I am now pretty squared away on what my duties are as a deaconess at this time. After finally being able to read through all my paperwork and speak with a few of the ladies about things, I know my place - so that is nice. A deaconess term lasts two years. As of right now my main duties revolve around communion and Servants of the Savior.  Regarding communion: I am helping to clean up and replenish the trays following at least one service every other month - this is scheduled.  I am also helping with weekend communion prep one Saturday morning per month - this is not scheduled, but I can choose to do so when I desire or if I am not busy that morning, etc.  Regarding Servants of the Savior: Servants of the Savior basically provides meals to families in the church who are temporarily in need - such as when they have a new baby or are ill. My main job with this as a deaconess will be to help make the phone calls to find church ladies to make the meals. So right now I'm placed on a schedule where if I get a call from the point person for Servants of the Savior, then I call around and make sure a meal will be made and will get to the person in need. As of now I'm only on the call list two months for next year.  Some months I may get multiple calls and some months I may not get anything. Now - just as a female member of Parkview, I am also on a separate list to make the meals...all female congregation members get put on this "help list" for one month of the year.  Sound confusing?  It was for me at first, but I think I've got it down now :)

 

Sept 2 ~ Tonight we went over to Shawn and Brian Pierce's house in West Branch.  We brought over a meal to share with them and met their new baby daughter, Alyssa, who is only a few weeks old. She was so tiny and made all of those precious new baby sounds and facial expressions. Natalie and Luke got to see each other again.  They had fun doing somersaults on the carpet and playing with Luke's Star Wars light sabors!

 

Sept 3 ~ We had a very lazy Labor Day weekend and it was great!  We decided to end our great weekend with a trip to the Amanas for a late lunch/early dinner. We drove out there and first stopped at Lily Lake to view the lily pads and other natural scenery.  It was really peaceful out there and quite comfortable in the shade. We gave Kate her bottle and also snapped some photos.  Had fun watching all the dragonflies and butterflies.  We went to The Brickhaus for our meal. Both kids behaved really well and it was a good day!  I had read that there was "Iowa's largest walnut rocking chair" at a shop there in the Amanas...so we went on a hunt for it.  We did find the shop, but it was closed.  We'll have to remember to stop by there next time we are in town.  On the way home, we did stop and take a picture next to what is claimed to be "the world's largest wooden nickel"...it is actually on Dubuque Street not too far down from our house.  I love those silly, cheesy kind of landmarks!

 

Sept 4 ~ Today was Natalie's first day of school at Parkview Christian Preschool!  She'll be going two mornings each week. All the parents lingered for awhile this morning to take photos and see their little ones off.  Natalie is actually in the smallest class of only about twelve students. Today the kids were told to bring their favorite stuffed animal or doll to school - of course Natalie brought her "Ellie".  Mrs. Fink was eager to let me know that Natalie had an excellent day today and that she is a really fun child to have in class. Nat was excited to show me the picture where she colored in the letters of her own name. She also told me she met two classmates named Noah and Tyler and that her favorite part of the morning was playing "ice-cream shop" and at the water table during center time.  I feel really good about sending her to Parkview this year.

      Katie is all over the place now!  She is now completely crawling on her hands and knees and can get across the room in a flash.  Her second tooth is starting to poke out from her gums - it's the bottom middle one on her left side.  She is starting to accept her babyfood vegetables a little better now. Along with infant cereals, fruits, and veggies she has tried some of the chicken mixed with fruit. We've also given her some table food such as ice cream, bananas, very tiny pieces of mandarin orange, and mashed potatoes.  She really doesn't eat a whole lot of solid food yet, because she tends to fill up on it and not drink enough formula. She still loves taking baths, but still hates getting dressed.

     Our calendar for the fall is looking pretty full...I'm trying to bring everything to a balance and say no to some things.  Nat will have school twice a week and will be starting a dance class on Monday nights.  I will have choir rehearsal most Wednesday nights as well as Hearts In Touch every other Wednesday morning.  Craig is looking into maybe volunteering at church on Thursday evenings and he still goes to a Bible study at work on Wednesday afternoons. We also have a pass to the Children's Museum now, so we'll be doing that a few times a month I'm sure.

 

Sept 5 ~ This morning was the first session of Hearts In Touch for this year.  I am taking a break from leading a small group this time around.  At first I felt a little guilty about that, but now it just feels good to just be able to show up to the meetings when I can and not worry too much about it.  We had a pretty good turn out this morning, and I saw a lot of familiar faces.  The topic was "Spiritual Sisterhood".  I honestly didn't get to hear a whole lot of the topic...by the time the speakers started, Katie had had enough of the nursery and I had to bring her into the atrium to sit with me.  Well, Kate doesn't like to sit still too much...so I had to do all I could to keep her occupied.  She finally fell asleep in the umbrella stroller about halfway through our small group time.  That time of the morning is just a hard time for her - she gets so tired and is hard to settle down.  I'm in Emily Malone's small group this year.  I've met Emily a couple times over the past few months, but thought it would be nice to join her group and get to know her and a few of the other ladies better. The mentor mom for that group is Lisa Nierman.  I'm really excited about that because Lisa is just an awesome lady!  Barb Willhoit, Ayla Kolosik, and Derrica Krutsinger are also in our group - I'm familiar with them in one way or another, but would like to get better acquainted.  Lauren Bentler, Stephanie Nash, and Kari Schloner also sat at our table - this is my first time meeting them.  I am sad to say that Angela Wildes is no longer leading our HIT ladies...I will miss her passion for Christ and for people, her organization, her leadership, and her humor...Stephanie Coons is now heading up HIT - I don't know her real well, but she did an excellent job today. 

 

Sept 6 ~ Natalie attended her second day of preschool this morning.  Today was her scheduled day for "share day" - which means she is to bring the snack for her class, bring an item or two for show and tell, and also do fun things like be line leader and such.  Snack was apple juice and string cheese.  For show and tell she decided to bring her two hedgehog stuffed animals - a tiny one (she calls it the baby) that makes a little noise when you squeeze it and a larger one (she calls it the mommy) that is a hand puppet.  Mrs. Fink let me know how excited Nat was to be line leader today...didn't surprise me one bit :)

 

Sept 8 ~ Craig and I decided to take the kids over to the Childrens Museum for awhile today.  That was really special since it is not often that Daddy comes with us to the museum!  Natalie made us some really delicious pretend pizzas in the restaurant area. 

         Little Katie is just movin' right along!  She is getting really good at pulling herself up and standing.  She is getting into everything lately, so I've had to put away some of the smaller, more dangerous toys.  The small toys are now up in Natalie's closet, and she knows to shut her bedroom door if she wants to play with them or wait until Kate is sleeping.  Natalie has shown a little bit of frustration when Katelyn gets in her way or gets grabby, but overall Natalie is a fantastic big sister!  She loves Katelyn so, so much and always wants to make sure that her little sister is included in everything. 

 

Sept 10 ~ I babysat Abe Lashmit for about an hour or so this afternoon. His mom will be helping out down the street at Heritage Christian School on Mondays, so I said I'd be glad to watch him on the days that I'm free. Katie enjoyed having a playmate her age!

      My cousin, Christy Peterson, gave birth to her baby daughter today!  Her name is Lillyahna Marie Heilman...we saw some pictures, and she is such a doll!

      Natalie had her first dance class tonight!  She is taking "Creative Dance" over at North Liberty Parks and Rec Center.  The class is for three and four year olds and mainly revolves around ballet movements. It is a nine month class that ends with a recital in the spring. The class is being taught by Holly Stephens Kennedy who works for a local professional dance program called Attitudes in Dance which is run by a lady named Lyndsay Wilkinson Krotz. Natalie has been looking forward to dance class ever since I first mentioned it to her. She was so excited to put on her dance gear (pink leotard, white tights, pink ballet slippers) and her eyes just lit up when we walked in and she saw all the girls her age there at class. It sure was a sight - all these little girls about the same height wearing their pink outfits and shoes. The pink shoes are required...a pink outfit is not...but the color of choice at most of the discount stores in town happened to be pink. The thing that kills me is that parents aren't allowed in the room during class and are discouraged from looking through the windows so as not to be disruptive....you mean I can't watch my baby dance??  Ahhh!!...no really, I totally understand...it's just so hard to follow the rules...I did sneak a peak through the window, but couldn't see much anyway :)  I guess we'll be allowed to watch them dance during the last ten minutes of the last class each month.

 

Sept 11 ~ Natalie had a bit of a hard send-off at preschool this morning.  She cried when I left her...she did fine both days last week...Mrs.deMatta pointed out that sometimes children have a more difficult time the second week for some reason.  But Nat was fine after a few minutes.  I've decided to try and do my grocery shopping on Tuesdays when Nattie is in school...that way I only have one child to tend to and it gets done quicker. 

 

Sept 12 ~ The girls went along with me today to a doctor appointment. They were really well behaved - especially considering that we ended up waiting an extra 45 minutes for my exam.  I had noticed a lump on my breast late last week.  I wasn't too terribly concerned since it appeared rather quickly and was inflamed...I figured it was probably just some kind of infection. My doctor figured the same thing, so she put me on an antibiotic, but still wanted to see me to confirm that everything was alright. The lump is just about gone and after examining me she thinks that everything is fine. Our wait in the exam room was rather interesting.  Natalie had ample time to ask all kinds of fun (I'm being sarcastic here) questions about items she saw in the room. The best by far (more sarcasm) was when she pointed to a poster displaying different types of birth control methods...she pointed to a diaphragm and asked me what it was...I just said that it was something that some mommies use and that she'll learn more about it when she is older.

     Tonight was choir rehearsal. Tonight was also Craig's last night of golf league...the girls had to come with me to church, but hopefully they'll get to spend most of their Wednesday nights with Daddy from now until next summer. Chris Carlson and her young daughter have been watching the kids (mine and Eryn Durlam's) the past two Wednesdays as we rehearse for our church's 75th anniversary services which are coming up soon.

 

Sept 13 ~ Katelyn had her nine month baby exam today!  She currently weighs 21 pounds 11 ounces and is 29 1/4 inches long.  That puts her at 92% for weight and 96% for height.  We talked about all the usual milestones and such...Kate seems to be doing just fine.  She has slowed down on her formula intake and is starting to eat "real" food a bit more each day. The nine month mark was when Dr. Miller suggested that Kate may no longer need the acid reflux medication.  So we are going to go ahead and take her off it for now and see how things go.  And there were no shots for Katie today...yay!!

 

Sept 14 ~ Craig stayed home with the girls this morning so that I could go have coffee with Ruth Baumgartner.  Ruth goes to Parkview Church and I met her at that Beth Moore Bible study I was attending that concluded last month.  She was also the lady that let me borrow that wonderful book called Reforming Marriage. She emailed me out of the blue and asked if I'd like to have coffee sometime, so we met up over at House of Aromas. We talked about all kinds of stuff...the families we grew up in, our families now as adults, church, marriage, friendships, hard times, etc.  She is a real easy lady to open up around. Ruth is not my age...she has two children that are in their twenties - I'm thinking she may very well end up being a fantastic mentor to me!

 

Sept 15 ~ This morning was the beginning of a long weekend of events for Parkview Church's 75th Anniversary celebration!  We had three hours of choir rehearsal first thing this morning to prepare for tomorrow's services.  I can't tell you exactly how many people sang in the choir, but we packed the risers!  The theme for this celebration is kind of revolving around "yesterday, today & forever" - God's faithfulness never changing.  As Scott had written in one of our handouts:  Our purpose is to...1) Celebrate the greatness and faithfulness of God both in the Gospel and in His work at Parkview Church  2) Reflect on the story of how God grew Parkview from a Sunday School program 75 years ago 3) Commit ourselves to God's mission for the future. 

      After rehearsal I went home and rested with my family for awhile.  Then we went back out to the church for the "Family Reunion" barbeque.  Everyone gathered out in back of the building for a meal, hymn sing-a-long, children's activities, sand volleyball, and to enjoy worship music and fellowship.  They had lots of stuff for the little ones to do - a big inflatable jumping tent, clowns, balloons, the church playground, and even toys set out for kids Katelyn's age. There was also a dunk tank...several members and leaders of the church took turns getting dunked.  They saved my choir director, Scott Sterner, for last.  Natalie threw the ball quite well and got very close to hitting the bullseye...in the end, they allowed her to just hit the bullseye anyway and down went Scott! 

 

Sept 16 ~ I was up bright and early for a 6:45 choir rehearsal...tired but ready to worship the Lord!  We sang in three services and it was a glorious time during each service!  We sang Yesterday Today and Forever, Mighty to Save, How Great is Our God, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Be Thou My Vision, and Let Your Kingdom Come.  All just wonderful song choices for the occasion. Hard to pick just one that I liked the most, but probably Be Thou My Vision sticks out most in my memory.  Someone put together a really nice video that recounted different moments during Parkview's history. Choir didn't have a whole lot of time in between services, but during those times we got to eat breakfast together and just relax and chat. God and choir just excite me to no end!

 

Sept 17 thru Sept 21 ~ It is finally VACATION TIME!!  We have been so looking forward to spending some time away as a family.  When Craig and I were first talking about vacation, we were going to maybe do a Colorado/South Dakota type roadtrip.  But the more we thought about it...the things we wanted to do there were more "scenic" kinds of things...plus the drive would be long.  So we decided to save that sort of vacation for when the kids are a little older and can appreciate it better.  We thought just going over to St. Louis would be ideal...the drive isn't terribly long and there are tons of activities for the girls to enjoy.  And if the kids are happy then so are the parents :) 

     Monday the 17th, we took our time getting ready and loaded up the van. Made a few stops to fill the cooler, get cash, check the air in the tires, and grab some lunch.  Popped a video in for the girls to enjoy and we were on our way!  We made another stop along the way for a potty break and a milkshake - Nattie made a friend while we were there...she loves to meet little girls her age everywhere she goes.  When we arrived in St. Louis, Craig drove us by the arch so that Natalie could get a glimpse of it.  She thought it was so cool - that it looked like a big shiny rainbow.  It was also nice to see a somewhat different landscape from what we are used to in Iowa - Missouri has that exposed rock that you can see jutting out from the land on the sides of the road.  Okay, well it's not exactly mountains or anything that magnificent, but it is something different.  We stayed at a really nice hotel in one of the suburbs.  It was a Drury Inn and what they consider a mini-suite...basically a larger sized room with a king bed, pullout couch, and a little fridge and microwave. The price was really decent, the hotel was very clean, and they also had an indoor/outdoor pool (where you can swim under a wall to get to the other side), hot tub, and an excellent free breakfast each morning.  Nattie was eager to go swimming the moment we got there, so we did just that. She LOVES swimming with her Daddy!  Katelyn's favorite is actually the hot tub...she must take after her Mommy! After swimming, the girls shared their very first bath together. Then Craig went and picked up some dinner and brought it back to the room.  We had been told that we had to try St. Louis style pizza from Imo's.  I thought it was delicious - Craig and Nat thought otherwise.  We spent the rest of the night just relaxing in the room.  Katelyn was captivated by the big mirrored closets near the bathroom and also by the air conditioning unit on the wall. Natalie was very excited that she was getting to use the big pullout couch and would be sleeping in the same room with her Mommy, Daddy, and little sister. Katie slept in the playpen that we brought with us.

      Tuesday the 18th, we had a nice breakfast downstairs at the hotel. Natalie usually doesn't eat a lot when we travel...but something about a hotel breakfast changes her tune. Her "usual" most mornings were apple juice, cereal, scrambled eggs, and yogurt...a bit of everything, please.  Kate tried some yogurt for the first time and thought it was great. We spent our day at the St. Louis Zoo.  It was good that we planned this trip for during the school year and during the weekdays as opposed to the weekend. Almost every place we went we had good parking and not a lot of crowds. The zoo was fun - a wide variety of animals and many times more than one of each animal so you got more than one shot to see what you had desired to see.  The butterfly area had tons of butterflies - lots of huge ones, too.  Some of the other highlights were hippos, elephants, bears, penguins, monkeys, gorillas, giraffes, camels, tigers, lizards, snakes, crocodiles, and sea lions. The penguin house was packed with penguins on either side of you and just super cold!  At one point, a penguin was splashing wildly in the water and got all four of us wet!  Katelyn was not at all pleased about that!  After seeing the penguins face-to-face, we bought each of the girls a soft stuffed penguin of their own. They cuddled with them throughout the trip :)  Katelyn had an encounter with a chimpanzee...the only thing separating them was a few panes of glass...Kate wanted to touch the monkey and the monkey wanted to kiss Kate.  There was a very curious ostrich hanging around when we got over to the giraffe area. He was such a character!  The giraffe is one of my favorite animals - and we were so close to one that we could almost touch it.  It was so awesome!  Our time at the zoo ended with the sea lion feeding.  Before reaching our car, we made a detour and walked over to where the St. Louis Art Museum is located.  We didn't go into the museum, but we did take a moment to admire the outside architecture and also the statue of Saint Louis.  Craig wanted to make a stop and look for some swimming goggles for Natalie.  He came out of the store with not only googles, but also a special swimming vest for Nat and a cool floatie toy for Katelyn.  Swimming was on the agenda as soon as we reached the hotel.  As I suspected, Natalie still was not interested in putting her face under the water...even with goggles. But Nat was ecstatic about wearing the vest and being able to "swim" all by herself!  And of course, Katelyn enjoyed her neat new toy!  After swimming we had a late dinner over at a Red Robin restaurant. We had seen their commercials before but had never been to one. It was okay, but nothing much to write home about.  I did try something I had never had before - a hamburger topped with a fried egg...not bad really.

      Wednesday the 19th, we had breakfast at the hotel and then it was off to see the Gateway Arch!  We parked over next to the Mississippi riverfront. We walked down to where the water meets the land. We spent some time looking at the water, the bridges, and the boats. I found a stick and wrote our last name in the small patch of sand there.  Natalie also tried to be creative and drew some lines and some squares in the sand.  I think she enjoyed that little bit of sand and water...can't wait to do the beach someday with Craig and the kids. We walked up lots of steps to get to the base of the arch. Natalie pointed up and wanted to know what those "dark spots" were...we told her that those were the windows at the top of the arch and that we were going to go up there and look through them. After both looking at and touching the arch for some time, we headed inside to make our way to the top. We boarded the tiny elevator capsule (it wasn't as cramped as I remember it being) and soon we were there.  I think we all enjoyed the views from the windows. We made sure that both girls could see all they could see. Kate smiled and banged at the glass with the palm of her hand. Natalie seemed very intrigued by all that she saw.  She especially liked to see the red helicopter at the bottom (for tours), the train that snaked along slowly, and the shadow of the arch on the green grass below.  I captured this really fantastic photo of Craig and the girls looking out one of the windows together...it just fills my heart to see it - I look at it and it reminds me of what a great father he truly is.  After our time at the arch, we had lunch at a White Castle. Then we drove over to The Magic House which is a really neat children's museum.  Natalie especially enjoyed playing bank, fishing for magnetic plastic fish in the pond, the victorian house, the big slides, the water area and the sand area.  On the third level of the house there is one of those electrostatic generator balls where you touch it and your hair stands on end. We did get Nat's hair to stand up, but her hair is so long and thin that it didn't have quite the effect you'd get with shorter, thicker hair. I think Natalie's favorite thing of all was the shadow wall on the second level.  She spent a fair amount of time in that area. Kate was too young yet for most of the activities, but she did like the "For Baby & Me" section where she got to play with different colored balls and crawl around some spaces that were just her size.  Natalie spent the end of her Magic House outing going up and down the three story slide and being goofy with the cute statue of children playing ring around the rosie.  We all went back to the hotel and rested for awhile before dinner.  All of a sudden the fire alarms were blaring throughout our room and the rest of the hotel.  Craig and I gathered up the children and a few of our belongings and took the stairs down and out of the building.  It was exciting to see the firetruck pull up.  We did smell a little something while exiting the building...smelled like burnt popcorn to me, so I'm wondering if it wasn't the popcorn machine in the lobby. We never really found out what happened, but it was all fine in the end. While waiting outside we were surrounded by lots of big black dogs, which we had been seeing on and off during the week...there was a dog show going on in town. Craig and Natalie went over to pet one of the dogs - I think they were called Black Russian Terriers or something like that.  Instead of waiting to go back to our room right away, we loaded the kids into the van and headed out to dinner.  Had a really awesome barbeque dinner at a place called Bandana's BBQ.  We also split a dessert...Kate's first experience with chocolate cake!  She loved it!  We arrived back at the hotel pretty late, but not too late for swimming of course. I decided to stay in our room and get Katie settled for bed.  So Nattie and Daddy had some fun time together in the pool and hot tub.

      Thursday the 20th, we all decided to sleep in past hotel breakfast time.  Instead we opted to have a breakfast/lunch over at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Another first for Katie - soft biscuits and grits!  We spent the rest of the day over at Grant's Farm. We started by sneaking a peek at the Clydesdale horses.  They had the males in the stables while the females and babies were outside in the fenced areas.  Then we hopped on the tram and took a short tour around until we were dropped off over where the rest of the animals are kept.  We started with the goat area...I've never seen so many goats in one spot before. And these were naughty little things...the minute you enter the pen they start nipping and tugging at your clothing.  It was a little much for the girls, so we decided it would be best to feed them from outside the gates.  We all got to feed the goats milk from bottles, so that was really cool.  Then one of the employees came by with a hedgehog and Natalie got to pet him...she loves hedgehogs.  There was an area to feed the chickens, roosters, and ducks...though only the ducks were interested - the chickens would just run away or ignore us.  Katelyn really liked the big turtles (so did Mommy). Natalie loved the variety of birds and also the small fox that was there.  They also had quite a few camels that you could feed...I had never fed a camel before...kinda strange :)  Natalie wasn't interested in feeding the camels, but Craig was.  In fact, one of them about bit Craig's face off when he wasn't looking!  Nattie had a blast running through the water mister - back and forth, back and forth until she was completely soaked but grinning from ear to ear!  The best part of our time at Grant's Farm was the encounter we had with the African elephants there.  Just like the giraffe at the St. Louise Zoo - one of the elephants was so close to us that we could almost touch him!  He started uncurling his trunk so that he could reach some leaves. Craig was doing these arm motions at him, and the elephant would lift his trunk up high in the air.  At one point the elephant had snatched up some grass and then flung it at Craig using his trunk...not sure if the animal was just having fun or just really annoyed :)  It was so awesome!  Our family relaxed at the hotel for the remainder of the night.  We ate some leftovers in our room and then visited the pool for the last time.  Kate was pretty cranky and tired, so she and I left the pool early so she could get a bath and go to bed. 

      Friday the 21st, we had our last breakfast at the hotel. Then we packed up and were ready to get back home to Iowa!  It was such a wonderful family weekend - I wish we could do it more often!  But now we are tired and need a vacation from our vacation :)

 

Sept 22 ~ Craig participated in the annual Pearson golf tournament today.  Brian Pierce was his partner.  He said it was a pretty rough day of play, but they did still manage to get second place (I'm pretty sure that is what he told me). 

 

Sept 23 ~ Katelyn had her nine month pictures taken today!  When Natalie was nine months old we had her photo taken with her favorite stuffed animal (Ellie).  So we thought it would be cute to do the same thing with Katelyn. Kate's pictures with "Raffie" are so adorable!  It was funny because she kept wanting to tuck her lips under during her picture...she's a lip sucker, that is for sure.  After pictures we had lunch at CiCi's Pizza. Both girls enjoyed the brownies there! 

      Natalie had dance class in the evening.  She was so excited to get her dance outfit on and just started twirling all over the place!  She has been showing us and telling us about some of her dance moves recently.  We've seen her do "pique" (pee-kay), which is stepping directly on the point of the toe and we've also witnessed her many renditions of a "pirouette" (peer-wet), which is a whirl or spin type of movement.  Katelyn and I walked the track upstairs while Natalie was in class tonight. Well, actually I walked while pushing Kate in the stroller.  North Liberty Rec has a very nice, clean track and workout area.  It was my first time up there and I was quite impressed. 

 

Sept 25 ~ We've discovered two new snacks that Katelyn likes - freeze dried fruit and zwieback toast!  She is now finally eating at least two solid food meals per day...before she wasn't able to do that and still drink the amount of formula she needed to be getting. She's starting to eat more of the third stage jarred foods - thicker, chunkier stuff with bits of veggies and pastas in them. She'll also eat some of the jarred meats - Natalie used to just turn her nose up at those.  So far, Katelyn is a good eater and loves her food!  She also loves to make noises while enjoying her food..."mmm" and "yum" come from her mouth quite a bit!  We've introduced the sippy cup here and there, but she's not too interested yet...she'll hold it and chew on the tip, but that is about the extent of it.

      Yes, it was me...I did it!  I backed into Pastor Jeff's vehicle this afternoon!  I could not believe it.  It was raining cats and dogs most of the morning and afternoon...some of the heaviest rain I had seen in awhile.  In fact, Kate and I were stranded in the Walmart for quite some time waiting for the rain to let up so we could venture back out into the parking lot.  The rain never did let up, so we had to make a run for it and got soaked.  We drove over to pick up Natalie after preschool.  It was still raining hard as I strapped the kids back into their carseats.  Then as I backed out of my parking spot at the church I felt and heard "crrruuunch!"  I got out and saw that it was Jeff Gilmore that I had hit.  Jeff was real good about it...showed me that his car wasn't at all damaged (he's got this tall, bulky monster like vehicle).  At first I thought I had dented my van, but after later inspection it was just some paint that cracked off.  At the time though I was really upset...I hadn't had an accident since I was a sophomore in high school!  But all was really fine and Craig reminded me that that was one of the reasons we buy used cars :)  Natalie kept proclaiming that Mommy "broke" the car!  I was also very upset today because of the selfishness of some of the parents at the preschool. When I got there to pick up Natalie I was pretty early, and because of the severity of the rain it crossed my mind to park under the covered circle driveway right in front of the doors.  But I realized that there obviously wouldn't be enough room for every parent to park there, so I thought that would be rude and I just took a regular parking spot. Of course when I left the building with my kids I discovered that the circle driveway was now packed with cars.  I was so irate!  When I called Craig to tell him that I damaged the van I also mentioned the parking situation.  I angrily told him that next time I just wouldn't hesitate to park right up next to the doors if that is how the rest of the world was going to behave!  He so lovingly told me that I would not be doing that, that I was better than that, and that not everyone in the world is like that.  He was right...but don't go telling him that I said that! :)

 

Sept 26 ~ The girls and I spent a leisurely morning/afternoon at the mall.  We started with the Childrens Museum, then shared some Chinese food, and ended with a stroll around Target.  Craig watched the kids in the evening so I could go to choir practice. It was a busy, busy rehearsal tonight - but loads of fun. After choir I ended up going back out to Target...I've officially started my Christmas shopping!  Yes, I'm a bit strange.  Saw a few items that I wanted to put away for the holidays.

 

Sept 27 ~ Today was "red day" at Natalie's preschool. Red has been the color of the month, so most of the kids dressed in red today.  Natalie also got to take the "art bag" home over the weekend.  The school has a few different art and activity bags that they lend to the kids on a rotation.  Even though we have most of the supplies at home that were in the bag, Nat was super excited about her turn with the art stuff.  Natalie has been remembering more and more names of her classmates lately.  She has recently brought up the names of two girls - Ellie and Yvonne.  In fact, she and Ellie met in the hall this morning and held hands while walking into the classroom together.  I also stopped into Jeff's office this morning to make double sure that his vehicle wasn't damaged from the accident the other day.  He assured me that his car was fine, so all is good with that situation! 

     Craig's parents arrived early evening from Illinois.  They are visiting for the weekend.  Originally they were coming for Katelyn's dedication at the church, but that actually got postponed.  It was good that they came out anyway, because all Natalie has been asking about the past week or so has been her grandparents and her dogs (the dogs stayed with Mom and Dad E while we went on vacation).  I think Katelyn had forgotten about the dogs - she was a little confused and scared when she first saw them.  But soon it was as if they had never been gone. 

 

Sept 28 ~ Mom and Dad Essington watched the girls for me while I had another morning coffee meeting with Ruth Baumgartner.  We met at House of Aromas for a second time and it was just so refreshing. This particular morning our conversation revolved a lot around friendships.  I had told myself that I was going to keep our get together short, but ended up there with her for two whole hours!  Before going back to the house, I went and ran the van through the carwash and did a thorough cleaning on the inside as well. That felt really good - it had been a long time since I'd last vacuumed and dusted the inside of the van. Craig's dad spent the afternoon staining our swingset for us, Craig worked today, and the girls and I went out and about for awhile with Craig's mom. 

 

Sept 29 ~ Craig went over to the church this morning to help install some new cabinets in Natalie's preschool classroom.  Philip Lashmit had asked him and a few other guys to help out.

     My wonderful handyman husband fixed the sidewalk out front of our house today!  There are two spots that have settled over the past few years and are just really uneven. We are always tripping over them and so is everyone else in the neighborhood, so we knew they would need to be corrected. We couldn't get the builders of our house to do it, so Craig thought he'd try it.  Of course I thought he should just pay a few hundred bucks for someone more "experienced" to come out and do it since he's never fixed a sidewalk before.  Well, he proved me wrong and repaired them himself! 

      The rest of us kind of just spent a relaxed, lazy day around the house. Mom and Dad Essington took Natalie to a few stores with them. While they were gone, I was able to go through Natalie's closets and switch some clothes around as Katelyn was napping. Nat came back from the store with some chewing gum (one of her new passions)...well, she had her first gum-in-the-hair experience later that evening. I did manage to get it out without too much effort and frustration...peanut butter DOES work!

      Craig and I got to go on a date after the gum incident!  We went out to dinner at House of Lords - totally delicious and great atmosphere as always. Then we headed over to Coral Ridge Mall to catch a movie. We stood in line only to find out that the projector had broken for the film we wanted to see, so it wasn't being played. We decided to catch a later movie in Cedar Rapids, so we hung around the mall to kill some time for a bit. I drug Craig into Claire's (girly store) to look at some stuff for Natalie's birthday. We ended up lingering around to spy on a little girl who was getting her ears pierced - hard to believe that someday soon that will be one of our little girls in the chair :)  While we were enjoying our night out, Grandma and Grandpa Essington were having fun with their granddaughters.  They walked over to The Pizza Ranch for dinner.

 

Sept 30 ~ We all went to church in the morning and then over to Iowa River Power for brunch.  Nat was excited to be going to the "bridge place" for "those strawberries"!  And yes, she did have many chocolate covered strawberries.  Kate enjoyed the biscuits and chocolate cake there.  After we ate, Craig took Katelyn to the van for a diaper change and a bottle while the rest of us spent some time on the bridge.  Soon it was time to get home so Craig's parents could get packed up and on their way back to Illinois.