Happy Birthday to ME!

So today didn't start out as well as I would have liked considering it is my birthday. My boys decided to go for an early morning wake-up call. I was really hoping that they would decide to sleep in for once and since Nate is out of town (which is another reason I was feeling a little gloom), I had to get up with them. After McCoy's soccer game this morning, Karin, my sister-in-law offered to watch the boys for a couple of hours while I went shopping. This was one of the best gifts that I could have been given (Thanks Karin). Then this evening, I met my brother, Lance, and his wife, Stacy, for dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory. We had a good time and afterwards they came back to my house and we let the kids play together while we watched a movie. I feel grateful to them that they were able to take time out of their day to spend it with me and make today a special day. I miss Nate and will be glad when he returns on Monday. Amazingly, today ended up being a pretty good day.

Happy Birthday Landon!

My September 11th baby has turned 2. I can't believe how big my baby is getting. Landon went around singing to him self "haty birday to you" all day long. It was so cute. Here are some things to know about Landon other than the fact that he is sometimes painfully shy and very stubburn...

Favorites

Food: - spaghetti, popsicles, juice and candy
Toys: little motorcycle - “Agogo”
People: Daddy, Mommy, Papa Jewkes and Brother- "Drudger"
Places: Anywhere outside
Things to do: Ride his bike, play with his toys and play in the water.

He loves to help out- He says, “I hep, I hep”. And for some out of this world reason, he likes to pull my dish towels off onto the floor. I think he might be a little bit of a tease like his daddy.

He also likes to push buttons a little too much (TV, remote, garage door opener, computer keyboard, cell phone, etc.)

Landon is very special to our family and I can't imagine our life without him. I love you Landon!

Harvest Time

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love when the leaves start to change on the trees and the temperature cools down a little. I also love when it's time to harvest all the fruits and vegtables that grew throughout the summer. This last weekend, Kamey and Nancy came up to my house to do some canning. I can't believe all that we accomplished. We made my mom's famous hot sauce, salsa, spaghetti sauce, raspberry jam and bottled peaches. I think we were a little crazy now that I think about it. My kitchen has now just finally been put back in order.

Salsa

Hot Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce

Raspberry Jam w/ Huckleberries

Peaches

First day of School

I can't believe McCoy is old enough to start preschool. The best thing is that we only have to walk down the street five houses to get there. He really likes his teacher, Miss Kathryn, who is the most organized person I have ever seen. To be honest, I'm really looking forward to spending some one-on-one time with Landon two days a week while McCoy is gone.

Labor Day Camping Trip

For Labor Day weekend we went camping with my family. For the first two days we had great weather, but then it turned cold and started to rain and hail. I wish I had taken a picture when it was storming because the ground was covered in white ice. Luckily, our tent held up okay and our stuff didn't get too wet. But, there was mud everywhere and it was really hard to keep the kids clean. Although, they didn't seem to mind and looked like they were having the time of their life. We decided to leave a day early to dry out and went back to my dad's house. That night, we stayed up playing games until the wee hours of the night. Nate and I taught Nancy, Michael, Tasha and Jim how to play Nights and Cities of Catan (our favorite game). Michael won the first time and Nancy won the second - probably beginners luck. Overall, we had a great time and were glad to spend time with family.

We went fishing at Wrigley's lake and the only person who caught a fish was Amelia who had never been fishing before - beginners luck again, I guess. My little boys had a good time sticking their poles in the water and catching moss. No wonder Nate didn't catch anything :)