- Falling Into Fall -

I was going to title this post "WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS," but then I realized we're already nearing the end of October, so...

 ...hey...

...hiiiii...

...HELLO! 

Here we are, "officially" falling [or maybe already fallen] into 'da smack dab middle of FALL!  I'm loving it.  Life with COVID-19 rages on, though we're learning how to tiptoe around it cautiously since we've realized it isn't going away anytime soon.  We've been able to grow more confidently optimistic through it all and finally mustered up the motivation last month to go out to eat for the first time since March!!! Outdoor patio dining, of course... ;)  It was wonderful!

Also! Scarlett had a mini-series of firsts recently in the realm of FIRST visit to the dentist [for which Harper prepared her really well for many weeks prior!]...

 ...^^ no cavities, might I add...

...and FIRST visit to the hospital. [Well, kinda/sorta.] 

NOT FUNNY BACKSTORY ^^:  Harper had her cousin over to play one Saturday afternoon, and the two older girls were dividing up a bag of marbles into bowls pretending they were blueberries.  Rumor had it that Scarlett put one of said "blueberries" in her mouth and swallowed it, and Scarlett didn't deny the accusation!  Let it be known that I usually only seek out medical attention for my offspring if they're near death; so, in my mind, this was no big deal and certainly not worth an Urgent Care/E.R. trip over the weekend.  [Edited to add before the mom-shaming commences:  Scarlett was breathing normally, eating normally, peeing/pooping normally, AND sleeping normally, and I carefully and continually assessed all of those factors!  ...If the marble went down ok, it should slip back out ok!]  So anyway, we laughed it off, resurrected the toddler potty from the basement storage, and committed ourselves to mushing through every single one of Scarlett's #2's with a disposable fork until the glass prize [re]appeared.  On day 5 sans marble, I decided it would be prudent to call the pediatrician's office [mostly just for a little reassurance/pat on the back that we were doing everything right!].  Long story short, they ordered STAT X-rays, and we were checked into the Imaging Center attached to the local hospital 45 minutes later.

 

Thanks to COVID, the door screeners only allowed one lucky parent inside the hospital.  Brian waited in the car while Scarlett and I waited...and waited...and WAITED in the radiology waiting room.  She was so good and wore her mask like a champ the entire time; all the receptionists and other patients loved watching her and interacting with her as able! :)  Finally we got called back, and she was so brave to lay on the exam table for the X-ray [topless, might I add, since the radiology tech thought the pom-poms on her shirt might be confused with nothing other than ...A MARBLE! lolololol].  They told her to take a breath in and hold it + not move a muscle -- which I thought were ridiculous instructions for a 2-year-old -- but she did it perfectly!  Immediately afterwards, she was dismissed from the Imaging Center with a handful of souvenirs, including but not limited to: Mickey Mouse disposable mask, hospital bracelet that was just her size, and an arm's-length roll of princess stickers! 

 

During dinner, we got a phone call from the pediatrician with the results, and...

 

...

 

...

...

 

...

 

...NO MARBLE PRESENT.

 

"So either it passed before you started examining her stools [not possible], or more likely she just never swallowed a marble in the first place.  Either way, good news!  Have a great evening!" the pediatrician said.  

 

"Real cool $300 story!" Brian said.

 

But all joking aside, we are happy to know that Scarlett is healthy and all is [slash was always] well!  No sweat off this sweet girl's back! :) 

Keeping on the Scarlett train:  aside from dental exams and X-rays, she has been 100% LOVING her 1:1 time with Mommy while Harper is at school 5 days/week!  After accompanying me to my annual well woman exam one morning where she was full of recurring questions like, "Mommy, what 'dis?" and, "Mommy! WHHHHHAT 'DAT?" for the entiretyyyyy of the appointment, she easily talked me into celebrating with donuts and shopping afterwards! ;) :)

She and I also pulled out alllllll the summer annuals last month and planted a bunch of beautiful new mums! MUMS THE WORD! 

After we shipped Scarlett off to spend the night at Grammy and Papa's one evening, we enjoyed a pizza and movie night home alone with juuuuust Harper...

 ...and vice versa the next weekend!  The kids are totally different when they're by themselves, and both nights provided much needed quality time for all parties involved!!!

When Harper gets home from school every day, there's still plenty of [socially distanced] "school" going on inside our home...

...and gosh, Harper's creativity is soaring these days!  She is soooo artistic; she thinks of something she wants to make and goes to town cutting paper towels or construction paper -- and voila!  Disposable masks and family flip flops and mermaid tails and rainbow monsters be hers! 

Next!  The kids recently found a tub of Beanie Babies hidden away at my parents' house, and they have been LOVING them!  Ahhhhhh, the good ole' days... Are you even a kid if you don't experience a little magic from the 90's?!  Between dressing the animals, taking them for stroller rides, and making a zoo to separate all of them into categories, these old Ty dolls have provided many hours of entertainment!  [See, Dad...........it was all worth it!]

 

Lastly! ^^ National Daughter's Day was a few weeks ago, and we definitely celebrated how blessed we are to be able to call these beauties ours!  Admittedly, at times, life's a "zoo" with these two......but I assure you we wouldn't have it any other way!

Happy fall, y'all!  ...Hopefully it's still fall by the time I put you to sleep with another humble-jumbled super long and ultra boring mom-post again.

Until then.............. :-*

- Out of the mouth of babes: VOL XV -

One afternoon after I asked Scarlett to go fetch an Amazon package on the front porch:
"Sissy, I have to go outside with you, because you're too little and I'm older and stronger.  And also so if you get tooken by a stranger outside, I could pull you back from them."

While examining her feet:
"Mommy, did God make all our toenails and then glue them on before we were babies?"

 

After she picked up a dead butterfly off the sidewalk to put in her bug box:
"I'm pretty sure he's just sleeping, because maybe he wanted to go to bed early tonight.  I bet he'll be more active in the morning!  You never know what butterflies are dreaming about when they're sleeping, Mom, because you aren't a butterfly..."

 

The next day after she realized said butterfly ^^ was dead, took it out of bug box, and laid it on top of a petunia:
"Look!  This could be a cute decoration for the flowers!"

Randomly:
"Mommy, you're so lucky you have girl kids because boys are really rough when they're little kids!"

As we were driving to school one morning:
Me:  "Scarlett, do you want to go back to daycare some day?"
Scarlett:  "Mo [no]."
Harper:  "Well Scarlett, you have to go to daycare to learn things!  I'm realllllly smart already because I've already been to three schools:  daycare, preschool, and kindergarten!"
Scarlett:  "Oh."

After we forced the kids into bed at 10pm [just so we could go to bed also LOL]:
"This is just so unfair.  Why do grown ups get to stay up late and kids do not?"

Randomly:
Harper:  "Mommy, how does God make phones?"
Me:  "Humans make them!"
Harper:  "Out of what?"
Me: ...

 

As we're eating scrambled eggs for breakfast:
"Daddy, did you know that chickens poop out eggs?"

After two deer ran across the road in front of us:
"Well THAT was silly for them to run out in the road right as they knew we were driving by!" 

After getting picked up from school one day:
Me:  "Harper, your face is bright red! Are you hot?"
Harper:  "Yes.  And it's because we just had P.E., and we had to do jumping jacks, lunges, squats, and all kinds of stretches.  I don't really like P.E., because sometimes it's hot outside and sometimes it's not, but the weather just really isn't good for P.E. much these days."

At dinner after she let out a ginormous burp:
Me:  "Harper! Why have you been burping out loud so much lately?!"
Harper:  "Well, it's because I learned that from Daddy!"
Brian: .....

While driving home from school:
Harper:  "Hey Mom, did you know that these little circles in our mouths are called taste buds?  They help us see what things taste like that we eat!"
Me:  "Oh, really?  Did you learn that at school today?"
Harper:  "No.  I guess I just knowed it already because I'm really smart and stuff."

At dinner [^^ same day]:
"Daddy, did you know we have taste buds that help us taste things?  We learned allllll 'bout them at school today!" 

As she was dumping way too much soap into the bathtub:
Scarlett:  "Pawpee [Harpie], mo [no]!"
Harper:  "Wellllll, Scarlett, did you know that Harpie can do whatever she wants?  'Cause she's a big girl now and doesn't have to listen to people."
Scarlett:  "Oh.  Yeah." 

 

 

 

- Apple Adventures -

Does it even feel like it's really September until you've been apple picking?! ...NOT IN THIS HOUSE!  Every year, we block off an afternoon for Liberty Apple Orchard, and this year's trip with our cousins did not disappoint! On the way to the orchard:
Harper:  "Well you knowwwww, we might not be able to find many good ones really, because squirrels live there and they might take a bite out of the apples you know, and then a snake would come and live in the hole that the squirrel made and make the apple rotten.  But that only happens when squirrels and snakes are there.  So that doesn't normalllllly happen.  But just so you know, we might not really be able to find any good apples."
Scarlett:  "Oh.  I don't yike [like] neeks [snakes]!"

Spoiler alert:  There were no snakes, and we found PLENTY of perfect apples!!!  We even sampled several, and it was so interesting how each variety tasted a quite a bit different [which I guess is something I didn't realllllly realize since I'm not usually sampling multiple varieties in the same sitting?!]!

On the way home, Harper talked nonstop about Johnny Appleseed and everything she's been learning about him at school.  It was so fun to get the 4-1-1 on all her new knowledge!  I have to end this post with a photo of a worksheet she colored at school...  I am so proud of her motivation to learn and all the new color and sight words that she's already mastered in the first month of kindergarten!  Go, girl!

Ahhhhhh... Apple picking, family time, beautiful weather, being back to school [and in-person at that, hallelujah!]... 

 

...FALL IS MY FAVORITE SEASON OF ALL!!! :) 

 

[PS/addendum:  Look how much the kids have grown since last time we were at Liberty!]

- Grandparents Day -

We're over here shouting a big, loud, and proud, "Happy Grandparents Day!" to this handful of superrrr special people! 

 

To Grammy Resa and Papa Mark, Grammy Ann and Papa Ron, Grammy Penny and Papa Jim, and Grammy Beeler:  we are so thankful for you and all that you do for our families!

How sweet it is to be loved by you!

Happy Grandparents Day to the best of the best! <3

 

 

- Summer Lovin'... -

...had me a BLAST!

Summer lovin', happened so fast.

 I know two girls, crazyyyy, you see...

...and they're totallyyy...CAYOOOOT as can be! 

SUMMER DAYS, fa-la-la-la-laaaaaaaaaaa...

The end.

We will remember you so fondly, summer 2020!!!

- Slinging Sod -

Throwback hoe-backkkkk!

[March 2020]

After raking/leveling/driving over every morsel of dirt in the yard throughout the entire month of March...

 ...we ordered up a LOT of pallets of sod...

 

[April 2020] 

 

 ...and laid each rectangle piece down one by one!

 

Harper had to attend an occasional preschool Zoom call [remote learning weeee!] from the front porch...

...but other than that, all 4 of us kept super busy!

 

Take 8,000 pounds of sod + start slinging it here/there/everywhere = WE HAD A FRONT YARD that was miraculously thrown down [literally] in 1 day [!!!]!

I requested that my co-workers meet me at the front entrance with a wheelchair the next morning at work, because I wasn't sure if I'd have the energy to even walk inside!  And while I nursed sore muscles, Brian was back at it the next day ordering more pallets for the sides of the house and back yard!  We [AKA mostly Brian with an occasional pinch of my coveted help] chipped away at the rest of the yard little by little until it was all finished!

 So thankful for our great help...

...especially my dad and Uncle Blake who came down a time or two.

 Thank youuuu, everyone!  We couldn't have done it alone!  

 

And on the seventh day, he rested MOWED!  ;) :)

- Never Forget -

Today is the 19th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Today, the STB kids got to forgo their uniforms to wear red, white and blue to school. We told Harper at breakfast about 9/11 and shared a video clip of that day. She watched wide-eyed and asked if people died, and it broke my heart to answer her innocent questions. It’s odd to think that 9/11 was so long before her time and she will only learn about it in history books or from us and others who lived through it. 

 

Today, I’m recounting where I was and how I reacted to the initial shock.  I heard the news during 7th grade Panther Pride homeroom, and I will never forget the emotions of that day or look on my parents' faces when they picked me up that day.  They were glued to the tiny TV in our kitchen watching every bit of news they could for days and weeks to come.

Today, I’m hugging my babies a little tighter and thinking about all the mommies and daddies that didn’t get to go home 19 years ago tonight.

 

 

Today, I’m recalling the days that we were better as Americans because we stood United. Our differences didn’t divide us; we were one.

 

 

Today, I’m believing that we are stronger as humans when we radiate kindness and mercy and love, because that’s what we did in the days following 9/11 as we so strongly lifted up one another.

 

 

Today and always, I’m remembering the men and women who lost their lives, the many who served our country at its darkest, and all of those who carry on the American spirit.

 

 

I will never forget.

 

 

- COVID Diaries: Week 26 -

I meannnn, is this even real life?  ...COVID Diaries:  WEEK 26??!????!?!  I remember the start of the hype back March 2020 like it was yesterday; and to think, at that time, I truly believed that if we all sheltered-in x 2 weeks and all followed the social distancing recommendations and alllllll played our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19, the pandemic would come quickly ...and peak quickly ...and leave quickly ...and life would be back to normal as we knew it in the blink of an eye...

...but 26 blinks weeks later, and here we are...

 ...still totally crazy and still 100% NOT in control of this wild life we live!

As outlined in previous posts, the end of summer break was so much fun around here; but hot danggg, August was a MONTH!  After the excitement of running around getting everything prepared for Harper to start kindergarten, it took a few weeks for all of us to adjust to her new "Monday through Friday" schedule.  On top of all the emotions surrounding that, work has been INSANELY stupid busy [why is there a baby boom every year between July - September?!?]; and with a few health care appointments being canceled earlier this year due to COVID, everythingggg on my "yearly to-do" list somehow got scheduled into this month.  Between a routine dental cleaning, fertility blood work, pelvic ultrasounds, eye exam, annual well woman visit, diagnostic mammogram [!!], breast ultrasound, and more blood workkkk, I've literally been bouncing back and forth between being poked and prodded here, there, and everywhere.  I'm totally waiting for my insurance company to call and be like, "WHY YOU NO USE YOUR INSURANCE FROM JANUARY THROUGH JULY AND THEN SEND 38 CLAIMS THROUGH IN AUGUST?!??"  On August 31, I got my flu shot [which basically paralyzed my left arm for a solid couple of days] and started my period [which was not on my deisred "to-do list" if you're picking up what I'm laying down]...

...so good-freaking-bye, August...

...and hellooooo, September!  I'm so ready for a big 'ole reset this month!  I listened to a little podcast on the way to work yesterday about God being steadfast in love and infinite in mercy, and I wholeheartedly believe that His plan is perfect and will all unfold beautifully in due time.  Jesus, take the wheel!  Despite the extra noise and chaos, September is MY MONTH; I'm gonna take it by the horns and love myself a little extra through the ride. :)))

 

- Out of the mouth of babes: VOL XIV -

One evening after she went to bed and Brian and I were having a drink on the back porch:
"It's just not fair for you to be out there and not me, you little taco belly!"

After Brian asked her to turn off the TV one afternoon:
"You are ruining my whole life!" 

On the way to Schnucks:
"Scarlett, hurry and buckle in, we have to wear our seatbelts so the police don't give Mom a ticket!"

After she told me all about grasshoppers and where they live/what they eat/how they sleep:
Me:  "How did you learn that?"
Harper:  "Just from my own brain!"

As Brian was carrying a HUGE rolled up rug to the check out register at At Home:
"Look!  Daddy looks like Jesus carrying the cross!"

While on a [very short/flat] hike in the woods:
"Owww, I just tripped on something and hurted my ankle! Are we almost done yet?"

While driving to Grammy and Papa's house:
"Uncle Blake hasn't seen me for a long time, and I bet he'll see today that I growed up a little!"

Randomly:
"Sissy, you don't need a paci, it makes your front tooth crooked!"

After seeing the neighbors' tree swing:
Harper:  "Mom, can we get a swing and a hammock?"
Me:  "Well, we don't have any trees..."
Harper:  "Well, we can grow a tree with seeds..."

Randomly:
"Mommy, I'm going to be a witch for Halloween, and I want Sissy to be my wand!" 

In reference to her old beta fish [that was buried in our old landscaping approx. 3 years ago]:
"I really hope the people that bought our old house don't dig in the dirt to plant flowers and find Shark there!"

Randomly:
"I wish I lived inside your tummy when I was 5 years old so I could see what it looked like in there..."

After talking about when we think she'd get her first loose tooth:
"I'm thinking that it's kinda disgusting to be the Tooth Fairy, because all the teeth would probably turn moldy if they weren't really brushed every day and taken care of really well..."

While chatting with Grammy during dinner prep:
Grammy Resa:  "Harper, what would you do if your mommy never cooked dinner?"
Harper:  "Well, I'd just go outside and look for apple trees and stuff."

Randomly:
"Mommy and Daddy, does God control us with a remote?"