the "first" fieldtrip

During October, Addelyn had her first fieldtrip to Caelor's farm (the sweet little boy sitting by the window). Addelyn loved riding the bus with her buddies. I also got to go along, which was so much fun.

Addelyn and her buddy Austin. Rumor has it, they like to sit together at preschool. They got to paint pumpkins at the farm. Addelyn loves her crafts!

A sweet pic of Jess and her little man!

This is Addelyn's wonderful teacher, Mrs. Knapp. We absolutely love her- 

she is an amazing woman and teacher!

At the farm, they got to see cows, chickens, and horses. Fun times! 

Addelyn even got to feed the horse- she thought that was pretty special. What a fun first field trip! 

some of the greats

This fall we got to spend some time with some of the great grandparents. It is pretty amazing, my kids are getting to know four of their great grandparents- my two grandmas and Mark's two grandpas. Addelyn did get to meet my Grandpa Kramer during her first year of life and Mark's Grandma Dean (Hoskinson)- for that I'm thankful. During this fall's visits- of course- I ended up not getting pics with everyone, dang it. Goal for December- take pictures when with the fam!!!

Here my Grandma Stewart (my mom's mom) is showing the kids her tape player. They were very entertained and she was a good sport while they messed with things and pushed buttons.

This is a great pic of Grandpa Dean (Dar's dad) with the kiddos. We love our very special grandparents!

cutest play date!

Catching up on some of my fall pictures. How can you not love these play date pics? 

These girls are such sweet friends. 

deal's apple orchard

We were in P-town visiting Mark's parents on one of the beautiful weekends this fall so we headed to Deal's Apple Orchard in Jefferson. It was a fun place- the kids had a blast. We did a hayride, bounced on the big pillow, sampled apple cider and popcorn (a few times), shot apples in the sling shot, rode the slide (you go down on a sled), fed the goats, went in the corn box, rode the little tractors, and more.

Yes, Jace is wearing a pink jacket. Whoops we forgot his! Sorry Jace, lots of memories that make you look like the little sister!

Of course my animal lover found the dog. He could have chased this dog around all day!

The whole family did some bouncing!

Yeah, they never did hit the target. But it was a good try! 

These goats were pure entertainment. They were out of food so we improvised and gave them leaves. 

They loved us.

I would definitely go back to this apple orchard. It was great! Oh, I forgot- we took home some yummy apples and made caramel apples and apple crisp. I love fall!

months fly by....

Since I am finding the months flying by, I realized I never posted our 16 month pictures and Jace is officially 17 months. I could give up on the monthly pics but I do love the chance to look back at how much they change in these first two years during each month. SOMEDAY I will appreciate the time I took to do this!

Addelyn helped and wrote the 17 month sheet! That big sis is learning how to write, woo hoo!

Jace at 16-17 months, yes it all runs together:

*Has 16 teeth and is possibly getting more molars, cripes! 

*Still nursing morning and night. 

*Not a big eater but we are working on changing our goals. Throwing manners and caring about mess out the door. Letting this boy play with whatever food he wants, in any way- as long as he'll touch it! It is good!

*Climber boy- he is found standing in the middle of our kitchen table numerous times a day. Aggh.

*Loves "melmo" (Elmo). Carries him around the house a lot and often wakes up in the morning and goes to bed at night, asking for Melmo!

*Loves tractors and trucks and legos.

*Loves his Mama and Dada....says our names a lot. Also starting to say other words- in the right context. Saying "no." Of course, his fave- ball!

*Cuddle bug. I always complained because at 3 months of life- Addelyn was done cuddling. And now I have a cuddler! This boy will come over just to give me a sweet hug and put his head on my shoulder for a minute- then goes back to playing. I LOVE IT! 

*He has the sweetest and most tender little heart. Today Addelyn was crying about something and he came in and put his head down and cried next to her- and put arms around her. What a sweet boy.

*Entertains himself so much! Sometimes I feel guilty because he doesn't get my attention as much because Addelyn seems to demand it more. He is just so content though- playing with toys, looking at books, and doing his own thing. 

We love our little Jacer man!

fall family to do list

I'm a to do list kinda gal! So why not a fall to do list for the family? Of course, Addelyn helped make it. (And our roomie Lindsey and friend Natalie were there too, helping with the list.) Then we even had fun typing it up and finding pictures (which Addelyn picked out herself). We are getting through most of our list! Fun times for us this fall. More than that, great memories made!

Nonnie Kathy came to visit and they painted a pumpkin.

Gotta love raking! We had some warm days this fall and we had a great time out in the leaves. Some raking, lots of jumping!

Addelyn made moon sand with our roomie Lindsey. She had a blast with it.

Caramel apples- yum! Addelyn took these over to Ilene's house and shared them with her past daycare buddies.

Veridian Credit Union has a free farm day at Heritage Farms in Hudson. I decided last minute to run out there with the kids. We went on a hayride, Addelyn rode a pony, and the kids played in a corn box. It was a fun afternoon for us.

The cold fall nights means it was time to get out the footie pjs!

Our sweet friend Aquayla has hung out with us a number of times this fall. Here is one fun night where Addelyn and Aqualya were doing sit ups. We even got a picture of Lindsey and Aquayla and the kids.

More leaf raking? Yes, I think raking leaves is the most pointless, never ending job. But I guess it has to happen? Good thing our kids can help now ha ha.

Jace had many moments where he was carried and dropped into the leaves. Poor buddy. Some day Addelyn will pay for these moments!

More fall pics to come.....Gotta check off everything on the list, of course!