The Fair: The Rest of Us

We did all have a great time at the fair. John Dickson enjoyed the rides, but really preferred the first half of each ride. Towards the end of each ride he started to get scared, but he still had fun.



(The rest of the dragon coaster story...)





He REALLY wanted a giant corn dog, so we got him a 9 incher. We figured he and Henry would split it, but about 5 minutes later, when I asked him how his corn dog was, he didn't turn around, didn't say a word. He just did this:



About a minute after that, it was gone.

About two months later, we had two offers on our house. HOW does that keep slipping into these blog posts? Sneaky two offers...

Adam Goes to the Fair!

An embarrassingly long time ago... waaaaay back in October, Nana, Grumps, John Dickson, Henry and I decided to do something uber special for Adam/Daddy. We knew it had been a while for him, and so we decided to take him out for a day at the fair. I would tell you how much fun he had eating corn dogs, fried mushrooms, fiske fries and a funnel cake, and how much he loved riding the big dragon roller coaster (no hands!), but I feel like I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Lazy 5: Part 2

So, I started to type this right after Thanksgiving, but when the pictures failed to upload, I decided to give it a rest for 5 weeks or so. Clicking on 5 pictures can be quite cumbersome.

Ahhh the holiday season is upon us, bringing with it the bribery of the Elf on a Shelf (named Jay, by John Dickson - much more clever than what his Dad would have named his elf back in the day - something either rhyming with Elf, or just "Elfsty") or the advent calendar. Whoever is the best listener gets to open the door on the calendar - we've been going on about a week just competing for the coveted first door privilege. And let me tell you - that 1/25 of an ounce of chocolate better be worth it, or come December 1 we may be down to just Jay. Anyhoo, I figured I better finish documenting all of our fall fun before it starts to snow. Tomorrow night. Seriously??? Seriously.

I know what you are all thinking... DID it snow??? No, it didn't. In fact, I can literally count on 1 hand the number of nights we have had to turn on the heat. Our apartment is BLAZING. Adam thinks it's because the devil lives downstairs. I think it's because we have 2 offers on our house right now. (That maybe was just an excuse to throw that in there).

Anyhoo, here is the ending from the Lazy 5 cliffhanger that has had everyone up at night. Just a few last pictures from Lazy 5.






Check out the cattle head to John Dickson body ratio here.

Lazy 5

We made it out to Lazy 5 Ranch back in October with Nana and Grumps - its like a new and improved Hollywild. It includes a lot of giraffes, so naturally, we had a great time.

A John Dickson sammich on the horse drawn cart:



Henry and Nana deciding where to go next:



Believe it or not, anything can be a gun.



Henry loves goats!




Stay tuned for more Lazy 5 pictures!

We're From SC

Yes we did go to the Nascar Hall of Fame thankyouverymuch!

It might look like John Dickson and I are racing on the simulator practice thingamabobber.



We are actually just hitting the gas and trying to figure out why we can't get the car to go.

Henry had the right idea - this would have been more my speed...





Adam lost by the way.

The "Johnny Johnston" Lowes car

Playground

Yes, I know. They are adorable.

Pumpkin Patch

I decided it was finally time to post pictures from our pumpkin patch adventure, seeing as how we are quickly approaching Thanksgiving. I received the gentle reminder that turkey day was upon us, as John Dickson had to report to his class his family's menu for the big day. I lost the sheet to fill out, so I gave Adam firm instructions to request another one this morning and fill it out when he dropped John Dickson off. The two of them worked together, and created the following problems:

1. John Dickson has the memory of an elephant, and will now NOT be forgetting that for Thanksgiving we will be enjoying sweet potatoes with a marshmallow topping, grapes, and chocolate cake. Just like our ancestors.

2. Even though I told John Dickson we were having chicken chili for dinner (side note: kids eat chili in tortilla scoops), he was confused by all of the Thanksgiving talk and devastated that we were not having turkey for dinner tonight. On Thanksgiving. Tonight.

John Dickson is quite into Thanksgiving. I went to pick him up from school the other day, and I'm always interested in seeing what toy he selected that morning to take for naptime. I've seen some toys that have surprised me - Henry's sock monkey, a bear lovie he never looked twice at when he was bear lovie age appropriate, a hard plastic robot to snuggle up with, but never did I expect to find in his cubby a Williams Sonoma catalog. Presumably because of the turkey on the front. It's the only thing I can figure. Regardless, I was proud.

And in the spirit of digressing from the pumpkin patch adventure, have I mentioned Henry is talking full speed? Well, maybe not full speed, but he's certainly taking off. He's calling me "mama" (finally!!!!!), and I think he calls Adam "dada." He will repeat it if you say it, and he knows who "dada" is, and I think he calls Adam that... but I'm not positive. He does say John Dickson. He is also saying book, yes, no, please, more, uh oh, ouch, car, mine, Boo Boo (what the boys call Bear), hi, bye bye, and I'm sure there are a few others. Oh, and he counts to 3. For real. And he sings the "lala la la" from Elmo's Song.

Anyhoo... if you've seen our posts from Denver Downs Farm in Anderson, SC that I will not be taking the time to go link this post back to, then you've seen a pumpkin patch done right. We were sad to move away from Denver Downs, but excited to try this new place that promised to offer just about everything from our beloved first love of a pumpkin patch. Turns out their webmaster needs a serious raise, because homeboy knows how to make absolutely nothing look like something spectacular. And it was one of the coldest days we've had up here yet. Seeing as how we were all underdressed and the pumpkins were underpatched, we let the munchkins pick their pumpkins (which were all conveniently already picked and spread out across the ground... pumpkin patch my behind) and headed for a warm lunch in a heated building with three meltdowntastic munchkins. Despite all, it was a good time.

Well That's Embarrassing

Has it really been almost 6 weeks since my last post?? Between working, studying for the CIA exam, soaking in the newness of a new town, and hitting all of the Janie & Jack sales (love this new town - and did I mention I can WALK there?!?!? I promise that's not why I took the new job...), blog posts and pictures have just been piling up in my head... and the bigger the pile, the more daunting the task seems and the less motivated I become. And at a 5 picture per post max, I just don't even know how to start... except that I know you are dying to see some pictures of John Dickson with his 'stache, and Henapen in his Peter Pan costume! Complete with Tinkerbell, of course!



"Awww... look at her in her elf costume!"





"What a cute pirate!"



Context clues people!!!



Even so, we had a great Halloween! John Dickson was thrilled to be Captain Hook. He insisted that he needed a sword, and seeing as how that would be the worst thing he could possibly have, we convinced him that he needed his free hand to carry his pumpkin. He did, however, get a hook. The first thing he said was "now I can really hurt spiderman." Like I said, no sword. Henahen loved his Peter Pan costume as well, crying when he had to take it off after he tried it on the first time. He also caught right on to the idea of trick or treating, using those eyelashes and baby blues as a distraction while he took piece after piece from each bowl. He insisted on holding Aunt Erin's hand all night, who had to remind him from time to time that this was "not a grocery store."

A little pizza, a little trick or treating, a big cousin bubble bath, a little impromptu dance party... it was a good night for all, except for maybe Adam, as John Dickson may or may not have danced in only his underwear and Ella's butterfly wings, and Henry may or may not have gone home wearing pink pajamas.

And as a side note, I went to a Halloween party last weekend, where I wore a little red riding hood costume. John Dickson saw me and asked "why you wearing a princess dress?" When I tried to explain the costume to him, he asked "how you be little red riding hood?" I said "like this!" He looked at me, confused, squinted his eyes, and then said... "Do it again..." He thought he had missed it.

And as another side note, Henry has a Halloween shirt that I had been saving for the big day. As Henry went to school in his Peter Pan costume on Halloween, I packed the shirt and a pair of jeans for him to change into. Someone, ahem, forgot to unpack the clothes from John Dickson's bookbag, and John Dickson came home wearing a 12-18 month shirt. That was pretty funny, but what really got me was the next day when he came home wearing size 18 month jeans. Or capris. You know, whatevs :-)

Many many more posts to come, including our trip to the pumpkin patch, Lazy 5 Ranch with Nana and Grumps, the SC State Fair, and some good ol fashioned pumpkin carving!

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls...

Why chase them when you can make your very own using just the bathroom faucet, and then play in pool of water you just created on the bathroom floor... AFTER bedtime... and WITHOUT telling mom and dad?!?!? TLC - a wise band indeed. I've learned an important lesson recently - one I learned a long time ago when we were in the diaper-taking-off phase, but one of which I've recently been reminded. When it is bedtime, never trust a quiet John Dickson. If he isn't swimming in his pjs on the bathroom floor, he has sneaked (snuck?) the new bottle of coconut ginger handsoap into his bed and in the morning, the top 5 inches will be empty and the top will be MIA. We literally cannot keep him under control, because we simply cannot predict what he will try next. He's like a kid ninja.

So we've landed on Halloween costume choices for the boys this year - get ready for Captain Hook and Peter Pan. I'm particularly excited about Captain Hook - can't wait to see John Dickson rock a mustache. And no worries, he's already perfected his bad guy laugh. It's something he came up with all on his own, and it is hi-larious. Think Joey and Phoebe evil plan laugh.

We went to a used book sale a few weeks ago, and John Dickson picked out this book called "The Healthy Wolf." The premise of the book is that you have to brush your teeth, exercise, and eat healthy. Eating healthy is only about 2 pages of the book, and includes 3 don't eats, and 3 do eats. I had NO IDEA how much impact this book would have on John Dickson, but the kid is on a super health kick. Everytime he eats something healthy, he announces it, and he has been eating EVERYTHING I have given him. It helps that Adam gets home after dinner, because I tend to distract the kids at the table with nothing but vegetables while I cook the rest of the dinner. And not just in the vegetable realm - the child is eating all kinds of foods he has never eaten before. Nuts, asparagus, brussels sprouts (an old favorite turned anti-favorite turned acceptable), carrots (RAW - thats huge for him, and cooked), apples (again, raw - the child doesn't like any raw foods that he has to crunch), applesauce (also big - shield your eyes Papa - he doesn't even like apple pie or any apple-y desserts), butternut squash soup, and even rice and potatoes (not a starch side person). And other foods that he likes but doesn't necessarily eat much of he is eating like crazy.

Henry on the other hand continues to eat pretty much everything, but still favors fruits and meat. We're having some trouble getting him to eat some of his vegetables, but if he is hungry, lima beans, peas, corn and baked beans get inhaled. I tried to cut asparagus and put little pieces into his mashed potatoes, but he would just suck them clean, make a super annoyed face as he pulled it off his tongue, and then throw it angrily onto the floor. Bear is a well fed dog these days. The other day my plan to feed the kids veggies first was foiled by one Henry Kelley as we walked in the door and Henry went to the pantry, got a container of peaches and took it to his place at the table. Later when I sat him in his seat with a bowl of green beans, he started reaching for the peaches, and obviously I couldn't turn that down. I did, however, pick the green beans up off the floor.

We're headed to the Nascar Hall of Fame on Sunday and John Dickson is PUMPED to say the least. He spent literally the entire ride home yesterday asking me question after question about "Johnny Johnston" (that's Jimmie Johnson, in case you were wondering). You know, number 8. Or 30. Or 40. Or 42. Really, just any number other than 48. He wanted to know where he races, where he lives, if he races horses, why he doesn't race horses, why there are no horses at the speedway, if Johnny Johnston takes his wheels off, if he drives "rims only" - yes, he has a Lightning McQueen book, and has learned quite a bit about racing. We planned to go to the hall of fame just because I got free tickets from work, but now it's starting to look like it's going to be a really fun experience for the little man. Hopefully the Hen will like it too.

We've had a ton of rain lately, and as we crossed the lake last week, John Dickson spotted a rainbow (possibly his first?) He was really excited, and then asked me if God made it. Melt. My. Heart.

And following in the footsteps of his brother and his older cousin, Henry has begun his shoe fetish, and every night after bath he likes to run around in a diaper and his sneaks. Kicks. Whatever the youngsters are calling them these days. And then the other night he discovered a miracle... slippers.

So I decided I wasn't a very big fan of the boys daycare afterall, and so on Monday John Dickson will start at his new school, with Henry two weeks after him. It's really part of my ultimate goal to see how many kids John Dickson can convince that shoes with stars are the fastest shoes out there. i.e. my way of convincing him to get Converse shoe instead of buzz lightyear. I know, I know, you wish you thought of it first ;-)

The Hen

It's been a while since Hen had his very own blog post, and I'd say it's about time. Henry kind of goes through phases of being super sweet and laid back, and then super independent and strong willed with a stronger temper, and then back to super sweet and laid back. Right now - super sweet and laid back. I just want to squeeze him and kiss him all the time. And he pretty much lets me.

Last night was quite a different story. Henry was really mellow, slow and quiet on Sunday, and by Monday afternoon, he was running a fever. He has continued to run a fever all week, and after being up for an hour and a half screaming his lungs out last night, he's on an antibiotic for what looks like a developing ear infection. I have never in my life seen Henry so upset. He literally screamed nonstop, arching his back and pushing away from me with his legs. He didn't want to rock, didn't want to walk, didn't want to go outside, didn't want to eat or drink, didn't want to watch baby einstein, and did not want to play. If I even picked up his sippy cup, he screamed louder and tried to bat it out of my hands. And that is how you know that the Hen is really feeling miserable. He was much better today, though clearly still under the weather. His Daddy comes back tomorrow, and they'll spend the day together getting well and hooking up the washer dryer. I do hope. (Side note, its been 3 weeks since we have washed a single article of clothing. Tonight John Dickson spilled pudding all over his shorts and had to wear some super short shorts to Walmart to pick up a prescription. I guess he was at the right place at least. Next time someone offers to let me use their washer/dryer, I'll try to remember not to turn them down again!)

So the boys had their last day at their old daycare last week. Henry had already moved up from the infant class to the beginner's class, but right before I moved, we found out that his beloved Ms Sandy from the infant class had left the center. I was so upset that we didn't get to tell her goodbye that I got her number and tracked her down. She said that the last week she was there, she rocked Henry everyday. She convinced his new teacher to let him come back over to her class for a little bit each day, and he was thrilled. Adam caught Henry one day just in time to see him going back to Ms Sandy's class, and Adam said he had a HUGE grin on his face. The child practically leapt out of our arms whenever she was around, and he loved to just go lay his head on her. We'll miss her very much. We've been very lucky with daycare teachers who make us feel like our children are the only ones in the room. So far we like the new school a lot, for John Dickson especially. Henry has only been 1 day this week due to him being sick, but I'm sure it wont take long for him to win his new teachers over too.

In true Kelley form, Henry is not yet talking. He is starting to make more sounds, and sometimes I think he does mimic what we say, but no talking yet. He practically overnight started to respond to us nonverbally and really show that he understands us. If you ask if he wants milk, he goes to the fridge and pulls on it. If you ask about taking a bath or brushing his teeth, he heads to the bathroom. Ask him if he wants to go and he heads to the door. He'll sit down for you, come sit in your lap, go get his blanket, and some others. He also has started trying to put his dishes in the dishwasher, but that's really just him putting a full sippy cup of milk in the bottom of the dishwasher. And he has learned how to communicate when he is all done eating. Despite our best efforts to get him to sign "all done," he prefers to just chuck his plate. Awesome.

John Dickson has learned that he can get Henry to do his dirty work for him, knowing Henry won't get in trouble, and so we frequently hear John Dickson saying "take it Henry..." trying to give him something we told John Dickson not to touch. Or he takes him over to a drawer of socks or underwear, opens it up, and cheers Henry on as Henry empties the contents (both of them laughing hysterically, by the way). But maybe my favorite and least favorite at the same time was what happened last week... the movers had taken all of our stuff, so there was nothing the boys could get into. The bathroom door was shut and Adam was vacuuming the house. He turned off the vacuum and heard "Go Henry, go!!" coming from the bathroom (door still shut, but this time with the boys on the other side) and walked in to see Henry slamming his arm in the toilet bowl repeatedly. Literally, John Dickson's dirty work.

If you tell Henry "night night," he tries to kiss you. It's super sweet. He loves to kiss his brother.

Henry has started to nod yes very emphatically. You can really ask him any question and he will nod yes. I think my parents had fun with that this weekend. He also will nod yes if he sees something he wants. I took him to Harris Teeter yesterday (PS this place is CRAWLING with Harris Teeters, but no Publix love... sad day) and as we went down the aisles, he would nod really big and point to what he wanted, which was apparently laundry detergent and tea.

Henry still loves to suck on his fingers, and its always his pointer and middle finger together on his left hand. He picks up food with his thumb and those two fingers glued together, and now when he signs "more," he does his right hand where he puts all of his fingertips together, but his left hand is his pointer and middle fingers. I'm beginning to think he doesn't know those two can separate. It's still quite cute.

Henry has 3 blankies, which is really convenient in the event one is dirty or MIA. Venture outside of those 3 blankies, and he is not a happy camper.

I could type more, but I'm sure its easy to lose interest in a blog post with no pictures, so I'll stop there. Pictures to come soon... hey, we're still unpacking. Legitimate excuse this time!