pumpkin patch

Tuesday morning found me at the pumpkin patch for the first grade field trip. It was cold, wet and muddy. I go on field trips to the pumpkin patch every year (sometime two and three times) and this was possibly the coldest (and certainly the muddiest) it's been while we were there. I am not cut out for farm life! The first graders didn't mind a little (or a lot) of mud and cold though! And I did enjoy it too...especially since Coby was having so much fun. Just wish it wasn't quite so chilly that day!

Warning...you are about to see a million pictures of Coby Lane at the pumpkin patch (he's the only one of my boys who actually doesn't mind mommy following him around with a camera...for now!).

hanging out with a classmate at the entrance

heading into the stall where the bunnies are kept

this pic was taken while Coby was telling a little boy that the bunnies were not stupid after a little boy said they were! How dare anyone say such!! Way to stand up for the bunnies Coby!

this pony was so sweet

you would've thunk (is that a word?) that the goats were never fed...they ate and ate and ate, then they even grabbed Coby's cup and started eating it too!

scrubby dubby (I just loved the outdoor sinks...brilliant idea!)

time for a pony ride

Playing in the sand (for a moment in time he seemed younger than his years)

the hayride took us to the corn maze

the corn maze then led us to yet another maze (have I ever mentioned that I am directionally challenged...one maze would've been plenty ;))

the last maze took us to this huge slide...they loved this

and lastly Coby picked out his perfect pumpkin

Coby got recognized as a sensational citizen during round up on Friday. Way to go Coby!!!

And this is totally unrelated to this post, but we have a new addition to the family...

Meet Norman

Someone surprised me with him today. The boys and I LOVE him. He is all decked out in OU gear. He looks so cute sitting on our front porch. What a fun gift. THANK YOU!

happy fall

I woke up feeling great today!!! This is the first Saturday in I'm not sure how long that everyone was well...no signs of the flu or strep...oh, happy day!!!! We went to the zoo this afernoon and enjoyed some beautiful fall weather. We couldn't have asked for a better day at the zoo (I didn't take my camera, so no pics...I just wanted to enjoy being with Darren and the boys without the hassle of a camera). Boy did we have fun!

I do have pics from yesterday though...

Friday began with Darren, Cale and I going to school with Connor and Coby to watch Connor's class showcase. They did a rap about rounding numbers. It was so funny to see Connor rapping...he was totally into it, but I know that he felt totally out of his element. It was great and so fun to watch.Here are Darren and Cale heading to the car after. Notice they are wearing jackets...ahhh, I love this cool weather. We took Cale to the Runway Cafe for breakfast and got to watch five airplanes take off. Cale had a blast and Darren and I enjoyed the time we had with Cale one on one!


When we got home, I decided to go to Home Depot to get some mums and pansies. This is my favorite time of the year for planting flowers...my yard filled with fall colors and decor just makes me feel so happy! Actually, I just love everything about fall, but I can't imagine that there are too many people that don't feel the same way!

When I went to Home Depot I first put my pansies in the cart and then went to look at the mums. I went to Home Depot with plans to buy just a few flowers this year. My plan was to buy 3 mums which is just enough for my three pots. I was looking and being and indecisive, which is something I do very well (ask Darren!). Anyway, a guy came up to me and said you just can't decide can you? He told me that he'd give me two for one and he'd let the cashier know. I think I looked at him like he was nuts since he wasn't wearing anything indicative of being a worker there. He then told me that he was the sales rep and that was all I needed to hear. My cart was quickly filled with 10 beautiful mums! I got $70 worth of mums for $35. These things never happen to me.

Below is part of the finished product. Not pictured are the purple pansies (which are ringed around our tree in the front yard), the other flower bed in which I planted pansies, or the other pots which I filled with rest of the yellow mums (they are by the garage doors).

(It would look so much better if we didn't have those tumble weedy things all over our yard, flower beds and porch...ugh!)

I thought I'd throw in a few pics of the inside too although I don't have much decor....

And here are two of many things I love about fall...

I love. love. love. fall. scented. candles.

I love seasonal coffees...this is the limited edition pumpkin spice (I've gotta go back to Bed, Bath and Beyond this week to stock up.) It is heavenly and it reminds me with every cup that fall is really here!

Hope you're enjoying fall as much as I am!!!

here we go again

Connor woke up this morning saying he didn't feel very well and was running a low grade fever. None of that warranted a trip to the doctor in my mind (and to be honest, I still contemplated sending him to school since his fever was only 99.5ish). However, when he started telling me he was having chest pain and was almost doubled over when talking about how bad it hurt I decided we'd better see the doctor. I wanted to make sure we weren't in the beginning stages of pneumonia since he's been having asthma trouble over the past few days. However, I didn't think he had it because I listened with my ear to his chest and back. I didn't hear any wheezing or crackling, and although I think I am as knowledgeable as a doctor when it comes to diagnosing illness (just kidding...sort of), I thought it might be best to have a real MD to check him over.

So off to the doctor we went. We had the loooooongest wait ever in the history of going to our doctor's office...we had to wait over an hour. We are very spoiled and are usually in within 5 minutes, but today our doctor was not in (I think he was sick too!) so we had to see another ped in his practice. When we finally got in the room, Connor told his symptoms to the nurse and the nurse immediately pulled out the swab to test for the flu. I tried to tell her he wasn't at all flu-like. Certainly he can't have the flu. I mean really we all made it without catching the flu from Coby so why in the world would Connor pick up the flu somewhere else. I knew I was wrong when the doctor came in carrying a mask...plus he had "the look" that told me we have a positive test. I hate getting "the look" because it usually means we either have tested positive for strep or the flu. I don't like either of those things, but they seem to like us! Anyway, Connor has H1N1 and Connor is considered high risk because of his asthma so they called in Tamiflu and also asthma meds above and beyond his regular controller. I hope we don't need them...they cause so many behavioral problems when Connor is on them...problems that we never see at any other time. But on the other hand, I'm glad to know we have them if they're needed. Especially since he's already been complaining of chest pain. That can't be a good sign.

Here we go...again. And of course, I'm totally unprepared now. This is why I wanted to get it all out of the way when Coby had the flu. I was so ready for it then. Now our supply of soup and Sprite has dwindled. You know what that means. This time we'll all get it....of course we will. That's how it always goes. Nothing happens when you're ready for it to happen! Oh well, maybe we'll finally get it over with...this doctor seems to think we'll all get it, but we were also told that the last time too, so who knows!? Wouldn't it be something though if we could make it through this again without the rest of us getting it? I'd be alright with that and I'm pretty sure that Darren and Cale would be too!

made me laugh

I was cleaning my laundry room this afternoon and I came across a few little pieces of paper in which I had jotted down some cute things the boys have said recently. When the boys say something funny I try to write it down somewhere so I can remember to tell Darren when he gets home from work. Some are funny, some are cute, some are things that only I as their mother will appreciate, but I thought I'd put them on here so I'll always have them to look back on.

One day after returning home from running errands, I asked Cale if he got his poop out for daddy while I was gone. He looked at me with a big smile and replied, "Yes-I had a whole family of poop...I had a whooooole family." (Oh yes, Cale measures his poop in terms of family size, i.e. a daddy is biggest, mommy would be medium, etc. Many times he has a daddy and a baby, but not on this day...it was a WHOLE family kind of day. Those are rare indeed!)

We have had some very rainy weather over the past few weeks. The boys have been feeling rather cooped up so I told them to go out and play in the rain. They are boys after all!!! Connor looked at me like I was a total nutcase (which I am, but still...) and told me seriously, "I'm just not that person who wants to go out in the rain and get all wet and dirty. That's just not the kind of person that I am." ha-This is where he is so much like his mommy, but I really wish he'd learn to embrace a little dirt. That's part of the fun of being a boy.

On Friday night Coby told me that he was cold. And then he said, "thank goodness I have some warm fur!" I asked him how he had some fur to which he responded, "I have some hair (while rubbing his very hairy legs)." That boy does indeed have some fur, just like his daddy and Uncle Michael too! Coby has long been "growing out" his leg hair so he can be just like daddy! Coby is so proud of those hairy legs. He is so funny.

After picking up Cale from school the other day, I was asking about his day. Somewhere during my questioning he got in a bit of trouble (BIG surprise!!!!). So, he told me that "I'm not gonna tell ya (about school) cuz' I don't like your attitude!" Alrighty then.

Connor is not very thrilled with my use of paper plates. I don't use them frequently, but I do use them if the dishwasher has a full load already and I want to save myself some time with clean up. Anyway, Connor said to me, "Why do you use paper plates? Mommy, don't you care about the earth? The earth is gonna be old and not as healthy. We don't want that." (I still use paper plates.)

This is the last one for today...while Cale was walking out to the garage before school on Friday I asked him to carry his nap mat. I was carrying my purse, his backpack and lunch box so it seemed like he could probably help me out. I heard all kinds of moaning and groaning. "It's too heavy. I'm not big enough to carry it. I'll be bigger in a few months. In February I'll be four, then I'll be big to carry my napmat." Ahhh, the drama never ends around here.

Oh my goodness, as I was finishing up this post, Coby walked into the room playing Connor's recorder (from his school music class). He informed me that after lots of practice he can play Jingle Bells. Also, according to him, he can play Star Wars too. I wonder how he sounded before all the practice? I think I'd better go dig out Darren's ear plugs from the shooting range because it seems Coby thinks he needs to teach himself several more songs. WOW. That's all I can say right now.

week of firsts...

Last week held some important firsts for each of the boys. I'll start with Calebug. He had his first day ever of school. He is going to preschool two days a week from 9-2:30. He had a wonderful first day. I was concerned because he is the only one of the boys that is really attatched to his mommy (and truth be told, his mommy is pretty attatched to him too). He walked in, took a look at his teacher's and said, "Hey!" and then a second later said, "Check out my new shoes!" This is when I said, please excuse him, he is really proud of his new shoes because he actually got to pick them out...they're not hand-me-downs from his brothers! By this time Cale was ready for me to head out. I was so happy that it went so well.

When I returned to pick Cale up, the teacher looked at me and the first thing she said is, "He's is very talkative!" Ha, tell me something I don't already know. She said he did great. He ran to me, threw his arms around me and said I knew you'd come back. It was a GREAT first day of school and has been smooth sailing ever since. He just loves it and want to go every day. Yay!

As for Connor's first, he decided to join the school orchestra. This is something that is available only to students fourth grade and up so it is something new for our family. He went to a meeting during school one day and came home really unsure of whether he wanted to join or not. Darren and I told him to take a week and really think about it before making a firm decision. We didn't want to sway him either way as we won't be the ones practicing every day. This really needed to something that he wants to do. After putting a lot of thought into it, he decided to give it a go. We went the following day to rent his violin. He is really excited....all of his close friends chose to join as well, so it should be a lot of fun for him. We may find that he has great talent in this area as well, you never know until you try. (I'm guessing that by next year, he won't want to play anymore, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong!)

As for my little Coby Lane, he spent the week preparing for his first ever spelling test. It has always driven Connor nuts, but I always start quizzing him on the weeks words starting Monday night. That way by Friday's test he is ready and we don't have to spend Thursday night stressfully cramming for it. It's always worked well for Connor so I am doing the same thing with Coby. (He made a 100, by the way!)

For some reason, it still doesn't seem like Coby should be old enough to be taking spelling tests. It's like all of a sudden he just grew up on me. He loves first grade and I can't believe that I was worried about it. If you'd asked me six months ago, I would've told you that I thought he should retake Kindergarten. I'm not sure if it was summer school, us working with him, or just maturity, but all of the sudden something in him just clicked and he is doing so well! I knew it would click eventually, but to be honest I was surprised that it clicked for him as abruptly as it did. He had to try really hard to get where he is now, but all the hard work has really paid off. I am SO proud of him.

Oh, and in case you read my last post and are wondering...no one else in our family has come down with the flu yet (and hopefully won't at all...now I'm knocking on wood!). I'm hoping if we can make it through the weekend without symptoms we'll be in the clear. That would be terrific.

one down, four to go

Soooo...if you read my post from Monday, you know who the Tamiflu is for. I took my little Coby Lane to the doctor yesterday and I hate to say that my mother's intuition was right. He has the flu. I will not confirm or deny that it is of the swine variety. I will not, will not Sam I am! Actually to be honest, we'll never know for sure unless we die or are hospitalized. That's the only time they are testing it for the exact strain since they are seeing so much of it now. So, I'm thrilled not to know for sure. The doctor said that it is type A which is the type that H1N1 is and that they think that all of those at this point are the swine, so they aren't bothering to test it further. Really, who cares anyway. The flu is the flu. It stinks no matter what type. But I'll tell ya what. I got Coby in before he even hit the 24 hour mark and got him on Tamiflu. He is feeling terrific today. He is begging to go back to school...which is probably where he got it in the first place. Sadly I found out today that just yesterday there were 6 absent in his class alone. Hopefully no one will get it from him since he fell ill on a three day weekend. Hopefully his classmates will all be better soon.

I've been to the store to get stocked up in case the rest of us get sick! As soon as we start to have symptoms, the boys pediatrician is at the ready to call us in prescriptions for Tamiflu, I've got all kinds of chicken noodle soup, Sprite, and stocked up on Tylenol to rid ourselves of those aching bodies and high fevers. Now we just wait. I am hopeful that it will not spread, but according to our ped, no one has any immunity for this flu so it is highly contagious. Ugh. Oh well, it will be nice to get it over with early. (Looking at the bright side here!)


This is Coby earlier today. He is feeling so much better already. I love Tamiflu (no this is not a paid advertisement!).

this is the face of H1N1, not quite the picture the media is portraying (although I do know that it can be very dangerous for some people...I'm not down playing that at all) I'm just tired of the way they are trying to freak everyone out about it...especially my 9 year old who just knows he will die if he gets it. As if he needed something else to worry about.

last swim?

We've had the most relaxing Labor Day today. Darren never has Labor Day off, so I was just thrilled that he could be home with us. We slept in, swam and ate. That about sums up our day. It was pure bliss...that is until Coby started running a 101 degree temp about an hour ago, has a headache, aching arms and legs, cough and runny nose. All symptoms of the dreaded flu...and you know, as much as I have joked about getting the swine flu (errr, I mean H1N1), I'm sure someone in my family will end up with it. Hopefully it's just a minor virus, but I'll be calling the doctor first thing in the morning just in case! I'm not taking any chances.

This afternoon we went to mom and dad's house for what will likely be our last swim of the year. The boys had a great time, but I decided to stay poolside after realizing just how frigid the water was (I realized that after Darren pulled me in...isn't he just lovely?). Here are a few pics of the boys from today.

See, I told you the water was cold! Look at that face!

Cale must like cold water, no complaints from him.

Coby and his fave goggles. You will not find him in the water without them!