Fall Fun

Fall fun for the Davis family starts with a trip to the zoo!  It's still too hot to be lugging around two babies in the heat of the day, but we managed to have a good time.  And the best part was that we actually got Dad to come with us!

 

 Chloie is such a lover of animals.  She would squeal with delight over the silly common birds flying around.  "Look, Mommy!  A tiny bird.  Isn't it so beautiful?!"  However, I think her love of goats came down a notch or two as she got plowed over in the petting barn by a goat gone wild.

 Pumpkin carving was so much fun with the kids this year.  Here they are amazed at the huge mass of a pumpkin we found at the pumpkin patch. "Wow!  I can lift it!"

  Oops... a little to heavy for Chloie.  And yes, she is wearing footy pajamas in the middle of the 90 degree afternoon.  It's just easier to go with it....

 Such a change from last year's disgust over the gooey pumpkin.  They loved the mess!

We drew a mean face as requested by Owen for our pumpkin.  While I carved, the kids got a little wild with the goo.  It started to be thrown and slapped around.  The fun was over and it was time for a shower!

Owen had a cute little program at school for Halloween.  He's so different at school.  He's quiet and shy even around his friends that he plays with at the park very loud and obnoxiously.  I loved how he kept giving me a point out to the crowd between songs.  

And of course the trick-or-treating!  Owen and Chloie walked to our closest neighbors and friends and then were most happy to pass out candy to all the other scary children while Mom and Dad sat back and drank a beer. 

"No more pictures, Mom!"  Let's go trick-or-treating!"

Indiana Adventure

Oh, my... this has taken a good long while to get these here!  We had such a great time visiting family and farming this past October.  The kids are so much more fun to take along the older they get.  They're expert air travelers by now... on the way to Indiana at least.  They're less shy and need fewer naps, which definitely make our time more enjoyable.

The combine!  The highlight of Owen's trip.

Unfortunately for Chloie, Owen loved the combine so much she got to sit on the sidelines and look pretty (or pretty annoyed) in her new boots most of the time.

 This is not a good picture, but I laugh when I look at it because Owen made Grandpa stop the combine so he could get out and tell me that I was too close to the combine taking pictures.  "Get back, Mom!  This combine is working hard.  You're in the way of the snouts...bla bla bla."  And only a Grandpa would stop progress to let his four year old grandson boss his mom around...

And then there was the fun at Grandma Peggy's house.  Even though they weren't in fields they managed to get completely covered in dirt.

And a fun day with the Bedels!

And of course there was fun to be had at Grandma and Grandpa Meyer's!  

Not a day goes by that Owen doesn't farm in Arizona, and Chloie is usually right there with him.  I think they both love their Indiana roots as much as Matt and I do.  

Mud Bog

Rain is a rare thing.  So when it rains, the kids think it's the best gift ever.  This particular day I was busy trying to make Owen's birthday cake.  I noticed they were getting a little wetter and then a little muddy and then they were jumping in it and falling in it and laughing hysterically.  They got so muddy and wet they removed their heavy pants... which were still their pajamas, oh my.

A just some other random silliness from the past couple of weeks.

Happy 4th Birthday, Owen!

Four years ago I was trying to figure out how to change diapers and nurse a baby and how to fill my time because my baby slept so much.  Today I'm still trying to figure out how to convince my big baby to take time to go to the bathroom and eat his dinner, however, I have no trouble filling my time anymore with this wonderful little blessing in my life.

As one would assume, the countdown to a four year-old's birthday was much anticipated.  "About a month until I'm four."  "A couple more weeks." "One week."  "Two days!"  Although in our house I really can't say who was most excited.  Owen or Chloie... or was it Mom and Dad?

He got to celebrate on his birthday with all of his dear friends.  He bounced with his buddies all afternoon, taking a short break for dinner and birthday cake.  Oh, and opening presents!

He couldn't wait to blow out those candles and try out that swather and bailer!

You can't forget the cute sister.  She was so excited for Owen's birthday.  She already knows that when she turns 3 she'd like princess plates and a pink cake.  We're planning ahead!

A little too much cake and excitement and bouncing, I think.  Even a little bugged out, we love you so much, Owen Matthew!!

Preschool!

Oh, the day I've worried about all summer... sending Owen back to preschool.  My worry was worthless, as usual God would point out.  Owen was all brave this morning, and I was my typical emotional self.  Well, he was all brave except for the one time he said, "I really don't want to go to preschool because I love you so much, and I would miss you."  Oh... how he knows the way to my heart! 

Chloie had to get her backpack on to walk Owen to school because she thought for sure she was staying at Mrs. Jodi's too.  My favorite part was how she put it on then looked around the side, "Where's my map?" she asked.  Oh, too much Dora around here I suppose!

A little bit serious before heading over to preschool.

Then a little bit silly before heading over to preschool.

When we picked up Owen, Chloie pushed through the other kids to get to her bubby and give him a giant hug.  Owen kind of returned the hug.  I don't think she was missed as much as he was.

And this silliness is just from yesterday, but I love their expressions in these two pictures.

Little Stories to Remember

Chloie is such a chatter box lately.  She talks my ear off, and when I get tired of listening she'll move onto books and read them out loud over and over again.  I've been terrible about recording some of the things she says, but found a moment to write down a little bit yesterday.

As I'm putting away dishes, Chloie brings me a bowl from her kitchen and says, "Here, Mommy, I made you soup."

"Oh, thank you."  I reach for it, but she pulls back.

"No, it's really hot.  You have to wait.  I'll cool it off."  She blows it for a bit.

"Here, Mommy.  It's cooled down."

"Ok."  I take the bowl while standing, but she grabs it back again.

"No, you have to sit back.  You will make a mess.  Sit at the little table."

So..... I abandon my own kitchen duties (for the fifth time this morning) and go sit at her little table.

Again, I reach for the the bowl, but she stops me pulling back with a look of disgust as if she's told me a hundred times, "No...... scoot in.  You will spill."

So here I sit sipping my cooled soup with my feet neatly jammed beneath a tiny table scrawling down our conversation with crayons and scraps of paper.  I just want to remember exactly the way my sweet Chloie says things in her own little way.

And if she's run out of stuff to say for the moment, she'll start saying, "Don't be such a four-wheeler, duuuuuud, Mom."  Or "Let's get some barbecue."  Both said with this southern twang that comes from..... I don't know where??  The first being a quote from one of Owen's favorite Trucktown books.  The second something Owen and Matt always say after church as we pass by a questionable looking barbecue eatery.

And for Owen.....  Unfortunately for me, this was the only story worth writing down this morning...

We were in the car earlier when Owen asks me, "Mom, did you toot?"

"Uh...  yeah, sorry buddy."

"That's ok."

Thirty seconds later.... his window rolls down.  With the following explanation:

"I did that, Mom, so you don't have to smell that anymore."

"Ok, thanks, Owen......"

Cicada Hunting

The beautifully annoying song of the cicada has been filling our ears in the past couple of weeks.  The kids love/hate to find the discarded shells.  They get so excited to find one only to freak out the bug will get them.

Today on their morning bike ride around the house, which is usually about a ten minute event before they tire of their bikes and the sweat blurring their visions... even though it is before eight o'clock in the morning (as you can tell from the jammies in these photos).  Anyway, I have digressed.... On this short adventure today we decided to see how many cicada shells we could find.  

Chloie was surprisingly the best at spotting them but feared touching them.  

Owen was the champion collector.  

They simply cannot wait until their dad comes home tonight to see their special collection of cicada shells.