Shaake's 2008

Picking out the perfect pumpkin is just one of the best parts of doing the annual visit to Shaake's Pumpkin Patch. I personally have had many memories as a child going to Shaake's with my parents when I was younger, and now it is such an out of body experience taking my children there. I watch to see Samuel excited to go down the hay slide or to ride the tractor out into the fields of pumpkins and can't believe that I too was probably excited about the same things when I was their age. I'm sure if my parents were there with us they would have had that odd feeling of old memories flooding back to them while they watch their grandkids do the same things myself and my brothers used to do. The hunt was on!

Mom I found the perfect pumpkin!

Waiting for the tractor.

Daddy went up ahead with Isaac and the rest of the pumpkins in the stroller so that Sam and I could ride the tractor back. Every time a tractor went by us as we were on the hunt Sam would yell, "Tractor Sam, tractor Sam!"

Hmmmm....what is this anyway?

How Tall This Fall?

Another great end to the holiday pumpkin picking season!

Dancer #2

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Elmo's World

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Catcher

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Nothin' but Fun

With the winter months approaching my neighbor and I have been trying to think of fun indoor activities for the kids to do, a combination of ideas led to the homemade ball pit. The boys will play, giggle, bounce, and throw balls until their little hearts are content. The other night I stood back in the hall and watched Isaac playing by himself in his crib with these balls. It was easy to see the joy that those colorful balls brought him as he kicked his little legs pushing the balls away from him and then flopping on his tummy to try and grab them all back. I could have watched that sweet little face for hours, but he eventually grew tired and down to bed it was. Sam enjoys jumping up and down making the balls fly up in the air all around them and I think Isaac gets a thrill from it as well.



The weather in Kansas has stayed mild and in order to take advantage of that our friends and I took a little trip to the botanical gardens. Here we saw a mommy turtle and a tiny baby turtle that couldn't of been much larger than a quarter. The kids also enjoyed playing on big rocks, feeding fish and snacking on our adventure.

Crushing Oreos/Cont' below

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Chef Sam

For Joel's 25th birthday this past September 9th, I had Sam help me in the kitchen with this easy birthday dessert that Joel and the rest of the family enjoys. I'm not sure why it just occurred to me the other day that Sam was old enough to help me in the kitchen...but this was an easy dish and there were plenty of things that he could help with. I think it will be fun to try this again on a daily basis.


Stirring the pudding

Enjoying the leftovers on the spoon




Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Chilly Fall Walk

Gearing Up!

Can you believe that it was actually chilly enough that I had to dig out a snow suit and winter jacket for the boys?! It was pretty chilly with the wind that night.

Groovin' Until Caught

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Growing Pains/Giggles

This morning when I went to get Isaac out of his crib I saw this!



Not only is my son crawling like a pro, he also sits himself up like a pro, and now my little toady is pulling himself up! I just know that it is a matter of a couple months before he is toddling around the house. In the back of your head you know that it is a matter of time before they get older and hit all the milestones and it can be frustrating to have the time pass you by faster and faster with each child. Even in Sam's naughtiest moments I try and find something to smile about in the moment; as Trace Adkin's song states "You're gonna miss this, your gonna want this back, your gonna wish these days haven't gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look around, you may not know this now, but your gonna miss this!"

Here are some of Isaac in his soft fuzzy footed jammies. Can you believe the weather and having to scramble for some warm clothes for all the kiddies?! Goodbye summer - Hello Fall!

On His Way Now

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Another Saturday Morning

We are finally starting to see some jealousy between Samuel and Isaac. If Sam sees that I or Joel are holding Isaac he comes running over to the one of us that doesn't have a child in our hands, shouting Hold Hold Hold! If one of us is playing with Isaac on the floor Sam comes over to try and show us one of his toys. Yes there feels to be some competition in the air. This picture is a great example; Daddy was holding Isaac and Sam felt like he should also be apart of Daddy's lap. Sam was wanting to show his brother some love in this picture, and yes Isaac is starting to entertain us with some goofy faces.







It is bad enough that Melvyn or Gus comes to beg for attention if we are with the kids but now Sam has added to the jealousy game. It is actually humorous to watch. Isaac is making his way all around the floors now. He crawls about 3-4 'crawling steps' and then opts to go down to his belly and scoots his way around. It looks like a trip to the store for some baby gates is in order! We are lucky to live in a rancher so we don't have to worry about stairs but my laundry room is off limits to kiddies of all sizes.

Here are some pictures of the pets that some of you have requested. Gus is our little yorkie poo and he is about 10 lbs, and Melvyn is our obese tabby cat and weighs in at about 22 lbs (although I have put him on a diet to try and slim him down some :-)).

All Abord

The Potty Train Express

We started the potty training experience last week and were doing well, from what I thought, but got caught up into running some errands and visiting the grandparents; a mixture I realized we cannot do until Sam has mastered controlling his 'out-puts'. So now that my birthday is over and our anniversary, we are going to jump on the potty training train once again. With any luck he will master this before we leave to go to Nebraska for a wedding at the end of August. If he doesn't....well....at least he will be a little bit older and hopefully a little more ready to try again once we get back. After all this is the kid that already comes to me and says, "EWWWWW" because he has pooed in his diaper. YES, HE IS READY! Plus I just love his sweet little buns in those big boy undies, and his little legs just add to the sweetness factor.

Here are some updated pictures of Isaac too. He is now Army crawling it all over the place. Put an object out there that looks enticing and he is off to get it, surprisingly with quite a bit of speed. How is it that 7 months could of possibly gone bye?





Oh and I can't forget that Sam thought that his brother was hungry right that minute as Isaac was jumping in his jumperoo. My little goat. LOL.