Searching for a Pumpkin

Last Saturday we had glorious, nearly 80 degree weather.  We still had yet to get our pumpkins for Halloween so we took the kids to a local pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkins.  It was really busy but still really fun.  The kids liked looking at the farm animals and especially the hayride to and from the actual area where the pumpkins were.  We only found 1 pumpkin there that we really liked that wasn't too small or too big so we had to find more elsewhere. 

Enjoy the photos from our outing! 

Expect the Unexpected

Last Thursday night after putting Emi down I was getting myself comfortable for the night.  Changing into pj's, etc.  While I was doing so Lane came in and said, "Go peek at your son."  My first reaction was, great, what is he doing now since a fair share of his activities include naughty behavior.  When I peeked out of my bedroom into his, I did not expect to see what I saw.  It made me feel guilty for thinking the worst.  So what did I see?  This.

For those of you don't know, Eriks is saying the Rosary.  As most of you know or now know, we are Catholic and that Eriks attends a Catholic school.  We began teaching Eriks how to say the Rosary when he was about 3.  He's now saying it on his own in English & in Latvian no less!  I was very proud of him when I saw the above photo.  I'm hoping his godparents are proud too.

Eriks does have his fair share of missteps.  We're still waiting on a diagnosis on his behavior.  I'm not going to get to into it because it's going to make me mad.  His doctor has been unable to reach his teacher to speak with her.  The doctor says she's calling his teacher several times a week without being able to contact her and she's not returning Dr. L's calls.  His teacher is married and a mother so I'm trying to figure out why she isn't returning the docs calls.  If this were her kid I'm certain she'd expect her child's teacher to respond to the doctor.  It has been 2 months since Dr. L started trying to contact her.  What even baffles me more is that Dr. L also wanted to talk to his kindergarten teacher from last year and she was able to speak to her easily.  By the way, his K teacher is a single mom of 2 boys who are very active in sports.  Eriks talked about all the sports they played last year.  Before the school year I had talked with some 1st grade parents who were not impressed with her.  I'm not getting a warm fuzzy feeling from her either.  Eriks likes the other 1st grade teacher much more, but he adores his classes' parapro.  We have parent-teacher conferences on Friday so we'll find out why she's not responding.

Emi's First Haircut

I have been letting Emi's hair grow since she came home from China last summer with the exception of trimming up her bangs myself to keep her from looking like a shaggy dog.  While in Dallas we took Emi to get her 1st haircut.  It was an adventure to say the least.  She can't hear without her hearing aid so trying to get her to do what she needed to do via signing was not going to cut it for her.  She was OK the 1st couple of cuts but after that she wanted none of it.  So she ended up sitting in my lap while I tried to keep her head straight to get her hair cut.  I also thought a hair cut would do her good in helping her hair grow faster.  She was really happy after it was all over with and liked her haircut.  Hopefully the next haircut won't be as big of a chore as the 1st one.  I wish I would've been able to get a better picture of the back of her hair because it was pretty long.  The sides were short but the back was long.  It's almost as though she was sporting a mullet!

She looks so cute her in her little flippy bob. 

Texas State Fair

Emi and I just got back from a girls' trip to Dallas.  Lane's sister and her husband adopted their son, M in March and I had yet to meet him.  They also moved into a new home last year that I had yet to visit.  So we left the boys at home and jetted to the Big D. 

It was a very busy visit but I enjoyed every minute of it.  The temps in Dallas were unseasonably cool.  Only in the low to mid 80's.  Usually this time of year it's still hovering around 90.  Our 1st day there we headed off to the Texas State Fair.  This was Emi's 1st time at the fair.  Period.  She had a blast.  If you've never been to the Texas State Fair it is HUGE to say the least.  It is an all day excursion.  Marla and I tried a fried margarita.  It wasn't as good as we expected.  It was pretty much a strong margarita poured over a fried piece of dough.  We thought maybe it was going to be some margarita flavored dough that was fried but it wasn't.  I would've been happy with the margarita without the dough in it.

Emi loved everything that was going on.  Unfortunately there weren't that many animals left at the fair as the judging was pretty much over and people had taken their livestock home.  That was a huge bummer.  But Emi loved seeing Elsie the cow and her baby Beau. 

Emi and M both crashed on the drive back to the house from the fair.  They had a good time.

The Kids in Pictures

It's been awhile since I've posted photos of the kids.  I have been swamped over the past 2 weeks.  Last week I had to have the brakes replaced in my car.  That was an expensive trip to the mechanic but it had to be done.  Emi has a cold this week that she has shared with both Lane and I.  Although hers is far worse than ours.  I'm hoping that I am nearly over mine but I have been coughing up junk and I sound like a frog. 

Emi and I leave the boys on Tuesday as we jet off to Dallas for 5 days.  We're going to visit Lane's sister, Marla and her husband and their son, M.  I have yet to meet M and he is nearly 7 months old!!  Eriks & Emi met him in early June while Lane and I were having a ball in New York.  They also bought a new house last year that I haven't seen either.  So the girls are going to leave and have some fun for a few days.  Grandma & Grandpa (Lane's parents) are coming up from San Antonio next weekend so we'll get to see them too!

Eriks only has 2 more soccer games this season.  Right now they stand at 1-2-2.  I'm hoping the last 2 games are wins.  But if not, that's OK too.  Eriks has grown as a player so much more this season that he did when he was playing in the Spring.  We're proud that he is doing so well in soccer.  He's doing well in school too.  His reading level has grown a lot as well and is now requesting to read Magic Treehouse books by himself! 

Emi is doing well.  She is signing more which means we are having to learn more signs to teach her.  Speech is still slow but at least it is progressing.  There are definitely more sounds coming out of her mouth, we just wish they were more recognizable.  After we return from our girls trip, we will look into doing speech therapy 2x's a week rather than just one.  It will be better for her if we do.  Emi is getting sassier by the minute.  I've tried to get her attention while she has been engrossed in other things and will look at me and sign and say, "No".  I also scolded her for not listening and she pointed her finger at me and gave me a lecture back in her babble.  It was so hard not to laugh at her. 

 Cheese!!!

 Reading the Sunday paper with daddy after church last weekend.

 He has such a sweet face.  I just wish he would stop thinking the world was always out to get him. 

I have no idea what happened here.  I was doing something and I turned around and saw this.  Luckily, my camera was out and she was more than happy to continue posing.  She is so stinking silly.