A BUSY season!

Caution: Confusing back-story ahead......

So last night we stayed in Yakima at my mom's house.  Shawn was in Yakima also, but he is staying at his boss's house while he is in China.  He is working for his (old) boss for a few days while he is there and before Shawn leaves for Arizona.  He leaves this morning to fly out for Arizona for a week.  Why is he there?  He is visiting a friend in Phoenix and will probably drive over to Tuscan one day to visit his sister, Alyssa at grad school.  Kind of a silly trip since he found out that his friend is moving back to Yakima in about 3 weeks........ haha.  But it will be good for him to have a break and have some fun.  I'm sure they will just sit around and play video games the whole time.... but whatever floats their boat. ;)

ANYWAY...... so back to last night...... I put the girls to bed at 8:00, and I think they finally fell asleep at about 9:30 after having to go in there multiple times to tell them to lay back down and quit playing!  (They are most definitely NOT ready to share a room again!)  So I went to bed probably around 11:00 and I was laying in the bed praying, kind of half out loud, I think. (I was in the same room as the girls).  I was praying for Shawn's trip and then I prayed something like "and I also pray for a lot of extra patience this week while Shawn is gone...." and out of the blue Hannah shouts "YA! YA!" Yes, she was asleep.  And that was the only thing she said.  Apparently she talks in her sleep..... but I found it quite hilarious! When she said it, I sat up to look over at her and was like "what the heck?" It was really weird.  I guess she wants me to have extra patience too, huh?!  haha.

Well, sorry I haven't written for so long.  I can't believe it's been that long, really!  I have so many pictures I need to post and I am about to have a LOT more, I have a feeling!  I just got a new toy and LOVE it!  I got a new camera a couple of days ago and having a lot of learning and tinkering around with it to do, but I already LOVE it!  It's a Nikon D3100!  Whoo Hoo!  It's my new best friend for the moment!  :) 

The night before last, we went over to my Aunt's house to visit my cousin, her husband and their baby, Mckinley!  They are up from California and I was so excited to see them!  She has grown so much since I saw her last!  And she started crawling the same day we visited!  :)  She is so stinkin cute and I can't wait to post a few pictures of her! :) 

Shawn finished with harvest last Friday.  I think he was happy it was over, though I know he enjoyed the experience of his first harvest.  But I think he's ready to sleep in again...... haha. 

Shawn and I started a small group at church and we are enjoying it.  Megan has been kind enough to watch the girls while we go, which makes it super nice to be able to have an adult conversation without a child on your lap trying to distract you in every way possible!  I have also started going to Bible Study Fellowship, which is an international bible study for Women (though they also have men's groups too).  i am super excited about it!  They meet both Monday nights or Thursday during the day and I chose to go to the evening one so that I can have a night off from bath/bedtime with the girls!  I have only gone to 1 week so far, but I can tell that it is going to be great!  Then, while I was visiting my Aunt, I found out that she does the same group in Yakima!  I knew she was in a bible study, but I had no idea that it was THAT one!  She has been doing it for 7 years!  wow!  It's cool though, because ALL the groups study the same thing every week (this year we are doing Acts of the Apostles), even the groups in Africa and everywhere around the world.  That kinda neat to think about!  And they have online discussion boards about things as we study, and so it would be neat to see the perspective that other people have from different countries!

Our calendar is filling up SO quickly for the rest of this year!  It's amazing how long summer seems to drag on for me (mainly because I hate hot weather!) and then we get to Fall and it seems like the months FLY by until the first of the year!  After Shawn gets back (next Thursday), he will be home for a few days and we will get to go to the pumpkin patch, then he will be back in Yakima for a few days to work for Larry a bit more while he is still gone (he's in China this whole month, I believe) and then he'll come back home, we'll have Halloween and trick or treating with the girls and passing out candy..... and then we'll have a week to clean up from Halloween and switch out the decorations to Thanksgiving, and then I leave for Texas for a week!  Then when I get back, I will have 2 days to cook for Thanksgiving, then we are leaving for the zoo, then we'll have Thanksgiving at his grandparents' house in Camano, and THEN we leave that Saturday for Semihamoo Resort in Blaine for a week (as a family of 4!).  We'll be there for a week, then come home and we'll get to decorate for Christmas, get our tree, finish up Christmas shopping, get our bakin on, and then we'll have to begin our festivities and our traveling so that we can see all of our family at Christmas.  What a couple of BUSY months we have ahead of us!

Hopefully somewhere in there, I will be able to keep up on some blogs!  I have been also keeping myself and the girls busy throughout the week!  Monday's we go to open gym at gymnastics (which they LOVE!), and I also have my bible study that night, Tuesday and Thursday is story time at the library (which we actually haven't done in a while), Wednesday is MOPS, and Friday's is a toddler time class at the YMCA.  We have Saturdays off and then the girls have sunday school at church on Sunday, and then they get to play with Aunt Megan Sunday nights while Shawn and I go to our small group.  So we are all busy!  And that doesn't include our trips to the Y for racquetball in the afternoons!  Shawn and I try to play every day, but during harvest it was hard because he would usually work later.  But the girls LOVE to go to the Y and play in the nursery.  They ask to go EVERY day!  I might have to go workout by myself this week just to get an hour break from them every day and let them have fun in the child care area......! haha

So I believe that's all for now, and I will try to post pictures of the girls soon!  There are a LOT of them!  Have a great rest of the week everyone! :) 

September through pictures.....

Alrighty, so here is most of September through pictures....



We went to the Chelan County Fair a few weeks ago and the girls had a blast looking at all the animals!  KaeLee said that was her favorite part! 

They had a Dora cut out..... though the girls didn't really understand to just put their face in the hole..... haha.  Granted the hole WAS a bit big....

Hannah was hilarious and I didn't even need to show her what to do.... she jsut climbed right up there and stuck her head through and that was pretty cool.... haha

We rode the carousel and both the girls loved it, of course!  KaeLee loves to ride horses!! :)

The best I could get of us two.  Certainly not the most attractive by any means, but whatever...

KaeLee and I got to ride the spinning Strawberries!  Her favorite part was when I spun it around really fast!  :)  Though I was feeling a bit dizzy!

We took the girls through the house of mirrors and it was HILARIOUS!!  They were running into the walls like crazy!  HAHA!  It was pretty difficult, even for Shawn and I, but if we let the girls try and lead, it was just too funny.... After the maze part, there were a bunch of those crazy mirrors and KaeLee had a good time with those!  Hannah looked as though she had NO idea what to think!

Too funny!  Shawn's legs look awfully long in the background too.... haha

At the end of the house of mirrors, you had to go down a slide to get out.  Here's KaeLee going down.  Apparently, though, right after she turned the next corner, she ended up upside down and head first.... oops.  Good thing Shawn was at the bottom to catch her.... needless to say the next time we went to the park, it took her a half an hour before she would go down a slide... poor girl!

Rick and Sharon ended up meeting up with us and KaeLee wanted to go see the animals again with them! haha

Grandma Sharon taking rocks out of KaeLee's shoes.  She kept complaining of this, but every time we would stop and take her shoes off, there would be nothing there!?!?!  Though it made her feel better anyway, I guess.

The girls looking at the horses

Hannah with Grandpa Rick

Hannah liked the chickens!  Especially when they Bawked (hmmm..... is that how you would spell that?)

KaeLee liked them too!

Getting up close and personal with the goats!  Much better than being in the stroller!

It's a TURKEY!

I discovered that the girls LOVE corn on the cob.... just like their mama! :) 

Hannah was really gettin into!  haha.  Neither of them wanted to stop eating it!

Going down the slide!

KaeLee has to hang on for dear life!

The girls take a break from the "fair" and play on the playground toys for a bit.  Hannah's first time on a big girls swing.... freaked me out!  Since she has no fear, this could also mean that she could let go at any moment.... uh, scary!

Just being silly at home.... :)

If I ever take Hannah's picture, KaeLee says "my turn!" so here's miss KaeLee as well ;)

Sue and Jon, along with Shawn's aunt and uncle, and some grandparents came over for Shawn and Jon's birthday..... Shawn's grandpa was holding Hannah and Christina was tickeling her arm and it was so funny!  It put Hannah in such a trance and she was literally NOT moving a muscle.... haha

It was most quiet and still I have EVER seen her!  (including while sleeping AND in the womb!) haha

Who needs hair gel when you have YOGURT! 

There were also chunks of a fruit strip stuck to her hair....!  Needless to say, she had to take a shower after breakfast (which she HATED!)  But I think it's been a couple weeks since this day and no yogurt in the hair again.... haha!  (oh, and YES!  I do watch my children while they eat, but I also do other things like clean up the kitchen, put a load of laundry in, vacuum the living room.... so I guess I am not sitting next to her staring at her, but she is always in view and somehow still manages to make a HUGE mess!!  Most of the time it happens when she is all done and I am at the kitchen sink getting the washcloth wet to clean her up..... Her hands go straight to her head and I am in the kitchen, yelling in what seems to be slow motion, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo......!!!!!!!!"  But it's too late.

Silly girl trying to fit in the toy bin

KaeLee too.  Then I wonder why I need to get new ones because they are all stretched out and not really square-shaped anymore..... haha

KaeLee went about a week or two where she was obsessed with ponytails and wanted two in her hair every day.  She hasn't asked for a while now though..... but they ARE cute! :)

Hannah vacuuming like mommy (if you look close enough, you can see the barrett I got in her hair!)  YAY!  Her hair is growing! :)

This picture cracks me up, because she just randomly starting turning over all the chairs......

and it took me back to May of 2010, when KaeLee did this as well..... HAHA!!  It must be the age or something!

It I thought it was pretty funny how they both had turned over 3 things...!  I have been starting to get pictures organized and uploaded for KaeLee's next photo book, so I had just seen this picture and thought of it immediately when I saw Hannah pulling her little trick!  haha

Well, that's all for now...! Last Sunday we went to Yakima for my nephew, Jake's, 3rd birthday party!  I completely forgot my camera at home, so I used my mom's camera and took a few on my phone as well.  We are going BACK to Yakima this Sunday for the Yakima fair (sorry to say, but it is WAY better and bigger than the Chelan fair....!)  So I will steal those pictures this weekend and get them up soon!   I am excited to to share them because KaeLee got some pretty special treatment from her Aunt Cheryl and she took her out in the arena to sit on the horse (two different times!)  Then she went and got a lead rope and held KaeLee while KaeLee got to hold the rope and walk the horse around.  THEN Cheryl took one of her horses out of the arena to the barn area and KaeLee got to BRUSH her!  (oh, my goodness was she EVER excited!) And THEN, Cheryl got out a little saddle and KaeLee got to RIDE her!  I am pretty sure KaeLee was in HEAVEN!  She did not want to get off and when it was finally time to get off, she negotiated with Cheryl and asked for "Two more minutes?"  haha.  It was pretty hilarious!  She did SO good though!  Then Hannah got a turn and absolutely loved it as well!  :)  So I am pretty excited to share those pictures!  I think KaeLee will be wanting to spend a LOT of time over there now.  Which is good, but I will NOT be buying a horse!  The 9 horses or so that Aunt Cheryl has is going to have to be satisfying enough for her..... haha.  Cheryl has so many horses because she does riding lessons for girls (and probably boys....) and I think some of her clients might board their horses with her..... I am not completely sure, but I think so.  Her mom also has a bunch of horses too and I think the horses switch it up sometimes of which place they are at.

When I told KaeLee yesterday that we are going to Yakima this weekend, she said "And ride the horsie?!?!!"  She was a bit disappointed when I said no, but perked up some when I mentioned all the animals at the fair!  :) 

Shawn is still in harvest and still has a couple of weeks left.  They have been working later lately because the weather is finally starting to feel like Fall a bit more and the pickers can pick longer in the cooler weather.  This also means that I have been having longer days with the girls by myself.... ugh!  It's not too bad on "preschool" days, but the other days can feel super long!  Today we get to go to the Y this morning and participate in "tots in motion".  So that will help.  And hopefully we can go the Y this evening and play some racquetball!  We haven't played in a few days now and I am dying to kick some racquetball butt! :) 

Have a great Friday, everyone! :) 

All Things Red

Pre-Preschool is currently underway in the Cox household!  I have been looking into preschool for so long now and looking over all the curriculum that the teachers have and what all the different preschools around town have to offer and came to one conclusion:  KaeLee needs more!  She already knows her colors, her numbers, her letters, her alphabet.... and on and on, so I needed something that would challenge her, but not be too much for her or frustrating.  So, I found a great website, abcjesuslovesme.com, and I am collaborating their lesson plans and ideas, along with coming up with my own, to customize a preschool for KaeLee.  I realize preschool is more than just learning academic things, but I feel that with going to theY everyday (or nearly every day....), going to MOPPETS, and going to Sunday School every week, as well as play dates, she is getting more than enough "social" time and learning how to share, care for others, take turns, etc. 

So we are working on things like sequencing; relationships between numbers, colors, food, our body and really just putting them all together; sounds that letters make; drawing lines, circles, squares and other basic shapes; cutting and pasting; bringing books to life by having some field trips, creative thinking, problem-solving.... and the list goes on.  I also really want to do bible reading and have her memorize verses.... (yes, you heard that right!)  This website has awesome plans as far as bible stories, activities, books, songs, poems and others relate to each other...... I just love it!!  I have had fun with planning it, but my mind often gets overwhelmed by all the great ideas and great activities, and I sometimes get stuck.

Anyway, today was all things RED!  The color for the week is obviously RED!   So here are some pictures from our RED day!

KaeLee was about done with her lunch when I thought about taking a picture; but they had spaghetti with red sauce, strawberries and red pepper strips

This was the RED box with all things red in it that they had fun exploring and playing with.  Cars, ribbion, cups, bowls, elmo, play food, playdough, red crayons, elmo slippers, red shoes, my graduation hat, red legos, a red sock monkey, a doll with a red dress.... the list goes on. 

Then KaeLee colored some RED things and we stapled them together to make her Book of Red Things.  She was pretty proud of it! :)

Hannah playing with her RED car while wearing her RED outfit! :)

Smiling big while coloring!

Hannah during her turn in the RED wagon.  The girls got to take turns in a ride around the house in their little RED wagon as we listened to and sang along with the song "My Little Red Wagon"  They loved it!  (I promise Hannah really did have fun, but I, for some reason, couldn't get that captured..... haha!

KaeLee was quick to show how much she loved it!  Oh, and that is her little book she's holding.... she wouldn't put it down!

Then they got to help put glue on apples and paste them to the apple tree!  Then we counted them (over and over again) of course! :)  They loved this and threw a minor fit when it was all done and time to put the glue away.  I think they could have spent the whole day gluing things!  (it was obviously their first time working with a glue stick....) ;)

We then read the story "Clifford the Big RED Dog" and Dora's book about searching for Boots (who wears RED boots!), played catch with a big RED ball, danced around with the RED ribbon, then took a walk to look for things that were RED!

All in all, it has been a terrific day!  But I am afraid now I had better go get dinner started.... since we are supposed to eat in 10 minutes.... haha.  oops.  I have another post of a ton of pictures to do still and will hopefully get them up tonight!  Although, Grey's starts tonight, so no promises on that one.... ;)