A Fall Day in Michigan

Well with just 6 weeks until Ben comes home, the kids and I made yet another much needed trip to Michigan. Both the kids and I needed some company and some love from the grandparents. The trip here was wonderful the kids did well. But the weather here is definitely cooler then in Tennessee. I was not ready to bring out the winter clothes but they were needed for this visit. Here our the kids enjoy the great outdoors at Nana and Papa's. I love the fact that they have a sidewalk so they can ride their bikes and scooters.

Riley pushing herself up the "hill". She is not strong enough to peddle just yet.

What a long ride to the neighbor's house.
Turning around at the neighbor's house.
Making her way back to to Nana's as fast as can be.
Using her feet as breaks.
Brenden wanting to go outside with sissy as he watches her ride her bike.

Lets go mom. I want to go play.

Riding Riley's bike. He needed a little help. I pushed him on the same path as Riley and he loved it with a big smile. Sorry there are more granddaughters in the family so he has to ride on a pink bike.

Riley riding her scooter while Brenden rides the bike.

Mommy and Riley helping Brenden ride the scooter. He watched Riley and Mommy both ride the scooter. I think he knew what to do because while I was pushing him he was pushing the scooter with his foot.

Brother and Sister walking hand in hand to get the red wagon to go for a walk.

It was a wonderful fall day.

I love Michigan's fall weather.

A Quiet Day

Brenden sporting his cowboy hat.

I think he looks a lot like Kenny Chesney.

Riley hanging out enjoying one of her cartoons.
We have had a quiet two days. Since we have learned more about Ben's return time is moving slow. The days use to be full of craziness and would move along. Now they are not so crazy and move very slow. I hope this does not last long and the days go back to normal soon.

Horsing Around

The kids and I were "horsing" around the other night. They both like to play cowboy and guess who gets to be the horse, mommy. I was crawling after both kids when Brenden stopped me and climbed on my back. Riley took our picture. He does a great job hanging on so he does not fall off. He has learned by watching Riley and fear itself.

Yes Riley gets to ride too. She is would play like this for hours if my knees would let her. Both the kids love to play and be chased around the house.
Here is a picture of both kids on my back at once. Riley had helped Brenden up but had a hard time getting him to move up so she is falling off my butt. The picture took just in time. We did not move with both kids on my back. It was just for a picture.

Fall Fest

Well the kids and I made it to another Family Fun Fair on post this weekend. This time it was called Fall Fest and Toy run. We welcomed over 100 motorcycles at the park as they made their way to Ft. Campbell from Appleton. They were bring toys to help fill trucks for the holiday season. But what a trip to the park be without Gear-To-Go inflatables. Yes my kiddos enjoy jumping and playing on these things. They are always the same inflatables but it does not matter to them it just plan FUN.

Once again my daughter is not scared to climb anymore. She has found her confidence to do things by herself. If you look close she is climbing up the middle of this inflatable she is leading the pack up the ladder.
Here she is sliding down. She covered her eyes and giggles the whole way down. It was the cutest thing that I seen. The other mommy's watching were laughing too. She went on this on many times before we headed over to the water tent to get a drink and some ice cream.
After getting a refreshing drink and some ice cream, we headed to the pumpkin patch. Both kids were able to pick out a pumpkin. Here Brenden is holding his pumpkin he picked out. He had a great time looking and touching each pumpkin until he found this one.
Here is Riley being independent and looking for her pumpkin by herself. She found her a pumpkin too. She did a nice job.
After finding a pumpkin that was perfect we went to the craft/art tent and added a face to each pumpkin. Riley helped to both pumpkins. Brenden was not to fond of this process he wanted to run and play at this point. Once we finished the pumpkins we went to another tent so we could color a trick-or-treat bag. Riley and Brenden had a great time coloring. Here is what their pumpkins look like along with their bags.

Well the day did not end after the fall fest. Jess and I had plans to head to Nashville to go to the mall and do a little shopping. Sounded like a great time until we made it to I-24. We were on the road for about 15 mins before we hit some VERY heavy traffic (this is understatement). We had just past the 24 exit which is the last exit until we make it to exit 31. Well the fun has started. We are stopped. No one is moving and we are all out of our cars and standing in the road. The kids are out of their seats and playing in the truck. It looked like we were all tail gating and BBQing for the evening. After sitting for an hour a T-Dot truck had pulled up and we learned that their was a gas spill on the road at exit 35. So let just say we knew at this point we were not making it to Nashville. We are now trying to decide what to do. Make a U-turn or hold out and wait it out until we make to the next exit. Remember at this point we are at mile 25 and have to make it to 31. We waited and noticed that we had only went two miles (27) in a FOUR hour time span. At this point we came up to an u-turn and a semi-truck let us cut across and we pulled a u-turn. This would have happened sooner but their were police officers sitting in each one waiting to make their quota for the month. But after four hours and three hungry kids in the truck I did not care and made the daring choice. Once returning back home and watching the news I learned that the road was closed for over 9 hours and we sat in it for four hours. I-24 did not reopen until this morning. What a day!

Dates, Home Coming, Update

Well with deployment coming to an end and only having a few weeks left until we return to a family of four. Ben has shared with me that he should return home sometime around the 24 Nov. 2008. This date is not set in stone just like anything else with the military life. It could change in an hour, a day, a week, a month. We will not know for sure until I receive my phone call from rear D 48-24 hours before his plane arrives in the states. Then that could still change thanks to mother nature and the weather. We are waiting to hear more and trying to stay busy with the activities of Halloween and the rest of the holidays that are approaching. It's nice to know something and not be left in the dark. Not that we know for sure at this point but we will learn more in the next month. Until then I will keep you posted with the news. Have a great weekend.

Snuggle Time

In the afternoons and evening my kiddos enjoy snuggling. They are always together. Here they are sharing my body pillow and watching a movie before I asked to take a picture.

When Brenden wakes up in the morning or after a nap Riley ask to hold him so she can rock him for a minute. Brenden does not mind. He loves to snuggle his sister when he is just waking up. Let hope that this love stays with them forever.

*Update*

On Wednesday I took Riley to the doctors with a fever of 102. She was complaining about her ear and she sounded funny when she talk. Well we have an ear infection and strep throat. We are feeling lots better today and the fever is gone. We are struggling with taking our meds but I am able to get them in her at some point.

14 Months

Here we are another month older. Brenden is 14 months old today. He is growing up so fast and learning something new every day. Watching him play and explore his world makes me laugh. He is very brave and is not afraid of anything or anyone at his point. He loves his big sister and he follows her everywhere. Brenden likes to tease Riley but he also wants to please her when they are playing. He looks up to her and watches her very close. When they are playing they laugh and if he is playing alone he makes sure the Riley is not too far away. Yesterday I noticed that he misses playing with rough and tough boys. We were at the doctors for Riley (more later) and there was a little boy about Riley's age playing in the waiting room. Brenden stood back and watch for a little while but then decided that it was safe to start playing with him. The little boy had an Incredible Hulk doll/toy with him that danced and talked. Brenden was not too sure at first but then enjoyed playing with the toy. Brenden also watched the little who is now very active and started to copy him. Both boys were "jumping" and falling down on their buttoms. I started to laugh because I knew that Brenden was going to start copying the little boy. He was very happy playing with the boy and being wild like all boys are when they are a little older. I am sure Brenden took in all in and had a great lesson on how to be wild and active.

Picture Update

Well here is my efforts to get the kids picture taken. I wanted to have an updated picture of Brenden, Riley and then the two together. Well that was MY plan, Riley had a different yesterday and it did not include getting her picture taken. So here are a few of Brenden. He was not too sure about it after seeing sissy have a melt down. I guess we will just have to wait until February and hope that she wants to have her picture taken then when we are all dressed up.

So serious. I think he learned this from his daddy.

Starting to open up a little. He loves to build.
Finally a smile.
I hope you enjoyed them.

I loved them.

A Day at the Park

Well the kids and I have spent lots of time at the park this summer/fall. I think we go to the park just about every other day if not every day. It helps the days go by and allows the kids to play with other children their age. It's great to see them learn new things. Both Riley and Brenden's gross motor skills have developed and change since we first started going to the park. Their social skills have also bloomed. I think we have made new friends every time we have gone. I love it.

My two kids and Molly. Molly has become my third child. She goes everywhere with us and can not be left behind because she will cry and be sad. She loves the park too. We all help take care of Molly while we are playing.

Our first stop at the park is always the swings. This park is a boundless park so they have lots of different swings to use. Here both Riley and Brenden are swinging on the swings created for those children who are wheelchaired bound. We use them when the other swings are full.

Brenden not wanting to swing much longer. He is ready to run and play.
Brenden is so independent that I no longer follow him everywhere he goes. He explores on his own. He is brave enough to copy sissy. Whatever she does he tries to do. Riley is really good with him too and helps him along the way.

Making his way across the bridge.
Up the steps to the slides.
Down he goes with a nice hair do at the end.
Riley has learned to climb the rock wall without help. Here is has made her way to the top and yelled, "LOOK AT ME, MOMMY!"

Climbing back down.
Once again climbing. Making it to the point to stretch over and stand on the bridge.
Before we head to the car we always do "one more thing". This day they choose to ride in a race car together. They had a great time. Riley loves to teach her brother new things and Brenden loves to do what Riley is doing. We all have an great time at the park.