Pumpkin Picking and Family Fall Photos

Two Fridays ago we called up our buddies, the Wentlands, to see if they'd join us on a blustery morning at the Apple Orchard in East Moline.  They decided to brave the wind  and took on the challenge!  We got to feed some goats, cackle with a few chickens, ride around on the hay rack pulled by a big John Deere tractor, stand in a short but 'long' line to pay for some Carmel apple suckers :) ha ha ha and even pick a couple of apples.  Megan managed to grab the picture above.  I think this is the first time we've managed to get all Kies and Wentland kids smiling and looking towards the camera!! Way to go Megan…super mom, physical therapist, home organizer, and PHOTOGRAPHER!!! 

Sunday, of the same weekend, we headed back to East Moline just a mile or so down the road from the apple orchard and went to Shady Knoll pumpkin patch.  It is our favorite local patch. There was very little wind and the sun was a shining. It was a beautiful day!  We found a few pumpkins after some searching….lots of green ones still for some reason. 

The chosen few…..now placed on our front porch next to our milk jug ghosts. 

Since I'm home this Halloween ( not 'working') I've become rather interested in making all sorts of fun kids' Halloween treats.  The kids helped me dip marshmallows last week!!  I've made homemade peppermint patties and we have candy corn rice krispie treats to make still.  We are planning to hand these special treats out to our closest buds in the neighborhood…...whatever we don't eat!! 

Last Tuesday we decided to get all gussied up for our fall family pictures. My good friend and neighbor, Kim, met us at Devil's Glen park where the oaks were a perfect shade of burgundy and provided a great backdrop for the pictures. I  think we got some great shots!!  Kennon took his super silly pills just before we left…as I'm sure you'll see in some of the shots. 

I love this one….

Just a quick update on the kids since I haven't include any of their milestones lately in lieu of just uploading pictures. Both kids finished their soccer season in blazing fashion a couple of Saturdays ago. Maddox made absolute leaps and bounds improvement in the last year and scored 3 goals in the last game for a total of 6 all year! Her coordination, aggression, and willingness to just 'get in there' and get after the ball was absolutely amazing at the last game. We even caught her throwing a few elbows to claim her space on the field….what you say…?? Maddox?? Yes… she is definitely becoming more interested in the game and Eric and I couldn't be more proud of her. We'll certainly hope she says 'yes' when we ask her if she'd like to play again in the Spring.  Kennon scored 1 goal during the season and too was really getting ' in the scruff' as Eric calls it. He is more aggressive than Maddox but doesn't have the game skills she does quite yet. In fact I found he spent a lot of time on the ground…but in a comical way. He'd be in the middle of the group of players both his team and the opponent and be like 3 feet from where the ball was and the next thing I knew he'd be on the ground…for no real reason but with a big smile on his face…so we can't complain. I don't think he had one tantrum on the field and only a couple off the field related to someone getting a snack that he didn't or something along those lines!!  Despite both kids seeming to love the game they are still extremely interested in the snack post game :) but what kid doesn't love snacks!  Kuddos to Eric for coaching Maddox's team and for being a backup coach for Kennon's team when coach Ken was out of town. 

Maddox is enjoying dance class on Wednesdays. She seems to be building her skills working on listening, respecting others, galloping, skipping…basic coordination stuff that she'll need for bigger skills in ballet later down the road.  Kennon loves his 1 on 1 time with me  in the museum while Maddox is in class. 

Both kids seem to be waning on their naps a bit in the last couple of weeks.  I think Maddox would sleep longer but Kennon is rather loud and boisterous when he gets up and generally wakes her up. He's only been sleeping 1 to 2 hours lately….ugh…and really still needs a longer one. We'll see how things play out in the coming weeks.  ( funny…as I type this he is almost to 2 hours…! )

Both kids seem to be doing well in school.  Maddox really loves her teacher Mrs. Roseman and she is excelling at her writing her letters and has even started to read a bit with some coaching ( thanks for the Bob's books suggestion Jody!!..)  She is excited about the prospect of being able to read on her own so I'm hoping we'll be able to run with it in the coming months.  Kennon too is learning all his letters and I'd say he knows them all by sight and even the sound that they make. We have started having him write his name and he has almost mastered the K and N and of course the O.  His hand coordination doesn't seem quite as good as what Maddox's was at this age but then again he is a boy.  Maddox loves to sing and dance and currently has a make shift dance floor set up in the living room. She has become slightly more interested in what she wears to school although most days she is happy to put on what I have picked out for her.  If she does pick it out it is sometimes a dress but not always.  She is FINALLY willing to wear jeans and looks so darn cute in them.  Most of the jeans we have are hand me downs from Addyson and Rayna across the street and are all worn in and comfy! She'd paint her nails everyday if I let her and has become very interested in girly makeup…although only gets to wear a hint of lip gloss when we have special pictures planned. Kennon continues to be all boy and would play outside till the cows came home if I let him. He recently spent some of his own money on a grabber ( 'thank you' Stegemann's ). A grabber you say?? Yes, a grabber to grab rocks, leaves, branches, his sister's hair, and move it from place to place.  He is thrilled that I finally gave in and bought him a sword to replace the plastic sword that 'vanished' last year since he was hitting everything and everyone with it.  The new sword is FOAM and will go perfectly with his pirate costume tomorrow.   ( Maddox is going to be Elsa) He has been testing the waters lately with is behavior, both at school and home,  but we are holding on tight to the roller coaster of child phases and trying to always praise the positive!!  It's always so funny to me when one kid is really having a hard time the other kid really seems to shine!  Maybe that's why God gave us temper tantrums.  I am signed up for a cake decorating class that starts on Monday.  I'm pretty excited about it and hope for it to lead me down a new life path in the coming years.   Eric is busy at work and The Planning Center continues to grow and be just a really great place to work.   He signed up for another 1/2 marathon for the Spring. I think I"m going to take a season off and am back to attending lots of classes at the Y rather than getting miles in.  Eric and I will be attending the Iowa game on Saturday. We are happy to be at the game but even happier to have some solo time. Thanks to Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim for taking the kids for an overnighter.  All is well!! Take care.