Look who's THREE!!

Where did the time go?? Suddenly my screaming, kicking baby boy is outgrowing all his pants and talking about teaching HIS little brother how to sword fight and play with trucks!! And what a joy he is to all of us. He still gives great hugs, plays with his mama's hair, and loves making everyone laugh; but now our big three-year-old is also the family bug-killer who explores the neighborhood on his own, says he's "big like Daddy," and "protects" his sisters. Wow.

For his special day, we went to the local zoo, had some friends over for the traditional chocolate-chocolate-chocolate cake with THREE airplanes, and just enjoyed our big guy!

A day at the pumpkin patch

With Grandma Idaho and Papa visiting, we went to a nearby pumpkin patch, where we learned and experienced a number of new things:

1) If you don't dress for the cold in Kansas, you WILL regret it.

2) Wind is the least pleasant of the elements.

3) Exploring the pumpkins on the vine with a 4-year-old leads to lots of discussions about the meaning of such terms as "rotting" and "decaying."

4) Pumpkins are actually a fruit. To the children's dismay, so are many of their VeggieTale friends. Yes, 'tis true: Larry, Bob, and the gourd friends are not real veggies at all! Childhood trust destroyed...

5) We watched a pumpkin get launched from a cannon and fly about a half mile in the air (Amberly looks rightly confused by this one). This was a big favorite among all the dads at the patch, sort of their reward for being patient with the other stuff.

6) Kansas wind is no good for corn mazes. They end up looking more like corn dominoes after someone's tipped them over.

7) Safety regulations are a bit more lax once you leave the litigious land of Southern California. In our case, that meant way more fun for the kids--toboggan runs through tunnels in the hills, train rides with no track and no seatbelts, climbing up and jumping down haystacks with hay slipping down all over...

8) The crowning moment: we saw the Prairie Chicken Capital of the World. Now how many of you all can say you've done THAT?!!

Current faves

Here's Nae-nae with his current favorite toy, a new dump truck Aunt Kori gave him for his upcoming birthday. Note: he's actually sound asleep in this picture, taken sometime around 11pm.

And here's Miss B, all dressed up in her new favorite outfit with matching baby (currently named Alia). She wears this at some point every day, along with about 7 other outfits. Once I taught her to fold her own clothes and put them away, I stopped caring how many clothes she goes through each day!

IT'S A BOY!!!

Here it is folks, in all its glory...

More testosterone in the Hintz home! Nathan has an ally! An enemy combatant for sword-fighting! An equalizing of genders! The bedroom arrangement will work! And yes, I promise this will be the last time I post photos of my son's whoo-hoo in the public domain.

And for those of us interested in other things, he's a thumb-sucker, all systems are go, and he's giving mama's ribs a thrashing as he hones his kickboxing skills.

What does lightning look like?

"What does lightning look like?" asked Grandpa, as Miss B was regaling him with stories of camping out during a thunderstorm.

"Like a wrinkle in the sky. A big yellow wrinkle."

Well said.

On missing dear ones...

“Friendship is a golden thing only if it be kept free from undisciplined attachment.

We are not here to enjoy each other. We are here to do the will of God.”

~Amy Carmichael

Escape to the Farm

For the Trainer's birthday we decided to get away from it all (oh wait, we already are away from it all) and go to the Wernli family farm! A mere 45 minute drive took us to a comfortable, beautiful farmhouse where the kids had a swingset outside, a river for rock-throwing, four wheelers and tractors to ride, barns to explore, equipment to examine... kid paradise! It took me a while to get used to the small birds that kept flying into me as I walked (actually grasshoppers, I later learned) and spiders so big it seemed more appropriate to shoot than to squish them, but the delights of being away outweighed all of that. To top it all off, the Ringmaster had the joy of watching his Jayhawks demolish the Wildcats in football! And when Daddy's team wins, everybody wins! =)

Climbing up and sliding down the feed pile--a "don't tell Mama" moment!

In the tractor with Mr. David after a ride around the property (Miss B: "this is a like a gift--it's just like Christmas!)

And my little bundle of delight herself.

Yes, we do get lots of attention...

Everywhere we go!

But just one question... Where did she get those lips???

Our first visit to the park

After pressing our noses to the grindstone all day Friday and conquering some new-homeowner tasks, we made Saturday a family fun day and went to a local park for a picnic! After ditching the shoes, the kids were off to discover slides, sand, trees to climb, tire swings, frisbee golf courses, fields of wildflowers, ponds, lakes, and birds like we've never seen before! We had a wonderfully relaxing day, and took great naps!