Humpkin Carving

Ok, so that is the way Michael pronouces pumpkins. Yes, he can say the p sound and no matter how much coaching he still calls them "humpkins". So last night we got to do some "humpkin" carving. It was fun to let Michael help Kent and I carve the pumpkins. When we started cleaning out the pumpkin Michael did it once and made the funniest face and then kept trying to wipe off his hands. When we told him to keep doing it, he did it but would barely touch anything. Of course I have pictures of our humpkin carving. How did your pumpkin carving go?

Halloween Carnival

I found out that Enumclaw does an annual Halloween Carnival each year. It is free to attend and they have wonderful games and such for little ones. So this year we got the kids dressed up and went to check it out. We got there at the very beginning. (After all we are early to bed people). Michael loved it. They had small play equipment inside for the kids, also a bounce house, and a ball pit. They also had different games that the kids could do and after they did them, they got a piece of candy. Michael is starting to pick up on the candy part of Halloween. We'll see how he does on Halloween and see how many houses he wants to go to. Here are some pictures of the fun at the carnival.

YUMMY!

(Doesn't the apple pie filling look pretty in the jar)

So my wonderful sister-in-law Nancy invited me over to can apple pie filling. I had never canned this before and am still relatively new to the whole canning process. But it was so much fun. However, I don't think I would like canning without someone there to talk to. Michael played with his cousin most of the time and had a blast, so we were free to can. Even Emma was happy to just be in the carrier on my back. So the next day I had to test it out to see how it would taste. I made apple crisp from it. Now, I am really not an apple pie person (although I do like desserts so it was worth a try) but this I LOVED! So yummy!

For those canners out there here is the recipe:

Apple Pie Filling
Makes enough syrup for 6 quarts

4 ½ cups of sugar (or 2 cups honey)
1 cup of cornstarch
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp lemon juice
10 cups water

In a large pot, whisk together dry ingredients (first 5.) Work out the cornstarch lumps until they are blended in the sugar. Add water. Stir over med-high heat until thickens and boils then add lemon juice. Fill jars with apples, pour syrup over and water bath for 20-25 minutes.


Apple Crisp Topping

½ cup rolled oats
½ cup flour
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 beaten egg
Pinch salt
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

Combine the rolled oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Then add the butter and beaten egg. Work together with a fork. Put 1 qt of apple pie filling in bottom of casserole dish. Place crisp topping on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

(And here's the end result, very yummy!)

Learning and Growing

(In her Halloween outfit)

Maybe it is the teacher in me, or maybe all mom's do this. But I sure love to see my kids learning and discovering new things. Emma is now at a fun stage where she is getting interested in more toys. I showed her a toy she hadn't seen before, and the look on her face was awesome. I just love to see her discovering new things. Oh, and her outfit, she is testing out her Halloween outfit, we had to make sure it fit since we got it at a garage sale this summer. :)




And also a milestone, she can now sit up for a little while on her own, not too long, but she is there, sitting up by herself now! Yeah.

Pumpkin Hunting

(Pumpking Hunting is serious stuff!)

Michael, Emma, and I got to go pumpkin hunting with Grandma Brown. We went to Maris Farms this year. WOW! I didn't know that pumpkin farms had so much awesome stuff for little ones. We went on a raining monday, but it was the only day free for us and Grandma Brown. Luckily there were a lot of preschool feild trips that day, so I think we got some extras that aren't usually there for everyone; and we just went to the opposite of the feildtrip people and got the things all to ourselves!

First we went to see the animals. Michael got to pet a little kitten, and bunny that were being held. We also got to see chickens, goats, pigs, and cows. Michael and Grandma got to feed the baby cows too! Then we got our pumpkins (of course it had to be raining the worst at this time, just our luck). On to the kids courtyard where there were water pump duck races (Michael's favorite). Then a corn play area, where the kids just played in the corn, Michael loved it. Next there were tracters to ride, and much more that we didn't even have time to do. Next year I will know to plan an entire day so we can do all the fun things! Needless to say Michael didn't want to go when we needed to. We will be back next year! Here are some pictures of our fun.

(Us in front of the pigs, too bad you can't actually see the pigs, but there are there. :)

Feeding the baby cows, Michael got scared and so Grandma had to finish.

Racing the ducks

In the corn, they even hid little ducks for the kids to find in the corn!

Treasured Tips

So I have always been one that has loved to get advice and tips from other people. Some I use and some I don't, but I love to get the tips and have them in my "bag of tricks" if time comes that I need them. So I have decided to post on the side of my bolg "treasured tips". Helpful things that I have learned and have been able to collect from others (Thank you Denise for the many tips). I will be adding more as I think of them, and would LOVE for you to tell me tips you have learned over the years and I will post them too. So please tell me ones you know now, and as you learn new ones PLEASE share them with me. I am always looking for new tricks that work.

Determination

So during the summer I picked up some really cool things at garage sales. One of which were two puzzles. They have 24 pieces and say for ages 3 and up. They are cute puzzles of Winne the Poo and Sesame Street. I got them for tutoring thinking they would be fun things for breaks. I brought them home and Michael wanted to see them. I told him they were too hard for him and put them up high, not wanting him to lose the pieces. Well I guess this just made him more determined to do them. About 20 times each day he would ask either Kent or I to help him do the puzzles. Finally about 3 weeks ago I gave in and pulled them down and did them with him. Then Kent started doing them with Michael and teaching him how to match the pictures together. Last week Michael started to do his puzzles in the morning, which let me sleep in a little longer (YEAH!). So, Yesterday morning I went to the toy room and saw Michael finished with one puzzle and almost done with another, all by himself. He sure showed me that they were not too hard for him, and with a little determination (which he has a lot of) he can do anything. :)

And of course I have to post a picture of Emma, being her cute and adorable self today. ;)

Looking Back

So Kent was just able to figure out how to get my many pictures off of my phone. I have tons of pictures of fun things we did that I thought others might enjoy seeing them.

1) Michael, Emma and I went to the Puyallup fair early on a Friday morning the first day it was open, when it was free to get in. Too bad Kent had to work. :( But we had a blast! They had a spot where there were real fire trucks, firemen, and they would even let the kids try on the firefighter’s coats. Michael LOVED it! First he got to sit on the fire truck and was very reluctant to give it up to another child waiting. Then he got to wear the fireman coat. It was extremely heavy not to mention hot. Yet Michael didn’t want to give that up either. Then we got to the Deer John tractors. They let the little kids get on the tractors and take pictures. So I let Michael climb on. He had the time of his life. I put the picture of him on the tractor as the background for my cell phone. Now Michael is always grabbing my phone and saying that he wants to see the tractor.

2) One Saturday Kent’s dad called him to tell him there was a car show in town. When Kent was little he and his dad would go to these old car shows and have a blast. So we packed up the kids, and went to meet his dad at this car show. It was really cool to look at the old cars, and I couldn’t help but get a picture of 3 generations of Rowley guys at the car show.

3) So I love this baby sling called the Peanut Shell. I have tried many baby carriers, but this is the best for me, it is easy to put on, and Emma is happy in it and usually falls asleep easily in it. Everyone always says that I have to get a picture of Emma in it because she looks so adorable. So finally after the RS broadcast my mom thought to get a picture. It was dark out in the parking lot and I used my cell phone camera, but I still think it’s a cute picture.

Sickies

Last night I started to come down with a cold. And all through the night I would wake up feeling like a Petri dish, I could feel the germs dividing and growing. In the morning I felt terrible with a sore throat and headache. Then I faced the dilemma, do I go to church or stay home. I always feel guilty staying home when there are things I have to do. Usually I am one that just toughs it out. I think I learned that in High School where if you didn’t miss any days you didn’t have to take the finals. I can’t tell you how many days I went to school sick. Which lead to me attending school with 2 ear infections and strepthroat, as well as embarrassing stories of me throwing up at school. But now being a mom and having little ones, I am changing my view of sickness. If people are sick I would rather they stay home and not spread it to my family. This is hard for me, I feel like I am letting people down when I don’t show up. But I know it is better to take a day off and rest so I can get better as well as not spreading the germs around. So today I stayed home and rested and let Kent take care of the kids, who also had colds.
While Emma and I were resting apparently Kent and Michael had a blast building a train track. Male bonding, oh what fun! Thanks Deckers for the train and tracks, they are being put to good use. :)

A New Do

So Emma is now going through the mohawk phase. Hopefully this will be the only time she ever has one. Still, I can't resist seeing the mohawk and not styling it and taking pictures.

I did the same to Michael when he was this age. :)

So anyways, I was also hoping for some advice. With Michael I didn't do anything about his mohawk but brush his hair forward. But with Emma I was wondering if I should try to use that long hair to style in some way. Any ideas? I was thinking about a top ponytail. What do you guys think? And how do you get a ponytail to stay in baby fine hair? Any suggestions and ideas would be great! Thanks.

Water Issues

So as I blogged yesturday about Michael flooding the bathroom. I thought I had it all cleaned up and taken care of. So we went on with our day of play group and errands. Later that night Kent came home through the front door (that I hardly ever use) and called out "What is all this water doing here!" apparently the water from the bathroom leaked through the wall and went into the front entry way and living room. Luckly the entry way rug soaked up most of the water. But as I was on my way out to a primary meeting, Kent got the joy of wet vacuuming the living room. Needless to say he was not happy about it. And of course Michael who loves to help me clean and vacuum enjoyed every minute of helping clean up. He's just so cute about it that it is hard to be mad for long. But I was glad when the day came to an end.

The Adventures of a Two Year Old

Today as I was busy in the office, I heard Michael going into the bathroom. Then I heard the toliet flush and water running. I thought. Great, he is going to the bathroom without needing a reminder. Then I kept hearing running water and thought that Michael was playing in the sink. So I got up to go and stop him from playing and have him finish washing his hands. I opened the bathroom door to find Michael with the plunger in his hands and about 1/4 inch of water covering the entire bathroom floor and still flowing from the toilet! We have a very sensitite toilet that can not handle much. On top of that Michael will unroll the entire roll of TP and put it down the toilet. Usually I catch it in time to fish out the TP and plunger the toilet. But this time I was too late. I quickly called Kent and learned that there is a shut off valve behind the toilet. Luckly too, Kent had his wet vac in the shed. So I got to work cleaning up the mess. Not knowing what to do with Michael or how to discipline him, I had him just stand where he was as I took care of the water. Once most of the water was taken care of I thought that as Michael made the mess he could help clean it up. I gave him a towel and told him to wipe up the floor after the wet vac. I meant it to be a punishment, but I think he rather enjoyed it. Once it was all cleaned up he got a quick bath and told to never put tp in the toilet without mom or dad around (a nice lecture just like my dad would do:). I guess I will now have to hide the tp. So if you are a guest at my house, please know that we do have tp, it is just hidden from michael, so look under the sink. :)
I am sure that each one of you have some funny story about your children doing something equalily frustrating or worse, so please share. It would make my frustrating day better to hear that others have been there too. :)

The Answer!!

So the other day I was preparing to go to bed on the couch in hopes of catching Michael out of bed before he woke up Emma. I was there when at 11pm I saw his bedroom light turn on and shortly after he came out of his room. I quickly ushered him back into his room. Then it hit me, he wanted a light on, but his bedroom light was too bright that it didn't let him sleep. So I grabbed the nightlight from the hallway and put it in his room. He didn't come out at all after that, and I didn't see him until 7:30am the next morning. I wondered if it was too good to be true, so I wanted to see how the next night would go. He went to bed with no struggle and never came out in the middle of the night! A nightlight was the answer. If I'd only known it would be that easy! Thinking back it makes complete sense. Up until about 3 weeks ago I had the baby monitor in his bedroom. I wanted to hear his breathing at night (he'd had another bad asthma session), and the baby monitor has a built in nightlight. I never thought that the nightlight made any difference. When his breathing got better I took the baby monitor out to use for Emma. And that is when the sleeping problems began. To add to it if Michael does not sleep at night he will not take a nap during the day, and if he doesn't nap during the day he doesn't sleep well at night. So this whole time I was thinking Michael was just giving up on his naps altogether, but after we got him sleeping at night again, he has been taking good naps once again. YEAH!! of course hindsight is 20/20, I just wish I would have figured it out sooner!

Sleep Deprived

So if any one has tips on how to get at 2 year old to sleep through the night, please let me know. The last 3 weeks I have felt like a zombie. Each night has been a battle to get Michael to sleep. I finally had to do the Supper nanny approach to get him to go to bed at night. The first night it took 1 hour of him getting out of bed and me putting him right back. The next night 15 minutes of it, and still it continues 15 minutes each night. If that was it, I would be happy, but I get woken up, at say 2am, and then have to repeat the process, and on "special" nights this happens up to 2 more times. Not to mention I have a teething 4 month old who is up more than usual too. I have tried cuddling with him, I have tried explaining not to come out until the sun comes up, and I have tried the supper nanny approach at night. I know I should cherish these times, as the talk in confernce said, that some day I will look back and miss it. But right now, I just want some sleep so I can be a happy mom and a coherent person.

Making Beds

So ever since we moved Michael into a "big boy bed" about 2 months ago, I decided that I would show him each morning how to make his bed. Sure this may seem like an impossible task for me to expect a 2 year old to make his own bed. But I figure if I don't teach him now then when? And will he want to do it then, while now he is in this "I do it myself" stage. So every day when Michael wakes up I tell him that he has to say his morning prayers, use the bathroom, and make his bed before he can have breakfast. Usually I help him with the prayers and bed making. But this morning he said "NO, I do it myself." So I stayed in the living room. I heard him in his room say "in the name of Jesus Christ amen!" (I believe that is the only part of paryer he said, but hey it is something) He came out and announced he had said his prayer by himself. :) Then he went to make his bed by himself. When he came out to announce his bed made by himself, I couldn't help but go and check. I thought I would see all the blankets bunched up but on his bed. I found a very neatly made bed (for a two year old). I was so happy and Michael was beaming that he did it himself. We hi fived and headed to the kitchen for his breakfast. I had to show you the picture of his bed, I am just so impressed. (Ok, so I am a bias mom, but hey I can tell on my kids. :)

Our Family

Welcome to the Rowley blog. I am hoping to be able to share our photos and experiences with friends and family. Another way to keep in touch. I hope you enjoy our site and use it as a way to keep in touch with us. We love to hear from you, so please share your stories with us too. :)