Somewhere Over The Rainbow: November 2007

Giving Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving in St Louis this year. We got a cold snap on Wednesday, and even a little snow. That didn't stop the kids from playing outside.

Sydney & Trevor had lots of cousin-bonding time. Here they're enjoying a little pre-bedtime Curious George.

We actually had the turkey dinner on Friday instead, because of scheduling conflicts. We spent Thursday eating appetizers & drinking beer. Here is Jeff at about 6pm.

T & Syd enjoying a little Graham Cracker snack.

Its kind of a tradition for us to put up Sharon's tree if we're in St Louis this time of year. Its also tradition for the disc shooter to make its annual debut. This was Syd's first real experience with it, and she totally didn't mind having Jeff shoot at her for a solid 30 minutes while she went around collecting the discs, returning them to Jeff, only to be shot at all over again.

Here's Jeff lying down again w/ the disc shooter in hand. Are you noticing a theme here? He's lying down in every picture!

A Visit from Aunt Debbie (Omaha)

I have 2 aunt Debbies (one on each side). My whole life I've always separated them by location. One's in Omaha, and the other is here in KC. Well, the Omaha Aunt Debbie came down the weekend before Thanksgiving. She brought Josie with her.

Here Debbie is "saving" Syd from crazy Josie.

This is Sydney's favorite hat. It was lost for a little while, but we found it in the closet when we were bringing out the Christmas stuff. Now she wears it around the house all the time.

A pass time that I enjoy thoroughly is letting Sydney "paint" the house. She keeps a stash of little paint brushes in the kitchen cabinet, and will often dry paint the house & furniture to pass the time. This is such a beautiful thing when I am cooking dinner. Sometimes, if she can be really good, I give her a little bit of water to dip the paint brushes in & she gets to paint the kitchen tiles & fridge.

Syd is getting to be a faster runner (maybe like her mommy?), but she doesn't hold a candle to Josie's speed.

Trying to "walk" Josie.

Givin' a little puppy love.

A Day at Home with Fifth Disease

Again, I'm awful at getting the pictures from the CF card onto the computer. Here are a few picts Jeff snapped during breakfast while we were all sick at home with Fifth Disease. Syd is the only one who really got the pink cheeks. This is the 2nd day, so they weren't quite as pink here.

St Louis Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

Trevor & Drew got a new "Park" in the back yard. Despite some chilly weather, the tots enjoyed it thoroughly.

Sydney loved T's wagon (shhh, don't tell her there's already one under the tree)

We went to a super cool pumpkin patch. Again, chilly weather, but the short bunch didn't seem to care one bit.

Sydney loved the tire swings.

If you've been to the park with us ever, you'd know she's definitely a swinger.

There was a ridiculously big slide that she probably could have done by herself, but then I'd look pretty silly enjoying it by myself so I made her go down with me.

You sure can't tell by her face, but this horse swing/spinning thing was her all time favorite. We had a hard time keeping her off of it.

There was a super cool maze that I helped her with.

We grabbed some pumpkin butter (Jeff's all time fave) while shopping at the market. Sydney got her hand painted like a ghost (see below) and picked out the smallest pumpkin ever seen. She LOVED it & carried it around until nap time. Her ghost rubbed off after several hand washings (we were careful not to get it wet), but for days she'd put her hand out & say "Boo!".

Ridin' the pumpkin horse w/ Drew.

Posin' w/ Gram.

There was a live band, and Sydney decided they needed a dancer. She clapped & squatted for them.

Posin' w/ Meghan.

Cheesin' w/ Daddy

How tall is my little pumpkin?

Jeff got in on the slide action too.

A few attempts at a cousin picture. Much better than earlier this year when we last attempted a 3-some picture.

John Deer Green

We returned home Sunday to attend a Halloween Party at the Trachsel's. We all pitched in & rented a jump house.

Sydney had her finger in her nose for most of the group picture. Actually, upon close inspection, her finger was actually beside her nose pressing really hard on it. That's what she does & then says "boodie" to me for me to get it out. Yes, booger fetching is one of those lovely motherly chores.

The cow family.

Sydney still wears her costume nearly every day. She loves being the baby cow.

This one-eye squint is her face that she makes when she's being silly, like pretending to be shy, or if we ask her to do something she doesn't want to.