Callie Jo.....

Callie is learning about her middle name. A couple weeks ago I told her she was Callie Johannah. She said, "No I Callie Girl" and also, "No, I Callie Princess". Wednesday evening she said, "I Callie John" (which is William's middle name). I said, "No, you're Callie Johannah". To this she said, "I Callie Johannah....I Callie Jo-Mama". : ) We laughed!!! And then she continued, "I Callie Jo-William". Funny girl!!

And then today, this.




The camera cut off here, but she was about done anyway.

Fall has come and gone

Callie Corrects

#1 ~ When Callie was learning her colors I would ask "what's this one?" she would answer and if she was wrong, I would sometimes show her the color she had just said and then return to the color in question and ask again. She was grilling me on my colors one day and when we got to the last color, which was green, her strongest, I decided to say yellow instead. She said, "no, what's this color?" and pointed again, then I said, "blue", to this she points at the blue and says, "No, this is blue, what's this color?" and then I got it right, it was green.

#2 ~ When we round the corner to church Callie yells, "Look, churrrrch" (and William joins) until we acknowledge that, yes, there's church. One day before we rounded the corner I said, "Callie, look rocks." she said "yeah, rocks" then I said "Callie look cows." she said "yeah, cows" then we saw the church. Often as we drive she will point things out, "Look, Mom, ______" and I will say, "yes, ____". This Sunday, as we left church the cows were particularly close to the fence. She said, "look, cows, Mama." I said, "Yes, they're looking at you and they're saying, 'look mom kids'." Then I wispered to Jon "she's going to correct me"....and she said, "No, Mom, cows say Mooo!"

She'll keep us in line.

MN Visit

We recently returned from a long over due trip to MN. It was fun to see lots of friends and relatives. William had many questions about who were friends and who were cousins and, since cousins were also friends does that mean friends are also cousins? I think he has it figured out now.

We first drove straight through to South Dakota to spend some time with my brother Caleb and our dad. We were able to watch Caleb pitch. The spectator area was pretty muddy, but it occupied the kids so we could watch a bit of the game. He throws some good ball.

After that we drove to Jon's parent's place spent the night and Sunday morning there. We saw his grandfather and then the kids and I headed to my Dad's place for a few days.

Callie was lucky enough to stay up a little late watching the World Series with Grandpa T.

She also got her fill of babies. We met four new little ones, 2 friends and 2 relatives. This is 6 month old Baby Carter.

They also enjoyed time with Charlie....these two girls had some fun here...and I'm sure will have much much more fun times over the years....after they finished their water they began chanting back and forth and hitting the table and laughing. It was fun.

After the above visit with friends we headed to Jon's cousin Shannon's place. She and her hubby graciously hosted that side of the family for a pizza dinner. It was nice to see them ALL and meet 7 month old Johanna. This picture includes all the younger ones at this gathering but the older four were around too. We so appreciat them all taking the evening of their busy lives to visit with us. With all the action, I'm not sure Callie even noticed there was a tiny one around.

Back at my dad's place the kids emptied out Grandma T's cupboards in the name of playing "grocery store". Grandmas never mind this kind of thing.

We played at the playground in Randolp a couple times. That is a great playground! And they got their first taste of rock climbing! William could do it himself after the first time, Callie needed a little help.

Before we headed up to Jon's parents the kids took in some hunting action. They were so excited about the sound the arrows made as they zipped through the air. But Callie would cover/shade her eyes just before the shot.

Thursday we went to the Como Zoo with Jon's parents, we saw many animals, but this was the biggest attraction. When we arrived at this fence there was a row of three other kids that moved along shortly after we arrived.

But William did like watching the penguins swimming. They were too fast for a picture, but we got one with the statues.

A very nice day to be outside and enjoying the animals and time with the grandparents.

That evening we were excited to see our friends Jeff and Kristen and their two girls. This was our first time meeting "Baby Amanda" who quickly got upgraded to "Friend Amanda" since she is over a year already!

We went trick or treating with Cousin Drew and also spent some time getting to know 6.5 mo old Baby Ben a little. We had briefly seen Ben and his family on Sunday, but both kids seemed oblivious that he was even there. However, when we drove up to their house on Friday, Callie imediately said, "Baby Ben's house". And just today she asked what Baby Ben was doing.

Saturday was Birthday Party Day. My mom recently had a birthday so we celebrated while we were visiting. The kids all had fun jumping on the neighbor's trampoline.

The girls got their turn too.

Then it was supper time....the only silent moment of the day. And after that the cake. They all blew the candles out and then all started grabbing for the candles and the candy letters on the cake and some just dug into the frosting.

Pin the Candle on the Cake.

And Sunday....yard work!! The kids had a blast helping Grandpa Bob mow up the leaves. He even let them steer even though they went every direction all over the yard.

Callie enjoyed the mower, but Grandpa Bob is still known for sharing food in her mind.

On the way home we enjoyed a little game of "I spy" shapes. Callie broke out the binoculars for this game.

The drive home was colorful! It was a beautiful day to drive and enjoy the scenery across the states. And there you have it. Our most relaxing visit yet.

Water for Christmas

I have a blog friend named Jody, well, I like to call her friend but she knows much less about me than I know about her thanks to her great blog. Anyway, She and a group of ladies from her area are in the amazing habit of getting involved in ministries and inviting anyone and everyone along.

The current project is WATER FOR CHRISTMAS. Go here to read her blog explaining the need and here to read ideas how to participate in this project and get it going in your area. You can also click on the Button on the side of my blog to go directly to the web site to find out more information and to give to this great cause! What better Christmas gift could you give to anyone?? (quick note: at water4christmas.com when you go to donate, a couple people have said that it is a little confusing. And it is. To donate to Water For Christmas, you need to scroll down to the near bottom of the page and use that donate button. NOT the tab at the top of the page. We can’t track it that way and it won’t go to Water For Christmas..but to a general fund. So scroll down. Use the donate button towards the bottom. Thanks.)

Also you can go to this etsy shop and buy this super cute bracelet made with glass beads from Ghana and the bracelets–which come with an “I Gave…Water For Christmas” card are simple reminders of clean water and the people living without. They are $5 and all proceeds go to Water For Christmas.

I can make a little difference, but together we can all make a BIG difference!

Tid Bits

I always think of little things I want to remember...and need to put them somewhere.

Callie calls her bib her "bit". She eats double fisted with her mouth too full at all times. But will finish anything for desert. Oh, and she is healthy again. : )

William, when asked many questions, instead of saying "nothing" which would be the normal response, he says, "anything". For example. "What is in your mouth?", "anything". "What were you doing in your room?", "anything". He also ocassionally will sing, "What do you do with a curvey pirate" because his friend Jack sings, "What do you do with a scurvey pirate"...not sure where that song came from originally but that's the version we get.

William's driving games

When we drive William likes to hear stories or play games. He likes for us to tell him "Chipmunk Stories". These are any story about chipmunks. Mine usually pertain to what we are doing that day or have done recently. They also often have a Dora-esk feel as we spot land marks on our way to our destination. If I'm particularly at a loss, I will alter a Bible story. Recently the chipmunk was being stubborn and refusing to go to town to set up for a celebration for a particular chipmunk he did not like. He found himself in a dark damp cave for three days until he crawled out and finally obeyed his boss and followed the instructions. Any guesses? There was also one based on the Good Samaritan a while back. Jon's are usually much more environmentally educational, and often include identifying trees to gather the correct nuts, and hiking.

Today on the way to Bible study we played "I spy". I am still trying to get him to understand that you actually have to choose an object that you can actually see before you choose a color. He will just say a color and when I guess an object that seems fun to him he agrees that that was what he spied. Even if the object was not in view when he began. I can also get him to agree by acting very excited about my guess as if I know I'm right, and he'll agree that I'm right.

On the way home we played a new game. He kept telling me to be the "guy who asks the questions". It took me a while to figure out that on this drive we would be playing Cash Cab!! We had points and strikes and he even pretended he was kicked out for having three strikes and then pretended he was new people getting into the cab. It was awesome. He's so much fun.

Sick little girl

Callie is sick. She woke up Friday night saying her mouth hurt. Sure enough, she was getting a molar. I gave her motrin and some oragel. The oragel did not go over well! She didn't like that at all. Since then Jon has given it to her and she's done fine with it. Sunday she was acting fine, a little runny nose. But at church she developed a fever. She felt really warm. We took her into service with us and she slept through the sermon. Since then she has continued to have a fever off and on, though I think it's gone today, hopefully not to return. She also started complaining about her ear Sunday evening and Monday it started draining. So, she must have an ear infection, but since it's been draining it hasn't been hurting her so much. But the drainage is yucky. She keeps touching it too. Yuck.

But through all of her sickness, William has had a runny nose off and on....but no breathing problems!!! A very exciting accomplishment.

Friday is now Family Day

Now that Jon is layed off and needing to have time to do his school work, and I am working random hours, we have chosen that Fridays are Family day. We just do something as a family, I will not work and he will not do school work...unless he has to "catch up". We hope to use these days to do some tourist things around here and make some trips to DC, Philly and possibly further to tour. So, today was the first Family Day. Jon did have to do some reading today so we took a short trip. We went to Jim's Market, a local farmers market/flea market/bakery/ deli/pretzel making/etc, etc,etc shop. It is very eclectic but a must at least once around here. Jon had not been there and I had just been introduced recently. We picked up sandwiches and pretzels and headed to Wilson College for a picnic. After we ate the kids and Jon washed their hands, and faces, in the river and we went hiking. First we stopped by the equestrian center and the kids weren't interested in the horses. They just wanted to climb on the obstacles (not sure if these things are used for horse jumping or not). Then we went on the nature trail. It's along the river and through the "jungle" as William calls it. It's very nice. It's right in Chambersburg but you wouldn't know you were right in town. We also visited the sustainable farm and saw chickens, pigs, sheep, cows and got an apple from the nice lady. : ) William did great hiking. He kept pretending he was a farmer showing us around his fields. He would point out things to us like red leaves. Callie on the other hand pretty much did her own thing the whole time. At first she was 10 yards behind us walking near where we had walked but not the same place. She wanted to stop at every river bank to throw things in the water. She insisted on walking on the edge of the road (not a busy road, more like a drive way) not in the grass where we told her to walk. On the nature trail she was being cute though. Jon was ahead of us showing William the plants and telling him what some of them were so Callie was showing me plants. She would touch one and say, "see?" and I would say, "yes" and she would go to the next stick or leaf and do it again. To make her speed up I told her to run up and show Dad, so she ran up to Jon and started showing him the branches and tall grasses. It was a fun time overall. And now they are sleeping soundly and I am heading that way.

The trouble with "playing" doctor

Callie seemed to be feeling kinda under the weather yesterday. Tiny fever, snuggly. As I took her temperature, William got out the doctor kits. He then began to take her blood pressure. I asked her if it hurt anywhere and she said yes. I asked her where. She said her hand (where he was checking her), then when he stopped I asked again, trying to get a real answer. Her foot, her arm and her mouth were mentioned. I had no idea if she even hurt at all! Last night she woke with a cough that told me that her throat must be sore and when asked she did point to her throat. A straight answer, thank you.

AND it must be mentioned that Callie is now sleeping in her big girl bed! Since Sunday. She has done AMAZING with it!! We weren't sure if we should try before our next trip or rely on the pac-n-play for one more time. She has done so well, I'm glad we tried. She has barely even gotten out, three times at the most!! (per night) Way better than the boy. The crib will be gone ASAP! I will then have NO CRIB in my house!!!!!! (But the pac-n-play will be in relatively easy reach for any baby visitors who might need it.)

Too funny

Jon and our pastor, Earl, are watching the Twins game here this evening (A PA Twins fan, Jon loves it). I've been doing some computer work and have overheard their chatter but not really paid attention. Until the Viagra commercial was on and there was silence! : ) Then half way through one of them spoke up with some other sports related topic. Funny.

Play time today

William was harvesting the fields. Driving his combine around with trailers and dump trucks following it, being filled and heading to the "barn" (cardboard box tipped on it's side) to empty their load and going back to the combine for more.

Callie was feeding her baby. Baby was sitting in an ice cream pail, which was the "car seat". She got a cup filled it in her toy kitchen sink then filled it more in her child care station sink, brought it back to baby and held it her mouth to drink.

Then....Callie went back for more water and William asked her for a drink, so instead of feeding baby, Callie fed William. Then he asked her to watch his tractors work. So, she sat down and watched for a little bit while also sipping her cup of water.

Then, it happened. She stood up, took the "barn" and ran away. He whined, chased her, etc. Finally got his barn back. She was in timeout for "taking other people's things" and he was peacefully harvesting again. When time out ended she went back to her baby.

Purse continued

Callie just got up from her nap. Picked up the purse William had been using, opened it up and said, "hey, don't like that" and proceeded to take out all our tea party supplies, drop them on the floor and then dropped the purse on the floor and walked away to play with something else.

What's in your purse?

Callie ~ Purse is slung over her shoulder or hanging in the crook of her arm with her hand in the air. It contains sunglasses (put on and off and on and off), cell phone (at times she walks around with it stuck between her shoulder and her ear), fake lip stick, fake nail polish (that is only for toes since those are the only nails we paint on her), some flashy jewelery and a toy pacifier (that she likes to use for herself and not for her babies).

William ~ Purse in hand. It contains everything we need for a surprise tea party! Plastic monkeys (used as cookies), a sponge lobster (another food item), a block and two cars (used as cups).

Clarification

William has informed us that he drove away on his "cart" like a monster truck, not a motorcycle. I should have known. Also, he told us that he was "pretending to be in a space ship and going into outer space". My guess is this had to do with falling asleep and counting backwards so I asked him if he counted and he said, "No, the guys did". I remember strange tid bits from all my surgeries, I wonder what his memories are now and what they will be later in life. Jon remembers his mom always running her hand/fingers along/around his face to help him fall asleep. We do this with William and that is how I got him to stop trying to wake up from anesthesia and go back to sleep a little longer until it wore off and he could wake up easier. I wonder if he'll remember that.