Free Fly

On August 17th we went Lafayette to attend a Free Fly hosted by the Lafayette Cloud Jockeys.  Nick has a coworker who is into remote control airplanes so we went to watch him fly his plane.  I tell you what, there were some BIG planes.  The two pictures below are of the largest remote controlled airplane that was there that day.  Sadly, when he landed it, a part malfunctioned and he ran it into a nearby post on the ground and tore up his wing, ending his day of flying.  The boys enjoyed watching them take off and land and do fun flips through the air.  

Canning Season

Its that time of year when I pull out my empty jars and begin the process of canning to refill those jars that I used over the past year.  After blueberry season and we got our blueberries picked and frozen, its then time for the tomatoes to come.  So this year I canned 22 quarts of tomato juice.  I still had 10 quarts left from last year so it looks like 32 quarts is enough for now to get us through a year.  Im sure that will change as the boys get older and I have to make more food.

 The jars in the oven stay nice and warm so that I can put the hot juice into them.

 Ahhh.....delicious juice setting on the counter just waiting for me to hear the "pop" before putting them into the cupboard.

 Sweet Ellie just hanging around while I work in the kitchen. Don't mind her crazy hair day:)

 Two years ago I tried making salsa.  Sadly no one liked the flavor and I threw it all out.  So this year I decided to give it another go around and find a new recipe.  I'll be honest here....its still sitting in the cupboard waiting to be tasted!!!  I don't have chips around the house and I keep forgetting to buy them so we can taste my salsa.

 Hopefully its good because I made 9 pints this year.  Canning season isn't quite over yet....or maybe it is, but I did try my hand at making applesauce this year, and freezing it,  so more to come on that later.

Indiana Beach #2

So most years we go to Indiana Beach ONCE and that is when its free through Nick's work, however this year we went again with my aunt Val and her boys, then my grandma, aunt joan and my mom all tagged along as well.  I decided to let Ellie have a go at the rides for her first time ever.  BUT FIRST, I had to buy a pair of socks as she wasn't allowed to ride any rides barefoot????  The dumbest rule ever, as I'm pretty sure the socks on her feet did NOTHING since she doesn't walk anyways.

 I was concerned if she would scream and cry, but nope, this girl loves her rides.  She was grinning from ear to ear and was giggling.   The picture below is the exact smile she had throughout the whole ride.  Especially this particular ride since it was the fastest and she had to hang on tight!!!

 (notice her little gray socks??)

 This ride however started out good, but it was very jerky and about one round was enough.  She kept hitting her head on the side of the truck and was crying the entire time.  Poor little girl.

 So there is the part of Indiana Beach called Adventure Point.  It use to be that you had to pay extra to do it, but I found out this year throught Aunt Val that its now included in your ticket.  My boys were excited!!  I believe they did it three times before moving onto the next ride.

The kids had fun, but I can honestly say I hate spending money when it comes to Indiana Beach!!  Guess we will be sticking to the Once a Year from here on out:)

Family Fun Night

On Saturday, August 10th, Nick and I decided since we weren't doing much that evening and it would be fun to surprise the kids and take them to Lafayette to eat out and go putt putt.  We told them to get dressed and we were heading to Lafayette.  We went to Olive Garden first(had a gift card:) and ate dinner.  Then we drove over to the putt putt place and the kids were excited.  We don't do stuff like this to often so when we do, our kids get overly excited and usually have a great time.

 Daddy trying to get the ball in the hole.

 Of course the boys wanted to pose.  This is how Elijah told everyone to stand:)

 Elijah trying for a hole in ONE, but no such luck.

 Liam, well....we didn't keep score for him.  Lets just say I lost track of how many times he hit the ball!!

 Ellie wasn't the happiest baby girl in her stroller, although this picture is a bit deceiving:).

The last and final hole.  Of course after adding our scores, we weren't surprised to find out that Daddy won.

We then headed out and went to Cold Stone Creamery.  Another huge treat for the kids.  Once again we had a gift card!!

August 2nd, 2013

Crazy as this may sound, my sweet Caden lost his very first tooth at the age of EIGHT!!  It was loose for a long time, but he could never get up enough nerve to yank it out.  So one morning as he was eating his breakfast he suddenly bit down on something hard.  Much to his shock and surprise (as it didn't hurt and he didn't feel it fall out) it was his tooth. 

I've always told him he is going to loose his teeth all at once since it took him till the age of 8 to loose his first tooth....and guess what, he has two more loose which are his top front two.....guess I better get the straw ready:).

Random July Month

Wow, thanks guys....I felt loved that so many commented on my last post.  Yes, there are a few more posts to come as I continue on this "catch up" phase.  Sadly I could have had lots of pictures to post of all that went on in July, but I completely forgot to do ANY pictures from a personal shower I hosted at my house and I only got 2 pictures from my cousins wedding I was in.  Total Bummer!!!

 So at the beginning of July I had a garage sale at our town wide.  Since I live out in country I had it at my grandma's house in town.  My grandma had these wigs she put out to sell.  Oh goodness they were great.  I no longer have three boys, right??

 The pool hasn't gotten nearly as much use as it usually does but thankfully for the first year ever we have been able to keep it clear and not green!!  Yeah to a sparkling pool....now to just get the kids to use it more.  The nights have been cool and because its a small pool it cools off easily.

 It was Ellie's first time in our pool and she LOVED it, which totally surprised me!!

 Thankfully we had a great blueberry year.  We picked ourselves 27 lbs of blueberries and now I have a nice freezer full!!

 Ellie use to get her sippy cup of milk warmed up every night before bed and when she did, this is where she would love to stand and watch.  We no longer do this, so this picture brings back some sweet memories.  Oh Ellie....you are growing way to fast!!!

 Her first ever Corn on the Cob!!  What a hit.  We have a video of her and her cob.  She was very possessive of it and if you tried to take it away she threw a fit.  Seriously girl, its just corn!!

 Ellie got this toy last Christmas but because she couldn't even crawl back then we saved it and just got it out in June.  She thinks she is pretty cute on it.  (but then again I think she is pretty cute too:))

 Jason, Joy, Jayla and Jacki stayed the night one weekend.  Jayla is getting to the age where she will now sleep in a room without her parents:).  She usually has to be near them, but this night we walked down to find this very sweet picture!!  Guess as long as Liam is holding her hand she knows she is safe!!

                                                                   More sweetness!!

                                                      What else are big brothers for?????

 

 Ellie has a very hard time staying put in her high chair.  I do not recall ANY of my boys trying to escape the high chair.  Leave it to Ellie.  The other day I looked over at her and she was getting ready to stand up on her tray!!!  No more leaving her unattended in her chair.

Rehearsal Dinner for Alisha and Brent.

Beautiful bride on her big day.  I love you Alisha and it was a complete honor to be in your wedding!!  I have got to see if my aunt or grandma have any pictures of her and I together.  What a bum I didn't get any.

More to come........

Phew!!

So I guess my blog wasn't missed much since no one asked why I have not updated in 2 months, but that's fine:).  I don't technically do it for you all anyways.  I do it for myself and when I make blog books on blurb.  So its time I get caught up for MY SAKE:)

June was a pretty cool month weather wise, but we were able to get ourselves to Indiana Beach for Nick's work picnic and the kids had a good time.

 The ONE and ONLY ride I will go on.  I get so sick any more when riding rides.  Thankfully Caden was a wonderful chauffeur and kept the car on the track!!

 Dippin Dots....a food my kids love!!  We thankfully do not have to buy these as they are part of our "food" that is provided thru Tate & Lyle Picnic.  What a plus!  Honestly the kids wouldn't have gotten them had it not been for T&L!!

 Of course Ellie got her first taste of those tiny little dots of ice cream and she LOVED it!!  Pretty much ate the entire cup full.

 Daddy on the other hand can handle rides and so he will enjoy them with the older boys.

 And this is what Ellie thought by the end of the day!!