Grandma and Grandpa Child's

In November of last year I was able to go out to Utah and Idaho for a short time for my Grandma Child's funeral while Robert was in Australia. We do love being able to visit their house and finding all the treasures.

Among the many things that can keep us entertained non-stop at their house is an absurd amount of spoiling by providing any food desired. David and Evan had a blast with these grapes and their bowls kept getting fuller and fuller. Grandpa Child had "HIS" chair which is extremely comfortable and reclines and was in his office while he was still working. David took this chair as his while he sat and watched cartoons.

Emma found Grandpa's popcorn stash. He keeps a paper grocery bag of popcorn and every grandchild as soon as they can look, find it and eat. The funny thing is that she wasn't one to go searching like she did at their house.

We missed our chocolate ;(

Everyone got SICK in our house so David wasn't able to take his snacks in to school. We plan on taking them in this month and doing something for Easter. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the kids stay somewhat healthy until next year.

CHOCOLATE!!!

David gets to take snacks in to school next week. When I told him about it and that he gets to choose what he wants to take he lit up. His straight face and normal eyes changed into his eyes opening wide, his smile going from ear to ear, and then almost whispering said "Chocolate!!!" Yep, he is a child of mine. I wish I could have had a picture of it. I'll have to let you know what we end up making and taking in for his snacks. Evan also told me he needs to take some to his school too. I love my kids.

I'm catching you...

Evan is less than a couple of inches shorter than David now. He grew about 1 1/2 inches in 1 1/2 months. Evan may be shorter but wider than David. Emma is smaller than both brothers when they were her age.

Long time no see...

What you cannot see is that they are all kicking their legs and laughing hysterically. David and Evan were sitting on the bench and I put Emma up with them and she had to kick her legs too. Her legs aren't as long as her brothers but she didn't let that bother her. She has to be right there with them.
Their Aunt Christine has a dog named Shadow that David has become quite attached to and now any dog we have in the house is called Shadow. His Scooby Doo dog is renamed Shadow. It was to cute that he was letting Emma get so close to HIS Shadow and that they were just sitting in the chair together.

We got 4-5 inches of snow overnight and our wonderful neighbor came and used his snow blower on our driveway so we didn't have to shovel to get out. The kids had a very late breakfast because we had to stand and watch him clean our driveway. They were glued to the window the whole time. They really like Steve, but when he has a snow blower too, it trumps everything.

We are "Mashion Movers" from Disney Channels, Imagination Movers. They put their hats on and rock with their guitars like the best of them.

"I'm Boot Leg Bill (or Milly for Emma). Nice to meet you"

What you don't see are the piles of toys that were in the buckets prior to being on their feet. They love walking around with their "boot legs" and Emma had to wear something on her feet only she can't walk as well as the boys in her shoes.

David started school!!!

David started school today and was a very big boy about it. He was ok with being at school until the teachers aid wanted him to walk into the school without me. He didn't cry and he walked in but did while he was in there. It's a very exciting and very sad day. He's growing up. When I asked him what he did there he responded "Play with the dryer." His classroom has a little washer and dryer that he fell in love with. That is what he would talk about when we would bring up school. When we picked him up he also said that "Enna did not need to come with me". This will help both of them gain a little more independance. He also said they got to eat cheese balls which are some of his favorites that we never get. The evidence was all around his mouth too. I didn't get pictures because Robert has the camera but will take pictures when he is back. My baby is growin up.

The land down under...

Robert made it safely to Moss Vale, Australia and is into the work grind. The hotel he is staying at has a buffet breakfast and he said there is some fruit there he hadn't seen before. He is still getting use to the time change and wakes up in the night and goes to bed early. It will be a couple more days before he's on track - just in time to come back. There a several little towns all within a few minutes drive of each other so he's been doing some exploring. On his way home from dinner the GPS told him to go one way but he knew he was supposed to go the other and he went were he knew he needed to go. It kept telling him to turn around because he was going the wrong way. It wasn't to long and he found the hotel going the way he knew was right. When he talked to his co-workers about it they said GPS is almost worthless down there. Good to know. He's going to pick up some good old fashion maps!
He went to Subway for lunch and some things have the same name but green peppers are called something else. I'll have to get more details or have him write.
His work is coming along and said it is nice to be able to talk to the people if he has questions instead of emailing and then waiting until the next day to get a response. He will be going to a mine before he comes home and one of JOY's part suppliers. I'm anxious to hear how the mines are different down there than here or if they are the same.
The kids are doing pretty well with him gone. We talk about how Daddy went on an airplane, is in Australia, gets to see kangaroos (David's latest is he adds elephants and zebras into the mix too). Evan is showing his loneliness without his Daddy the most but when Robert gets back I don't think any of the kids will let him out of their sight for long.
We were going to talk on Skype but his hotel doesn't have wireless internet so he calls using his IPOD. I never thought I'd be so grateful for it. He's able to call when he gets to work in the mornings around 3pm our time and then during his lunch about 9pm. The boys haven't been interested much in talking to him, but we'll see if that changes the longer he's gone.
I will keep you updated on his travels and when he shares pictures.

Apple Butter

I grew up with Apple Butter and liked it. We had a jar and I opened it to see if it was as good as I remember it being and it was wonderful! One day I asked the boys if they wanted to try some "Special Butter" and they gobbled it right up. I haven't tried making it myself yet, but it's nice to know that it would be eaten when I finally try. There's something about the warm spices when the weather starts turning cold. Yum Yum.

Our life ...

Our life changed forever a couple weeks shy of 3 years ago. We found out we were expecting the middle of October 2007 and then on November 1 at 3:30 AM we listen to the message our adoption case worker had left 4 hours earlier. She let us know that she had a baby boy and would we pray asking if he's ours. 17 hours later we were in Detroit picking up our little, tiny baby boy - David.
3 years later and having a family of 5, there is never a dull moment and a list of things to do that isn't a mile long.

In our family, we like to crawl up the stairs but David and Evan certainly weren't climbing the stairs at 10 months. Yep, she can climb all the way to the top and so proud of herself with every step!
David got his truck from his birthmother when he was born and we've had Evan's since before they could drive them. I watch them riding them turning fast around corners and missing the corner of the piano by an inch - Little Speed Demons. They like to "fall off" on purpose by leaning over backwards off the seat to the floor. I wonder when and how they are outgrowing them. What is happening?

Several years ago I got some little plates and cups my grandmother was getting rid of and I remember these from when I was a little girl. I found them packed away in a box and thought they would be loved if out. I supposed right. I think all of them would have been dirtied if I didn't keep all but 4 put away. If you ask David who gave them to us he will say "Great Gramma Child" which hehad only heard once in passing. How glad I am for things that last forever. I also love the look David is giving Evan in the second picture.

Another thing that started when David was a little baby is standing looking out the windows. I use to stand and hold him and watch out the window at whatever we saw. Before the boys were tall enough to look out (once they could stand on their own), they would stand on any box around and just watch. They would even push the boxes around to get the best vantage point. People would comment on when they were passing by they'd see little eyes peering over the window sill. Emma cannot stand up on her own but she can climb on anything and hold on just to look out the windows. We have to really watch her. She's fallen off and climbs right back up.

There is a dip in the middle of our yard that catches the run off from the yards on up the hill and the other morning we looked out to see a stream between 5 - 10 feet going through. Shortly after I took this picture a group of 4 deer came and were playing, jumping, running in it.

David started crossing his fingers and does all sorts of tasks with them crossed. I'm not sure he's even aware they're crossed at times.

Another of Emma's go-to spots is the fireplace. David liked it, Evan liked it, and now she likes it. David and Evan will tell her "No, No, Emma" when she goes behind the guard.

This is a receiving blanket I crocheted around and I was just so proud of it, I had to show it off. The musical fabric matched the baby perfectly and the LOVE the stitch I did around it. It is called "Hugs and Kisses" and so easy. I'll post the directions later.

Evan likes to climb, hide, and be a stinker. I came into the family room and found he had taken all the books out and climbed in. What will I do?

I cannot imagine life without my beautiful children and I love them dearly. Yes, there are times I wish we lived closer to Grandparents, but really I cannot leave them for long.

ANIMALS!!!!!

The boys love animals and this month we got to go the Spence farm and Zoo!! It was beyond excitement.
We started talking about the Spence Farm a week before we went to help prepare the boys for what we were going to see and do. We got to see horses up close and personal which was wonderful. They could have stood and watched them all night.

David

Evan

Emma

Two weeks later, Robert took a day off and we went up to the Erie Zoo. We got to see Zebras, monkeys, giraffes, rhinoceroses, tigers, and more monkeys. If you ask them what they saw they'll tell you elephants, but we didn't. It isn't a big zoo, but David wants to go back up for his rewards.

Can you see the Tiger behind the glass? And of course at this point another child is more important than the tiger.

They really like the giraffes.

Our first trip to the Hospital.

The middle of September brought a trip that I knew was inevitable but wasn't sure when it would happen.

David and Evan were running and jumping in their beds which happens on an almost daily basis. Well Evan missed his mattress and cut his lip pretty bad (what I thought was pretty bad anyway). I wanted to make sure it wouldn't need stitches and our doctor recommended we go to the ER. 3 hours and 1 glove balloon turned turkey later the doctor said he didn't need stitches because he didn't bite completely though his lip. This is good information to know. He babied his lip for a couple days but it's understandable. (Sorry for the blurry picture - he's upset because I'm not letting him take the picture of himself.)

Our dormers...

So I finally am posting pictures of our dormers. It use to be a light blue and we like this darker blue so much better.

Our house...

When we bought our house 6 years ago, we knew that we needed to paint our dormers. Well this last weekend we started painting them. The front dormer is painted and looks great! It will take a few days to get them all painted because we can only do so much at a time with the kids, but they look pretty good. I'll post pictures later when we get them all done.

Canning memory -

While talking to Krys, my youngest brother, he remined me of a memory from canning together. The two of us decided to help my parents out by canning something (I'm not sure what it was now) but one of us went to pick up a hot jar full of fruit and dropped on the corner of the stove. The jar didn't break but a piece of the brand new stove chipped off. Luckily my parents didn't kick us out of the house and we were still able to help with the canning. We felt absolutely horrible.
Thanks Krys for reminding me of something I'd rather of left forgotten. I learned to be very careful while handling very hot canning jars though.

Peaches! Peaches! Peaches!!!

I bought 5 - 25 lb. boxes of peaches this week to can and make other things with and boy am I glad I did. These peaches were the best peaches I have had in years and no comparison to the ones I would buy in the store. When I let the boys eat the slices, juice runs down their arms and is all over their mouth. Incredible.

I made 3 batches of freezer jam using a different recipe each time and each batch is certainly different. Very yummy though. David and Evan ask to taste the jam that didn't make it in the freezer. One thing I did though was leave the skin on when I made the jam because I didn't want to take the time to peel the peaches. I don't mind the skin on peaches and it doesn't change anything with the jam either. It's how I'm making my jam from now on. I also used the blender for 2 batches and the potato masher for 1 batch and they worked great!

I froze several bags of sliced and halved peaches for future pies, cobblers, and other delicious treats.

I mainly wanted to can the peaches but never having done it except when I'd help my parents growing up, I had no idea what I was doing. My generous visiting teachers and another sister in the ward came over Friday night for a couple of hours and showed/helped me bottle 36 quarts. It was so much easier than I thought it would be and they were so much help. I opened one of the bottles and tasted them and aaaahhhh, it took me back to my childhood and the peaches my parents canned. Growing up I thought store bought canned peaches would taste better than the ones we canned at home and now after all these years of only having store bought peaches I can say home canned peaches take the cake!!! Thanks mom and dad for spending the money and taking the time to can fruit while we were growing up. I'd also like to thank them for letting us kids "help" with the process.

We have also been able to have sliced peaches ready for us to eat in the fridge for our meals or snacks. I do like peaches.

The fruit that is put away won't last us a year, but I feel that we're a little closer to food storage.