Paper flying . . .

The kids slept until 8:30!! That was definitely the best Christmas present they could have given me. I awoke to Lauren singing, "Santa Claus is coming to town". Too cute! After the Santa gifts had been looked over and played with it was on to the ones under the tree. Lauren can read her name so she begin to search out all of the presents that were hers. And then the paper begin to fly!

These shots show some presents from Craig & Anne and Shannon & Sheila. I was video taping them opening the presents from Elliott & I. Andrew got some new PJs and books for his leap pad along with some misc items. Lauren got some games and a new puzzle of the United States (that she has already mastered) as well as some misc items. We have 3 more Christmas gatherings to go.

Santa's Milk & Cookies and His Gifts

Here is Lauren leaving Milk & Cookies for Santa. I tried to get a picture of Andrew with them as well but he only wanted to eat them. :)

Here are the presents that Santa left for the kids. Everyone has had a good time with the basketball goal. I can see now that it is going to be a jam fest in the basement until the weather warms up.

From our home to yours . . .

We wish you a very merry Christmas.

Snow Fun

Today was finally nice enough to go out and play in what snow is remaining. Lauren has been begging for at least a week now but it was just too cold to get out and about. This was Andrew's first time to really dig in and he enjoyed himself.

1st Christmas Gathering

We attended our 1st Christmas get together this past weekend. We don't get to see this side of our family very often so it is always great to spend time with them. The kids got some great loot and Elliott & I didn't fare to bad either. Lauren got a stand mixer so she was off to cook. Luckily, she talked Jonah into playing with her and they proceeded to whip up a great meal w/ the kitchen set in Grandma's basement. Upon further inspection, it appeared the 'chicken & rice' they made was actually a little toilet paper and water. . . can't fault them for having a great imagination!

The kids all enjoy playing a game called Left, Right, Center. Here are a few pictures of them gathered around the table.

Trip to the mall

We went to the mall last week to see Santa. Lauren thought it was pretty fun but Andrew wasn't so keen on him. Andrew was excited to see him and told us he would sit on his lap but the closer we got to Santa the tighter Andrew's grip got. I was terrified of Santa for a LONG time so I can totally understand Andrew's apprehension.

Andrew did enjoy the aquarium, though.

Christmas Program

Tonight Lauren had a Christmas program at preschool. The kids wore little costumes over their clothes. There were lambs, wisemen, angels, shepherds and stars. Lauren was an Angel. She did very good. Elliott taped it so I'll have to see if I can edit some of it for you all to see. I usually tape things for this site on my digital camera 'cause it's so easy to transfer over.

Here are a couple pictures after the program.

Everyone should know by now that Lauren does a lot more than just sleep at nap time. Here you can see her latest venture. At least this time she tooks clothes out of the dirty clothes basket and you can see that she wasn't picky . . . hence the pink undies!

Birthday Fun

My mom celebrated a birthday on Monday so this past weekend several of her friends gathered here for a celebration. I think everyone had a good time. Here are a couple shots from supper. You can see that Lauren had a good time wearing all the goodies my mom received.

More Birthday Fun

Andrew decided to get in on the fun last night. He kept pulling the hat over his eyes so he couldn't see where he was walking but it sure didn't stop him. A couple of falls later, he decided the chair was the best spot for him.

Trip to the Dentist

Lauren took her first trip to the dentist this morning. She did great. She found some pretty red leaves on the way into the office so she just *had* to collect a few.

She let the hygienist do a complete cleaning while watching an episode of Tom & Jerry. You would have thought she was home on the couch by how relaxed she was. I couldn't believe it.

Both the hygienist and the dentist commented on how good everything looked so someone must be doing some great brushing. Lauren does it all herself. Elliott & I are not allowed to help! They were amazed.

Locked in

Lauren has a new obsession with locking doors. Last night she locked the bathroom door when she was going potty before bed. Not a big deal, she's been doing it off and now for a few weeks now. Well pretty soon we here, "Daddy, I can't unlock the door." Great! Elliott & I go to the door and ask her to turn the lock knob. She says she can't. We keep asking as we go on a search for something to stick into the hole and unlock the door. We finally find something that will fit but we still can't get it unlocked. So after 30 minutes of pleading with Lauren and fighting the lock, Elliott takes apart the door and out comes Lauren. She thought it was funny!! I had hoped she would be scared out of her mind. I asked her, "Did you think you'd be stuck in there forever?" Her response, "No, I knew Daddy would get me out." So she has promised several times over never to lock any door again. We'll see how long it lasts.

Happy Halloween

This afternoon will be going downtown to the BooRama. Basically all the downtown business people come out on the street and hand out candy to the kids. This will be our version of trick or treating!

When I was still working for the bank, I helped to pass out candy a few years but I've never been on the receiving end. I can only imagine the loot the kids will come home with. I'm sure Elliott's co-workers will be happy come Monday!

Just playing

Andrew loves to crawl into the recliner and read his books. In the last few days he has discovered that it is also tons of fun to have Lauren sit with him and rock. The chair is getting quite a work out!

Andrew the DareDevil

Andrew is a great climber. He has scaled almost everything possible in our house at one time or another. Yesterday he figured out that he could push his tractor over to the coffee table and climb on top.

Last night we attended a concert put on by Mr. Stinky Feet. Here is his website. http://www.jimcosgrove.com/index.php

He was really fun. Lauren enjoyed dancing along and Andrew just soaked it all in.

Fall Fest Parade

Lauren & Andrew were in their first parade this past weekend. Fall Fest was this weekend and there was a kids parade prior to the real parade. All the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes and marched down the street. Lauren thought it was pretty fun. Andrew made it one block into the parade route and decided he had walked enough and sat down in the middle of the street. I carried him for a little bit and then he was ready to go again. The whole parade route was only three blocks so it wasn't like he had a long ways to walk.

Lauren thought it was pretty neat that someone knew her name. The announcer was naming off the kids and telling what their costume was. When she heard her name over the PA system, she just stopped in the street and looked at me with a shocked expression. It was pretty funny. Though, the best part of the parade was when the candy started flying. Lauren and Andrew had a ball picking up candy from the street. They came home with quite a bag full and I know there is only going to be more to come with Halloween right around the corner.

Catching up

Wow! We must be boring people! I can't believe that it has been so long since I've been on here.

This past weekend we went pumpkin picking. The kids had a blast and would have spent hours there if we allowed. The patch we picked also had a small petting zoo, playground equipment and hayrack rides. Andrew really liked the animals. He spotted the horses pulling the hayrack ride when we were out in the pumpkin patch and off he went. He still isn't too fast so catching him wasn't an issue. My dad took him over to pet the horses when we had finished with the pumpkin patch but he didn't like them quite as well up close. Go figure! He did really like the bunnies and baby calf in the petting zoo. We're planning a trip to grandma & grandpa's house this weekend so he'll get to see more baby calves.

Lauren found several pumpkins that she thought we needed but we made it home with only 4.

Last night we attended Family Night at Lauren's preschool. It was kinda like a little carnival without the rides. She got to make a door knob thingy (that is a word in my vocabulary) and went treasure hunting and fishing. The Cat in the Hat was the theme of the night and we got a family picture taken with Horton. Lauren made a frame for it and we'll be getting in back on Thursday when she attends school. Tomorrow night we are planning on attending a pumpkin painting party. I sure hope it quits raining by then.

Andrew is developing quite a vocabulary. His first word was dog (that was Lauren's as well). I guess Elliott & I see where we stand on the totem poll! He will get a bowl out of the drawer and say "cracker", meaning he'd like some goldfish. Other things we hear on a daily basis are: go, daddy and cow. He does a very good job of trying to repeat things after us as well. Lauren surprises us each day with things that come out of her mouth as well. I need to start writing her sayings down so I can remember them and share with you all.

The Playground

Lauren & Andrew LOVE the playground. Saturday afternoon we had our sights set on Kenwood Park but it was totally packed when we pulled up. Not to be thwarted in our efforts to swing and slide, we set off for the nearest playground. The school playgrounds are like our very own little secret. . . very rarely is there anyone else but us there!

Check out Andrew's hair after our trip down the slide. STATIC!!!

What's new with us?? Andrew is in love with books. He has been for about a month now. He will follow you are the house with a book and the minute you stop you better be ready to read. Lauren enjoys 'reading' to him so that is a big help. She has several books memorized so she picks those to read to him.

Lauren is in love with preschool. She asks everyday if she can go to school and is really bummed when the weekend comes because it's SO many days until school starts again. I really hope she is this excited to go to school in a few years! :)

Jennifer's Trip

This past weekend, I flew to Denver for a girls weekend. Anne, Dacia & I were celebrating our 30th birthdays. We had a fabulous time. Here you can see us in the basement of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. This is where Steven King wrote The Shining. Almost daily hotel guests are having encounters with ghosts. Unfortunately, during our ghost tour we didn't see anything.

This was my first time leaving Andrew and was a little nervous but he didn't miss a beat without me. That made my trip even more enjoyable! Both the kids were happy to see me pull up on Sunday evening, though.

I did miss an exciting Saturday night in our neighborhood . . . a car crashed into our neighbors house! We live on a corner and people think they can take the curve at 50 +. Well this intoxicated 17 year old tried it at about 70 and didn't make it. My neighbor said she thought a bomb went off when he hit their house. I guess the street was filled with flashing lights for quite a while that night. But I'm not the only one to miss the excitement as Elliott slept through the whole deal. Actually the three closest houses to the crash slept through it but several others were up!

Ugh . . .

This pretty much sums up my day so far . . .

I caught Andrew long enough to change his diaper right before nap. He then promptly stood up and walked across the room, flashed me a smile and proceeded to fill his diaper. Nice . . .

Yesterday morning Lauren woke up with several bumps on her legs that looked like mosquito bites. I doctored them up and sent her off to preschool. When I went back to get her two hours later, her legs were covered in large red splotches. She was itching so I doctored her up again and we went on about our day. After supper last night we noticed the spots were moving to her arms so it was off to a bath. I was a little nervous they were going to spread farther but we put her to bed anyway . . . Elliott checked on her around 3 in the morning and things were looking better.

Then 7 AM rolls around and she is up and itching with more spots all over. So we are off to the doctor. Elliott did volunteer to keep Andrew but I said I could handle the both of them (I'm a Mom . . . shouldn't I be able to do that??). Our conservation at the doctors office . . .

Me: Lauren please don't hog the train table. You can share with Andrew.
Me: Andrew take the train out of your mouth.
Me: Lauren stop wiping your nose on Andrew's shirt.
Me. Andrew don't pick up the pebbles on the floor.
Me: Lauren stop blowing on your brothers belly.
Me: Andrew get down from the chair. You're going to fall on your head.

Whew . . . thankfully we weren't in the lobby long!

It turns out the cold that Lauren is battling has produced some viral infection resulting in the Hives all over her body. The good news - it's not contagious. The bad news - it will take 3-4 weeks for them to travel thru her body and then be gone! Dr. prescribes a syrup to take to help with the itching. It's kinda pricey so she said to check around. After talking with our insurance company, I find out they won't cover it at all but they'll cover another option. So I call the Drs. office back and they agree to the other med and fax it in for me. We go to pick up the meds and are told by the pharmacy that our insurance company is rejecting the new med w/o a request from the doctor and even then it will take 5 days to process. Umm . . . didn't I just get off the phone with the insurance company - YES!! After questioning the pharmacy tech for a few minutes, I just go with option C - Zyrtec off the shelf. Dr. had told me before we left her office that this might be the only option to go with without spending an arm & a leg. Whew (again) . . .

Now it's nap time and I'm suppose to be working on my grocery list for tomorrow morning but I'm surfing instead! :) Oh yeah, did I tell you that it rained on us all morning. Yep, it's been a great day.

Elliott's Trip

Elliott and 5 other Harris family members went on a fishing trip over Labor Day weekend. They traveled to Craig Colorado and met up with some friends from the area. They are very lucky that one of the friends has a professional outfitter in the family to pack them in. Once everyone was all packed up on horseback, they rode 9 miles into the campground. From the reports I've heard everyone had a great time and can't wait for the next trip. While the scenery does look beautiful, for me it doesn't trump sleeping on the ground w/o a hot shower for a week so I'll continue to spend Labor Day weekend in Jewell County. The pictures are courtesy of Adam. And I do have to say that I'm impressed. . .he has some great pictures!

Lauren's Party

So this happened a while ago but I thought you all might like to see a couple pictures any way. . .

Lauren's party was a success! It was a nice day so everyone could mingle inside or outside. That's a big plus for us as our house isn't huge!

Lauren & Andrew have been having a great time trying out all of their new goodies. Lauren has been cooking away and Andrew really enjoys any opportunity to mess up her kitchen. I can only imagine the battles that are to come.