We're living the dream, baby!

We're moving to Chicago!

Well, Evanston, anyway. Wally accepted a position at Northwestern University (hence the purple type) to work with a Rock Star in the chemistry world. We will be moving right after Christmas and he will start in January. We are very excited for this opportunity and for our new adventure. Kelsie is a little nervous about moving (who wouldn't be at her age?) and Brandon just shrugs his shoulders and says "good" when we ask him how he feels. Wally will fulfill a two and a half year commitment at the university and then will apply for a faculty position at another university after that. He hopes to eventually have his own lab to do research and have one more title, Professor.

Because Dr. Paxton isn't enough.

We will keep you updated with our plans as they unfold. . .

Hi! I'm Daffy Duck!

Caleb makes a funny noise that many people, mostly strangers, have labeled as sounding like Daffy Duck. It is the noise he makes when he is really excited about something or when he gets bored. We were at the airport last night on our way home from Chicago (more on that later) when he decided to let his presence be known and started his Daffy Duck impersonation. It started in the bathroom when I was changing his diaper and women would come over to the changing station to see who was making all that noise. He continued on once we got back to the waiting area at the gate and had the attention of just about everyone sitting around us! There was even one lady that would echo him just to keep him going! It was at least a little more entertaining than the headline news that was played over and over in the airport, so I guess it wasn't so bad!

This was also our way of keeping Caleb entertained during our flight. He sat between us and we pushed a car across the tray in front of him for about 20 minutes. It was the most exciting thing that happened to him during the whole 3 hour plane ride! If you listen really close, you'll hear his duck noise.

Everybody needs a hero

Is this just about the cutest Luke Skywalker drawing you've ever seen?!? Brandon has finally shown some interest in drawing and decided to draw a picture of Luke Skywalker, his latest hero.

Apples, Pumpkins, and a little Flag Football

We have had a very busy week here in the Paxton home. Sunday afternoon Wally suggested that Kelsie and Brandon ride their scooters around the block (listening to 4 hours of conference can be very taxing for those so young) and get some energy out. It was a pretty big deal for them to do this without an adult. Kelsie was in charge, of course, with Brandon happily scooting along behind her. They came home and wanted to go again and Wally decided to go with them. While out on their adventure around the block, a lady in her car stopped and asked Wally if he was the father of those two kids. He said "yeah" and she continued on to tell him that she saw them riding their scooters with no sign of adult supervision around and took it upon herself to call the police. To which Wally replied, "Yep, their mine." and walked away. A nice gesture from a concerned lady driving along, ended with her calling the police back and letting them know all's well.

Our week continued on with all our regularly scheduled events (FHE, dance, baths, etc.). Wally has been sick all week with a pretty bad head cold. I don't think I've seen him this sick since the first year we were married and he couldn't swallow his spit because his throat hurt so bad (it went into a cup in case you were worried). I was able to finish Caleb's Halloween costume and get started on Kelsie's and even come up with some fun things for us to do. We were excited for Friday since there was no school and we could sleep in. Well, with a baby it's not as easy as it sounds. Caleb was up and ready to eat by 7 a.m. and Brandon was already downstairs playing his morning's dose of video games.

We decided to pick some apples at a local farm here that morning and really had a great time. I'm sure it was pretty comical watching me herd 2 kids along plus our apple-picking buckets, our boxes, and the stroller with Caleb. We managed to have a fun time except for Caleb's crying and all the bur's that stuck to our pants, which Brandon had a really hard time with. We still managed to come home with 42 pounds of apples, a little more than the 25 pounds I was planning on. The plan was to start making some applesauce together until I couldn't remember where all my canning jars were (still haven't unpacked them).

After eating some lunch and getting everyone going on something I was too tired to think of anything else so I decided to read my book until Brandon got bored and thought it would be fun to repeat things over and over in my face. In an effort to keep my sanity, we decorated our trick-or-treat bags, watched what Rachael Ray was cooking for dinner that night and two compelling episodes of Arthur. Kelsie then had a friend come over for a few hours that ended up being a sleep-over, which meant a late night and early morning with the kids.

Saturday started out really fun with Brandon's final flag football game of the season. The weather was great and he was happy and he even scored a REAL touchdown this week and outran one of the bigger kids on the other team to do it. He did end up getting tackled and fell pretty hard on his face, but he was OK after the tears subsided. If you happened to see his almost touchdown from last week, here's another video of him scoring his real touchdown today.

We also drove out to what is probably the ONLY bona fide pumpkin patch here in the tri-cities. Located at the Country Mercantile Market in Pasco, we were able to enjoy a hay bale maze, hay bale pyramid, tractor hay ride to the pumpkin patch, a corn maze, a barn with some animals in it, and some ice cream. Kelsie and Brandon each picked out the perfect pumpkin that they could carry (very important) and found a nice small one for Caleb, who quickly marked it with his drool. We had a fun time together enjoying the nice weather and the harvest.












Just to prove that I was, in fact, there with my family, here is a rare picture of yours truly:

Perhaps the things most noteworthy about our week:

Caleb started crawling! He has been rolling around all over the place for some time now and has even been up in the crawl position rocking back and forth for a while. He finally figured out how to scoot forward and move. It is an exciting time here for his newly discovered mobility, but also a time to remember how to baby-proof our house. Oh yeah, and buy a gate.

For those of you who know Kelsie, her eating habits are nothing less than fastidious. We have never known another kid who is as picky as she is about food. The food on her plate cannot touch at all, and can only consist of cheese, tortillas, or pizza. This last week we reached a milestone here, folks. Kelsie ate LASAGNA! I figured that she just wanted dessert really bad that night but then she double wow'ed me by eating it again another night! For such a momentous occasion, we happily provide a picture!







Until next time...

Go Crocodiles!

Brandon started playing flag football this fall through the YMCA here. He is part of the green team, better known as the Crocodiles. It has been a lot of fun to watch these 4 and 5 year olds figure out how to play such a complicated game! I mean, aren't you just supposed to tackle the kid with the ball? No, this one involves flags. It didn't seem to take too long for him to get the concept of pulling a flag instead of pulling someone down.

Last week was his first official game and he scored two touchdowns, but who's counting, right? He was having lots of fun until he got tackled by a bigger kid and then had a few reservations, and a lot of tears, about going out to finish the game. (It also didn't help that about a week before had been stung by a bee on his ear and has been afraid to go outside ever since. During his game, another boy got stung by a bee which reminded him of his own incident and made him all the more nervous about going out onto a field where a bee might get him.). He did finish though and we were proud.

Today, he had a lot more fun, but played a little more cautiously. He caught on enough to stay away from the bigger kids so he wouldn't get hurt. He finished his game with all smiles and an almost touchdown (his flag was pulled at about the 40-yard line, but he kept going until he reached the end zone). At any rate, we were proud of him for running as fast as he could and for finishing the game.

What are YOU watching?

Watching hours and hours of TV so YOU don't have to.

Since it was Premiere week on the major network channels last week, I thought I might as well offer my own opinions and ratings about my favorite shows and some of the new ones this fall. Based on a 1 - 10 scale, 1 being beyond help and 10 being just great, here goes:

How I Met Your Mother - 9

This AWESOME show just makes us laugh. We love the humor and all the characters in it. It just keeps getting better every season! You could even say it's LEGEN... wait for it....wait for it.....

The Big Bang Theory - 3

I think if you are way, way, WAY into all the scientific humor then this show is for you. It's about the dumb blond that a bunch of nerds fall for but make stupid jokes that you don't get because you have no idea whose theory or what algorithm they're talking about (or maybe that's just me). It was pretty funny when they went off about Superman and tried to prove why flying to rescue Lois Lane is worse than if she would have hit the pavement when you consider velocity and, blah, blah, blah. It's probably because I know some people who can get pretty eccentric about those kinds of things...like Star Wars (come on, we all know someone, right?). I will say it is fun to watch it with Wally because he totally gets their rants about whatever and will shout out in agreement every once in a while. Hmmmm, what does that say about Wally?!

Chuck - 7

As far as a "nerd" show goes, this one is more my style. It's about this guy that is just trying to get along in life and not really doing anything too out of the ordinary. He receives an email (by accident) containing all these top secret things from the government. He is now being protected by the beautiful CIA agent who also happens to be a blond. Do nerds and blond's just go together?


The Unit - 9 1/2

Wally and I have watched this show for a couple of years now and we both really like it. It ended last season with a great cliffhanger and started out just as good. It is based off Eric Haney's Inside Delta Force about all these different military operations that are so top secret they come straight from the president and nobody else knows about them. As far as an action military drama goes, this one is great! If you haven't seen it, rent the first season and start there. You won't be sorry



The Biggest Loser - 7
I think this show is very uplifting and fun to watch the major changes that these people make in their lives. It makes me want to be a better person when it comes to health and nutrition. I just think it is ironic that they have been 2-hour episodes lately, meaning that whoever is watching the show is sitting, inactive and probably enjoying some good dessert while they are watching other people work their butts off, literally.


Kid Nation - 5

I have a hard time with this show. It is too much like Survivor for little kids. I hate to see the smallest ones upset and the older ones bullying everyone else around. It's a nice idea, especially for kids, to prove that they can build a city and work together to make it run, but I don't think I'd sent my 7 year old out on her own to fend for herself.



Bionic Woman - 3

I guess this is based off some old TV show or something, but I didn't really get it. Was the accident on purpose? Suddenly she's this machine that can do anything and she knows what to do with it. I really am not into the Sci-Fi type shows and this one didn't bring me any closer to liking them. Oh, and by the way, Sara Corbin says "Hello".

My Name is Earl - 7

This season started with Earl doing jail time and how to stay alive while in prison. It seems that karma doesn't stop once you're on the inside. He's just such a nice guy that he's willing to even help out the guy that's trying to kill him. And then there's poor Randy who can't survive without Earl, even after all the hard work Joy went through to get him to think on his own. It's just too bad that rock was conveniently next to the car Randy smashed. Yeah, he came a long way, but still has a long way to go.


The Office - 8

This is another one of those shows that we look forward to just for laughs. I was very anxious to see what was going to happen between Jim and Pam. I'm glad they're dating, but I think it's funny they tried to keep it a secret. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of the show are now that they are "officially" together. As far as a season premiere goes, it could have been better. I wouldn't say it was their best. The 5k run was pretty funny, especially when the 4 guys took a taxi to get drinks and wait out the race. Classic.




DARY!


I guess I need to find something better to do with my time after all that.



Oh wait, I guess I could blog.

Simpsonians!

Help! We've been Simpsonized!