Annual Family Campout

This weekend we had our annual family campout at Dad and Mom Rassi's. We eat supper on Friday night (usually some yummy chili made by Greg and helpers) and all kinds of other dishes, then the kids do a treasure hunt and other games. We then usually break out the s'mores and fatty patties. Then usually around 10:30 or so the true campers head to bed and as other fake campers go home to sleep. :) Then we get up early the next morning and Dad and the boys make bacon and eggs over the fire. The kids will usually do the treasure hunt a second time and then play until lunch. This year's birthday lunch was so good (bone-in ribeyes). Thank you Dad and Mom for all the effort you put into making such a memorable weekend each year. We had so much fun and look forward to next year's campout!

Phil (and Max) manning the chili pot

Roasting hot dogs for the kiddos

A special treat this year, the Front Porch Bluegrass Band, aka the Fischer family. They have started a family band and played for us this year. They were really good and Kate has determined that she wants "an instrument with a stick." :)

Bubba was so tired, but so good all day!

Joel....

This picture is upside down because Linc had crawled underneath the glider Amanda and I were sitting in and thought he was so funny.

Linc was so tired he walked up to Amanda and reached up for her. She picked him up and he laid his head down. He sat down on the glider and went to sleep (for all of 10 minutes). You can see his head poking up above the sweatshirt pile.

Hannah-Bean - love her - She is a feisty one. :)

We had beautiful weather. Near the end of lunch on Saturday it started to rain. The kids had fun playing in the rain.

Kate and Hope

Kate with her presents. We celebrated Aug-Oct birthday's. Next year we will get to add Nora and Amanda to the mix.

Birthday Buddies

A Laugh for your Rainy Friday

Well, I have an embarrassing story to share. It happened the Saturday before Labor Day and it was just such a mortifying experience, that I'm just now getting around to sharing it. :) So, it was a beautiful, sunny, September day. Mike and I were going boating with Mindy, Marcy, and Aunt Sandy and Nic was coming to watch the kids. So, being the fun uncle that he is, I thought we should fill up the kiddie pool because they might want to swim later when it is warmer. So, this is early...say..8am or so and Kate and I are still in our pj's. Kate decides that she wants to come out to fill the pool with me. We head out and I get her started, holding the hose to fill the pool. I don't know if any of you know just how incredibly LONG it takes to fill a kiddie pool with a couple inches of water. Anyway...I told Kate that I would be right back, but I needed to run inside and change into my swimsuit. I ran inside and had my pants off when Kate yells, "Mommy, I'm done." So, thinking I was just going to let her inside the door, I go to the door, in my grubby tank top and underwear. I opened the door to let her in and see a strange man in a Hawaiian shirt standing in my yard (are you picturing this yet...remember, I don't have on any pants!!) Anyway, Mystery Man says, "Ma'am, are you aware that this baby is out here playing in the pool with no supervision?" Okay, first, she was not playing in the pool, she was filling it and second, clearly this is uncomfortable, seeing as that I don't have on any pants. I politely replied, "Yes, Sir, I was letting her fill it for me." He says, "I just really think it's a bad idea for the baby to be out here with no supervision." Again, there was maybe one inch of water in the pool at this point and she is 3, after all....But, all I said was "Thank you." Then I promptly pulled Kate inside and shut the door. I immediately called my good friend, who when she stopped laughing uncontrollably, promised to vouch for me if DCFS came by. When she could breathe again she said "Well, which would you prefer, a DCFS investigation or a police call for indecent exposure." Ha Ha. I'm pretty sure it took at least 2 hours for my heart to stop pounding and my face to return to it's normal color. Moral of the story: never go to the door in your underwear, you just never know who might be out there. :)

Happy Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated Mike's birthday. The kids got to help make the cake...it wasn't pretty, but it still tasted good. Like any good Dad, Mike acted like it was the best cake ever. :)

Other big news, Mike's brother, Nic, is getting married to Amanda Wenger. Welcome to the family! :)

We have the opportunity to have Drew at our house every Tuesday. He gets lots of love and attention. :) The bottom picture, Linc ate his snack and then gave the empty bowl to Drew...I think he was trying to share. :)

This little bottomless pit....Kate had not eaten her whole poptart **do not judge me because I let my kids have poptarts for breakfast sometimes :)** anyway, she had left it on the table. Lincoln was apparently hungry and climbed up on top of the table and ate it. :)

Toddler with Attitude

Conversation with Kate today:

Carmen: "Kate, did Jodi like your new shoes?"

Kate: -silence-

Carmen: -a little bit louder- "Kate, did Jodi like your new shoes?"

Kate: - silence -

Carmen: "Kate" - pause - , "Did Jodi like your new shoes?"

Kate: "YES." - insert a clearly annoyed tone - "I said that already. Do I need to say it EVEN louder?"

I refuse to think about what the teenage years will be like.

St. Louis

This past weekend, we spent Saturday and Sunday in St. Louis with Brett and Tessa. (Thanks Dad and Mom for watching the kids!). We had a great time together talking and eating and seeing some of the St. Louis sights. Thanks Brett & Tess! We had so much fun, can't wait until next year!

All of us at Busch Stadium

Cotton Candy Picture for Kate :)

Literal interpretation

A few days ago, Kate and I were having a little battle of the wills. The battle being, she was extremely tired and I wanted her to take a nap, and she naturally insisted that she wasn't tired and didn't need a nap. So, she asked if she could sleep on the floor because her bed just wasn't very comfortable. Now, I've fallen for this before and napping on the floor turns into her playing with her dollhouse. I told her she could rest on the floor, but if she moved at all, she was going to have to sleep in her bed. Well, she must have taken me literally and thought that if she put the blanket over her head, I wouldn't be able to see her move. She ended up falling asleep underneath her blanket and when I went to check on her, it took me a second to realize she was under the blanket. :)

Her little hand poking out. :)

Jason & Ellie

Last week, I hardly got the camera out at all, so I don't have many pictures to share this week. I did have the opportunity to take some family pictures for Jason & Ellie. It was lots of fun.

We managed to stay pretty busy last week. We went to Tots & Babes, a program at the local nursing home that allows the residents to interact with the kiddos, we attended a visitation for Mike's great uncle, we had dinner with some friends...good food, good fun. :) We also took the boat out for one last hoorah for this season. We had a great time with Mindy, Joel, Marcy, and A. Sandy. It was a bit rainy, but that didn't stop these diehards. It's hard not to enjoy yourself when the people you are with are having such a good time. But, I didn't get the camera out because it was raining, but I'll try to get some pics from Mindy...her camera was waterproof. :)

Sunday we visited Granda Rassi and Grandpa and Grandma Gramm. Yesterday we had a much needed work day at our house. We cleaned the house, did laundry, mowed the grass, paid bills, priced some stuff for Grandma's garage sale...whew!

So, not much exciting news in this post....which is just fine with us. :)

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

If you know Kate at all, you will understand why this picture completely defines her personality without a word. She is girly-girl to the extreme at times, complimenting people on their clothes and dressing up like a princess, while rocking her baby to sleep with her hot pink painted fingernails, while never passing up the opportunity to be outside playing in the mud, swimming, running in the rain, or riding the dirt bike at Grandma's with Daddy or Uncle Jason. She's a unique child, but we love her to pieces. :)

More Birthday

Last week, we had more birthday fun with Kate. On Wednesday, we went to the Glen Oak Zoo for our traditional birthday lunch with the neighbors. Turns out, it was free day at the zoo, so that was fun. I didn't take many pictures, but I was pretty impressed with the new Africa Exhibit.

We had evening plans the night of Kate's birthday, so Friday night we ordered in Chinese (her favorite) and gave her the birthday gifts from us (A Lite Brite and new dress-up shoes)

Lincoln always wants to be just like Daddy, if Daddy is wearing a hat, off he toddles to get his too.

On Kate's actual b-day, we headed to the Dairy Barn for some yummy ice cream. (Oh yes, and if Daddy and Bubba are wearing hats...Kate must get one too)