Cow Train!

It's cow train time!! The girls have been waiting for this for a whole year! We finally planned it out to go on Sunday, but after watching the weather, I decided to take them this morning. So I enlisted Grandpa to join us to help me get Harper in and out of things, since Finley was strapped to me! We had so much fun, and the kids had a blast!

Waiting for the tractor ride
Chloe thrilled to be going on a ride

Finley's first tractor ride - yes she is in the pouch!

Harper sitting in the cow train. He had absolutely no clue what this whole thing was about, but he was not going to be left behind! He hopped right in and kept telling me it was going to be loud (I think he was just prepping himself for the start of the 4 wheeler). It took off and his expression was priceless - kind of worried! He had fun, and when it came back he just says, "That was bumpy!" (I rode it last year and it was so bumpy, I got a headache)

Carly had to ride in the last one. She wanted Chloe to be in front of her so she would go first (even though it is all attached) She loved it so much, before we left she had to ride it again. Chloe and Harper didn't want a second ride, but Cheese was bound and determined to go again. She had to ride in the cow that Chloe rode in because she didn't want to go by herself, so riding the one she was in was comforting to her. She was so brave!

Chloe could hardly control her excitment - she loved it!

There they go!

Carly in the corn box - they were making corn angels!

Grandpa burying them in the corn!

Harper on Gunshot - he was nervous, but once he figured out what was going on he was petting his horse - this was is first pony ride!!

Carly on Levi. She wanted a small pony. Hers actually was going a little wild and her face got very nervous. The lady said that her horse didn't like getting his feet wet, so I talked it up and she calmed down.

Chloe rode a huge horse- Maverick. She was petting her horse while she rode - she was proud of that!

Traveling back to the car after a morning of fun!

Mousse

This post is backwards - oops

This is just a funny story about Harper. Matt was intervening with Harper and one of the girls. Matt was coaching Harper to say, "Carly, can I please have that book." Harper whines and says, "That's Chloe!" Poor Daddy still can't get the girls straight!!!
In order to try to control this hair of Finley Claire, I thought of using mousse! It worked pretty good. This picture was my first try - obviously used too much, but I gave her a bath and tried again. It gives it a little weight! I can't believe I am having to look for hair products for my 8 week old!!

Pumpkin Time

Seeing as how everyone was so sick, we weren't able to go get pumpkins until 3 days before Halloween. So, we only got one, but we had fun carving it! Harper picked out the nose, Carly picked out the mouth, and Chloe picked out the eyes.

Cleaning out the pumpkin!

Harper didn't like gutting it out at all. He stuck his hand in and said it was dirty, so Matt gave him a spoon - he stuck it in for this pic and then was done!

Oh, the Sickness!!

Well, we made it!! Our first big bang of sickness! It lasted a week and a half and is still lingering, but the worst is behind us! Harper came down with it first and it spread like wild fire. Harper, Carly and Chloe all had high fevers, cough, runny/stuffy noses and just felt yucky. Finley got it too. She just got the nasty cough and stuffy nose (an 8 week old sounds pitiful with a nasty cough). Matt had to join the fun as well! All these sick babies at one time, man it was fun! We had several days where the kids just layed around and were just burning. Nights - well, we got Finley sleeping through the night, just to get our nights still disrupted by miserable girls. I am so glad they are feeling better now. They were so pitiful.

Daddy and Finley feeling rough together!
Carly with her sick bucket! She doesn't like to cough, so she holds it in. As a result, she pukes from all the flem - lovely!

Chloe on Fire - you may see steam coming off her head if you look closely :)

And the culprit who started it all! He was feeling better by now, but he had to join in on all the sick fun!

My Sweet Chloe

Today's post is going to highlight my little Chloe. She has such a sweet heart! Here are a couple things she has done recently that just melt my heart because of her sweetness.

I took her to the grocery store the other day and she happily got her cookie at the door. We did our shopping and at the check out she says to me, "Mommy, I think Carly and Harper would like a cookie too." She is so thoughtful. She wrapped up 2 cookies and ran inside the house to give out her treats to her siblings.

We have had a bought of sickness run through this house this week. All of the kids have gotten it starting with Harper, then Chloe, and now Carly. Today Carly was laying down resting and Chloe proceeds to gather books from around the house. She states, "Mom, I'm getting all the dog books for Carly so I can read to her and make her feel better!" Carly's favorite animal is a dog and Chloe knew that would lift her spirits. So she sat next to her sick sister reading every dog book to her.

Then today at lunch, the kids were eating pb&j's and I had 1 piece of leftover pizza. Harper wanted a bite, but didn't not politely ask for one, so I told him not until he asked the right way. Well of course, the girls heard that and they politely asked for a bite of my pizza. I tore them both a piece of my slice and they put it on their plate. Chloe was coaching Harper to ask politely, but he was stubbornly festering to himself. I continued to eat my pizza. When he finally asked the right way for a piece, I had none left! I told him he took too long to make a good choice. Chloe looks down at her little piece I had torn off for her (it was no bigger than a quarter) and tears it in 2. What does she do? Hands Harper a piece of her pizza. This girl's little heart is so big. I love her!

Role Play

The girls were doing a little role playing today. Carly was Mom sweeping the kitchen. Chloe was Dad. Chloe, "Dad," walks in the kitchen and says, "Do you need any help Mom?" Mom replies, "No, but you can change Finley." Dad said, "Ok!" And he proceeded to get Finley and wrapped her up in a blanket.

Then "Mom" said she needed to change Finley too - because we both do that!

I had some brownie treats for them and Carly, " Mom," had to hand them out because "only Mom feeds us."

So funny! I like seeing how we are perceived through our children's eyes. It is a good check for them to do a little role playing every once in a while so you know if you need to change your tone towards anything! These children are truely little sponges and watch every move we make.

Side Story: The girls are really into princesses now. They know all the Disney princesses, but have never seen a movie or anything, just products in the store. I decided that a sing-a-long movie would be a safe bet to the whole princess thing! They were watching it this morning and discussing what was going on. All the princes were Dads. The beast - Belle's Dad, Aladin - Jasmine's Dad, etc. That just shows who their true love really is!! They just see the body language and all the hugging and they know that is what a Daddy is for! So innocent - I love it!

Squeeky Bones

Matt has the most annoying bones in the world! His whole body pops when he moves. Every time he bends his thumb - it cracks. Well, normally I am pretty used to his squeaky bones, but last night it was absolutely crazy!! Finley had a bubbling stomach - one that made her wake up at 3:30 and Matt didn't get back in bed until 5:15. Not so fun when she has been sleeping through the night for over a week! Well, he was holding her and pacing the room (my rules for middle of the night awake babies - that is his job - he can be tired at work, but if I am tired and have a short fuse, I don't want it to come out on our kids - so he is on night duty). As he was pacing, his body was cracking every step he made - his knees and ankles!! AGH! I finally had to make him leave the room it was so loud! This happened when the girls were babies too. So bad I wouldn't let him take another step - he had to freeze where he was until I could leave the room! Yes I am a little extreme (but if you know me, that is just my personality), but man, he sounds like the tin man and needs a good oiling!!!!