Apples!

We had a blast at the apple orchard with some friends of ours. The lady who owns the place was so nice to let us pick even though it wasn't a day they are normally open. She said "If I'm here, we're open!" It made our day!

It must be getting close to Halloween.

We have noticed a couple odd things at our Wal-mart here. I already told you about the honor system refreshment station. And there is an isle of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. Seriously. The only other Wal-mart that I have seen something weird like that in stock was at the ghetto Wal-mart in Milwaukee that had an isle of bleach. A whole isle! I don't know what you do with bleach to have a whole isle of it. But I noticed lots of the customers had one or two gallons in their carts. Campbell and I were at our Wal-mart here looking through some clearance curtains. We stumbled upon a grasshopper. A real live, BIG grasshopper. Campbell was enchanted and played with the little guy. I was a little startled and wondered what else we might find.

Then a couple days later we all ran to Wal-mart after dinner and while we were walking down the first main isle something was flying in front of us. We collectively decided it was a bird. Weird, a bird in Wal-mart. Then it came flying back to us and we see that it is really a bat! This poor little bat was scared to death flying around trying to find a way out. We just chuckled it off and kept shopping. It made the trip fun though because you could hear where the bat was flying by the screaming people.

Weird right? We were telling our house guest, Heather, about it when she was visiting earlier this week. That night she was reading on the couch and Bill and I had gone to bed, then we hear her saying "Your cat is chasing something in the basement, it's either a bird or a bat." Sure enough we all tromp down to the basement and there is a scared little bat hanging on the ceiling with the cat waiting patiently to catch it. Bill opened the cellar doors and tried to shoo it out, but it just flew around. Heather, the brave, grabbed a broom and actually caught it while it was flying, but it would take off too fast to get it outside. Bill eventually scared it into a hole in the wall and we couldn't find it anymore. Hoping it found a way outside, we went to sleep. The next day I kept watching for it in the house. No bat. That night as we were getting ready for bed Bill came upstairs, shut the door behind him and said "Don't go down there." The bat had migrated to the main floor. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to get it out the front door, then trying to get it out of the front porch. Bill was successful and the little guy could fly home. I think our cat was a little disappointed. And I learned that I don't like things flying around my head, I guess I don't love bats as much as I thought I did: )

I got schooled on cool.

I was lucky enough to get to chaperon a field trip to the Zoo. I was really looking forward to the opportunity to peek into James' school life. And put a face to the names of these kids who have taught her words like "sexy" and given her snake bites (twisting the fore arm to make it all red). On a side note, she has held her own with these interesting children. Which makes me proud because that means she has learned what she was taught: )

In the morning we walked to her classroom and on the way at least three kids said "hi" to her. Then in her classroom a little girl kept giving her hugs, and lots of kids said hi to her when she walked in the room. I took my little group to use the bathroom before we left and again children and teachers all over saying "Hi James!" and "Is that your mom?".

We had a 30 minute bus ride (oh fun!) to a park where the kids got to play. It is a sight to behold, 100 kindergartners on a public park! James was pointing out kids she knew and we got to chat with her best-friend-classroom-aide, Bonnie, who is a saint. We ate lunch and headed back on the bus to go to the Zoo.

It was a fun trip and my group was great. We had two boys and two girls. Totally impressed with the Niabi Zoo, and we will be going back. We had to work on keeping our hands to ourselves, not climbing into the animal cages, not walking on the railroad tracks and not eating random melted candy off of the ground. Seriously, this kid was licking his fingers, so I asked him what he was eating (we had no snacks!). Then I scan the duck pond dock that we are standing on and find some purple melted glob. I tell him that it is yucky and don't eat anything off the ground. I turn my back and he goes for it again. A little later I see him kicking and eyeing the duck poop! YUCK!

Back at school, James and I got to leave early from school. As we are walking out the front of the school again at least five kids say "hi" or "bye" to James and one girl (who looked like a second grader, she was so tall) came and gave her a hug. She told me every one's name that said hi to her.

I was relaying this to Bill last night and he just said "What did you expect? She is a Wicke." And that is when I got schooled on what it really means to be cool. It automatically comes with the name Wicke and he pointed out that she has two cool names. James and Wicke. I guess all the flack we get from all those adults about naming her a "boy's" name is paying off because our little girl will always be a favorite among her peers!

THE Rug.

Here is a picture of THE rug from the rug saga. I really love it. It makes my days cheery: )

Wicke Happenings

James didn't have school on Monday so we went to the Family Museum in the Quad Cities. It was really fun and there was nobody there. They had some cool exhibits. This room had a camera that would alter the images in different ways. It felt kind of modern art-ish. The girls had a blast! They spent lots of time in the horse pretend play area. There was another room that had the camera/screen thing that changed colors and showed your movements.They had a spinning exhibit with a ride thing that was like the tea cups at Disneyland. Campbell would not get in, James loved it. The other night Bill and the girls were playing football in the backyard. They had a little bit of fun. James did her touchdown dance, it was very good. Dog pile!

Blue Steel

Today we joined the Y. Mostly because we live in the middle of no-where! And there isn't a zoo, or children's museum or much other then corn fields in a 30 mile radius. I'm not complaining. But the Y is brand new and has a great indoor pool with zero entry play area. I was surprised that the girls get membership cards and was entertained when they had to pose for a picture. Campbell pulled a Zoolander Blue Steel face:
And James was glaring at the camera at first, I'm glad they captured a different look, kind of:We had a blast swimming and I love being in the water with them. James is a good little swimmer and Campbell is fearless. My recent indulgence is watching re-runs of Project Runway. In the spirit of sewing I, with my minimal talent, threw together some PJ's for James to match the ones that I made for her when she was 3. The girls love the cozy gowns!

Campbell has this thing with markers.

I really need to get it under control.It looks like lipstick but it is marker.

You can kind of see the rug in the background. I love it, now that I finally have it!

I'm kind of a freak.

I was just talking to my sister, Heather, about when we lived in Iowa as kids. She asked me if I remember how if my mom ever got lost in Waterloo (the closest big city to where we lived) that I could direct her how to get home. She said I was 6 year old.

Throw me into the middle of nowhere and I can find my way home. Or to almost any location you would want to go.

We often went to Utah on vacation. My uncle moved to a new house and we visited him once. A year or two later we were back and heading to the same uncle's house. It was so frustrating for me because my parents had some written directions and they must have been wrong because we were lost. I kept telling them to just let me tell them how to get there. They didn't listen because who would believe a 15 year old who had only been there once? Finally they were desperate and succeeded the directions giving to me. We were there in no time!

Let's just say I have a little internal compass. Kind of like these little guys. They are some of my favorite animals. When I lived in Minnesota I had some bats that lived in the shutters outside of my bedroom window. I loved those guys. Maybe because we have more in common then I knew.

I am thankful for this gift and wish that someone would have pointed this out to me before I wasted a couple years at college before picking Geography as my major! So obvious!

The only glitch is don't put me by mountains or a grid system. They just throw me off!

There is definitely a difference.

For a long time I thought Campbell was just like her big sister. They look very similar, are both generally easy going, happy and have both been pretty obedient. I think it was about 6 months ago when it really hit me how different they really were. James is a little shy and obstinate. Campbell is spunky and totally determined. James has the first child perfectionism. Campbell the second child comedian. And now I do see the differences in their looks.

Yesterday another incident happened that really showcased their differences.

James and Campbell have really been into drawing lately. When Bill came home from work the other day he asked me about the marker drawing on the bathroom counter. Earlier in the day I had confiscated a permanent marker from Campbell. Sure enough she had graffiti the bathroom counter. Luckily I talked to my sister and Scrubbing Bubbles did the job to get it out. The next day I noticed Campbell walking around with (washable) markers and some scraps of paper. The pattern on the paper caught my eye. She had found the bills and checks I had written out earlier and put in a drawer until they needed to be paid. And she colored all over them. It was a fun trip to the City Hall to see if they could still accept the check (of course it was my last check). They said it was no problem. Now it's not like we haven't told her over and over that we only color on paper, and at that only her paper. She has tons of her own coloring books and pads of paper.

Yesterday she was sitting at the counter in the kitchen and I see that she is coloring. I take a closer look and she is coloring on my important papers, again! I was livid. I admit, I raised my voice and let her know exactly that she should not color on anything but her papers. This is when I noticed a definite difference between her and James. She looked like she was going to start to cry, then she stiffened up, gritted her teeth and stared at the paper. She acknowledged when I asked if she understood. James would have been instantly in tears with an explanation.

There is definitely a difference.

Tag!

We had a great weekend and I have been a little stuck with the blogging thing. And the cleaning thing. So this tag should at least help with the blogging thing. (not to eloquent today people)

Three Things Each

20 Years Ago
1. I was baptized.
2. I was in 2nd grade at Savage Elementary School.
3. I told my class that I had eaten Fried Worms (true!).

10 Years Ago
1. I was starting college at Ricks in Rexburg, ID and loving it!
2. I had met my life long friends Britt and Liz: )
3. I was learning how to live on my own, what an experience.

5 Year Ago
1. I had just had James.
2. Going to college at Northern Illinois University.
3. Being blissfully happy with my life, married, baby and going to school.

2-3 Years Ago
1. I had Campbell.
2. I was in my last semester of/graduating from college majoring in Geography.
3. Working as a teller at Castle Bank, loved it!

1 Year Ago
1. Living in Milwaukee, WI.
2. Enjoying the city life, museums, parks, splash pools and Lake Michigan.
3. I was babysitting Kennedy and James started preschool.

This Year so Far
1. Putting our house on the market.
2. Moving to Iowa.
3. We took a trip to Cali! Disneyland, the beach, Aunt Lisa, Tyson, Nicole, Lianne, and Grandma Bell :)

Yesterday
1. Took James to school and picked her up.
2. Did 3 loads of laundry.
3. Made chicken lettuce wraps for dinner.

Today
1. Fed James and Campbell breakfast.
2. Went to the store to get Bill some allergy medicine.
3. Wiped off the table and paid bills.

Tomorrow
1. Take James to school.
2. Clean the house.
3. Play with Campbell.

Next Year
1. Hopefully our house will be sold by then and we will be buying a house in Iowa.
2. Jame will be in 1st Grade.
3. I would love to go to Europe, this is a far reach!