Here are a few pictures….

My mom came down for a visit over the Halloween weekend!!! Noah knew about it about a month before, so it was a LONG wait before she got here. Almost every day he would ask if Silly Grandma was on her way. But when she finally did get here, we were busy pretty much the whole time!!! Let’s see if I can remember everything!

Mom got here on Thursday the 27th around noon. So we got caught up a little bit and played.

After supper, we headed out to the “Enchanted Forest”. We got a little candy there and there was little stations throughout the park that you could stop and watch a puppet show, magic show, kids singing, etc. There was even a bounce house at the end that the kids played in.

Friday morning we went to iHop for breakfast to have “Scary Face Pancakes”.

Then after breakfast, we headed out to the KC Pumpkin Patch.

Even did the Corn Maze while we were there. It was fun, but we definitely didn’t go in order. I think we hit number 7, 8, 3 and 2. Guess that’s what you get when you let a 3 year old and a Silly Grandma lead the way!!!

Friday night, Mom and I headed to the winery for their “Hallowine” party. I won some tickets on Facebook to attend, and we decided we should go!! Mom was dancing in the parking lot!!!

Saturday was spent more laid back. Mom watched the kids while Rick and I went to lunch and the movie “Courageous”. After the movie, Mom and I hit Costco for a little shopping, but I think that’s about it.

Sunday morning we went to the zoo for “Boo at the Zoo”. We left Rick and Faith at home and we ended up spending ALL day there!!!! We did see a few animals, but it was mainly about getting candy, riding the train, the tram, the sky safari, the carousal, and the playground!!

I babysit our neighbors baby about three times a week, and Monday was one of those days, so it was spent at home. I can’t remember what we all did, but I remember it being nice outside!

Monday night was trick or treating!!!!! We had a GREAT time!!!

Tuesday morning I had to do books, so I left before Mom. She stayed a little longer to watch the kids while Rick got a little work done. I’m glad that she stayed as long as she did, but I wish she could have stayed longer!!! It was very nice having her here!!! Thanks for everything Mom!!!! You’re the best!!!!

(If this post does’t make sense, it’s because I’ve been working on it for a couple of days!!! Hopefully you get the drift!)

We started the day out by sending “Angel Grandpa” some balloons to Heaven. We let five balloons go for the five years that he’s been gone. Noah had to watch the balloons the whole time until he couldn’t see them anymore. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky so we could see them for quite a while. Although the red balloon took a left turn and didn’t follow the other ones and the blue balloon blended into the sky, so we couldn’t see those two anymore.

After the balloons where gone, we went to DeAnna Rose Farmstead. This seems to be the tradition on this day. We got to see the cow getting milked and even got some ice cream (yes, at 9:30 in the morning!!).

I also had a friend bring me flowers…she picked out flowers that had sunflowers in it! I had told her before that whenever I see sunflowers, it reminds me of Dad…although he HATED sunflowers!!

Driving/Chasing

Climbing

Digging

Chick Watching

Eating

But there wasn’t enough down time…these boys had so much to do in such a short amount of time!!!! We went to the park one day to have a picnic and play. The next day we went to the beach to swim. Renae and I need to remember to put sunscreen on ourselves!! But at least the kids were fine…I think Renae got burnt the worst!

I think my kids are still re-cooperating…they’ve been sleeping until about 9 am since we’ve been back!!!!

Thanks again for having us stay at your house Webers!!! We had such a great time!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!! We miss you!!!!

The 28th we headed to Ryan & Dee’s farm to go sledding!!! Noah was actually more interested in seeing the cows, so after a couple of trips down the hill, Rick and Noah went to look at the cows. A few days before we came back to Iowa, he said he wanted to see Reid and Ryan’s cows and that it was cold so we needed to cover the cows up with blankets. So maybe he was concerned about them! Here’s a picture of Renae and Noah coming down the hill…Renae said she was trying to be dramatic for Noah’s sake!!

That night we had Christmas with my Mom’s side. Mom vetoed my vote to not dress Faith in her Christmas dress. So Faith got to wear it one more time! The grandkids sang “Jingle Bells” for everyone…at least they attempted it!!! It was pretty cute. Noah got a game and Faith got a sippy cup with her name on it.

The 29th was spent as a little more relaxing day, but I did get my hair cut…7 inches cut off!!!! It really needed to be cut…I haven’t had a haircut since a month before Faith was born (and she’s now 9 months old)! That night, we had our family Christmas!!! Noah got a Thomas match game and a bath towel and toy. Faith got a pink tea set and a glow worm (this brought back memories for Renae and I because we each had one when we were growing up).

That night, Noah didn’t really seem to be himself and after everyone was getting ready for bed and leaving, Noah threw up all over me – I’m not good at handling puke!! We thought it was too much junk food over the last week mixed with being on the go so much. Well, after throwing up a few times, we figured it was probably the flu. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night. Faith also got sick during the night, but we figured that they’d be better by the morning for our trip back to Kansas. They seemed to be fine for the first 4.5 hours, but then it all went down hill after that. First Noah was sick a couple of times…and we only were 1/2 successful at getting the bucket to him soon enough. We pulled over at a gas station to “get cleaned up” and to empty the bucket. Once we were back on the road, he’d do it again and then Faith decided she wanted to join in a few rounds. I’m just surprised I didn’t join in…it took about everything in me to keep from throwing up.

As soon as we got him, I started the bath and just let them soak for awhile while Rick cleaned out the car. I’m just glad that Rick can handle it!!! I’m not sure what kind of bug Noah picked up, but he’s still throwing up every once in a while and now we can add diarrhea to the list! They both seem to have that right now. I’m really hoping that they get over this bug pretty soon…I think I’m doing laundry non-stop right now.

Besides getting the flu, it was great to be back with family over Christmas! It was nice to get back to a little warmer weather and not see any snow!!! I’m pretty sure we decided on the way home that Christmas needs to be at our house next year! I’m sure we’ll change our mind and forget about the car ride back…eventually!!!

Here is also what Faith accomplished while we were in Iowa. Rick seen her climb a couple of stairs while we were still at home, but when we were at his parents, she climbed all the way to the top! Once she got to the top, she would pull herself up at the windows and look outside. I think this is the favorite place in the house for the kids. Noah loves looking out the window, watching the cars go by.

On Christmas Day we played outside for a little while in the snow. Okay, so it was mainly Rick and Noah outside! They went for a sled ride down the sidewalk and played in the piles. We also got to meet up with Renae and her family as they were headed to her in-laws for Christmas. We met up at a hotel and the kids could run around. I think Noah liked playing with his cousins because all he talked about after leaving them, was Kahle and Bodee. We couldn’t see them soon enough again!

The 26th, we spent just relaxing. Rick was in bed most of the day, but not really relaxing. He had the flu, so he was pretty miserable. He was in Noah’s bed, so at nap time, Noah didn’t have his bed to go to. I tried to tell him that he could sleep in my bed, but he decided that he was going to sleep on the floor outside his room. I guess whatever works!!

Well, Noah seems pretty excited to see Santa and tell him what he wants for Christmas. During breakfast this morning, he was going thru all the trains that he wanted…Hiro, Duncan, Salty, Cranky and Edward. I’m pretty sure Santa is only bringing him the first two…hope Noah is okay with that!!!! He keeps adding to his list, how can I keep up!?! He also wants a red car, blue car, green car, yellow car, a police car, a fire truck, an ambulance, and a school bus. So he was all prepared to talk to Santa…

So off we went to Bass Pro Shop to talk with Santa – they actually give you a picture for free…and you can take your own! This is the picture that I took of Noah…he was busy telling Santa where the train is at. I didn’t get a picture of Faith…she was too busy crying. The picture we got from Bass Pro Shop, is a pretty good one of her crying!

We spent a lot of time by the train track and we also wrote a letter to Santa, colored a picture and had a fresh warm chocolate chip cookie (I think Faith had more than anyone!). Here’s a few more pictures from this morning.

Well, we are getting in the Christmas Spirit at the Nielsen household. I have not baked as much as I normally do…maybe we’ll do some more this week. I better make some Peanut Butter Balls for Rick so he doesn’t dis-own me! Noah and I did make some Creme deMinthe Bars and a Birthday Cake for Jesus this last week. Noah wants to stir and help mix and pour and lick the beaters!!! He is SO my kid!!!

Noah also thought Faith needed something to snack on too. I had the container of puffs sitting on the table and Noah dumped about the whole thing on her tray. Not sure how many she ate before I noticed, but she was shoving them in by the fistful!

Noah was pretty excited to eat the Birthday Cake we made for Jesus. He also licked the beaters…and the bowl when we made this. He tried to go straight for the batter in the pan, but I thought that was maybe a little too much!!

Rick thought Faith NEEDED a Christmas dress, so here it is. I think Noah is even wondering what is going on with her!!! He kept looking at her shoes, like “These are not her tennis shoes…what are these things?” Actually, I think I wore these shoes when I was little. They were in the closet with some other things my Mom pulled out of her cedar chest. They fit Faith and I didn’t have to go shopping, so it was good!!!

We went to the KC Pumpkin Patch today!! They had all kinds of stuff for kids (and adults) to do, including a tricycle track, petting zoo, Pumpkin Cannon, Mining, Duck Races, Jumping Pillow and…

Great Pumpkin Slide

Ducks to feed

SpongeBob Hay Pants

Train Ride

Playground Equipment

And of course, lots of PUMPKINS!!!

It was a great time and Rick was happy because he got a Funnel Cake!!! I might add, it was REALLY good!!! And on the way home, we topped the excitement off with Casey’s Pizza!!! I think we will be making this an annual event!