Standiford Family

Tonight we went to my niece’s concert.  She’s in 8th grade and plays the clarinet.  The concert started at 7p.m. which is around the time our kids start getting ready for bed.  The 5th grade orchestra started out the night.  I’ll be very nice and just say you could tell they were beginners.  Then came the 6th graders.  A little better.  Somewhere towards the beginning we realized we should have left Kade with Papa.  Nana came with us.  He kept asking if it was over and he was just all over the place being loud.  Then it was time for the advanced orchestra to play.  They entertained us with “Let it Snow”.  I leaned over to Mickey and said I thought this was pretty good.  Then Kade loudly states, “This is terrible!”  We were all laughing to ourselves and trying not to let him see us.  I guess he’s a critic already but he should have said it earlier.  (I think he was too busy eating Nana’s chocolate to care.)  We were ready to take him home.  Unfortunately Crissy didn’t play until the end.  We waited it out.  The orchestras finished and left the stage so the concert band could fill the seats.  Kade thought they were going to leave their instruments on the chairs for anyone to play them.  He was making lots of plans as to what he wanted to try out.  He was very disappointed when the musicians took the instruments with them.  He then kept asking if he could play Crissy’s when she was done.  I tried to distract and quiet him by telling him he could play my cello tomorrow after school.  That did it.  The stubborn three-year-old kept telling me over and over that he was going to play it when we got home.  Oh it was so time for him to go to bed.  We barely made it through the concert.  We’ll have to take him with us to the girls’ concert next week but I don’t think we’ll take him to my nephew’s concert in a week and a half.

Yesterday Mattey and Kade were playing together.  They were playing dress up and pretend.  They are very imaginative kids.  Kade came upstairs and showed us what he was wearing.  Moo.

This costume is for a child around 6-9 months.  Mattey wore it for her first Halloween.  It’s also been worn by Eliza and just recently by my niece Evie.  This shows that kids don’t grow much in the middle.  They are all arms and legs.

I had to add the photo showing Mattey wearing the costume.

Okay, it’s not really the first snow but it was the first time the kids went out to play.  Yesterday we got some snow and Mickey was home so that equals playing in the snow.  What a good dad.  Here’s a few pictures of the fun.

P.S.  I was in the house staying cozy warm and knitting.  (Pictures to come in about a week along with more of my creations.)

Tonight was the annual Trunk-Or-Treat at church.  Mickey and the kids dressed up and went.  Here are a few of the heroes and villains from Gotham City.  (Masks are not allowed so we did the best we could.)

Kade’s school had another field trip on Thursday.  We went to Matthys Farm.  I’ve wanted to go there for a while but have never made it.  The school usually goes to a place in Michigan.  Matthys not only had pumpkins but a hayride, corn maze, and a petting zoo with a playground area.  It was nice. We had lovely sunshine for the trip but the temperature could have been a little warmer.

After we got there we had to wait a little while in a greenhouse for the tractor to pick us up for the hayride to the pumpkin patch.  Kade sat around and got stuck between two hay bales.

The tractor came and took us for a short ride to the corn maze.  We had to find our way through to get to the pumpkin patch.  I think this field is there for picture taking or these pumpkins are waiting to be moved up to the selling spot.  We didn’t get to pick one of these nice ones.  The maze was a little tricky, Kade had to take a little rest on some hay bales half way through.  Look at that sky.

We finally got out of the maze and started looking for a pumpkin.  Before we could find one someone had a little emergency.  The bathroom was a long way away so we found a secluded place with corn that needed some watering.  Kade thought that was very funny.  I showed Kade a few pumpkins and he picked the second or third one.  We had to watch out for the rotting ones.  Gross.

We climbed back into the wagon of hay and were dropped off at the greenhouse again for a snack.  With full tummies we walked over to the petting zoo.  Kade didn’t have much interest in petting anything.  He excitedly ran from one pen to another.  Here’s a few pictures from that.  The pigs are sleeping.

We had a little time left before we had to leave so Kade enjoyed himself on the playground things.  Here he is driving a wooden truck and train.

Here he is sliding and crossing a bridge.

We had a nice field trip.  Kade’s excited to carve or decorate his pumpkin.  I’m sure we’ll post something about that later.

On Friday the girls didn’t have school so we stopped by the library and got some books.  One of the books Meg got was a Halloween joke book.  Both girls thought the jokes were so funny.  They were very cheesy with a little humor on the side.  Kade heard them telling jokes and had to get in on the fun.  Here’s his joke:

Why did the chicken go to Wal*Mart?

To buy some clothes.

This was followed by lots of laughter, from the joke teller and his audience.  He has a good sense of humor so I’m sure this won’t be the last joke we hear from him.  It will be fun to watch how his humor grows.  The joke has already had some changes.  The chicken is now buying girl clothes.  I don’t know why that’s more funny because Kade then explains that the chicken is a girl.

Mattey’s little funny from the other day was an expression she said.  We were at the table snacking or something (I wish I would have written it down right after it happened) and I did or said something.  Then Mattey exclaims “Oh, Mother Nature!”  I can’t say that I’ve ever heard that expression and I hope Mother Nature doesn’t mind Mattey taking her name in vain.  Mickey and I thought it was very funny and had a good laugh.  Mat got mad because she thought we were laughing at her.  She hasn’t learned the difference yet.  Next time I’ll be sure to write it down right away so everyone can enjoy the humor.

It kind of sounds like a title for a Curious George book, doesn’t it?  Kade was much better behaved than George ever would have been.  Which is good because I’m not as patient as the man with the yellow hat, at least the one in the books.  The one in the movie is a little more tense, like me.  In April I had a cleaning and took Kade along with me.  I thought it’s about time for him to have a turn so he probably better see what happens so he doesn’t freak out.  He was really good.  He watched some of the cleaning but otherwise kept busy with the things I brought for him to do.  He did brush the big teeth with the big toothbrush.  He seemed calm about the whole thing so I made him an appointment.

Six months later…I had a cleaning on Tuesday.  Kade tagged along like last time, getting another look at what was going to happen to him.  Let me break in the story and give a little history.  The girls both had dental work done when they were little, before turning 3.  They both had molars that came in rotting.  Some had to be filled, others were pulled.  Now that’s not fun when you’re an adult, I can’t imagine what it was like when they were 2.  That’s why I didn’t take them.  Mickey was my hero and their support.  When it was time for them to get their teeth cleaned they totally freaked out.  Do you blame them?  Not at all.  So with this being our experience I kind of expected Kade to be a little afraid and then “Um Duh” (Kade’s new favorite saying, usually ending with Mom) I realized he didn’t have to have any work done so there was no reason for him to be afraid.  Okay, back to the story.  Kade greeted Jackie, our wonderful hygienist, and went down the hall to the room.  I walked in a few steps behind him and he’s already in the chair.  He thought it was funny.  I shooed him out and told him his appointment was the next day.  He was fine with that and he let me get in.  He really watched everything Jackie did to me.  He came up to my side to see how the suction tool worked and later he held my hand.  I didn’t need it but it was sweet.  Jackie let him get a toy because he was so good.  He was happy.

The next day was his turn.  (I’ll be using a lot of pictures in this part of the story, just like a book.)  We got to the office and had to wait a little bit.  This is what Kade did while he waited.

He peeked through the slot to see if Jackie was coming.

He roamed around the waiting room and found a chair to sit in.

He decided he wanted to take a few pictures so I let him have a turn.  These are his.

Then I showed him where the kid books and magazine were.  He pulled out a Ranger Rick to look at.

Then Jackie made her entrance and Kade had the camera again.  I figured no one would want to see the floor so I didn’t include that picture.  He wanted to take Jackie’s picture.  He told her to say cheese and she did, not thinking he’d actually take her picture.

Then it was back to the room.  He climbed up into the chair again, happy it was his turn.

He got a “bib” on and settled back in the chair for a little ride.  Jackie started by counting his teeth.  On the way there I told Kade that Jackie would count his teeth and I asked him how many he thought he had.  He said five.  I stifled a giggle and told him I guessed 20.  Guess who was right?

Kade was shown all the tools and Jackie was so good to explain things to him before she did anything.  He got to feel the spinning toothbrush with his finger.  He liked using the suction tool, although he really does like to spit now.

Right before the cleaning was over someone popped in the room.  Dad came by to see how things were going.

Jackie finished up the polishing and painted on the flouride.  Kade was starting to get wiggly.  It must be hard to sit still for 20 minutes when you’re 3.  He was done and waiting for the dentist to come in to take a look.  He got to wiggle a little then.  I was really surprised that Kade wasn’t frightened by Dr. B. when he wanted to take a look in his mouth.  He was wearing a mask and funky glasses.  I think it’s a little scary but maybe that’s just me.

Here’s Kade with his clean, shiny teeth.

When that was done Kade got some goodies.  He had been waiting to pick out a new toothbrush.  He picked Mater, from Cars.  He told Mickey he would get him a Batman one.  How cute.  Jackie gave him toothpaste and floss too.  He was so happy to have his own bag of loot.

And we can’t forget the favorite part about going to the dentist, picking a toy.

Kade was terrific.  He was a great little patient.  I don’t think we’ll have a problem taking him anywhere.  I better knock on wood, just in case.

P.S.  Please don’t think I’m one of those weird mothers that photographs everything her children do.  This was his first dental visit and I actually remembered the camera.  And since I’m really behind with everyone’s scrapbooks I just did it digitally, in a way.  Now when I get around to scrapping this event I won’t have to remember any of the details, I can just look them up.  Nice.

Did I mention that Kade has a lot of fieldtrips at the beginning of the year?  He’s already had his second one.  On Thursday we went to Bendix Woods for a hayride.  I really had no desire to go.  I’ve done it four times already.  It’s always cold, usually rains the night before or that morning,…I know, it’s for Kade not me.  So I sucked it up, took some Advil and a muscle relaxer, and off we went.  Kade’s friend Noah and his mom, Amy, rode with us.  That was nice to have someone to talk to.  The boys were engrossed in a Backyardigans for the entire drive.  The sun did peak out and warmed us up a little and only the ground was wet.  I told Kade we were going to a park for the hayride and there would be wagons of hay for us to ride in.  He then asked, “How the horses going to get there?”  I guess he was still stuck on our Shipshewana trip.  I told him there wouldn’t be any horses the wagons were pulled by a tractor.  His face lit up.

He had to get a picture with the tractor.

Here’s the other pictures I took.  He’s a little goofy in them.

The trip did turn out to be fun for Kade and not too bad for me.  I still can’t seem to come home the same way I go.  Maybe next year.

Today Kade and I took a little trip to Shipshewana.  (I of course forgot to bring the camera.)  We went to Yoder’s Department store to look at fabrics.  Supposedly they have 12,000 bolts of fabric.  I not sure of that number but there was a lot.  I looked at all the cottons and then made my decision.  I’m really surprised at what I bought.  I definitely wouldn’t have bought this a few years ago but it also wouldn’t have been available.  Here’s what I got:

Metro Blue Goes Green (Marcus Brothers)

Bleeker Street (Marcus Brothers)

I’m really loving the blues, greens, and browns right now.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with these yet.  They will definitely be made into something beautiful.  I have a few ideas already.  I’m really considering selling stuff.  Let me know if you’re interested.

By the way, Kade was SO good.  He hid in storage cabinets under the fabric I looked at and ask “Can you see me?”.  He pushed carts around banging into things but not people.  He tapped on wood display stands and said he was making music.  My favorite thing was when he put his head in a storage cabinet and yelled “Echo!” and then waited for his echo.  I told him there was too much fabric in the room for there to be an echo.  (Yes, I think this is good.  He never ran away from me.)  He could have had the ladies in the store eating out of his hand.  That’s my boy.  I don’t mean that he takes after me but that’s his fun personality.  He also did really great on the drive.  We stopped and got him a coloring book to keep busy.  He colored for about 10 minutes total.  He loved seeing the horses, cows, and buggies.

Here’s more fabric I’m working with right now.

So fun!  It’s the Stonehill collection from JoAnn.  I’ll have pictures when I’m done sewing.  Stay tuned.

Mickey’s such a great dad and husband.  Lately he’s been putting Kade to bed (as well as making sure the girls get ready too).  This means that he reads a book or two and then lays with Kade until he’s asleep, usually about 10-15 minutes.  When he was in his own room or maybe still ours but on the floor he was falling asleep on his own but now that he’s got a room mate (Mattey) it doesn’t work very well.  They keep each other awake or she keeps him up.  It’s a small price to pay for him not sleeping in our room any more.  Anyway, as I was saying Mickey’s been putting him to bed.  I’ve taken a turn a few nights ago and also tonight.  It’s got to be a coincidence but both nights Kade’s woken up before I’ve gone to bed.  The first night I was still awake reading.  He came in our room and went right back to sleep on the floor.  (He’s got a little make shift bed made out of extra blankets.)  Tonight he woke up earlier and found us downstairs.  I was sewing and Mickey was playing a video game.  Here it is 11:40 and this is Kade…

…wide awake watching Mickey play Lego Star Wars.  I don’t think he’s going back to sleep any time soon.  He’ll be in need of a nap tomorrow for sure.  I feel sorry for the people that will have to deal with him in nursery.  Notice the sun he got today at the soccer games.

P.S.  The girls had back to back games today.  The details and pictures will be posted later.  I need to get back to my sewing.  Those pictures will be posted soon also.