Ahhh...a few minutes of peace.

Jake actually played upstairs in his room today and gave me a few minutes to catch up. He played with this:

Oh..and..by the way...this was his main Christmas gift!! I had it hidden in the locked guest bedroom. I was upstairs and heard him yell, "I want to play with this!"  I knew immediately what he was talking about. Somehow he managed to break into the locked bedroom.  There were no signs of forced entry. He's good.

I had to give it to him. It's not like he's going to forget by the time Christmas comes. So...now he's playing...and I've been scrambling to find a new big gift.  I was really going to stick to one big item and a few small things. This was the biggie. He's been asking for a garage. He only had the Little People garage, and the ramp was broken. He even mentioned asking Santa for a new one. I'm so bummed. I really wanted to see his Christmas morning reaction to this.

We've had a busy few days with family. My mom's birthday was Thursday, so I had my family over for pizza, salad, and a Dairy Queen cake (mom's favorite).  My dad forgot his video camera, so I let him use the d90 to record this:

Here are a few shots from the party.

Kate surprised me by pulling into the driveway about an hour before the party.

We spent yesterday at my aunt and uncle's ranch in the country for their annual Harvest Moon Festival. We look forward to this day all fall. There's lots of great food, games, and family fun. It was a cold one this year especially once the sun started to set. Uncle Joe, the fireman, said the bonfire was just too dangerous this year. It's been such a dry summer and fall. Instead we huddled around the firepit. No one minds the cold when we are all together and having such fun.

Last year I took hundreds of pictures while we were there. I didn't go quite as crazy this year, but I have some really cute favorites to share.

 Uncle Paul filled a galvanized pool with corn. The kids had a blast playing in it. Every time I couldn't find Jake, I just checked the pool. He was always there!

 Jake wasn't sure about the hayride, but we convinced him. He sat on the floor right between Uncle Paul's legs, and Uncle Paul said he never moved throughout the entire ride.

 I'm the dessert girl for the festival. For the second year in a row I brought cupcakes, cookies, and pumpkin bars. Next year I'm making two batches of pumpkin bars. They are a huge hit!

Uncle Paul was pretty excited about his new tractor!

Aunt Janie gave out little flashlights to the kids. This was the way Jake drove home...sound asleep but never letting go of his flashlights.

I bought another light for my home studio. I struggled with it for nearly one hour and still knew that something just wasn't right.

Well...after about 10 minutes online, I figured out that I had the light put on backwards. It's stuff like this that makes me wonder where my head is!!!   I got it fixed and convinced Jake to help me test it.

Jake. Jake. Jake.  He tells me nothing...then today tells me that there is a time out chair at school. I asked him if he has ever had to sit in it. He said no over and over again...so adamant. Then I asked him which kids have had time out. He said the name of one other friend, and then he said, "Me."  Dan and I tried not to laugh...really we did. Tonight I saw his teacher at a school event. I asked her if there was a time out chair in the room. There isn't.  Oh, Jake. What are you trying to do to your old mommy?