Pumpkin Patch-- October 20th

I bought a groupon for a Pumpkin Patch in the Corona area. I was super excited because it was a REAL PUMPKIN patch where you can cut your pumpkins from the vine. I'm not really a big fan of those pop up pumpkin patches that just show up in a parking lot. So I was really excited when I saw this deal. We took the kids on a Saturday in the morning and it was perfect! We got their before the crowd and the place was Awesome! It was not too big or too small it was just perfect. It's called Corona Pumpkin Farm. They had a corn maze, baby chicks, pick your own vegetables and fruits, and activities for the kids. The kids really had a great time and we did too! I think this will be a New tradition for us!

Family Time

Each year John's brother Cris and his family usually take the opportunity to come visit in California. Since they are the only Garthe's that live out of state it only makes sense for them to come here. This year they came in September to be a part of Katelyn's blessing. While they were here we did a Mud Run in Riverside. It was so much fun!!!!

 All clean ready to start the race

 These slides were Awesome! One even had vegetable oil on it to help you slide better.

 They had a kids run that was the tale end of our course.
The kids really enjoyed walking through the muddy water.

 Nice and Muddy after the race

Then we stayed in Palm Springs for the week and hung out! It was a very nice week. We had big plans to go to the Children's Museum, do the Tram, and see the Living desert. But shortly after we booked the vacation we found out the the museum and tram were both closed for maintenance. Big Bummer! So we decided not to do the Living Desert Zoo either and we just spend the whole time swimming, playing games, and EATING!!! We had a blast!!!!!!

 

This was the waterside at the hotel it was really cool!

Charles!!!!!

Charles was awarded the "Certificate of Character."

We are so proud of him. He is a great student and really tries to do the best that he can. 

Way to go CHARLES!!!!! 

Blessing

Katelyn has been such a wonderful addition to our family. At times it is challenging dealing with Claudia and a baby but I'm getting the hang of it.

I have really slacked off with this one. Katelyn is now just over 4 months old and this is only my 2nd post about her. She is such a great baby. She started sleeping really well at a young age and is happy most of the time. She now rolls over both ways and loves to grab things and put them in her mouth. Minutes after she was born she started sucking on her thumb. She didn't do it so much for the first 2 months but once she got more control of her hands she has really started doing it more and more. I really struggled with this for several weeks. None of my other three kids were ever dependent on a pacifier or thumb/fingers. So after Claudia I threw away all pacifiers that I had. (Don't ask me why I had so many.) And decided that none of my kids would ever need them. I had three kids who didn't so I was determined not to use them. And this is when my struggle started. Katelyn started sucking on her fingers and thumb more and more and I couldn't decide if I should introduce a pacifier or let her use her hand. After much deliberation I finally broke down and bought some pacifiers. She still sucks on her thumb but I give her the pacifier when I am holding her. I am still torn and don't want to have to a 5 year old who sucks her thumb. So I am hoping that since we use both she will grow out of them before she's too big. Only time will tell. However, that thumb sucking has had it's advantages. Often times she will sleep for 10+ hour a night and I think it's because she finds her thumb and soothes herself back to sleep. Until we recently changed the time. Now I am working on getting her back to that long stretch. I'm seriously considering moving to Arizona just so we don't have to change the clocks twice a year. This time was the worst time ever for ALL of us.

Well, now that I've rambled on here are some photos that I have of Katelyn. 

(I've been a slacker in this area too!!!)

I love that she still has all her hair!!!! But it is starting to lighten up quite a bit. Which makes me sad. I was hoping I'd get at least one with dark hair.

John was able to bless Katelyn in September when his brother and his family were in town. It was a very nice blessing and a great opportunity to spend time with family.

 (I forgot my camera so we had to make do with my sisters camera phone.)
And I can not believe that some how I totally forgot to take photos of Katelyn in her dress. Man I really am loosing it.  

She's 2

I am so late on this post and am now playing catch up with a TON of posts. So here goes....
 

Claudia turned 2 in September and boy are we feeling the pain of those terrible twos!!! She is crazy! But she is so cute and so fun to be around. We did not do a big party for her this year. Just small gatherings with each family. 

 

She makes these funny faces and shakes when she gets excited. It is hilarious. You can't tell if she's scared or happy.

 

First Day of School

Madison started Kindergarten this year and she has been so excited!!! A few weeks ago our school did a "Kinder Academy" to introduce the kids and parents to kindergarten. Since then Madison was asking every day when she got to go to school. Well the day finally arrived and she was SO EXCITED!!!!

John was able to come with me to take the kids to school. Unfortunately we some how let the time get away from us and we didn't get to school as early as I had hoped. So we had to divide and conquer. John took Charles to his class and I took Madison.

She did great! No tears or sad faces. She walked right in and found her seat. (I really think the Kinder Academy prepared her for this day.)

When I picked them up from school Charles' teacher told me he is WONDERFUL. That is always great to hear. 

Madison said she had fun at school and is making friends 

 The kids were not cooperating when I was trying to take photos. And Madison kept rubbing her eyes so she kept making funny faces.

 My Handsome 2nd Grader!!!!

 And our Beautiful Kindergartener!!!!

 Ready to Learn!

It's gonna be a Great Year!!! I love their school and their teachers!

Summer Wrap up Part 3 (August)

I didn't do so well at taking photos in August. We spent a lot of time around the house again.

John's sister gave us TONS of Geo Tracks that her kids don't play with anymore so John and the kids built as HUGE city in our loft. The kids loved it!

Claudia even enjoyed playing, or should I say destroying it!

I found a fun craft called Hot Rocks. You basically heat up rocks in the oven and then paint on them with crayons. The crayon melts when it touches the rock and then hardens when it cools. I've been wanting to do this for a while but the kids were NOT interested. I finally convinced them to do it and they LOVED it! 

Until each of them got burned! 

But they did say that want to get more rocks and do it again. I guess they didn't get too scared from the burns!

 I think they look so COOL!!!

We also tried to complete our "Summer To Do List." 

 

We didn't get everything done. We were a little too ambitious this year. It was a lot more difficult to do some things with a new born and a very ACTIVE toddler!

Maybe next year!