Fall F-U-N!

The following pictures were taken within 3 hours of each other.  I kid you not.  In our family, we like to cram as much fun as we can into our weekends!

HP eating her favorite lunch...chicken nuggets.  I tried to get her to dip carrots in her ranch dressing...no dice.  At least she makes a good "funny face" at the table...right?

We went to a friends farm to ride their horses this afternoon.  Here is The Dude in all his mini horse glory!

Yes.  She is three and has already mastered the eye roll.  Oh, dear me...we are in for it.

The Dude concentrating on riding the horse (a regular sized one this time).  

I felt like this horse was saying to me "Yo!  Woman...make your self useful...git me an apple!".  He was rude.  All flashing his teeth at me and stuff...

HP and The Dude posing in the leaves.  Although I didn't notice it at the time, it took my breath away when I saw how grown up they looked once I had loaded this picture on my computer.  I REALLY need to invest in some sort of time-stopping machine...

This is their personalities to a "T".  The Dude kicking up a ruckus and HP flailing her self about!  They had a hoot with these fallen leaves!

HP playing in maple leaves.  All the kids at Homebase know that the Maple leaf is on the Canadian flag.  It is one of the added bonuses of having me as the childcare provider (because Canadian history is important...right?) ;).

Oh my...he is looking more like an almost-five-year-old every day.  Dag-nabbit! *Rikki runs away to holler at Starchy about buying the dang time machine*

We did "funny faces" at lunch.  This was The Dudes best effort!

The Hemorrhoid Chronicles Part 3

Hemmy and I were 8 & 10.  

My grandparents had decided to take us on vacation with them.  We had enjoyed ourselves in the Canadian Rockies skiing and doing all sorts of other winter activities.  Our grandparents were so much fun to vacation with.  They let us do things our parents didn't (like hot chocolate WITH whip cream at BREAKFAST) and really spoiled us rotten.  But, after a few days with both Hemmy and myself, my grandparents must have needed a break.  

They sent us on a 4-hour glacier tour.

That's right, they put little Rikki and little Hemmy on a full-on bus tour, with the utmost trust that the tour guide would safely return us to them at the end of the day.  

We felt a combination of elation from being without any supervision, and utter fear...from being without any supervision.  

The tour started with a bus ride which was pretty uneventful.  Although my memory about the bus ride is a little foggy, I am sure that Hemmy checked out the bathroom.  Wherever we went he made sure he found time to check out the commode.  The kid always had to pee.

Once we had gotten to the base of the glacier, the tour guide informed us that this was as far as the bus could take us, and we were to get off the bus and wait for our next mode of transportation.  

What we got to ride on next was some sort of tank/snowmobile/bus hybrid.  It was huge.

Hemmy's eye's popped out of his head and I could tell he thought we were getting to ride on top of a transformer.  I had to pull on his shirt to prevent him from cutting to the front of the line.  

Our nice tour guide came up and asked us if either of us had to use the bathroom.  After assuring her that we didn't, we got to climb aboard the...beast.

I have to say that poor Hemmy's little heart was crushed once the beast started moving.  I think in his 8 year old brain, he was thinking that is was going to fly up the glacier.  Looking back, we could have strapped on a pair of golf spikes and made it up before the beast did.  It was SO slow.

After a 1/2 hour ride that took us up the glacier (I am sure it was more than this, but it felt like we had only travelled 50 ft) we were finally at the point where we could get off and walk on the glacier.  The last thing the tour guide said on the megaphone before the beast cleared out was "Ladies and gentleman, feel free to drink directly from the glacial streams, as it is the purest water in the world".

Hemmy and I took off like rockets, we were drinking the water, jumping across streams, basically blowing off the steam that came with being cooped up in a bus/beast for an hour.

After about 15 minutes, Hemmy's eyes started to get real big.  He started to do his notorious I-have-to-pee-dance.

We were the furthest people up on the glacier (which looking back, shame on the tour guide, some babysitter she proved to be) when Hemmy said he couldn't take it anymore.  

The kid, unzipped and let a rip.  

I remember him laughing for two reasons.  One, he thought it was funny that his pee made steam as it hit the glacier.  And two, he couldn't believe that he was peeing on the very same glacier that people were drinking from.

Nobody noticed a thing.

After making a pact not to tell, we sat with smug little grins the entire trip back to the welcoming arms of our grandparents.

Flag Football

The Dude started Flag Football today.  

It was his first practice and he was stoked.  

They worked on throwing and catching.  

They worked on holding the ball and protecting it while you ran.  

But by far, The Dude's favorite part was the running...

Crew Cuts Vol. 5

Here is a mini version of Crew Cuts.  They are some of the best shots from the past few days...

Shmook is growing up right before our eyes.  He is taking steps on his own and loves his barbie walker.  He has also started to eat table foods.  This is his first attempt at eating cinnamon rolls (cut up in to pieces, of course).  I took his shirt off because he kept ripping his bib off (and I didn't want him to be a sticky mess the rest of the day).  He ate the entire plate full!

These three wanted to play beauty shop (hence the matching barrettes) and then do glamor shots.  I was only too happy to oblige.

Did you know that my brother's nasty habits can be passed on to children NOT in our immediate family?  Yep, Hemmy has apparently taught Sissy to use her mouth as a trimming tool (which is weird, since he is in British Columbia and she is in Illinois).  She went on like this for a good three minutes, finally I started to gag and had her quit.

Yes, those are rice krispies stuck to his face.  Yes, he gets so excited when he eats that I have to literally strap him in.  The kid LOVES his food!

The Dude woke up this morning and had two books on a pile on his bed.  He asked that I not touch them, because he wanted to make sure that he could pack them for Gramma D's and Grandpa Spencer's at Christmas time.  This has NOTHING to do with the picture (other than it was The Dude that said it) I just thought that my parents would like to know how unbelievably excited we are about coming home for Christmas!  :)

Starchy plays for the Cowboys!?

HP saw this picture on the computer screen this morning (as I was reading about the Bears heartbreaking defeat).  

She stared at it and then proclaimed:  "Look, there's daddy!"

Me: "Where? (because the only image on the screen was Terrell Owens and I was confused)

HP:  "There, on your 'puter" (as she points her little finger directly to TO's forehead)

No joke.

She thinks Starchy has an uncanny resemblance to Terrell Owens.

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Crew Cuts Vol. 4

To get you all through the weekend!

Swanny Jr. the world's happiest baby.

HP...she has apparently inherited one of my brothers habits.
The gang.
Peanut at big rock.
The Dude is getting quite good at climbing trees.  Little monkey!
I thought this picture was very "Little Rascals" (appropriate at times!) ;).
These two came right up to me wile playing "What Time Is It Mrs. Fox?" (I ate them for lunch).
Bing-Bing has mastered the swing set outside!
Schmook is wondering what the heck the leaves are doing all over the yard.
The saddest picture ever.  She wanted what another child had.  The great thing about Peanut is that she is quick to get over things.  She was laughing less than a minute later.

Fashion 101

I had to take pictures of the girls' looks over the past few days.  

I don't have a fashionable bone in my body, but these three are really hitting it out of the park.  As Tim Gunn would say, they are able to "make it work!".

Here is Sissy.  She rocked the black boots all day long.  Combine that with the fur collar and the leopard print leggings, she is a little fashionista!

Boo was working the sweat pant and ballet flats combo.  I would look like a fool in this outfit, but Boo looked adorable.  How she can run around the backyard and not have her shoes fly off, I will never know.
HP and her red cowboy boots.  These were a gift from Gramma D and Grandpa Spencer.  They light up.  She wore them to an Ottawa high football game and was not walking, rather, strutting her stuff.  They have become her favorite fall shoe.  Red matches everything right? ;)