pumpkin time

Between the weather and our busy schedule, we didn't make it to a pumpkin patch this year.  :(  Instead, we went to Sam's and bought the biggest pumpkins we could find!  (they were probably also the cheapest pumpkins we've ever bought - LOL)  Monday night was pumpkin carving and I love the look on Josiah's face as he's pulling out the pumpkin guts.  He was very excited to make a jack o' lantern but the look on his face as he pulls the squishy seeds and guts is priceless.  Michael helped Josiah design his pumpkin face and then let Josiah pull the pieces out as he cut them.  Noah did all of his own design and most of his own cutting with just a little help from Michael.  I took pictures.  :)  The new pictures are included with the rest of the October pictures, so the link will take you to pictures you may have already seen.

Non-stop!

Once again, I'm a month behind with the blog.  The good news though?  I'm not that far behind with anything else (other than our scrapbooks, but those don't count, right?)  Noah finished up soccer last week and though they were 2-8, they played hard and had a lot of fun.  There are a few new pictures - Noah is #8 :)  I'll admit, it's sort of nice to have quiet evenings again.

Noah continues to take piano and is doing really well.  He also auditioned into the middle school show choir and has been asked to play the part of Tiny Tim in the high school's Christmas production of Scrooge, The Stingiest Man in Town.  Christmas concerts will keep us busy in December - he'll be doing shows for Touring Company, Show Choir and Scrooge.  I'm not going to think about how busy we're going to be.  ;)

Josiah is still taking swimming lessons and also really enjoys going to school.  He says, "Hey Mommy?" about 308 times a day and is extremely inquisitive.  He is spelling words now, counted to 100 on his own for the first time yesterday and is starting to write letters and numbers on his little doodle pad.  His latest obsession is watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  We went to see the 2nd one a few weeks ago and he liked it - though I think he liked the popcorn and drink best. 

We also finally got our fire pit out and have enjoyed a couple campfires in the backyard and LOTS of s'mores. 

Soccer

Finally remembered to bring my camera to a soccer game and took a few pictures of Noah.  He's learning a lot and generally having fun... I say generally only because his team hasn't won a single game and with the exception of two goals scored in the first game (one of which Noah scored!), they haven't scored any since.  That wouldn't be so bad, to lose every game, but we're losing 6 or 7 to zip every game.  On Monday, the opposing coach actually told his team twice to just stand on the field and let our boys play around them.  And we still didn't score a goal, mostly because our boys didn't know what was going on and also just sort of stood there waiting for something to happen.  It's a growing, building, learning year, right?!?  I should also note that our team is made up of mostly 9 & 10 year olds, with a few 11s sprinkled in while the teams we're playing are all 11 & 12.  Lima doesn't have enough participants to have an Under10 & an Under12 team, so they put them together as a U12 and hope for the best.  I know, excuses, excuses.... ;)  At least the boys are good sports and haven't been poor losers.  They keep fighting to the end of every game, as if they were just 1 goal away from winning and not 6 or 7.  So, what can a soccer mom do but cheer?  GO SPARTANS!!!! 

Weekend in the big city!

Last weekend, the boys & I went on a whirlwind trip to Chicago.  We rode the L, went to LegoLand Discovery Center in Schaumburg and attended Amy & John's wedding.  Amy's parents are dear friends of ours and fellow members of our church.  Thanks to Grandpa Bruce, we stayed in a swanky downtown hotel, which, silly me!  I did not take any pictures of!  There is one picture of Noah enjoying the hotel robe (he's added it to his Christmas list - lol) but that's it when it comes to hotel photos.  I'm admittedly not much a photographer anymore.  Even at the wedding, I got my camera out once and took a few shots but then put it back in the bag and never thought of it again.  {sigh}  Maybe I'm subconsciously taking fewer pictures because I'm so far behind on my scrapbooking.  ;)

Anyway, we had a great time and now it's back to the grind.  Both boys are busy with school, plus Noah continues to do piano lessons & soccer and Josiah has swimming lessons & playgroup.  Plenty of activities to keep us out of trouble. 

Fall is sneaking in with earlier sunsets, cooler weather and a tinge of color change on the leaves of the trees.  I'm not quite ready for the change of seasons but I guess I have no choice. 

And last, but certainly not least, our family welcomed a GIRL baby last Wednesday!  My brother & his wife are now proud parents of FOUR.  Three boys (18, 15 & 13) and a sweet baby girl born on 9/11/13.  I probably won't see her (except in pictures) before she's walking, but I'm still excited that we actually have a princess in the family. 

Pictures from our Chicago trip!

Throwing in the towel

Let's face it, my blogging skills are pathetic... I give up.  There are gazillions of pictures on Winkflash but they're all out of order and we did so many different things this summer, I don't even know where to begin.  What I do know is that school is back in session, Josiah started preschool, Noah started 5th grade and we are slowly finding our way back to the school-year-groove.

VBS

It's that fun, chaotic, hectic time of summer when we take on Vacation Bible School!  This year, all 4 of us are active participants.  :)  Michael is leading the adult study as well as playing guitar for the kids' closing, I'm leading the Bible Challenge and both boys get to attend.  :)  Josiah is having fun and especially loves the cookies and singing along with Michael at the end.  Noah has several little boys that follow him around ceaselessly.  He calls them his minions.  lol  And he loves every minute of it.  There are lots of pictures from the first 3 days, including pictures of our friends, Beka & Matt, who are visiting their grandparents for the week.  Their dad is a pastor too but they used to be members at Immanuel.  It's been fun having them back for a variety of reasons - 1) they already did this VBS so they've been great helpers with the songs; 2) they are the most polite kids in attendance; 3) they actually answer questions (their hands, Noah's and our friend Alison are usually the only ones that are raised) and 4) I just love them both!  :)  For the StoryTeller site this year, the leader is having the kids dress up and act out the Bible story.  You'll see Noah as Moses, Josiah as the disciple James, Noah carrying the sacrificial "bull" and Josiah carrying the fire of God, which is actually sort of ironic, since 3 of his fingers are currently bandaged because he dropped and then tried to pick up a lit sparkler...

Speaking of sparklers... we finally got around to doing the sparklers we had from 4th of July on Monday night.  The boys were wound up from VBS and the weather was clear, so we set everything up.  The 1st sparkler Josiah held was the one he dropped and between that and the mosquitoes, it wasn't the fun activity we had intended it to be.  You'll see a picture of Josiah sitting with Michael, holding a glow-stick... that was AFTER the burns and he was doing his best to look happy about things.

I also uploaded the pictures I mentioned last week - they'll be mixed in there somewhere.  :)

Next week we'll be in Myrtle Beach and the week after we'll be heading home, so no promises that there will be posts.  But I know there will be great pictures to share afterwards!!  

It rained.

The title of this post pretty much sums up our last week.  It has been raining - and not just a few sprinkles here and there, we're talking downpours - and the skies are clouding up again today.  Noah is at Art Camp this week and is loving it, as I knew he would.  :)  He gets to go every day from 10:30-5 and there are four different subjects - Abstract Painting, Ceramics, Cartooning (his favorite) and Printmaking.  Josiah and I went to the pool for a little over an hour yesterday before the rain started again and today we went shopping at the mall and had lunch at Panera.  :)  Not exactly his idea of a fun way to spend the day, but he was a very good boy. (and everything was on sale!  and I had gift cards to use!) 

Looking at the pictures on my phone, I have a picture of a tick (yes, a tick), Josiah wearing a cape I made him, Josiah sleeping in his new NASCAR hat, Noah & 2 of his friends playing a game with Josiah and the aebleskivers I made for breakfast on Saturday morning for Noah's sleepover.  Not very exciting.  If you're my Facebook friend, you've already seen all those pictures anyway.... What I should've taken a picture of was the water POURING into our basement on Monday night through a window that needs new sealant or something.  Or maybe the small pond that shows up every time it rains... oh well.  It's supposed to dry up for the weekend, so maybe we'll see some sunshine!

One other short anecdote before I close... a few weeks ago, friends from church brought the boys 2 goldfish.  I had to be talked into this little pet adventure and for good reason.  I bet you can guess who has fed the fish a majority of the time and who cleans out the fishbowl twice a week... At any rate, not surprisingly, one of the fish died yesterday.  Now, I would expect that the normal reaction to the loss of a pet might be sadness.  Maybe even a tear or two.  When Michael told the boys that we would have to flush the dead fish down the toilet, they actually got giddy.  They were excited to toss in good ol' Barney (or was it Boo Boo? Who knows!?!) and watch him swirl away to fish heaven.  I'm sure if we had girls there might have been tears but with my boys?  No way.  I love boy-land.  :)

Crazy

Is it seriously July already?  I swear June just started yesterday and yet my calendar has July showing.  We had another busy month and there are a few pictures to show for it. 

We started June with a geocaching adventure with our friends, the Campbell girls.  I finally scored my 100th find.  I'm sure there's a picture somewhere of that momentous occasion.  :)

Noah & Josiah both went to Learn-to-Swim-week at the Y the first week of June.  Both boys did a great job and I was actually quite surprised at how well Noah is swimming.  Josiah has continued swim lessons this summer, though his last one will be next Monday.  I hope it will work in our schedule for him to continue this fall.  He gets the concept but has a hard time putting it all together without a little assistance.

The boys & I went to the Ft. Wayne Zoo and had a really wonderful day.  Many of the animals were much closer than usual, though most were still sleeping.  It was nice to get an up-close view of them though!  Josiah loved the zoo and we didn't just run through - we actually stopped and looked at the animals and talked about them and Josiah was happy to tell anyone who would listen what sound each animal made, especially the lions.  :)  They have a little sprinkler area in one section and a fountain to play in as well, so the boys started the day playing in the water and stayed cool the whole day.  They were soaked through but by the time we left, they were just slightly damp. 

Despite our cooler, wetter summer, we have managed to get to the pool a few times and hopefully will be there again this afternoon. 

Noah went to Camp Lutherhaven again this summer and spent the week getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.  :)  He had a great time and loved the new cabin he got to stay in.  The Saturday before Noah went to Camp, my great-grandfather, Roy, passed away.  Josiah & I made the trip to Dubuque for the funeral and were SO blessed to be able to spend time with lots of family and friends.  Gummy flew in to Des Moines and so was able to bring Grandma Bobbie as well.  It was a very nice, unexpected visit with Grandma and I'm so thankful it worked out for her to make the trip.  We had a picnic at Eagle Point Park in memory of Roy, complete with KFC.  We also were able to see family members I hadn't seen since Roy's 90th birthday four years ago.  We shared a lot of memories, looking through old photos and laughing at old clothing styles, glasses and hair styles.  It was a true celebration of Roy's life.

Josiah & I also made a day trip down to Cincinnati to visit friends.  Noah was supposed to come along but got sick, so he had to stay home.  He was a little disappointed that he was left behind with Michael, but that day was the only day all summer that we could coordinate schedules with our friends.  That just proves how busy our summer is!

Noah & a few friends put together a "garage band" the last couple of days and gave a performance yesterday.  It was very funny and creative and they ended the concert with a silly string war.  The audience consisted of 2 moms, a grandma and a grandpa but it was still a stellar performance.  LOL

Along with everything else, we joined a playgroup, have done a lot of bike riding and playing, Noah started playing horn (he took lessons at school for a few days this month), enjoyed a night in the backyard with friends and lots of good food, more geo-caching and very little sleep.  No wonder I'm so tired!  ;) 

Pictures are here.

Honestly!

I do have the best intentions to catch up on my blogging.  May was so busy!  The pictures will attest to that.  You'll just have to guess what all those pictures are from though... Maybe next week I'll explain them to you?!  (but don't hold your breath...)

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too busy to blog

What a whirlwind life has been these last 4 weeks since I last blogged.  I apologize for not staying true to my "I blog every Wednesday!"  HA!  For most of the last month, I didn't even know when it WAS Wednesday, much less that I hadn't blogged.  We've had soccer practice and games, Touring Company shows, Little Mermaid, Jr. rehearsals and shows and costumes and cast parties and homework and playing and bike riding and a gazillion other every day things to do.  Plus, we've had a few nice days, so I couldn't sit INSIDE and blog!  We had to be OUTSIDE enjoying the sun!  So, I'm sure you understand.  However, this means that I have a bazillion pictures (which is more than a gazillion) and stories to tell... assuming I can remember it all.  All I know is that today is the first day in a very long time that I haven't had to go over to the school for something and last night was the first night that we were all home with "nothing" to do.

Noah had a great run in the school musical, Little Mermaid, Jr.  He was an under-the-sea creature, a sailor and most importantly, Chef Louis!  He had a solo and a line or two.  He did such a great job - so many compliments after the show.  Teachers, friends, parents of friends and people we didn't even know talked about how great he was. He was definitely the comic relief for the show.  :)  I have a clip from a dress rehearsal but it won't load on Facebook or here... will have to try another way to get it uploaded.

Touring Company's show this spring is a tribute to the Muppets with songs from the movie that came out a year or so ago as well as old favorites - think "Movin' Right Along" and "The Rainbow Connection."  It is such a sweet show and the kids do an amazing job, as always.  Noah is Animal, the wild drum player and he certainly fits the part.  There are a few pictures of him but I also have a video of his drum "playing" - air drumming?

Performing isn't the only thing Noah is excelling at these days.  His artwork is starting to get some attention as well!  Recently, the Superintendent of Lima City Schools asked Noah's principal if she could come up with a coloring sheet for an event she was attending and Noah was asked to draw his muppet characters.  You can see the picture with all of the others here.  Also, he was commissioned by his teacher to do some artwork to represent the class for the residency show and his artwork may be used on a t-shirt that EVERY elementary student will wear for that show!  I'll post pictures of that when I can.  :)  They may use something else, but Noah was the only student asked to submit something for this!

Josiah started riding his big boy bike and continues to say and do the funniest things.  Not always the most appropriate things, but you can't help but giggle. 

I had quite a bit more in the post but our internet connection went haywire and it all disappeared before it was saved.  I have no idea what else I said... so I guess you'll have to be content with what did save.  At least the pictures are all uploaded and safe.  :)  One of these days, I'll have the time, the internet connection will cooperate and it will all show up.  A mom-blogger can dream...

Dubuque :)

The week after Easter was Spring Break for Noah so we piled into the car and headed to Dubuque to visit family for a few days.  Grandma & Grandpa spoiled the boys, as usual, we ate a lot of good food, spent time with the whole Phillips' family and even got in a short visit with Great-great-grandpa Roy.  The boys & I introduced Taylor to geo-caching and we found some really neat caches in Dubuque on a gorgeous spring day.  There are lots of pictures to enjoy. 

And this week, candy bars are wrapping up and I'm trying to dig out of a month-long bout of insanity.  ;)  Housework to be done, games to play, emails to reply to, phone calls to make... it's a good thing I don't work all of the time - I'd never catch up. :)

TGIEM

You're probably wondering what in the world the title of my post means. As you've probably noticed, I'm a bit behind on my blogging this last month and I've mentioned 27,000 candy bars a time or two.  So TGIEM= Thank Goodnes It's the End of March!  Candy bar sales wrap up tomorrow, though a few boxes will be sold over Spring Break and I'm sure many kids will forget to turn in their money and so I will continue to collect the week after Spring Break, but today is the first school day that I have only spent ONE hour at the school.  Granted, I counted money once I got home, but I didn't have to go back this afternoon. :)  Michael asked me what I was going to do with all my free time once this was finally over.  HA!  Catch up on playing with Josiah, spring cleaning, scrap booking and maybe even blog regularly again.  ;)  With Noah's schedule getting busier (spring soccer AND the school musical), I don't think I'll be bored.  And let's face it, Josiah is THREE.  lol

Gummy was here last week and Josiah was the winner - he got to spend the most time with her and I know he had fun.  They played lots of games, including Wii (in the picture where she's sitting behind his little chair, that's what they're doing :)  )  and she was able to escape before the big spring snow hit.  Monday was another snow day and the boys and I made sure to get out and play with the hopes that that was the last chance to build a snowman... at least until next winter!

Next week we head to Dubuque so not sure I'll be back to my regular blogging schedule, but hopefully I'll be back to "normal" after that.  :)  Happy Spring?!! 

click here for pictures

Chocolate Touch

The title of this post is also the title of a book Noah read in 3rd grade but is quite fitting for my life these days... we're in candy bar heaven at Noah's school with a candy bar fundraiser and you-know-who is in charge.  27,000 chocolate bars is the goal to sell.  Thankfully, Noah only has to sell about 120 of them.  ;)  I've spent the last week distributing permission slips and boxes of chocolate and collecting money.  (I'm amazed at the number of coins I have to count.)  But it's a great fundraiser for the school and really, not a hard one.  Kids don't seem to have any problems getting rid of box after box of those candy bars.  I'm hoping that by next Friday, all of the cases will be distributed... a mom can dream.  ;)  By day 3 of the sale, I had already distributed more than half of the cases, so it could happen.  And after today's distribution, there aren't even 200 cases left.  So, do you want to buy some chocolate? 

Despite the chocolate up to my eyebrows, the boys and I have still managed to stay busy.  After the last post, there was a small chance of snowy/icy conditions and so we did the snow dance, including making our own snowmen with stickers.  The snow dance worked and school was canceled the next day.

That same night, Josiah and Noah got the camera and took quite a few pictures.  I thought they were sort of funny, so I uploaded a few of them.  I think you'll be able to tell which pictures the boys took.  

Josiah also started taking swimming lessons so you'll find a few pictures of him.  He does a very good job of listening to his teacher and willingly sticks his face in the water.  After the first lesson (he's had two), he informed me that he didn't need any more lessons because he could do it all by himself now. 

Josiah also went to the library for a Dr. Seuss party.  We had lots of fun listening to Dr. Seuss stories, coloring green eggs, having a special treat and playing with the parachute. 

Noah and about 20 other students from school performed with the Lima Symphony on Sunday for "Symphantastic."  The concert was the annual family concert and they had all sorts of fun musical numbers, unicyclists, jugglers, acrobats and dancers.  Noah's group performed to the theme from Beetlejuice.  Pictures were not allowed (I snapped a couple anyway) but the group performed for their classmates on Monday, so there are a few pictures from that performance as well.  Still not
 great, but better than nothing.  The kids did a great job and it really was a fun concert.

And another snow storm came our way and this time, we actually had snow to play in! So with school canceled yet again, out to the snow we went.  We used snow markers that the boys got for Christmas to draw all over our yard.  Sadly, the snow in the backyard was dry and would not pack... it wasn't until we had taken all of our winter gear off that I discovered that the FRONT yard had GREAT snowman snow.  We didn't bundle back up though - there's always next year for snowmen.

We made snow slushies instead of hot chocolate.  Those pictures and all the rest can be found here.

Cabin Fever

With the weather continuing to be cold and windy with little snow to make the cold fun, we've been searching for ways to stay entertained.  Many times, it ends up being the TV, Wii, computer time & playing on the Kindle.  Noah had 5 days off from school due to a teacher inservice and President's Day and so by Saturday, I was ready to get out of the house and do something to use up some of the energy these boys of mine seem to have an endless supply of!  So off we went to The Kangaroo Cave to bounce out their wiggles.  I wore a t-shirt, sweatshirt, my coat and gloves AND fuzzy socks and was still freezing.  The boys wore long-sleeve t-shirts and were hot and sweaty long before we left.  I guess I should have done some jumping to warm up!  :)  I actually remembered my camera AND took pictures - impressive, right?!?  lol

Gummy & Grandpa sent Valentine goodies so there are also pictures of the boys tearing into the box.

Other than that, it's just life as usual... with lots of dreams of sunshine, warm weather and playing outside! 

Computer troubles

My laptop died.  :(  It has been having issues here and there for awhile and last week, as I frantically attempted to back up everything, it called it quits.  Fortunately, I *think* I got everything backed up.  The laptop is in the shop, hopefully being fixed, and will come back like new.  To be honest, it's been sort of nice not having the laptop to take up precious time...and it really helps that I still have my smartphone and kindle to keep me connected to the outside world.  :)  Using the desktop, on the other hand, is not my idea of efficient productivity.  But at least it still works. 

Anyway, on to more important subjects: MY BOYS!  :) 

If you can believe it, Noah is TEN. 1-0.  10. Unbelievable.  Since we celebrated his half birthday last summer, we didn't feel like we could let him have a big party on his actual birthday but he still got presents, got to pick out the restaurant for supper, had a birthday cake and took treats to school.  He was a little upset that we didn't spend the whole week celebrating, but once he got his rather large and expensive Lego set, he seemed to get over it.  ;)  His pick for supper was IHOP and he had all-you-can-eat-pancakes.  Let's just say IHOP didn't lose any money on him.  I think Josiah ate more than Noah did.  lol  He must've eaten all he could though, because when we came home for cake & ice cream, he didn't have any!  The big Lego set was together in about 4 1/2 hours but he spent the rest of the weekend playing with it.

Noah also brought home his report card on his birthday, which in his case, is never a bad thing.  He once again had all A's with an A+ in Language Arts and Drama (shocker, I know).  His reading scores are way above average and he just continues to do well in all subjects.  It's so nice that he loves school and is such a good student.

Josiah and I are really enjoying the new Playtime activity that we go to each Wednesday.  Today he got to paint a picture of a tooth with a toothbrush.  It was very cute.  :)  And speaking of cute, my very sweet boy made me so proud today.  He was very good at sharing - during gym time, they had a bowling game set up and Josiah did a great job of sharing the ball whenever he was asked to do so and loved re-setting the pins, whether he was the one knocking them over or someone else.  Also, at the end of Playtime, I reminded him to say thank you and good-bye to the teachers and he went over to one of the ladies and thanked her and said, "I want to hug you now!" and gave her a big hug.  What a sweet boy!!  He also has started writing his name - it's almost recognizable - and he reads letters and numbers as we drive.  We stopped at a local grocery store this morning and he spelled out the letters - R-A-Y-S.  When I asked him what that spelled he yelled, "Ray's!"  So not only is he cute, he's a smarty pants too.  lol

Despite the computer issues, I do have pictures to share.  Hope you have a great week!  (spring is getting closer... my bulbs have started sprouting!!!)

We survived...

... this year's colds... well, so far.  :)  Noah started it, gave it to Josiah, who then gave it to me and now Michael is in the throes.  I really thought it was going to miss him but now I think he may have it worse than any of us.  At least there's no snow on the ground... (I don't know how this is a positive for him... he doesn't have to shovel?) All I know is that last week I whined about being tired of being cold and a few days later, it got to 60.  Sadly, it didn't last and I'm back to being cold again.  However, I just read a friend's blog and they have a half inch of snow on the INSIDE of their windowsills because it's so cold where they live, so I really have nothing to complain about. 

I realized on Saturday or Sunday that I hadn't blogged last week.  I have no idea where Wednesday went.  Did we have a Wednesday last week?  Maybe that's the problem... time isn't going fast - we're just skipping random days here and there so it feels like time is flying.  :) 

Anyway, we're back to a more normal routine.  Noah goes to school, practice piano every day, takes piano lessons once a week, plays video games, reads books, plays with his Legos and draws.  Josiah & I started two new activities this month.  I discovered a group that meets at a local school and is sponsored by Help Me Grow.  They do stories, music time, free play in the gym, a craft and play time with toys.  I also joined a book group that is all moms that meet at the McDonald's playplace and our little ones play while we discuss.  :)  I've also managed to return to a more manageable amount of time at Noah's school and have found a few spare moments in each day to catch up on my own projects!

Pictures are from Josiah's new playgroup, our attempts at avoiding cabin fever and a few from the big snow we had at the end of December. 

Happy New Year!

Hope you enjoyed all those pictures we took last week... because this week, I don't even have one.  Ok, I actually have 5, but they're not that great and though my children are undeniably cute, the pictures are of them rolling around in the snow, so you can't even see their cuteness.  ;)  Also, Noah has had a horrible cold since Thursday or Friday and Josiah's cold hit Sunday so we've been spending a lot of time on the couch resting and trying to get over this gunk.  Gummy & Grandpa got it too though so far, Michael & I have avoided it.  I have that "feel it coming" sort of feeling but am using vitamin C and positive thinking to try and ward it off.  (It could work...)  It was a quiet New Year's Eve, to say the least.  The "kid champagne" is still in the fridge, the poppers still waiting to be popped... we were all fast asleep in our beds at the stroke of midnight.  We may have to start a new tradition to celebrate Epiphany!  :)  Sparkling cider just gets better with age, right?!?

So, happy New Year and all that.