Fall Fun: jack-o-lanterns, trick or treating, birthday, and more!

We took advantage of a warmer day in October to carve some pumpkins.  Emerson was all into the digging of the "guts" while Landon preferred playing in the grass!  But they turned out pretty cute!  

I also got to celebrate my 34th birthday this week!  I got surprised at school with a bouquet of flowers and had homemade beef and noodles with mom and dad.  The next night, I had a surprise dinner at the Chubby Trout with the fam and a night of "sparkly" presents.  Because, according to the kids, "Mommy likes sparkly clothes."  Where they got that idea, I don't know! :) 

 

Our little trick-or-treaters

We had two fall parties (on a very cold Sunday, as you can see!).  We went to Trunk or Treat at the Davis' church.  This was our first time at the event and we'd definitely go back.  The kids had a great time playing the games and trying to find their way through the John Davis corn maze.  We arrived at the same time as the Frye's, so we got to enjoy the afternoon with them.  Then, we went to our Sunday School party at the Schmucker's.  We had a great time decorating pumpkins, on a hayride, and terrorizing the cats! :)

And one more picture of a cozy time watching the Bears game!

He Grew Some More and Now He's 4!

Landon kept talking about his birthday and all the things he could do when he was 4. ("When I'm 4, I will like pasta."  I'm still not sure that was a true statement!)  We let him open gifts from us on his actual birthday (soccer goal, new church clothes, birthday book) and he always has to take a picture by his birth tree.

Then on Saturday, he had a Team Umizoomi Birthday Party.  It's his favorite cartoon to watch. The characters (Milli, Geo, and Bot) go on adventures and have to use math to solve their problems.  Really cute show! 

Grandparents Berger and Hahn, Davis', Fryes', Great Grandpa Stan and Shirley, and for the first time all Uncles and Aunts came to his party.  We started with an Umizoomi Scavenger Hunt and then moved on to presents.  He was very thoughtful and polite, except when he opened a game that he already owns: "BOO!  I already have this game!" he said! :P  Amos and Grace tried to do headstands throughout the present opening (I think Grace won!!).

 Then it was lunch and cupcake time.  Cupcakes are the way to go!  Much easier and quicker than decorating an entire cake!!

After the party, Landon introduced Tyler to Dinosaur Pop-Up (a clone to the game Trouble) and we COULD NOT get those boys to stop!  They played at least 5 games in a row.  They loved it and did so well playing together!

Landon is such a sweetheart!  We are so blessed to have him in our family.  He catches on to things really quickly.  He loves numbers, can add and subtract, recognizes several words, loves playing with cars, and throwing balls.  He tries his best and doesn't like to disappoint.  We are so excited for the wonderful adventures God has planned for him!

Sleepover Fun!

Well, apparently September has come and gone and I have yet to write a blog entry!  We spent most of the month trying to get back into a school routine.  We also managed to stick in a few fun things for the kids.  Since staying with their Grandmas again, both kids have been really good at taking naps.  So after they brush their teeth and get ready for bed at night, the kids have been each working on a quiet box (the tower of boxes behind Emmy in the 1st picture).  And every night they've been BEGGING, when they put their boxes away, to sleep in our room.  One Friday night, after "Charlotte's Web" and popcorn, we had a sleepover with the kids in their sleeping bags.  They were SUPER excited as you can tell by their faces in the pictures below! :)

This picture cracks me up! :)

Also, in the month of September, they had a "real" sleepover at the Frye's along with the Davis' kids.  They had a great time and LOVED every minute of it.  They keep asking when their next sleepover is.  I think we've created some sleepover monsters! ;)
And in an unrelated note....Emerson is POTTY TRAINED!  She finally decided that she could do it all in the toilet and we got rid of her Pull-Ups.  Congratulations, Little Miss!
We're still working on Landon and trying to motivate him by telling him that when everyone is potty trained, we can spend the night in a hotel with a pool.  All he has left is staying dry when he sleeps.  We're ALMOST there!

Chicago Weekend

I really wanted to get caught up on all my blogging before school started, but this last week has been pretty crazy with trying to get everything ready for school, cooking freezer meals, and getting caught up on housework.  So our fun Chicago weekend was really last weekend, but I'm just getting a minute to write now. :)
We try to go to a Cubs game every year.  It's a fun tradition and I have learned to ALWAYS bring a sweatshirt, no matter what the weather.  You'd think Aug. 11th would be a nice hot day...you'd be wrong!  But at least this time I was prepared! :)

We started the weekend by celebrating an 11 year anniversary with an awesome couple: Amos and Jess Frye.  Matt and Amos have been friends FOREVER and when Amos met Jess in college, she and I quickly became good friends.  We have been so blessed to share our lives with them and watch their 2 adorable children grow.  Because we were going to be in Chicago over their anniversary, they wanted to go to a nice restaurant and we were excited to experience something new.  We went to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab Restaurant.  Long name, but a delicious, expensive restaurant!  After spending a bundle, it was nice that our hotel offered a cocktail hour with free drinks.  I decided to go out on a limb (since I wasn't buying them) and try some new drinks.  Bloody Mary and White Russian I would not recommend, but a Tequila Sunrise is pretty delicious! :)  Then we met up with Jared and Jenn and got some dessert. 

Saturday, the Cubs had a late afternoon game.  We got to walk around Wrigleyville and eat at the Cubby Bear after our continental breakfast at the hotel.  Even though the Cubs blew their lead in the 8th inning!!!, we had a fun time at the game.  Jared, a Reds fan, didn't even rub it in our faces that his team won! :)  Thanks everybody for a great weekend!

1st Dentist Apointment...All Smiles!

On August 8th, Landon and Emerson had their first check up with the dentist.  Prior to their appointment, we really hyped up the dentist and how fun/cool it is!  (They're little and don't need to know the real truth yet! :))  We read books about going to the dentist and brushed really good.  We talked about all of the equipment and the big chair that they could sit in.  We even counted down the days to their appointment.
And thankfully, all that excitement paid off.  Both kids did GREAT!!  No tears or even scared look in the eyes.  Matt and Landon went with one dental hygenist and Em and I were with another.  I was so proud of them for being brave and talking to the people in the dentist office.  They did exactly as they were asked and didn't make a fuss about anything.

Landon with Dr. Yoder

Em helping her hygenist

They couldn't take x-rays because the kids' mouths are pretty small and even the small film wouldn't stay in, but from what they could tell....no cavities.  Way to go Landon and Emmy!!

Sibling Visit to Southern Indiana

We spent a week between Evansvillle visiting Uncle Nate and Bloomington visiting Aunt Tina and Bo (Uncle Steven was still working in Washington, D.C.).  The kids absolutely LOVE staying with their Uncle and Aunt and did a great job on the 6 hour drive to Evansville.  I usually keep the truck packed with snacks, small new toys, bingo games, and coloring books.  I've also done "Travel Tickets" with them, where every half hour, they give me a ticket and when all the tickets are gone, we're there!  That seems to help with the "Are we there yet??" questions!

In Evansville, we spent time at the Children's Museum, which was perfect for our kids' age.  They had a whole room devoted to getting a child ready for Kindergarten.  It was set up like a K classroom and had a video on what to expect the first day of school.  They loved exploring everything and it was nice to be inside, escaping the hot weather.  We also went disc golfing at a course in Kentucky.  The kids lasted about half of the course and then we went to the playground while the men finished playing.  We also went out to eat (Bar Louie's was a fav!) and swam at the apartment's pool.  We spent Friday night through Monday morning in Evansville.  Uncle Nate was a great host and we had a wonderful time!

Building a house

Digging up dinosaurs

Putting bricks in the house

Drive-Thru banking

Playing with a baby in the classroom

Then on Monday, we drove to Bloomington to see Kristina's new apartment. We walked around the IU campus (which is very pretty, but we had to wear some PU gear for protection :)).  We also went to a children's museum in Bloomington.  And really the only thing that was the same was digging for fossils.  They loved playing in the water and we got smart this time and took our lunch so the kids could play a little longer.  We went to visit Kristina's school, which is an adorable little classroom off of the main church.  At this point, she's got a roster of 6 kids! 
Then we spent the day at the most awesome public pool I've ever seen.  It was $3 for adults to get in and then $2 to ride the water slides.  So it cost $11 (Matt got a wristband for the slides) and it was well worth it!  There was a huge kiddie pool with water pouring everywhere.  Then the big pool had to be Olympic sized!  It was huge with a waterslide pouring into the pool, another one ending right before the pool, and a 3rd drop off one into the deep end.  The only thing that was a little tough was the kids couldn't wear their floaties ( a pool rule) so it was a little tough keeping constant watch, but 1 was almost continually on the water slide with Daddy.  They LOVED the slides and Landon didn't even mind getting water in his face!  I wish I would've taken some pictures.
We went out to eat at the Upland Brewing Co.  They had a unique and yummy menu, not very big servings, but that gave us room for ice cream!  We had fun with Aunt Tina.  We are SOOO happy that she and Uncle Steven are closer for us to visit!

Checking out the pulley systems

Experimenting with water

AWWW!  Girls by the flowers after dinner. 
Also took a picture with Landon, but it wasn't quite blog worthy! :)

Fair Time

We had a great time at the fair, as usual.  Matt and I worked at the pork building with our Sunday School class, which meant we got free tickets.  So, after our shift was over, we went back, got the kids and took them over for the evening.  We went to see the animals and they each got to pick 3 rides (with $1.25 a ticket, you have to be choosy! :)).  Landon picked the train, which he went on last year and cried the whole way, a car, and the ferris wheel.  He did MUCH better this year.  No tears!  And he absolutely LOVED the ferris wheel.  Emmy picked the swings, car, and the ferris wheel.  She was the only one on the swings, so she got an extra long ride.  I was proud of her for doing it all by herself.  She LOVED the ferris wheel too!  We also met up with the Fryes and Grace and Tyler got to do some rides too.



Then on Tuesday, we went to see Josh Turner in concert.  Todd and Cathy had 2 extra tickets and I jumped at the chance to go to the concert! :)  We were in the back, but could still see pretty good.  And I'm sure Aunt Holly was glad we went because she got another chance to babysit!

I can't post about the fair without mentioning the food: pulled pork, sirloin tips, pretzel, taco salad, ice cream, mini donuts.  MMMM!

Miscellaneous Summer Pictures

We've been busy lately so I'm a little behind on some pictures.  Instead of making separate posts for each, I thought I'd put them all together, hopefully in order! :)

Landon loves sleeping in his sleeping bag so much, that he sometimes makes his own:

 It's been so hot this summer that Daddy told Landon he could go outside without his shirt.  The first day he does, he runs and falls on our stone driveway:

We took Emerson to her first movie in a theater, "Brave", a Disney/Pixar movie.  We have been reading about David and Goliath and talking about being brave so this movie was perfect for her!  She did great!  We tried to distract her during the "scary" bear fight and she LOVED the box of popcorn:

 Matt and I got a night out on our 11th anniversary.  Thanks mom and dad and Kristina:

 

 Landon is quickly growing and when he stretches out, he almost reached the end of his toddler bed:

 So we took him to the store to pick out sheets.  Target has TONS of kids sheets!  He chose Mario Kart.  I got them all washed and ready to go, picked up the twin bed from mom and dad, and then realized his convertible crib headboard is for a FULL bed, not a TWIN! :)  So, we went back to mom and dad's to get the headboard and we think we'll switch him to a full when he's a little older or he outgrows his sheets/room.  We decided against a new comforter, so he's got Mario Kart sheets, Lightning McQueen blanket, and his favorite "Big Blankie" with puppies.  Good thing he's a boy and doesn't care about matching:

And last, but most beneficial for everyone, we got a nice rain shower.  The first in months!  We were so excited, we all went out to play in the rain!  Em wasn't too sure because of the thunder, but Landon LOVED it!  He and Daddy were both soaked by the time they came in:

Family Pictures

At the beginning of July, we scheduled a time with Matt's co-worker, Heather of Red Barn Photography.  She is one busy lady and we loved her pictures last year.  This year we went to Krider Garden in Middlebury and again she got some adorable shots!

This is our best family shot.  Landon is in a weird smile stage and the poor guy struggled with getting a good smile!  :)  He was more interested in running around the garden.

This is Emmy's favorite shot of her brother!



An ADORABLE one of Emmy with her Daddy!!



And my VERY, VERY favorite!!

Canoe Site Camping at Chain 'O Lakes

I will try a lot of things one time.  So when the guys suggested camping in the primitive canoe sites of  Chain O' Lakes, I said, "Ok."  Primitive = no running water, no showers, no flushable toilets!  We had to either canoe all of our gear or walk .25 miles back to our sites, which were completely set apart from the rest of the campgrounds.  That was nice because the kids could run around as loudly as they wanted and when we decided to sleep, no other campers could keep us awake!  The dads and kids (and Bo) also enjoyed that the sites were right on the water so they could fish whenever they wanted.  We had a great weekend, but I was sure glad to get home and take a warm shower!

Love Kenna's smile! :)

We had a beautiful view of the lake from our sites.

The kids loved playing in the canoes!

I am still undecided as to whether or not I'd camp here again.  There were many pros, but also some cons.  But it was great to spend time with the Davis family, Frye family, and Kristina and Bo!  We'll have to plan another camping date!!