First Field Trip

Gracie's preschool class went to Walter's Fruit Ranch up on Greenbluff last week.  Most parents went along too, so when I see this group photo, I also remember the group of just as many parents standing a few feet away with cameras in their hands.  All parents had cameras, that is, except me--the Lochheads were just lucky to be there that day!  Luckily Addi's mom emailed me some pictures!  Thanks, Tiffany!

 Cute dangling feet and someone with a pesky boog...

  They learned about how important bees are to the orchard.  They were explaining pollination, but I was giggling after they said the bit about how bees have fuzzy legs, just like the kids' daddies, so don't quiz me on the process.

 Sweet Addi and Gracie.  These girls have to stick together--did you count the 4 girls and 9 boys?  Luckily they're quite sweet boys!  The parents were laughing about how the kids picked out great $5 pumpkins...sheeeesh!  We should've had a game plan before picking out pumpkins: "Biggest one!  Biggest one!"  They really liked the cute little pumpkins.

After picking and eating an apple, drinking cider, tasting apple butter, posing for pictures, and picking pumpkins, we were ready to go home.  It was a really fun morning.  Nap time was even better.  :) 

Fingerprints on the Window

One of my favorite parts of the day is when the kids are asleep for the night and I find their little "fingerprints" all over the house:  babies sleeping on the toilet lid, bottles stashed on the pantry shelf, toy cars in the silverware tray of the dishwasher, animals lined up on the windowsill.  I smile.  Their little brains, very busy throughout the day, are now peacefully recharging.  I can't wait to see what they think of tomorrow.

GRANDparents

Isn't this picture of G'ma Colleen and the kids PRECIOUS?  They obviously love it when she plays from her Mary Poppins sheet music--it really doesn't get any better, in their minds!  She is such a grandkid spoiler...Gracie and Josh love their Tuesdays with G'ma...filled with playdoh, Elmo's Christmas Countdown, walks with Brodie, making biscuits, jumping on the bed, and getting out all of the kid dishes from the kitchen cupboard.  Oh, and reading books.  They love reading books with her.

...and Papa is the best throw-the-kids-on-the-bed grandpa there is!  They've gotten to where they ask HIM if they can jump on his bed because he's the best kid-tosser.  He also knows the way to Joshy's heart--throwing rocks.  He stood here quite a while with Josh, just tossing landscape rocks into the bushes.

We are so blessed to have them close-by.  We love you, G'ma and Papa!

Greenbluff Season

We have taken full advantage of living close to Greenbluff this year!  It's mid-October and we've already been up FOUR times!  We can't think of a better place to spend the fall days...

 Josh has just learned how to JUMP!  It really looks like a spastic dance...we've GOT to get it on video!

 And Grace is all about jumping off of things...steps, the ottoman, our bed, the van...

 The tutu running across the Knapp's barnyard...

 And of course, Josh's day was made when a KITTY was brave enough to show herself!

This just happened to be the weekend of my ten-year college reunion, so we got to experience Greenbluff with our good friends who were hanging around Whitworth in 2001...the Websters, the Edmondsons, the Swenlands, and the Van Sickles.

 Gracie, Kalei and Kelsey

 The Websters!

 Watching the Punkin' Chunkin' cannon...

Kai LOVED the animals--and was not afraid to stick his little carrot-looking fingers in the fence!

 Picture taken against the wills of two-thirds the individuals...

 Gracie really didn't like the noise of the Pumpkin Cannon.  :)

It was such a fun weekend to connect with friends!

Strawberry Fingers

 G'ma Dianne, Gracie and Josh's babysitter, loves to spoil them!  Proof?  She cuts their strawberries horizontally, so they can wear them on their fingers.  What a fun trick!  Gracie requested that I cut them "the G'ma Dianne way" at home.

 So fun to WEAR your food!

And of course, we had to teach Buddy Kai when he came to play on a Friday!  He thought these two were SILLY!

Goofball

Josh continues to crack us up with his silly sense of humor.

Lazy Saturdays

This is the picture that our kids will look at in ten years and say, "Look how crazy that old phone looks!" Right now, they love to go through all of dad's home videos on his Droid. We are loving our Saturdays--both Mom and Dad home and just FUN planned! Our weeks are a bit more crazy--Jeff's teaching and coaching girls soccer and I'm working M-W and playing with Josh and Grace on Th-Fri. One more week of coaching left for Jeff!

Our First Pet

We have taken the teeny-tiny first step in becoming a PET family: Welcome, Tu-Tu, our fierce, fire-red fighting fish!


I was thinking Thor or Poseidon might be a better name for a fighting fish, but Gracie recognized that we had a fish who was confident in his fish-hood. She even calls him a girl--he may need counseling in his later years...