Fall Fever

We've had a rough week. Both kids have been sick; which means they haven't slept well; which means they've been grouchy; which means I'm grouchy. On top of which, Blayne was out of town for most of last week which means we three grouches were on our own.

Yesterday, though, was a beautiful day and we were able to sit and enjoy it (we haven't had many beautiful days this summer). Darek and Jakob used the hose to drink water and spit on each other (lovely) and Mia enjoyed the grass.

The best new development is that Darek has started Joy School for two hours once a week. There are six kids his age. Today was the first day and he LOVED it. Amen to a weekly break.

 
 
 

Darek sometimes has a hard time with Mia using things or playing with toys that were/are "his." Before I pulled out the camera and took this picture, he was hanging off the high chair saying "Get out Baby!" Obviously once he saw the camera, he had a new interest.
He's actually gotten really good about giving Mia a replacement toy when she has one that he wants. Like he really doesn't like her to play with his cars, so if she has a car, he'll find a new toy to give her before he rips the car away from her.
 

Ready for church! Darek was trying to squat like Blayne.
 

I was trying to finish getting dinner ready and Mia was hungry - Darek was happy to help.
 

Crawling

 

This baby girl officially started crawling on Saturday - she's not incredibly fast yet, but it won't be long. She is such a doll. About an hour after I put her to bed last night, Blayne told me that he missed her. She has absolutely captivated her dad.

The UpSide

We just got back from nearly two weeks in California. It was unexpected, but we had to make sure that Papa Kenny was alright after being involved in a car accident.

And here's the UpSide:

All 5 Andersen siblings together for probably the last time before Kevin leaves on his mission.
 

Darek and cousin Bryan were best buddies and followed each other everywhere. This was naptime with Kenny. Hmm.
 

Celebrating my birthday albeit a little late :)
 

We made a quick visit to the beach and relaxed. The water was Freezing and yes, that is Aaron Jenkins in the background soaking it up. Blayne joined him later and they were absolutely the only two people in the water (except for a few surfboarders in wetsuits).
 

After a 14 hour drive, we arrived back home yesterday at 12:30am feeling much better knowing that all is well with our families.

This week we went to two of Blayne's softball games, Splash Park (it has tiny little water slides for small kids), and our neighbor's birthday party. Thank you for free entertainment!

This is Darek and his friend Jaxon at Splash Park. Darek thinks Jaxon is the greatest thing since popsicles.
 

Just chillin' with the iPod
 

His new thing is "I wanna smell." So he sniffed the flowers (which Blayne got me for my birthday :) all day.
 

Over the weekend

I think that the best thing about summer is that I don't watch the clock as much. Between playing outside and going to the zoo or the park or any number of other activities, time just passes leisurely by and I love it. This weekend we went to the Summer Festival everyday. Darek loved the train (Idaho Falls style), the horses, the music, and I loved the fair food (you know what I mean, the fattening, fried, and chocolate dipped stuff).

Yep, this is the train:
 
 

This is what Darek wore to church today (I got the picture of him walking out of nursery). I call it Choosing My Battles.
 

Baby Girl

This is a quick video of Mia just being her darling little self. It seems like she's getting big so much faster than Darek did. She's a sweet, happy baby and we're absolutely in love with her.

This week there's a Summer Festival in our area that Blayne helped out with a little bit (and where he'll be promoting TheDressList.com and the Idaho Health Guide). It's basically like a state fair with tons to do, so that's what we'll be up to this weekend. It opened last night and we spent hours there. A little country band played music and Darek sat on the floor as close to them as possible. Everytime they finished a song he'd yell, "Again!"