Top 5...

It was just over a week or so ago that I started noticing I could spend more of my day in an upright position, instead of the horizontal, crashed-on-the-couch or bed position I had become so accustomed to. Slowly, I have begun to emerge from my cave, only, at times, to be so overwhelmed by what I see, that I want to crawl back in and continue my hibernation. Two months of Mom being MIA does not go unnoticed around here, and there are piles of stuff, and messes, and more piles to prove it.

So while my lack of blog updates was at first due to feeling so sick and tired ALL the time, lately it has been due to the overwhelming feeling of trying to play catch-up with all the stuff that apparently only Mom can do around here.

So now, let's catch up on some blogging, shall we? Easiest way I could think of was to make a Top 5 list of some of the more blog-worthy or picture-worthy things that have happened recently.

1. Ashlyn has been in underwear for 4 days now and hasn't had an accident! Big cheers for her! The big hurdle we struggled for months with was getting her to do #2 in the potty. No amount of bribery would work with this stubborn child! Then one day, Dakota brought home a box of dates. Apparently, dates were the essential motivation tool we had been missing all along! Now, she intentionally tries to poop as many times a day as possible so she can get lots of dates for a treat.

2. We made it outside just before the leaves all fell from the trees, and managed to survive a morning of family pictures. After a bit of hunting, we stumbled upon this wonderful open setting behind the Des Moines Arts Center. It was obvious that everyone else already knew about this gem of land, as there were countless couples and families all being cajoled and posed by their own photographers that morning. Unfortunately, we had no hired help. We had to heard our own cats. But even still, I was happy with several of the shots I got.


3. We went to an apple orchard/pumpkin farm and came home with a donut. It appears I didn't make it out of my cave soon enough, and we missed being aloud to pick apples by just a few days. Gurrr! But they did have a large kid's play area, so we spent several hours watching the girls enjoy themselves outside.

Even with the huge corn pool, and giant jumping pillow, Emma's favorite activity was feeding the goats. I'm not kidding, we easily spent an hour watching her pick every tiny piece of animal food off the ground and feed it to the goats. She even got the idea to fill he pockets in the corn pool, so she could take it back to the goats later. The goats got most of the corn, but the washing machine ended up with the last handful.

4. We carved pumpkins at a friend's Halloween party!


5. We had a fun family time at our church's Great Pumpkin Party. It was packed, but the girls didn't care. They loved the free popcorn and ice cream, bounce houses, games, and tons of candy! What kid wouldn't? The poodle skirts were another thing waiting on my endless to-do list. Fortunately, I finished them the night before the party.


Well, I think that gets me caught up on five of the more interesting things that have happened around here recently. Hopefully I can get back in the habit of posting more regularly. Don't give up on me yet!