Fall Fun!

Fall is officially upon us.  I LOVE fall.  The cooler temps, changing colors of the leaves, and apple and pumpkin everything!  When my mom came down to visit a few weeks ago, we headed out to Royal Oaks, a great apple orchard in Chicagoland (even though it's really closer to WI!).  It was a drizzly day, but we ventured out anyway.  There weren't many people there, and we didn't get to pick apples(we chose not to due to the rain), but we still had a great time.  They have a great cafe, gift shop, petting zoo, carousel, and outdoor area.  They even had a fire going in one of their outdoor areas.  Since it was actually pretty chilly, it was nice to warm up near the fire.  Lydia and I also danced to some folk/(country?) music.  It was right up my alley, seriously!

 Here are the kids warming up under the blanket by the fire.

 

 

Joe sitting in a big wooden rocking chair near the fire.

Lydia found a white squash.

Joe was in awe of the honeybees. There were thousands of LIVE bees in there! It creeped me out a little. 

Then, just this past weekend, we went camping with our small group.  We went to Rock Cut State Park, near Rockford.  It's the same place we took the kids in July.  It was a little chilly but we still had a good time.  Layers is the key!  The rest of our group went canoeing on Saturday, but since Marc had a lot of reading to do for the ADT class he is teaching at church, we stayed back.  It was also in the 40's when everyone left for camping, so I wasn't heartbroken over it. :)  We enjoyed our day of hanging back at the campsite, sitting out around the fire, reading our books (I brought my own book to read).  We even got a short hike in.  Here's a pic from that. 
  

 

 

And this week, here at home, I decided to look up some fall activities to do with the kids.  Joe has pretty much dropped his pm nap, and I realized with more awake time, there needs to more things to do!  I found this really cool blog here, where I got the idea to do a sound scavenger hunt (this could really be an any time of the year thing, but 'leaves' make it fallish). 

I could have added a couple of other sounds that would have been appropriate for our neighborhood right now, for example 'Construction workers' and 'people speaking in a language other than English'. We had fun completing this Scavenger Hunt on our walk to the library this morning!

 

 

I also got this idea from the same blog I linked to above.  It's Autumn Rainbow Rice. 



 

It was, suprisingly, very easy to dye the rice different colors.  And then I added some Autumn trinkets I got pretty cheap at Hobby Lobby.  If you're interested in learning how to do this one, click here.  Lydia has really enjoyed this one.  I have yet to let Joe play with it, since it will require close supervision!  Maybe outside? 

 

That's some of what we've been up to!  Now I'm off to make apple crisp for Small Group tonight!

 

First day of pre-school

Today was a big day for Lydia (and me!). It was her first day of school. I think I was more nervous than her! Today I went with her and it was just an hour of getting to know everyone. She liked it a lot! Her teacher seems wonderful and we look forward to a great year ahead!

WIsconsin Camping 2012

This past weekend (Thursday night through Sunday) we went camping at Kohler-Andrae State Park in Wisconsin.  We went with my cousin Jenny, and her family.  This was our 2^nd year going with Jenny and we already have next summer’s trip booked, so it’s becoming a tradition!  We had a great time, and the great weather helped with that!  It was cold at night (got as low as 51 one night), but we were prepared with blankets and sleeping bags.  The first morning we are all up at the crack of dawn (in fact every morning we were...), and we took a walk down to the beach.  We found a bench to sit on….

Later on that day we went to one of Lydia’s FAVORITE places, Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay. It was about an hour drive, but after going there last summer, Lydia talked about it ALL year, and we wanted to take advantage of being so close. Also the park is mainly for younger kids, so they will eventually outgrow it. Lydia enjoyed her first Tilt-a-Whirl experience(which she calls the clown ride) with Marc. The kids went on many other little kid rides, like the boats, the cars, the lady bugs, and the coolest looking ride, the Granny Bugs

Lydia was also tall enough for the junior Swings, which she enjoyed thoroughly. And her daddy went down the big slides together.

All in all, we had a fun time at Bay Beach.

We spent the rest of our time eating yummy food, jumping in the tent (sometimes very early in the morning!)

hanging out around the campfire and campsite

riding Tryston’s truck down the “hill”

and going to the beach to play in the sand

Next year, we will remember to eat a lot of garlic, or light some Citronella candles (the kids and Marc got bit a lot!)

Besides that, Wisconsin Camping trip 2012 was a success!

Rock Cut State Park Camping

Camping is something Marc and I enjoy but have only done a few times with the kids.  Prior to this weekend, we had never gone on a camping trip with just the four of us.  We had planned on going to the Indiana Dunes on Friday but when we saw the weather was going to be decent and also, when we realized we couldn't find a hotel for under $100 near the Dunes , we decided to attempt a last minute camping trip at Rock Cut State Park(can't beat $12/night!).  Since campground are pretty much booked up in the summer, we had to try for a walk-in site.  So we packed up Thursday night and left the house at 7 am on Friday morning to get there early (Rock Cut State Park is about 1 hour 15 minutes away).  After stopping through a McDonald's for breakfast, we got there at 8:30 am, and there was still 9 sites left!  We actually got a pretty nice site, with a view of the lake.  (Why didn't I take a picture!?!)  We enjoyed paddle boating around the lake, and then a trip to the local waterpark (Magic Waters), where we found out that Lydia though cautious about most things, LOVED the waterslides.  Joe loved the wave pool, and giggled everytime he got hit by a wave. Sleeping in the tent was fun.  We all got to listen to Joe sing himself to sleep.  The air mattress deflated during the night so I can't say I slept well, and the kids were up when the sun came up, so we were all a little tired on Saturday, but it was still fun.
Marc and I were lamenting how we always forget to take pictures, so we got a few in our last hour at Rock Cut, at a park by the lake.

Joe happened to be very crabby so I didn't get a real good picture of him, but he's kinda smiling.....

And Lydia just wanted to be goofy.

Within 5 minutes of our drive home, this was the view from the front looking back! 

I was feeling the same way! Good ol' fresh air (and not enough sleep) can really wear a kid out!

It was so fun to make these memories with the kids. We look forward to many more camping trip memories in the future!

Lately

The last week I've just been thinking about how the kids are getting so big and growing up!  A few months ago I had a friend tell me her favorite age for her kids was when they were 2 and 4(they are also 2 years apart).  I am seeing why.  They say and do the cutest things! Joe has been talking more and more, and thus has been much less frustrated.  And when he gets frustrated he'll even say "I'm mad!".  It's kinda cute (for now :).  Lydia has been growing in independence and is so much more expressive with her emotions (telling us often she loves us, and how she feels about certain things, whether they make her scared, surprised, happy, sad, etc.).  I wanted to blog this while it was on my mind.

Lydia's Birthday

This is much belated. Jaw surgery has trumped regular blogging. But I did want to post some pictures from Lydia's birthday. We can't believe our little girl is 4! She is turning into such a nice young lady, and says the funniest things too! Our friends Rich and Leeann at Chang2Studios(chang2studios.com) took some pictures at our celebration, so we wanted to share them! Lydia had an Angelina Ballerina birthday cake as she is really into ballerinas these days! Lydia, we love you and and pray that as you grow older you understand even more, God's great love for you!


Lydia opening her Mr. and Mrs. Potato head from her Aunt Nikki

A pretty pink tiara to go with her ballerina dress

Cake time!

My very domestic Saturday

Marc was helping his dad for the day, yesterday, and I didn't really feel like taking the kids anywhere, so I decided to have a baking Saturday. I was inspired by reading another blog, here.

I pretty much was at work all day. I also managed to get our front closet switched over from winter mode to spring/summer. And of course I had the kids to feed, and tried to take some moments to read and play with them as well.

This is what I accomplished:


1) 4 batches of waffles (split among three freezer bags)

I got the recipe from Moneysavingmom's blog. You can find the recipe here. Instead of whole wheat flour, I did half whole wheat flour/half all purpose flour. I also used half milk/half water, and half oil/half canned pumpkin puree. I quadrupled this recipe since I don't really like to clean the waffle iron, it's quite the task. In fact I hardly make waffles because I hate cleaning it. The waffles turned out great! They do taste a bit "healthy" but we had some for breakfast this morning (they even fit in the toaster!), and they were enjoyed by all!


2) Cinnamon rolls (I just made the rolls to freeze for now). I used this recipe. I only made the rolls (will make the frosting later, as needed). When the rolls were cut, I put them on a cookie sheet and stuck them in the freezer for about an hour.

Then, I put them all in a freezer bag, and when we want to eat one, we can take out however many we need and bake acording to the directions on the recipe. I've made these before and they are oh so good!


3)Pumpkin Banana Bread I followed this recipe exactly, but also added about 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (left over from the waffles!). This is my go-to banana bread recipe, as the flavor is soo good!

4) 4 Chicken Pot Pies I quadrupled this recipe. The kids have eaten this one before and loved it, so I thought it would be good to make extra. I didn't follow this recipe exactly. I put the chicken in the slow cooker on high and let it cook for 4 hours. Then I let it cool and shredded it. I put the veggies in some chicken broth and boiled them for 15 minutes, and then mixed them with the chicken, as seen here.

While the vegetables were cooking, I was making the sauce.

Then I filled the pie crusts (some day I will try to make them from scratch, but yesterday was not that day!). Then I covered with another pie crust and poked holes in it.

The crusts are a little hard to manipulate, so they didn't all turn out looking so nice! Then I stuck them in the freezer, and wrapped up later (less messy!)


Now we have a freezer full of breakfast foods, and a couple of dinners. Yay!

Most of you know I'm due to have surgery the end of the month. I'm starting a "jaw blog" meant to update others, journal and document progress and the process, and encourage others undergoing the same procedure. If you're interested, check it out at dripslurpchomp.blogspot.com.

Our huggable, lovable, squeezable Joe is 2!

I remember being pregnant with Joe and wondering/worrying, "Will I able to love this child as much as I love Lydia?". I now can see how silly that thinking was, but it was a fear I did have. Now he is 2, and oh how we still love our little boy! His smile and laugh bring an extra amount of joy to our family. His birthday is tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure i did a little blog entry to commemorate Joe's 2nd year. We celebrated last weekend, as we have Awana tomorrow night. Happy birthday Joe, we love you!

Update

This entry is really more for myself, so I apologize if you find yourself here and get bored from reading, or if you feel like you’re reading a Christmas letter. ;) So what have we all been up to? Well, Joe, since Christmas has really been into opening and closing doors. In fact, whenever we go to leave the house, I have to make sure our door the basement is kept open, so Simon, our cat, has access to his food and litter. It never fails that after we’re all bundled up and ready to go, and I go to open that door, Joe follows me and immediately shuts it. I think he feels it’s his duty because he is very serious about it. He loves elevators and we get the comment often, “I think Joe is going to be a doorman”. LOL. We’ll see.  Joe is talking more, though we don’t usually know what he’s saying. He also likes to sing “Jingle Bells” and a few of our favorite worship songs. It is so fun to listen to him. He has recently taken more of a liking to books, and also loves to help mommy put the silverware away. He is also into emptying things out (the bookcase, the shoe shelf, baskets full of toys, etc. and it is very common to find piles around the house. He is easy to laugh, easy to cry, AND easy to throw a temper tantrum! He makes us all laugh, and keeps me on my toes! Lydia is getting to be such a big girl. She has been exerting more and more independence. A good thing, and a trying thing! Far gone are the days when Lydia didn’t have much of an opinion about what to eat, what to wear, where to go, etc. She still has a great love for books, and sometimes we’ll find her in bed (long after her bed time!) sitting up with a book while she struggles to keep her eyes open. Lydia is in Cubbies at church this year, and is learning a ton of scripture, and having loads of fun. There are not many places she’d rather than be than Cubbies. It is so sweet to hear her speak God’s word, and sometimes sing it too! Speaking songs, she is an avid fan of Veggie Tales and doesn’t tire of Larry, Bob, Mr. Lung, Junior, etc (though mama does!). She loves watching me cook, bake, and is always asking “what are you making mommy”. She even helps out with the stirring, pouring, and tasting sometimes. As for me, I’m chomping at the bit (no pun intended) to have my jaw surgery done and behind me, and getting these braces off! I’ve figured it out, and by the time they’re off, I will have been in braces for 15-20% of my life. As much as I want the surgery done, I DO want it to be the right time and I’m trying to be patient.  I’m using the extra time to research different kinds of pureed foods and yummy smoothies. Marc has been really busy with work, as they have a big release coming up. He and I both, will be happy when things slow down a bit. So that’s what’s up with us. Thanks for reading.

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2011

The last few weeks(months) have been spent preparing for and celebrating the various holidays that fall this time of year. It has been busy busy busy! I’m always a bit sad when it’s all over, but it also is good to get back to routine. I'm going to attempt to summarize what we've been up to the last few weeks. This Thanksgiving we stayed around Illinois.

THANKSGIVING
We ran a 5K, the Frozen Turkey on Thanksiving morning. We dressed the kids up in their costumes for extra warmth and went to run. We all had a lot of fun, and Marc and I were happy with our times as well. We ate Thanksgiving dinner with Marc's extended family at Marc's aunt and uncle's home in Round Lake.

CHRISTMAS
Our Christmas festivities started with our MOM's Christmas Tea at church. My friend Kristin came and we together, provided the music for the program. That following weekend, was our Christmas program at church, which Marc and I (and Lydia) participated in. Marc was the projector guy for the program and I sang with the choir and helped with the kids, as well as helping lead worship. It was a busy night, but were blessed to have parts of both of our families(and Debbe, a long-time family friend!) attend. Here's a pic of the kids at home after the program that night.

The following weekend we went to Marc's Christmas work party, celebrated our 6th anniversary with a nice breakfast at Walker Bros., and then we drove up to WI and had a family reunion/Christmas gathering at my cousin, Jenny's house. It was so fun to see everyone, especially around Christmas. Here's a pic of all the Wise's

Here's a pic of my family (Tom Wise & Company (minus Andy & Amanda)

And here's one of our family

Big thanks to Jon's dad for taking all the photos! The next day we went to Marc's aunt Sharon's for another pre-Christmas celebration. Sharon has a kazillion Christmas decorations throughout her house that light up, sing, and move. The kids, of course, loved it! The week leading up to Christmas Lydia and Mommy did some cooking/eating in the kitchen. Lydia helped me make the peanut clusters I usually make!

At the end she got to lick the spoon!

Then the week before Christmas we had a chance to wind down before winding up again. We do our family Christmas(Marc, me and the kids) Christmas Eve day, so the night before we ate pizza, opened one gift (PJs for the kids) and then watched The Nativity Story. Joe really just played instead of watching, but Lydia intently watched it the entire time. It was so, so neat seeing her make the connections from all we had been teaching her throughout December (about the birth of Jesus)to the movie. Christmas Eve morning we did our thing (Cinnabons for breakfast, singing Christmas carols around the piano, reading the Christmas story, opening gifts, playing with the gifts). I had to take a picture of the cinnabons, as I was so happy to finally find a great recipe for these. This was pre-frosting.

In the evening we headed to Marc's stepbrother Mark's house for the Revoredo/Howard Christmas. It was a great time of catching up with everyone and being together. Then on Christmas we headed to Marc's mom's for a Woerner/Revoredo Christmas. There was lots of gifts, food, and fun! I love that we always get a family picture in.

Then later that night we headed up to WI for our final Christmas(and birthday celebration for me) with the Wise's. Was great to see everyone there and hangout together. Joe loved eatint the rolls for my birthday dinner and was "cheesing" it up for the camera!