The Orchard, The Flu, and The Kids

What?! Those three things don't seem to fit together at all?! Well, in the Miller world (at least this week) they somehow fit together . . . somehow. Let's see. We'll start with

The Orchard

On the 17th, we finally made it to the hot spot in Iowa City. Wilson's Orchard. It was the perfect day and easily the best day we have ever had together as a family. Cool. Crisp. Sunny. Fall Colors. Seriously and without a doubt THE best hot apple turnovers I have ever had. I could have eaten 12, but settled for splitting two with Joseph. I am still salivating over them and WILL go back before the end of the season to eat at least two more. Where was I? Miles of pretty apple trees. Pumpkin patches. Candy Apples. Tractor Rides. Happy kids. Blissful Kids. Silly Kids. Happy Family. I have found a new love of my life. Apple Orchards. The Candy Apple. Caramel and mini m&ms. Mmmmmm. Rebekah thought the candy apple was irresistable too as she snuck it out of our bag while we were looking up in the apple trees for pretty apples. If you look closely, you will see it all over her mouth and coat. :)

The Flu

And not just any old flu. Oh no. The dreaded H1N1 or better known as Swine Flu. Yes. I had it. Two days after the Orchard I got really sick. It was not fun. We were all pretty much quarantined for an entire week since there is an official pandemic of it in Iowa right now. It seemed everyone was afraid to even come near our front door . . . except my mom. She saved us. She got all doped up on her natural remedies so she couldn't catch it and came for two days so that Joseph could catch up in school and I could rest and we could de-germify our house. I love you mom! I am still pretty tired from it and my cough is still lingering a bit, but I finished the Tamiflu and am sleeping again and am feeling like a new person. Thankfully, no one else in our house caught it. But, since we were all possibly contagious, we had to act as if we had the plague. Here is how we passed the time while stuck inside.

Yes, this is a full size tent in our basement. Joseph's idea. A good one too. It kept the kids entertained for hours . . . and not just because of movies. They loved running in and out of it, etc. They stared longingly outside while eating goldfish. Poor quarantined kids.

The Kids

I can rarely do a post without updating on our little ones. I realized I don't take enough pictures of our Rebekah Jane. She seriously cracks me up every day. She is standing alone now and laughs whenever she does. Apparently it is hilarious that she can stand all by herself. She is saying a few words, signing a few words, and her fine motor skills amaze me! Is it a girl thing to grasp these so fast?! Putting lids on. Stacking. Trying to put her socks on. She has a love for her feet and having socks on. Trying to put her hat on. Anything she can put in or take out or stack. She loves it. Here are a few of her latest and greatest shots.

Alex is making my brain hurt . . . in a good way . . . I think. Tonight when I put him to bed it went like this:

Me: "Okay, goodnight. I love you. I will turn your fan on on my way out the door."

A: "No Mommy. I have an idea! I want you to leave the fan off and leave. Then I will cry and make you come back in here and turn it on. Okay?"

Me: "No, that is not okay. You go to bed the first time Alex."

Long story short . . . we had a "family talk" to try to help him understand why we couldn't do his idea and he very begrudgingly went to bed . . . eventually. We have found with him that when he has his mind set, reason doesn't work, neither does compromise or force. What works best with this little man is to encourage him to come up with other ideas until he comes up with one we can all agree on. Then he feels like he is still making a contribution to the house rules I guess. Sometimes he still just ends up angry at us. Aw well, it won't be the last time. :) Here is my boy. Despite the pain he sometimes causes in my brain . . . I am completely head over heals for him.

Yes, that is a real fish in there. This was taken at Mana's house a couple of weeks ago. Herman didn't seem to mind the intrusion of plastic fish, a child's arm, and a toy fishing pole. And this. Well, I came upstairs and found that he had set aside the normal slice of bread my mom had given him and gotten out instead, the entire rest of the loaf and was chomping on it with joy.