Is there any better season than fall?

It was a busy weekend at the Dunbar house.........

The kids had a halloween party on Sunday. They had about 8 kids over. We popped balloons for prizes, played in slime, made some witches brew, beat up a "beautiful" homemade ghost pinata, and ate way too much sweet stuff. I think all of the kids had a good time. It was very exciting because our wonderful friends from Londan, the Soykans, just moved back to Kansas and they were able to attend. Welcome home, guys!!!!

The highlight of the party for me was that in the middle of the chaos Weston took off his diaper and went poop in the big boy potty all by himself. Of course, he was so excited to be doing it that he turned to watch himself going. You guessed it, poop all over the place! He also heard Daddy say one time that he had to "drop a dog log" so Weston looked at me so proud and said, "Look Mama, I dropped a dog log!" When will that Daddy learn that filters are a necessity!!?

Yesterday, we raked up some leaves and let the kids jump in them. I love raking the leaves just to watch the joy on the kiddos faces as they race into the piles. As you can see by the pictures, Skylar wasn't too sure about the whole thing but hopefully will catch on.

Finally, I included a picture of Skylar wearing her first pair of new shoes. I put them on her and she spent about a half hour just checking out her feet. I love it when they are that easy to impress!

So, tomorrow is Halloween. Stay tuned for some pics of the kiddos in costume!!!

Have a great holiday!

Parents of the Year!

Just thought I would let you all be the first to know that if there is a Parents of the Year award, Jamy and I will be winning that one this year. Yup, that's right. You all are in the company of greatness!! Why, you ask? Let me tell you.......

Apparently, Jamy and I have managed to do in just four short years what it takes the rest of you parents AT LEAST eighteen years to do. Now you are really curious, right? Well, lately Abby has been informing us that she wants to live alone and no longer needs us. She told me just the other day that she was all grown up now and didn't need me to tell her what to do anymore. Imagine, my surprise! I thought we still had years of hard work ahead of us. So there you go, I figure if we are able to get them all grown up in just over four years that ought to be worth an award of some sort. Hopefully, it is a cash prize so I can go buy my self something pretty. All of this intese parenting has taken its toll!!!

Other parents have told me that this is very typical behavior for kids who are four. Those of you with teenagers just smile knowingly and tell me to enjoy these good years. I think you are holding out on me. They get over this right??

Other than getting our oldest to adulthood in record time we have just been keeping busy enjoying the wonderful fall weather. It is so much fun to watch the kiddos play outside with all of the leaves that are falling off of our trees. Now if I could just get them raking life would be perfect. I don't know what we were thinking buying a house with a huge yard full of oak trees.

Awhile, back the kids got to go visit Daddy's work. They even got to go up in the plane! The pictures are from inside the plane with Daddy. Weston was soooooo excited! I wish the picture I had taken of him "flying" the plane would have come out because it was adorable. Oh well, maybe next time.

Enjoy, I am off to see if I can't get the other two all grown up before kindergarten!

Daddy's home!

Daddy is home from his trip! We are always so glad when he gets back. I wonder sometimes where the kids think he goes when he is gone. They are still little enough that I know they don't have a concept of other states or countries. I guess it is enough for them that he comes home.

It seems we had to spend all weekend on the road. Our new storm door came in while he was gone so we went to pick it up. Then we had to make two trips to Topeka later in the weekend to get parts that we needed in order to get it installed correctly. The joys of living in a small town that rolls up its streets on weekends!

Whenever we have to spend lots of time in the car we make up silly games to entertain ourselves. Those of you who know the Dunbars know that the unibrow is a trait proudly worn by many memebers of the family. On this trip we decided to put that baby to work and invented eyebrow dancing. The picture of Weston in his carseat is of him doing his version of the eyebrow dance. We cranked the music up and let those eyebrows get down!! The kids cracked themselves up with this game.

In a break from all of the driving we stopped at the park. Miss Skylar discovered sand! She loves to push her chubby little paws all of the way down in it and wiggle her fingers. Very cute to watch!

Well, enjoy the pictures and have a great Monday!

Imaginations...

I don't think there is anything so amazing as the way a child's mind works. My grandma gave Abby a little overnight bag when we were visiting this weekend. I figured it would quickly become a diaper bag for her babies. Nope, guess again! Abby used Weston's truck, the overnight bag and a ring from Skylar's play keys to make a sleigh. She then hitched herself up and has been taking Weston for rides all day. When I asked what she was doing she said she was a "one horse open sleigh". One horse because there is only one of her. Her words not mine! I included a picture so you could see the imagination at work.

In other news, while we were at Grammy's this weekend Skylar tried a sippy cup for the first time. It was funny to watch her. I took the plug out so she could get juice easier at first. Her face was pretty cute when she figured out good stuff came out of that cup.

Daddy is gone on a trip right now. The kids and I miss him lots. Weston always asks, "When Dada be back?" I included a picture of Daddy playing with Skylar right before he left.

Well, the imaginations are running wild and there is apparently a bear in my kitchen so I better go get it out of there before it causes major damage.

Tickle weeds and cruisin'...

This morning after picking up Abby from preschool we decided to take a little drive out to the lake and do some "sploring" as Weston calls it. About once or twice a week, I take the kids out to the lake and we go for a hike, throw rocks in the water or just drive across the bridge and look at all of the birds. Most days we try to discover something new. Today's discovery was a great little park overlooking the lake with a whole field of tickle weeds! Now for those of you who are not familar with the tickle weed, it is this great invention of nature that is worth hours of family romping fun. We chase each other and try to tickle each other with this crazy long weeds. The kids had a blast rolling in them and trying to "get" each other. Sorry Daddy, but there will probably be some serious tick checking at bathtime! I am posting a couple of pictures so you can see them hangin' in the weeds.

After that, we had to try out the slide. You can see from the picture that was a hairraising experience.

Skylar slept through the fun at the park but had a great time cruisin' when we got home. She was cracking herself up as she has now discovered how to reach the stuff on the tables. Let the age of "no no" begin!!!

The magic of falling leaves

Today was one of those great, sort of crisp fall days. I woke up with a chilly nose but the rest of me all snuggly warm under the covers. Mornings like that make you want to curl up, snuggle in and sleep just a few extra minutes. I love autumn mornings because you really feel so alive.

Of course, the fact that Abby's feet were planted firmly in my neck (don't ask) brought the reality of the morning and my need to get up. Apparently, at some point in the middle of the night she had snuck in bed with us and neither of us noticed it. I took advantage of her being there, though, and snuggled her a little closer. Kids are the best snugglers, aren't they? Pretty soon Weston and Skylar joined us. The four of us snuggled and played on my bed for about half and hour. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with them and have special moments like that. The only way it could have been better is if it was a weekend and Jamy was home as well. I guess, though, if he doesn't go to work I don't get to stay home!

After breakfast we took the truck in for an oil change and then headed out on our morning walk. We walked to the bakery and got a cookie for snack. From there it was over to the park to eat in the sunshine and watch the fish in the little pond. On the way home the coolest thing happened. We were walking and the breeze picked up just a little bit. Leaves started falling all around us and we could hear them falling out of the trees. All three kids and I stood on the corner for probably 10 minutes just listening to the leaves falling and watching them swirling down out of the trees. The kids loved it! I kept thinking how Jamy and I are at such a special place with them. They still think everything is amazing and that magic happens when the wind blows. My prayer tonight is that even when they get older they still marvel at the world around them.

Yesterday we had the dirt. Today we had the leaves. I can't wait to see what adventures tomorrow holds!!

Some days are dirty....

As part of my campaign to teach the kiddos to really live life some days we just get dirty. I know there are stay-at-home moms who believe in a structured almost preschool like environment. While we do do some of that, most days are just playing, enjoying life and creating memories. Kids are only going to be kids once and I say let them eat a little dirt, make a pet from a slug they find in the backyard (yup, we had two pet slugs for a day), and walk around with a little dirt under their nails.

While I took these pictures a few weeks ago, I thought I would share them today so that you all can see the kids at their finest!

I hope you all find some time today to play in the dirt.

Movin' on into cyberspace......

Look out cyberspace, the Dunbars have arrived!

Welcome to our blog! I hope that this space becomes a place you can "visit" us to hear and hopefully see what is going on in our world. When our oldest, Abby, was born I started a journal for her. Then when Weston came along I started one for him, but found I had less and less time to write in either one of them. Now that Skylar is here, the poor baby doesn't even have a journal yet. Stinks to be the third kid!!! I thought this blog would be a way that I could journal for them a little each day and also keep relatives and friends up on what craziness is happening with us.

I have created a space titled, "Out of the mouths of babes". Here you will find funny, insightful, and downright scary things that my kids say on a daily basis. There is also a place on the sidebar where you will find current photos of each one of the kids with some info. about what they are up to that day or week. As I get better at this webpage stuff hopefully I can learn to really customize this site and make it reflect our family.

For now, keep checking back and bear with me as it may be slow going at first. As you can imagine, with three little ones my time is limited. I hope to get some pictures added soon.

Enjoy!