Sadie's stink eye

Ok, some things are just worth running downstairs and posting b/c they are that good. Sadie's stink eye falls under that qualification, if you ask me. Scott and I both just laugh so hard when she gives the good ones, like in the video below :)

Stink Eye


She gave another good one to Scott b/c she wanted guacamole. He wasn't too keen on sharing initially, but got the stink eye and then gave in. Sadie is the type of girl that thinks she has to eat just because you are. It doesn't matter when she last ate, if you are eating, she needs to too.

Sadie has also developed a fondness for Blake's teddy bear, which she gets to play with when he is napping and didn't decide to take to bed with him :)

In and out of the drawer...

Back out and slinging under her arm to assume the proper carrying position

And she's off :) 

Before church this morning, Blake asked Scott to play blocks with him and to build a car. Well, Blake is pretty bossy when he instructs Scott on how to build a car and it eventually morphed into a tower b/c Blake was putting restrictions on blocks Scott could use (i.e. the block with a half moon cut out of it is a tunnel and just cannot be used as part of a vehicle, haha), but Blake was ok with it going higher and higher.

Well, Blake was about to take a piece out of the tower, much to my horror, b/c these blocks are heavy and hard and it hurts when they fall on you from a short tower, much less Blake's "car" tower. Anyway, he discovered an anomaly in the blocks--there was one that wasn't supporting anything!

So, we got a picture...and a couple more :) I tried hard, but couldn't get them both to look at the camera at the same time, but here's a couple good ones

Then Scott discovered that we could remove a couple more blocks:

Yes, this is actually leaning as it appears due to Scott's "wheels"

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And the final removal of blocks!!

I must say, I was quite impressed!!

Well, of course you can't have this and not destroy it, so I made Blake put on shoes to protect his feet and he got to destroy it:

Car tower destroyed

Typically, when they destroy towers, the blocks fall towards them, so I was pleased on the destruction of this one. As a note, Scott just gets such a kick out of Blake saying "Blake Miles" which is why he laughs after he asks his name. And as another note, "ball" is the only word that I know for sure Sadie says :) and yes, she does love to play with balls!

Good friends and John Deere museum

We had a couple friends from Madison come to Cedar Falls to visit, since we happened to move to Cedar Falls where they have another friend, so they made the trip to see us both!

We decided to go to the brand new John Deere museum:

Scott trying his hand at making some horsepower

Sadie trying her hand at making some horsepower

Blake making some plans to building his own tractor

Scott and Scott with the tour guide, as the women ran around with the kids more times than not

Blake and Sadie with Stephanie on a tractor. I was impressed we got Blake on here. Normally, he refuses to get on equipment, regardless of whether it is running. 

Then we couldn't get him off (notice Sadie's little legs on the floor) ;) She has to do everything Blake does

Big tractor, little boy

The crew

 Scott and Stephanie then graciously offered to watch our kids so we could go on a date for Valentine's Day. My kids just loved Scott, as he is so good with kids; Scott and Stephanie are expecting their own little Sprout (as they call him/her) in May! You can see why they loved him:

I tried to find some good live theatre here in Cedar Falls, but unfortunately found nothing. :( Sigh, sometimes I miss living in a bigger city :) So, we went for dinner, and a movie. American Sniper--quite touching.

Two little monkeys...

Today I was thinking it had been a while since I'd posted a video on my blog (well, posted anything on my blog for that matter), so I thought it would be fun to get a video. Well, I promptly forgot about it until Blake and Sadie started putting on a show for me and then I ran to get my camera.

Take one of my two little monkeys

Take two of my two little monkeys

And then, since I had a great selfie of Blake, I tried to get Sadie to take one of herself. I tried holding the camera at her arms length away, and she didn't like that (she usually sulks or runs away when I take out the camera).

This is what I got...

 Well, then Sadie decided it was fun to play with the camera and periodically held it up like she was taking a picture of herself, and then smiled. Well, she had the camera turned the wrong way, so every time I tried to quickly turn it around and then snap the picture of her smile, I got this furrowed brow:

 Ok, so we'll stick with playing peek a boo around the bed and snap the picture then :)

What is that lying at the foot of the bed? Yes, toilet paper. Sadie loves to shred toilet paper. We put our rolls on the counter rather than on the dispenser and this morning I walked in to grab a sheet to wipe Blake's nose and didn't see it. I looked around and then spotted it on the floor, but at the same time Sadie had walked into the bathroom carrying two books. It didn't take her but a second to spot the toilet paper, hurriedly throw her books down, and walk towards her prize. It was kind of funny seeing her instantly change from calmly walking in, to instant purpose as she tried to get the toilet paper. Of course, I picked it up first :) She pretends to blow her nose with it, wipe her face, and then starts to shred. Fun fun.

A funny surprise on my camera

Every once in a while, the kids' auntie Amber reminds me how nice it is to have pictures of my kids together, which I forget to take sometimes. So, here is my attempt: 

I told Blake to hold onto Sadie, but she started walking away, so he just stood there reaching for her...

First shot together, and he is holding on great, but Sadie started to blink :( otherwise it would've been so great!

Great, now Sadie is looking, but not Blake...

Ah, the best one!! Not as good a smile from Blake, but pretty good :) 

In case you were wondering if I tried styling Blake's hair in the pictures above, no, I didn't. Blake put some unidentified product in his hair from the bathroom and it turned out looking surprisingly stylish :)

So, why the title "A funny surprise on my camera?" Well, I'm not sure if you know, but Blake loves to play with the camera. He loves loves loves watching video's of himself, taking pictures of everything around him, and taking selfies. Some of his selfies are great, including the one below:

New house in Iowa

Hmmm, happenings since Halloween, huh? That appears to have been my last post :) Well, Thanksgiving, move day, Christmas, New Years, and today!

This is going to be short b/c Scott is out with Blake to check out a hockey league in Waterloo and I have the house to myself tonight, which means I bought some very yummy Chicago mix popcorn and got a chic flick to watch and I'm looking forward to it :) Scott is planning to join this league as long as it looks like something he can play with--he's never played on a team, but hears it is pretty beginner level, so he's checking it out before spending the money on gear and the league. They tend to be a bit expensive b/c you needs lots of equipment and the ice time is expensive. I was glad he took Blake--I think he'll love watching them play :)

Today was pretty chill--I bought some blueberries at the store, and we had a bit of a blueberry social in our bedroom. The kids love them!! We were in here b/c Scott was watching the NFL playoffs.  In the past I have banned a TV from our bedroom, but since we refuse to pay for TV and this is the only level that Scott can get reception to watch free football, this is where a TV is parked for the time being. :)

All eating their berries. Blake just woke up so looks a little scary, haha. Well, that might not be the reason, but he DID just wake up

Blake came and joined me for a bit :) 

Daddy and his girl (I just loved how she was crossing her feet) :) 

Blake sporting his John Deere shirt, which Scott just had to buy him for Christmas

Well, here's a peek at our new house!! We are still getting settled, I'd say, but are basically just working on stuff in the garage, and some storage items right now! Yay!!

Here's the street view, taken from the internet. Obviously, we have no green grass right now :)

Here is the kitchen I love. This is also taken from the internet. I went to go take a picture and was surprised to see how cluttered my counters were. Strange, I seem to remember them being semi-clear earlier today...it is amazing how easy it is to fill up extra space when you have it!! I am trying very hard to keep them looking clutter-free though. :) 

We have yet to get chairs for the counter and the prior owners took this fridge with them which we just replaced with another fridge that we just got working yesterday!! Yes, I've been living with a college size fridge (the larger of the two sizes) since we moved in over a month ago. Apparently, new fridge's don't work so well with GFCI outlets. Well, it took them several weeks to come out to tell us that, so we were sitting without a working fridge (or so we thought). Scott just changed the outlet yesterday so I was excited to go grocery shopping and actually be able to buy freezer items and as many fridge items as I wanted!! :) 

The living room with our stuff :) 

The den - which is parallel to the living room. Aka, the toy room :) 

The dining room

Our basement -- not our stuff. Didn't even think to take a picture of the basement so grabbed this online too :) 

Our backyard :) Love the space with this house!

Ok, I once again do not plan to go back and proof read my post, which after reviewing the Halloween post, I realized I make a substantial amount of spelling mistakes when I fail to do this, so please disregard them and know that I do actually know how to spell these words :)

Ok, one more e-mail tonight and then movie time :)

Halloween 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE!

He was so serious about trick-or-treating. I just love taking him--he loves going up to the houses and ringing the bells and taking candy. His first couple houses he was unsure what was going on, would look people in the eyes and linger as they talked to him. After a couple houses, he caught on that he got candy at every. house. No more lingering, no more eye contact, and no more uncertainty, he was on a mission. He would ring the doorbell, wouldn't look up, just had his eyes on the goal, head down. When he had secured his prize, he whisked around, muttered the mandatory "thank you" and was headed to the next house with a spring in his step as we discussed whether to take the sidewalk, cross the street, or cut across the lawn. He would eagerly participate in the conversation and was willing to take whatever route necessary, regardless of his cold hands.

Melt.my.heart. I don't know how many pictures I took of this monkey as he took off to get some candy.

Boldly approaching each house. 

Is there anyone coming??

Leading the way

Mommy and he little lion. Sadie was fussy that night, until we got outside, then she was an angel. Amazing how much kids love the outdoors, regardless of the timperature!

Posing...don't ask my why I crouched...I did this in every picture. Maybe to get closer to Blake...??

Had to hold the candy in front of his face...

At least my crouch wasn't as bad in this picture

Blake's selection of his candy treat for the night. He loves himself a lollypop!

Sorting through the loot

The monkey sucking on a lollypop :)