Five Long Years

I say that because when I think about how much has happened in the past five years, it seems that it can't possibly have only been five years since I married my Kyle. But that it has. We've lived in 3 different apartments and bought our first home. We've lived in two states. School, jobs, two kids. It's pretty amazing. Our actual anniversary was Wednesday where we celebrated by going to tithing settlement. Friday was our big night out and boy did we have fun!

I had the bright idea of going to the Krohn Conservatory to their holiday flower show. (I am after all, a trained botanist.) It was open till 8:00 pm during the flower show so we figured we'd go there first and then go to dinner. When we got there, we found out the show didn't start until the next day and the Conservatory was closed. They still had a cool live nativity to see and we enjoyed that. I'd like to get back for the flower show though.

This is outside the nativity. It was pretty cool. I recommend it if you can get down there.

We went to dinner at the Sung Korean Bistro downtown. Kyle's been raving about this place for a while and I was excited to finally try it. It was oh so very delicious. The high five is to remind us in years to come that this was five years in.

We finished up the night going up to Mount Adams and taking in the view along with some ice cream for dessert. Here's Kyle showing off the view of Cincinnati.

I had to share the card Kyle gave me because I'm sure more people than just me can relate to it. I laughed so hard.

Thanks for joining me for a wonderful celebration and a wonderful five years sweetie!

To Sum Up......

Tis the season to be jolly, and this is what we've been doing to make it that way.

Since our Beach season passes get us in to their Holiday Fest, we decided to check it out. If we didn't have the passes, I would have been a little disappointed at what you get for the money. But this petting zoo was pretty cool. Ethan was hilarious with the amount of enthusiasm he showed with the animals. No fear on his part. His mom was a little afraid for him though. Leah was much more reserved although she did get pretty into the sheep after we were there for a while.






Ethan, in an attempt to show Leah who's boss gave her a pretty nice black eye along with that cut when he pushed her down a couple weeks ago. He's a little too enthusiastic with her at times.

Still a beauty.



My little scallywags.



It's pretty much a necessity that I get my little guys out and running everyday. We were sick for a couple of weeks where we were stuck inside, and I was amazed at the end of it that the house was still standing. We've made a couple of trips to the children's museum and I've found weekday afternoons to be the greatest time in the world to be there.

Ethan's new favorite spot is the ball area where he does his best to fill up a bin of balls so that it will open and drop them all on top of him. This is him thrilled as can be. He used to be terrified of this area, but Leah likes balls and wanted to go in and play. Ethan was forced to join and he not only overcame his fear but learned to love it as well.



Leah's favorite place is right here. Lots of little places to slide and play peek-a-boo.



We went down to the museum to see their Holiday Junction display with some friends just the other day. I was pretty impressed with it. I was shocked when Leah was willing to get in the little train ride all by herself and ride around the track. Not only that, she wanted to keep getting back on for more. I forget she's such a little daredevil.

Here's the gang together ready to go.


And these two little guys got seated in front the second time around where they had to take turns ringing the bell to the engine. That's a rough thing for the two of them. They act just like brothers. Fight over everything, but yet always want to play together.


Leah on round 2. She's eyeing Ethan and his friend Nicholas and their bell ringing antics.


We had our first snow of the winter this weekend. Well, the first to stick for any amount of time. It stuck long enough for Kyle to build a sweet snowman with the kids. Ethan was stoked about the snow, but not so stoked about the cold weather getup he had to wear. Leah wasn't stoked about either one, especially once she figured out that snow was wet and cold.






They called him Stanley.

Thanksgiving....Need I Say More

I probably could say more, but I won't since I'm a little overwhelmed with the fact that I still haven't posted this on my blog. As long as Christmas isn't here yet, I think we're good.

We went out to my brother's home just outside Reading, PA for the long weekend. My parents and my brother Matt flew out from Utah to join us as well. It's about an 8 1/2 hour drive from here, but my kids are great travelers so it wasn't bad. Ethan's been asking to go back to Pennsylvania quite often since we got home. In fact, he still asks to go to Maine every once in a while. Don't think that will be happening for a very long time. But back to Thanksgiving. Did you check out the bird we ate in that first picture? It had to be one of the most beautiful turkeys I'd ever seen and it tasted just as good as it looked.

Here's the gang before the feasting began.

Leah ate and liked it. Two things that don't happen very often.

Ethan fell asleep right before dinner was ready, so he joined us later sporting some sweet bed head.

The post feast bath. I loved Leah's hair. That's my nephew Xander on the right. He was so sweet.

Squeaky Clean!


On Black Friday, instead of hitting the shopping, we went out to Hershey to go to Chocolate World. Oh boy was that exciting. And it smelled so good.

Here we are on our chocolate boat doing the factory tour. With all the mechanics and machinery, Ethan had the time of his life in here.

And then the kids all had a chance to be factory workers and package their own Hershey kisses. Again, the machinery was a hit with my little engineer. Leah started out enthusiastic.....

....but Grandpa's shoulders turned out to be a comfy place to fall asleep and she didn't quite make it.

Shaking the chocolate into place.

And depositing it at the end of the line. (That's my niece Emma and my nephew Brendan with Ethan.)

There was plenty of chocolate to be had by all and I wasn't even able to eat all the chocolate they shelled out. That's a major miracle for me. I have a pretty high tolerance for sweets. We drove through their Christmas light display before heading for home. We had a pretty spirited bunch in the car and that made it lots of fun.

Saturday was my older brother's birthday and we spent most of the day pretty low key. We jumped on the trampoline. Brendan tried to show us how to ride a Ripstick. Kyle got it down pretty well. I was not so coordinated. We also flew kites in some pretty stiff wind. Later that night we went bowling where Ethan made his bowling debut.

Check out that form.

Check out that score! My 3 year old son beat me by about 40 points. It was totally worth it. My score was on a different lane and will not be posted as there is no reason to brag. I lost to everyone.

My mom, sister-in-law and I took off after that to pick up some cheesecake for the birthday boy and some pizza for dinner. It was a great kicked back day and hopefully a happy one for my bro.

Sunday came too quickly as always and we were off. Here's our parting shots. My brother Matt had already left by now, but that's the rest of us.

More of the Same

You all may be sick of pictures of my kids roaming the outdoors, but this batch of pictures was just too cute to pass up. Kyle took these pictures on a couple of little outings and they turned out so well in my estimation. He hadn't taken them off his camera as of the last post or I would have included them there. Hopefully you get a kick out of them.

We stopped in Indian Hill after church a couple of weeks ago and Kyle had his camera on hand so he snapped a few pics.

Quintessential Ethan!


This was the view from a hike we took through Sharon Woods. Beautiful!


Here the kids are maneuvering the stones through the stream. They did a pretty good job and no one got very wet.


Little Leaf Lover



Sunshine in a smile!


This big ol' leaf (as Ethan would say) was a hit that day.


Oh the fun that can be had falling into a big pile of leaves! And when you're that small, you've got to be careful not to get lost in there.



Kyle won't be crazy about this one because of the exposure but that smile was just too adorable for me to pass up. He was pretty happy about being out to rake leaves.

Rake, un-rake, rake, un-rake. He was so hard at work!

Highs and Lows

We have spent the past two weeks with sick kiddies and so not much has transpired around here. Other than the usual coughing, sneezing, boogie wiping and horrible sleeping that usually accompanies these kinds of things. I hate seeing my kids sick and without their usual exuberant dispositions.

Before the sickies set in, we had a beautiful couple of weeks. I almost forgot it was November.

Here's the firebolts taking a break during one of our little walks. I love seeing them explore and am always amazed by the little things they spot and find interesting. It really opens my eyes.

Ethan's funky pinecone. When I told him we could make a bird feeder out of a pinecone with some peanut butter, he was pretty stoked. (Peanut butter and Ethan have a very special relationship.) We have yet to tackle the project.

This little trail at Symmes Park is a great one for little ones.....if you can keep them out of the water. I just gave up eventually. Oh was he ever happy!

The perfect place to rest her tiny hiney.

Ethan's preferred mode of swinging these days.


And then the sickies set in and refused to leave. I couldn't believe how long this one held on. It started with a fever and cough for a couple of days and then turned into the biggest snotfest I've ever seen. I'm not sure if it was flu or not, but it sure did linger.

Those little sick faces still look pretty pleasant. Leah's doll didn't leave her side during the whole illness. It rarely leaves her side anyway, but they were especially close while she was under the weather.



When they were feeling a little better, but we were still staying in, we had to come up with some things to pass the time. This is Leah's first painting.

And master artist Ethan....


Finally yesterday we ventured out for the first time in about two weeks. A few weeks ago, I took the kids for a walk on the parcourse trail at Sharon Woods. They had such a great time. I had Ethan try the exercises along the path and when Leah saw what we were doing, she always wanted in on the action. There is nothing she believes she can't do. We decided to go back yesterday for another round.

Before we hit the trail, we ran into this tree that had fallen over. It was huge but look how shallow the roots are. There may be a future object lesson here.

The rings were the favorite spot for everyone.

Ethan's turn


Then, of course Leah wanted in.


And then Kyle showed us how it's really done. I give that a 9.4!


And now for the push up bars. I am actually sore today from attempting this stunt. What a sad state of affairs.

And here's the little champions on their final stunt.


I also have been wanting to post this little project I did with Ethan in case any of you are searching for ideas to pass the time. If your child likes pounding on things with rocks and other such stuff, they'll love it. Take a walk and collect as many different color leaves as you can. The leaves need to be fresh and not dry for this to work so do your best. Then arrange them on a piece of paper or some muslin for a more artsy look. You'll want to tape down the stems to keep them from moving around too much. I do not suggest just holding them in place while your child goes at it with a rock. I actually did that initially and quickly learned my lesson. Anyway, give your child a rock and let him pound the heck out of the leaves. The pigments transfer readily and make a pretty cool looking result. We 'framed' the muslin with cardstock and have a fabulous fall art display.



In other news, Kyle and I went out on Friday night and saw New Moon. Kyle and the one other guy in the theater really hit it off and Kyle is actually the newest Twi-hard and proud of it.

Ethan's favorite new game of late is Cootie. He's a big fan of puzzles and until Cootie entered his life, that was the first thing he would want to do during our quiet time. Now the second I get back from putting Leah down for her nap, he runs up to me and says, "Now Leah is sleeping and we can play Cootie!!!!!" How in the world can you resist that? I'm also amazed at how quickly a kid learns to cheat. When he knows what number he needs to roll to get more Cootie parts, he tries to sneakily set the die down on the that number and thinks he can get away with it. He cracks me up.

And finally, on a more serious note, we lost my Uncle DeeEl this month after a short battle with leukemia. He was one of the world's good ones and will be missed.

What is a Pirate's Favorite Restaurant?..........Arrrrrrrby's!

So another Happy Halloween has made it into the memory books. I was so wiped out by the time it was done, I could hardly believe my lack of enthusiasm after we got the kids down. It was a busy week and with it being the last week of the month, I didn't see my husband much as he always has to put in long days at the end of the month.

Friday (the night before Halloween) we finally tackled the pumpkin carving. Ethan had been talking about carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns and I knew there was no way out of it. Plus, I couldn't stand the thought of not having jack-o-lanterns on my porch for Halloween. We missed Kyle for the occasion not just because he is missable but also because he is the top dog in this house when it comes to pumpkin carving.

Here's Ethan with his finished product. He loves a book called Plumply Dumply Pumpkin (as do I) and he was pretty excited to be working on his own plumply dumply pumpkin. I let him draw the face and then carved around (some of) the lines letting him help me along the way. He was stoked!

We did one more small one together and then I put the kids to bed before tackling the giganto. I did a pirate ship in honor of Ethan's costume this year. I could barely straighten my fingers by the time I was done.


The next morning I made pumpkin pancakes thinking my kids would be completely delighted with the little jack-o-lantern faces I put on them. Ethan threw a fit and demanded the bananas be removed from his pumpkin pancakes. And then he wanted them completely off of his plate. So much for my festive breakfast. At least everyone ate.....even with pumpkin in the pancakes. That's success in my book.

Halloween day was busy. Kyle helped with a move. I took care of the errands. We had an awesome chili dinner with some friends and then raced home to make it in time for trick or treating. It was Kyle's year to hand out the candy while I went out with the kids. The neighborhood was packed with kids and Ethan was so good to stick with me the whole night.

It was impossible to get a picture of the two of them before we head out. Kids do not enjoy posing especially when candy collecting is being delayed and they're being tortured into dressing like a farm animal.

Here's Kyle with the kids in the aftermath. Poor guy hasn't made it into many pictures lately.


Those are some happy, soon to be sugar hyped kiddos.


A friend of mine lent me this costume when she heard I'd given up on Little Bo Peep. It worked great and I loved the bloomers!

Peep and sheep

Candycopia!!

Maybe wearing this sheep costume was worth it after all.

Argh Matey!

Reckless Abandon. You'd think we never feed her...


Appears this pirate found himself a treasure!

E-I-E-I-O

I was going to post this along with my previous post, but the number of pictures overwhelmed me as I'm sure it would most of my blog readers. Anyway, on Saturday we got ambitious and head out to an organic farm called Turner Farm in Indian Hill. The kids and I went last year with some neighbors and we had a great time. I wanted Kyle to share in the fun this year so I booked a reservation on a Saturday, invited some friends and we all went and tried our hand at the farm life. Oh there was plenty of mud and other stuff to step in, but we still had such a great time. (I guess I should speak for myself....I had a great time and I have found that I tend to get more excited than the average joe about festive excursions...except Jason, Melanie, Amy, Melissa, Sarah, Mom....I know you would be totally into this.)

So basically, this is a certified organic farm and they do these little tours that give you a taste of the simple life.

First we had to pick the turnips to feed the animals. Ethan thought that was pretty great!

Ethan's view from the hayride. Not bad!

Leah was totally into the hay

Getting ready to hit the pasture with our turnip crop.

Sheep herding (or is it shepherding)

Up close and personal. Feeding the sheep was probably the favorite activity of the afternoon.

Sidney giving Ethan some sheep feeding pointers.


Leah trying to lure the sheep with a turnip


Little Pumpkin Eater. The pumpkin crop suffered this year because of the wet weather so they had to supplement with pumpkins from the grocery store. That patch was still suffering from excess moisture. It was a muddy mess!

His eyes were a little bigger than his arms. So sad.

Finally, the perfect pumpkin!

En route to the pig pen...So Pretty!!

Suuuuueeeeey!!! We later learned these pigs were on their way to market in a couple of days. I know I like bacon, but I could never be a butcher. Too sad!

Those are 'Some Pigs'! These are the parents of the pigs from the previous picture. Little did they know.

It didn't rain on us, it wasn't too cold and I think we all learned a thing or two. Thanks to everyone who joined us to make the afternoon such a fun one!