Pumpkin Time...

Last week was fun and miserable all in the same seven days. We made a couple of trips to the pumpkin patch, first to the Smith Family Farms with the AU alumni group and then later in the week to Waterman's with Kendra, David and Grant. Reece loved both trips and we have our pumpkins ready to carve.

While at Smith Family Farms, Reece was able to pet a couple goats, laugh at the pigs, moo at the cows and chase the cats with his cousin Jillian. We thought the rain was going to keep us away, but it held off until we were ready to head home.

Later in the week, Reece had a serious fight with a 24 hour virus. He lost his 'cookies' on the way to the grocery with Joe and then again every half hour for the next 12 hours and then was still sick for another 12... We kept him wrapped up in towels due to having to change his outfit so many times. Wow...We haven't had to deal with something like that in so long. Reece ended up in bed with me (until he fell out at 5am) and poor Joe had the futon. Thank goodness it was only a 24 hour bug.

Over the weekend, Reece and I went to visit Grant, Kendra and David - while Joe studied. Kendra and I took the boys to the new Indianapolis airport. I am excited to see such a fantastic airport being built. The boys had a great time running all over the place and climbing up and down the different trucks that were lined up on the tarmac. They were having such a good time that it was hard to imagine them enjoying themselves any more; however just a few hours later the two of them were at the Waterman's pumpkin patch laughing, running, falling, jumping and picking their special pumpkins. It was a hot day, we got very dirty, but I think every second was worth it.

Coming up this weekend is Homecoming at AU - so lots of orange and black picture ahead! In the meantime, enjoy some of these extra shots:

Family Fun and Toddler Terrors...

This past weekend we took a trip up north to see the Hoover Family. It is always nice to know we are packing up to visit family and allow Reece time to visit with his cousins. Leah and Ellie are so good with Reece, they even had toys out waiting for 'Baby Reece' as they still call him. Of course Reece didn't need toys - he loved watching and following his older twin cousins the whole time. Saturday morning the girls had a soccer game and as freezing cold as it was, they played great! The two of them ran and scored like no others - I know, you aren't suppose to keep score at this age, but these girls rock! Unfortunately, during this time, poor Reece was crying and whining due to the cold. He just wasn't ready for the 'freeze' quite yet. Hmmm.. maybe winter won't be as much fun as I am invisioning... I see the first sled ride, snow fights and snow men, I might have to wake up to reality - we may still be a few years off. After the game, we all warmed up to a true McD's breakfast and allowed the kids to run wild in the playground. Later, they burned off more energy by bouncing and laughing on the large trampoline. The girls were so wonderful with being careful around Reece - while Reece just laughed continously about bouncing and watching the girls flip around.

The toddler terrors is the our fault (me and Joe)...we have continued to let Reece sleep in his toddler bed and while he does a great job at night, his naps are another story. I will put him down at nap time and Reece will pretend to go to sleep and yet five minutes later he is at the gate to his room yelling "mommie..mommiee...". I will yell back at him to go to sleep and will immediately get a resounding "Mnooooo..Mnooooo". On one of these occassions I heard lots of playing, lots of laughing and then all of the sudden it was quiet - when I went to check on him I found Reece reading and rocking in his chair. Ten minutes later I found him sound asleep - if only this worked every time. Are we crazy for trying this??

For those of you asking, Joe is doing well. He is studying hard, writing lots of papers, going to class, working hard and still finding time to love on us and play trains with Reece. Best of all, he is currently 75% finished with classes! Yay!!

Busy Weekends...

The last couple of weekends have gone by in a blur (don't they all), but what fun we have had! As I said in the last post, this weather is GREAT!!!! We have had all kinds of outside exploring.

We spent some time outside with 'the boys' playing at the playground. These guys are the spitting images of their fathers (it really is amazing - if I was a great blogger I would have a picture of the pops - but you just have to take my word on it.. imagine these boys in 30 years and you have their dads). What a blessing to have good friends who can help imagine all sorts of trouble. Can't you see these guys planning some sort of scheme... Please pray for us as we start to find the frogs in our beds, snakes in our shoes or whatever else is going through their minds.

Joe and I had a real treat last weekend. While we adore Reece and hate to be away from him, we were able to have a night away for the first time since Reece was born (a night away at the same time). Reece went to stay at Grandmama and Gpapa's house on Saturday and Sunday --- and we have reports that he had an amazing time. On Saturday, Joe and I drove up to Warsaw, IN and spent some time with my cousin Chad, Jamie and their adorable daughter Kate. We don't get to see them enough, but I always look forward to the time we do have together. We were able to have lots of catch-up time while watching soccer games and then the next morning over breakfast. Kate is almost 16 months and loves to cross her heart when you ask her where Jesus lives, loves to dance, and is the apple of her daddy's eye (ha, Chad, told you that would happen)!!!

Another reason we were up in the Warsaw area was for our friend Sandy's wedding. Joe and I met Sandy when we all traveled to Paris and London together. Imagine looking to your right and seeing the sun setting, the sky is all sorts of pinks, purples and blues. God's handiwork is evident all around you - this is the decor for the wedding of Sandy and Gregg. Held on Gregg's farm in Claypool. It was spectacular. The ceremony was fun, light hearted, and laid back. Exactly how I would describe Sandy to those of you who don't know her. Congratulation Sandy. Joe and I are so excited for you and Gregg and were honored to be there to support you!

During the week we attempted another first with Reece. He is now in his BIG BOY bed! We figured that if he is telling us when he has to go to the potty (okay, well - sometimes telling us) then he can probably handle the big boy bed too. On Thursday night, Joe and Reece surprised me by having his bed ready when I got home. Reece was so excited that he ran around the house in super-charged mode for about an hour. Then when it was time for bed, I asked him if he wanted me to rock him - he yelled 'NO' and jumped into bed and waved me out of the room. He never once got out of bed... that is until we heard a loud thump at 5:30am when he fell out. Poor guy, he is so solid he hit with quite an impact and a scream to match. Nothing that rocking from mom couldn't handle. :) I love rocking him!!! And now he asks me (yes, me) to sing to him. Those of you who really know me can now laugh... but it never fails, we get into the rockers and Reece says "Rock, Sing, Rock, Sing, Sing, Sing!" And so I sing. Anyway, we now have a little bed shield up on his bed so he won't fall out again.

The rest of our weekend we had a couple of visitors. Lydia and Levi stayed with us. Joe and I were able to truly test the life of parents with three kids (hmm.... don't know if I am ready to go there yet.... But Suzy, I am sure you will love having four and besides you are truly more capable...). The three musketeers were extremely good. Lydia was the ultimate mediator all weekend. Reece loves playing with Levi, however Levi likes his space and wasn't too thrilled to have Reece in his face. Every time Reece started to tease Levi, Lydia would run over and take Reece to play another imagine game. Lydia loved mothering Reece, she even let him lay his head on her lap and told him she would rub his back if it would help him to sleep (how adorable is that).

Next weekend we are heading to Granger to see the Hoover Clan - so more pictures to come!

Football and Friends...

Can anyone else believe that football has started again? And can I tell you that I LOVE the cooling of the weather, jeans, layered outfits, cuddling with Reece or Joe in blankets. I am so excited!

AU had their first night football game, under the new lights on the university's field. It was a beautiful night, the fans were out in full force and Reece looked every bit the football player! We do have a brute on our hands. It was a lot of fun to be able to take him to a game and let him roam around. Last year at this time he was just figuring out how to crawl. Wow...

This weekend was full of friends and memories. Friday we spent time catching up with our friends the Galemas. The three kids were bummed that it was rainy outside but made due chasing each other, building a train, jumping off a stool, giggling, and playing with 'My Little Ponies' (doesn't that bring back memories).

On Saturday and Sunday we were finally able to catch up with the Wiards and Blackburns. We have been trying to plan a weekend gathering for the last couple of years and it just never worked out. It was so wonderful to at last have some time to let the kids run around, the 'boys' (Joe, Jason and Scott) time to watch their football game, and time for us girls to catch up on life. Thank you to both families for making the drive over and spending time with us. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and Reece loved playing with Luke and Griffin. I am not sure what he enjoyed more though - the beach dinner, spoiling by Ms. Brenda, dancing with Griffin or baby talk with Kate?

After everyone was gone on Sunday we thought we would have time to rest (well, after I worked), but the weather quickly changed that for us. I am sure everyone had their issues with IKE and we weren't to be left out. Our power went out around 3pm and stayed out. No big deal. We left for small group at 6pm certain it would be on when we got home. Nope. After calling to find out what was going on - we reached a recording stating it would most likely be 3 days before power would be restored. 3 DAYs. What? Luckily we found a friend to store our food and plenty of candles to light the house. We were prepared and all that we lost was power, what would we have done had it been the whole house? Or even water? Makes me thankful! And even more thankful when I woke up the next morning and the power was restored. My prayers go out to everyone battling the aftermath of the storms.

By the way, tonight we spent time outside enjoying this amazing weather that I am so in love with. The Dennistons came over and we let the kids run to their hearts content... Well, here is what Lydia did. She made friends with a grasshopper. They were the best of pals. He stayed on her hand forever and poor Lydia had a hard time understanding why we really didn't want him joining us for dinner. I wish I had a video camera going, because this little grasshopper had the kids roaring in laughter. They loved watching him hop away. The simple things in life!

Almost September already...

I think the best idea is just to start into this blog as if it hasn't actually been about 85 days since we last blogged. No one noticed, right? Not like anyone has been busy...
I'm guessing your family is a lot like ours: one minute you're enjoying spring flowers and looking forward to summer, and the next thing you know school is back in session and the mornings are getting cool again. Well that certainly happened for us again this year. There's been all kinds of things to talk about...trips with family, lots of studying, stressful jobs, Reece pooping in the potty, etc., etc., etc.
The best thing would probably be to just let the pictures do the talking.... (and these aren't all...we need to post some from Davis family vacation, and several other things later)