Ben...the superhero!

And while Clara was playing piano, Ben was busy being a superhero!

 Check out the cape!

 I tried to give him a little squeeze, but he didn't have time for anything sentimental...he had to get the bad guys and save the day!

 He is the CUTEST little boy we know!

she's gonna be a piano player!

Look at this little piano playin' girl! 

 Daddy was never classically trained...so his technique may look strange to those with a trained eye for piano excellence!

like father...like daughter

This could be the funniest picture of Kurtis and Clara yet!  I have lots to update including Clara's 8 month post, but I had to get this one up on the blag for all your eyes!

trip to Palouse.

Oct 6 and 7 were October Days.  October Days for teachers are days that are designated at statewide conference days in Idaho.  I'm a lucky duck because my district doesn't have those days as conference days for us, so we can attend a conference if we want to, or we can take a little trip!

Oma, Clara, and I loaded up in the Lincoln and headed up to Palouse to visit Cousin Ben, Auntie Teenie, and Uncle Steve. 

We had a great time!  We went out to eat, shopped, attended a Vandal tailgate party, and hung out around the house.  I was a bozo and didn't take many pictures during our stay.  I don't know what I was thinking!

Here are Oma and the grandbabes playing the first morning we were there!

We were lucky enough to be joined by Jen, Joe, and Andie (Steve's brother and his family).  Their oldest, Sam, was busy hanging out with Grandma Kaufman - so we missed seeing him during coffee hour.We had a nice coffee hour with them and Teenie baked us banana bread and pumpkin cookies.  It was great to sit down and visit with them, and Andie was just precious!  I stole these pics from Jen's blog!  Thank goodness she was documenting the morning - like I said I was a complete bozo taking pics this weekend!

Here are Ben and Andie - cousins who are only 4ish months apart!

Andie and Ben know how to climb under the glass coffee table, but Clara isn't quite mobile, so we shoved her under there.  She loved it!  Do all kids love forts that are just their size? 

Sweet little girls - there is almost exactly a year between these two!

Clara came down with a cold on Friday, so to see her smiling was a little more rare than usual.  However, she sure looked happy in these pics!

Love it!

Jen also snapped this pic of us at the Vandal tailgate party!  Seriously Jen, can you move to Boise and be my full time photographer?  It was a great time!  I hadn't been to a tailgate in years, and it was extremely mellow!  Not what I expected from a bunch of crazy Vandals!

Thanks Teenie and Steve and Ben for letting us bombard your home...AGAIN!  We love coming to visit because you're always such gracious hosts!

my dear husband.

Nothing makes me happier that when my husband surprise cleans for me!

I came home from a long weekend up north (more on that to come) and this is what I found.  I'm glad I don't have a before picture (you don't want to know how terribly dirty our shower was before).  I was so thrilled when I saw the shower that I had to snap a picture of it! 

I mentioned Pioneer Woman in my last post.  I love her blog!  She sometimes writes haiku poems, and I thought I'd try it in honor of Kurtis...because he cleaned our shower!

I left a huge mess,

You swooped in with your muscles,

And the dirt vanished!

Thank you Kurtis!  A few years ago, a clean shower wouldn't have made me feel the way it makes me feel today!  I'm still smiling a few days later!

eating from the garden.

The garden is FINALLY producing ripe, fresh food for us!  It was September before we ate our first garden tomato.  A little pathetic, but we're going to enjoy it while we can!  This dish has been one of our faves lately - a modified version of Pioneer Woman's Creamy Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce.  I just leave out the cream!  We use basil, Roma tomatoes, zucchini, peas, and green beans from the garden to add some pizazz!

7 months old.

Clara turned 7 months on September 22.  Her stats are:

17 pounds 8 ounces

length - 27 inches

head - 17.5 inches

She is doing new things everyday.  Her voice is hilarious.  She is trying out as many sounds as possible.  She says mamama, and bababa, screeches, screams, and blows bubbles and drools a lot!  She "sings" during Oma's piano lessons and along with others when they sing.  Her singing sounds a lot like screaming, but she consistently does this while listening to music...therefore, it is singing!

She is enjoying three solid meals a day.  She likes feeding herself puffs and cheerios and baby mum mums, but whatever you do, don't feed her these first!  We've noticed that once she starts feeding herself independently during meal time, she won't take food from a spoon from Mom or Dad very easily.  Her pincer grasp is coming along just fine!  She can grab food beautifully, but letting it go to eat it is a little difficult!

We are learning that Clara likes to do things on her terms, and if she isn't in the mood for something, DON'T push it.  Are we in trouble?

She is a baby.  If another little person touches her in a way that she finds slightly rough, she'll cry instantly.  This cracks us up!

She is getting up on hands and knees, but isn't crawling quite yet.  She can scoot backwards and is great at spinning cookies (slow cookies, that is).  She rolls to get places.  She can roll so quickly on the bed that it is dangerous to leave her alone for a split second.

She loves other babies and is constantly eating their faces kissing them!  She lights up when she sees another baby or small child.  This is so fun to see.  She loves interacting with other babies, and children and adults.  She's pretty social!  Where did she get that from? (Kurtis)

She got her first tooth at 7 months and 6 days.  It was a rough couple days and nights, so we were delighted when we felt that little sharp tooth poking through on her bottom right gums.  She loves to bite down on the rubber spoons with her tooth!  She's got quite a bite already.

She grabs anything in front of her.  I remember when my nephew Ben was her age, my brother in law Steve would warn that "All this is within reach" and I'm learning that the same goes for Clara.  If she sees it, she will go for it.  This includes bowls of baby food, hot cups of coffee, electronic devices, etc. 

She loves patty-cake and the song "You are My Sunshine".  She recognizes her name.  She looks for dropped objects and is beginning to enjoy the "Uh-oh" game when she drops things! 

We are enjoying Clara beyond belief.  She is delightful and everyone comments on what an easy baby she is.  We feel so lucky to learn how to parent with just such a child. 

cousin bath time.

These two were at Oma's one day and took a kitchen sink bath.  The pics that Teenie and Oma took were precious.  I hate having to be away from Clara all day, but pics like this make it a little easier!  I know she's having fun while I'm away!

 She obviously is missing he parents right now!

 I love this one!

She's really eyeballing Ben's shovel.  I guess she had a little fit when she couldn't get it away from him!

 Apparently she took to pulling Ben's luscious, blond locks!  He wasn't a fan of her antics!

 And we're done!

we went to another wedding.

This time it was the wedding of my lovely friend Teri and her new husband Dave!  Here they are during their first dance as Mr. and Mrs.

 Kurtis and Clara danced during the end of the father daughter dance when other Dads and girls were invited to join in!

 The rest of us danced after that!

 Here are Kurtis and Clara congratulating the bride and her dad!

 Teenie and Ben came to celebrate!

 I saw a bunch of people from high school!

 We got to wear boots!  It was at the fabulous community barn in Star - so boots were appropriate!

 Here I am with my besties!

 Mom and Em joined in the fun too!

 Here are all us Waldon girls and babes!

 Ben had an absolute ball!  He got so sweaty that we had to strip him down!

Clara had a blast too!  Especially because she got to try a little wedding cake!

 Our little family toward the end of the evening!  It was a fantastic celebration!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Meadows!