I finally found the list of things I was going to blog about last week so here's a quick summary of everything...

*We finally had a play date with our previous neighbors. Samantha was sure we were never going to see them again so she really enjoyed her time with Sophie and Issy. I had a good time visiting with their mom to.
*Friday we went to a gymnastics center for open play. The kids ran, jumped, swung and hung for two hours. I think their favorite part was the trampoline you ran on and then jumped into a pit of foam. It surprised me to turn around after watching Blake to see Samantha on top of the balance beam making her way across. She did it just fine.
*Blake has started to say the word help and ask for it whenever he needs it.
*Samantha has started saying, "_______ (usually Blake) is so annoying."
*For a few days Samantha was really interested in Cheetah's. She wanted to watch Cheetah movies, asked how fast they ran, etc. It's fun to see her interested and learn about different things.
*We had gotten a book from the Library called "Freight Train." Blake absolutely LOVED the book and it fast became a bedtime favorite. After we had to return it he cried for it at bedtime until I finally went out and picked him up a copy for himself.
*A couple of weeks ago Samantha got a piece of gum stuck in her hair. Luckily it was from the back and near the bottom so you really can't tell unless you put her hair into a ponytail and then some hair falls down around her face.
*If Blake sees any amount of water he calls it a puddle. It can be a pond, lake or actually puddle, it doesn't matter.
*One day Samantha just spelled our last name for us. It shocked me because I hadn't even tried to teach her. I think she had overheard me say it on the phone numerous amounts of times and has picked it up.
*Blake will roar at you at anytime but particularly if you're peaking in him, he comes up to you, etc. It's so cute to hear his little voice say it.
*Samantha has learned the days the week all by herself to. She often misses Thursday but I say that's not bad at all. Often when she asks when something is going to happen I'll tell her with the days of the week leading up to it.
*Blake has started to try to gag himself just to get our attention. He knows it absolutely drives me crazy but he thinks it's extremely funny. I hope he picks up another attention grabber soon!
*We were out on our porch this week having a snack when out of the blue Samantha said she had a big butt. I asked her where she had heard that and why she had said that because I am try to be very careful what I say around her. She promptly replied, "Mom, I understand I don't have a big butt like you..." Thanks honey:)
*Today we took the time to visit the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth, KS, about a 40 minute drive from our house. Both kids love carousels and it was a treat for them.

Our visit to the C.W. Park Carousel Museum...

This is one they have on display from approximately 1850. It has to be pushed by 2 men...

Random shots...

Just like Uncle Paul, Samantha has started with taking pictures of herself...

Two weeks ago we had another nice, quiet week. It rained a couple of days so we spent as much time inside as we could. One of the days the kids wanted to go outside so we did, in the pouring rain and jumped in the puddles. they LOVED it! The puddles were so deep and splashable. We had armed ourselves with raincoats and umbrella's which worked out wonderfully.

Samantha has started to "read" to us and teach Blake. She gets this from us working with her. She has learned all of her uppercase alphabet and nearly the sounds of all of the letters. We don't push her but take advantage of her willingness to learn.

Blake has become such a great eater in the fact that he'll try most anything and likes things tasty and on the spicy side. He will east Sour Cream by the spoonful if we let him and asks for my spice on his boiled potatoes. He seems to be just the opposite of Samantha who proves to still be a picky eater.

We got Samantha's blood work back and it confirmed the she suffers from high cholesterol. We have started to make small changes in our diet and hope to make big changes over time but we also know that is hereditary. I have an appointment to meet with a dietitian in December and hope to get some help with preparing better foods for our family. It's something that I hope to make Samantha aware of when the time comes and hope to set a good example for her how she will have to make good decisions the rest of her life.

Blake continues to pick up so many words. Tonight he heard me say "Bravo" while reading a good and he said it several times. It's amazing how effectively he can communicate with only one word at a time.

Last week we talked about apples. We ate carameled apples, colored trees and painted apples on them and then hung apples from our dining room light as they would hang from a tree.

A week ago we joined our church on a train ride. There was about 25 of us on the train and on the way we went backwards. The gentleman in the back had the door open the entire time and we were able to stand and watch the track coming and let the breezes blow on us. We all had a great time. At the end Blake was running up and down the aisles, I guess the swinging of the train didn't bother him.

Monday we headed to Travis' parents to attend the funeral of his aunt. We spent Tuesday there and headed back Wednesday afternoon. It was a short trip and the reasons were unfortunate but we all enjoyed the time with the grandparents and his other family members.

This week we started to right things we're thankful for on our patio door. It's fun to see what the kids think of. Samantha even asked for the marker so she could make her own list.

Enjoying the train ride...

Playing in our slide off of our deck...

Working on our apple crafts...

Playing in one of our many piles of leaves...

Misc. pictures...