We have our hands full!

Yesterday I pick up the kids from daycare, they come running up the stairs, and .... whoa! What in the world is going on??? Alayna has her clothes on backwards! Apparently Jeanette (daycare provider) had an issue with Alayna keeping her clothes on -- she kept stripping! As a solution, Jeanette said "I'll show you!" and she turned Alayna's shirt backwards so she couldn't get undressed. I laughed hysterically and had to snap a photo. ENJOY!

They're carved!

Jarin left out of town on Sunday afternoon and that night the kids and I dug into the pumpkins! It was so fun and I was totally surprised by their behaviors... Caden my rough-n-tough boy, thought it was icky and gross. Alayna, my sweet princess, thought it was so fun to get dirty and even tried eating the raw pumpkin guts!

After about 10 minutes, both lost interest, and there I was carving two pumpkins all by myself!

Once it was completed though, they both loved theirs and found it pretty neat that their pumpkins "have hats" and light up! Hoping you all have a safe Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

We finally had a decent, sunny day so we made our annual trek to Pride of the Wapsi Pumpkin Patch with the kids on Sunday. Apparently every other family in the Quad Cities had the same thoughts because it was busy!

The kids had their faces painted, rode on the wobble-tractor-pull, fed the ponies, went through a hay maze, experienced a haunted house (which Cade said was very scary!!), and then ventured out to the field to pick their pumpkin of choice.

  

Homecoming Celebrations

This weekend was homecoming for Iowa and St. Ambrose, but you would have never guessed that it was beginning of OCTOBER! Saturday morning we bundled up for the SAU Killer Bee. Along with snacks, this year the hats and mittens were extra important. Jarin and I ran the 5K while pushing the kids in the double jogger -- WHOO HOO! Okay, so he pushed for 70% of the time, but he should... his muscles are slightly larger than mine!

Then we warmed up the kids with more snacks and funny-dancing-exercises before Caden headed out for his big race! This is the second year he's participated, and he always has so much fun running the 1/2 K with the other little ones.  Here's his before and after!

Once the SAU festivities ended, we headed home for quick showers and were off to IOWA CITY for a close win over Michigan! Here we are re-visiting the campus. I can't believe it's been seven years since we became U of I alum!

Manipulating Much?

I swear we haven't had dinner as a four-person-family since the beginning of September! For some, you may be thinking "that is the routine at our house", but for us, evenings are special. It's that time when we sit around a table talking about work, preschool, daycare, weekend plans, and actually have those teaching moments with our children about using their manners.

But in the last month Jarin returns and then works his butt off to prepare for a vacation, we both head out leaving the kids behind, he returns separately, and then when I get home he heads out. Today is our day! We will all be home for dinner tonight together. But it's only one day until Jarin heads out early tomorrow morning again.

The thing is, it never affected the kids before. Their spontaneous personalities always have gone with the flow, not noticing the time frame that one of us is home or away. Until now. When did kids at three become so smart? Manipulation is coming out of the walls at the Hansen household! And sooner than later, the 1 year old will be picking up on it too.

Everything from how many books one gets before bed, the pieces of candy handed out when they go potty, how long we are allowed to play outside, if they have to finish their milk, to what they get to take to daycare each day....

Quote of the week: "Daddy let me do it."

The Romantic Riverwalk

Jarin and I took some time to ourselves last week, celebrating our five year anniversary that we reached in June. We had the most perfect hotel overlooking the Riverwalk, and spent four days walking, sitting, eating, drinking, talking... Seems like it's been a while since enjoying each others company like that. We did get lots of great photos (many were the double-chinned-self-portrait-attempts), but one of my favorites was taken with my phone!