We had a great afternoon. It's so nice to have Phil home on Saturday! Lily helped him attach the railing to Gracie's bed while Gracie and I played princess dress-up. I was impressed when Phil said to Lily, "Get me the allen wrench," and she handed him the correct tool! Lily joined us when she was through helping Daddy fix the bed.
Lily was sleepy this morning, so she snuggled in with Daddy on the couch. While Lily slept, Gracie and I stole away for about an hour to have special time at the mall. We were looking for shiny ruby red slippers. We weren't able to find any, so she played on the squishy playground instead.
These Clorox wipes and my hardwood floors have made my life so much easier these past few days! Jared, Caleb, Grace and I have had a horrible, horrible stomach flu. Did I mention that it was horrible? At first we thought it was food poisoning. I made grilled cheese sandwiches with a new block of cheese on Wednesday, and four hours later, everyone got sick...except for Lily who wouldn't eat her lunch because she's teething. Jared had a good day yesterday, but he "got sick" again this morning. I can just blot up any messes with a towel and then wipe the area clean with one of these wipes! No carpet to worry about.
Another thing I've been enjoying lately is the view of this beautiful walnut tree from my kitchen window. Caleb is especially enjoying all of the yellow leaves!
Caleb was playing downstairs in the playroom, and he didn't quite make it upstairs to use the restroom in time, poor thing! He was practically in tears, and said to me, "I'm so sorry that I broke the potty rules. Will you please forgive me?" I guess I didn't know that we had potty rules, but he's determined to follow them next time. What a sweet boy!
Gramma sent these flowers to us this afternoon! If you click on the picture, you can see that the vase is full of what the kids call "mommy candy."
Thank you, Gramma!
Phil doesn't enjoy posing for pictures (who does?), so I took this candid shot as he was leaving this morning. I'm so proud of him!
And here's a funny picture of my girls. I had to run and get my camera! Notice what each girl is doing. Gracie is browsing my Norton Anthologies, which I left out last night, and I think Lily's a little less academically inclined. Might she be a good candidate for Cliff Notes? Maybe! I am baffled as to why the remote control isn't on her side, though.
I made pumpkin bread this morning and saved some of the batter to make mini muffins for the kids. All 36 muffins were gone in 10 minutes!
Here's the recipe if you want to enjoy this, too!
Beat by hand:
1 cup veg. oil
4 cups sugar
1 big can pumpkin
5 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
3 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 min. Makes 3 large or 5 small loaves.
Today I halved the recipe and made 1 loaf and 36 mini muffins.
We took Gramma to the airport this afternoon and spent the rest of the day at the pumpkin patch. The boys enjoyed going through a corn maze with Phil while I walked around with the girls. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon since we are all a little sad about having to take Gramma to the airport.
While the boys were on their little pirate adventure, the girls and I walked around the pumpkin patch, bought pretties for their hair, ate a giant pretzel and listened to a fiddler play. The girls love live music! Gracie clapped and sang along, and Lily signed, "more, more!" after each song.
Phil took the boys through a corn maze this afternoon at the pumpkin patch.
They found their way to a castle, and then to a pirate ship! 
All who entered the maze were given a key to open a treasure chest hidden inside the maze. Caleb's key opened the treasure chest! He won a pirate bandanna. Phil and Jared were given chocolate gold coins as consolation prizes.
We spent a wonderful evening downtown. We stopped by Sonic for slushies, we went to the "big red wagon park," and then we had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory...YUM! Gramma's going home tomorrow. Our plan is to visit an apple orchard and pumpkin patch in the morning before heading to the airport.
This one was just too cute not to post! My sister gave this robe to Jared when he was born. Phil put it on Lily after her bath last night...a little too small, but oh so cute!
Jared wants this to be his new chore. He wants to roll the empty garbage can back into the carport on garbage day. Fine with me!
Jared wanted to make applesauce today. However, he told me he was bored after slicing only 2 apples! I made him stick with it, though. We'll enjoy the "fruit" of his labor tonight at dinner, then he'll be glad he finished!
I was going to title this post "Ha! Ha! Nana and Aunt Corinne" but that would be cruel, wouldn't it? Gramma came to visit this week! The kids love having her here. Her plane flew right over our car as we turned into the airport! Jared wanted to stop by Sonic on the way home so he could show Gramma that the waitresses roller skate out to the cars and bring slushies. He made her stare at the door so she wouldn't miss it.
Yesterday we went to the mall to play in the squishy playground and then Gramma treated us to ice cream at Dairy Queen. Today we're going to show her our new library and if it doesn't rain, we'll play at the park for awhile.
