Back to School time

Hey Graham Fans! Happy New Year! It is the New Year but I am going to share with you what we did in September. Our editor is behind. We tell her she needs to get caught up. As you can see below we ate our first carmel apples! Grandma made them for us and sent them back with Uncle Greg. What a yummy treat!



September for me meant it was time to go back to school. It was much easier this year. I knew what to expect. One of my friends from last year, Michael, is in my class this year. He and I made friends with another boy, Lucas. We are the oldest in the class. I call us the silly boys. I don't think they know that. We have a lot of fun together. :)

Caroline mentioned we got a new roof. That actually happened in September. They started early one morning and had all the old shingles off before we went to the gym in the morning. Then as we were about to drive off the crane truck delivering the shingles arrived. The lady driving the truck had a remote control that operated the crane. She put the shingles on the roof. It was pretty cool. After everyone in the neighborhood also got new roofs, seeing the truck became an everyday occurrence, not even that interesting.

We all went to KC to celebrate Nanny's birthday. She had a party with cake and other yummy treats. I ate my share! She even got presents, though no toys. She didn't look disappointed. I would have been upset if I didn't get any toys! We also spent time with Grampa and Susan and played at Benjamin's house for awhile. Sometimes we get silly, but we have a good time playing.



After fun in KC, we had to hurry back on Sunday for football practice. Yep, that is right, I had football practice. We started practicing in the yard the week before practice started. That was fun. Practice on a field with other kids, some of whom I did not know with parents watching, was scarier than our front yard. During practice, some kid pulled my flag. Was I ever mad! I didn't want to play anymore. I didn't want Dad to coach anymore. I was really upset! I was so relieved when practice was over (and glad to get the treats). Dad and Mom made me practice at home again later in the week. Then Mom of all people pulled my flag. Boy was I mad! How could she do it?! We talked a lot about it and by the next practice it wasn't so bad. Once we started playing games I even scored . More about that in a later blog.

Speaking of football, we went to a Drake game. It was fun. We started at the bookstore to buy shirts for Caroline and me. We each got a sweatshirt, which I love and wear proudly. We went out to lunch, then went to the game. My favorite part is always seeing Spike, the mascot. I made Mom sit down in front waiting for Spike to come to our end. It took awhile but he FINALLY came our way. Caroline won't stick around when Spike shows up. She does like to get the bulldog tattoo and will pet the real bulldog when he makes an appearance. It was kind of cold that day. When we left, Caroline fell asleep in the car. It was her nap time anyway, but the cool weather really made her sleepy!

The end of the month we went to Grandma's. The weather was great for playing outside. I found a push tiller for the garden so helped Grandma get her garden tilled. I have pushed around the rototiller in the shed before but since I am not big enough to used motorized equipment, I was excited to find the push tiller. I worked really hard! 

I started thinking about my Halloween costume probably in August, but Mom made me wait to pick it out. Labor Day weekend we were at Costco and they had all the costumes on display. We found Captain America with a shield! I also got a Spiderman mask shortly after school started. How cool am I? I wore my Halloween costume so much that I got a hole in it so Mom said I couldn't wear it as much. :/

That brings us to the end of September so hopefully we get October published soon. Keep your fingers crossed. I know how you all love the blog!

Fair

Hey there - My turn, my turn, my turn - yeah it is Caroline.  I am two and it is my turn to blog.  We are behind, we know.  Maybe someday we will be caught up.  We are just on the go so it is tough to find time to keep you all updated.  Unfortunately I have to go all the way back to August to bring you up to date.  So let's see, after Graham's birthday we went to the Iowa State Fair.  It was a cloudy cool day so not super busy.  We got there and headed straight to the tractors.  Unfortuantely they were all locked!  We have climbed in them in the past.  Mommy got them to unlock a big sprayer.  Then we wondered by the Public Television exhibit to see Clifford.  I wanted nothing to do with him but Graham gave him a high 5.  Onward to all the baby animals - pigs, calves, ducks, sheep.  We love the cute little animals.  The next stop was the Litte Hands on the Farm exhibit.  Little kids like Graham and I wander thru the exhibit doing little tasks like what you would do on a farm.  The best part is riding the pedal tractors and of course getting a treat as you leave!  We wondered down to see the big animals - boy, the big pig is REALLY big.  I liked to reach in to pet the sheep or the horses - oh, so soft!.  Finally it was lunchtime.  Graham and I had corn dogs - yummy!  Graham did the big slide with Dad again this year.  I wasn't interested.  I mean that slide was taller than our house.  No way was I going down it.  Anyway we had a good time!  Its a fun family tradition.

Amazingly, the weather in August was better than in July.  We were glad the weather changed so we could play outside more. We had a lot of fun with the sprinkler this year.   It finally rained too.  We didn't like the rain.  One day it got really dark and scary outside.  The wind was blowing so much stuff was flying around outside.  Then it started hailing - not like I know what hail is.  I just know little white stuff was hitting the house and it was LOUD!  Next thing the tornado sirens went off so we headed to the basement.  That was okay with Graham and me - we just climbed around the storage room until it was time to go back upstairs.  A few days later, Mom realized the hail made holes in our siding.  Some guy came to the house to check it out and said we also needed a new roof and a few other things.  Eventually some men came and replaced the damaged siding and a few days later we got a new roof.  Boy were those loud days in our house!  Graham liked watching what they were doing - lots of ladders and when they brought the shingles it was on a big crane.  WAY cool for Graham! 

We went to Grandma's for a few days.  Mom and Dad went down, spent the night and then left.  Dad and Graham did go fishing.  Graham and I had a lot of fun though.  Grandma took us to the International Harvester store.  Graham found a pedal combine that he fell in love with.  He kept telling Mom and Dad that we needed to go get it when they came back. Aunt Deb, Uncle Tim, Sam and Kayla came too for part of the time we were there.  Dad and Mom apparently had fun too.

What else were we up to?  Here are a few pics.  Graham learned how to climb the tree in our front yard. Graham also really liked to get in bed with me before nap time.  We like to get our picture taken whil doing.  Graham is also getting better at some of his jobs  He made himself a sandwich one day.