End of 2008

It is hard to believe that another year is winding down and about to close. 2008 went fast! Maybe it's because I was pregnant for most of it?! The kids had a great Christmas. We went to New Madison and the kids were spoiled by both sets of Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. Shea received a pink bathrobe with her name on it, from Santa, she liked that!! Lots of arts and crafts, trainer ski's from Shawn and I, movies, and my family went together and got her a Wii. We're having a lot of fun with it! Last night she liked baseball and was doing well at it!! Will received toys, a bouncy/walker car, new bath toys and my family went together and got him his first Craftsman toolbox. It was too large to bring back home so it is in Grandma and Grandpa Godsey's for a bit. (The car was already loaded down!) I think Shawn was in heaven that his boy now had a toolbox for the garage! Saturday we took the kids to Indianapolis to the Children's Museum, this was another gift from us. It was a neat place! We'll be heading back for sure. We stayed over night at the Hyatt so Shea could swim in the indoor pool. She loved it!!!! When we got back to our house Sunday night, Santa had left a big box for the kids. They got a swimming pool- 12ft x 3ft!! Shea asked me today if Spring was coming soon. I think she wants to use it.

Will enjoying his new ride.

Shea modeling her new robe.

Shea & Will on a real submarine at the museum.

Today is New Year's Eve and Shea wanted to do something special. With the kitchen all tore up we didn't get to do our annual cookie baking. Yesterday I bought pre-made peanut butter dough. This morning we rolled them, put them in sugar and baked them. Then added our kisses! This was a fun Mom/Daughter thing to do!!! Tomorrow is Chief's birthday so Shea decorated one just for him. He can eat it on his 8th birthday.

Our cookies & Chief's special one!

Since Chief can not have chocolate, Shea placed two candles and an American flag in his. So creative!! We hope that everyone has a safe NYE. Wishing you all peace, love & prosperity in the New Year!

A Christmas Program

Last night (December 18th) was the St. Patrick's Pre-School Christmas Program and our little Shea was going to be on stage!! In class they have been practicing for this night for a few weeks. Here at home, we practiced everyday, Shea's choice! We didn't even ask her to practice, she just wanted to. Last week she came home and told me that she and two other class mates were going to be speaking. This I knew we had to practice. Olivia, Blaise and Shea were going to welcome everyone to their Christmas Program before her class performed. I tried to get a photo of this but the lighting was awful in the gym and it did not turn out. We have it all on video. Both sets of grandparents made the trek to London to see her first performance. She was thrilled we were all there. This first photo is of her walking to the staging area. The girl beside Shea is her friend Blaise and the boy is her friend and neighbor, Matt. He's a hoot!

She did smile and wave to us (as did all the children) when she appeared on stage. It was so darn cute to see them all up there!! The first song they did was Jesus Loves Me. You could tell they were all a little nervous, they did well. Her teacher, Mrs. Nicki, said the kids voted on which songs to perform. The next one was a big crowd pleaser. The title of it is, Bean Bag Boogie. The kids had bean bags and there was music playing. They placed the bean bags where the song instructed them to, while they were booging down. One boy, Ryan, really was a good dancer and had everyone cracking up. This song was just so cute and it was so fun to watch the kids dancing. I can't wait to watch this on video. Here they are...

The boy in the tux next to Shea is our friend and neighbor, Sam. After the program we had the two of them stand in front of the Christmas trees to get future black-mail photos. Shawn video taped it and Jodi took some pictures, I hope hers turned out. If so, I'll post one. They looked like they were going to prom. It was SO cute!!! After all this we went to a local restaurant to eat dinner. We had to celebrate Shea's first on-stage performance! Shawn even interviewed her on camera, pretty funny stuff. I can't wait until her 16th birthday to pull these tapes out!

Will did get dressed in his Christmas best to attend her show. He did well, except he did not like all the clapping. He's into the phase now of not liking loud noises. Poor child, it's loud around here with the re-model on going. We sure hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season so far. Next week at this time, Santa will have been here. Can't wait to see what he brings!!!

Merry Christmas!

Will at 3 months; Shea meets Santa

Can you believe it? Will is 3 months old! Where has the time gone? He has started sleeping more through the night, YEA!! Some nights he eats between 5-6 am. While other nights he doesn't wake up until 7 am or after. Needless to say, the first time it happened I went in to check on him. Even though I figured he was fine, I couldn't help myself. He's become quiet the jokester. He is laughing more, making these high-pitch sequels. He cracks himself up sometimes. Which then makes us all laugh. Saturday night Shawn's boss and his wife had everyone who works for them and some friends over to their house for a Christmas party. It was adults only. This was the first time I'd left Will with anyone for an extended period of time. Sure, he's been with Jen for a couple of hours but this was going to be the whole evening. He was staying with Aunt Nan and Uncle Red. We got to their house early enough to stay with him for a few minutes. This photo is him laughing at Shawn saying good-bye to him.


Off we went and we did not get back to their house until 12:30!! We were party-animals. Nan said he did fine and really only fussed right when we left. We had a good time at Mike and Lisa's house. I did miss the kids but enjoyed the adult time.

Will has also taking to liking bath time now. He was all smiles after one the other day. Check out his hair- it gets all curly when wet!!!

Will at 3 months!

Mom and Dad came to pick Shea up on Saturday. Since we had to go to the party and Shea was to go to the Fire Dept. Christmas party on Sunday, this was good since we went out. Our friend, Randy Mikesell took photos of the kids and adults as they sat on Santa's lap. He sent these photos to me. Aren't they precious??!! Shea told Santa what she wants for Christmas... "Anything you bring me will be fine". Shopping for her is hard, since she has SO much. But, on the other hand, Shawn and I were very proud of her that she told him that. We're hoping she does like what Santa will be bringing!

Shea and Santa 2008

We hope you are enjoying the Holiday Season thus far! Now, I have to get all the wrapping finished up. That's a chore!

Drywall Work...What fun!

We have made more progress in the kitchen and everyone has been asking to see photos. Shawn is off of work this week, we hope to make a lot of progress on all this drywall work! Things started on Saturday. Shawn & Shea began to take down the cabinets. More totes came out to pack the contents of the cabinets in. We ran out of room to store them in the kitchen, they are now in our bedroom! I trip over them every night.

Tear down

Shawn took down the filler piece that was at the top of the old cabinets. We've decided to go with 42 inch cabinets, for additional storage. I was thrilled to see this tile go away!! Shawn found it easier to take down all the old drywall & put up new.

Old drywall


New drywall

As you can see, I have no working sink in the kitchen now. We are eating off of paper plates. I can wash cups & silver ware in the bathroom sink. The other major thing that has happened the last few days is moving of electrical. You see the new yellow wires sticking out of the wall? The one up higher is for the to be build in microwave. The one by the stool is for the refrigerator. The stove is going in the island, Shawn ran the electric for that & put my old stove over there, it does work. We're getting a feeling of how the island will be! We like it. Now...more sanding is going on at present. I'll let you know how the week progresses.

What a great morning!!

What a great Friday morning this has been!! This is a long story to tell you why it is so great, but hang in there with me. It all started Wednesday night. Barry called us, he was shopping at the Sears in Hilliard and as he was walking out the door an oven caught his eye. We'd been discussing them with him the previous weekend when he and Shawn were brain-storming about the kitchen re-model we have going on. I told him Jen's oven is my dream oven but I've priced them and they are WAY out of the budget. Theirs was too but Barry had found a deal and that's how Jen got it. Back to Wednesday night. I was thrilled to hear Barry had found an electric slide-in oven just like theirs and it was on clearance! I had him talk to Shawn about it. The next day the kids and I headed into Hilliard to check this puppy out! Plus, Shawn wanted me to go to Appliance Smart and see what deals I could get there. I started at Sears. There were two floor models left in this stove Barry had told me about. One a lady bought right in front of me as I was looking at the stove! The nerve, she was a blue-hair! As we were walking out of the store, on the phone with Shawn, I see the stove. I could feel the twinkle in my eye. I'm scurrying to write down the info as the blue-hair walks out after buying the other stove. She STOPPED TO LOOK AT THE ONE I'M CURRENTLY LOOKING AT! Man did I give her the dirty look. Off we went to the next store. They had good deals on fridges and only two slide in stoves, which were not nearly as nice as the one I'd fallin' for already.

Shawn came home last night and I was researching fridges and stoves, and looking through Craigslist to see what they had. I told him my first, second and third choices. By this time, I had a raging headache and it was time for The Office. I was up last night with both kids and just thinking about the oven. We couldn't possibly spend the money, this isn't the house we'll be in forever. Shawn must have been up thinking about it too. As he was leaving for work I was getting up. He says to me, "Go get the oven at Sears, you deserve it and I love you". After a few moments of hesitation, I then smiled and said OK!

I get the kids ready and we head out to the truck...which doesn't start! UG! Not going well. Load them back into my car and we're on the cuff of being late for school. But we made it on time! I had it arranged with my neighbors to pick Shea up if I was going to be late. Will and I were on a mission to get this stove.

I get to Sears and the floor model was gone. I talk to the sales lady and explain to her the one on the floor had a yellow tag on it yesterday but some lady bought it. She went and checked (this took a while) and to her surprise, I was right. She had pulled the wrong stove back to storage. The one already marked sold was indeed sold. The floor model I'd seen by the exit door was available. HOORAY! But, I can't let her know I'm excited. We talk about the price and I can get it now for this mega on sale price or wait until next Thursday, when they lower the price again. In my mind I'm saying, "It could be gone!!". I tell her I want the stove but I'm going next door to Kroger to get gift cards to purchase this with. I wheel Will over and we get the cards. FYI- Kroger is doing double fuel points on any gift cards purchased. We'll be getting cheap gas next month :)

Back to Sears I go. Now, the computer won't let the lady enter all my gift cards. After more time spent figuring this out, we pay for the oven. IT'S MINE! Here is a sneak peak at what it looks like. Minus the cabinets.

It's a smooth top, electric slide in, convection oven with...are you ready... a warming oven!!!! I about did cartwheels out to my truck. I didn't want to spend the money but we did get one heck of a deal. Thank you to my loving husband for telling me to go get it!! Thank you to Barry for finding this deal. Since the truck wouldn't start for me, Shawn has to fix that tonight so he can go in tomorrow and pick this oven up. I can't wait until it's in the garage. The lady is even going to shrink wrap it for me, how exciting. This is our first purchase for the remodel. Scary but fun. I can't wait to make a great meal on it. When the island is build and the oven is in, I'll let you know how it looks. I'm sure fantastic.

After all that, I had to pee so we stopped at Target. How lucky, I had a coupon for a free coffee at Starbucks so I got my Peppermint Mocha and finished Christmas shopping for the kids (since Shea wasn't with me). All this and it was only 11 am. Needless to say, I'm tired now. Plus, I had to re-schedule my much needed hair cut. I must have really wanted the oven! What a great Friday!!!!

Snow and Christmas Lights

This weekend proved to be productive on many fronts. Shawn was able to get a couple more coats of mud on the walls, which are looking great. Now you can't tell that we had to do work on the wall!! Plus, he grinded the ceiling in the kitchen. That was a total mess, we had to put the plastic back up. Will loves the sound of the shop vac!! He'd sleep anytime Shawn turned it on, what a saving grace.

Saturday we did get a little bit of snow and ice. Made driving a bit tricky but we still went into Hilliard to check out a cabinet place our friends the Jones' told us about. They too are re-modeling their kitchen right now. We found some we liked! Sunday, Shawn decided that he was going to hang Christmas lights outside and get rid of the rotten pumpkins. Shea just wanted to play in the snow.

Shawn hanging up lights

I helped Shawn get Shea all bundled in her snow suit, hat & gloves. Out they went. She had even went in the storage area above the garage & got her sled out- all by herself. Chief really wanted her to chase him. I dressed Will and out we went. It didn't take him too long & he fell asleep. This is the best picture I could get of him, for his first snow fall.

Will, 12 weeks

Shea on the other hand had taken her hat off & after the photo, her gloves. Mom was not happy! She wanted to throw snowballs at me. Poor Will took the brunt of one.

Shea having a blast.

Chief running through snow & eating it!

Shawn did an excellent job hanging the outside lights. I'll try to get outside at dusk tonight & take some photos. I hope everyone has all their decorations up now. I just need to finish my Christmas cards & shopping!!!

Christmas is coming

The tree is finally up & the stockings are hung by the mantle with care...In hopes that St. Nick will soon be here! Shea received a pink tree last year at Christmas, this had to be the first one up this year. I downsized the amount of decorations & trees that I normally put up. With the kitchen remodel on going and Will who consumes so much time...I did the best I could! Shawn & my Mother informed me I HAD to put the big tree up. Ok, I did so on Monday, Christmas can now come.
This afternoon I subjected the kids to the annual Christmas photo shoot. I just clicked away. There were a few that turned out good, others were just hysterical!! I loved the oh get this over with look on Wills face for this photo. Shea is in the stage of giving very goofy smiles, making it hard to get a good picture of her.

O Christmas Tree

This is our tree this year. Shea helped me put the ornaments on it, I had to go through and re-arrange a few. They all seemed to end up in on general area. My friend Jen is asking us to post photos of our favorite ornaments. I'll try to do so soon.

This year I also made the mantle more simple. Just stockings and Peace On Earth. I love it though!! I got us all new stockings. Pottery Barn, love it, had a sale early on their stockings so I took the opportunity. Chief also got a new one, just not Pottery Barn quality. I hope your Holiday Season is going well thus far!

All Shea Wants for Christmas

We hope that your Thanksgiving was a good one and you ate lots of turkey! We (Shawn, Shea, Will, Chief and I) were all very thankful for our family and friends near and far this year. At pre-school Shea had to say what she was thankful for at their feast and she said her family...ah, just what a Mom wants to hear. On Thanksgiving day we went to my family's annual reunion for lunch. We had 79 people and 1 beagle in attendance. What a turn out this year! Grandpa Joe was not able to come. He became very weak after his last round of chemo and was in the hospital two weeks ago and last week was moved to a nursing home in Greenville to do rehab. He wasn't strong enough to come to Thanksgiving. Then, Grandma Pat didn't come because she wasn't feeling well and didn't want to risk giving anyone else an upset stomach. This was the first Thanksgiving that I was not eating with my grandparents. That was hard but managed to get through it alright. We then headed to Shawn's sister (Erin) for Thanksgiving dinner. Erin tried out a few new recipes and they turned out well. Shawn is still commenting on the buffalo chicken dip. After two good meals, we were ready for bed!

Now, the reason for the title of this post. Friday after having brunch with my cousin, Deb, who was up from Tennessee Shea went to Grandma Huntington's. They took her with them to the Piqua mall. To her pleasure, Santa was there. She wanted to go see him so Aunt Erin took her & Nevan. Erin said she had to bend her ear to hear what Shea told Santa she wanted. Shea told him she wants a horse that poops out chocolate chip cookies. Now after you are done laughing, imagine the look on Santa's face! I bet he couldn't wait to tell Mrs. Clause this one. Fortunately, Santa told her he wasn't sure if he could find this type of pony. I guess the Easters where she received the pooping chicken have stuck in her head.

Ahh, the joys of a four year old. I do intend to remind her of this when she is older. I'll post updated pictures of the kitchen when I get back home. Everyone who has to travel this weekend, be safe!

Another Wall is Gone

We had another productive weekend in the Huntington household. After having some much needed fun Friday night-I had my "Bunco group night", Shawn & the kids hung out with Barry & their kids! Saturday was all about the kitchen. We had one more wall to tear down. Shea was more than ready to help destroy something, she loves this part. She put on a pair of goggles and away she went tearing off drywall. What a good helper! See...

Meanwhile, Shawn was on the opposite side of the wall tearing that part down. Yes, that really is drywall dust flying in the air. Will was behind a closed door in his room for this part. We couldn't keep the plastic up, it was in the way of Shawn taking out the wall. It came down easily. Then, I helped him put up a temporary wall to support the ceiling while he made the new header. While he did this, the kids and I packed up and went to Jen & Barry's to watch the OSU vs Michigan game. Can you say, GO BUCKS!!!

When we returned home after the game Shawn and Chief had run into town to get some lumber at Carter's. Chief loves to go with Dad to get this stuff. Later that night we were ready to install this beefy header. Now for those of you who don't know, my dear husband is an excellent builder and loves to over-build items. This was no different, you could drive a car over this thing. Our house should not sag in this part. There was no way I was going to be able to lift this up over my head. I pleaded with him to call Barry. After trying to rig a way to get this in place using ladders he finally said, "go call Barry". Fifteen minutes later Barry arrived and the header was in place. Ah, much easier with three of us. They took down the temporary wall and then we sat in the kitchen (on whatever you could grab) and tried to figure out how we were going to lay this out with all this new found space! I'm loving the open floor area now. Here's a couple of views.

This is a view from the living room window looking into the kitchen.

This is a view from the back door looking into the living room and stair way.

Don't you think this looks so different but SO good??! We commented last night how we are already used to it. Sunday we finished a few things up, Shawn had to go into the attic and do some wiring. I started cleaning the disaster area & Shawn helped and then had things outside to clean up. We were able to get the dining table back into the kitchen area. We don't have power for lights in the kitchen or hall way. But, Shawn did get the ones in the living room area back on. He left his construction lights upstairs so I can use them to cook when it gets dark outside. We're making progress and I can't wait to get it done. I know, such a woman thing to say.

Kitchen part II

Here is part two of the weekend demo. This is a view from what used to be the dining room area looking into the kitchen. It's now all open, YEA!!!!! After the enormous amount of drywall work we have to decide on so much. Cabinets, counter top, flooring, lighting, paint, back-splash, fixtures. Of course me being a woman, I wanted it all decided now. Shawn's not on board with all that! He says one thing at a time. Whatever..Craigslist, here I come!


As usual when there is a project around here, Chief is beside him self. He's not sure where to lay and just plain doesn't like change. Shea on the other hand has been very helpful to her Dad. Especially since I also have to attend to Will. He is just going with the flow, as a baby would. Here's pictures of them from the weekend.

Will almost 9 weeks

Shea & Will

Look for more updates as they happen!!

Kichen Demo Begins!

This last weekend was a fun one in the Huntington household! We've lived here for 7 years. Since the day we moved in, I've wanted to remodel the kitchen. Well...other things came first. Saturday the day finally arrived and the wall came down! Start at the bottom of these pictures to get the progression, I up loaded them in the wrong order...that's what I get for multi-tasking. Shea and I had to pack into totes everything in the cabinets & pantry from the wall that would be no more. We moved the frig and Shawn had torn out the carpet. He sealed off the kitchen from the living room (that really helped with the dust). Ready, set, hammer!

Wall is out, one open room now!

Shawn tearing out drywall

I get the first hit on the wall I wanted gone!!!


Before view looking into dinning room from living room.

Before view of the wall from the kitchen.

Now we're living out of totes in the kitchen. The floor is all up- we found a second laminate floor under the first in the kitchen. Shawn hung drywall up on the ceiling where the wall once stood.

To be continued...

Fun Things To Share

We have great news to share with you all. Our friend, Kristen Thompson, has had a dream for a while now to venture out on her own & open her own Optometry place. Dr. Thompson's dream is coming true!!!! She & Troy bought a building in South Vienna, about 10 minutes from the lake. They've had remodeling to do & encountered problems with permits along the way. Finally, they are ready to open their doors. This is so exciting. The name is Cross Roads Eye Care. Shea, Will & I went on Thursday last week for a preview. It is nice! Shea tried on every single pair of pink glasses. She was a good model. If you would like more information about services she will offer please go to: www.visionsource-crossroads.com

Kristen & Shea

The next thing to share is this beautiful sunset. Friday was cool, gray & raining. At sunset, the sun came out for a brief time. I happened to be letting Chief out and ran to get my camera. I had to capture this gorgeous fall picture. Good thing I did, most of the leaves fell off this weekend.

The only tree in our yard to turn a pretty color this year!

Sunday we began to get serious about figuring out how we will go about remodeling our kitchen, our potential winter project. We've look a few places at cabinets but there was one more place we wanted to go- Bargain Outlet! We were successful in getting things put up outside for the winter on Saturday. Yesterday afternoon Shawn suggested we go into Columbus and take a look at what Bargain Outlet had. Sure, why not!! We found some we really like! Then reality set in om the price. So many decisions we have to make!!! After ward, Shea was tired & hungry. Daddy told her since she had been good we'd go to Cici's pizza for dinner. She was excited! When she & Shawn were pretty much done eating, they took Will so I could finish. They had him really smiling. Of course he didn't want to when I whipped the camera out. But...this is still cute.

Shea, Shawn & Will

Ah, it's the end of another good, productive weekend. Back to the daily grind. Plus, it's cold out here!!! Where did that nice Indian Summer go? We'll have to wait a few months. Have a great week!

A Rabbit Is Coming

A few weeks ago Shea began asking me if she could get a rabbit. Will was just born and I really didn't have time to discuss it with her and I said I don't know. We'll see. She's a persistent one and kept asking. I told her to discuss this with her father. I also explained to her that I had enough to keep up with around here. Two kids, a husband, dog, household and the 5 fish. I didn't need another animal to keep up with. Shawn was hesitant too as he thought he'd be the one taking care of this rabbit and he had enough of that as a child, raising rabbits for 4-H. Shea worked us hard. We think she's going to be a lawyer, that's how good her negotiation skills are. Finally one night she caught Shawn in a week moment and he told her if she started behaving better that she could get a rabbit. I just looked at him. I made it very clear I'm not responsible for his/her care.

We have informed Shea that this will be her responsibility to care for it and if she doesn't, it will be sold. Shawn also had her help him build a hutch, for it's "house". It's a NICE house. Complete with an enclosed inside are that we can shut up if it's cold and a door that opens up into an outside area. Some rabbit is getting a castle! This week they began staining it. Shawn was thrilled to use up old stain we had.

Shea put on an old t-shirt of Shawn's and was thrilled to start staining. Will and I just sat in the chair and I was already laughing, I knew exactly how this was going to go. Not 15 minutes later Shawn figured it out too. Stain was EVERYWHERE! Shawn told me I could stop enjoying this so much. Ah, to see someone else deal with what I do every single day. Needless to say, I had to scrub stain off of the child in the bath tub.

The following night (Wed) Shawn told Shea that she could just watch- again I cracked up. Shea did watch and even took this photo of Shawn. Maybe photography is in her future too??! The hutch is almost complete so now we must find the rabbit to occupy it. Shea wants a white bunny with a pink nose and she wants to name is Rosy. We'll let you know when we find her!

Election Day

My fellow Americans, the day has finally arrive. It's election day!! WAHOO! I woke up this morning at 5 am to feed Will and I immediately smiled. I thought today is the last day for all the political ads. I won't have to hear them every where I go. No more robo calls!! I won't have to fear answering the phone. Yes, this is a "historical" election as we've heard for months now. I'm just ready to go cast my ballot. I was just explaining to Shea today how important it is to do your research and then go and vote. This great country of our was founded with so many great principles. The one I treasure the most is freedom. There has been blood-shed for decades, centuries to preserve our right to freedom. I think we owe it to all of those folks to do our duty and get out and vote. Early voting has been a huge success this year. For me it's more convenient to wait until today. I only have to go .5 tenths of a mile to vote. How convenient is that?! As you contemplate voting and how to vote, just remember this photo of Old Glory!


I know there are many people with very strong feelings and convictions for which candidates they are going to be voting for. That is fine, I just hope our nation will be peaceful today and after the election. We need to show the world that we are ready to move on to the next phase in our democracy. Be it with a mixed-race President or a woman Vice-President. Happy Election Day!

Here's what the kids did this morning while we all had breakfast... Too cute in the AM, aren't they?

Trick or Treat?!

Your eyes are not tricking you, the "Things" (Jen & Baryy) arrived at our house last night. So did The Cat In The Hat (Kendall), Thomas the Train (Noah) & Ariel!! We had Trick or Treat at the lake and we were surprised that the turn out was low this year. That did not detour us from having fun!! Ariel, aka, Shea came home with a full bucket of candy. We carefully checked it over and let her pick one piece for the night. She chose hot tamales & they were good. Off to bed... Ariel needed sleep for the next morning.


After a good nights rest, Ariel was off to pre-school for more Halloween fun. They went around to different candy stations & then her class had a party. She said it was a good time!! Will enjoyed his first Halloween. It was complete with being made into a chili pepper!!! We just couldn't resist with his adorable red hair.

Will on Trick or Treat day.

Princess Ariel is ready for candy!



We wish you a
Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

This morning, Shea's preschool took a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch! Shea was really excited about this. Will did not accompany us, it was too cold!! He stayed at home with Jen Kuck. He got plenty of snuggle time. Meanwhile, Shea and I headed out into the blustery wind. We were dressed like it was already winter. We went to Lohstroh's Family Farm near Mount Sterling. The kids were shown the cows and what they eat, different types of pumpkins & gourds, climbed hay bails and were told to crawl like caterpillars and then.... The hay ride! The kids were so thrilled. Shea & Brianna were glued together- as usual when they are at school. I took the girls out to pick up which pumpkins they wanted. Brianna wanted a small one and Shea and I were eyeing a big gourd.

Then they went back to the barn and had a snack and played in the hay bails. Then it was back on the bus to go home. I asked Shea if she wanted to ride back with me or take the bus. No hesitation...the bus! It was a cold day but we had a lot of FUN!!

Will is 6 weeks old

Today, Will is six weeks old! My how the time is flying by. He is growing...and too fast. We have began to notice that he smiles a lot more in the last two weeks. It warms your heart to see him look up at you and smile. He does it to all three of us when we talk to him.

Usually I am the one taking the pictures but for a change, here is a picture of Will and I! Shea took this on Friday. We went to Hilliard to have lunch with my college friend Gabe and his wife Jenny. They were in town for Homecoming and the big OSU vs Penn State game. Which, we will not be discussing!!! Will witnessed his first OSU loss...poor guy!

Six Insignificant Things

My friend Jen "tagged me" to come up with 6 insignificant things about my self to share. I'm struggling with this. It seems as present all my mind is consumed with a newborn & a four year old. But, I'll give it a shot!

1) I am very glad that it is football season! As you know I love the Buckeye's and I am very worried about the game against Penn State this weekend. It could be the best game all year. I'm really happy that I will be able to have 1 adult beverage during this game.

2) I'm craving brownies with ice cream. And not just any old ice cream. I want Graters. Reading Sheri's blog made me crave it even more!

3) I like a tidy house but I've not had the time as of late to keep it that way and it is driving me nuts!!!!

4) I'm extremely sad that summer is ending. We had our first frost last night and the only person in our house happy about it was...Shea. I still want to hang out on the boat in the sun, kick up the feet and relax. Ah.. I already have cabin fever.

5) I always have this feeling of not being able to please everyone in my life. Now I know this is silly and I should only work on pleasing my self, husband and kids. I can't do this and all my life have struggled with this. It's been even more so as the Holiday's approach, the anxiety of it all.

6) I'm going to get my first hair cut since having Will and I can't wait! I'm slowing starting to get that feeling of "normal" back again. Sigh...smile...

Next time I get "tagged" I'll try to come up with better things to put!!

Pumpkin Show

WOW, can you believe your eyes? This is the pumpkin that won first place at this years Circleville Pumpkin Show. We took the kids and met up with the Kuck's in Circleville for a few hours of fun! We were excited to see the large pumpkins in person. There were more food vendors than I had EVER seen in one place. There were almost too many choices! Shawn and I chose the Bourbon chicken and Shea chose the corn dog. I couldn't resist trying a pumpkin crepe. It was good but really rich.

1,375 1/2 pounds!!

Shea with the 2nd place winner
After walking around we let the kids choose one game and one ride. Shea did a fishing game and won a Hanna Montana cell phone. Oh yes, it plays music. Then she rode the "plane ride" as Noah referred to it. She and Kendall picked a pink helicopter. Go figure! Will was good as he was in the sling and slept most of the time. Except to wake up and eat.

After ward we headed home to see the Buckeye game. Shawn started installing the gutter toppers. Shea, Will and I stayed at the Kuck's and watched the game. Why watch it alone was my thought. Jen was able to get Will to smile quiet a bit, here's a look...
Then we ate pizza, salad and some yummy banana bread. It was a fun-filled day and by 9 pm, I was SO tired! I couldn't keep my peppers open to watch Gray's on DVR. Oh my! Hope everyone is enjoying our first Fall weekend (weather wise).