Happy Halloween!

Carson wasn't so sure about this whole dress up thing, going to people houses that he doesn't know, asking for candy.... well really he just was having a rough afternoon at home before we left. He was sick earlier this week and I think he is still worn down from that. Chad actually got him to take a nap around 4:30 but then we decided to wake him up at 5:30 so we could eat and then go Trick or Treating. He did ok with the waking up and eating but wasn't excited about changing into a costume. Luckily we had a few for him to choose from...a lion, a monkey, Bob the Builder or a cowboy. He (we) choose a cowboy. Above (a little blurry) is just after leaving our house and making a stop at the neighbors. He had a tear running down his face. He would do ok when people would say "Hi Carson!" but if they said "Hi Cowboy" he would get upset. Eventually he had fun!

Here is Superman, aka Andrew. He absolutely loved trick or treating again this year! Sometimes I wonder where this boy came from...who are your real parents? He is soo outgoing, running from house to house, way ahead of us and saying/yelling to other people that were out "Hi! Hi again!". Before Carson was ready to leave our house, Andrew was out on the porch in costume, handing out candy by the fist full to all that stopped by. Our bowl was empty after we got back home, which is great!! Less temptation for me.

Carson needed/wanted Chad or I to go up to the doors with him. Often Andrew had already been up to the door, was running back down the drive and onto the next house before Carson was up to the door.

Crazy kid! :)

Carson the cowboy sporting a shoulder ride on the way back to our house. He actually said "me love trick or treating!" It often takes him a while to warm up in new situations.

The horses behind. :)

Here are the boys after we were back home, all done trick or treating. I told them they could have candy only if they would pose for a few pictures for me. (I never thought I would use bribery as a parent before having kids, but I will admit that I do...and it usually works!)

Carson holding up the horses head. This is the last day of Carson being 2. I can't believe it. I snuggled with my 2 year old a little longer tonight knowing that tomorrow our baby will be 3 and all grown up! :)

A fun night with all my boys!

Grandpa Birthday

Last Sunday we were able to spend the day with most of Chad's family out in Goshen. The gathering was in honor of his Grandpa's 93rd birthday. We spent the morning with a worship including several of Grandpa's favorite scripture and songs. (What beautiful singing!!) Memories were shared, prayers were said... a great morning with family. Grandpa is a very sweet, caring, wise man. We also had a meal together and spent the afternoon catching up with everyone.

Here are some group photos. First is Grandpa with seven of his eight children.

Rachel, Barb (my MIL), Connie, Myron, Beth, Lila & June

Grandpa with his children & their spouses

Grandpa with his grandchildren that were able to attend

and Grandpa with grandchildren & their spouses & their children (great grandchildren)

A very special gathering. So glad we could be a part of it!

S'mores

Saturday afternoon Chad and Andrew dug a hole in the wooded area behind our house. The plan was for a fire pit. We didn't get a chance to use it on Saturday. But yesterday late afternoon we headed out back. The boys love playing in the woods. They play with sticks, say they are going hunting. We all enjoyed roasting marsh mellows and eating S'mores. It was such a beautiful evening!!

Carson eating his S'mores. I don't know why he looks so sad!

I loved how the sun was shining through the trees on these colorful leaves.

The boys hunting

The beautiful trees and blue sky. The colors were prettier in person than what I was able to capture with the camera.

Under the crib

One day last week, Andrew was having some behavior issues - what does this nearly 5 year old have to be so angry about? Anyways, his consequence was the next day he was not aloud to watch TV.

The day that Andrew was to be TV free, Carson and I had gone to the library for Carson's story time and Carson had picked out a DVD there. I told him that he had to watch the DVD in either his room or Chad & I's bedroom because Andrew wasn't supposed to watch it. He decided that he wanted to watch it on the portable DVD player while laying underneath his crib!

This picture was taken the next day, when Andrew was permitted to watch TV again, but they still wanted to watch it while laying under Carson's crib.

Our Saturday

After some debate, the boys and I received our flu shots on Saturday. The county health department has been having flu shot clinics over the past few weeks and this was the last one. It was a drive thru clinic at the fair grounds. Thank goodness I brought our portable DVD player. The clinic started at 9 am and we got there at 9:10 and were there until 10:10! We just inched along, snaking our way through the fair grounds. Here are some pics of the boys waiting in the car, watching a movie.

I thought this tree was so pretty! I love the changing fall leaves!

Receiving the flu shot was a little traumatic for the boys. I did get out of the car and help the staff give them their shots. I think the anticipation of getting the shot was worse than the actual shot. There were some tears (more than some). It's been awhile since either of them have had a shot. Neither of them got the flu shot last year and this is the first time Carson received it, so he will need another one in 4-6 weeks. He doesn't know that, but he is already saying "No me want another shot - ever!"

So after this, the boys needed a reward for being brave :). The library was sponsoring this event called Big Truck Day. They had brought in two semi trucks, an ambulance, fire truck, tractor and some alpacas. We headed over there to the let the boys explore. We met our good friends there and the boys had a blast. It took Carson a little while to stop crying and forget about the shot; but the sucker, fire truck and firemen helped!

Here is Carson with his soothing sucker inside the firetruck. The firemen were so nice. They explained the truck and their equipment to the boys. They would help them up and down from the truck. The boys would go look at the other trucks there but would always come back to the fire truck. The one time the fireman helped Carson down from the truck he said, "See you in five minutes!" :)

Andrew wearing his hard hat in the ambulance

Andrew driving the tractor

The boys standing next to the firetruck.

A great ending to a somewhat traumatic beginning of the day!

Funny comments

by Andrew at the supper table tonight.

"Pork. Where does pork come from? Is it a wild bird?"

"This salt is really good. It makes the corn taste minty."

Grape juice

I had wanted to can grape juice but wasn't sure if Concord grapes were still available or how to do it. After being home last weekend and talking with my Mom I was confident that I could do this!

On Saturday I called a farmer's market stand in town to see if they had some grapes. The person I talked with asked if I had placed an order and I had not. So she went to check with her boss to see if they had any they could sell me. She got back on the phone and said she could sell me a lug. A what? First time I had heard that term. She said it was about 30# of grapes. I still couldn't wrap my mind around that and didn't really know how much I needed or wanted. I told her I would think about it and maybe come get them later.

I ended up buying the whole lug of grapes. They smelled so fragrant! We canned 33 quarts of grape juice on Saturday, a little over half of the lug.

Isn't it soo pretty? I think it is the prettiest thing we have canned this season. Canning it went pretty well until we had two jars break in two separate batches in the canner. That has never happened to me, I've only canned two years now and I've heard people mention that this has happened to them and I was hoping I wouldn't experience it! Not fun, hope it doesn't happen again.

We had to pop open a jar on Sunday evening to taste it. It was pretty tasty. I enjoyed it with my popcorn - something I remember often having on Sunday evenings growing up at home.

I canned another 21 quarts today (no jars broke this time!!) Chad mentioned we have a one quart for every week. Nice!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad's birthday was back in August. It was a milestone birthdate for him, ending in -0, I will let you try to guess which it might be. We had been trying to plan a birthday party for him for quite a while but were having trouble coming up with a date for us all to be together. We finally were able to be together last weekend for his birthday.

We planned a Hawaiian/tropical/luau themed party and attempted to keep it a surprise from my Dad. I guess at some point my Mom and sister and brother-in-law were talking on the phone and Dad picked up the phone to talk to them. He overheard them talking about the party. He didn't know when it would be but then began picking up on things Mom was doing or saying. One example, he may have thought it a little strange that my brother Tim flew in from Baltimore for a short weekend because "he found cheap tickets".

The day of the party Dad, Chad and Justin drove to Toledo where they met up with my brother Ben and went golfing. It was a little chilley and rainy but I think they still had fun. By the time they came back to my parents Tric, Tim, Mom and I had begun decorating and preparing for the party. So that is when he knew for sure. Dad and Chad then went out to make the home made ice cream. (for his own party! I know, horrible)

We had invited each of Dad & Mom's siblings & spouses to the party. Everyone was able to come except one! Pretty good turn out. We encouraged them to dress in their favorite tropical shirt. For the meal we had pulled pork sandwichs, baked beans, potato salad, chips, fruits and veggies and punch, followed by cake and ice cream. For entertainment, Tric came up with an idea for trivia questions about Dad. We had fun discussing the answers to the questions. Pictures of Dad through the years were also displayed. We also had time for catching up with everyone. It is always so good to spend time with family!!

Here are some pictures of the shin dig...

Cousins Carson and Abby playing on the stairs
Chad, Mary, Elaine, Fred & Justin

My brothers Tim & Ben, Dad and niece Maddie looking at pictures of Dad

Carson modeling his tropical shirt (garage sale 50 cents - love it!)

Art, Donna, Elaine, Levi, Lynn & LaVon deep in thought trying to answer the trivia questions

Andrew with my Mom

Dad opening a few tropical themed gifts - mostly jokes because Dad doesn't really like the items he received - fresh pineapple & coconut, tropical snack mix, dried pineapples. Of course the grandkids aren't far away when gift opening happens.

Ben & Tric (they look a lot a like here!)

Mom & Dad with the birthday cake. Dad's favorite-white cake with raspberry filling. (If you haven't guessed how old Dad is, this might be a clue.)

Tric, Mom, Dad, me & Kristy after the party in our grass skirts and leis.

So we didn't pull off the surprise - kind of hard to when it is at your own house - but I think it was a fun party anyways. Thanks everyone for coming!!

Our trip to Hartville

Almost two weeks ago (where does the time go???) the four of us traveled to Hartville Ohio. We lived in Cuyahoga Falls, OH during Chad's 3rd & & 4th years of medical school (summer of 2001-summer of 2003). During these two years we drove down to Hartville for church. We really enjoyed this church and the many wonderful people we met there. We hadn't been back to that area since early 2004 and hadn't seen anyone from this area for about 3 years. So we decided it was time for a visit!!

It was so great to be back with these friends!! We all now have children and really enjoyed meeting their kids. Andrew & Carson had a blast! We first met up with Scott & Kami for an impromptu lunch. The kids stayed with the guys and Kami & I headed up to a volleyball game that Scott's sister was playing in. When Kami & I got back, Scott & Kami rounded up the miniature horses for rides.

Before actually riding the horse, Andrew said he wanted to ride the horse while it was running. After taking a few steps on the back of the horse he changed his mind - just wanted it to walk.

Little stinker wouldn't look at me or smile - just stuck out his tongue.


After the afternoon there, we headed over to Gary & Charla's house. Gary is Scott's brother. Gary & their oldest son Blake had picked up some worms and we did some fishing in the pond behind their house. This was a new experience for the boys. They both really enjoyed it. Neither one wanted to put on the worms or take off the fish they caught. Do you really blame them? (Chad & I didn't really want to either!) Gary & Blake helped them with that.


That evening we went over to Ryan & Heidi's house, another couple we know from our Sunday School class. Several other couples were there as well. We had pizza for supper and later roasted marshmallow's for s'mores. YUM!! Andrew had so much fun playing with the kids. They ran and ran and ran! with some tackling mixed in.



We headed back to Gary & Charla's where we were staying for the night. They have such a beautiful home in a very nice setting. We went to church with them on Sunday morning. So great to worship there again and see many of the people that we got to know during our time there. We went back to Gary & Charla's for a great lunch with them and their 3 kids and Ryan & Heidi and their 3 kids. We spent the afternoon watching a little football, fishing again, playing on their swing set, feeding their chickens, riding bikes, playing with sidewalk chalk.....

Luke & Carson feeding the chickens some grass

These two little guys both share November birthdays. I think they are 8 days apart!


Sophia & Andrew riding bikes

Sophia is 6 months older than Andrew

Luke & Carson making masterpieces with chalk

I love how little kids can just pop a squat wherever! Notice how both of their feet remain flat on the cement with their knees bent and bottoms so near the ground. Try it, it isn't easy - at least not to hold that position for very long!

Great time!! Thanks for hosting us!!