Uncle John's Cider Mill

On Halloween, we took my mom on a trip to Uncle John's Cider Mill up in St. Johns, MI. We had never been, but had heard good things about it. I'm glad my mom had her camera or else I wouldn't have been able to document this. Thanks Mom!

Roswell

Donovan

Elliott

They had lots of things to enjoy. They have an apple orchard and harvest their own apples and make their own cider. We had lunch (which was surprisingly priced well) and had some of their homemade cider. Yum! It really tasted like we were drinking an apple. They also grow corn, which we got to walk through because they made a maze out of it. And they grow acres of pumpkins. They also have a hayrides, train rides, and a fun play area for the kids.

The kids had a blast playing on the fun toys. It took a while to get us to leave to pick out our pumpkin. There were lots of pumpkins left, but we had to get the perfect one. Since it was already Halloween we had to look a while for the right one. We ended up picking 2 pumpkins to take to pay for. We get to the store and the kind lady says that the pumpkins are free today. We think they were just trying to get rid of them because nobody really wants pumpkins after Halloween, and they won't keep for Thanksgiving. It was our lucky day! She told us to take all we wanted. Yes, Mam! We took our van closer to the patch and loaded up. We calculated it afterwards and figure we got over $100 worth of pumkins and gourds for decoration, cooking, and carving. I think getting pumpkins on Halloween might be a good tradition for us to start up. Earlier I was yelling at myself for waiting until the last minute to get a pumpkin, now, not so much.

Who can resist free pumpkins? (P.S.- this was only a pic. opportunity, we didn't get these ugly pumpkins)

Mom Visits!

My Mom decided to take a solo trip to come visit us! We were so happy to see her. She was lots of fun and such a good sport. In addition to willingly changing Elliott's massively stinky diapers, she also went walking with us and our walking group, helped us have fun at the pumpkin patch/cider mill (will post later), went trick-or-treating (will also come later), and had this early morning wake-up call everyday:

Who could resist?

We also made some yummy peanut butter cups that I just learned how to make at a recent church craft day. We thought we'd let the boys help us.

This was a common site. Notice Elliott's chocolate ring around the mouth too. The kids loved being involved, especially with their favorites! Chocolate AND peanut butter = YUMMMM!

Our results.

Mom also wanted to get all of her Christmas shopping done for us while she was here. We figured Ross could use his now.

He likes it!
Thanks for coming for a fun filled week Nama!

November 23 is Hungarian National Day. This day celebrates Hungary's freedom from communism. Dan has relatives that were directly involved in the making of this freedom. We thought it would be appropriate to spend the day eating food that Dan's family might have eaten. ( Though we celebrated 2 days later on a Saturday.)

Breakfast: Bejgli (poppyseed pastry), deviled eggs, and open faced french toast sandwhich with cream cheese and ham.

Lunch:

Sausages, saurkraut, and roll (I'm glad I was at the church for craft day's lunch, I wouldn't have been a fan of this - well the roll would be ok)

Dinner: Appetizer: Liverwurst(sp?)/Liver sausage on bread and potato salad


Main dish: Hortobagayi placenta (beef/onions/paprika stuffed in crepes with a sour cream/beef gravy/poppyseed topping)


Lecthos (pepper stew)

Dessert: Dobros Torte (layered brownie with caramel and chocolate frosting and nuts)

I was surprised at how much food I recognize from other countries as well. I enjoyed all the wonderful food experiences we had today. But boy was I "hungary" for the dessert. YUM! Sorry, I'm not very good at making my own jokes.

Happy Hungarian National Day!

Fall

It has been fall here for a few weeks. It's been really wonderful weather, though we know what is in store for us. Once the colors started changing, it started getting windy and rainy, so a lot of the leaves fell off fast. Here are a few pics:

This would make an awesome puzzle!

Our new scarecrow that the kids lovingly call Jack (Jack Hudson to be specific - where they came up with it I don't know). Every time we leave or arrive home they say hi/bye to Jack.

Our colorful trees in the front.

Fall makes us happy!

Sucker

We now have 3 thumb suckers in the family. We tried to see what Roswell would do on his own. He always seemed to be able to calm himself and doesn't like the paci much. He has recently discovered his hands and attached to that is his thumb. I guess he'll take after mommy as well!

Walking Group

For a few months now, my friend Sue and I started a walking club with some moms in our area and branch. We used to walk together when I was expecting Ross, but figured there were more friends out there that would love to walk with us. It's starting to get colder now, but we're determined to just bundle up more and give our bodies a work out (at least until it gets snowy/icy). We usually walk 1 1/2 - 2 miles 3 times a week. It's always fun to get exercise while having fun talking to friends!

Today was a larger group: (L-R) Sue (pushing Jared & Dono), Rachel, Megan, Sandy (hiding), Emily (pushing Abigail), Linda, Jamicka (pushing Jamicko), and Sarah (she's expecting, holding a dog, and pushing Roswell & Elliott so I could take a picture -she's multi-tasking already).

It's a fun group of ladies!

Masks

We thought we'd do a fun Halloween craft that I saw at Joanns. We made some masks. The kids had such a blast. Who wouldn't? They got to use markers!

Decorating

Monster kitty Elliott

Batty Dono

I'm glad they had fun doing this craft, because no kidding 1 minute later Elliott snapped all the sticks for the masks. I glue, then he breaks again. Argh! Oh well, they had fun, right?

Dan

For those who have read Dan's blogs in the past and have given up on him because it took almost a year to post again, he's back! Check out his blog for movie mondays, wikiwednesdays, and caturdays!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my Dad's 59th birthday!

Dad as a young boy

Boxing with brother Milt

. . . Dad won!

Cowboys: Dad and his brother Milt

Wedding day

Riding the bull (1985?)

Papa and Nama with the grandkids 2006 (minus Roswell)

July '08 with the Earl boys

My Dad has accomplished many things during his life. He grew up in New Jersey (anyone who's met him can still hear the accent), joined the Air Force and was stationed in Vietnam for a year during the war, AZ (where he met and married my mom), Illinois, then AZ again where he ended his military career and started his own landscaping business. After a while he became an inspector for Honeywell where he recently received his medical retirement. He's been a great example of hard work and always made sure he was there supporting his daughters in our activities and made sure we knew that family was always important.

We love you Papa. Have a fantastic day!

I Feel Like a Dud!

I'm SSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sorry Jason! While doing these birthday posts, I realized that I totally bypassed blogging our bro-in-law Jason's birthday. At least we remembered it when it happened but just forgot to blog. We still love you! So here's what we missed:

Happy Birthday Jason!

We hope it was a great one!

Happy Birthday Dan!

Happy 29th Birthday to my wonderful hubby!

He got several things for his birthday, but this leaf blower/vac/mulcher was one he picked out himself. The pic shows how excited he is. :)

Elliott wanted to try some of the attachments.

Here are 29 things I love about Dan:

1. He married me

2. He is a wonderful daddy

3. He keeps me warm in the cold evenings

4. He's not afraid to clean up the gross stuff (throw-up, accidents)

5. He's always eager to learn

6. He's very smart (he missed Jeopardy by one question!)

7. He surprises me with romantic gestures

8. He plays with my hair and gives head massages

9. He cooks a mean dinner

10. If he wants something, he'll work hard to get it

11. He takes his responsibilities (church, work, and home) seriously

12. He always gives me a reason to laugh

13. Took me to a very beautiful state to live

14. He is very spiritual and loves our Savior Jesus Christ

15. Isn't afraid to wake up early

16. When he wakes up early, he takes care not to wake me up

17. Will calm a crying child in the middle of the night when I'm too tired

18. Is the calm parent when I'm not so calm

19. Thinks I'm beautiful even when I feel my worst

20. Is a saint and very helpful servant when I suffered with morning sickness

21. Knows when I've had a hard day and gives me chocolate

22. Gives me a listening ear

23. Giggles with me over flatulence

24. Faces adversities and comes out strong

25. Works hard so that I can stay with our boys

26. Doesn't make me feel stupid (except when we play trivial pursuit)

27. Encourages me to stick to my dietary goals, especially when I'm eating that chocoate. (As I am eating a brownie right now :) )

28. Many things that I shouldn't mention in a public forum. ;)

29. He helps me in becoming the person I strive to be.

I love you babe. I hope your birthday is an awesome one.

Grandma Marcia

On Tues night/Wed morning, my sister's husband's grandma - Grandma Marcia came and stayed to visit. She is such a sweet lady. She came to Michigan to visit some family and wanted to come visit us too. She's always loved our boys and wanted to meet Roswell also. She was able to stay the night with us and we had a nice time. It was good to see you again!

On a Roll!

We have been enjoying the LDS General Conference yesterday and today. There were many good talks from the prophet, apostles, and other general authorities; things we are doing well, and much that we can improve on. For example, I know I need to not get caught up in the little things that may annoy and frustrate me. Life is short and time flies too fast. In the eternal scheme of things dirty homes and unmowed lawns really don't matter. (Although, that doesn't mean it needs to get neglected.) I need to spend more time enjoying my children's childhood -which won't last forever. There was much to ponder. I can't wait until the November Ensign comes out so I can read the talks again and see what I might have missed. Dan likes to download the talks a few days later to listen to them in his car, but I'm more visual, I miss too much by listening alone.

Anyway, I have a new goal to be more positive and optimistic. I have been frustrated as of late with my older boys' behavior. They are starting down a road of disobedience and not listening to me. They are getting more physical than I would like and right out being defiant. I know that is sometimes typical behavior. But for a 4 and 2 year old? I want to nip it in the bud before it gets too far, but I'm not sure how. I've tried calm talking to's, time-outs, bribery, even spankings & yelling (which I really don't like nor want to do). I'm asking out there in blog-land, HELP! Do you have another tactic that has worked? I want my dear, sweet, obedient boys back. I want to continue to enjoy their childhood instead of feeling frustrated, exhausted, and in tears by the end of the day. If you have any advice, please make a comment, email, or call me.

On a happier note, while watching Elder Packer speak in conference, our little Roswell decided that he didn't need all the floor time that he hasn't been getting to learn how to roll over, he just wanted to do it. I don't know how he figured it out, but I'm glad that I wasn't slowing him down by denying him floor practice time. He did it a few times in a row, so I know it wasn't a fluke. Yay Rossy! Here's a play-by-play:

Like I said before, life really goes by too fast. We need to enjoy every moment and milestone.

!Hola Senor!

Who new? Eat a chocolate donut and voila! We now have a little man with a goatee! He's never interested in the donut itself, just the yummy rewards on top.