Iowa Sweet Corn Time!!!!

Iowa sweet corn is something everyone should experience... and then completely fall in love with as I am!  Thankfully, my family shares my enjoyment of Iowa sweet corn too!  In fact, Arabella might like it more than I do... she yesterday asked for corn for breakfast.  I drew the line at that.  

Unfortunately, I was too busy stuffing my face with this amazing corn to take pictures of my family enjoying it!

Rice Krispy Treats

Arabella and I decided to make Rice Krispy Treats today to take to my sister's house tomorrow.  Arabella loves to help me cook, so she was deliriously excited about making one of her favorite snacks.  It became even more fun when I forgot the part about buttering our hands before we attempted to pat down the Rice Krispy Treats in the pan. 

 They turned out delicious - according to Bella who licked the remainders off her hands (which were also slathered in butter... I'm thinking ewww and she says, "Yummy butter Mommy!"  EWWW!!!)

A Day With My Bean

I'm feeling sad because summer is almost over and soon I won't be able to spend all day with my little Bean... So I took advantage of today and REALLY enjoyed my day with Arabella today.  We went to the library and played and read books in the cozy nook... then we went to the grocery store where Arabella got to push her own cart... thanks to HyVee for getting these cool new carts for kids - she LOVED it and we got through the store without any fuss!  

After the store, we came home and went for a walk... a short lived walk because it was a heat index of 105... ugh.  I prefer to walk, not swim through the air.   We had a nap together (boy am I going to miss naps when school starts up... do ya think my fifth graders would support the idea of naptime after recess???) and then went outside to do sidewalk chalk.  Here are some of her creations... 

This is (from left to right) Daddy wearing a hat, Mommy (wearing a very short skirt), Arabella wearing her crown, a man-eating snake (that is allergic to children according to AB), and a butterfly lady bug.  I absolutely love how creative she is... she is such an artist!

"Mommy, what should I draw next?"  "Well, could you please draw me a rainbow?"  "Sure, but all rainbows have clouds because they only happen after it rains and rain comes from clouds, so you'll have to have clouds if you want a rainbow."  

Last Hockey Trip of the Summer!

This past weekend, Dave, Arabella, and I drove up to Duluth, MN for the last hockey trip of the summer.  Dave is coaching a team that he put together with some friends of his called the Midwest Blizzard.  It's a triple A team and they're really good... especially considering they only practice twice before each tournament and they hold their own against teams from Canada where they practice multiple times a week.  

Anyway, this was the last tournament for the summer I had never been to Duluth before... so I decided to go with!  It was beautiful there!  My favorite part was the cool bridge that lifts... literally LIFTS straight up to let tall boats under it!  It was really cool!

The bad part of the weekend was that Arabella got sick... in the car... out of town... all over herself... and her carseat.  Bleh.  I think it was something she ate because once she got sick, she was totally fine.  Thankfully the Fairfield Inn in Duluth was amazingly helpful and offered to wash the car seat cover as well as her blanket.  Talk about a lifesaver!  So we (AB and I) missed the last game of the tournament to stay in the hotel and watch Toy Story 2 cuddled up together.  She is 100% better today and was pretty easy in the car on the way home today.

Welcome Home Charlie Company!

My brother-in-law Captain Michael Minard is FINALLY home from Afghanistan!  He and a whole lot of other Iowa soldiers left last summer for Afghanistan.  It has been a long year full of prayers and letters and care packages and a lonely sister... but it's finally over!  The welcome home ceremony was on Tuesday at 11:30 and we were lucky enough to get to go and greet all these wonderful soldiers as they returned to their families and friends! 

This is the Charlie Company.  They even brought back a dog named "Odie" (you can see him laying on the ground between the men in the second row from the back) that helped them in Afghanistan.  Mike (my BIL) is the guy in the very front.  My fifth grade students wrote to this unit of soldiers this past school year.  The students even sent a huge care package with games and food for the soldiers.  5B students: your soldier pen pals are home safe and sound!

Scott Baraibar was a soldier that came and spoke to my class when he came home on leave in March.  So glad everyone made it home safe!  Here is a picture of Scott, my sister Sara, and Arabella

 Happy to finally be home and back together!

Arabella and her Uncle Mikey

It's a Farmer's Market and Lemonade Stand Saturday!

Decided to go really early to the farmer's market today to hopefully beat the heat (heat index of 109 here today!).  AB and I met up with my friend Amy and her daughter Caitlyn down there and had a great morning.  They let Arabella choose her birthday gift and of course my little diva chooses a new dress.

  We got our Farm Boy Breakfast Burritos (it's like heaven in a tortilla) and I bought some yummy cherries (which I'm eating now as I type this).  Amy decided to try a wheat grass lemonade... it tasted just like it sounds... like grass... freshly mowed grass.  I'm all for healthy stuff, but I'm not drinking grass!   

Amy and her wheat grass lemonade

 AB got to make a headband at the craft station and she shared some homemade ice cream with Caitlyn.  All in all a great morning was had by all and we even succeeded in beating the heat! 

Bella with her new headband

Driving home, I noticed a lemonade stand about 1/3 of a mile from our house and thought, 'Oh that's so cute.  I should take Arabella down there later and get some lemonade from those kids!' Well, I should've considered what the weather man said about staying inside during this nasty excessive heat advisory.  We got about half way there and I wanted to turn around.  It was so hot and humid it was like trying to walk through a steam room!  We finally arrived at the lemonade stand and paid our quarters and sucked down the warm (I'm sure all the ice in the city has melted in this heat) lemonade.  Then we began our seemingly long trek home.  Poor Arabella got home and immediately took off her dress in hopes of cooling off... and you know it must be hot if AB is willing to part with a dress! 

It was then that I decided that we would be staying inside for the remainder of the day.  Thank God for air conditioning! 

Hanging At the Lazy KL

We spent the night in Foredyce, Nebraska on our way home from the Black Hills.  My aunt and uncle have a farm (well, not really a farm I guess... not sure what they call it), but it's farmish...  called the Lazy KL.   Anyway, Arabella LOVES it and asked right away if she could go feed the horses.  She is already begging me to go back again soon!  

Petting Roola, the farm cat

Picking mulberries with my Aunt Debby

Feeding Sarly mulberries

AB was super excited that Sarly would eat right from her hand - I remember being afraid of this at her age!

Thrilled to learn that those white flowers are clover and Sarly likes to eat clover!  We had to practically drag this kid away from the horse so she didn't overfeed him! Ha ha ha

Gavins Point Dam

On our way home from the Black Hills, we stopped in Yankton, SD to see what the water output REALLY looked like... Here's a video of 160 cubic feet per second being released from the Gavins Point Dam. 

My dad holding Arabella watching the water release from the dam.  They've blocked off some areas because there's so much water that splashes up from the dam. 

Black Hills Trip Part 5: Bear Country

We finally got to go to Bear Country on our way back from the Black Hills!  This place is amazing!  Everyone should go here - it's totally worth the $16 per adult to see these amazing creatures up close and personal... and I mean really up close!  They come right up to your car and just don't seem to care at all that you are there!
We got to see Elk, Reindeer, Bears (obviously), Mountain Lions, Wolves, and then there's babyland where you get to see lots of baby animals!  While you're riding in the car you're supposed to keep your windows closed at all times, but I'm such a rule breaker I rolled them down to get better pictures.  I just like to live on the edge ya know.  :) 
We did get to see one kind of scary thing while we were there.  We were watching a bear eat when all of a sudden two wolves came out of nowhere and attacked the bear to steal it's food.  The wolves were successful and the poor bear looked so sad and scared afterward although I thought it did a nice job of fighting the wolves!

Reindeer

This is the poor bear that was attacked for his food... I think he got a cut on his ear, but it's hard to see

This big guy is just chillin in the middle of the road

Baby Bears in Babyland

Mommy and AB in Bear Country

Black Hills Trip Part 4: Reptile Gardens

On our third day in the black hills, we tried to go to Bear Country... but when we got there, we found a sign saying the park was closed due to the funeral of a staff member (insert your joke here).  So instead, we went to the Reptile Gardens.  We got to watch the alligator show which was pretty cool.  Arabella's favorite part was watching the alligators eat the chicken that the guy brought out.  My favorite part was when the alligator got a little too close to the guy with the (then empty) chicken bucket so he just put the bucket over the alligator's head.  Wish I would've had my camera ready!

"Mommy,  I'm glad the chicken was his lunch and not me!"

Black Hills Trip Part 3: Mammoth Site

On the second day in the Black Hills, we went to the Mammoth Site.  I had signed Arabella up for the Junior Paleontologist Dig program online.  She was so excited to dig!  First we went on the tour of Mammoth, which was really interesting.  Then later, she got to go be a junior paleontologist!  She had so much fun! I would totally recommend this to everyone heading to the Black Hills - it was so worth it!

Wearing her Junior Paleontologist Outfit (picked specifically for this occasion by my little clothes diva)

Some mammoth bones in the dig site - No female mammoth bones have been found here... females aren't stupid enough to fall into a sink hole and get stuck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One of the oldest mammoth skeletons ever found in the dig site... this one was 48 years old

Before their dig, the tour guides passed around a mammoth toe bone for the kids to feel

Arabella Ann Leighton - Junior Paleontologist

Of all the bones in the dig site, Arabella got the largest... thankfully these boys (who found much smaller bones) offered to help AB dig up her Mammoth Tusk.

Bella knew after digging up about 5 inches of her bone that it was a mammoth tusk, but the dig leaders made her keep going to see how big it was.  It was about twice the size of Arabella!

Black Hills Trip Part 2: Mt. Rushmore

After Storybook Island, we drove a little farther and stopped at Mt. Rushmore.  I was really excited to see it because I had never seen it in person before.   Arabella was particularly awed after hearing how they carved the president's faces in the side of a mountain.  What a beautiful national monument!

Grandpa explaining how they carved the president's faces in the side of a mountain

AB loves taking pictures - she took this one of all of the flags leading up to the monument... nice picture of that couple, eh?  Too bad we don't know them!

Arabella found the one that said, "Iowa" - I'm so proud of my new little reader!

Black Hills Trip Part 1: Story Book Island

Arabella and I left on Saturday morning to drive to the Black Hills with my parents. On the way there, we stopped at Wall Drug which was actually way cooler than it sounds. We drove past the Corn Palace which was not as cool as it sounded... we didn't stop.
We did stop at Storybook Island in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was the cutest little park and the best part was that it was totally free! They had practically every fairy tale and story book character known to man in this one park. Here are a few of the million pictures I took:

My dad on the troll bridge

Me: "Look Bella, it's Rapunzel!"  Bella: "And Flynn Rider too!"

Arabella and I inside Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater's house

Wizard of Oz is one of AB's favorite movies

AB even got to go in and play in the Seven Dwarf's Cottage

She had just gotten done watching Bambi on the dvd player in the car, so she was really excited when she saw Bambi!

There was even a miniature "Old MacDonald's Farm" where she could pet the goats!

My Bella Bean is Four Years Old Today!

I woke up this morning to, "Mommy, do you want a hug from a four year old?"  :)  What a fantastic way to wake up.  I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by in the last four years.  I still remember her first few nights at home as an infant! 

Here are some facts about Arabella at age 4:
She weighed 33 pounds this morning
Is 41 inches tall
She wears a size 3T shirt, but only 2T pants/skirts and a size 9 shoe... still a peanut but boy is she strong!

Arabella can:
-- Write all the letters of the alphabet (although lowercase is more difficult for her to remember... she would prefer it just not exist and we could all write in caps forever... ha ha)
-- Ride her bike for a mile and a half without stopping for a rest (okay so she's only done this twice, but still!)
-- Remember practically any song (she's got her Daddy's musical talents)
-- Whistle (although not as well as she'd like... she is still working on it)
-- Make friends with practically anyone
-- Remember the most ridiculous events from long ago that most people have forgotten... I often hear, "Remember when _____ happened and I said ___________..."  And she is usually totally accurate.
-- Wink... she's been working on this for quite a while and is very proud of herself for doing this.


Arabella Loves:
-- Disney Movies (especially about princesses... her favorite is The Little Mermaid)
-- Fruit (haven't found one she doesn't like)
--Cuddling (I am so glad she hasn't outgrown this)
--Reading (She goes in phases whether she wants to try to sound out words or not... but today when I asked her what she loved, she said she loves to read so I'm going to put it down... that's the teacher in me I guess)
-- Swimming ("But not getting water inside my nose.")
-- Playing Outside (she is very much an outside girl... she loves all kinds of outdoor activities!)

 Arabella Dislikes:
-- Mushrooms (just like her Daddy)
-- Potatoes (in any form... even french fries!)
-- The Hawkeyes (Sorry Uncle Mikey... this is what she said when I asked about things she didn't like!)

Arabella's Favorites (According to what I asked her this morning... who knows what it would be tomorrow!) 
*Disclaimer - This was very hard for her to choose just one for each category.
-- Candy: Chocolate Truffles (Grandma totally spoils her with the best truffles!)
-- Drink: Chocolate Milk 
-- Book: Fancy Nancy (this was especially hard for her... she named at least 15 while we tried to determine her favorite!)
-- Movie: The Little Mermaid
-- Food: Mac and Cheese
-- Song: Silly Dreamer
-- TV Show: Jake and the Neverland Pirates
-- Thing to Wear: Dress (if only we could wear one every single day!)
-- Game: Candy Land
-- Toys: Baby Dolls
-- Thing to Help Mommy With: Laundry
-- Color: Pink

Proving her ability to wink

 I can't believe today is her fourth birthday and I managed to take exactly one picture of her all day... and it's a shoddy cell phone picture too!  Oh well. 

Mani Pedi Day!

 Arabella and I went with Patti and got our nails done yesterday.  Arabella is getting so big... she sits so still to get her nails done!

Last day of being a Three Year Old

Finished Feet Product

Arabella even got her fingernails painted - aren't the polka dots cute?!