Happy Days

Ohhhhhh Vinny...

Yesterday I just knew it was going to be one of those days with my son. I can usually tell how much of a "weasel" he is going to be within the first five minutes of him being awake. And yesterday he managed to throw everything including his pajama pants and top out of the crib within those five minutes. Sigh.

After Isabella was off to school and the other two children had arrived for the day, I decided to tackle some laundry. And I made the quite foolish decision to not put Vinny somewhere (i.e: crib, high chair, etc.) where he couldn't get into trouble. Instead I quite naively put him on the couch with his cup of cereal and ran downstairs to throw a quick load in. Was gone no more than five minutes.

When I came back upstairs an entire box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch was dumped on the living room floor and someone (couldn't imagine whom!) had smashed every single square into a million pieces. Grrrrrreat...

After vacumming up all the cereal I had to clean up the little gremlin's face and hands which were completely covered in cinnamon and sugar. He pointed to his diaper that I discovered was a bit on the soggy side. I took that opportunity to put him on the potty with a book and told him to use the potty before snack time. At this point it was time to switch the laundry and he looked so innocent on his "frog pot" that I decided I could quickly run down and throw the clothes in the dryer. Wrong-o...

I came back upstairs this time three minutes later (I timed it!) to find my son walking around the living room floor, buck naked. And he did "use the potty" except that the potty wasn't the one shaped like a frog but instead my just vacummed living room floor. EVERYWHERE! After cleaning up now the second disaster and having to throw him in the tub I was feeling a little less than super mom. Once Vinny was all cleaned and dressed, I put him in the high chair for snack.

"Oh Vinny, what am I going to do with you?" I asked him. To which he replied,

"Happy Day!"

This child is going to have me gray before I turn 30... : )

Scantic Valley Farm

This past weekend we took a trip down to Somers, CT for some fall fun with family. Mike's mom and dad were high school sweethearts and grew up in a small town in western CT. Much of the family still lives in Somers including Mike's aunt and uncle who have an incrediable farm. They raise cows, pigs and chickens in addition to growing a variety of different crops, the largest of which is tobacco. They started a new tradition this year though by creating a corn maze. We just had to check it out!

We stopped first at Mike's grandparents. I think it is so incrediable that the kids are able to knpw their great grandparents. They are both so loving with Isabella and Vinny and I feel really blessed to have them in my life, too! Mike's cousins (who are nine and six years old!) were at the house so the kids were able to spend some time with their second-cousins. After lunch, we all headed over to the farm.

It was incrediable! They had a tent set up with a huge variety of pumpkins, gourds, etc. There was a man playing a fiddle and a food truck making all sorts of yummy foods. There were a ton of different games for the kids including a "corn pit". For those of you who don't know what that is it was an area that was completely filled with corn kernels instead of sand and then surrounded by hay bales. Inside were trucks, shovels and a bunch of other toys for "Junior Farmers". Vinny had a blast in there and would still be there if he had his way!

Isabella loved the pumpkin ring toss, the "chicken coup" and posing for pictures!

We then made our way over to the corn maze. The maze was an awesome halloween design (created by Mike's incrediably talented aunt!) that was done through GPS. The aerial shots that we got to see were amazing! Inside the maze were five posts that the kids had to find before exiting the maze. So neat! Unfortunately we got a little lost at the end (that's what happens when you let two six year olds take charge!) but we did finally make it out.

Afterwards we took a hay ride which was pulled by Papa in his tractor and had some hot drinks to help us warm up- there was quite a wind! We found some great pumpkins to take home with us and then headed back home to NH.

We are super excited about our move to Minnesota but we will defintely miss this next year!

Next Post... Halloweeen!!!

Life's a Circus!

Well I have been pretty bad about posting blogs the past few weeks- I don't know where the time goes! Oh yeah, my two adorable but highly needy children suck it all up! ; )
In the beginning of the month we took them to the Ringling Brothers Circus. We go every year and although the show seems the same each year to Mike and I, the kids love it!

This year we took Mike's mom and it was her first time ever going to the circus so that was kinda neat. Vinny was so little last year that this was the first year that he really got into it. He was so into it that for a couple days after the circus he would drag all the pillows of the couch and bring them to the bottom of the stairs, climb the stairs and then try to jump down. Too bad Mommy had to ruin all the fun!

Isabella was so quiet this year (part of that might have been the snowcone!) but was just taking it all in. Her favorite parts were when the animals came onstage- she really liked when the one tiger was bouncing up and down like a bunny. I could just see her wondering if she could teach this same trick to Jackson at home!

Life has been going on as usual. Mike is super busy at work, Vinny is talking more and more each day and Isabella is adjusting to first grade. Two weeks ago, she took a fall of off Grennie and when she was on the ground he stepped on her arm. Ouch! She has got quite the bruise but luckily nothing was broken. What can I say... life is a circus!