The Fall has fallen

and the cold is upon us. We had a great Fall, here in Central PA! The leaves were as bright as ever and the activities were as abundant!

We went and did some apple picking, pumpkin picking, hay riding, corn mazing and just had fun being outside and enjoying the fall weather.





These pictures of Owen crack me up. He was upset about something and you can watch it play out in the pictures. He gets over things pretty quick!

Wonderland Magic

My sweet neighbor gave me tickets to the other theme park that's close by. Dutch Wonderland. We hadn't been here yet and talked the Tuttle's into joining us. It was fun, I think I like Hershey Park better, but this is the place to go if you have small kids who aren't thrill seekers. Lots of little kid rides that you just sit in.

We had a great time and enjoyed our company!

All I want for Christmas...

is for Owen to still have his two front teeth! A few weeks ago he was doing what Owen does best, that's jumping from anything that he can, or balancing then diving...This particular day, it was both. In part it is my fault! When I take out Owen's crib mattress to change his sheets, the kids love me to prop it against the window bench and they use it like a slide.

This has been done so much that the mattress now bends in the middle so I use a firm bean bag to prop it up.

Eventually the mattress slipped to the floor and Owen decided to practice his trapeze skills and balance on said bean bag/more round pillow ottoman. The next thing I know he's slipped and fell mouth first into the edge of the bench and is crying. (He doesn't usually cry unless it's serious!) The minute I picked him up I knew it was bad. There was blood everywhere and I could tell that his teeth were no longer in the position they used to be in.

I immediately call all the dental professionals in my family (which is A LOT!) and get mixed recommendations from: Leave them as is, take him in to a Pediatric dentist for an evaluation, to, getting a soft splint/sew the gum's back in place.

That's right I said sew the gum's back in place. He had completely severed the Frenum and scalped his gum's away from his teeth. (Warning this picture contains blood...)



I ended up taking him into the Pedodontist just for reassurance. She reassured me that he did move his teeth up into his gum's and that sometimes the teeth will move back down? (Hasn't happened yet. But I'm hopeful!) She also wouldn't recommend that he get the gum's sewn back down since we'd have to put him under to do it, but that they too should repair themselves. The mouth is such a fast healer. (which I am thankful for!)This has happened but still seems to be tender when I brush his teeth.

I think the hardest part for him, since he was up and running around as normal after his nap is that he can no longer bite into an apple, I have to cut them up for him, which he doesn't really have the patience for, but we are working on it!

Thanks to all the family members that helped me get through this FIRST Fiasco with Owen. I say first because the minute Nate saw him he said, "Hon, this looks bad, but it's not your fault. He's just a tough, likes to play rough, kinda kid. This is the first of his accidents and it won't be his last; I am sure!"

So stay tuned for more Owen debacles. I'm sure you won't have to wait too long!

How's that time out working for you?

The only place that Owen will stay in time out is in his crib where he can't escape.

















Or can he?

NoNo

I thought this was funny and needed to be documented. First, today I went to the post office to mail a birthday package to my niece, I explained why we were going to the post office and that they were going to ship the package to her.

When we got to the counter Liam looks at the guy and says, "Now are you gonna fly this package to Camie's house?" I couldn't help but laugh!

Second, when you ask Owen to say Liam he calls him NoNo? I don't know if that's how he hears it, or if that's what he hears me say the most to him, so I guess that his new nick name is NoNo.

And Hello to Fall

Oh I am so behind!

To start, Liam is now officially in his second year of preschool, and I start to hyperventilate at the thought of him riding a bus to kindergarten next year! So we won't think about that and will focus on the present.

He is going to a new pre-school this year a little closer to our home. He seems to like it, but tells me he misses his old teacher Miss Colleen. But I am hopeful that he will warm up to his new teacher Miss Dupes who's a little more "stern" it seems?



Here he is on his first day (and Owen who thinks he too is ready for school.)





After school I took them for a back to school treat and Liam chose to go get ice cream at the "monkey place" (king kone.)








Owen was ecstatic that he was able to join in on this fun as you can tell!

I loved this picture of Liam just lounging after his treat!

Lets say goodbye to summer...

Here are the top four favorite summer pics.
1-Owen eating one of moms fudgesicles. Glad I let him do it in his diaper.
2- Shrek BABY! Diggin the shades
3-Liam pretending to be Harry Potter (Before his Halloween costume got here. Maybe I should have just had him go out like that?)
4- All smooshed up!





We enjoyed a fun day at Hershey Park with our friends the Alsop's, who recently moved to VA, but came up for the long weekend.

Owen has to "Love" anything that is/or resembles an animal. I hope he doesn't try to love a real bee. Might not love him back.

Cheryl and I took the two "minis" (Actually Lexi just became a kiss.) on the kiddie rights while the dads (Nate was post call and just came so Liam could do the big rides, then went home for a siesta.)

A new favorite of Liam's...The Howler. I on the other hand will NEVER go on this ride. It's a spinning ride and I don't do so well with those. They were all laughing so hard.









Another favorite is the BIG pirate ship, which I will go on! But Daddy got to take him this time.

Then it was Mom's turn for a ride on the "caws" or the frontier fliers if you want to be correct.









I got an ice cream cone while Owen took his nap and thought I'd get to enjoy it all by myself...I was WRONG. I swear he smelled it in his sleep and then it was his.




We TIRED (and failed.) to get a picture with all the kids smiling. (Or even looking at the camera.) Yeah right. Nice try moms!

Thanks for the fun weekend Alsop's and for a final farewell to summer

"Buddy, Hobbes is Dead." 9/9/09

(Well it was 9/10/09 for me, but early this morning) that I got text messages telling me my family dog passed away. It's past 2 a.m. but I've been crying so hard that I'm totally awake and need something to do to stop the tears. NO this isn't helping, but there is not much else I can do that won't wake everyone up so I thought I'd post a little Memoir for him.

His name was Hobbes Liddell. Named after our family's favorite comic book series Calvin and Hobbes (we also had a Calvin, it was a bird, but he passed away long ago now.)

Hobbes was a Miniature Schnauzer. He was lighter than most schnauzer's, almost a silvery white. I'm sure he was darker when we got him but for a long time now he's been almost white. That may have been because he would have been almost 100 years old in Human years and was close to 15 dog years.

For the most part he was a good dog, but he had two annoying habits: Running at lightening speed as soon as you opened the front door, and he'd be GONE! Down the street as fast as his four legs would carry him. He'd do who knows what, but was gone for at least an hour. I can't tell you how many times we've all had to get in the car to search for him. He'd always come back, but it was usually as people were leaving for the night that he'd "Escape" and we didn't want him to get hit, freeze, or bark.

He did get hit once, but what? Who knows. But he came back with his eyeball out of the socket and had to have surgery to put it back in. He was blind in that eye after, and would occasionally bump into the wall of couch if he wasn't paying attention. (Poor guy!)

Barking was his other vice. He was fine if no one was at the door, or if he couldn't see any other dogs through the windows. But if that door bell rang or someone walked past with their dog, he'd go berserk.


We got Hobbes when I was a sophomore in High School. He never bit anyone to my knowledge, and was really good with kids. He'd let them get to a certain degree of pestering, then he'd just politely run out his dog door to the three tiered backyard and be invisible until he wanted to be social again. He even let us dress him up for Halloween or whenever any of the kids decided he needed a costume. He HATED this as well, but tolerated it.

He LOVED for you to give him ANY attention. If you had a hand hanging off the couch, there was always a wet nose that would soon be under it begging for a rub.

He had a really funny bark, that I'm not sure we have audio of? Both my boys if you ask what a dog says, they saw woof woof, but if you ask what Hobbsie says, you'll get a Baruuu.

He also had this funny habit of mimicking the noise police, ambulance, and firetrucks make. My parents live at the bottom of the ski resorts so whenever there is need for an ambulance up the canyon (which was often) you knew they were coming long before they got there since his super sensitive ears would perk up and then you would hear him go: "whooOOOooo, WhooOOOoo." and he'd get louder as they got closer. It was hilarious. I always thought it needed to be entered into Americas funniest videos.

He was a beautiful dog when he had a haircut (which was less than he should have, he'd get so shaggy that he looked almost woolly, and then we'd have to shave him except for his beard and 3 ft long eyelashes that I coveted. He HATED when he was shaved. He'd hide for the first week and try to tuck that nub of a tail, saying, "Why? Why can't you guys take me to the groomers more often so I don't have to look ridiculous. (Sorry buddy, I tried to make sure you got a cut whenever I was in town and a good bath! There was not much else I could do from 2,000 miles away.)

Here is to a great dog, who truly defined the saying a Mans Best Friend. He will be missed by all. Especially me.
(I couldn't find a picture of him without being dressed up, but here is one with the fam.)

I love you Hobbsie!

Another visit from Nana and Bompa and a journey to the BIG Apple.

We got lucky again this month to get a visit from Nate's parents. They took the red-eye to NYC and spent a few days enjoying a Yankees game (Nate can't think of anything worse unless it's a Yankees game and the Red Socks have just slaughtered them.)
Saw a few Broadway shows, and did things that I only imagine doing Cause you can't do them with kids, like go to Shephora (Can you imagine what could happen in that store with two kids???), walk to SOHO and window shop, barter for purses in China town, or enjoy a dinner where you actually eat it while it's hot, and you don't go home wearing most of it or sporting the OH so cool, "I just peed my pants look" courtesy of the inevitable drink that spills across the table and lands in your lap because you have child number two sitting on your lap and your parent reflex of jumping at lightning speed is slowed due to the extra 40 lbs.

Unfortunately (like always,) Nate had to work so meeting them in New York wouldn't be possible. Or would it?...OK sure I'll do it by myself. Who can pass up New York City with personal tour guides and Mommy's helpers at your side? Tricky part is get to NYC where this help is awaiting.

I packed the car the night before, made sure the DVD was good and charged, and had breakfast on the ready for our early departure.

The kids did good most the way, we had to stop for a pee break and a DVD swap out. And Owen cried (more like screamed OUT OUT OUT!!! The last 20 minutes then crashed.)
Then I parked in the parking garage at Newark Penn station, made sure my car was LOCKED, strapped Sleeping Owen good and tight into the stroller, (surprise he woke up.) Strapped on the backpack which also had another stroller strapped to its side, put on our rain gear (Yes it was pouring thanks to Hurricane Danny. I just can't seem to get away from hurricanes.)

We bought our tickets got a little lost finding the track. Found the right track, and hopped on the next train to NY Penn station. Thanks goodness it's a short ride, there are never any seats at the front where I can sit with the stroller so I end up standing between two cars in the breezeway.

We get to New York where open arms are awaiting grandchildren squeezes. We then head back out into the rain for a walk to the hotel, which sat in Times Square and our view was awesome! The boys also created their own game of hide N seek in our room.



We then took the kids to the CMOM (Children's Museum Of Manhattan) A hands on museum, with four floors of adventures waiting to be found. The favorite floor was obviously the Dora and Diego exhibit, but a close second was the alphabet eating dragon.



That night we took Liam to see Shrek the musical and it was Fab! It is just like the first movie, but with songs added. Liam Laughed and laughed at the Donkey, so hard that people were laughing at him. True to Liam form, he fell asleep the last 15 minutes and stayed asleep through the down pour we were running through to get back to the hotel. There were even water puddles in his lap, but he never even stirred. (why didn't little brother inherit this gene?)

The next day we headed out to get breakfast and a trip to FAO Schwartz and the Disney store but had to turn back when we could no longer see where we were going and the thought of driving three hours in wet clothes was sounding less and less appealing.

The boys took their first NYC cab ride (no car seats.) glad it was only a few blocks to the station. And both boys enjoyed the freedom of riding restraint-less.

We had another rush to find our track, got on the train as they were pulling out, and got home in time to get dinner with Nate.

But the fun didn't stop in Hershey I think it just began...




We enjoyed a day at Hershey park, and Nate got to come with. We even got to ride a few "Big Kid Rides" while the G-parents took the kids on a few rides. And a trip to Chocolate world. (A visit to Hershey wouldn't be complete without a visit to Chocolate World!)

We decided a visit to the Hershey Gardens would be a perfect place to let the boys get out and run around. They LOVED it, except the part where Owen face planted into the rock drinking fountain and got a goose egg and some lovely scratch imprints of the pebbles. Hew blew it off pretty quickly. (I guess this makes up for the light sleeper trait.)

POOR NANA! We thought this was the perfect photo opp, but it turns out this Cow is a little slipperier than you'd think. She is always a good sport and laughed at us laughing WITH her!

The Gardens were awesome! The boys got to run around, play with butterflies, chase bunnies and I never once had to stop Owen from an eminent death. I think we'll have to go there more often!



























And I had to take them to my new find; Lake Tobias. Nate REALLY wanted to join us, so he did a 24 the night before, came home; the rest of the house left for a walk up "duck poop pond trail" (aka: Jonathan Eshenour Memorial Trail at Bullfrog Valley pond) so he could get a little uninterrupted sleep, and three hours later we were off for an animal adventure.

And I guess it's good thing that we did cause I never knew that one of his life's dream was to pet a buffalo. Who'd a guessed? So I guess we can check mark that off the list since one of the huge beasts couldn't get enough of us scratching her back. In fact she turned around to the other side and looked at us like: "Oh, a little higher, a little lower, yeah that's the spot."
Here are a bunch of photos from the day,



The boys of course loved every moment of it, Liam I guess was a little pooped from all our partying the days prior and fell asleep during the safari. (I tell you that kid can sleep anywhere!) Thanks to Bompa for lending his thigh as a pillow.

But, here are the top 8 favorites!

And I'll tell you why...



Do you think they're related?



I noticed this Green fella poised and intense. So I got a closer look.



LUNCH! (notice the dragonfly on the rock. He was taunting big Green, and it was almost his last, but he narrowly missed seeing the inside of Big Green and will taunt another day.)



Have you ever seen such a fat relaxed ground hog?



Disturbing in SO many ways!



I love how they are both looking at whatever they were looking at with the same interest.



My little animal LOVER. He had to give loves to ALL the animals he could. (Can you say hand sanitizer???)



This one on the other hand wanted to love them from a better, safer view. About 6' 5" safer to be exact. Who can blame him, those buggers are aggressive.

It was so fun to have company, especially for a last summer Hoorah!

Our next Poulson adventure....

New Orleans, LA October 2009!

I'm gonna call the police man...

The other morning I was rushing to get out the door. The kids were dressed, diaper bag packed, shoes on, and I thought "Hey I should put the sunblock on the kids now so I don't have to take it with me." I grab it spray down Liam's arms and legs, then tell him to close his eyes while I spray his face. (I don't normally do this, I usually spray it in my hands then rub it on his face so I can avoid getting it in their eyes, but I was in a hurry and thought it would be fine.) He closes his eyes and as soon as he hears the spray sound he opens them and looks straight at the spray.

enter SCREAMING HYSTERICAL FIT!!!! (For good reason. It hurts when you get sunblock in your eyes, and I imagine even worse when it's a direct shot.)

So I have to hold a wet cloth on it until the stinging stops. (I'm now late.)
Scramble to get the kids in the car, am driving down the street, the tears have stopped and it seems the incident has been all but forgotten when I hear Liam say: "Mom if you spray sunblock in my eyes again, I'm going to call the police man."

OUCH...

ME: "Buddy why are you going to call the police man?"

LIAM: "Well because you hurt me and he will give you a ticket, cause you did something bad."

ME: " I didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident. Mommy would NEVER hurt you on purpose. I love you and it makes me sad when you get hurt; or are sad. I would be sad if you called the police man."

LIAM: "Well, then I'll call him if you do it on purpose next time."

Agreed.