Thomas and our little bug

We headed to the MN Zoo last night for a Halloween event they have for zoo members.  We met up with the Garey's and Millenacker's and had fun watching the kiddos trick or treat.  

 We tried hard, but a good picture of 4 kids is pretty impossible

 Isaac had a hard time waiting to eat his treats

 His favorite...neminems!

 I think Strawberry Shortcake is trying to give Thomas a hug from behind here  =)

 Our little ladybug

 We stopped by the Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dave's on the way home...Isaac was way too in to eating the candy he should not have been eating at 8:00 to smile for the picture.  =)

 Costume day today!  So cute!  So fun!

Hey Emma, let's see if we can frustrate Mom.  Don't look at the camera!

Do you think it's working?

 I'm gonna look.  Maybe then she will stop.

 Nope, didn't work.  Guess I'll play with woodchips.

 I'll half-smile but I won't look!

 Okay, fine...I'll smile big but I'm still not looking!

Hey Isaac, if you smile and look at the camera just one time you can have some M&M's!

Well, at least he finally obliged...maybe someday I'll have a picture of both of my children looking and smiling at the same time!  Maybe they are holding out for Christmas.  =)

Our Little Cook

Two years ago, and again right before Emma was born, Brian was hospitalized with a small bowel obstruction.  Ever since the 2nd time, he has had a lot of pain in his stomach almost every day, but not enough to feel as though he needed to go to the ER again.  He has seen a GI doctor and had a couple CT scans, an MRI and several other tests, including one for celiac and they have all come back negative...which is good news, but frustrating when the pain is still there with no known cause.  He decided to try cutting gluten out of his diet just to see what happened...even though the celiac test was neg., and ever since he has had virtually no pain.  This has meant cutting a lot out of his diet, obviously, including pizza (with the crust, anyway)...until Isaac came along and made Daddy a gluten-free pizza last Friday night!  It was "very tasty" as Isaac says.  =)

 Making the crust...he had to be remind many times to stir gently.

Such concentration 

 This was his favorite part

 And a little more cheese

 Our little perfectionist...he's slightly OCD...pretty sure he doesn't get that from me.  ;-)

 A few more pepperonis 

 And done!  Looks good!

 So proud!

 And excited!

 Let's eat!

 Yum!

Finger-lickin' good!  Or hand-lickin'...whichever you prefer.   =)

Completed "park"

Toward the end of September, Mom and Dad came down and Dad helped Brian surround Isaac's "park" with mulch.  It was one of those projects where you don't think it will take all that long, and ends up consuming an entire day.  We got home from Menards with all of the supplies at about 10am and it was complete by 8pm...with a lunch break in there and a couple others just to rest...it was unseasonably warm that day.  We love how it turned out and Isaac and his daycare friends LOVE playing on it.

A Day at the Orchard

The weather couldn't have been more perfect this past Sunday as we put on our sweaters and headed south on 169 after church to spend a few hours at Minnesota Harvest picking apples.  We started with a lunch of apple cider brats and then headed out in a tractor pulled wagon to pick...after, of course, I tried (unsuccessfully) to get a good picture of Isaac and Emma together...both looking at the camera and smiling.  Maybe someday they will both cooperate.  =)  Isaac was so excited to pick the apples and was so focused and busy the entire time we were out there.  Emma loved it, too!  I'll let the (many) pictures tell the rest of the story of the afternoon...

 Next post...coming soon...recap from the summer.  =)