Catchin up...post #1

...So here we are 2 weeks later...

Aunt Susie was here for a week after we moved and helped us get all kinds of stuff done and kept the house and Me from falling apart. :D It was like a little vacation before our actual vacation. :) The day I spent cleaning our rental house she took care of the kids at our new house.

Baking cookies was at the top of our priority list. ;)

Thank you to our beloved A. Susie!

We got to have yummy treats while she was here...

and tea parties...

and toasty fires!

Remember I mentioned the heat went out...

We had some cold and dreary weather immediately after (of course) so we spent a day and a half clipping up all of our yard debris and burning it in our fireplace to try and up the temp of the house. It made a great roaring fire...

Aunt Susie would put a pile o sticks on...

light 'em off...

and a short time later they would ignite into great leaping flames!!! (NOT KIDDING)

I was oblivious to this for the first while as I was out in the yard clipping branches as fast as I could. I found cause for a wee bit of concern when I saw a few flames licking out the top of the chimney and heat waves radiating outward from it...

A short time later Sus came out and mentioned that these sticks were burning really great after the initial 10 min of waiting for them to actually ignite...THEN... FWOOOMP!!!

And 5 min after they ignited it was time to add some more. :D

Hey, at least we got rid of the 2 giant piles of sticks in our yard...

even if it took us a day or two of running back and forth. :)

Kate was facinated by the fire and enjoyed helping (or hindering). ;)

It made for cozy evenings anyway.

These 2 pics remind me that my little girly is always watching and learning from whoever she looks up to ...

...and then teaching it to her little bro.

We so enjoyed having Aunt Susie with us for the week...

And we were glad that we got to go back home with her when she left.

HOORAY FOR GRAMMAS HOUSE!!

The only day I got my camera out was the day we went to feed the ducks. The other days were filled with running here and there, shopping, seeing Uncle AJ's new house, visiting cousins and such.

So here's "feeding the ducks".

Down to the river we go, hi ho!

These mallard drakes are so pretty when the sun shines on them.

A few mixed breeds in there.

Watching the drakes harrass the lone female that joined them.

And then this big old goose arrived on the scene...

"Here Kate, here's some bread to feed the goose..."

"Or...eat it, if stale bread sounds so irrisistably good." :)

"...and then you can feed the extra to the goose"

...AND REPEAT

Hooray for hills to run and jump down to make our pigtails fly!!

...and then we climb back up so we can do it all over again. :D

Time to head back to the car.

Miss Kate had to stop and pick a daisy for A. Susie...

and another for Gramma Jo.

Back at the car we found our little man awakened from his nap and peering around.

Back at Gramma Jo's house the kids were happy to play with balls...

and airplanes..

...and babies.

Apparently the baby needed a bit of discipline. :)

Then a little comforting time...

and then all was well again. ;)

Kate loves for A. Susie to plays her songs on the piano.

Thanks for the fun times!

Hopefully I can get another post out tonight after the kids are in bed.