Fall Fun!

We've had a couple days of going out and doing some "fall" type things. A couple weeks ago Christy and Barrett visited while Jeff was out of town. We took them to Didier Farm for a pumpkin extravaganza. They have kiddy rides and pumpkins to buy, along with pumpkin donuts, apple cider and all that fun stuff. We've gone the past few years. This year they added camel rides and bengal tigers to their attractions! Also, upon returning from Disney World we went to Rosie's farm stand to get our pumpkins because the weather was amazing. We get our pumpkins there every year because Didier Farm is very expensive.

Dane's pony ride:Kale & Barrett staying warm:Carnival ride with daddy:Pumpkin donut for breakfast:@ Rosie's picking pumpkins:Leaving with our wagon full:

The chaos that is our home...

Here is just a glimpse of what happens in our house on a daily basis. And just to add to that chaos, Kale started pulling himself up on Monday...look out! Much of this footage was taken with my phone so forgive the poor quality.

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Disney 2011

We are back! We had a great time at Disney, although this year was a bit more stressful because we now have 2 kiddos to juggle! We stupidly took our big jumbo double stroller so both of them could take a nap in it....Dane napped one day in our friend's stroller and Kale barely napped in the stroller because he can only sleep on his stomach! And pushing that bus around everywhere was a HUGE pain! We've learned some things each year we've travelled to Disney...we will never take that big double stroller again and we always need to make sure to pack ponchos. We arrived Wednesday to great weather and spent the evening in the pool. On Thursday the weather was perfect...85 with sunny skies and a nice breeze. Friday was rainy for most of the day and Saturday was a torrential downpour all day long. Although we didn't get to do all that we wanted to do because of the rain, we had an amazing view of the Magic Kingdom from our room and every night we watched the fireworks from our patio. Being able to see the castle and the fireworks each night were definitely the highlights of this trip for Dane. He referred to Cinderella's castle as the "sand castle" and he thought the fireworks that happened each night were for JB's birthday. All in all, a success and we look forward to going again next year!

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Catching Up!

Last week Cameron was in Vegas for work and the boys & I went to Leesburg to spend time with the Polks! We had a great time playing with Andon, Presley and Barrett! We even got to go visit uncle Brian at the fire station and Dane got to ride in a combine, a tractor, a gator and uncle Jeff's new RV!! Obviously all very big hits with Dane!

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Now...we are counting down the hours until we leave for the most magical place on earth...DISNEY WORLD round 2!!

An Explanation

I apologize if my last post seemed harsh and although I don't feel the need to justify spanking to our readers, I felt an explanation would be nice (especially if my anonymous commenter is a friend or family member). I am not asking for anyone's approval and I'm certainly not saying that everyone should spank or that every child needs to be spanked. We have made the decision that if the punishment fits the crime and a good old fashioned swat on the butt is needed, then we will do it. Dane is an extremely strong willed child and we are seeing things improving with his listening and bullying, but I definitely think it's because we have spanked when necessary. It is not our first line of discipline and it doesn't happen very often, however it does happen sometimes and I stand by our decision to use that type of discipline when necessary. We don't beat him for goodness sake. We love our children dearly and want them to be well behaved, well mannered kiddos. Sometimes timeouts or scolding do nothing and we have to take the next step. Thanks for continuing to listen to my ramblings...several of you have asked what happened or what the comment was so I felt the need to explain my feelings on the topic. I am not asking for you to agree with every step we take as parents, but I am not judging you on the decisions you make for your family and I would hope the same respect is given to us. Thank you for all of you who have followed our blog and for all of the awesome support you've given us...from our struggle to conceive to becoming parents for the first time. We will undoubtedly make mistakes and we greatly appreciate advice if it's given in the correct manner but the comment we received that has been the basis for the last 2 posts was offensive and rude and I felt the need to say something about it.

Anonymous comments

To the anonymous commenter that ripped me a new one about spanking...anonymous comments are turned off because of you. If you are so proud of not spanking then let me know who you are, i would love to chat. There is nothing wrong with it...check the bible. As for being a redneck...ha ha you have no idea. This blog is for friends and family and is not public so I am not sure how you stumbled on it...I didn't start this blog to be judged by the masses, it is a journal of my life. If I offend you so much, don't read it.

Lakes Community High School Football

One of our college friends is the head football coach of a nearby high school. Before we had kiddos we would often go cheer him on, but we still try to make it to a game or two per season. Last evening we decided that Dane would love to go and Kale would be in bed around the start of the game. So we got a sitter for Kale and took Dane to the game. He LOVED it! Many of the coaches wives were there with their kids and we had a nice, grassy area that they could all run around and play. We had a few highlights for the evening...1. the stinky "stunk" we smelled on the way to the game (it was a skunk and he was obsessed and asked about it the rest of the night). 2. The "tiger's" mouth....the opposing team was the Cougars and when they came on the field they ran through the mouth of a cougar with lights flashing and smoke coming out. (Once again obsessed and talked about it all night). 3. His popcorn...kept walking away from playing with the kids to get his popcorn..."this my popcorn, mommy?"

Adventure Seeking

This past Saturday Cameron and I had a little belated anniversary getaway to Lake Geneva, WI. We chose this destination because it is close and convenient and we've always loved this little lake town...it's adorable and quaint with cute shops and great restaurants all on Geneva Lake. The other reason we chose this destination is because they now offer a ziplining excursion. We had always wanted to try it and should have in Costa Rica last year but didn't. It was a great time...we completed about 1.5 hours of actual ziplining once we were suited up and the brief instructional demonstration was over. Although the gear is anything but stylish, the ziplining itself was a blast. Cameron and I conquered "the beast" - an 840 foot line from takeoff to landing and also the 1200 foot racing line. I would recommend it to anyone and definitely look forward to doing it again, hopefully someday with the boys.

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