Surviving the last few weeks

We've had a very interesting last couple of weeks.  Below are some pictures documenting our experiences! :)
Our 6 year old house apparently had the worst built septic system that our septic guy had ever seen! :)  Yeah!  So the week before Labor Day, we had workers digging up our yard and rebuilding it!





We planted potatoes in our garden for the first time and the kids enjoyed helping dig up the potatoes.  We got quite a few good sized ones.

Landon had his first visit to the ER (it was after hours at the doctor's office) to find out he had a bronchial infection.  Sis wasn't far behind and they both ended up doing breathing treatments 4 times a day, while watching "Dora the Explorer".

The kids absolutely LOVE an ap I found on my phone called Kid Mode.  Whenever Em sees my phone she brings it to me and asks "Name?  Own?" (Game? Phone?)

I'm hoping things slow down a little, but with birthday parties, Halloween parties, and the holidays coming up, I doubt they will! :)

Week 3 of 3rd grade

Well, with school back in full swing, I finally got a fast internet connection to upload pictures! :)  Things are going well at school, yet still a bit overwhelming.  I still don't feel comfortable yet with the curriculum or my schedule.  It seems as though there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done.  I LOVE working with my 3rd grade colleagues, though.  We're having a great time trying to figure things out together.  And I'm sure with time, it will get easier.  Right now it's just a lot of long days and bringing work home.  But hooray for a 3 day weekend! :)

Visit to see Uncle Nate

At the beginning of August, we took the kids to see Uncle Nate in Evansville.  We were both a little worried about a 6 hour car ride with 2 2-yr-olds, but they did really well.  We were armed with videos, books, toys, stickers, coloring sheets, cars, and snacks.  I saw an idea online to give the kids "Travel tickets" in a bag.  Then every 30 minutes, they gave me a Travel ticket and when all of the tickets were gone, we were there.  This worked really well with Landon...Emmy just dumped all of her tickets on the floor.
When we got there, we had a great visit with Nate.  We went disc golfing, out to eat, and to the zoo.  We got to see his apartment and a little bit of Evansville too.  Landon's already talking about Uncle Nate coming to visit him on "Optober 2nd place" (his birthday!).

At the zoo with Uncle Nate

Posing in front of the parrots for Gma and Papa H.

They had a rhino that came really close to the edge of his cage.

Cheese!

4-H Fair

We had a great time at the fair this year.  We took the kids on a very hot day (but most of the days were hot in July!).  They didn't seem to mind the heat.  Em really enjoyed the animals.  Landon said his favorite part of the day was the stroller ride! :)

Emmy getting measured for the kiddie rides. (She was 2 inches too short!)

Waiting for tickets

Landon in the beginning of his train ride :)

Landon about half way through :(  He cried for about the last half of the ride.  The operator asked us if he should stop the ride.  We said, "No, just keep going!"

Emmy on her favorite ride...the "nay"

Landon wasn't too excited about the carousel either!

10 Year Anniversary Cruise

On July 7th, Matt and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary!!  10 years...I can hardly believe it!  We have enjoyed making so many memories together and since the kids have arrived, we haven't been able to spend much time just the two of us.  So we, along with Amos and Jess (also celebrating their 10 yrs.), decided to take a Caribbean Cruise together.  We went to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk (part of the Turk and Caicos islands) and had a wonderful time.  I did really well being away from the kids until about Thursday evening.  When we'd only been apart overnight, a 7 day cruise is a long time! :)  I loved the beaches, the food, and the sleeping in!!



Matt and I in the Bahamas



Since I got sunburned on Day 1 in the Bahamas, Jess "thoughtfully" bought these visors!



Grand Turk...the nice, touristy part of the island

 

Private island in the Bahamas!  Jess and I did Yoga on the beach (almost missed our boat!) while the guys went deep sea fishing.

 

Matt wanted to eat at an authentic restaurant.  We ate conch in Grand Turk.  It was chewy and not a whole lot of flavor.



Matt holding an upside down jellyfish.



Matt and I went kayaking in Grand Turk.

Touring an old fort in Puerto Rico



Snorkling in St. Thomas with Amos and Jess in Shipwreck Cove

Singing Karoke...



Hanging out in the piano bar

Matt and I on one of the formal nights





Our ship, the Carnival Liberty







The "Ugly" room on the cruise ship.  This is the Hot and Cold Night Club where body art was the theme!

Summertime

Not having a working USB port for my camera is killin' me!! :)  I have pictures from the beginning of summer that I haven't been able to share because I couldn't get them uploaded! AHHH!
So here is a random selection of fun things we've been up to! :)

When we went to see Cars 2 with Landon at the theater, Emmy had to have a "Nigh-Nee" shirt just like her big brother. 

We met the Davis crew at the park where Emmy played with Baby "Na".

Greyson was so helpful to push the kids

After a few tries, both kids went down by themselves.  They felt much better when Aunt Tina was at the bottom to catch them, though.

They got new bikes this summer and LOVE them!!

She sometimes wakes up from sweat at naptime and I can get her back to sleep by rocking.

Went to the Splash Pad when Uncle Nate was here to visit.

Went swimming at Matt's co-worker's pool and the kids loved it!  They even liked jumping off the diving board with floaties on!

We've made many wonderful memories this summer and hope to get a few more in before school starts! :)

Emmy's 2 yr photos and a few of the family too

Right when school got out, we had Em's pictures taken and also got some of Landon and the family.  Matt works with a very talented photographer (who also happens to be a teacher!) and she met us at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen to snap some photos of us.  She did an excellent job running around after the kids.  I couldn't believe she got that many of the kids being still!  Her blog is amazing as well at baberredbarnphoto.blogspot.com

My favorite of Emmy

My favorite of Landon

We will definitely use Heather again.  We are so happy with the pictures, and I don't think the kids even knew we were there just to take pictures.  They had so much fun running around outside!

Cars 2

We took Landon to his first movie in a movie theater, "Cars 2".  He LOVES "Cars" and is always driving his Lightning McQueen around, so we thought this would be a great choice for his first movie theater experience.  We spent a few days beforehand talking about the theater and what to expect when he got there. Gma watched Emmy because we knew she wouldn't sit still that long.  Landon was such a trooper.  He loved the big "scream" and the popcorn.  I think he ate almost the whole container by himself.  He really enjoyed the movie and we really enjoyed watching him.  The movie wasn't as "little kid-friendly" as the first one, but I still liked it.