Halloween at the Farm!

Today was a beautiful day. The perfect day to go to Diana Rose Farmstead for the pumpkin fest. I looked it up on-line and it looked like the kids were suppose to wear their costumes. I was wrong but it was fun, almost perfect because I could locate Caleb easily!Caleb was a scary monster/dinosaur.
Aubrey was Snow White.Ainsley was a butterfly. She loved the goats! Caleb loved the play ground. My kids always love the play ground. We almost decided to forgo the pumpkin fest (it was $7.00 per adult/child) thinking the kids were having fun with the free stuff. After much thought Andy/Marlene decide to take Ainsley home because she was getting tired and I went with Aubrey/Caleb on the pumpkin extravaganza. We were lucky enough to have the Rudd family join us!

Aubrey was too scared to go down the slide. She held up the line for over 5 minutes.

Caleb went down the slide and then quickly moved onto other activities. The obstacle course was very exciting for a little boy full of energy but as much as Caleb tried he could not go over the obstacle. He tried and tried but ended up stuck at the top every time.Caleb was thrilled when I let him play the hammer game. Next week if I call my mom in tears saying Caleb took a hammer to my wall I will defiantly regret letting him play this game.

A hay ride, maze, ski ball, soccer, mini basketball, and hay tunnels made for a fun afternoon!

This kids didn't understand "PICKING OUT A PUMPKIN". They really didn't care. They just wanted a "Cinderella" pumpkin.

What a long fun day. 4 hours, 21 dollars, and 3 pumpkins later it was time to go home.
We are glad that Marlene and the Rudd family could have fun with us at the Farm!


***more new posts below.

Something funny.

Aubrey's life is full of tea parties, dress up, church, school, and the neighbor kids! Everyday when I pick her up from school her teacher always brings her to my car and buckles her in. A couple of weeks ago Ms. Susan said they talked about "What's your favorite food?" All the kids had the usual reply...pizza, ice cream, french fries.
When it was Aubrey's turn she said "NEMO!"
Ms. Susan said "You mean Fish Sticks?"
Aubrey said "No, Nemo. He is so very yummy."
Well, kids were instantly sad and Ms. Susan quickly tried to move on.
I thoutht that was funny. Aubrey is so picky but she loves Salmon "NEMO" and brown rice.The helmets. I finally bought Caleb a helmet. He loves it and wears it all day long even when he is not riding his bike. What a wonderful idea. Now all he needs is a mouth guard and I can stop worring about his every move. He falls, crashes, and bumps into everything and anything all day long. I would like to say thank you to "Word World" on PBS. I do not know how I found such a wonderful cartoon but my kids sat down for a full 24 minutes without helling "MOM", getting hurt, and/or smashing food into the carpet. TWO THUMBS WAY UP! I was able to make lunch, cool down lunch, clean up lunch, and sweep without interuption. Wonderful!

***More posts below....

Halloween prep...
This week we have started our Halloween prep. We read Halloween books underneath the kitchen table with Halloween flashlights. After, I let the kids make cupcakes with little help from me. They did really well and we had a lot of fun.

Caleb counted and cracked the eggs. He was so careful and gentle. It was fun to watch. Aubrey was in charge of measuring the oil.

Ainsley was in charge of measuring the water!

Since Grandma Griner "ALWAYS" lets the kids lick the bowl and beaters it was only right that I let them too.
Ainsley was very confused but happy to be included!

Aubrey's job was to set the timer while Caleb put the cupcakes in the oven. It was a fun afternoon. We made frosting and frosted the cupcakes but the kids wouldn't eat them. Weird! The cupcakes sat on the counter for 24 hours without a single interest!

A Different Week

This week was a different week because there was no school Monday and Friday. No School! Why do they do that?On Monday since there was no school the neighbor kids came over to play for a couple of hours. They did play-doh, colored, raced bikes in the basement, and played "superman" in Caleb's room. Ainlsey loved all the attention she received from Reagan (almost 9) and Nathan (3). Caleb and Ashton (4) raced bikes and road "dandy", and Aubrey had a tea party with Sydney (6). But nothing can take the place of School so when dad came home they had "pretend school". Pretend school included: ABC/Animal flashcards, a song, and a snack. Sitting still and raising your hand was a must. It was a lot of fun! My beautiful Ainsley.... I do not understand why she hates riding in the car and taking a bath. It is so strange. She loves to take a shower but sometimes it is so much easier to just put her in the bath. Lately she gets more dirty than Caleb...dirt, food, and mystery yuck often cover her face, feet, and hands.

This week I decided that doing 3 loads of laundry a day and going through an entire bottle of stain remover a week is just not working out for me. My solution is to make them eat without their shirts on (Caleb/Ainsley...Aubrey is a very clean girl so she is aloud to keep her shirt on). Cruel, maybe but Caleb has been a lot more careful while eating and Ainsley doesn't seem to mind!

Caleb and Ainsley! My two little buddies during the day. We have had a fun week running errands, playing, and going on lots of walks. Caleb is such a good brother but sometimes Ainsley just wants to be alone with her blanket and "Melanie".

Today there was no school again. It was a beautiful day so we headed to the park with the neighbors. Ainlsey was in her element. She loved the park and went down the slide 3 times all by herself. I was shocked! She walked around holding my hand and loved to go high on the swings! We have had a fun week! We love the fall leaves, weather, yummy smells!

Good News for the week:
1. CALEB DIDN'T GET HURT!!!!!
2. Ainley can take 4 steps without holding onto anything.
3. Ainsley says a new word (I am pretty sure): YUM!
4. Ainsley points at everything. It is really fun to watch!
5. My parents are coming in 7 days!!! Yahoo!!!

General Conference Saturday

October 4th 2008

Every year since I have been married we have always gone to Andy parents house for General Conference. Since we do not get it on our tv this year we looked forward to watching it down in Winsdor. I was defiantly not going to go to the church and sit through 2 2 hour sessions on a Saturday with 3 kids (All those wonderful moms that did way to go!!).

So, down to Windsor we went...My kids are all so different when it comes to travelling in a car...Caleb is hyper, always wants the window down, and is really loud. Aubrey is quiet, always has to have her special "school music" playing, and she often falls asleep. Ainsley hates the car. She cries, wiggles, and CRIES LOUD. No food, book, or toy seems to comfort her.

After the first session of general conference was over Paul and Andy took Caleb to Paul's Dental office for the all too important check up. Were Caleb's 2 front teeth staying or would they be pulled out???

Paul is such a kind, gentle, and awesome dentist. I am not sure if any other dentist would have gotten Caleb to sit still. He answered all of Caleb's 1000 questions and he did an x-ray.

After all was said and done......THE TEETH GET TO STAY!!!

(I did not like the joke that Paul/Caleb/Andy played on me...not nice)

When Caleb got back we headed out to the paddle boat. Surprisingly, we have never taken the kids out on it. Weird! After the paddle boat the neighbors invited Aubrey/Caleb/Ainsley over for a Hannah Montana birthday party which included:cake, gum, and a big air jumping thing. How fun!!!

Marlene made No Bake cookies (aka poop cookies) and let Caleb lick the pan. We had a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful/perfect! Of course in the evening when we left and drove home Aubrey/Caleb slept while Ainsley cried. Weird!

Great news for Saturday:

1. Ainlsey took her first 2 steps with out holding onto anything

2. Marlene cut Aubrey some "Sleeping Beauty" bangs. She looks so different and so cute!

3. Gas was $2.95 per gallon in Lee's Summit. Awesome!

4. We are getting a TEMPLE! Heck ya!!! What could be better than that!?!!

***More new blogs below.....

Mill Creek Elementary School Carnival

October 3rd, 2008

Our neighbor was kind enough to tell us about the local school carnival. I bought tickets and prepared the kids all day for "CARNIVAL FUN". Aubrey and Caleb were extremely excited. I told them about the fun games, bouncy air jump things, and yummy unhealthy food they would see and experience at the carnival!

When we arrived Caleb wasted no time. I was surprise although I shouldn't have been considering his recent brave (dangerous)behavior. Since it wasn't very crowded yet the ticket lady let Caleb go up and down the big slide until he was tire. Little did she know that Caleb would never be tired of such an fun slide! The bribe of food finally pried him away from the bouncy jumpy air slide. Surprisingly Aubrey would not participate. She just watched from a distance.

Ainsley was also very excited for the carnival. She had everything that was required for a fun time... her blanket, "Melanie" the pony, and her sippy cup.We let Caleb get his hair colored! At the carnival the choice of food was superb! Hot dogs, corn dogs, or pizza. Yes, I did let Ainsley try a corn dog. She had the appropriate number of teeth (9)for a supervised sample. She loved it. It was Caleb very first corn dog and he loved it too! Don't you just love Carnivals!!! Ashton and Nathan are a requirement for Griner fun. They are Aubrey and Caleb's neighbor friends. They have only known each other for a short time but you would never know from watching them.

All in all the carnival was a blast! Snow Cones, Popcorn, Soda, 2 hours, and 100 tickets later the parents were tired (kids not so much)!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Ainsley!

What a fun year we have had. Ainsley has been the most gentle, patient, and perfect baby. Her easy going personality and love for music has made her a joy to be around. I rarely see Aubrey and Caleb playing without Ainsley. They are always playing, pretending, and laughing with her.

-Ainsley started sleeping through the night at 6 months (what a surprise since Caleb/Aubrey still do not sleep through the night).

-She started standing/walking while holding onto things at 8 months.

-Her first word was at 11 months and it was MA MA!

-She loves to mimic my actions and gestures. She wakes up, takes a nap, and goes to bed at the same exact time every day!

-She loves to dance and make musical sounds.

-She loves her bunny blanket, stuffed pony "Melanie", and her book.

-She is such a beautiful and wonderful part of my life. I love waking up to her laughter. She is easy to please and she seems to understand simple directions!!!

-She loves to help me load the dryer, she always has to sit on the dishwasher door while I unload/load it, and always has to "take turns".... example: After she takes a bite of her toast she hands it to me for "my turn", I pretend to take a bite, and then I hand it back to her. This continues until the toast is completely gone. If she shakes a toy and hears something fun she hands it to me for "my turn" and then I hand it back to her. So on and so on!

AINSLEYS 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Grandma and Grandpa Griner came up for the big party. After a yummy dinner we let Ainsley open her presents. Aubrey and Caleb were very excited. They let Ainsley know exactly how this birthday thing was done!

Ainsley loved looking at all of the gifts that surrounded her. Thank goodness for Paul (Grandpa Griner) who was there to take pictures and take all of the toys out of the boxes!

Marlene was kind enough to make a cake and Caleb was kind enough to poke at it and lick it upon arrival.
Ainsley wasn't sure what to do. She tore the cake apart only getting a little bit of it in her mouth! She is not really a cake fan (she must have learned that from Andy).

Her party was a lot of fun. We love our little Ainlsey and look forward to the upcoming year!

My life with a Caleb.

I think that every mom needs a Caleb. In the past three weeks he has been in the hospital 2 times and has had 1 really close call!

Let me start....When life is hard, it is really hard.

It is either good or really bad. There seems to be no middle ground for The Griners.

Our car was in the shop, our computer crashed, and Andy's pay check was stolen all at the end of week 1.

Week 2 went fairly smooth until early one morning when Caleb got hurt. Right away I knew something was wrong when he lost all use of his arm and his tears did not stop. So after talking to Caleb's doctor Children's Mercy South was our destination. The doctor said it was Nurse Maids Elbow and he pushed the bone back into the socket. Ouch!

Last week (week 3). Thursday Caleb was standing on the kitchen table chair. He slipped, fell,and hit his mouth. He bit all the way through his lower lip. ALL THE WAY THROUGH! His lip was so swollen that he couldn't eat or talk. By Saturday his lower lip was all better. He was back to his normal self (crazy, into everything, and refusing to take a nap). He was playing behind the couch on Ainsley bike and somehow slid down the 3 stairs that lead to our basement. I ran to him and picked him up. Blood, Blood, and more Blood. I just couldn't get the blood to stop. Caleb kept yelling "My teeth are gone Mommy!". There was so much blood I couldn't really see. He finally let me touch his mouth and I discovered that his two front teeth were pushed back and up into his gums. His mouth was still bleeding allot so back to Children's Mercy South we went. The doctor said they do not really do stitches in the mouth because it heals so quickly, he told me to go home try to "gently" push his teeth back into place, call my dentist (Paul, Andy's dad), and keep him from doing any harm to his mouth for the next week. When we got home Andy pushed the teeth back into place and we waited 3 days(we needed to see if his teeth would tighten or if his mouth would reject them). Trying to keep Caleb from hitting his mouth is IMPOSSIBLE! Since he has been hurt he has hit his mouth on everything! The good news is that it has been almost a week and his teeth have tightened!

The picture above is 5 days after he got hurt. It looks much better. It is still purple but his lips and gums aren't swollen anymore!!

MY MORNING WITH CALEB AND AINSLEYThis morning while Aubrey was at school I took Caleb/Ainsley to run errands. We did really well...Target (why do my children still get excited about the big red "balls" in front of Target?) and then Sam's Club. Caleb carried this big thing of Cheese Balls all through Sam's Club. We walked around for over 40 minutes looking at all of the Halloween/Christmas Decorations and the new fun toys coming out for Christmas. Caleb never got tired. He held onto the case of Cheese Balls for dear life. The pumpkin....

Caleb has been bugging me for a pumpkin for weeks. I am not sure why he is so interested in them but he is. When we were walking into Sam's Club Caleb asked "Mommy, can we please get a pumpkin in this store. Please Mommy, I would like a big mean pumpkin!"

I said "Okay." I honestly thought Sam's Club wouldn't sell pumpkins. I do not want to deal with such a big mess so I have been hesitant to buy one. When we walked into Sam's Club there they were.....BIG HUGE PUMPKINS. I had never seen pumpkins so big. Caleb was so happy. He let me know exactly which one he wanted. I tried everything I could to change his mind but it just wasn't happening. So I left Sams Club with Milk, trash bags, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, granola bars, a BIG PUMPKIN, and a BIG THING OF CHEESE BALLS!