Throw Back Thursday

2012

2013

With them in almost the same pose as last year, I couldn't resist this little comparison from one year to the next!  That dress shows well how AK has grown over the last year, from dragging the ground to well above her ankles!

Costume Fun

 It's that time again...our church's Fall Festival is a favorite every year!!  

 First, though, we had to visit Mr. Rich and show off our costumed littles.  Can you tell a certain 4 year old was quite excited?!

a sweet sibling moment

a good look at the wings on Tinkerbell

Last year and this one, our little buddy Miller has come to the Festival with us.  How cute is the Scarecrow with the Lion?!  (well, it would be cuter if my pictures had turned out better!)

Oma and Opa always come by church to cheer on the little ones and see their costumes.

4 out of 5 cousins, these pictures didn't turn out well either but I do love Evie and Benjamin "talking to each other"

(How much do you love my nephew Uncle Si?!)

 When we got to church, we headed straight for the ponies!  That is always the longest line.  We were smart.  The line had doubled when we had only been there a few minutes.

In years past, Anna-Kate has been known to cry when getting off the ponies.  Not today.  This year, she knew where the loot was.  In the car, she was already asking to play games, so she could get candy.  To games, we go!

Benjamin caught on perfectly!  He loved the games.  And, when over-stimulation and tired took over, he just looked at the game and then went straight for the bag to get his treat.  Luckily, one and cute work for you in a situation such as this!

 Love our church's Fall Festival!

Well, Sunday, it was time to suit up again.  Our neighborhood has an annual Halloween party.  We didn't know exactly what to expect, but I really want to start plugging into my neighbors and let AK start meeting more kids.

Benjamin was not ready to be woken up from his nap.

Anna-Kate (wearing last year's costume) was ready to find out if they were going to give her candy.

They had games to earn candy (AK was happy!), a pumpkin carving contest, scavenger hunt, grilled hotdogs with potluck sides and desserts, a costume parade.  Not bad neighbors, not bad!

Anna-Kate has one more festival to enjoy.  A small fall festival for the 4 year olds at preschool.  I am excited to be a mom volunteer and see her interacting with her classmates!

Girl Friends

Don't we all have a girl friend that we can just pick up right where we left off with?!  I love that Anna-Kate has a couple friends like that.  Claire is absolutely one of those friends!

Anna-Kate (1 week) and Claire (10 weeks) 

Claire and Anna-Kate (4 years)

Claire's mom and I have been friends since teaching together at Broughton High, about 7 years ago or so.  We both do different things now, but get together when we can.  These two have such similar temperaments and really do just pick right up where they left off.  It is sweet to watch!  

Only about a week before the above playdate, Claire hosted a tea party for some of her friends.

So cute watching them have a tea party!

Even cuter was watching Claire teach Anna-Kate how to do a flip at our playdate.  AK has been flipping for us at least once day ever since!

I do have to note Anna-Kate's outfit for the party.  She insisted on wearing the purple tutu, as a scarf.  She did let me pick out the dress that coordinated the best.  This is her right after the party, carrying around the wand that was a favor from the party, at the mall.  Anna-Kate is an accessory-loving girl!  (I guess it is appropriate that Claire's is the store in the background!)

Fall Fun

A few friends over,

a big pile of leaves,

what else are you going to do?

Happy Fall!

Kitchen Update

This is just a little update, but I am proud of what we did!  See the nooks over the window and doorway to the dining room

 We loved that little touch that Rich added, but we didn't know immediately what to do with them.  So for a couple months they stayed empty just like that.  After a few suggestions and thinking about it, 

this is what they have turned into:

painted "Belize" blue (Sherwin Williams)

with white plates

and a few more unique pieces for over the window

I wanted the over the window portion to add to the cozy feel, while I wanted the over the doorway to lead into the dining room without distraction.  A nice color addition to the room without being too loud.

I finally also got around to filling the glass cabinet we have.  Love that decorative touch!  (The personalized cutting board was a housewarming gift from a friend, love it!)

The plates on top are from my Grandma Miller's house.  They remind me so much of her and her kitchen.  The white candy dishes at the bottom are from my Grandma Harrill's house.  A place for my cookbooks and a little more color with those wine glasses that I have had for a few years now.  I imagine this cabinet will change the most frequently, but for now I am really happy with it!

I have two projects left in here before I can call the kitchen done.  The first and most important is to paint and reupholster some chairs we got at the flea market.  The second is to decide how to decorate above that bench.  

Tuesday

Benjamin has learned the art of hoarding.  Yesterday he came to the breakfast table with his balloon ("b'oon") and his lovies.  He has officially declared his lovies, it seems.  I guess time will tell if he holds on to them as long as Anna-Kate has held onto duck.  That little monkey and his blanket have won.  

Love this breakfast grin!

Anna-Kate has never played tons and tons with her baby dolls.  Some, just not lots.  Lately, though, she does this all.the.time.

She colors different animals or characters.  Then, she requests that I cut them out.  She has a cowgirl that is the teacher.  Sometimes they are having class.  Some times, she gets all of them and they have a party or play or ...  Sometimes, she gets only a few of them out.  It is fun to watch and listen to her imagination, and I find it cute that her imagination comes out the most strongly over something she created!

Meal Plan Monday

I have mentioned before that my sister-in-law has reinvented her blog. (To be a glimpse into her life and a place where people who have struggled with fertility can find encouragement) Meal Plan Monday is her Monday blog posts.  Today, while she and my brother are out-of-town celebrating their 4th anniversary, I got to be the guest blogger.  Well, that meal plan was what I served last week. So, in honor of guest-ing on her blog, in hopes by sharing it her blog will encourage more people, and because cooking is my favorite household chore, here is my meal plan for this week.

This week I must have been hungry, because the plan is a little more ambitious.  Would love to hear your plan!

Monday:  Taquitos with Pioneer Woman's Chicken Tortilla Soup

The last time I made this soup I doubled the amount of vegetables I diced.  Because of that, I had all the ingredients for this soup in my pantry!  I just had to buy a garnish or two.  The taquitos are paired to be a more kid-friendly dish.  

Tuesday:  Leftover Soup with roasted sweet potatoes and plantains

We will eat the leftover taquitos over the next couple days for lunch.

Wednesday:  Lettuce Wraps with Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

The kids have not tried the chicken noodle soup yet, but they did enjoy the lettuce wraps.  I may add some jasmine rice to the wraps to make them last for one more night.  

Thursday:  Leftovers with Edamame

Friday:  Barbecue with jalapeno poppers (from the freezer!) with some kind of green on the side

Since I am pulling several things from the freezer this week, I will need to try to cook something next week that goes in the freezer.  That is always my effort.  This week may be the most ambitious week of cook I have planned in a while.  Uuumm, sorry honey, the house may not be quite as clean as normal.  But the food will be good!

Everyday

Everyday, several times a day, Benjamin says, "Run!  Run!" followed quickly by "tijjy" (interpretation, "What a tizzy!")  My favorite is when suddenly in the car he just yells out, "Run run!"  And, everyday at both nap time and bed time, he requests the same book.  "Run! Run!"  "Ama ama!"  Have you guessed his favorite book yet?

Everyday, I read Llama Llama Red Pajama, many times twice a day!

This scene happens daily.  They all love sitting at the bench to color.  

Don't worry; they don't all wear the same color shirt everyday.

Everyday Anna-Kate asks if she gets to go to preschool.  I love that she loves preschool!  Everyday, Benjamin and Anna-Kate ask if Natalie is coming over today.  They are such good buddies.  Everyday Anna-Kate asks if she can have a treat at snack time because she "wants something flavorry."  I get that.  I don't say yes everyday, but I want treats everyday too.  Everyday, I warm up my coffee at least 3 times.  And, everyday I drink too much coffee.  I have started cooking supper with Pandora Bebo Norman radio in the background because everyday that is a hard-to-be-patient hour in this house.

Everyday, God shows me that He is with me.  E.ve.ry.day.

Happy Birthday Mr. Rich!

We are so proud of our kitchen renovation!  I guess that is obvious by all the posts I did about it, haha!  But, we really are in love with it!  The lay out is better.  The white cabinets and new paint and new light and...aaahhh, my bench!  Really, I am still thrilled by it all.

And, what consistently blows me away is that my neighbor, my retired neighbor, after knowing me for only 2 months, offered to take on the project!  His kindness toward us has absolutely blown us away!  When his birthday came around this week, it was our turn to spoil him a little.  

Happy Birthday Mr. Rich!

Can you tell the kids are quite comfortable with him and just love him!

Benjamin had just reached out to touch Mr. Rich's beard and then showed him he had a nose but no beard yet.  The scene was too precious for words!

I informed Rich that his task was not complete until we had a picture with him.

I think it is only fitting that the picture was taken in my happy place, on the bench that he built!

If you build it, she will cook!

I was so excited to spoil him with some of our favorites for his birthday!

Possibly the best chocolate cake you will ever eat

Our favorite pulled pork, roasted squash and zucchini, rolls, and jalapeno poppers

I woke up with a pulled muscle in my back one morning (ouch!!).  Rich brought us a meal then (not the first time he did this).  Have I mentioned his kindness toward us?!  One thing he brought us was "armadillo eggs," his favorite stuffed jalapeno.  So, I had to introduce him to mine.  Any excuse to make these is fine by me!

Happy Birthday Mr. Rich!

Happy Fall

This past weekend, we went to Hill Ridge Farms to get our fall pumpkins!  It was really fun, and really hot.  Yes that is my daughter in a sleeveless shirt in October picking pumpkins!

Benjamin showing off their hay building to play in

The church invited us to go, which gave us a discount.  That also meant we went on the same day the cousins did!  Obviously this means after getting off the hay ride at the pumpkin patch, you first must take cousin pictures!

I LOVE this picture!  So scenic, and they are all happy and smiling!  (I know not at the camera, but such a sweet picture!)

More happy grins

When we said pictures were over, off they went!  Before I knew it, Anna-Kate and Anderson were the whole field of pumpkins away!

And then a few more pictures

Gotta love how happy these fun five are when together!

(taken by Aunt Ashley herself)

Are there even words for how precious this picture is?!

After getting our pumpkins, we picnicked for lunch.  Then looked at the animals, jumped in the bouncy house, walked through the general store, and then back home!

Everyday since a certain girl has been asking to decorate the pumpkins!  Hopefully her hopes will be fulfilled soon, maybe even tonight!  

Until then enjoy this goat-walk!!

Aunt Heather, this picture is for you!