While the Cat is Away...

the Mice will Play!

Yes this is Lil' Miss Brecken playing in her big brother's room when he is not home. She absolutely loves it in there and I have to say I don't blame her. Cade doesn't mind her in there too much...yet. But I know the day will come. My older brother and I shared a room for awhile and then he moved to the basement (and got the coolest room ever.) At least to me it was. I would sneak in there when he wasn't home and play with his toys, listen to his music, and eventually read his notes from his girlfriend (shhh...don't tell!)

I think Brecken will be somewhat of a tomboy just from having Cade's influence...she already plays with trucks (we need some girl toys!) When I was little, I always wanted to wear the long striped tube socks because my brother did, which eventually led to me having the nickname Ervin. See Mom & Dad, it was just a phase and I did eventually realize that I was a female. : )

So my little Brecken, even though your big brother is sometimes rough with you and is sometimes unwilling to share with you, he does adore you and I promise, having a big brother is pretty cool.

Living History Farms

Last weekend...

*Grandma Roberta came up to babysit while we went to the ISU-Nebraska game. Nice day, but another not-so-good turnout. The kids had fun with Grandma, making cookies, and playing outside...and she brought us more apples!


*Sunday we met the Cases and my mom and Clark at Champps for lunch...we have been doing really good on not eating out, so that was a nice treat. We even had our own little private room. Afterwards, we headed home to rest before going to Living History Farms for their trick-or-treating. Lots of fun! Each building had a business passing out candy and then there were horse-drawn wagon rides, marshmallow roasting, storytelling, and ice cream bars at the end. It was fun to see all of the kids dressed up in their costumes, lots of cute ones, and not many duplicates which was surprising. It was nice because it wasn't tons of candy, just enough. Brecken was so cute, by the end she was saying "cheese" like all the other kids whenever we took her picture.

The kids love to see their grandparents, so it was a pretty good weekend getting to see 3 of them!

A Chicago Bears football player, a Jack-O-Lantern, Hannah Montana, and a Monkey

This weekend I actually got out of the house and it wasn't for football! My friend Amy was in town so I met her and two of her friends to do some shopping and then out to dinner at Trostel's Dish. The waiter suggested we order 2-3 items per person...we did 2 and had way too much food, but it was delicious! Jim went to the game Saturday night and tailgated with Matt and Eric. He had a good time and I'm pretty glad I wasn't there...to witness another loss! Can you tell I'm a little burnt out on football? It's also getting a little chilly for me...I guess you could call me a fair weather fan for a couple of reasons! I'm really surprised that Cade has been okay with not going to the games. When we tell him that we're going, he usually says that he wants to go, but then is always fine when he doesn't get to. He usually prefers the alternative, like hanging out with Grandma or playing outside with friends.

Other random happenings:

*Brecken has mastered going up and down the 4 stairs between our family room and kitchen. Of course this happens right after I just purchase two new gates because I was tired of being on edge all the time.

*Cade's behavior has been getting better and he loves getting his reward stickers. Although sometimes he doesn't even remember them, so that to me is a good sign as well. He is doing awesome with using the bathroom and it really has been amazing to see him wanting to dress himself every day. This has also led to him being more opinionated on what he wears...he hates wearing jeans now because he can't zip and button them himself after using the bathroom. Another frustrating thing about dressing him is that he is right in between a 2T and 3T...he really needs to hit a growth spurt soon! This morning he was so proud of himself because he slept in his bed all night and wore underwear all night...he stays dry 90% of the time, but we still have him wear a pull-up.

Brecken @ 11 Months

In the past month, she has started:

*doing "So Big" and waving

*giving big open-mouth kisses, sometimes not even on-demand

*trying to sing and "bobbing"

*taking a couple steps before lunging forward or falling flat on her face

*gotten at least one more tooth, I think she has 8 now?

*getting even more antsier...will barely sit still for a bottle, but has no purpose for a sippy cup except to chew on either end and then toss it on the floor.

In the past month, her mom has started:

*getting sad that she's not going to be a "baby" much longer : (

Fall Fun

We've been keeping very busy this month...hard to keep up.

*Went to the ISU/KU game...it was Brecken's first game...I sat on the hillside with her and it was not too fun! All she wanted to do was go, go, go. So at halftime, I took her out to the camper and fed her and put her down for a nap. I think we were up 20-0 or something crazy at half and ended up losing! So maybe she was their little good luck charm. ; ) We camped two nights up there with my mom and Clark, Cindy & Gern, Lorie, Jerry, Chelsie & Geoff, and Ryan, Anne, Julia, & Lauren. Lots of fun. It was quite the set-up with the tv and fire pit we had going. It was our first time using our new camper...worked great but was pretty nerve-wracking to pull up there. On the way up, I asked Jim if he had remembered to give Wrigley fresh water before we left and he was like, "yeah I gave him fresh water... and I forgot to turn it off!" So I frantically had to try and get a hold of one of our neighbors to go shut the water off...luckily I finally did and she ran over and saved our backyard from a small flood. I'm sure Jim will never do that again!! : )

She's just like a little puppy dog with her little tongue sticking out all the time...

I don't think Lauren was too interested in the game...

Last weekend we went back to SWI and:

*winterized and stored our camper...quite the ordeal since they store about 5 campers, 4 boats, and a few wave runners.

*went to the zoo

*went to Riverside's football game to watch Quinn play...They won and Cade enjoyed watching for Bruiser the Bulldog again. Towards the end of the game, Cade hadn't got to give Bruiser a high-5 yet, so Jim took him down front and he's yelling, "Bruiser, Bruiser, come here" in his quiet little voice...a couple elementary-aged girls standing there heard him and said, "you want to see Bruiser?" So they take off, go get Bruiser to come down and give Cade 5...it was so cute and he was on Cloud 9. He spent most of the game hanging all over Dan and Kaleigh, asking, "Which one is Quinn?" about 500 times. Brecken stayed home with Grandma Bonni. Random happening: I ran into an old neighbor at the game (probably 15 yrs older than me?) and he said he remembered when I used to stand at our back door and yell for our dog, Paco and apparently it annoyed him because he said he always wanted to come slap me (I was in 3rd-4th grade). Okay, well first of all, I'm glad he didn't and second of all, the dog was Taco, not Paco...Jim and I got a good laugh out of that one.

Quinn was nice enough to come say hi after the game...Cade was in awe and I think pretty intimidated by those big shoulder pads!

*went to Octoberfest at Breezy Hills with my mom, Clark, Aunt Vic, and the kids...listened to some music, drank some wine, ate some chili and caramel apples...and the highlight for Cade, going on a hayrack ride and getting to ride in the tractor with Grandpa Darrell halfway through...then going on another hayrack ride with Daddy driving the tractor! Jim's tractor-driving skills were a teensy bit rusty, but he's still got it in him.

*Cade got to play with Grady and Hope and go for rides in Grady's "Gator." Cade threw himself on the ground when it was time for Grady to leave.

Petting Zoo

I'm hoping to catch up soon…we went to the zoo in Omaha last Friday…Jim took the day off, beautiful weather, and minimal people…PERFECT DAY! We love when Jim can join us on my days off.

Here's Cade's conversation with the goat in the petting zoo…one-sided of course.

Cade: Hi…do you know who I am?

Cade: I'm Cade and you're my friend. I'll take care of you.

Cade: Mom, I'm the farmer of all these goats.

Love this kid. He was so sweet and so gentle and he could have sat just like that for hours. I just wanted to bottle up that moment. He does have fears, but animals are not one of them!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Darrell today...we know you won't be taking the day off, but at least slow down a little! : )

The Things He Says

I've been trying to keep track for awhile now of some funny things that Cade has said or says on a regular basis and some things he has said that just amaze me!

* "I had it at one point." ~ I'm sure he's heard me say this, but he actually used in the correct context which shocked me!
* "Electricsity" ~ We were reading a book called "Snug House Bug House" and we got to the "Wire It" page and it took him a few minutes to remember the word, but eventually he told me that, "Daddy calls this electricsity."
* "Roll the ice." ~ Has always called dice "ice."
* "Can I have a helpy snack?" ~ Usually about 15 minutes after we're done eating a meal, Cade asks if he can have a snack. Usually I tell him, "you can have a healthy snack like fruit or yogurt." So now when he asks for a snack he throws "helpy" in there because he knows it will up his odds of getting one!
* "I'm so excited to go on the hayback ride!"
* "Can I ride the alligator?" ~ He's talking about the escalator...Jim has corrected him on this one so I think he says it right now.
* For awhile he would say, "hide & peek," instead of "hide & seek."
* A snowblower is called a "snow plow" in Cade's world.
* When he says, "I'm sorry, I didn't need to," he means, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
* I'm not sure if he still says this or not, but "I amn't," means, "I'm not." ~ Makes perfect sense to me!
* Menards is "Benards" and McDonald's is "Old McDonald's."
* He doesn't like "bustard" on his "hangabers."
* We call chicken nuggets, "chicken nuggies" and it cracks us up every time! : )
(I know there are some things he has said lately that I am forgetting...)