November 10, 2011
by janette
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I’ve never kept it a secret that I love, love, love Allen Designs.
and I’ll admit it…I love it when she gives things away. Today it’s camera straps!
My wish list for her studio is so…so….so long.
*Sigh*
head on over and check her out!
http://allendesigns.typepad.com/blog/2011/11/camera-strap-goody-giveaway
October 25, 2011
by janette
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This kid has a crazy awesome attention span.
You wouldn’t know it if you saw us out…in public…at the grocery store…or anywhere else for that matter. When all you see is him dragging me through the store, or running one way while I try to go the other, or trying to run the cart over my foot. You wouldn’t know it when you look at me and think “why can’t that woman control her child.”
I actually hope you don’t judge me that way. He is honestly a wonderful boy, and I do my very best…but he just that…a boy. And spirited. Whew.
I actually said to Nathan once, when this boy was running circles around me, how I thought he needed a straight jacket…Nathan’s response – “he needs football”.
But…this is what he looks like when we’re at home. When we’ve dropped Ellie off at school and are home for that blissful hour until we have to go again. This is what he does while mommy washes dishes or packs lunch or packs her exercise stuff…or blogs (as is today’s case). He sits…beautifully. Maybe I’m just trying to prove to you all that he is still…sometimes.
October 22, 2011
by janette
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Ellie’s first day of Kindergarten…
First, to answer the burning question in all of your minds…No, I did not cry. I’m not saying I wasn’t emotional…it was quite a week, with the loss of a hometown hero, my father-in-law, and the first day of school… but i didn’t cry. I am convinced that it is solely because of how ready she was for this day. We had long since before reached the days where we were at each other’s throats by mid morning because of her bustling energy and enthusiasm for EVERYTHING. And although that doesn’t mix well with my personality in the morning, it is one of the things I love most about her. She isn’t shy in the least and she is always ready for something new.
So, I knew this first day would be no big deal for her.
She woke up ready to go!
And walked in ready to go too. That first day, we get to school and are taking these pictures in front of her locker, and Ellie says to us “Um…can you hurry? I have to go play with my friends now.”
I’m amazed that in this picture by her locker we didn’t capture any other mad rush of parents trying to get that first day picture of their child. They were everywhere…really, we weren’t the only ones.
The lockers are a new addition this year to her school – and very handy I might add. I love knowing that where i put her coat in the morning…there it will stay. And, it frees up a lot of room in their actual classroom.
One of my very favorite stories from the first day of school…bear with me if you’ve heard it.
She brings home a paper that has “Help Tommy get to school” with a maze drawn on it. It has pictures of Tommy and the school, but also has pictures of the post office, the library, and the playground. Well, she drew a beautiful line from Tommy to school…but also drew lines from him to everywhere else on the paper. On top of those incorrect lines, there were red x’s that the teacher had made. I asked her why there were red x’s on her paper and she hesitated and then said sheepishly “the teacher said he should just go to school….but I just wanted him to go everywhere.”
That’s my girl. That’s her spirit. She’s in it for the experience and wanted Tommy to be the same way.
I just hope school doesn’t take that beautiful spirit and crush it.
I told her that when she’s in school, she has to listen to the teacher’s directions, and when she gets home we can draw as many lines as she wants.
We’re now a couple months into school…and she still loves it. She still gets excited about going every morning. I’m just hoping we hang onto that for the next, well, 12-16 years at least.
October 20, 2011
by janette
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Although I love this time of year, it’s always hard the first day you need to break out your coat…which was Tuesday of this week. Coat, headwrap, and mittens all went to work with me that day…
It makes me miss these days…
just a little though.
For the most part, I’m still hanging on to the enjoyment of cooler days, cold nights, flannel pants, long sleeves, cute knit hats, colorful fall leaves, apples, and pumpkins…and all the glorious food you can make with those last two.
Happy Fall!!
October 19, 2011
by janette
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Now, I’ve explained why these posts are all behind by about two months…and I’ve also promised to get caught up. Well, I guess I lied. Everytime I think I will have a minute to sit down and post something, I remember something else I’ve forgotten to do, and blogging gets pushed aside…
I don’t think my daughter would be too happy if i told her, I’m sorry…I couldn’t make your lunch today because I was on the computer. Somehow I think that qualifies as irresponsible parenting…
For now, you should just be excited for something new on here. And seeing us in t-shirts and shorts should be a welcome change from the parkas that we’ve all had to break out this week. Yes, winter in Iowa is coming.
But for now, I’ll take you back to the last hurrah of summer…
the state fair!
You know it’s our favorite. And you know why…
It’s all about the food!!
We always start the day eating Cinni Mini’s while waiting for Little Hands on the Farm to open.
This year, we passed some time climbing on cows too! It became Evan’s mission…to climb on every cow we saw. And there were A LOT of them.
Little Hands. 
Atop “Dairy Potter”. Okay…you have to chuckle at that one. How clever!
Petting the newborn piggies.
and enjoying a favorite…with a twist. The new PB & J (on a stick of course). Too bad both of the kids were more interested in the 3 grapes they got that were separating sections of the sandwich than the actual sandwich.
It’s okay though…they didn’t go hungry…we made sure of that.
And as always, the true sign of a successful state fair trip…the number of people to fall asleep on the way home…this year’s count…5/7. I’d say success!
