and then:
- But, Mommy, is not it gross to make babies like that???
I did tell you she would be doing this when she is older and she yelled she would never. Can I please have it notarized????

My Thoughful Son :)

We did not have power when we got home after football. Brandon went to pee as soon as he got in and I asked not to flush so I could use it too (since we can't flush so many times if we do not have power). Him:
- Here, Mom, go, I got the seat down for you.
How much I love him!

On The Playground

Who cares that they are getting too old to play on playground? They are having so much fun! :)

Puppies Know How to Roughhouse

They do act like puppies when then roughhouse :)

 Love this one!

 No hitchhikers :)

3-rd grader's Handwriting

Love how much Brandon's handwring has changed over the last year. So neat, it is amazing. Plus a great story! :)

Imagination Inspired By Cub Scouts

It is like Go Banana skit - it actually say "Unite", it just looks like "Untie" :) 

Hammy

My goodness, Brandon loves his Hammy. Now he is not afraid of holding him and he is very responsible about cleaning his cage and feeding him. I have to say both kids are, Kyra as well

Imagination

I love how kids use their imagination with their stuffed animals - they either have a party for them to have fun or they sort them by "stuffed animal family". The ones who did not have a family, kids tried to trade so may be this particular animal would have a family with another sibling.
Cute names they have too. Kyra often times has names with -y in the end
- Elly (elephant),
- Froggy (frog)
- Bun-bun The Bunny
- Phillip Jonhny Bob (same as from Junie B Jones) - giraffe
- Philip (pig)
-Uni (unicorn)
- Piggy (pig)

Science Talk

We were going to football, very VEEEEERY early on the cold morning. On the way there we chatted about everything as always. Brandon:
- So, since now it is 2013, does it mean world existed for only that long?
Jimmy told them about B.C and A.D. and then started explaining that different people believe in different things. Kyra:
- I believe in Easter Bunny, he brings me candy! :)
What a smart question Brandon asked!

Another thing, Brandon mentioned Iceland and Greenland and then I did not realize that kids did not know that countries that are on the same line regarding equator have the same climate. We had this covered as well. Amazing what things kids learn now! :)

Random Before Bed

Kyra does have those thoughts pretty random right before bed. This time I was laying next to her and she was playing with my hair, running them through her fingers when all of a sudden she asked what princess is my fav! :)

Sleepy Head Kyra

Kyra asked to have a sleepover with me. :) 

 Feet out under all 5 blankets

 Where is Kyra?

 Little tiny hand

 Sleeping hard

Carving Time!

I should have taken a picture of the final result. Brandon got his pumpkin some stichees, nany pumpkin in a mouth. Kyra did the hearts. Of course :)

Imagination

I showed Brandon a picture of guys resting on part of Empire State Building back in 1932. They were many, many feet above the ground. They were sitting on there and having lunch.
- Mom, imagine if one of them falls down and a car runs him over,
- I do not think there would be so much to run over. Plus...how many cards so you think there were so many years ago?
- Okay, well, how about if a horse wagon runs him over?

Gotta love him!

No Fare

Brandon and Kyra were roughhousing. Kyra climbed on Brandon's back while he was crawling. He yelled:
 - No hitch hikers!

Reading Level Bumped

No joke. Kyra now is at the Level 10 for reading. How is she doing it??

Curse Words and G.Washington

Brandon:
- Mom, why did people invent curse words at all if they are so bad?
Me:
- Well, who knows, they were invented long time before even Pop was born.
Kyra:
- And before G. Washinton was born too?????

Literacy

Brandon likes to sing/say "Kyra smells like butt".. I heard it gazillion of times. Today when he said, her first response was:
- No, do not say it, it is non fiction!

No Excitement Needed

- Brandon, why do you like so much to go to Nan's?
- Well, I get to relax there. There it is always quiet, never anything wild or exciting going on.

Tradition On Columbus Day

I am not sure when exactly it started. I think the earliest I remember was 2008? May be something like that. We went to Paulus Orchard.. have been going since. Typically we go twice a year for blueberries (did not go this year) and apple picking.

This year we did not do tractor ride but that's okay. Kids played on the playground at the start, then we hit the pumpkin patch.

It is funny how Brandon's favorite color is orange :) All around him is orange, he said it is like orange invasion.

 Hey, see my pumpkin?

 I feel like we are all princes and princesses with this big pumpkin Brandon is sitting on :)

 Child labor :)

We found a ladybug at my car :) 

Apple picking was next. It was so much fun! We found a row where nobody was around, we all ate two apples, slowly filling our bag. Kyra found a couple of tiny apples, they were so cute! When we were leaving apple area Kyra asked me:
- What is red apple?
And she answered herself:
- Delicious! :)
 Yes, I worked too1

 What a goofball! :)

 My favorite people of all times!

 I am not sure if it is ballerina or what :)

 I was hungry!

 Yum!

 Brandon made a ghost

 We all worked hard to fill this bag! :)

We remembered from last time how good their homemade soup was which I ordered. For our desserts Brandon got pumpkin whoopee pie and I got pumpkin roll. It was sooooo delicious! I wish I bought two of them! Then it was time to play. 

Oh yeah.. Corn maze. We were supposed to have fun. But this time it turned out about who was leading. Nobody got to have fun here. It was all about power. I was not happy. Maze did not keep us busy long. You can tell by Kyra's face

 Brandon almost camo-ed into this corn :)

 Another yum for me!

 What kind of spider did that?

 Carts were fun

 Ducky competition.

 Me and Brandon almost killed each other with this ball/pumpkin, we liked it :)

What a good day we had! All three of us agreed that it would a great idea to keep this tradition going each year. Great bonding time and a lot of fun.

Book Worms On A Flood Day

This past Friday was a bizzare day. We did not have an idea on how much rain we would get in the next two days. It rained and rained and rained. many roads got closed in the morning and in the evening. Me and the kids got lucky, we drove right in the middle of the day.

I needed my driving license renewed and so we went. Penn Dot did not take us too long, 20 min total? On the way home we stopped at 2nd and Charles. I wanted to go to this store for, like, ever. Never had a chance too. I loved it. Kids loved it. We bought a few books dirt cheap. It is big, clean, light, fun store to hang out at.

Not enough books? We stopped at the Hershey library where we got more books. Love it! Def was a good day for books and stuff!

We tried Subway for lunch and since then kids have been asking to go again. What a good day regardless of whatever weather we were having!

P.S. I am additing this paragraph because I got a puzzle book for kids in this store. On the way to and from Paulus orchard (see next post), we talked about capitals and animals. With that book kids learned about 10 capitals of different countries in the world. Gotta love those books and good conversations that come with them!

Sweet Sleepers

Kids have been arguing about who would sleep with me on Fridays. They are so innocent when they sleep :) Love them to pieces!

Rainbow Loom

Fist when kids started talking about it, I thought they meant "room", not "loom". Then they bought it with their  allowance. It is all about bracelets. The whole Conewago school is about them now to the point that letter from Principal came home to keep the bracelets at home because they are becoming serious distraction.
Brandon made me one. I LOVE it.

Lego Invasion

A camp site 

There are people at the fire pit, snakes, bushes, mountains to climb, alligator hiding. SOOO COOL!

 Look what I made!

 It is WAY not close to all the Legos Brandon owns

Who Stole The Cookie From A Cookie Jar?

Me and Kyra's masterpiece. 

Mikey Mouse Secret Likings

Brandon asked me about poker. I asked how in the world he even knew what it was. He said somewhere in Mickey Mouse on Disney one of the bad guys played that game. Mickey tried to get this guy. Really?

90F????

Hard to believe until October 9th we had warm weather, especially the last week before the 9th - 90F! How many times can I say I love it?

It is warm and kids are raking leaves in a pile :) Not so typical October :)

Charades

Jimmy told the kids they needed to guess who he was being. He was showing like he was directing music. Kids had the right idea but neither of them remembered the word. I helped a little bit:
- Con...
Kyra:
- Conditioner!
LOL!

Jimmy was pretending like he was opening a car, getting in, turning ignition on and starting stirring a wheel. Apparently, Brandon did not see the whole scene, because watching his dad pretending to drive, he yelled:
- Milking cow!

How Old Is Pop?

Kyra, thinking about her visit to dr and president conversation:
- Mommy, was Pop born when George Washington was a president?
- Pop is old but not THAT old! :)

Bones Institute Visit

Both kids' knees started to lock awhile ago. Jimmy said he used to have locked knees all the time he was little. Brandon can straighten up his own leg but Kyra screams bloody murder until one of us does it. At her 7-year old visit Dr. Bartlett recommended to schedule a visit to specialist.

That day was the day. Kyra was nervous first but Dr. Hennrikus was so good with her! First he said he thought she was 14, it put her into ease to laugh and say she was only 7. He asked her who was President right now. She quickly said Barak Obama. He was surprised she knew that because most 1st graders thought it was George Washington. She Said right away he was the very first one. At this point Dr. said she deserved a prize for knowing and an assistant brought her crayons and lollipop.

He asked her to hop on one foot and run in the hallway and a few other things. Next step was to take her X-rays. Except at dentist office she never had it done so she was a little bit worried but again, the lady radiologist was very nice and helped Kyra who was very stiff, to lay the way she needed her to.

After looking at the results, Dr. said he thought what was happening was this: there is muscle between two bones in the knees called meniscus and may be when Kyra moves her knee, one of the bones gets stuck on that muscle and it pulls her knee cap. Ouch. Just hurts even to think about it.

Anyway, there are two ways - one is to observe (especially since how young she is) and second one is if it gets too bad, they can surgically go inside her knee and shave off this muscle but that would mean that because she would not have muscle in between her bones, she would develp arthritis in about 10 years after the surgery. Ouch too.

So when we picked Brandon up from school and he asked how appt went, Kyra said:
- Well, they took my x-rays and it did not hurt and they gave me free crayons because I knew who our president was and they said they can either ob...ob..observe me or shave my leg off.

I could not help it. I could not stop laughing. No, no, nobody would shave her leg off. It is kind of funny to see what they understand from a conversation. You never know :)

Color Run

Finally that day came! Me and Brandon were out early (before 6am) on the road to Allentown. I got everything ready ahead of time, even put address in GPS so I could just carry him in the car and let him sleep. Fat chance. He was wide awake and excited!

We witnessed gorgeous sunset although my camera did a VERY lame job picturing it.

We found parking in time and easy. Here we were on the way to pick our packets and have fun. Look at the beautiful lake behind us! (never mind Brandon's body language regarding picture taking :)

For the first time, I can imagine, it was overwhelming for Brandon to see so many people around us. All excited, dressed up and ready to go. There was a huge party going on doing Zumba, loud music and lots of laughs around us. 

We got in line to take our packets and then in another one in store line. I got cool up to my knees pink stockings. Yay! 

I guess it is! 

 Totally!

 He is getting the idea! :)

 Oh we did!

 Clean looking fellas

At the start where all of a sudden Brandon said he did not want to do it anymore. I get it - it is nerves.. Been there, done that.

We ran for a while until we got the first station - blue. So fun! They tried to squirt us with blue color out of squeeze bottles and Brandon was trying to get away. This one lady yelled - "He needs for a butt!" and she covered his butt with blue, we laughed!

We worked out our way - Brandon ran in the middle to get as little color as possible and I tried to ride on the side to get more color. It was hard because majority of our run/walk we did while holding hands.

So many runners/walkers. It was getting hotter and I could not believe I did not take any water. I mean I had plenty of it in the cooler in the car but none with me and I even had a backpack. What in the world was I thinking? He was getting thirsty fast!

After yellow station we did get some water. Phew, it was not that difficult after all. We did the guessing game trying to see who is right about the next station's color.

This picture opportunity was not to be missed. Absolutely beautiful, just one random tree somewhere in the middle with all those leaves down.

Oh yes, we can see it!

 Brandon's fav!

Loved this sign! :) (instead of call me may be)

Orange was most forceful meaning staff not letting people going without making sure we had enough color :)

 Haha, ignore Phili half backpack :)

Pink was last and that is how much color dust you can see from far away

 Yes, baby, we finished!

 Messy team of us :)

May be if I had pretty dress on, photo might have looked prettier but may be I will pretend I am not even there :) just the lake view :)

I have to say this kind of race is for fun only. There was no huge satisfaction kind of like "I can not believe I did it because it was so hard!" I am super happy I got to do it with Brandon, he said he would like to do it again.

We had great bonding time. We talked non stop in between singing to BTR in the car, we held hands 80% of time being at the race..We laughed, just really had a good time. I love one on one time!

Who knows, may be next year we will actually run it :)
Love me some him!