Pumpkin Farm Deja Vu

Thursday was Little Lambs Preschool's field trip to the pumpkin farm. It was so nice outside and the kids all had so much fun. This particular farm is amazing and has just about anything you could possibly want to do at a pumpkin farm.



However, the kids got to do everything except pick out a pumpkin. Josh and Harrison loved the corn bin (basically a huge sand box filled with corn) until Josh realized he had corn kernels in his socks, shoes and underwear. It took him once down the tube slide until he figured that one out!

But the biggest hit of the day was the pig race.



There is just something about seeing pigs run that makes me laugh. It reminded me of the time my parents let me wear my brand new sneakers out to a church choir picnic at one of the member's farm (I don't know what they were thinking). Well, all the kids thought it was funny to run and scream at the pig pen. Then all the pigs would take off squealing and kick up a bunch of flying mud (and you know what else). Well, it was my turn to run towards the fence and I slipped and couldn't stop. Yeah, my new shoes were ruined because I got them stuck in a nice huge pile of pig manure. Not only did I get to hear, "I told you so."; but I had to ride home with them hanging out the window due to the stench. How my parents didn't smack me is far beyond me.

Anyway, as you can see...it was a great day!







Since we didn't actually get a pumpkin on Thursday, we all decided to head to another farm closer to home on Saturday. It was windy and hectic but well worth it!!!



Josh's favorite part was the corn maze. We had to do it twice and run away from all the "booby traps"! Josh lead us through and Dustin kept saying, "Are you going to get us out of here, Josh?" It was cute the first 10 times, but after he asked it for the eleventh time Josh sort of snapped. "Dad, enough. I'll get us out of here. Geez." It was taking forever and I was ready to leave...but that was hysterical.



We walked over by the cows and realized that they were all eating. So Dustin reached out his hand to have one of the cows lick him. Dustin tried to convince Josh to come get his hand licked but as soon as Josh got a whiff of "cow" he started to gag and said, "Oh my Gosh. This place stinks." Then he immediately ran off. Guess he's not going to be a farmer.





We got our pumpkins and got to eat our lunch in the van on the way home. Josh said it was "the perfect day".

Sick and tired.

Lauren has her first official illness. Actually, the kids have the same thing; a stuffy nose and cough. And now, thanks to them, Dustin and I are coming down with it as well. Thankfully, though, theirs started right away on Thursday night so the worst of it was during my three days off.

The Brickers never let a little cough keep them down for long and Papa Adam was in town so it would have taken duct tape to keep Josh in bed and resting anyway. He's pretty good about going to bed when he's tired but one night he just didn't quite make it up the stairs before falling asleep.



Usually when Dad comes to town him and I end up demolishing part of my house because we got inspired (which is how the foyer ended up with ceramic tile). But this weekend was pretty laid back. Him and I went shopping for new hardware, light fixture, paint and shower curtain for the kids' bathroom. Josh was very excited with all the purchases and was convinced that we were going to finish the entire project before sundown. Any other time he probably would have been right but we just couldn't bring ourselves to even change the curtain.

We were watching a movie after the kids had gone to bed when all of a sudden I hear the toilet flush upstairs and Josh yell down, "Uh....guys. My bathroom isn't done yet." Demanding little lad, huh? I can't imagine where he gets it.

Lauren got yet another pair of shoes. I swear that girl is like my little American Girl doll. I have so much fun putting her in little outfits and taking pictures. These ones have little flowers at the strap!!!



She also has ballerina socks. They are too cute!! I have to tell you, though, every time I see her in them without any pants on her thighs remind me of that scene in Disney's Fantasia where the elephants are ballerinas. It is SO funny!



Sunday was the Safe Halloween at Usher's Ferry. Josh is so shy anymore and his biggest concern about Halloween is having people laugh at him. So I started talking about dressing up in his costume at breakfast. It did not go well. He refused.

A few hours later I reminded him that if he didn't dress up he wouldn't get any candy. And I explained to him that if he DIDN'T dress up he'd be the only kid without a costume. Yeah, that didn't work either.

Finally, Dustin said that he'd dress up as a doctor as well. That worked! So we get everyone in their scrubs and headed out there. With the nice weather on Sunday, the place was packed. We sat in the car almost 30 minutes before we even got up to gate. But it was all worth it! As soon as we got out of the van Josh looked around and saw all the other kids in costumes and said, "Mom...I guess you were right." I know that I won't get to hear that phrase too many times in my life so I relished in the glory for a good 10 minutes.

Josh was happy because he got lots of candy. Dustin and I were happy to see Josh enjoy himself. And I was happy I didn't get stuck wearing a pair of scrubs like Dustin! :-)





Lauren has started to "caterpiller" across the floor. I tried to get her on video tonight but she was just too tuckered out to perform. She's still adorable, though.





Happy Monday, everyone!

Every weekend is followed by a Monday...that's the catch.

Last week was a bit crazy. Josh had school pictures on Thursday. He swears he had a nice smile but every time he shows me how he smiled I get a little nervous. No matter how he smiled in his actual school picture I know he was dressed to kill!!!


Lauren obviously didn't have school pictures...but she was sure ready to pose!!

Larry had surgery this past week. Things didn't go exactly as planned and he was hospitalized a few days longer than expected. However, we are all praying that his pain and suffering will be relieved by the medical device. The week ended up flying by due to the fact that every night was either spent over at their house or the hospital. Either way, we would all appreciate continued prayers for him.

So, I got up bright and early on Saturday and went to a 7:30 hair appointment. There are few things as sweet as leaving the house while everyone is still sleeping. No one screaming at me for a bottle, no one yelling that they can't find their shoes and no one barking that they have to go outside. I had looked forward to the appointment for weeks and it fulfilled every one of my expectations. I didn't even balk at the $100 bill because I was going to get to enjoy a salon styled hair-do for an entire day.

I'm sure some of you can see where this is going.

By the time I got home everyone was up. And hungry. We ate breakfast and finished just in time for the Hawks to take the field. So I let Dustin watch his game by himself and took Lauren and Josh upstairs. On a side note, the person who thought of solitary confinement as a punishment obviously did not have children. Lauren and I started to play "Flying Baby"--which is basically a game where I lift her over my head and say "Fly..ing...Ba...by!"

So, just about when I said "Ba" I got an eyeful of puke. It was one of those rare moments when wearing glasses pays off. However, what didn't make it to my eye shot off my glasses and into my freshly coiffed hair. Go figure.

I've always said the reason we don't have anything nice is because we have children (and a very naughty dog). Apparently this also applies to our hair.

The Hawks actually pulled off a win for us on Saturday and since our weekend seems to teeter on the success of the Hawks we were all happy to see the scoreboard in our favor for once this season.

After church on Saturday night Lauren discovered a new position with her foot. She held the position for about 20 minutes leaving Dustin and I in awe.

Ironically, the last time I could touch my foot like that was when I was her age.

Sunday I got up even earlier than the day before and got all ready for the Breast Cancer Walk. Toni, Gretchen and I trekked down in the rain only to have the walk cancelled about 5 minutes after our arrival. So we turned around and headed back home.

After the rain died down Josh and Dustin decided to "harvest" our pumpkins from the surprise pumpkin patch. You didn't believe me...but check these things out!!!


Josh was so proud of his 11 "beautiful" pumpkins and I was proud to save the whole $3.50 it would have cost to buy the things.

All in all, it was a pleasant, relaxing weekend.

Then this morning...Miss Crabby Pants woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Josh just wouldn't wake up. Mattie wouldn't come in from outside. And I couldn't find a decent outfit. These circumstances ended with us running late only to have Lauren puke on my outfit thereby requiring me to change at the last minute. It was at that point I decided that no matter how late we were, Mommy needed to stop for a coffee. Then the nice people at Starbucks finished right on cue and messed up my order. Oh....what else is new?

Smoke Signals

Thursday night I was working on a project with my laptop and attempting to concentrate on my work. I just so happened to look up from my paper for a moment and realized smoke was coming up from behind my laptop screen. That was sign #1 that something was not right. Then sign #2 was the overwhelming smell of burnt electronics. And finally sign #3 (like I needed another one) was smoke billowing out of the power source. I quickly unplugged the poor thing and succumbed to the fact that my laptop had used its last life. The thing didn't owe me anything. I've had it since I was studying for the CPA exam...in 2000.

So, I waited the customary 24 hours to mourn my loss and promptly went out to buy a new one on Saturday morning. I am still getting used to the new laptop...like I don't have to jiggle the plug every five minutes in order to get power, the top row of keys work all the time making it possible to type entire sentences without using the on-screen keyboard and the screen doesn't dim for no apparent reason. Like I said, it didn't owe me anything anymore but handing out over a thousand clams on a 7 pound piece of metal and wires was a little tough to swallow.

Nonetheless, everyone at the Bricker household is thrilled to get the chance to try out all of its bells and whistles. Ironically, the first person to get time at the keyboard was Josh. And he was playing Max & Ruby games at nickjr.com. Pretty much sums up the order of things at our house anymore.




Lauren's four month check up was on Friday. Miss Thing is 17 pounds, 7 ounces and 26.5 inches tall. That puts her in the 97th percentile for both height and weight!! Basically, she's perfectly proportioned and the doctor said she looks great! She got another three shots and Josh even got one (his flu shot). We kind of blind sided him with it but he did great. As soon as she got him with the needle that look of disbelief and terror came over him. I just had to laugh. He didn't really have a chance to cry because by the time he was done we were all laughing at Lauren's reaction.

But as soon as he got on Dustin's lap he said, "Uh, Dad. That hurt."

Speaking of Lauren, she officially has a favorite toy.



She just loves that thing!

She also had another first this weekend. We tried giving her a little rice cereal. It was hysterical! She looked like an old man without his dentures!


I kept trying to feed her...until she got upset. I guess she got tired of us all laughing at her. Geez!

Not much else is new, though. I got some cute pics of Josh making Lauren laugh this morning after breakfast. Those two just have the most amazing bond. He watches over her and is so gentle with her and she's fascinated by his every move.

Am I in the Exorcist?

As you can see the Internet is finally up and running at our house once again. I was honestly having fits of withdrawl for three days straight. It was bad enough I couldn't keep up on the blog but I even missed out on a few days of celebrity gossip!

Anyway, here we are...back again.

So, football is kaput. I tried to convince Josh that we could do it. He said, "Mom, let those big boys play. They want to and I don't." Enough said. I was not about to fight him over something that can wait another year.

School is going very well for Josh. I am working with him in the evenings on reading and other Kindergarten material I had picked up at the educational store. Josh learns so quickly and he is so bright. The things he knows already amazes me.

We have all been in a bit of a slump lately. Nothing too exciting to report around here except that Dustin and I went on our first "date" in probably 2+ years!!! We had SO much fun!! I totally had a moment, though, when we were in the truck and I looked at him and thought, "What do I have to talk to him about?" Sort of made me think about us in 20 years, when the kids are all gone. Anyways, it made me smile.

The kids have invaded our bedroom and I now understand how my mother felt when she would wake up to get out of bed and almost stand on me. She had not realized that I had made a bed on her floor during the night. The other night I woke to find this...

And even though Lauren cannot walk she mysteriously found her way to my side of the bed.

Lauren is changing so much every day. She is grabbing things now and laughing at just about anything. She is quickly moving into a more interactive stage and we have so much fun playing with her. And as you can see, much like her mother's, her thighs seem to be growing larger each day. As far as I'm concerned, it's just more of her for me to love!



So yesterday morning I allowed Dustin to dress our daughter without any input from me. That was my first mistake. He brought her in our bedroom looking like this.

Seriously. Can you see Josh looking on in dismay? He was actually shaking his head! A four year-old!!

On a side note, this is the last photo of one of those socks. The dog ate one shortly after I ripped them off her feet. I'm certain it was merely Mattie's attempt of difusing the situation and just her way of making sure Lauren would never be dressed in that combination again.

If you don't see anything wrong with the pairing of stripes and polka dots...you should be shot.

Ironically, Lauren was throwing up more than usual on Sunday. I honestly attributed it to seeing her own reflection and realizing what her father made her wear. However, today Dustin has the flu as well. So I'm sure that her catching the flu on the same day as wearing that outfit was merely a coincidence.

Either way, Dustin should beware. Someday she may have to dress him and she just might remember what he did to her. She'll put him in a clown's costume and parade him around the nursing home screaming, "HOW DO YOU LIKE WEARING POLKA DOTS AND STRIPES, DAD!!"

For those of you who don't believe that Lauren actually says, "Hi" all the time...here is proof!


Isn't she just the cutest?

What a difference a day makes...or 365 of them.

A year ago today we found out Lauren was on her way. Seems so long ago and yet like it was just yesterday. My, what changes a year can bring.

I just might have to go get another pregnancy test for ol' times sake!

Sorry there hasn't been a post in awhile. Our Internet is down at the house and hopefully it will be up and running sooner than later!

At first glance...

this looks to be an average video of Lauren "talking". But if you watch Josh you can see how funny he is at heart. Watch him after he pushes his chair back for the second time. He's so silly when he wobbles his head! And you can all see how Lauren watches her brother's every move.

Constant motion

It's Monday evening and I'm still worn out from the weekend.

Saturday morning started off like usual. I went for a nice long walk, went and got coffee, made breakfast and fed Lauren and about 10 minutes before the timer went off signaling breakfast was ready I heard Dustin ask if he could help. Man, he's got great timing.

After breakfast I screamed at Josh to stop teasing the dog with his toy. He didn't listen; Mattie retaliated with a scratch to his eyelid.

The fact that she hasn't mauled that child is far beyond me. The other night we were reading a book together and I told him to stop shaking the bed. I moved the book and realized he was kicking her head over and over and she was just laying there. So as black and blue as his eye is right now, he deserves much worse.

After breakfast we all get showered and ready for Josh's debut at football. Imagine the 2006 Preschool Christmas program...except outdoors.

He started out fine. They got all the boys in a big huddle and passed out a sheet listing important dates for parents. As he walked towards me with the piece of paper I could tell it was going to go down hill fast.

I made him sit with Dustin on the sidelines since he wasn't going to join in the activity. And we WILL be returning every practice until it's over. Dustin gave up watching the Iowa vs. Iowa State game in order to watch his son play. And as it turns out...he didn't really miss much.

Saturday night was church. All I can say is that Josh picked out the pew and we were three rows from the front. The next closest congregant was four rows back and Lauren kept "talking" through church which meant that Josh couldn't stop laughing. Yes, we put on quite a show.

Sunday morning was Chase's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. The party was absolute mayhem. Chase, Harrison and Josh all go to the same daycare and preschool. I take the three boys to school every Tuesday and Thursday. I only have them for about 20 minutes but every time I drop them off I thank God there are people like Jaime who have the patience and self-control to watch them.





Lauren's thinking..."GET...ME...OUT OF HERE!!!!"

Jaime is in the denim jacket. She is our angel of a daycare provider. Then from left to right in the back is Josh, Harrison and the birthday boy, Chase.


As if we hadn't had enough punishment for the weekend we all went to the mall for a few hours, came home and started to clean.

I'm telling you, it's weekends like these that make me glad to go back to work on Monday.

Tonight Lauren and I were playing and I FINALLY caught her giggle on video.

Enjoy!

Can I get a 'Go Hawks'?

I think since the doctor said, "It's a boy!" Dustin's been planning and dreaming of the day he could go to an Iowa Hawkeye football game at Kinnick stadium with his son. Well, it happened on Saturday.

Dustin was thrilled. Josh was excited. And I was a little nervous. Well, maybe more than a little nervous. I've been to Iowa games before and saying that Hawkeye fans are a little fanatic is putting it lightly. Not to mention that it was a night game and most of the attendees had been tailgating since six in the morning.

First, I sat down with Josh and explained to him that he could not leave Daddy's side...EVER. I gave him a piece of paper with his name, address and our phone numbers on it and told him that if he DID get lost, that he should give the paper to a policeman. Then I lovingly told my husband that if he lost our son he didn't need to bother coming home.

Finally, I gave my boys a kiss and a hug and sent them on their way.


Once they got down to Coralridge they parked at the mall and rode the train to the stadium. That got HUGE points with Josh. He loved the double-decker train car!!


Once they found their seat he just sat and soaked it all in.



I went to church with Lauren and then went out to dinner with Larry and Toni. As soon as I left from dinner I gave the boys a call and this was the dialogue:

Josh: Mom, this game needs to be over.
Me: Why, what's wrong?
Josh: Mom?
Me: Josh?
Josh: Mom, is the game over?
Dustin: Beth, tell him the train isn't running right now. He wants to ride on the train again.
Me: Josh, the train is closed.
Josh: What?
Me: The train is closed.
Josh: What?
Me: The train is closed.
Josh: Mom, I can't understand a word you're sayin'.
Me: The train is closed, Josh.
Josh: What about the train?
Me: It's closed.
Josh: (To Dustin) Oh great, Dad. The train is closed.

By this time I was crying I was laughing so hard. So Dustin got back on the phone and we decided I should turn around and come and get him.

I told Lauren we were going to go to Iowa City to pick up her brother and this was her reaction.


Just kidding, but isn't that photo funny?

Anyway, I tracked the boys down and successfully avoided running over any drunken college students in the process. Dustin got to enjoy the rest of the game and I got to listen to Lauren scream bloody murder and Josh tell me how tired he was the whole way home.

I am a good mother. And Dustin should build a temple in my honor.

Annual events

A small update regarding our A/C...which I know everyone was concerned about. It's fixed and it didn't need to be replaced. Thank God!

Josh had his first dentist appointment. Besides telling the dentist that he eats diapers (Isn't he hysterical?) it was a pretty simple visit. They just looked at his teeth, counted them and made notes for his first cleaning. He did very well and wasn't really scared once we got there. He goes to a pediatric dentist that came highly recommended, Dr. Livengood. He actually explained things to me that I never knew and I've been seeing dentists for 25+ years!

Here he is just before they took us back.


Josh also started school this last week. Ahhhh....his last year of preschool. After looking at our First Day pictures, I've realized we're making an annual event of spilling Blue Juice on our clothes. Last year it was his shirt and this year it is his pants.



He has changed so much since last year. He wasn't afraid at all and pretty much acted like this was "old hat" to him. His buddies from daycare, Chase and Harrison, are both in his class. We have it arranged that I pick the boys up for school and get them settled and Dustin and our daycare provider pick them up when it's time to go home.

As shocking as it is that this is his second year of school, I really can't believe that next year he'll be in Kindergarten. Whoa!

This weekend was the Marion Swamp Fox Festival and of course every Festival has a parade. So Saturday morning we got everyone bathed and clothed and Grandma and Grandpa joined us in our quest for candy!

Lauren was pretty much unaware of what was all happening around her. This was her position for about 90% of the parade:

This was her position the other 10%:


Doesn't that face just kill you? I laughed so hard.

The sun was extremely hot and there didn't seem to be much of a breeze but that certainly didn't keep us from having fun. Nothing is funnier than watching Josh scramble around like a little squirrel looking for nuts and Dustin, Larry, Toni and I screaming, "Josh there's a piece over there. No, Josh, the other way. Get it! Get it!"

Now we have a nice big bag of candy to add to the other bag of candy we got at the Lowden parade last month. I figure, we do a couple more parades this year and I won't have to buy any for Halloween!

Give me A/C or give me death!

Well, the title should give you a hint as to what happened this weekend.

I thought it was a little warm in the house yesterday morning and went to find the thermometer reading 76 degrees. After a short investigation, we surmised that our air conditioner had taken a dump...and we were sitting underneath its steaming, hot pile.

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not do heat. More importantly, I do not do heat with humidity and no breeze. Unfortunately, that last sentance pretty much describes yesterday's weather. However, one of the funniest parts about yesterday was realizing that after almost six years of marriage, my husband no longer does heat either.

While the sweating and irratiblity was getting to all of us, neither Dustin nor I could bring ourselves to call a HVAC repairman on a holiday weekend. Instead we invested the "would be" off-hours service call fee on a window air conditioner. So last night at ten o'clock, Dustin ran to Wal-mart to buy us all some nice cold air. I don't want to give you any horrible images, but all I can say is that installing this thing was a site.

Dustin had his shirt off, Lauren was screaming, Mattie was panting and I stood their sweating in disbelief of the day's occurrence. We installed the thing in our bathroom window and have been holed up in our master bedroom ever since.

It was actually not a bad way to spend a Labor day. We watched movies and laughed most of the day. Josh claimed his spot early.

And Dustin and Lauren had a good laugh over Lauren barely missing my wide-open mouth with a stream of puke.


In Lauren news...she has started to laugh. I had heard her laugh in her sleep about two weeks ago and a few days later she belted out a big chuckle. She has the sweetest little laugh and we are constantly looking for new ways to make her giggle. She has also recently found her hands. She chooses to use them as a chew toy for now and every once in awhile lets out a good scream because she's chomped down too hard.

As cute as it is now, any parent knows what all this chewing and drooling means...teething is just around the corner. AAHHHHH!!

She's still getting stronger by the day.


But no matter how cute she is....my favorite time is still when she's sleeping.