A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Can you believe these are the same kids who were complaining about getting rained on at the grocery store?

Same rain, but getting wet is suddenly fun.

Emmy's last story hour this session was a music program.  She had her big open-mouthed smile pretty much the whole time.  And was always just slightly behind everyone else.     

Cadence begrudgingly stayed in the stroller.

Oh Emmy.  You make me smile.

So I'm slowly working in the bathroom. It's a classic case of 'scope creep.'  First the fan quit working, so the paint was getting all streaky, so we'll just replace the fan and repaint- no big deal.  Well, if I'm painting, I should probably re-caulk the shower.  And fix the bubbles in the paint when it gets really wet in there.  Ad nauseum.  So when I was scraping the bubbling paint off, I found mold behind it.  And damp drywall.  Woot woot.  NOT what you want to find behind your baseboard at 10 o'clock at night.  

So far I have the ceiling painted a lovely fresh white, the shower caulk replaced, and I'm still deciding if I (*cough* Bob) want to tackle replacing that piece of drywall or hire someone.  
We walked to pick Cecily up from school one day and Emmy insisted on riding her 'new' bike.  She wasn't really ready to be riding that far on busy roads so it was kind of a disaster and I pulled her most of the way.  But it was a lovely day for a bike ride.

Sharon and I were in charge of hosting our potluck wiener roast.  We had it at the cabin so it was pretty low stress.  The big girls got all scratched up rolling down the hill (hello, it's a mowed pasture) but they had a great time.  Cadence wanted to be outside by the fire, however, I don't trust her so we stayed in most of the time. 
Cecily went to Hanna's house on Saturday morning for a Pink Princess Party and Eva came to play with Emmy.  They got along fairly well when Emmy wasn't being territorial.  Cecily had a great time, of course.  

That afternoon we headed to the Lake for family pictures with my family for the first time since Shelly's wedding.  The girls were not so sure about it all, but we got a few good ones.  Twirling in the parking lot.

They got to change and play on the playground a little bit.  Thank goodness Uncle Jakey was around to chase my fearless girls.

Our next stop was Nathan and Michelle's for Gideon's 1st birthday party!  Poor little guy wasn't feeling very well, but he still smashed his cake and enjoyed his presents- when he could get them away from my girls and Jack.... he's not even in this picture- Ha!

We love bike rides!  And I love only pushing the single stroller!

This little one is determined to walk down the road.  I don't know why.  

She likes to ride her bike too, however she also is prone to falling off.  She scraped up her lip pretty bad.  Kitty and blanky make everything better, though.

Yesterday's face plant hasn't stopped her from trying to coast down the driveway like the big girls.... hurtling to certain doom with a smile on her face. #determined#sharprocksatthebottom #roadrash#caughther

So the other day I noticed a car parked on the paved part of our lane and on subsequent days picking up school kids.  I assumed it was a random parent trying to get around the crazy pick-up line. Then I saw one of the neighbors who uses the lane as their driveway have to drive onto the grass around this person to get to their garage.... so I went to talk to them.  I'm not sure how shy, non-confrontational, me managed to do that but I did.  I actually almost turned around when I recognized the car from our street.  Haha.  They were a little huffy when I said it was a private drive, and they said they had permission from a neighboring house... I didn't push any further since I'm non-confrontational, but I did notice they've been parking in said neighboring house's actual driveway and not blocking the lane.  Bob's response when I told him about it was along the lines of we really need to get you to the country.  Haha. I'm not sure why I'm so territorial.  We've also been doing some digging and there are no easements recorded for the property at all.   Yikes.  So four other properties use ours for access and there's nothing on the books about it.  Hopefully we are going to do something about that soon- just need to take the time to do it and make the appointments.     

Modeling one of Cecily's hat options for hat day at school.  

Mole Day came and went again.  I brought gauca-Mole, donut Moles, and moles of sugar (smarties) for class.  Mathew brought that cake in the corner- it has a cute little mole on the top.  We also had mole cake pops and Coca- Mola.  

We rounded out our in class celebration with the traditional telling of Mole jokes and the singing of Mole carols. In four part harmony. It was wonderful.  And if they didn't already, they probably think I am completely off my rocker.  
Wagon rides on a lovely afternoon.

I let them ride bikes on the road if they stay in front of our house (since it's a dead end).  Emmy is pushing the boundary line, Cadence is past it.  If you try and turn her around, she squeals and braces her little feet.... I don't know where she thinks she's going to go...

The Koch wiener roast was Sunday night at Bob's Dad's shed because it was raining.  I'm probably the only one, but I was glad.  Keeping toddlers out of the fire and eating off laps is no fun.  And I didn't really want to deal with baths and smoky laundry on a Sunday night.  Hooray for hot dogs at tables out of the smoke with plenty of safe toys for the busy little toddlers!

I had to go to the eye doctor so Mom came over to play with the girls.  She also got to pick up Cecily from school.  

Emmy found "X marks the spot!" in her bible story book.  Silly kid.

Today we went and rode the combine because we hadn't yet this year and they are close to being done.  Well, Cecily and Cadence and I rode the combine.  Emmy is a little afraid of big machines and she sat in the van with Grandma.  Cadence liked it.  Thankfully it took her a while to realize she wasn't strapped in a car seat because when she did she tried to grab the steering wheel from Dad.  
This evening was our very first parent-teacher conference.  She's doing just fine and I feel so old.  
Blessings.

Birthday, Messiah, and Camping (or not)

Life is full.

They are enjoying the weather and very busy sweeping off the driveway.

Emmy is finally using a regular swing, but still wants someone to push her.  Sometimes Cecily will help and hold both chains to make them swing together. 

 Cecily is usually a "half-day friend," but she got to stay all day for the Walk-a-thon.  She was soooo excited.  She talked about getting to be cold lunch all week long.  And then, after school, there were inflatable things that Emmy got to play on too!  It was pretty much the best day ever for Cecily.  

 The next day was garage sale day.  We went for a long walk in the afternoon and picked up a few treasures.  Little Emmy picked out a glass swan candle holder. It's beautiful.  

I'm so glad Bob came with us to help carry the crinoline slip we found.  Hehe.  He's a good man.  Also, what are the odds I would find two of these, one on Varage sale and one at a garage sale, in the same day?  Yay for dress-up! 

 Examining all their amazing finds... I shouldn't laugh; I came home with a bag of notions and trims that I have no real need for.

 On Sunday my family came to church with us.  The girls were soooo excited and it was nice to have them there just because, and not because we were serving lunch or a program or something.  After church we all went to Wildlife Prairie Park for the afternoon.  The otters were very friendly.

 Cadence enjoyed the animals she could see and the walk through the woods.

 The buffalo were within view, which I love.  

 Especially these two cute little buffalo.

After we saw all the animals we ate cupcakes for Cecily's birthday and opened presents.

 "It's an American Doll!"  

Last item on the agenda was the slide!

 It's just as tall as I remember and most of the adults got in on the fun too!.

 She was very happy.  "It was a fun day!"

 She got to pick from the AG historical dolls and she chose Rebekah because she liked her purple dress.... Aunt Lena is letting us use her old doll trunk so Cecily had to put away all of Rebekah's things.   

 Oh look, it's another "American Doll." Or maybe a Bitty Baby?  

 On Monday I went to Messiah practice.  I'm so excited to sing again this year!  It's so fun!  Seriously, it's a little ridiculous how giddy I am about it.  
Cecily got to go to school on her birthday and pass out birthday treats, which she loved.  We got to play outside.  Grandma Koch and Matt brought over her new bike!

 And we got to go to the library to make fall crafts!  It was great- they got to decorate gourds, make mobiles, bird feeders, and leaf pictures.  The best part was that the mess stayed at the library and I didn't have to clean it up!

 She wanted a rainbow butterfly cake again this year.  

 And opened her presents from us. I think she had a happy 6th birthday!

 The rest of the week was quieter.  She is not.  

A rare moment while Emmy was at story hour when she wasn't trying to destroy something. 

 Chemistry keeps happening.  Thankfully it's a lot less prep work this year or I would be going crazy.  I mostly just have to read the chapter and make sure I've got all my supplies together on the right day. 
Koch Cousins Camping turned into hanging out at Dale and Meg's due to rain.  We weren't planning on camping anyway, so it was an enjoyable evening and we didn't have to keep small children away from a fire.  Dale and Kevin entertained us with music.

 She entertained us with busy-ness and general cuteness.  At one point the kids were at the table eating popcorn, and Cadence kept reaching over and taking the popcorn off of David's plate and putting it on hers.  Poor David.  

So ornery.   

Yesterday it got quiet while I was making lunch and I went looking for her.  Her little face was peeking in through the front door.  (Insert heart attack)  Not where you want to find the toddler who is known to take off on a walk down the road.... 
Blessings.