What we've been doing

So I hear it's December. Yikes! November just flew by and we were so busy I didn't take many pictures. Or we weren't busy at all and had nothing to take pictures of. Not sure which is correct, but here is a small run down.

Cooking

Cleaning

(Isn't her little broom cute? Jason's aunt and uncle own a broom factory and brought this up for her when they came to visit in October. )

Thanksgiving

(Like how we have on no coats and are sitting in a pile of leaves? Yep, the Christmas parade here is before Thanksgiving. Just like Oktoberfest is in September and The Memorial Tournament is in June. We do things a little weird here in Ohio.)

Christmas lights at the zoo

Running errands

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Happy Veterans Day

Sunday was our city's Veterans Day parade and it was a gorgeous day, so we decided to take the kids. Typically we don't hear about it until after it's passed, but we finally figured out it's on the Sunday before Veterans Day, and not actually ON Veteran's Day. We made sure to have on our patriotic-colored clothing.

(After looking at this picture I've decided I think Xander's going to have my teeth. If you look at them they're all angled the same as mine. I'd blame my overlapping bottom teeth on the fact that I wasn't so good at wearing my retainers, but my dad had braces too and his bottom teeth look just like mine. So my guess is part of it is hereditary. Sorry, little man. I wouldn't wish my dental history on anyone.)

The kids were excited when the Boy Scouts came by and passed out American flags to everyone.

Jordis, true to form, loved the hundreds of motorcycles that drove by at the beginning. She really enjoyed waving to them. Then when the band came she marched all over the place.

(I secretly loved the new Camaro sitting at the curb.)

Xander kept shouting out "Where's the candy?" and we had a lot of trouble trying to get them to understand what Veterans Day was all about. But they do know that they have veterans (or as they generalize them, "Army people") on both sides of their families. And they sat still for a few minutes.

Oh yeah, they got some candy, too.

Gobble, Gobble!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Apparently this is still not the year my kids will enjoy the Macy's Parade. Maybe next time.

September's here!

I'm so excited it's September. It's the beginning of my favorite time of year. I think mostly because it's my birthday month (barely), so my enjoyment of it goes back as far as I can remember. But it's also when I'd get new school clothes, start thinking about my Halloween costume, and it wasn't so hot anymore. And it meant Thanksgiving and Christmas were on the way.

I still get excited about my birthday since it's always nice to know you've made it another year. And I look forward to Halloween so I can eat candy corn and cider and take my kids to the pumpkin patch and trick-or-treating. But I also love the turning of the leaves and now that I'm an adult I know the new season of my favorite shows is about to start.

Here where we live, September means it's time to talk about horses. The Little Brown Jug takes place here at the local fairgrounds, and runs simultaneously with the county fair. They shut down school for it and people even hang flags on their houses commemorating the event. As if more excitement is needed there is also an annual horse parade, so we decided to take the kids.

I was shocked at the number of people who turned out for this event. It was more pepole than we saw at the July 4th parade or the Christmas parade, so we thought it must be a pretty big deal. It wasn't. Xander soon realized we weren't lying when we said no one was going to throw candy. Jordis had more fun collecting leaves. We sat with one of my friend's whose husband is in the same line of work as Jason, so they talked shop. And I'm pretty sure all 4 kids ignored each other. But I did take a few pictures.

There was a 5k before the parade and Jordis watched intently, joining in with the adults in clapping for the runners as they came by.



Mounted patrol



These little guys were my favorite.



Something about the day made the kids really tired. We went to run an errand and they were both asleep before we got there.



The kids also helped me in the kitchen this weekend. My friend Jen has pear trees and when she came to visit the other day she brought me a bag full of pears.



I thought we'd make a pie or bread with them, but Xander said we needed pears with chocolate. So I found a recipe for a chocolate pear tart. It was actually called something fancier, but for the sake of the kids I called it chocolate pear tart. The kids cooperated better than usual and I didn't have to make either of them leave the table, so that was a plus.

They each picked what they wanted to pour into the bowl and grudgingly took turns stirring.



As excited as they were about it they didn't care for it too much when I let them try some.



But they had a good time and Jason and I have a sweet treat.

What a week!

So we've had a pretty crazy schedule this past week, but loaded with lots of fun!

The zoo is open late on Wednesdays, so after Xander's OT last week he and I met up with Jordis and Jason at the zoo. Not long after we got there and Xander climbed some inflatables, Jordis decided she had to walk, of course. Xander took advantage of this opportunity to hitch a ride in the stroller and not 20 yards from her starting point Miss Thang strutted herself face first into the concrete at the entrance to the tunnel.

The tunnel at the zoo is a great place for echoes, so not only was she screaming at the top of her lungs, but it was amplified times one-hundred. So everyone's staring at us and probably thinking we made our poor baby walk while the big kid got pushed. At any rate, she's much more cooperative than Xander where ice is concerned, and 30 minutes later we were off to the picnic tables to eat the dinner Jason had packed for us. Then we rode the train. Jordis' forehead is finally back to its normal shape now, but it's still got a bruise. She bounced back like a trooper, though.





Friday of course was July 4th. We went to my mom and step-dad's to have a cookout and also celebrate my step-dad's birthday, which was on the 6th. We had lots of good food, the kids got plenty worn out, and I got a little nap. Jason's brother and his family were also in town and staying with us for the weekend, so after coming back from my mom's we attempted to keep the kids up to watch the Delaware fireworks, which can usually be seen from our backyard. Xander fell asleep before they even started and not just asleep, but he was practically in a coma. After trying to herd three kids outside and get them all situated, the fireworks started about 15 minutes late so the kids were completely over it before they ever saw anything. Xander was the only one who actually stayed outside.





The next day we went to the Independence Day parade that, for some reason, was held on July 5th. But at any rate, it was a good time and the kids enjoyed getting all the candy that they will hopefully forget about in the next few weeks. We let them have a sucker of two while they watched and Jordi.s got hers all over. She had an orange mustache, and it was on her temple, in her hair and somehow on the back of her shoulder. They also practiced a lot of waving and Jordis seems to have learned the pageant wave.


Jeremy, Dominic, Sarah and Autumn


Jordis was mad because she and Xander had to eat out of the same bag of snacks as opposed to each getting their OWN bags.


MMMMM......candy


Jordis pretends not to look but leaves a space for her eyes to peek out.

After dinner Jason's sister and her boyfriend came over and we had a nice time sitting outside, playing pool and playing poker. On Sunday, Jason's parents came to visit, then took the whole family out to a yummy dinner at Max & Erma's. We had our fill of tortilla soup and all four kids behaved, so I consider that a succesful dining experience.

On the way home we stopped at the splash pad for the kids to play. Dominic wasted no time and Xander did surprisingly well after running around the perimeter for awhile. Autumn enjoyed herself with some help from Sarah and Jordis stood on the edge looking pretty.


Autumn gets a little help from her mom


Looking pretty


Xan loves to jump in water


Dominic and Xander give it a joint effort

The week was full and lots of fun so this week we're cleaning and relaxing. We're had all the excitement we can handle for awhile.