Pumpkin patch #1

On Saturday Oct. 4th we went to our first pumpkin patch of the season, Rombart's Farm in Chesterfield. Surprisingly it wasn't very crowded and we were able to do most of the activities with little or no lines. When we first got there Adriana had to have her face painted of course. Andrew was going to but chickened out at the last minute. So here is Adriana getting her butterfly painted on her face.
Next we got to the train, which consisted of a four wheeler driving a bunch of kids around in barrels. Adriana jumped at the chance to ride this, but Andrew said he didn't want to. So here is Adriana riding on it.Next we came to the pony rides. Of course Adriana my horseback rider wanted to ride on this. Andrew did too so I paid for them both to ride. Well when it was time to get on Andrew once again backed out so Adriana got to ride them twice.And here is a picture of all three kids in front of the big pumpkin pile. Yes, Andrew was looking back to make sure the spider wasn't going to get him. And here is proof that Joey was there with us.Ahhhhh!!!!! Finally, Andrew is in heaven. Here is a tractor that he was allowed to climb on and play with. This made Andrew's week. Man does that boy love his tractors and trucks!!!!!!So after his fill of tractors he was once again able to have fun and here he is playing in the playground area.It was really a great day! The weather cooperated and the kids were all really, really good which always makes for a perfect day!

Outside artwork

What a better way to spend a beautiful day than painting a picture of the outside. Both kids worked very hard on their pictures which I promised them we would hang in their rooms when we were done. Here is a few pictures of them working hard.

Here is a photo of their final artwork! Adriana's is a picture of the blue sky with white clouds in it, dirt with grass on top, and some flowers and a tree. Andrew's picture is of a rainbow he says:)

Showtime!

Adriana had her big "High School Musical" show (as she likes to call it!) She performed with the Sensations at the varsity high school football game. I know its hard to see her from these pictures but she is in the back next to the Sensation performer on the right. She was cracking us all up with her "cool moves" as she likes to call it. She was really getting into it and did all of her moves very dramatically! It was weird seeing my daughter perform on the field like her momma used to do when she was in high school.......ha! But she was very cute out there and we all were so proud of her big Show!!!!!!
Here is a picture of the three kids on a firetruck that was parked at the game. I think this was Andrew's favorite part of the night.

2 year anniversary

October marks the two year anniversary for Andrew's diagnosis of ITP. This month always brings back painful memories of what my little baby had to go through before he was even a year ole. He was diagnosed with ITP when he was 10 months old and went through weeks and weeks of treatments and countless bloodtests. For those of you unfamiliar with ITP, here is a breaf synopsis of it: ITP, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, also known as immune thrombocytopenic purpura, is classified as an autoimmune disease. In an autoimmune disease the body mounts an attack toward one or more otherwise normal organ systems. In ITP, platelets are the target. They are marked as foreign by the immune system and eliminated in the spleen, or sometimes the liver.
I am thankful everyday that he is a very healthy two year old boy now. It makes you really appreciate the days when he is full of energy and being a typical two year old boy. I'm very grateful that everything turned out alright and I don't take my days with my kids for grantited anymore. I've learned to be grateful for their endless energy and overwhelming curiosity. Many parents would give anything for their children to have those days. So during this time of year I give my little boy a few extra hugs and kisses for his health and happiness!!!!!

Octoberfest Parade

While Adriana was busy at her dance clinic and Chris was doing inventory at work, it was just me and the boys. So dealing with a sinus infection and trying to figure out something to wear the boys out, I figured out St. Charles was having an Octoberfest Parade. What better way to wear them out. So the three of us ventured out to the parade. Expecting it to be really crowded like the 4th of July parade was, we got there a little early. Much to my surprise the crowd was really small. So we found a good seat in the shade and got a snack while we waited for the parade to begin. Andrew was so excited to watch the parade and of course for all the candy he was going to get and man did he get some. He filled up the bag we brought for it! The parade finished in plenty of time for us to still get Adriana. Here is a few pictures of the parade.

Here is Joey and Andrew waiting for the parade to begin.

Joey and Andrew watching the parade come down the street.

Andrew waving to one of the floats.

FHC dance clinic

I know I'm a little late in a lot of my postings and I'm slowly trying to get caught up. Anyway, on Sept. 27 Adriana attended a dance clinic at Francis Howell Central with the Dance Sensations. She went from 9am-12pm and got to learn a dance with the girls to perform at the varsity football game halftime show the next weekend. Adriana was very excited about this and said she was going to be dancing in the High School Musical....ha! We got to see a preview of the performance when we came to pick the girls up and Adriana did a great job performing! I was so proud of my little girl! Here are some pictures of the performance.

Busch Wildlife

Francis Howell PAT program puts on an activity at Busch Wildlife every spring and every fall. This is always a fun activity the kids enjoy and we try to make at least once a year.

When you first get there they have a little open play where you can play with stuffed animals of all kinds of nature animals and other activities to do. Then they have a couple of people from Conservation come over and speak with the kids and show them some live animals. This time they brought out a snake and a turtle. Here is a picture of the kids touching the turtle they brought out.Next they brought out a green tree snake. They walked around and let all the kids touch it. And if you can remember a previous post where Adriana is terrified of snakes and wouldn't touch one, I guess this one wasn't so scary. Or maybe it was the fact that she saw all the other little kids touching it, but she actually touched it! I was really shocked. Here is the photo the shows her petting it.Well of course Andrew couldn't be shown up by his sissy so he also touched it. I took the picture a little too late though and missed his hand on the snake but he really did touch it!After the classroom discussion they have everyone go outside for a nature walk. But before the nature walk Ms. Vi brought out two box turtles and showed us how you can tell if a turtle is a boy or girl. A boy turtle has red eyes and more color on him than a girl. A girl has brown eyes and less colorful. After learning this we went home to see what our turtle was and he was a boy....thats how he became Prince! Then the boy and girl turtle had a race and the girl turtle won! Here is a picture of the race.Then was the time for the nature walk. Along the way Ms. Vi showed us all kinds of neat things. Here is a homemade container for a stink bug (there is a technical term for it but I'm having a brain fart and can't remember).They had a little area set up for bird watching. There was a big wall set up with little holes you can see through and binoculars for bird watching. On the other side of the wall is several bird feeders to keep the birds coming over.
And the last picture is the kids walking around on the trail. I couldn't help but take this one because they were so darn cute holding hands while walking together!

Trying to walk

I tell you everytime I blink my little baby is doing something new. I was talking to my friend Debbie, who has a baby 6 days younger than Joey, the other day and asked her if her daughter Reece was standing by herself yet and she said yes that she had just started to. She asked if Joey was and I said no, not yet. Well later that day I was doing things around the house and Joey was standing holding onto a chair. All of a sudden he let go and just stood there like this was something he had been doing for awhile. So throughout the day I watched him do this several more times. OK, now I know by the time you get to your third baby the things aren't nearly as exciting as your first, but did I seriously miss him doing it all this time? So now I'm feeling like a neglectful mommy for not seeing this earlier. Well while we were outside the other day I saw him standing up alone then all of a sudden he was trying to walk by himself! He has grown up so fast and it seems like he should still be trying to sit up. It really does go by faster with each baby you have, I can't believe he will probably be walking in the next couple of weeks!!!! Here is a picture of him trying to walk then falling on his bottom.

Tappy the Turtle

Well after we let the water turtle go, Paw Paw got the kids a box turtle (yes, I made sure this one was a box turtle!) He has a injured right back let that his foot is missing but other than that a healthy turtle. Adriana decided to name him Prince Tappy Azul Weber. Tappy because he taps along the floor as he walks and Prince Azul from the movie Barbie the Island Princess. He is being spoiled living in our aquarium with fresh water and fresh fruits and veggies. We let him wonder around the yard during the day. Here is some pictures of him. And since turtles can live longer than we do, I already warned the kids that when they move out the turtle goes with them :)

How tall will the kids be?

So after the doctor appointment yesterday it got me thinking. Since the kids always seem to be off the charts for their heights, how tall are they going to be? So I found this website that gives an approximate height for them http://children.webmd.com/healthtool-kids-height-predictor. According to this Adriana will be about 5'10" (only an inch taller than me) and the boys will be about 6'4" (only an inch taller than Chris). All I know is that when these kids hit their teenage years I better get a second job to feed them :)