October in the Happel House

We started off October w/ Rowen's third birthday- he wanted a fire-truck party so a fire-truck party he got! Matt and I built him a cardboard fire truck out of two boxes from a washer & dryer (kindly donated by standard TV & appliance- I may just go there and pick up boxes from time to time for the kids to play in! seriously!)

We checked out a billion fire-truck books from the library (which he's enjoying in the above photo.) I made my first ever shaped cake: a fire truck of course. Thank heavens for the internet, you can learn to do anything! It was chocolate w/ a vanilla buttercream, and more red food coloring than I care to admit.

Knowing our house is small, we only let him invite five friends, and it was still a packed house w/ all the siblings. So much fun, though. We put red/orange/yellow streamers up for fire, and some black for smoke,

his Pappy came in his turnouts so there was even a real firefighter at his party- can a kid get any luckier?

The very next day, we got to meet the newest Happel: Seattle edition. Mr. Justus James is as charming as can be, and we felt SO blessed to be there to welcome him & his new parents home. What a little bundle of lovin'!

Rowen's actual birthday was the following weekend, and one of his presents was this shiny red guitar. It was love at first sight.

Charlotte, on the other hand, is in love with saurkraut. (and I'm in love with her!) seriously. She got her first ear infection (double!) and it was really bad, so we chose to put her on antibiotics. :( I can't get the girl to eat yogurt for anything, but she chowed down on cultured red cabbage- so we got those probiotics in her! Thank goodness. (pay no attention to the party-aftermath that is the counter... )

The next week, while my friend Amber and I planned on going apple picking, the orchard we were going to go to was closed for the morning! It was such a pretty day, that we decided to visit a different apple farm anyway, even though there was no U-pick. There was, however, horses, which Charlotte couldn't keep herself from kissing. (oh my, my hair is a disaster. Just look at the cute baby kissing a huge animal, okay?)

Matt and I got to go to the David Crowder Band concert that night, which was amazing. Gunger was there, and they are phenominal. It was such a treat to go out on a date, and such a late one as well! Charlotte did very well being put to bed without us, which is pretty impressive. Anyway, it was at the Crystal Ballroom, and when we got there, we realized there is basically no seating! Here's where the evidence comes out that I am so old. I'm looking around at all the crazy young kids thinking "three or four hours standing in this crowd? I'm not going to make it!" My back had been really hurting that day (unusual lately) and I get a *little* uncomfortable in crowds like that. I'm under 5' tall, can't see, it gets real stuffy down there... you get my point :) Thankfully, after my split second of panic, we realized there was a 21 and over side, which included a balcony w/ a few seats. We were able to snag two of them. Relief. :)

Later that week we got to cook dinner for friends who just had their 2nd baby. Their 1st baby, Miss Emersyn, is Rowen's age. You see, we met in our birth class when we were pregnant over three years ago! So fun. Our paths don't cross much, so it was a treat to spend a little time together and enjoy Baby Everett as well :)

That weekend our church had a rare ladies event, and it was all day long. Which means I had to leave Charlotte for longer than she's gone without nursing before. Of course, Daddy was a trooper and Charlotte survived. (I swear she's so much happier when I'm not around! What a drama queen she is for me! God bless her.) It was really nice to spend a day in the Word and in fellowship and to worship my amazing Creator. What a big God we serve! I was really challenged in the area of having more purposeful quiet times and allowing Him to run my household. (Something I try to do anyway, but my efforts are so puny, right?) Very next day we got to enjoy our brand-new Home-Group! I got to hang out with all the kiddos upstairs and they were so precious right through dinner time. I love my church family. I love the way we support one another, lift each other up, challenge each other, I can't believe that just a few years ago we were struggling to get connected at Athey. Thank you, friends!

Early the next week, the kids and I met the Carters again at Sherwood Orchards for some apple & pear pickin' in the sunshine. (they were open this morning!) We got a 35# box of pear "seconds" @ 35 cents a pound (yeah!) and about the same quantity of apples.

Charley loves diving into the pairs. She sneaks one almost every time I put her up on the counter! And do you notice her pretty pearls? One day this week (of the photo) I was wearing a neclace (hard to believe, right?) and she kept trying to rip it off me. So i put one on her. She was so proud. She's worn it almost every day since!

The following week was super busy for Matt, so one night before putting the kids to bed by myself again, I asked Rowen if he'd like to do something special. His idea was to paint our toenails purple. What a guy :) I haven't painted my toenails in so long I can't imagine where he got the idea, but whatever! It was stinky, and fun :) Both kids loved staring at their pretty toenails for the week. :)

We waited one week for the pairs to finish ripening, and ended up with 22 pints of delicious chunky cinnamon pear applesauce just yesterday. It was a four hour canning adventure, with four little kiddos, and everyone survived.

And now we have a pretty little jar to open every month until next apple season! Score!

We're just about finished up with our second month of homeschooling "preschool" for Rowen. He loves it. We're using "hands on homeschooling" and packing three days a week worth of five days of curriculum. Here he is doing a science experiment about tastes, textures, and color. Love this serious expression. :)

He is memorizing scripture, learning shapes, colors, he memorized the Pledge of Allegance and says it each day, and basic skills like glue and paint and scissors and drawing certain shapes etc- it's sweet. So far, so good! Maybe I'll try to take more photos of his school work next month.

We are still loving Organics to You, though we took several deliveries off this summer to enjoy the farmer's markets, and other fresh local veggie options. Here's some greens as big as half my countertop... crazy. I made a lentil sweet potato curry soup with half of them, and will be making pesto with the other half tonight to pour over polenta. Mm!

And.... that's October in a wrap!

some video entertainment for those of you who don't facebook...

Jelly Jar Labels

Aren't these fun? I'm organizing a Preserves Party this month and I seriously can't wait to swap spreads with all my friends. The point was to do a little work and end up with a lot of jam, but I can't help myself. I just keep making more! So far I've made a boysenberry freezer jam, a strawberry fig jam, some wild plum preserves (think pork chops or goat cheese/hazelnut ravioli) and some fig preserves (just dying to top a round of brie, to be baked in puff pastry. Right?) I'm REALLY hoping someone makes peach preserves and let's me know so that I don't run out and make some myself... though there are still several others rolling around in my mind!

Anyhow... got the harebrained idea to make cute labels as well! Super easy- I cut 2" circles out of scrapbook paper and printed the label part on plain white paper. Cut 'em out with fun scissors and presto! Cuter than ever jars! (okay, they could seriously be a lot cuter... but this is simple and plain and kinda my style.) If you want the word file for your own preserving this season, leave me your email address and I'll email it to you! (I don't know how to put it on the blog... otherwise I would.) :)

A Day in the Life of a One Year Old

Obviously, this post is a month old today. Happy 13 month birthday, Charley! Well yes, it appears blogging is not my top priority now that she is SO mobile! I'm a busy momma! Even so, I thought this deserved posting :) And it's taken me about two hours to get it up between serving breakfast and wiping tears and changing diapers and everything else- but, here it is, nonetheless!

-.-.-.-.-

A Day in the Life of a One Year Old

June 7^th 2011

5:40am- you came into bed w/ me to nurse. When you were finished, you rolled onto your tummy, tucked your knees under and fell asleep.

7:02am – awake chatting w/ your sweet little raspy voice, “heh-ey”

7:04am- changed your very yucky poo- still a little tummy bug.

7:07am- nursin’

7:14am- I carried you outside to let the chickens down and check on the garden

7:20am- play time. A current favorite, the bead maze,

then pulling apart legos and handing them to me to put back together,

putting them back in the lego bucket,

and then a brief look at the 100 animals book we checked out from the library.

7:43am- getting cranky. I took you to your room and handed you your bunny-blankie (paw in mouth) and you took it and snuggled your head onto my shoulder. Yep, time for a nap! It’s earlier than usual, but you’re not feeling yourself quiet yet. I wrapped you up in your pink fuzzy blanket, turned on your sleep sheep, and left you to dream.

8:01am- you never fell asleep, just relaxed in your comfort zone. Now you’re giggling a little bit with your brother, who must be awake.

8:24am- I just left your room after nursing you & lying you back down

9:00am- you’ve been asleep for a little bit now, that’s more like your normal nap time. After leaving you @ 8:30 you cried some more, I picked you up and let you out of your crib for a bit but you were not happy. Saddest little birthday girl ever! So, I’m happy you’re sleeping peacefully now. Hopefully it’ll be a good one and all the restoration you need.

9:16am- went in your room and you were awake! Oh well, but you seem much happier now! We need to get ready to go to the grocery store.

happy shopper. One of your most favorite toys right now is this orange toothbrush. The handle has little balls in it, so it shakes like a rattle. You take it with you almost everywhere we go :)

11- got back from winco & nursed right away- you were DONE w/ that shopping trip!

11:15am – lego time w/ brother while I make lunch

12:03pm – all done w/ lunch, time to play w/ brother some more!

12:30pm- crawled into the kitchen to find me. I changed you, kissed your tummy & made you giggle, and nursed you to sleep.

1:30pm- you woke up and sat yourself straight up- your newest skill- and cried out because you’re still tired and couldn’t get back down & comfy. Tucked you back in w/ bunny-blankie.

2:40pm- awake, sitting up! Nursed and down to play.

3:35pm- pots and pans

3:50- nursin’ some more

4:00- shopping w/ mommy- rite aid, dollar tree, and joanns. Big girl! You got a few “pretty girl” comments while we were out. This was an out-of-the-ordinary afternoon trip, but we had to get a few things for your big party on Saturday.

I never got to record the rest of the day, but a typical evening looks about like this:

5:00- you come crawling into the kitchen, crying desperately for something to eat while I’m making dinner. I sit you in your chair and find something in the fridge to throw at you. Frozen peas, cheese, left over cooked meat, diced fruit, whatever! You usually cheer right up w/ a little finger food to put in your mouth.

5:30- time for the rest of the family to eat dinner. Half the time you’re happy to have more on your plate, the other half you’re done eating after I finally sit down and so I clean you up and nurse you while I eat.

6:30- we go for a walk as a family or you have play time w/ Daddy and Brother. Once in a while this includes a bath- which you scream throughout the entire duration. You hate baths. Tonight, however, you got to open your first birthday present! You've been eyeing baby dolls for a while, so that's what we picked out for you. You thought she was great and chewed on her hand- because that's how you say "i love you," isn't it?

7:30- bed time! Nurse, cod liver oil, diaper & jammies, stories w/ Daddy and Brother on the couch, and down for bed. You usually cry for a little while, then I nurse you, and lay you back down to fall asleep.

Love you, baby girl! Happy First Birthday!

It feels like a photo day

So let's catch up on May!

Charlotte discovered the tunnel. It was a little scary, but she made it!

And I'm sorry, but could she be any cuter? I just couldn't help myself.

My Momma, on mother's day <3

More Mother's Day fun, w/ Matt's Mom and Grandma "GG." Poor Charlotte was so "done" at this point, it was a long day!

Rowen playing with his little bud JJ

Charlotte enjoying homemade saurkraut on her hotdog. Mmm.... i have the weirdest kids :)

kombucha!

aww..... Charlotte lovin' on Daddy. (and a spatula.) Matt's face is one of utter enjoyment and disbelief- Charlotte is VERY stingy with her lovin's! (I'm pretty much the only one that gets them, ever.)

Would you believe we actually had a day nice enough to go to the Zoo? Rowen holding hands with his little buddy Adler.

Charlotte found the tupperware cupboard. She dumped out the bucket of lids. (organized, aren't I?)

Examined each one...

and then put them back. Sweet girl!

This morning we went to a (don't be shocked) McDonald's play place with our good friends the Carters. I know, I know, yuck, right? But the Mommas enjoyed a cup of coffee and the kids REALLY enjoyed climbing their hearts out. I do believe we'll be making a regular play date out of it!