Fall weather

This week it is finally feeling like fall.  Our last two monarchs came out of their chrysalises and tried to warm up in the sun before flying off.

Edith enjoyed some good swing time while Daddy harvested okra: the largest, longest producing okra I have ever seen.  I have cooked it in multiple ways and we are finally getting tired of it.

Alena and Nora were excited to start raking leaves.  There weren't as many as they would have liked, but it still amused them.  Sita and Big Bear came out to play.  The girls also set up a spa outside on the slide with makeup, hair accessories, and lotion.  Alena said when she grows up she will probably run a store with Lily and Finn because they really like having stores.  Wouldn't that be a fun job?

Cedar Rapids floods again

After Northeast Iowa received 10 inches of rain in one day, all of the water made its way to the Cedar River.  It was a massive sandbagging effort and Daddy helped move everything out of the Ceramics Center.  Volunteers even removed seats at the Paramount and moved them upstairs.  People were not taking chances this time.  The crest was a little lower than predicted at just under 23 feet.  It was enough to close down all of the bridges in town for the week and houses did flood, but overall it was a successful effort to stop the river.  While the river rose, we had water problems of our own.  Our kitchen sink shut off valve went bad so we had no kitchen water for a day while we waited for Daddy to come home and help to fix it.  The good news is the water is back on!

Get out of there, Alena!

Kirkwood Carnival

Kirkwood hosted a carnival for all employees and their families.  It was quite the big event!  There was a rock climbing wall, a teacup style ride (only Alena could handle that one), a bounce house and inflatable obstacle course, and a really cool caricature artist.  Oh, and a shaved ice truck where the girls tried 3 flavors each.  AND a barbeque meal and popcorn.  It was a pretty cool work party and almost trumps the potluck that we had with my work!  Edith enjoyed spending the evening with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen.  Next year I am sure she will think she is big enough for the bounce house.

The little one gets smaller

Edith is doing well now that she is off her steroids.  She is happy and sleeping better, and crawling and pulling up on everything in sight.  Her appetite has been down ever since she finished the steroids September 7th.  We couldn't get her to drink more than 1/2 ounce at every feeding for several days.  Now she is doing a little better and probably eats less than 10 ounces of milk and no food in a day.  The doctors think she is not hungry because she is carrying extra weight and once she is down to normal she will start eating normal amounts again.

Cousin Sadie loves Edith.  And Edith loves her big cousins!  Baby in a swing.  A 9 month old baby that still sleeps in a swing?  That's Edith!  This swing will have to be bronzed after Edith is done with it.  Alena, Nora, and Alice have all used it.  We made a good decision when we registered for a swing with an electrical plug in! 

Edith is practicing for Halloween.  She doesn't seem to notice when we put the kitty ears on her and will go about her business.  She did notice when we put this silly flower costume on her, however! 

Jumping away!  Look how nicely her brown hair is coming in.  Eye color still TBD, currently hazel.

Alena and my trip to the nature center

Alena and I headed to Indian Creek's new nature center on Sunday.  We were driving down Otis Road when we saw giant bubbles floating through the air.  We knew we would be in for a good time.  There is something irresistible about popping bubbles, and giant bubbles are even more fun.  The bubble man was a good sport about it.  Alena then got to put on bee keeper clothes and learn about bees at the hives behind the building.  The highlight was wading through Bena Brook, a sand bottomed stream that didn't go past our ankles.  I collected big sticks and Alena helped arrange them into a dam.  She then put mud, moss, and mushrooms on the dam.  She can't wait to go back and show Nora and Daddy!

Plum picking

I wanted to go to Brucemore to pick some plums to try to make them into prunes.  We stopped by our former neighbor Pat's house on the way so she could see the girls.  It had been a long time since we walked from our old house to Brucemore.  The plums were all picked closer to the ground so Ben lifted Alena up into the tree so she could hand them down.  We had a little snack in the grape arbor.  Edith even tried a peeled grape.  She spit it out several times, but then before I realized, she swallowed some seeds.  They were really tiny seeds, and we don't think a grape vine will grow out of her ears.

Three butterflies emerged this weekend.  We are up to six for the season, with more caterpillars eating away on the dining room table.

Around the house

 Nora is teaching Edith to walk.  The girls think they are ready to babysit for Edith by themselves.  While we would appreciate a night out alone, we might have to wait a few years before really doing that.  After all, their babysitting techniques are a little controversial.  They put Edith on the couch and piled pillows underneath.  She would crawl over the edge and fall headfirst into the pillows.  She did seem to think it was fun.  The girls love their little sis and are always trying to hug her, even when Edith is trying to crawl away.

Alena and Nora are also smashing purple berries they have found growing behind our bushes.  They have been smashing them for days!  It has made for some laundry stain removal, but they are having so much fun I will allow it.  Alena has also been helping outside.  She helped Daddy wash the siding and gathered flower seeds and made packets to store them in so we can save them for next spring.

Our neighbor Jody wondered if the girls would be interested in beads left over from her daughter, Emma.  They immediately began sorting.  What a nice gift to receive!  There was a neighborhood party Friday night.  There are a lot of nice people on our block, just no other girls under 10.  Oh well.  Alena and Nora like playing together.

Alena goes golfing

Grandma Dee offered to watch the girls so Ben and I could go do something so we decided to go golfing.  I hadn't been in many years.  Alena begged so much to go that we caved in and let her come along--we needed to have some time with just our big girl anyway!  We got a cart and she played 5 holes before sitting the final 4 out.  We had a fun time on Alena's first golf outing. Her favorite parts were riding in the cart, waving the pin in the air before replacing it, and washing everyone's balls.  A little actual golfing happened, too!  She did a great job of listening to direction and had some solid hits.  I even had a few solid hits.

First day of kindergarten and second grade

It is hard to believe that school has started already, and now we have a kindergartener and a second grader!  Nora is in Mrs. Ward's class.  After two weeks, she seems to be making friends and enjoying school.  We just drop her off at the circle drive and she walks right in.  Alena is in Mrs. Kratavil's class.  So far she said she likes second grade better than first because they don't have to work as hard.  We will see if that changes as they get more into the swing of things!  The girls run into each other on the playground occasionally.  They like being at the same school and so do we!

Nine months old

Edith has become such a great baby!  The past week she has not screamed at all and is only waking up once or twice in the night.  Edith's main goal in life is to stand.  She crawls over to a chair, a wall, a box, or anything she can find to pull up on.  Then she holds on with one hand like a hot shot. Her crawling is slow and she doesn't go far, but she gets where she wants to go.  It is actually great for us because we don't have to worry about her getting into quite so much trouble yet.  She even plays slow, but she is really getting interested in her toys.  She is no longer interested in eating.  Her bottle consumption is half of where it was at peak.  We think she has lost a little weight because her bib now fits all the way around her neck.  Edith remains pretty straight faced while crawling and playing, but she will give a great smile if someone sings her a song.  All of that tight lipped playing makes it hard to see her 5 little teeth.  We assume that is all she has; we wouldn't dare to look too hard.

She ejected this puff.  Edith is down to just a few pureed fruits that she finds to be tolerable.