Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year! The pumpkin patch is open. They kindly open early the first day for families with children who have autism and we always have such a great time. Jason couldn't go so I took my mom. We got in line for the hayride early so it wasn't crowded, and we had the whole ride to ourselves.

I love my little man's eyebrows!

They enjoyed lots of other fun stuff, too.

It was such a great time the kids are already asking when we can go back with their dad. It's one of their favorite events of the year.

Feeding the ducks

Jason had to work 2nd shift one day last week, so after dinner I took the kids to our neighborhood pond to feed the ducks. It's hit or miss whether there are any out there and thankfully we were in luck this particular night. They were friendly ducks, too. They saw us from the opposite end of the pond and swam right over. Typically the ducks tend to go away when we show up, but this time they were even coming out of the water to walk around by us. The kids loved it. Of course I have no pictures of the ducks but lots of pictures of the kids. I can't help myself.

Alfalfa

Jordis has had a myriad of nicknames in her three short years, and this week she got a new one.

Meet Alfalfa.

Xander + scissors = screaming and missing wisps of hair.

Luckily he's a quick little thing because one of these days she's going to seek revenge, and I fear it won't be pretty.

Cops N' Kids

Sunday was the annual Cops N' Kids event in Westerville. The kids have been looking forward to it for quite awhile and Xander even had to wear the hat from his police "uniform." Luckily there were no hurricane-force winds this year.

They got hats from the sheriff's office....

...free cotton candy, hot dogs and chips....

...and the chance to hang out in a highway patrol chopper.

The kids had a great time!

Look Ma, no hands training wheels!

Instead of playing in the water last week at my aunt and uncle's, the kids rode bikes in and around the cul-de-sac. Xander and his cousin Carson are the same age and still have little bikes with training wheels. But cousin Braden is almost seven and rides a big bike with no training wheels. So the very next day Xander decided he was done with training wheels.

I only have two pictures because I took mostly videos, but also because he learned in about an hour. Thirty minutes before dinner and thirty minutes after dinner was the only practice he had.

The next day after he got off the bus, he was doing this....


Now he's going around the block and is a full-fledged bike rider. He's turning in to such a big boy.

Cousins

So now that the baby of the cousins is old enough to participate in popsicle time at my aunt and uncle's cookouts, I thought I'd finally be able to get a good picture of all six kids at once.

What I should have realized is that now there's just one more kid I've got to convince to face forward and smile, which you can see is no easy task.

OSU vs. Navy

Thanks to my cousin I had the opportunity to go to the Ohio State vs. Navy football game Saturday and watch my dad march in Script Ohio. He was in the OSU marching band for 7 years and I'm so proud of him for being part of such a neat tradition. There are more alumni band members than there are spots available for Script Ohio, so getting to march for it is based on a lottery. I was really lucky that my dad got a spot and I was there to see it.

We met early so we could get to campus in time for the skull session. This is when the marching band performs their pre-game and halftime music before the game and people can come and watch. However, on Alumni Day, the current AND alumni bands play, and it's the best show of the year. Seats are hard to come by so we got there 90 minutes early and found two seats in the second row.

Here's my dad standing up in the middle when they asked people who were in certain age ranges to rise and be recognized.

John Glenn and his wife were honored as I-dotters for one of the quadruple Script Ohio's to be performed at half-time.

A brief visit with my dad between the skull session and pre-game.

We were right below the Navy section and frequently entertained by their uniformed fans.

Part of the half-time show

I taped the four Script Ohio's so I don't have photos, but I did take one at the end. Coach Tressel started a new tradition of the football team coming to sing the alma mater to the band after the game.

Cousins! We had so much fun. This is the third game she's taken me to and we've had perfect weather every time. We also enjoy getting gyros afterward. It occurred to me that the past two times she's taken me to a game we've ended up going to the National Championship. We'll see if third time's a charm.

Thanks, Carol, for sharing your ticket with me, I had such a great time! And thanks also to my mom for babysitting until Jason got up. The kids are still talking about their fun craft.

Picture Day

(If you're on Facebook you've seen these pictures already, but I had to share them here as well.)
Let me preface. Xander's school had picture day this week. Things today are much different than when I was a kid. Back then you brought your order form and a check and paid the photographer when you sat down. There was one background, you showed up and sat in front of it, tilted your head the way they told you, smiled, and you were done. Not today. Now you pick your package online ahead of time. You can choose different poses and 5-million backgrounds. Of course they're all cute so you start getting out of control.....should I get the red background or the tan one? Should we get a head shot or a standing shot? I himmed and I hawed and finally decided on the traditional head-shot with a tan background since I knew we had a cute outfit that would match. I sent my payment online and printed my receipt for Xander to take to school.

Xander did not like the outfit. He said he wasn't taking his picture. The same thing happened last year, but then he brought home the most adorable photos ever, so I wasn't sure what to think. There was a space on the receipt to write a note for the photographer, so I said that he wasn't sure he'd cooperate and if need be "please tell him that if he takes a picture he can ride his power wheels tonight." I also wrote a note to the teacher, saying that maybe he'd like to take his turn at the end so the rest of the class wasn't staring at him, since that's how they had to do it last year.

When Xan came home from school there was a note in his folder from the teacher that said, "Going last wasn't the answer, but he agreed to sit there after we mentioned the Power Wheels. I don't think you got a smile though." I asked him why he didn't smile and he replied that he didn't want to. Then he added, "But you never said I had to smile, you said I had to take a picture. And I did. So I still get to ride my Power Wheels."

Little turkey beat me at my own game, then he had the nerve to come outside with me and pose for these.

I guess it will be okay if the school pictures don't turn out. These are cute enough for me.