The Childrens' Museum

Today we went to the Childrens' Museum. We met up with my friend from work, Bethany, and her husband, Drew, and four-year-old daughter, Layla. We saw dinosaur bones, a meteorite, and all kinds of other exhibits. We actually skipped two floors of stuff, so we'll have to go back again to make up for it! Jacob's favorite part had a crane and diggers. Ella's favorite part had Eli Lilly's daughter's playhouse. Both kids had a great time, but Ella busted her lip so we went home. She was tired anyway and fell asleep in the car before we'd even left the parking garage.

Happy Halloween!!!

This Halloween, Jacob went as The White Rabbit and Ella went as Ella's in Wonderland. We just did our block, as it was kind of chilly and the kids can't really walk that far anyway. Ella surprised us by being very into the door knocking and talking to people. Both kids yelled "Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween!" and were polite when getting their candy. Our last house was our own, so we brought in our pink-nosed children and warmed up by dumping their bags on the table to inspect the loot. Soon it was bedtime and Kris tucked the kids into bed, Jake in his bunny mittens and Ella in her tights.

Are You KIDDING Me???

Jacob woke up this morning with a fever. This has been one a week for three stinking weeks! Ella is fine. Kris is fine. I'm still playing catch up with last week's cold... ridiculous!

Sized Up

The kids had a WIC appointment yesterday and had their measurements taken. Jacob is 38 lbs, 8oz and 41" tall. Ella is 28 lbs, 8oz and 36" tall. Both had finger pokes, but only Ella cried. Luckily in Indiana, you only have to have the poke once a year. The kids got shiny band-aids and stickers.

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went to the Tuttle Orchards Pumpkin Patch to pick out our pumpkins and take some Halloween pictures. Ella is Ella's in Wonderland and Jacob is the White Rabbit. The kids were only nominally interested in pumpkins- they mostly wanted to play in the play area. It was a nice day and in the 60s, so we played until they shut the place down. Today is cold and rainy so we lucked out!

Sickness, Fall Break, and House Sitting

First Jacob was sick for three days, then Ella was sick for three days, then Kris was sick for three days... and it seems like today might be day #1 for me.

Thursday and Friday were Fall Break. I house/dog sat Wednesday through Sunday at a fellow teacher's house while he and his family went on vacation. The dog is old and has a myriad of medications, but was really nice and the kids loved her. They liked taking her for walks and picking up leaves along the way. Near the house is a stream where we threw rocks and horse apples and leaves before heading back to the house for hot chocolate. Jacob likes his with marshmallows, Ella prefers without.

On Saturday while Ella napped, Jake and I went and bought new shoes for Irish Dance class. They're basically black shoes with black laces that he'll wear with his uniform. We ordered the shirt and shorts last week and will probably have them this week. I just found out yesterday that one of Jake's teachers, Collin, was in Lord of the Dance, so I'm a little more in awe of the spiky haired teen I see on Wednesdays.

Ella thinks about going to bed

We're house-sitting right now, and the kids are sleeping in a room with a bunkbed. Ella's on the bottom, Jacob's on the top.

I heard a noise so I went to check on the kids. Ella was starting to climb the ladder to the top, so I said "Ella, get off the ladder and lay down on your bed."

Ella stopped climbing, but just stood there, not looking at me. "Ella, get off the ladder," I repeated.

Now she looked at me and said "I'm still thinking!"

Trying not to crack a grin, I said, "Okay, go ahead and think about it."

Whereupon she put a look on her face that very clearly said "I'm thinking," and continued making this face for five or ten seconds. Then she sort of snapped out of it, grinned, and said happily "I think I'll go to my bed!" and she trotted right on over and laid down.