A Fun--Filled Weekend!

I am a little behind in blogging, but we have been quite busy.  Last weekend Dale and I took a trip to visit my cousin Lisa in Chicago and the boys spent the weekend with Grandpa and Grandma Hackmann.  Dale and I enjoyed some much needed kid free time to rejuvenate ourselves!  This past weekend was full of fun activities for the kids.  On Saturday we celebrated our cousin Peyton's birthday at the Pumpkin Patch.  The boys had a great time.  They rode a horse, fed goats, got their face painted, played in the sand, rode on swings and picked out pumpkins.  They were pooped by the time we left!  The face painting was funny.  Levi went first and picked a tractor, Will went next and what do you know, he picked a tractor.  Finally it was Max's turn and we knew for sure he'd pick the tractor, but nope, Max got a rainbow, meanwhile the only girl in our family got a spider!  Oh well, he liked it!  Then it was time to choose their pumpkins.  To my surprise the all picked something completely different.  Max picked a green one, Will picked a white one and Levi picked an ugly orange one!  I Love their pumpkin choices and can't wait to carve them this weekend. 

Max 

Will 

Levi 

Max, Levi and Will 

Levi, Max and Will looking at a Donkey! 

Levi

Isn't this picture so sweet? 

Max 

Will 

Levi 

Will 

Max 

Teamwork: Levi, Max and Will 

The boys and their Pumpkins!

Levi, Will and Max 

Will, Max and Levi 

Dale, Levi, Max, me and Levi!

We had another fun day planned for Sunday.  Last year my family held a benefit for my cousin Landon.  He has Ectodermal Dysplasias and will not get his own teeth.  We held the fundraiser so that implants could be made for him because of course insurance will not cover it.  Well Dale and I won a raffle for a Bounce House rental.  It had to be used, so we picked Sunday.  The boys were so excited to see it blown up after their nap and were screaming with excitement!  It was a beautiful day and all the kids enjoyed themselves.  And by the way, Landon got his teeth a few months ago and looks amazing!

Will 

Max 

Levi 

Dale with Max and Levi, me with Will 

Levi, Will and Max 

Levi, Will and Max enjoying every last second they had with the bounce house!

This week we are busy getting ready for Halloween with parties and pumpkin carving.  Then next week we're off to for our annual family trip for Branson Christmas!

A story about Mommy and Daddy!

Since the year Dale and I met we have gone to Fast Eddie's by boat in October.  In 2006 Dale proposed to me on the boat before we picked everyone else up at the marina.  He said we had to take the boat for a drive before everyone else got there to make sure it was running ok.  I didn't think anything of it because the boat had recently had some issues.  We got on the river at about 8:00 a.m.  Dale drove to a nearby slough and stopped.  We sat for a few minutes then Dale sat across from me and popped the question.  About a second after I said yes a yellow floatplane flew right over us!  It was such perfect timing you would think Dale planned it to happen that way.  It was perfect!  Well this past Saturday was our annual Fast Eddie's trip.  We had to pick up my cousin at a marina in Portage.  As we pulled in "our" yellow floatplane was sitting in the docks.  We seized the opportunity to have our picture taken with "our" plane!  

Apple Picking!

It was such a beautiful day on Sunday so we decided to go apple picking at Eckert's in Grafton.  On the way there we took the Golden Eagle and Brussels Ferry's.  The boys were excited that the car was going for a boat ride.  When we arrived the boys immediately went to the pumpkins.  They are already counting down the days until we go to the pumpkin patch in a few weeks!  We then got on the wagon ride to the apple orchard to pick apples.  Levi and Max loved it especially when daddy lifted them up to get the really high ones.  Will was fine for a little then decided he was going to be crabby.  (He has a sinus infection now, so we think he just wasn't feeling good.)  We then looked at all the animals and headed to the barn where they went for a 4-wheeler ride before heading home.  It was a beautiful and fun fall day.  Now on to making apple pies!   

Levi 

Max 

Will 

Will, Max, Levi and Dale 

Levi 

Levi 

Max 

Max and Dale 

Will 

Will and Dale 

Levi having a snack! 

Will 

Levi 

Will 

Max 

Levi, Max, Will and Dale 

Max

Max 

Dale 

Me

(Dale and I had to climb the trees to get to the good apples!) 

Will, Levi, Max and Me 

Watching the calf's!

Max, Levi and Will 

Max 

Will 

Watching the Pony's!

Levi, Will and Max 

Max, Levi, Will and Dale 

Levi

Operation Max in his own room!

We have been talking about putting Max in his own room for a while now.  He takes a while to fall asleep and keeps Will and Levi up and/or wakes them up after they've been sleeping for a while by stealing their blankets or laying on top of them.  Levi on the other hand falls asleep rather quickly at night which means he wakes up the earliest.  Levi will then wake everyone else up and let's just say that if Max gets woken up before he is ready you are in for a very rough day!  So we decided we were going to try to put Max in his own room to see if it helped any.  The only problem was that the room he would be going into has become our storage room for the past 6 years.  So finally after talking about it for months, and working on cleaning the room out for another month, Max finally has his own room.  I am almost scared to say it, but it is actually going very well (knock on wood)!  He likes his new room and he walks straight to it after brushing his teeth.  He even told Dale this morning "Max likes his room".  It has only been 3 nights, but so far it seems that we've made the right decision. 

I guess I was due!

It has been a while since the boys have done something really crazy.  Not the typical every day crazy that is our lives, but the climb out the window crazy, so I guess I was due one of those days.  And no it does NOT involve being locked out!  Friday I picked the boys up from school and I had a surprise, Max finally had his own room!  I had completed it while they were in school that morning.  We came home, ate lunch, then it was nap time.  Max did ok in his room until he pooped.  I took him downstairs to change him and he fell asleep on me within two minutes so I put him back up in his new room.  I could hear through the monitor that Will and Levi were still awake so I opened their door to check on them and they were laying in Levi's bed just talking.  The talking went on for a while then it was silent so I figured they were sleeping.  One lesson I should know by now is to NEVER figure anything!  After a while of silence I heard giggling and some ruckus.  I went up to see what was going on and I walked into two naked boys, poop and pee on the floor and Will holding a big round turd in his hand.  I immediately took them to the bathroom to wash their hands and then to take a bath.  Levi was already in the tub and as Will was getting ready to get in he slipped and bit his tongue pretty badly.  As I was consoling him Levi decided to poop in the tub.  (Of course I just scrubbed it a few hours before!)  I got Levi out of the tub, put diapers on the two of them and made them sit on their bed while I cleaned up messes.  As I cleaned spot after spot of poop off the floor I closed the closet door only to find feces strewn all over the door.  I realized that Will was playing "baseball game" with his big huge round turd and the closet door was his backstop!  I got everything cleaned up and had somewhat calmed down when I went back to their room to get them clean clothes only to find that Huck had now peed on their floor.  My only question at this point was does the no return pet stain remover work on kids too?