Watermelon: The Conclusion

Back in the beginning of August I had wrote a post on the blog about our watermelon's growth progress. I guess that could have been titled, Watermelon Part 1.
Last night was the conclusion of the watermelon. We ate our first Sanders home grown melon, and although we're not by any means watermelon connoisseurs, the overwhelming impression was that it was pretty good melon!
You'll notice that the photos show how messy my kids are while eating. Unfortunately, this really isn't an isolated incident as a result of the watermelon. Somehow they always manage to make themselves a mess during meals. Not sure why, but it's the way it is. But then again, I should never wear white because without fail I always spill food on myself when I do. So maybe it's inherited!
{Chloe}

{Cooper}

{Gabe}

{Jason}

Christmas Anyone?

If you know our living situation, then you know that most of our things are packed away in storage. We have the essentials we need for daily living in the basement, which is the only part of our home that is finished and is where we live our day to day lives. Our house is being renovated in stages, with the next stage {starting hopefully in a few short weeks} to be the outside overhaul. The last stage will be to finish the rest of the inside, including the main and upper levels, after which we will then finally be able to completely unpack and fully move into our country home. But I digress...
Since most of our personal effects are in storage, I often have to dig through boxes to find things I am looking for. This morning I was looking for some books and photos I had packed away when I found my beloved Christmas cd's!
My favorite holiday is hands down, no question, Christmas! I love Christmas! I love the snow...I love the tree...I love the decorations...I love why we celebrate Christmas {Jesus, of course!}...I love the childlike wonder Christmas inspires...I love buying presents...I LOVE CHRISTMAS!
And lest I forget the reason for this post, I LOVE the MUSIC!
So, for me to play Christmas music, it does not have to be Christmas. I placed my long lost Christmas cd's in the disc changer, hit play, and spent the last few hours jamming to some Christmas tunes.
Cooper's favorite is Jingle Bells, for which, he has his own version...
'Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
All the way the fun, HEY!'
It doesn't seem to matter how many times I try to correct him, he always sings it exactly like that, over and over again. It's really so cute, I don't know why I would think of correcting him.
Then, while I was listening to the Christmas music, I was continuing to go through storage and was looking for Chloe's fall and winter clothes from last year so that I could list some items for sale on ebay. And what did I find? Her Christmas dress from last year, which still fit. {It's so cute...I just had to try it on her!} A bit snug, but still adorable!
Cooper saw Chloe in her dress and said, "Wow Chloe looks beautiful!" So sweet.
So I got the music, I got the clothes, I got the Christmas spirit,
is it Christmastime yet?

How about you? What's your favorite holiday?

{While I had her in the dress, I took a few photos.}

Playdate

Yesterday after I picked Cooper up from preschool, we met my friend Suz {love her btw} and her niece, Shea, at the park.
I think the best way to describe Shea is that she's like an 18-year-old trapped in a four-year-old's body. She's definitely beyond her years, and that makes for a pretty entertaining encounter. She sings and plays the air guitar, and I think Cooper is smitten with her.
When we got home, he said to me, "Mom, where's Shea?" I told him, "She's at her grandma's house." Cooper replied, "I miss her cause she's my friend." Ahhhhh, isn't that cute!
I didn't take many photos, but had to share a few.
I love this first shot. You can see Shea trying to help keep Chloe in the picture by holding her arms. Look at the big smile on Chloe's face...she's lovin' this fun game!

Here's Cooper with his new friend!

The dial got turned on the camera before I took this one, so it's overexposed. But I think it's salvaged a bit in black and white. That girl's got the posing down!

{Fun times}

Hunting for Fun

Today everyone in Cooper's class took a bear to school with them. They went on a 'bear hunt.' To my understanding, this involves hiding the bears around the room, and then going to look, or hunt, for the bears.

After school, Cooper was talking about this activity.
Cooper: We went on a hunt today mom!
Me: That sounds exciting! What did you hunt for?
Cooper: We hunted for fun of course!

Well, I guess that's right in a way!

Harvest Moon

Jason & I looked outside last night about 8 p.m. to find this beautiful sight:

I knew it had an official name, so I looked it up online on the Farmers' Almanac website. What I found was that the official name for a full moon in September is called a Harvest Moon.

The Almanac said,
'This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.'

When I think about earth's details like this beautiful Harvest Moon, I think about how awesome it is that God designed everything to a 'T'. Even the moon has it's purpose as a helpmate to the farmers working in the fall. How awesome to know that God takes care of us in every way possible.

Like the famous Casting Crowns song says,
'Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.'

Isn't it awesome that even the details of the earth cry out God's love for us!

Chloe's Injury

It's not the first, and it definitely won't be the last.
All I can say is, Chloe's latest injury makes her look like she's been in a fist fight. Hopefully that's not what happened, but it's always hard to tell when the only witnesses to the incident were her three and five-year-old brothers.
It happened on Saturday. Gabe, Cooper and Chloe were all in the boys' bedroom playing. We kept going into the room and checking on them, and they always looked very happy playing with toys on the floor. Then, we heard a crash and Chloe started to cry. We rushed into the room to find Chloe lying on the floor and the boys looking concerned. It didn't take long for her nose to swell and the bruising around the brim of her nose and corners of her eyes to appear.
Gabe claims they were on the bed and Chloe was pushed off the bed by Cooper. Gabe, always the dramatic, reenacted the incident for us and it appeared from Gabe's acting skills that Chloe must have hit her head on the headboard of the bed on her way down.
Cooper claims he didn't push her, she just fell.
Who do we believe? The jury is still out on that one. Who knows if we'll ever come to a verdict. All I know is, poor little Chloe looks beat up, and with two rough and tumble brothers as playmates, it probably won't be the last of her playtime injuries!
Below, a profile shot that shows the bruising on her nose and eyes. Ouch!

A closeup of the damages.

But of course, she's still one happy girl! Whatever did happen, I don't think she'll hold a grudge.

Honestly, one of our kids always has a bruise or a scrape at all times. Do your kids get hurt as much as mine do?

Eat Up

So, in regards to yesterday's post, I am now eating my words.
As you probably know, the Cyclones lost their game today to the Hawkeyes, 17 to 5. ISU just couldn't get into the end zone, and the Hawks were on top of their defense. Dissapointing game for sure, but I guess there's always next year!
And in the words of Forest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

Go Clones!

Gabe's class celebrated tomorrow's Iowa vs. Iowa State game
by sporting the shirt of their chosen team.
Much to our disappointment, only 5 of the 19 kids in the class were Cyclone fans.
Even the teacher voiced her support for the Hawks in the Kindergarten newsletter she sent home with the kids.
All I can say is, the Hawks may have been better supported
in the class today,
but we'll have the last laugh tomorrow
after the Cyclones win the big game!
{Come on Clones, don't make me eat my words!}

BTW, Jason went to Iowa State, and was on the football team for a year. He, of course, is a big Cyclones fan! I too am a Cyclones fan because of Jason, but I actually graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, and we all know the Panthers can probably beat either team on any given day. Oops...don't tell Jason I said that!

Anyway, I thought I'd post a photo of Jason, Gabe, Cooper & Chloe
showing their Cyclone team spirit!
{Notice Chloe's pink Iowa State jersey. I found it at Von Maur
and how could I not buy it?!? Too cute!}

So how about you? Who are you rooting for,
the Cyclones or the Hawks?

Look-A-Likes Part 2

Since doing a post about my look-a-likes, I was reminded of the time that someone claimed Jason has a look-a-like:
Christian Slater.
*Insert Laughter Here*
Yup, that's right, Christian Slater.
I'm not really seeing the resemblance, but I thought I'd present the evidence and let you decide...
BTW, since rising to stardom in the 80s & 90s, Christian Slater seemed to disappear from the radar until now. He's actually going to be starring in a new television series that looks pretty interesting titled, "My Own Worst Enemy," in which he plays a character with a split personality.
Could his alter ego be Jason? You be the judge...
*Since they look so much alike, I'd better clarify
that Christan Slater is on the left, Jason on the right.
And, I'm hoping you're getting my sarcasm,
cause I'm laying it on pretty thick, lol.*

Painting Gourds

Fall is upon us, which means Grandpa & Grandma Sanders pumpkin farm will be in operation before we know it.
I get the fun job of painting every year...painting pumpkins for display at the farm and painting birdhouse gourds to sell. And it really is fun for me because I do love to paint and do crafts!

Of course you can't start painting and expect the kids not to join in. So I taped old newspaper to one end of the table and let Cooper paint on white paper while I got a few gourds painted.

He had so much fun! I think for Cooper, the more paint you end up having on your body, the more fun you have. By the looks of Cooper's hands, he had a blast!

And while Cooper & I were painting, Chloe decided to have some fun of her own in her new hideout: the wet bar cabinets. She always chooses the same cabinet, the one that houses the cereal boxes. Smart girl, play and eat at the same time :)
What is it about kids and hiding in cabinets? I have a photo of Gabe and Cooper doing the exact same thing {not in our current house, but in Urbana} at about the exact same age as Chloe is now.
Of course, I would display those photos on this post too, but our hard drive is still holding our photos hostage, so I can't.