This is what happens when Mom is sick on the couch for a day…

Ethan brought almost all his toys, and all the blankets and pillows in the house to his room to play with… Whatever keeps ‘em happy and quiet!

Categories: General
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My Grandpa has a farm… although he is retired from farming, he still has his fields that he rents out. For the past couple years he has had his fields full of pumpkins and squash… and Gram and Gramp always load up their car and bring us boxes and boxes of goods. This year we decided to go out and pick some of our own to give out to family and friends. It was a beautiful sunny day and a great time with the family. I enjoyed the afternoon with, not only my kiddos but with my grandparents as well. We usually go to their place on a holiday so the whole fam is in and lots is going on. This particular Sunday afternoon was a bit different…. just a regular old day on the farm with Gram and Gramp. Spending a few hours in the field and coming back to a warm house with sloopy joes waiting for us. It was a fun day to remember and cherish.

Categories: Family
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Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. I’m not doing so good at managing my time well these days. And the blog is the first to get shoved to the back burner… I guess it’s better this then my family right. Well, we’ve kept busy this fall. It’s been an interesting one this year with our crazy Ohio weather… 30 degrees then back up to 80 and back to 50… I feel like our weather is constantly changing moods. Anyway, I don’t even know where to begin with what we’ve been up to for the past month… just the boys getting bigger and requiring lots of attention. Ethan is loving preschool and is doing great. So far I’ve only worked in the class once and it was a blast. I loved watching Ethan interact with the other kids and just watch him learn. Lucas loves everything Ethan does, loves to play with him and copy him. They’re really starting to become little buddies. If Lucas wakes up before Ethan he runs around the house “E-E, E-E” (that would be “Ethan” in Lucas language) and Lucas is the first person Ethan wants to see when he gets home from school. I love it.
Kevin has been busy with school and work. I don’t think I ever mentioned that he changed jobs… so… by the way, Kevin has a new job… as of May. He’s been working from home all summer and it’s been fantastic. We all love having him home and it’s really working out quite well. He just closes the office door if the kiddos are getting to loud but they LOVE to go knock on his door to say “HI” several times a day. What a blessing to have such a flexible schedule especially while he’s in school. I’ve been busy with 2 growing boys, church administration work and occasionally letting my creative juices flow into sewing bags and such. Fall is my favorite season and we’ve all enjoyed playing outside on cool, crisp, sunshiny days, picking apples, raking leaves and planting spring bulbs.

Here are some pictures of what we’ve been up to for the past month.

Ethan, and all the kids from preschool love to climb “the tree” after school everyday!!! If we “forget” to climb it, it’s not a fun ride home.

Marybeth and I threw a baby shower for our dear friend Melissa Hatch. It was a beautiful day to celebrate such a beautiful miracle … with 30 friends and family!

Ethan LOVES Melissa!!

Great Gram and Gramp reading to the boys.

Ethan’s first field trip at school was to the Pumpkin Peddler. He was so excited and just loved picking his own pumpkin.

They got to go on a hayride too… can you tell he’s excited!

We also celebrated Kevin’s 31st birthday with our annual trip to The Real Seafood Company for his free birthday meal.

Then my parents took him out for another great meal at Mon Ami in Cawtaba Island, Ohio

I finished a new bag this month… for my friend Melissa (a diaper bag). I was quite pleased with my new design. And hope to be making many more.

No fall season is complete without going apple picking…

We had to use ladders most of the day as the trees were very picked over, all the apples were left at the top!

Kevin’s family came in to celebrate Kevin’s birthday… it’s always fun to have them here for a visit

Ethan cuddling with Uncle Joel

Categories: Family, General
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Been making a few bags lately… and until I uploaded all these pictures, I didn’t realize I had been working with the same fabric on each one. Eh, oh well, I guess I love the fabric.

This one is out in Arizona with a dear friend from college

This one is in Colorado for my Sis-in-law … a gift for being a mom of 3 now!

The inside

And a nursing cover to go with it (HA… no baby under there … just pretending. It’s hard to take a picture by yourself of something like this!)

This one went to college with another friend from church

Inside

I’ve got a few more in the works… will post those when complete.

Categories: Sewing Projects
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This morning has been both fun and productive. Recently I’ve been stalking all sorts of blogs that have great ideas for kid-art at home. A million ideas and I want to do them all and well… it just gets overwhelming and I end up reading blogs more then actually doing the arts and crafts that I find. Well, today we actually accomplished a project that I’ve been meaning to do for a long time! It was both fun and productive. PERFECT!

Recycled Crayons… taking all those broken pieces and crayons with the paper torn off, etc. and making new ones. I did this as a kid but I think we let the crayons sit outside and melt in the sun and that took FOREVER! A while back I tried doing it in the microwave and that just ended in big mess with a stench that lasted all day. So today we did it in the oven thanks to Make and Takes Blog. Check out the quick and easy way to make chunky crayons here.

Yay, new, fun crayons!

Categories: General
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Today was Ethan’s first day of preschool. He’s been anticipating this day for quite some time… since the beginning of spring to be exact… for Rainbow Preschool is why he decided to get potty trained!

Rainbow is a co-op preschool where I will be working in the classroom once a month as well as serving on 2 different committees. I’m excited to be a part of his classroom and watch how he learns and grows throughout the year. Today was a shortened session (only 1 hour) to get the kids used to the school. Parents were allowed to stay with the kids. Needless to say, Ethan could have cared less if I was there. And he practically threw a fit when it was time to leave and come home! I don’t think he’ll have any problems saying good-bye on Monday when I don’t stay with him.

Here are some pictures from an overly excited mom sending her 1st born off to school.

A proud daddy

A proud mommy

Heading out the door

And outside our house ready to go

And then again outside the school

A little playtime at school

“Look Mom, it’s just my size!”

Categories: Ethan
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We had a wonderful Labor Day evening with great friends and food!! Our dear friends, the Core’s, are moving to Omaha, NE soon and they so graciously had us over to eat the food from their freezer…. Lobster tails and ribs (I want a freezer like that)! Brett and Jenny and their kids, JB and Macayla are not only great friends of ours, they are such a sweet family in our Bowling Green community. Leading the BG Young Life for many years, and working with the pregnancy center and so active in our church. The generosity and the love of Christ that pours from them is amazing and inspiring. Our first “taste” of their graciousness was when Ethan was born 3 1/2 years ago. We were fairly new to the church (or at least we still felt new) and Jenny arranged meals for us to be delivered every other day for a month. She showed genuine interest in the issues of a new mom and helped however she could. Although I know now she was doing only what was natural for her… caring and loving on people. We have watched Brett and Jenny give of themselves, their time and their things over and over and its Christ we see in all they do. It has been amazing doing life with these dear friends and it’s so hard to believe they will soon be in a new community, and in a new church with new friends. But what a great family Omaha is getting. Our prayers are with you, friends, as God opens new doors for you, provides new friends for you and blesses you far more than you can imagine. We love you Core’s! (tears)

Ok… on to some fun memories… here’s our Labor Day:

Check out those lobster tails!

Lucas and Lexi enjoying the cookout

The kiddos

The Ladies

And the Gents

The whole gang

And the Core’s… we will miss you guys!

Categories: Friends, Holiday
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