our fall weekend

After being totally and completely lazy this fall I decided to jam pack our fall adventures into one weekend. I woke up Saturday raring to go. Stop one was the pumpkin patch. Below are a few pictures of what we did. I promise Luke was there too, and there are pictures- just not on here.







After this we did non-autumnal activites- bowling and arcade games on campus. Jack loves air hockey so we had to do it.

The next day we went to the botanical gardens. We missed the height of
color and leaves by a week or two but it was still gorgeous.







Then we went to get our apple ciders and chai teas. Next stop, home, for some pumpkin carving. Jack wanted no faces or scary monsters on his pumpkin--just his name. The deal was he had to help scoop out the goo on the inside or else it would become my pumpkin. After some protest he helped-- a little.






I have promised to make Halloween shaped sugar cookies as well as homemade caramel apples this week though I fear I may be aiming too high. We will see. We will definitely go trick-or-treating though. Be prepared to find pictures of a gronckle on here next week.

Harry Jackums

We spent fall break in Henderson. The very first thing we did when we got there was head out to the fall festival. Jack rode two rides and was then hungry and then ready for bed. So was this a successful outing? Not 100% sure, but I have two pictures to verify that we did in fact go.



The next day we went out for lunch and celebrated Jamie's birthday a few days early. The picture I wanted, but could not get, as my clumsiness prohibited me from getting my camera out in time ( it was busy having a conversation with the floor). Instead of icing on her face you just get her in the hat.



Then there are a few pictures of the cousins and also grandpa with Luke.







So it was simple visit but still nice to see everyone.

The next thing I want to talk about here is Harry Potter. Now this is not an in-depth analysis of the book, characters, religion, or a commentary on social issues. No, this is just pure amazement at one Jack Weigel. I have read/listened as audio books all of the Harry Potter series, and I have seen all movies up-to-date. I am excited to go see the newest movie and have already asked my family to go see it with me ( I like to make them go see fantasy movies with me-- The Lord of the Rings). Pete as had to watch( on video) these movies with me over the years and has never read the books. I decided it was time to get him up to speed on everything, so I am currently reading the books aloud to him. The best time to start reading long novels is during a long drive-- so last weekend was the perfect time to do this. We began at the beginning, as people do, and I read well over half the first book on our way to Henderson. I read some while in Henderson, and finished the first book on the way back and started on the second. Jack was with us the whole time, of course, and he was forbidden to talk. He did not enjoy this and wanted to ask every 10 minutes how much longer we had. We took to ignoring him. However, something happened while I read this book--my son was actually listening. Did he follow it completely- no he is 3. Did he understand what all the words meant and what all underlying themes were-no, again he is 3. He did begin to ask questions and become familiar with some of the characters. When we got into the car he would automatically ask if we were going to read the book again. When we would finish for a bit he would tell us how much he loved the Harry Potter books. When we weren't reading he was talking about them to us. He would say things like: I really like Dudley and Malfoy and the Dark Forest aka the Forbidden Forest. He would ask about the unicorn, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and the slugs that Ron kept throwing up. Pete noticed this far sooner than I did and began playing up some of the funny parts or cool parts like-- a dog with 3 heads, flying on broomsticks, throwing up slugs, and other parts. Jack loved it. Sometimes it would seem that he had gotten bored, he didn't seem to be listening, he was looking through his own dinosaur books, but if I stopped he would ask why I wasn't reading anymore. This morning he asked over breakfast if I would read to just him, since daddy was asleep, and I did. I must say that I am simply amazed. Just amazed.

Smile vs. No smile

When you pull out the camera for Luke this is what you get:



When you tell Jack to smile this is what you get or some slight variation:



So in the end I just try to get Jack when he is staring with no real expression- at least I can see his eyes:



They are both so funny and so different. We finally moved Luke into his crib and there were no problems at all. He just fell asleep.

Jack has decided that sleeping in your own room is for the birds. He refuses to sleep in there. When I asked why he said: This is where I play and not where I sleep. I guess you can't really argue with that. So he waits until I am in bed (which means we are arguing about sleeping from like 8pm-10pm)then he sneaks out of his room gets blankets and falls asleep on the couch. He loves sleeping on the couch and actually does sleep out there. The other night I was curious as to whether it was the couch or just that he was worn out by the time he made it to the couch, so around 9pm I went into his room ( I knew he was still awake) and asked him he wanted to sleep on the couch now. He was pumped! He grabbed his Dino Dinners book and came out to the couch. I got things ready for him and asked if he wanted the main light dimmed or completely off. He said off. When I asked how he was going to read his book with the lights off he said: I have special eyes that can help me see in the dark.
I went in my room to read my magazine and about 15 minutes later checked on him, and the kid was out. I guess sleeping on the couch really does help him go to sleep.

Luke loves to spend time with Jack and Pete. If he is in the living room with me and the boys go into the bedroom it is only a matters of moments before Luke is doing his caterpillar crawl down the hall. Once in the room I always hear a baby whine/grunt until he gets picked up, then he is as happy as can be. I am always shut out of boy time-- even the 7 month old wants in on the action.

One boy is still high maintenance and the other is so chill and relaxed. I am amazed at how different they already are. Jack is constantly demanding attention and if you just hold Luke or give him a toy or food he is as happy as can be. He just sort of waits for you to dote on him (which I know is something we will have be conscience of as he gets older); Jack never ever waits for anything. Still, they are super cute together- Jack loves to help his brother, and Luke always gets a huge smile on his face when he sees Jack. So precious.

What no clouds?!

Jack is doing a joy school twice a week. The moms rotate who teaches each week. It has been fun for Jack and something he looks forward to. As I am sure you recall, because I sure do, the whole swim lessons experience was a fiasco (at first) so I was petrified of leaving him twice a week for an hour and a half with someone else. On the way to school trepidation filled the air, and I was guilt-ridden at the thought of leaving him there. We walk in, he goes upstairs to play while the other kids come trickling in, and nothing. No fear, no worries, no crying, no screaming, no anything. I let him know I am leaving and hear a faint-- bye mom. Upon my arrival to pick him up I am greeted with-- why are you here? Don't get me wrong I am so glad it wasn't like pulling teeth, but that is it? Nothing more? I mean I am his mom.

Well, I taught it this week and was brought to you by the letter C, the number 3, and clouds. I think the dog was a bigger hit than me, but so it goes. I took a few pictures of them during my stint as teacher- some are kind of blurry-sorry.

In these pictures, taken on my first day, the kids are 1. coloring in their abc books. 2. holding up the clouds they made. 3. making it rain.





Then we have day two. Each day I had one kid absent so if you notice a difference in kids-- this is why.

On the first day we went out to look for clouds-- nada. So we went out again the second day and-- no clouds!! Are you kidding me? So here are the kids looking for clouds.


Here are the kids being super cute and nothing else.



For snack we had cheese, crackers, and capri sun because they all start with C.


Picture of stuff we did. Colored the number 3, had the kids count out three poms, and then glued them to their number 3. Then we made the 3 main types of clouds-- cirrus, stratus, and cumulus.


Finally, it was play time! Ok so the room is a mess- what do you expect with 4 kids playing in there?



What did I learn from this? I learned if you ask a group of 3-yr-olds what they can tell you about clouds you will get these answers: my dress is pink, where is your dog, and I have an owie.

There is right then there is right

A few random Jack sayings as of late and a few things to think about from Pete.

Jack: You're nice even when you're mean.
Jack: Why do you get on the computer at night? Sometimes I sneak pass you.
Jack: Will you be my mom again after you are my teacher?

Me: Tell daddy why you are shirtless.
Jack: Because my shirt is off.

Our friend Tifani was having the kids turn rice crispy treats into bugs-- this involved pretzels and raisins- Jack apparently said: That seems too hard. (so he just ate his plain)

The other day Jack and I were doing Brain Quest cards-- there was a question that said: Which jar is full? Jack said: Full of what?
Me: I don't know stuff Pete: that is a good question-What? That changes things. Me: Shut up. Full of air doesn't count.

Another brain quest question: Three of these gift boxes are square. Which one is different?( the fourth was a rectangle)
Pete: a box can't be a square because it is 3-d and squares are 2-d. This is what is wrong with how we teach our children math.

Just some things to think about from our house to yours.

Life is not dull around here

Last week we had a couple interesting events happen to us-- so I figure it is now or never time if I want to share.

The first one happened while we were in STL. I wasn't there, so this story may be exaggerated and/or not 100% accurate. Pete and I were out for the evening and we had family friends watching the boys at the hotel. The hotel room was a suite so 2 bedrooms connected by a large 'living' area. Luke was asleep in our room and Jack was in the living area with K and D. There was a noise in the other bedroom, but when it was checked out no one was in there. D popped his head in the hall and saw a housekeeper who said that she had been in the room putting mints on pillows and checking on towels or something. ( I just want to say that I find it weird that there is a practice in this hotel of putting mints on the pillows at like 8:30-9pm when guests are already checked in and could be asleep). Then some conversation was had about how there was a baby in the next bedroom / next door down the hall so not to go in there. I believe this was even repeated a couple different times-- next bedroom = baby= stay out! Well a few minutes later there is a noise coming from our bedroom so they go in to check it out and guess what they find.............housekeeper holding my baby!!!!! Yeah-- 1. we don't need mints we are already checked in 2. DON'T hold MY baby!! Apparently she thought he was abandoned and was comforting him-- 1. not crying 2. our stuff was still in the room 3. you were told mere minutes before by adults that there was a baby in there sleeping. * We kept the door bolted the rest of the time we were there.

The next story happened when we got back to town. Pete was studying one night and the kids were asleep, so I angled the computer screen toward my bed and was watching a movie. It was around 10:30pm when I hear a BANG BANG BANG at the door. It was an urgent knock, loud , and aggressive. I ignore it because earlier in the evening our neighbors had a bunch of cars parked in front of their house so I thought perhaps it was someone for them. Again a fierce banging this time accompanied by the rattling of the doorknob. Well, this is getting a little scary and I am not sure what to do. My instinct is to ignore it because I am home alone, but apparently this person really wants in my house. With that being said do I really want to answer the door to a person who wants in? Do I ignore it and then they come in anyway and are pissed because I didn't let them in? I need someone on the phone to comfort me as I head out to the living room so with door banging and doorknob turning I call Pete to ask his advice. He says to look through the peephole-- which doesn't tell me anything. Then he says to ask who it is. I try this and instead of words I am greeted with pounding on the door. I raise my voice and try again. It's the police! Oh man-- I don't trust people. I really have serious trust issues and in my mind I have actually thought about scenarios like this. In my mind I have always told myself-- don't let them in, if you have someone on the phone keep them on the phone, if not -try to get someone on the phone, call the police station to ask if they really sent people to your house, ask for their badges, and stay brave. I have gone over this in my mind a lot because like I said I have trust issues plus massive anxiety so I think about all these things a lot. Well, none of those things happened. Not a single one. I open the door to find two officers that I can see (turns out there were three).

Police: Does xyz lives here.

Me: No.

Police: Did he used to live here?

Me: I don't know we just started renting recently.

Police: What is your name?

Me: It is Rebecca.

Police: Can we come in there are a lot of moths out here? ( which is true we have like 60 moths the swarm our light)

Once in I immediately tell Pete I will call him back and hang up ( I mean I hang up? How stupid!?)

Police: What was your name again? When did you move in? Who else lives here? Do you have kids? (I answer all the questions) We need to see your id.

Me: Ok I will get it.

Police: I need to go with you.

Me: Um it is right here( pointing to my purse the policeman comes right next to me and my purse as I get out my wallet then gets out his walkie talkie thing and calls in my name and birthday).

Police: What is your dog's name?

Me: I tell him and they just stare. I begin to explain why he has that name, but then I stop myself because what if they just want know my dog's name to use it later- also they don't really care so I just stop talking mid-sentence.

Police: Ok things here are fine. We were here to issue an outstanding warrant and this was the last known address we will put in our notes that he is no longer at this address. Hopefully we won't be bothering you again.

I call Pete back immediately and my body and voice just start shaking. Pete said he was about to call the police to ask if they sent people to the house-- I am glad some of my paranoia has rubbed off on my husband. He has to finish something up but can leave to be home in half an hour. Good. I check on my kids and I check in their closets too. I go back to my room and don't relax at all until Pete comes home.

Well-- I finish my blog with two pictures of the kiddos because better to leave on a happy note.

Danny-- I wish this blog were for you

My sister-in-law -Cassie-- got married last weekend in the beautiful St. Louis. We had a great weekend full of fun and memories that will last a lifetime. We arrived on Thursday just in time for the bachelorette party/dinner. We were going to arrive at the Drunken Fish via the Metro but outside was a limo-- waiting to whisk us away for a night of debauchery merriment. Cassie received a ton of stuff to use for the honeymoon and after-- much of it unspeakable. :P We played Bachelorette Mad Libs which was super funny( well after sharing 5 or 6 bottles of wine it was funny-ie- Holy Fallopian Tubes!) After this we went to The Big Bang Bar where the bride was serenaded by the one and only Joe Weigel-- Like A Virgin- was the song on tap that night.



The next day included nails, bridal luncheon where Cassie received tamer honeymoon stuff, and of course the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal gave way to a wonderful idea that was started 5 years ago by Danny Weigel at my wedding, but then reborn at the rehearsal. You will see pictures in a minute. We had a great time and I must say that our table at the rehearsal rocked-- we were the best ones!



Then it was Saturday-- the big day!! We girls went out early in the morning to start the beautifying process. After a couple of snags and stressful moments we were all getting our hair and make-up done, eating, and laughing. We were cutting it a bit close to go time so off we went-- some of us lots faster than others. No worries we all made it safe and sound and it took mere moments to get us and the bride dressed in our little space. I will say many of the bridesmaids appeared to be more of a wreck than the bride-tear wise. The service couldn't have been better. Plus, we all learned that Father thinks Sean is a hunchback or the equivalent. *Sean, the flannel covers it up nicely* Cassie and Sean are now Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan. They were so happy, composed, and beautiful. It was perfect.





We weren't done yet-- after the wedding we met up with Molly the Trolley who is the Weigel Family's new best friend. We will be employing her for Luke's graduation. The bridal party went drinking through town on Molly. The first real stop was Humphrey's where shots were had by all to get the party started. (ok Pete and I shared one shot-- does that even count?) We went to Forrest Park, around SLU's campus, and a few other spots. People danced, drank, laughed, chanted, hugged, and had a great wonderful time. Cassie and Sean, it was a great idea that has bonded the Weigel Clan and made us realize we are so much fun together. Plus, we are the life of the party because of-- the aviator sunglasses and bulging biceps- and a few other things. The great idea I mentioned earlier is here-- aviator sunglasses used by the ushers for the wedding and for the after-party. I do have pictures in case you were wondering.





Thanks ya'll for a great weekend-- and lots of jabbajabbajabbajabbajabbajabbajabba--I'm Hans Solo I'm Hans Solo I'm Hans Solo I'm Hans Solo Solo and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun .