Mountain, Tree, and Sky

2011-09-10T15:57:00.002-04:00

Test

Playing at McCormick Creek

2011-09-02T10:33:00.000-04:00

McCormick Creek State Park July 31-August 3

Many of the State Parks in Indiana have a community pool. We needed it! It was so hot. Aurora had not napped all day and she desperately needed one, but we all needed to cool off. Nathan had to keep dipping her in the water to cool both of them off. She slept happily the whole time....I have been telling you- she is an amazing baby.

The boys played with their squirt bottles while Nathan cools Aurora.

Everest learned to dive at McCormick Creek. I was nervous about him going off the diving board by himself. He has only been off 3 or 4 times during swim lessons. We jumped off for 15 minutes or so and I asked if he wanted to learn to dive. I dove first and showed him what to do. He got on the board after I did. He bent over like I showed him.......

......and in he went. No fear. He did great. He dove a few more times, but decided he liked cannon balls and us jumping at the same time better. We jumped off the dive for almost an hour.

Stop Mama. Don't take my picture. I did anyway and as soon as I put the camera down, he came over and wanted to see the picture. He is a two year old!

Ouch....it looks like this will be painful, but he missed every time. I took the picture because I was sure he was going to hit. He wouldn't jump out. But somehow, he never got hurt.

While Leaf and I took a nap one afternoon, Nathan, Bonnie, Everest and Aurora went hiking. They found a shelter to play in.

A happy, hot little girl. She loves being with her daddy.

Bonnie exploring the area around the waterfall.

Everest getting wet. Ahhh...that feels good.

Checking out the big boys at the top.

Daddy's grumpy face....some boys were uncooperative....hmmmm who could that be?????

Everest is getting interested in taking pictures. The camera is almost as big as he is. He wants to save his money to buy a small camera.

Self portrait.

Leaf and I spent an afternoon at the Nature Center. It was awesome! There was a wild life viewing area. Just as we walked into the room....a raccoon walked into view. The ranger said it was a very talented raccoon. When he came into work that morning, it had shimmed up a shepherds crook and got into 2 hummingbird feeders.

Checking for any scraps it can find.

Leaf spent 30 minutes in the puppet play area. He had so much fun.

More to come soon....

First Days

2011-08-29T20:48:00.000-04:00

How do you prepare yourself for this day? Everest started Kindergarten last week. It is so cliche, but where does the time go? This year was not as bad as I anticipated with Everest. He is still at Montessori and knows most of his class already. He is in a different class with different teacher (who are all amazing), and he goes 5 afternoons.This year will be more academic than the last 2, but I think he is ready for the challenge.

Ready and excited for his first day! Everest picked out a Planet Box lunchbox. It is wonderful. I gave him the choice of many lunchboxes and this is what he wanted. Thanks Nonnie and Papa.

Nonnie rode a bike to school with us. Everest was so excited she could come. She and Papa left right after he went to school. We miss them!

Everest putting his school bag into his locker and then changing into his indoor shoes. He wanted Sketchers this year, because Ryan (a girl in his class last year) had them. She is a very cute red head.

After school daddy surprised Everest and was at pick up. We wanted to bike to the ice cream shop, but it was pouring rain, so we drove the 2 blocks instead. The ice cream shop has about 100 flavors, the boys did exactly what I used to do as a kid. They picked rainbow, at least that is what it was called when I was a kid. Today it was called Superman and it was bright red, blue and yellow. What kid couldn't resist that, especially when their was a poster on the wall of Superman with Superman ice cream.

Guess who got a hold of Leaf's ice cream. Luckily he was in a generous mood and continued sharing with her. I do not even want to think about the amount of food coloring my kids had.

It is 7am Monday morning August 29, 2011. I never thought this day would come so early, and I have been very surprised at how I am handling it. Leaf started the Montessori Toddler program. He goes Monday and Tuesday morning. He has dreamed about this day for a year. He has been excited about it since I signed him up in March. His teachers visited this summer and then we visited the classroom. He is all prepared. He got his own Montessori bag, with his name on it. He has indoor shoes (Sketchers, just like Everest), he calls them fire shoes because the toes have flames and they light up. There is a flashlight waiting to be taken apart at school, his teachers put it in a special place just for him, when I apologized early about the fact that he LOVES to take things apart. He tends to not be able to put them back together and asks a grownup. Only to show up 2 minutes later with it taken apart again and the request to "fix it". He is ready.....I am not. I thought I would be, he wants so much to be independent and I know he will thrive there. He needs his own space, he needs to get out of his brothers shadow. But...he is young. I know he is not really, he is among the oldest, some kids have just turned 2, he will be 3 in October. I know all of this, but it was so much harder than I expected it to be. I am so thankful that I have 3 children. I had no choice but to say good bye, have a great day and walk out of the room, because I have 2 other kids that need to be taken care of too. Today I needed the distraction of having multiple kids.

Blueberry pancakes, with fresh blueberries. It is his favorite. Nathan put the kids table next to the dining room table as a special treat. Leaf loved it...so did Everest. I made the boys take off their shirts, they had their school clothes on and blueberry pancakes and nice clothing do not go well together.

All dressed up and ready to go.

Wearing his MSGL bag to school like daddy does.

Daddy stayed home to take Leaf to school.

Giving big brother a hug. Everest was so helpful with Leaf this morning.

Giving daddy one last hug.

Silly boys!

Walking Leaf to class. Everest has grown up so much this past year.

In the class. He had a great day, no tears and he is ready to go back tomorrow. The kids bring a framed picture of their family to keep in the classroom. Miss Dena said Leaf carried the photo with his all day. He had it on the playground when we picked him up. I guess we were with him all day. That's my boy, very independent, but mama and daddy are never far from his heart.

Day 5 Rest at McCormick Creek

2011-08-27T16:21:00.001-04:00

Monday, August 1. A slow day at the park.

A rare sight. Leaf is bright eyed and happy in the morning. Usually he is groggy, fingers in his mouth and the only words he will say is "up" or "Can I sit on your lap!" (technically- in his mind- it is not a question, but he has been "trained" to at least ask)

It looks like a biking day, right? Still dark while eating breakfast, biking clothing on, granola...If that is what you think you would be mistaken. No it is the great fortune for us as parents that our first born and last born have this uncanny ability to know the sun is rising 2 time zones ahead of us. And they make it their duty to get up before the sun has a chance of reaching us. In so many ways this is a good thing, except when you are exhausted and all you really want is to look at the clock and not see it start with a 5 when you get up!

And although we have tried everything, the minute Everests' eyes open he is dressed and ready to start the day, and somehow...huuuummmmm...the rest of the family is awake too.

Hey! Are you talking about me?

Leaf making sure every morsel of granola goes into his mouth. This kid...he either eats everything in sight or he takes 2-3 bites all day.

Aurora figured out the "bite me"valve on the water bladders very quickly. She is teething so it felt good to chew on it and get a drink at the same time.

Good morning! I am a little more than tired. I had to make a detailed grocery list for Nathan because we had no food. When we looked at the trip, we knew there was a grocery store in town and in the truck town was not far away. In reality it is not far from the entrance of the park, but when the campground is 3 miles in, another 3 miles to the store is a long way. Plus the 3 miles from town to the park is 2 1/2 miles of a VERY steep hill.

Aurora helping out with bicycle maintenance. It is a little out of true daddy! (I am sure all of our wheels are out of true, some of the pot holes and gravel roads we have hit are anything but idea.)

Checking the bike from all angles.

It has my stamp of approval as an A-OK bike to ride on!

Daddy surprised us all with a big watermelon from the grocery store. He towed it plus all the other groceries up the BIG, BIG hill! You really are amazing!

I love watermelon, it feels good on my teeth.

Nathan cut thick pieces, but it didn't seem to stop Leaf. He dove right in. Luckily he did not have a shirt on, notice the juice running down his chest?

Everest enjoyed the watermelon too. Grrrrrr.

The kids were not disappointed! They ate the entire watermelon. I had a small piece, not because that is all I wanted, but because my 3 little monsters gobbled it up while I was busy feeding the littlest one.

I know it is bedtime, but do I really look tired? We had a hard time putting her to sleep in the tent. Normally I feed her, and lay her in her crib. At most, she fusses for 5 minutes and even then it is usually a half-hearted cry. In the tent, she rolled all over and climbed over everyone for at least the first hour. We started wearing her until she fell asleep at night.

Leaf in his blue fire fleece sleep sac. It was put on in the middle of the night. I realized once I had it on and tried to zip it, it was on backwards. He didn't seem to mind.

Aurora's First Birthday!!

2011-08-25T23:07:00.000-04:00

My baby girl is a year old!!!!!!! Wow how time flies. A little more than a year ago, I was still sick all the time, stressed about life with 3 kids, and worried about how to feed a family of 5 (especially because we thought for sure she was a boy- and if you have seen my husband and my boys eat- you understand my worry!). A year later, I (for the most part) am adjusted to 3 kids, and we are not too late to most things. She is an amazing baby, and in some ways, life with 3 is easier than life with 2. The boys adore her and she adores them. She gives them someone else to play with when they have had enough of each other. They have both matured about helping out and watching over their sister.

Good morning birthday girl! Aurora woke up to her favorite, green smoothie followed by strawberry/cherry one and heart shaped pancakes. I bought condiment bottles at the kitchen store a few years ago, they are perfect for making pancake shapes! (I have seen them at target too).

Blowing kisses! Thanks Mama.

Look at my birthday crown!

It is my birthday and I want PIZZA! She is serious about eating, she takes after her daddy and Leaf! I think she had 3 pieces (and my pieces are not small!)

I can't believe my sister is one.....

Nathan informed me that Aurora had requested carrot cake for her birthday. I used the Smitten Kitchen's recipe, and as always no one was disappointed. It was VERY yummy! (I used the condiment bottles to write her name- I put strawberries/cherries in the icing for color and flavor)

My parents and the Benharts helped us celebrate Aurora's first year.

Biggest brother giving Aurora her first bite of cake. Everest loves to help feed her. She will usually eat for him better than for us.

Leaf.....what can I say, it's cake. Who needs a spoon when you have 2 good hands that can shovel more in? Now do you see how she takes after Leaf?

Climbing on the couch and everywhere else in my new birthday outfit. I am ONE! Hear me Roar!

Aurora, you have been such a blessing in our lives. You have completed our family and taught us how to love the baby stage. You are so much fun and your brothers are overflowing with love for you. You love them as much as they love you. You are a cuddly girl who smiles most of the time. But you are also BUSY! There is no obstacle that is too high for you to climb, no barrier you haven't figured your way around, and no toys that seem to be off limits to you. You can be a bit of a drama queen. When you hear the word "no" you will start to pout, then make a few sad sounds, you will bend over and lay face down while your lip starts to quiver, then the tears start. This takes about a minute, about 20 seconds after the tears start to flow, you will slyly look up to see if we are watching. If not one is watching, you heighten your wailing; if we are looking, you sadly put your head back down and continue the drama until someone picks you up. I am sorry my baby girl, but it is hilarious when you do this. But we love you and always will. We have had an amazing year with you!

Day 4 biking day

2011-08-16T23:00:00.002-04:00

Sunday July 31, 2011

We got up at 5 am again. We are heading to McCormick Creek State Park. We are excited to get there because we will have a 3 day rest. We started the day very tired.We didn't carry much food with us because we knew there was a grocery store near McCormick (turns out it was 5.5 miles away). Nathan's load was a little lighter. We weighted his trailer before we left, with just our gear and the trailer weight, it was 82 pounds. Most days we carried a lot of food, enough for 2 days and 6 people. For those of you who have eaten with us, you know how much Nathan can eat. It was a lot of food.
Leaf and I getting ready for the day.

Everest and Grami having breakfast.

Everest at the camp store/office. He wanted to ring the bell so much, but it was 6:45am, we didn't think the other campers would appreciate it very much.

Bonnie and I took off ahead of Nathan and Everest. The first mile was all dirt, I had to go slow so Aurora would not get bounced around so much. Nathan and Everest took some pictures.

There was a gate to get in and out of the campground. We just went around it. Everest loved pressing the buttons and pretending.

Nathan and Everest caught us quickly.

Good bye Hickory Hills. You were a nice campground, but not on a bike.

I love how cute Leaf looks riding his tag-a-long. Both boys have Burley Piccolo's. If you are in the market for a trail behind bike, it is worth it. We did a lot of research on these before we bought them. Most trail behinds attach to the seat stem, which makes you unstable every time they blink. Burley is the only company that manufactures one that connects to your back wheel (via a moose rack). You can still tell when they move around, but it is much more stable. Burley has 2 models the Kazoo and the Piccolo. The Piccolo has the ability to change gears. We decided on it because we knew the kids would use them until about 7-8 years of age, by then they should know how to change gears well. Everest does well, but we still have to tell him which gear to be in. Leaf just likes to switch gears to hear them change. FYI- Burley doesn't make the tag-a-long bikes right now. Not sure why, but they are prototyping one now. We offered to be test them out, but they didn't take us up on the offer. We found Everest's bike through a bike shop that still had one in stock. Leaf's we found on Craigslist in Chicago.

A rare shot of Nathan and Everest biking. It is rare, because I was rarely in front of them. If I was, we usually just pushed our bikes up a big hill and I was sweating to death and they were pushing so I wouldn't get them riding anyway. Other times, I was only a few feet in front of them, because of Everest (and Nathan's) competitive nature, they would do whatever it took to be first.

Taking a break. Everest went exploring a farm road that lead to a field. Indiana can be very pretty.

Here is an example of some of the roads we were on. We were on back roads to the back roads. We did not pass many cars on most of our trip, which was just fine with us. This was a little bit hard on Aurora, so I had to go slow when the road was broken up.

Taking a break after a steep downhill. We got up to 37 miles an hour!!!!!! I didn't realize we were going that fast. Might have been a little too fast for a 2 year old I know. Nathan's top speed was 42 miles an hour!

Around 2:30 we finally made it to McCormick Creek State Park.We stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch (it was the only restaurant near our path), then we pushed our bikes up a 2 mile hill. It wasn't as steep as I thought it would be, but it was long and hard to maintain any speed, so we walked most of it.

Grami and Aurora are hot, sweaty and tired! We set up the tent and went to the pool to cool off.

We had 3 nights to rest this time and we ALL needed it!

2011-08-14T13:03:00.000-04:00

Saturday July 30, 2011 afternoon

We stopped at Cataract General Store. It is the oldest continuously run general store in Indiana. I think they said since 1860? It was very cool inside. They had all kinds of fun things in the store. It was an antique, general, grocery store.We got a post card on our way to Cataract Falls (1/2 mile away).

Cataract Falls State Park. We had lunch at the upper falls, then biked to the lower falls.

I think this is the upper falls, but I am not sure. There were a bunch of water falls in a row.

It was very hot! The falls were nice, but there was no where for us to get wet. We were all tired, hot and ready to get to our next camp site.

That is until we found the digger. We let the boys play for a while before heading out again.

We biked past the General Store again, but this time we stopped for some cold snacks!

Aurora enjoyed some of Nathan's Klondike bar...

While Leaf and Everest enjoyed Popsicle.

We finally arrived at Hickory Hills campground around 1:30. It is a private campground off a dirt road. We had to bike a mile on hard pack dirt road. It was very difficult. We thought the road would be better once we got to the campground, but it got worse. It was loose pack big gravel, the worst thing on a road bike. The campground was big and everything was on the opposite side from our camp spot. For some reason when we got to the office, they thought we wanted a campsite by the river. Our first site was 1/2 mile downhill, on gravel and dirt, with the closets water tap at the top of the hill...1/2 mile away. Bonnie and I saw it and said "no". It was a nice spot, quiet and semi close to the river. But we were exhausted, dirty, hungry, and tired. We picked another site at the top of the hill, closer to water tap, but still secluded. We were still a mile from the showers, and playground, but only 1/2 mile from the office and "swimming lake". I wish we would have gotten a picture of the "swimming lake". It looks beautiful online, in reality it is a big mud puddle that is about waist deep and who knows what on the bottom. We swam for an hour anyway, we were so dirty and hot, it didn't matter too much.

Having dinner at Hickory Hills.

We went to bed early because we had to get up at 5 am again to bike to McCormick Creek State Park.

Day 2 Our First Biking Day!

2011-08-11T21:28:00.000-04:00

Saturday, July 30, 2011

No one slept very well because we were all excited about biking in the morning. Nathan got the least amount of sleep. Around 4am, he heard something outside our tent. At first he thought it was Bonnie, but soon realized it was not her. He slowly unzipped the tent to go see what it was, but the sound of the zipper, woke up Aurora who started to scream. Nathan jumped out of the tent, headlamp ready, turned it on and saw a raccoon jump out of the Burley trailer. Aurora was the one that scared the raccoon, not the zipper. It scared the racoon enough that it ran into Leaf's tag a long bike before it ran into the woods. What was the raccoon doing in the trailer, you ask? Eating the HUGE bag of trail mix I made for the trip. I was bummed. I got all kinds of good things in the mix, Annies bunnies, pretzels, dried fruit, even Trader Joe's gummies. It all had to be thrown away. It taught us a valuable lesson...we hung our food every night. We have always hung our food while camping, but that was in Montana and Utah where bears and mountain lions will get into your stuff. It didn't occur to us to hang it in Indiana.

Here is what is left of my trail mix, you can see where the raccoon shredded the bag.

Everest was up bright and early (5:30am), ready to go.

Our convoy! Nathan took Everest (who is amazingly strong and truly helps out) and the gear. I had Leaf and Aurora with all our clothing and a few odds and ends. Bonnie had the BOB trailer, her gear, my IPAD (the BOB has a dry bag ) and a few extras.

Everest biking, I am directly behind him and Bonnie is in the background.

Leaving Lieber State Recreation Area!

Let the biking begin! When we planned the trip, we accounted for the fact that campgrounds were 2-4 miles from the entrance of the park. What we didn't account for is that some of the campsites are another mile or more from the campground entrance.

This was one of the scariest parts of the trip. We left around 8am on a Saturday in hopes that there would be little traffic. After 4 miles, we found ourselves on a secondary highway with NO shoulder. The speed limit was 55 and cars drove faster. We were only on it for 1.5 miles, but it was all downhill, then back up. The bridge was in the middle and had a small shoulder so we stopped to rest.

It was a beautiful view and we saw a blue heron.

Later in the day, we saw a small turtle on the side of the road. We didn't know until we circled back around, but it had been hit by a car. Its shell was split. That opened up a big can of worms. For the next umpteen miles, we discussed how cars are dangerous and how they can hurt and kill animals and people. It was the first of many dead animal and many questions on our trip.

The boys discussing why the turtle got hit and why it didn't get off the road.

Not long after the turtle sighting, Everest spotted a tiny frog hopping across the road. He was so concerned it would get hit, we had to circle around and help it cross the road safely.

We have many more pictures of this day, but I will post them tomorrow. We took over 1,000 pictures on our trip! Hope you are enjoying reading about and seeing our trip as much as we enjoyed it. Maybe it will inspire you to do something adventurous too.

Day 1 Hanging out at Lieber State Rec Area

2011-08-10T21:35:00.000-04:00

Friday, July 29, 2011

The kids (or should I say Everest and Aurora) woke up bright and early a little before the sun rose. They were both dressed and playing as the sun started to shine in the campground.

Everest and Aurora sitting outside the tent.

Getting ready to make breakfast. We took a very small camp stove with us, we cooked everything from eggs, to stir fry to chili.

Doing chores: Everest helped wash dishes.

Leaf helped do laundry. We only took 3 changes of clothing and 1 was a swim suit. Laundry was done in a dry bag everyday.

Leaf helping to rinse out the clothing.

While I went into town to grocery shop (I did not have time to do it before we left), Nathan and Bonnie took the kids to the beach. It is a very nice beach, other than the very big hill you have to go down to get to it. No big deal if you are in a car, but on bikes, it makes a difference.

The boys enjoyed running in the water, building in the rocks/sand, and swimming.

After lunch, Nathan and Bonnie drove the truck and the car to our final destination, Brown County State Park. They left the truck there and drove back to Lieber. They were gone about 5 hours. I took the kids to the pool while they were gone. For all those in Indiana. Lieber has a really nice pool.
Everest loves that he is big enough (and Aurora is too) to pick up Aurora. They have a wonderful bond. I love watching them together.

Getting Ready for Our 100 mile bike trip!

2011-08-09T22:22:00.000-04:00

Nathan and I have both enjoyed biking for a long time. When I was younger, my uncle Mark biked across the US. I thought he was the coolest person ever. I promised myself that I would do something like it someday. The summer before Nathan and I met, he did an 800 mile bike trip through Montana. When I met him, I thought he too was very cool. We have a dream of biking across the US from Canada to Mexico someday.....

Fast forward 8 years and 3 kids later. We decided it is time to stay preparing for our dream. We took the kids on a 12 day 122 mile bike trip. When we first started planning, it was an ambitious 160 miles visiting 8 state parks, but once we drove the route, we realized our sights were set too high. Most of the roads we chose were busy or dirt (neither of which is good with 3 small kids and road bikes). We revamped and re drove our route until we were happy with it. We planned close to 100 miles, 5 campgrounds and 1 hotel. We decided to have a day to rest and let the kids play and enjoy the state parks.

There was so much preparation into this trip. I think we spent at least as much time planning, driving, shopping, comparing, searching, studying maps, talking to the local bike shop and REI, as we did on the trip.

Bonnie sewed fleece "sleeping bags" for the kids. She made them go over the arms, like a baby sleep sack, this way, they cannot wiggle out of them. The boys picked the material. Thanks Grami!

Our new tent arrived.We ordered the smallest 4/5 person tent we could find from REI. It was still huge! The tent weighs 11 pounds. The next size bigger was almost 20 pounds! That is a lot of weight to tow!

Making sure we all fit and there is room to grow into. When the kids are a bit older, the tent will be very snug! Hopefully by then, the kids will want to sleep in their own tent and we can take 2 smaller and lighter tents.

Preparing the garden for our absents. We put hay down and staked all the tomatoes and beans (something we failed to do before we left for our 3 1/2 week PA trip. We came home to a very over grown garden. All my plants were doing great, but so were the weeds.

07/28/11 Here we are! We started at Lieber State Recreation Area. It was a beautiful campground with LOTS of flat area (very important when sleeping on the ground). Grami Bonnie came on the trip with us. We were happy to have her enjoy this trip with us. Nathan and Bonnie drove the truck and the Saturn to Brown County State Park, our destination, on Friday. They left the truck there and drove the car back.

Bonnie finishing setting up her tent, and making sure all her gear fit in the BOB trailer.

Aurora is very excited about the trip, although she will probably sleep most of the time. She also likes to show off her 1 tooth.

Little monkey. She loved climbing into the Burley trailer we borrowed from our wonderful neighbors. Thanks Benharts, you were with us the whole trip!

The boys playing cars together. They each got 2 new cars to play with on the trip. Sometimes they are so cute.

Leaf and Grami enjoying a bedtime snack.

Tent and trailers set up. The trailers are empty at this point. We spent 2 nights at Lieber.

Getting ready for bed. I made the kids cotton sleep sacks. Everest was so excited, it was hard for him to get to sleep. I made cotton sleeping bags for Nathan and I. I didn't have to worry about Aurora, she has plenty of fleece and cotton sleep sacks.

Night, night Leaf. I also made the boys pillows.

Thanks for checking on us. We have had a wonderful summer. We have been so busy, I have had very little time to blog.

Legoland

2011-06-29T08:10:00.001-04:00

We have been wanting to get Leaf a trailer bike all Spring. Nathan has watched craigslist and Ebay, but they were only coming up in the Chicago area. We decided to bite the bullet and drive up there to get one. Since we were going all the way there, we decided to take the kids to Legoland and stop at REI (we miss having an REI close to us).

Here is Everest at the entrance to Legoland. Gotta love his style (lightning McQueen shirt and his fleece cheetah pants I made him for Halloween).

Miniature Chicago. There is a whole room of famous buildings and parks in Chicago. Everest and I spent more than 30 minutes here. The lights go off in the room and the buildings, streets and fountains all light up. The Elevated train runs back and forth through the room......

....And there is a construction site, where the kids can operate the crane.

They have 4D movies you can watch. The movies are 10-15 minutes.

They have a ride there, that reminds me of ET. Nathan and I were not exactly sure what this had to do with Legos, but the kids really enjoyed it. Everest roade it at least 4 times. He even went by himself when Nathan took Leaf!

Aurora enjoyed crawling around anytime she could.

She could see all the people and giraffe outside. She was talking up a storm.

Leaf crawling through the lion!

Everest getting eaten by the lion.

We all had a good time, we spent 5 hours there. We thought we would be home by 8, but at 11 we were still on the road. We didn't leave Chicago until after 9!

Dinner on the lawn

2011-06-27T08:10:00.001-04:00

We ordered dinner from our favorite pizza place in West Lafayette, Brunos. The kids wanted to eat outside with their table. I got them plastic flute glasses for Valentine's day and they love them.

Nathan and Aurora chilling.

The boys tap their glasses before they drink. Sometimes they are cute and do get along!

New Fridge

2011-06-25T08:10:00.001-04:00

We had to buy a new washer and fridge over Memorial day weekend. Nathan was in the middle of a washing marathon, when the motor quit on our old washer. It was old, but it served us well. We had also been checking the temperature in the fridge for a week. When it gets above 75 degrees outside, the fridge quits making ice, runs constantly and doesn't stay very cold. Memorial Day weekend was hot and the fridge didn't get below 45 degrees. We headed to Lowes for new appliances. They were delivered Tuesday evening.

The kids were sooo excited when the truck arrived.

Everest and Leaf, helping take off the plastic wrapping. Everest was serious about getting all the plastic off.

Our new fridge....well, at least for 2 days. This fridge was a nightmare. It is a very long story, so I will give you the short version. The gasket would not seal on the fridge door, the cooling element was broken, and so was the door sensor. While I was putting the kids to bed, Nathan started playing with all the fancy buttons, one of which was the door alarm. It started beeping loudly. The kids freaked because they thought it was a tornado siren. Nathan and I tried everything to get the alarm off, but since the door wouldn't seal, it wouldn't shut off. He even called Lowes and they didn't know what to do. After 2 hours of reading, and pushing buttons, we put a ratchet strap around it to hold the door shut. It worked for about 45 minutes and then the alarm would go off again.We had to get up push on the fridge and reset the alarm. This happened THE ENTIRE NIGHT! We were both exhausted, it didn't occur to us, until morning to unplug it. We ended up getting a new fridge on Saturday and we love it. In the meantime we lost a lot of food, but the beer fridge and the neighbors fridge came in handy. Thanks Brad and Jeaneen!

Playing Tennis and Driving the Car

2011-06-23T20:50:00.000-04:00

Last summer, Nathan found a tennis racket in all of our stuff that was left in Montana. We recently went through all the boxes he brought back. The boys immediately claimed the tennis racket. Everest say the "older" neighbor boys hitting a tennis ball in the air with the racket. When he asked them what they were doing, they said playing tennis. Now, that is how Everest thinks tennis is played. Both boys LOVE to play tennis.

Leaf is starting to pick out his own clothing. This was his tennis outfit.

A back view. Can he get much cutier?

Yes, he will be a ladies man!

Leaf practicing tennis in the front yard.

Nathan had to move the car from the garage to the street to make room to get the new washer in the basement. We bought a new washer and fridge over Memorial day, both quit working that weekend. He asked the kids if they wanted to help "move" the car. Of course, everyone wanted to. All three kids piled into the front seat.

Aurora, telling her dad which way to go, while Leaf checked the radio.

Aurora is helping Nathan check the mirrors.

Cruising with daddy.

Biking to Prophetstown

2011-06-13T23:18:00.000-04:00

We decided to go on a bike trip this summer with the kids. We are going in late July. We miss being outdoors. Nathan looked at Google Earth and found a string of State Parks, Recreation Area and Forests in southern Indiana. He also looked at all the roads and found the least traveled ones for us. We are starting at Turkey Run State Park and ending at Brown County State Park. It should be 130 mile trip, but that doesn't include daily trips to the grocery store, restaurants and laundry mats.
We have been taking the kids out on bike trips when Nathan gets home from work. Sunday we decided to step it up a bit and add some weight.

Getting ready for a long bike trip. We biked to Prophetstown State Park. Nathan and Everest towed Aurora. Leaf and I towed camping gear, water and flour (for extra weight).

Taking a break at the Soldiers Home. Everest loved the cannon.

The back of Nathan's trailer...oats, flour, flax seed, raisins. Anything that won't break and make a mess.

Aurora looking through a bench. She is not feeling well. Her eyes are all red, swollen and watery. She still enjoyed the trip. When we take a break, she crawls through the grass(eating most of it as she goes) and pulls herself up on anything she can get a hold of.
I went upstairs the other day to help Leaf in the bathroom. I was not in there more than a minute and I told Leaf I needed to check on Aurora. When I looked in the hallway, she was on the second to top step! It was her first attempt at climbing the steps and she almost made it to the top.

Nathan, Everest, and Aurora on "the train". We bike 19 miles today!!!!!! Nathan said it was going to be 14, but we made some detours so it ended up being 19.

Our get up! I towed Leaf up this big hill. What you see in the background is not even half of the hill. At one point I told Leaf to keep pedaling to help me go fast up the hill. He said "Mama, I am pedaling!" When I looked back, sure enough he was, but he was pedaling backwards. He thought that was very funny!

Leaf's first hair cut

2011-04-30T08:10:00.001-04:00

Well after 2 and a half years, Leaf decided he wanted his hair cut so he could "pike" it like Everest's. Nathan was hesitant because I cried for a week the first time Nathan "trimmed" Everest's hair. In my defense, he was only 18 months and still my baby boy. When Nathan cut it, he was no longer my baby boy. I also was not prepared, we talked about cutting his hair, I thought we discussed cutting his bangs, but when I walked into the room, half of his hair was gone. Nathan must have asked me a million times, if I was sure about cutting Leaf's hair.

Big brother needed a hair cut too, so he went first.

Leaf waiting patiently. This is the last picture of his beautiful curly hair.

He was surprisingly still MOST of the time. Look at his face, he couldn't wait to see it.

A few curls I saved.

The back...

Wow, does he look different!

It was almost bedtime, this was the best I got before the "pikes". I think Leaf's hair looks so much redder.

Nathan using some mousse in the boys hair to make "pikes".

Leaf with "pikey" hair.

I loved his long hair, but this cut fits him and he loves it. My 2 1/2 year old is no longer a baby, he is a little boy. He is wearing his rocketship outfit I made him. I made them each a set. They love them. I haven't taken a good picture of the outfits yet and now that the camera has died, I might not get one.

This was Leaf on the day our cabinets were delivered. He and Everest were very big helpers.

Purdue's Bug Bowl

2011-04-28T08:10:00.001-04:00

Purdue has Spring Fest and a Bug Bowl every year. We missed it last year, but heard from everyone how awesome it is. We went this year and the kids had a great time. They have chocolate covered bug and other foods with bugs in it. We wanted to try some, but never found the tent with them in it. We were too busy checking everything else out.

Everest petting a calf.

Holding a duckling. You could choose a duckling, chick or turkey, he picked the duckling each time.

Leaf got to hold the duckling too.

Leaf wanted to milk a cow...we waited in line, paid a dollar and when push came to shove, Leaf wanted nothing to do with milking a cow. Everest, who had refused to do it, when we got up there, he got brave and decided to try it.

We have been having ALL kinds of trouble with Leaf going to bed. He usually cries/screams, plays, talks to us or himself for 2-3 hours after we put him to bed. We have tried skipping nap and it only makes things worse. On the nights we skip naps, he is slap happy and too tired to fall asleep. This night he was mad so he threw every book off the bookshelf into the hallway.

Then fell asleep in Everest's bed.

Don't get too excited

2011-04-26T21:16:00.001-04:00

Hello friends,

Well I am slowly deleting posts so I will be able to put up new pictures but.......our wonderful camera has died. After 8 years and almost 30,000 pictures, it died as Everest and Leaf were starting their treasure hunt Easter morning. I bought the camera for Nathan before we went on our honeymoon to Costa Rica. We are hoping to just buy a new body, because the lenses are still good. We shall see. We got our kitchen cabinets on Sat. We installed them Sunday and I have no pictures of them. Well a few from the phone. I tried to send the pictures to myself last night so I could post some, but they never sent. Today, Nathan's phone stopped working. He is going to look at it tonight and try to at least get pictures and contacts off of it. This must be the week for things to stop working for us. Both of our electric toothbrushes died this week!!!!!!! I am backing up our pictures because I know it is a matter of time before this laptop goes. In hindsight of all of this, it may be a few more weeks before I can get back to regularly posting pictures. Sorry.

Aurora after the bath. I love bath pictures, babies are so cute with hoodie towels on.

This is Everest's bathtub drawing of our family -A mountain, tree and sky . It is hard to see so I took close up.

This is a tree on the left side. He asked me to write Leaf's name in the leaf he drew.

Here is the mountain with his name in it.

Here is a man (that is what he said), standing on the mountain with the "spirits" going up in the sky. (He calls Aurora "the spirits" because of the movie Brother Bear, they refer to the Northern Lights as the spirits.)

He asked me to write Aurora's name in the spirits.

In case you are wondering....

2011-04-19T11:06:00.000-04:00

Hello All,

In case you are wondering, where we are....we are still here, but we are stuck.- I have all kinds of great pictures to share (Leaf got his hair cut, Aurora is crawling (a cross between army crawl and crawling), and we are making lots of good progress on our kitchen- the cabinets are in and being delivered this week!!!!!!- I tried to post 2 weeks ago and I got an error that I have used up all my space. Until I can delete some posts and pictures, I can't post anything else. My plan from the beginning was to turn our blog into a book, so this is motivating me to do it. I bought Creative Memories digital scrapbooking a few years ago (thanks Dawn and Francis for persuading me!). So I am making a digital scrapbook of our blog. But with 3 kids, a kitchen in progress, family visiting, a garden to plant, and the day to day activities of a family of 5, it is taking me a lot longer than I would expect. I only have 7 pages done! At the same time, I am trying to put the new posts into a book before I post them. So it may be a few more weeks before I can post again. I love blogging so I hope you will understand and check back with us in a few weeks.

Love,

The Mentzer Family (Fay, Nathan, Everest, Leaf, and Aurora)

All tuckered out

2011-03-29T08:10:00.001-04:00

For some reason, this post never got posted. The first two pictures were taken in the late summer, early Fall of 2009. The last one was taken in December of 2009. They are so beautiful, and peaceful when they sleep. Unfortunately for us, it is a rare occurrence.

Everest is in the process of phasing out nap time. He has been a little crankier than usual, because some days he still needs a nap, (or he needs to sleep in- haha!)

Everest will come home from school some days and sit in the sunroom on the floor and read. The next thing I know, he is zonked.
Asleep in the trailer. They were both so hot, they only slept a few more minutes once we stopped riding.

Asleep at Nonnie and Papa's house in December 2009.

Cooking- Kitchen Fun

2011-03-28T07:15:00.002-04:00

Wow! This was taken when we first moved into our house in August 2009! Everest looks so little!. He and Leaf still love playing in the kitchen. Everest is getting old enough that he helps in some real cooking. He still loves to be helpful.

He wanted to cook, like me. We had a discussion about ONLY playing like this if 1. he asks and I am right there, 2. the oven is not in use or does not feel warm. He is very good about staying away from the oven when it is warm. Even now, that we have torn the kitchen apart and the oven has been in the middle of the floor so we can do the drywall and windows.

Look how long his hair was. He looks so different now with short hair. He still wears his apron often.

Making sure dinner is done. When Leaf got a kitchen from my parents, I ordered kid size oven mitts. I got them from Montessori Services, kids can really use them for hot things. They are so cute.

I can barely remember the kitchen like this. It has been almost a year since we tore down the walls. I do not miss them AT ALL! I love my new kitchen, even though it is not done yet. We are getting there. Slowly, but we are doing it ourselves. Although we are exhausted from staying up working until 1 or 2 am, we both enjoy doing the work and working together.

Melissa and Doug products

2011-03-26T08:10:00.000-04:00

I really like Mellisa and Doug products. They are very colorful, sturdy, and often wooden. All things I like. I have a few issues with them though.

1. They are made in China.

2. They usually come in a wonderful wooden box...WITH NO TOP!

3. For some, Joey for example, there is no imagination. Take a look at Joey.

This is a great toy for kids and a wonderful toy to play in the car or on an airplane. Joey is wooden and comes with a variety of outfits that are magnetic so they so not fall off of him.

The problem is that, you can only make them in their specific outfits.

Everest loves to mix things up. The other day he was a lifeguard fairy, and today he was Aloft (from cars) with his lion costume, swim suit, sunglasses, and backpack. So when he tries to be creative with Joey, this is what happens.....it is hard to tell, but they are overlapping so they do not stay on.

A few can go together, but still do not fit well.

Here is the wonderful wooden box, with organizing compartments...and NO TOP. It is hard to store these and hard for Everest to put them away, he always ends up dumping it. I put them in plastic bags. It keeps the pieces together, but not organized.
What happened to raising creative kids? I love the idea, but hate that there is only 1 right way to put things together.

Cabinet fun

2011-03-25T08:10:00.001-04:00

Hmmmmmm....does anyone know where Everest and Leaf might be?????????
I think I see some fingers.....

...and some toes.

There they are.

Funny things kids say

2011-03-24T08:10:00.001-04:00

Here are a few "classic" moments in our life from Everest's point of view....

On a warm Spring day, Nathan was cleaning out the garage. I was in the house doing some Spring cleaning, and Everest was outside playing. We told Everest we would play in a little bit, but he started to get bored. The neighbor kids were out playing across the street. Everest kept yelling "hellllloooo" to them. After a while of this, the little boy (about 2nd grade) yelled back "hello damn it." Everest ran into the garage and said to Nathan (who had heard the whole thing), I don't know why he said "hello Janet, I didn't even ask his name". Classic 4 year old.

When we play a game or get something new that has to be put together, Everest insists that we first read the "constructions".

When we told Everest we were having another baby, he was very excited. He told us he wanted two more babies. We told him this was the last baby we would have, that we would have 3 babies altogether. He has been telling people I am having 3 babies. We have gotten a lot of surprised looks.

Late in the summer, the boys and I biked to the local library. It is a block away from Nathan's building at Purdue. We decided to get some lunch and meet daddy outside to eat. There were a lot of college students hanging out, since the semester had just started. While I was getting Leaf out of the trailer, Everest said "Mama look, that boy's hair looks like a dragon!". As I turned around, sure enough there was a college student dressed in goth, with a long, blue mohawk. As he passed us, Everest turned and watched him, then he turned to me and said "Mama, can I get my hair like that?". He was in complete awe of this student. While Everest was saying this to me, the kid flipped off Everest. I was so mad, I almost went after him and said something. Here is a 3 year old, who thinks this is totally cool, but this kid took it the wrong way and flipped off a 3 year old. A 3 year old!!!! Who does that? I realize there are probably a lot of people who make comments about someone dressed like this, but if you can't handle the comments, DON'T dress like that!
When we met Nathan for lunch the first thing Everest told him about was this cool kid that looked like a dragon. After lunch Everest played on the lawn a little and I told Nathan what happened. I didn't realize how mad Nathan was, until the next day, when he said he saw a guy with a blue mohawk on campus and almost said something to him.

Everest likes to play with calculators. He pretends they are phones, computers, garage door openers, etc. He calls it his cockulator. =)

Making Beer

2011-03-23T08:10:00.001-04:00

I have had this post in the works for over two years. I don't always remember to take pictures while Nathan is making beer. The boys love to help, so Nathan has made the process as kid friendly as he can. When Nathan started making beer, his first 4 beers were made from a can of supplies (they were all very good). -There are 3 types of brewing: from a can, dry malt extract, and all grain. As far as levels of brewing the can is the easiest. Dry malt extract brewing takes a little more skill, but is more expensive. All grain brewing is the most skillful but can be the cheapest. Nathan, of course, has found a way to make all grain as inexpensive as he can.- For his fifth attempt at brewing, Nathan wanted to try dry malt extract. He and a friend went to the brew store, he came back with ingredients to make an all grain batch. He said he had no idea what he was doing, but the owner JT assured him, he would be just fine. Turns out JT was right and Nathan has been doing all grain since.

Nathan buys large bags of grain to make it less expensive. Leaf was still crawling when I took this picture. (I know, it has been a while)

Nathan got an old grain mill from his mom. Everest loves to run the grain mill. At first it was a little hard and Everest would get tired after awhile. Nathan has since improved the operation and uses an electric drill to crank and he has mounted a plastic yogurt container on the top as a funnel, so we can put more grain in at one time. (He does this in the garage because it still makes a little bit of a mess.)

The boys helping daddy boil the grains.

The beer fermenting in a carboy. If you look carefully enough, (and have been to our house in UT) you can see this picture was taken in Logan.

Nathan has been grumbling for a year that he doesn't have a spoon long enough to reach the bottom of his 10 gallon kettle. The ones at the brew stores are $40 or more. Nathan finally made his own "paddle" for $4. Can you tell how proud he is?

Getting ready to transfer the beer to the secondary fermentation. The carboy needs to be cleaned first. Leaf and Everest were both eager to help out with this. You can see the beer sitting in the bottling bucket, on the stool, on my washer.

Leaf loved helping wash the fermenter. He loves anything that involves water.

Everest wanted in on the action too. We have been working hard on sharing and "my turn, your turn" with the boys. They each got a few minutes to wash, and I think they each got 3 turns. It was definitely clean by the end.

Leaf says "Isheee" I can never resist, this beautiful blue eyed boys who is full of life. I have more pictures of him looking up at me and grabbing at the camera. I love all of them, and he is cute, so I thought I would share.

Fixing owees

2011-03-22T08:10:00.001-04:00

I forgot about this post. I wrote it up almost a year ago........look how little Leaf is. It really is amazing how quickly they grow.

May 2010
Everest has been into helping everyone and everything that is hurt. He fixes things with stickers. If Leaf has an “ouwee” he puts stickers on it, or if the wall or cabinet has a scratch or mark, he fixes it with stickers. This has lead to many arguments about where stickers can and CAN NOT go (like affixed to the hardwood floors, I am still trying to get some of them off).

Everest “doctored up” Leaf and then himself.

He even put stickers on the bottom of their feet.

Everest was tickled about Leaf participating too. Later this day he added more stickers..one he put in a sensitive area. He cried when he tried to take it off. We had to give him a bath to loosen it up. This is one lesson he learned on his own.

Happy Girl

2011-03-21T08:10:00.005-04:00

Aurora is such a happy baby. She has been playing with her mouth and tongue making noises, blowing bubbles, chewing and licking everything with in reach.

She is saying Mamamamaaa.

Her eyes and smile are beautiful!

I am 7 months old today. (this picture is about a month old)

kitchen

2011-03-20T08:20:00.000-04:00

We have been busy in the kitchen...but not cooking. We started remodeling our kitchen last May. Almost a year later we have settled on a plan and started working on it. We knew this would be a year long project, mostly because we are doing the work ourselves, but also because we wanted to "live with it" to make sure it was what we wanted. I am so glad we did. Over the past 6 months our plan has changed many times. We cut the old cabinets and counter top apart and made an island with them. We changed the spacing of the island and the size, then we decided we wanted the oven in a different place. And then we changed again and decided on a cooktop and built in oven.

Our plan looks different than it did last May, but I am very happy with our decisions. Nathan and our neighbor Brad, put down Hardibacker getting ready to do the tile work. Leaf supervised the project.

Almost done. Thank you Brad for helping and Jeaneen for entertaining the kids and I for the day.

Here is what the finished kitchen will look like, in terms of space. We have ordered our cabinets, they will be in in 5 weeks. We are doing a lot over Spring Break, I will upload picture when I get time.

You are Special!

2011-03-18T08:30:00.000-04:00

While I was looking for ideas of things to do for the 25 days of Christmas, I came across a wonderful idea. The Tipjunkie had a gift idea for friends. She had a red plate (a charger- a plate that goes under the plate you are eating off of to accent it) and put vinyl letter on it that said "You are special". She said to use the plate on special occasions- birthday, first day of school, etc. I love this idea, but I wanted to make it more personal for the kids so here what we came up with.

All Fired Up is a local paint your own pottery store and they teamed up with MSGL (Everest's preschool) for the month of February. They donated 15% of their proceeds to the school. We took the kids on a Saturday afternoon.

Each of the boys picked out a plate. Everest wanted a square one and Leaf chose round.

The boys picked their paints (which start out looking pale and chalky) and went to work.

Leaf LOVED the sponge brush, he more or less stamped a gallon of paint onto his plate.

Everest was very proud of his plate and couldn't wait to "cook" it.

Leaf's plate before it got fired.

We are hanging the plates on the wall and using them for special occasions. We thought the plates would have more meaning if they painted them themselves, and they are dishwasher safe!

Building blocks

2011-03-16T08:10:00.004-04:00

Blocks are something I think all kids like and every family needs. There are so many different styles, but any blocks will do. We got these blocks from a friend when we lived in Logan and Everest was a baby. They have been used on a weekly basis since we got them.

Leaf and his tower. He was very proud!

Everest decided to build steps.

Leaf trying out a new style tower.....this one didn't stand alone very long.

Everest's steps tower stood well, but he wanted to add support to it. He built columns on both sides. (plus a Lego column)

Then he wanted to add an elevator bigger than he was. He made it taller than me, but didn't have enough blocks to support it. This is the more economical and durable model.

But wait there is more. He decided to add stores and a connecting sky walk. If you look closely you can see the Lego house he built and an airplane. The boys had such a good time building.
Did you notice Aurora on the side lines? She happily sat and watched her brothers build. She chewed on a few blocks the whole time.

Sewing

2011-03-14T15:32:00.000-04:00

A few things my kids like to do while I sew.

Everest discovered he can touch his toes to his head.

Leaf and Everest love to play on the balance board. Not only to they practice their balance, but it has been an island, a ship, a car, a trampoline, and many many more things. Thank you so much Grami.

I have been making banners. I am having fun with them. Everest picked Purdue material, anyone surprised?

Leaf picked redbue his favorite colors as he says.

I made this for my friend Heather for their new home!

I made these for my nieces. I was afraid all the pink was going to be too much, but I think they turned out really cute.

Nonnie and Papa's February visit

2011-03-08T08:10:00.000-05:00

My parents came to visit in February. We did not take very many pictures. I am not sure why other than my parents took the kids to do things and Nathan and I stayed home and took a break!
Here is a cute picture of my mom and Everest. My parents and sister are in New Zealand right now! We miss you and wish we could be there. I don't know that the kids or anyone else on the plane would have survived my 3 kids! Next time!

My parents were here for my birthday and I made an amazing cake from The Smitten Kitchen. Her cake is sooooooo much prettier than mine. I don't care how it came out (very lopsided and goopy looking). It was amazing! If you like chocolate and peanut butter (sunbutter substitutes very well!), you have to try this cake!

Mom holding my big girl. She is already trying to feed herself. UGH! I am in trouble!

Everest broke one of their Madi Gras necklaces, but found a very good use for it. He made a bunny. Not bad!

He decided to make more shapes. This is his ghost. Gotta love the cheetah pants! They are from his Halloween costume. He wears them all the time.

Leaf had some blueberry pancakes....can you tell? We discovered something interesting when we made the pancakes. The frozen blueberries changed the batter purple. But when we cooked them, they turned blue. The kids were very excited by this discovery!

Leaf holding Roar

2011-03-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

The boys love their sister and beg to hold her. They are both getting better at it and luckily she is getting bigger and better at them holding her too.

At first Leaf would just get up when he was done or let go of her so he could suck his fingers. Now he makes sure he holds her the whole time.

I was able to take about 10 pictures of them together.

Just playing around

2011-02-27T08:10:00.001-05:00

This winter has been long and cold. Everyone is ready for Spring to come. The kids can get a little stir crazy, so we have been thinking up all kinds of fun things to do at home.

Elliot and Everest playing Plan City from Plan Toys (I love this company!)

My wonderful friend Dawn, from UT, sent the kids each a pillow for Christmas. They all love them. Aurora tries very hard to eat hers, but it is so cute.

I am almost 6 months old in this picture (she is now!)

Are you talking to me?

Paging Doctor Leaf Mentzer. Doesn't he remind you of the old time doctors (with the light on their head)? It is a head light, he has it turned sideways. Another one of his obsessions is lights, ones with batteries- he loves to take out the batteries and put them back in and turn the lights on and off.

Single handedly bringing back the 70's. We used a wooden dowel, string a paper clip and magnet and went "fishing" one afternoon in the living room. Everest was fishing from his "house".

Leaf cracked me up, he is such a two year old. This was his version of fishing:

1. put the magnet on the paperclip.

2. Stand up, pick up the fishing pole, making sure the "fish" stays on.

3. Triumphantly hold the pole over your head and announce you caught a fish!

Snow Day

2011-02-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we had a snow storm. It wasn't as bad as they had predicted, but it wasn't good. Purdue closed the campus for 2 days, something that had not been done in over 10 years. Luckily our friends live next door and we did not loose power (something they were predicting). The kids played at our house and then we went over to their house for a pot luck dinner.

The kids playing dress up in the basement.

The Cat in the Hat aka- CJ

Everest and Meredith

Cheetah Kate playing some tunes.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-22T20:40:00.003-05:00

A few years ago, my friend Kim made square bears for her kids to welcome Spring. I have been wanting to make some for the boys, but haven't had the time. I decided to make them some for Valentine's day. Leaf tells us on a daily basis (and repeatedly) that his favorite color is redblue (except he says "redbue"). Everest loves cheetahs. I was planning on making something for Aurora, but ran out of time. I know I do not have much longer before she realizes she didn't get one. I have a little more sewing to do.

We had heart shaped pancakes. Nathan had breakfast with us before he went into work.

Our breakfast. Happy Valentine's Day!

Nathan cut Everest's hair while I made breakfast. Everest just wanted it short enough to spike.

Leaf did not want to be left out, and although he did not want to sit still to get his hair cut. He wanted it spiked like Everest's. Nathan worked a little magic and TADA....Leaf has "spiked" hair too.

My Valentine!

Onto dinner. I got heart shaped ice cube tray a while ago. I filled them with cranberry juice and bought fun glasses for the boys.

We had heart shaped pizzas for dinner.

Leaf enjoyed his pizza. The picture of Everest will not load for some reason. He at a pizza himself (not only his individual pizza, but a pan pizza too!).We didn't have any left overs, but it was not due to Nathan this time!

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day too.

Getting ready for Valentine's Day!

2011-02-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

The other day Everest said "Mama, look what I can do." He is a tongue roller! He was impressed and a bit surprised that I could do it too.

Leaf's Valentine's Day shirt. He picked the picture (I gave him a few choices) and the material. And yes, his cheek is bruised. I think he is growing. The last two weeks he has been very clumsy. He bumped his head hard three different times while at the pediatricians the other day. As a toddler, Everest got really clumsy before he had a growth spurt. Maybe my little linebacker will get a little height soon.

Everest's Valentine's day shirt. Of course it is Purdue and he has worn it almost everyday since I made it. Before he goes to bed, he reminds us to wash it, so he can wear it in the morning.

Everest wanted to make lady bug Valentine's this year. He had to make 28. We started almost 2 weeks early, but he got them all finished.

Writing his name took longer than anything else. He kept saying he wanted to sign Leaf's name instead because there were not as many letters. I love how kids this age are still looking at the world "outside the box".

We made an ice sun catcher. Very appropriate for weather that is in the negative numbers for a week. It went from freezing to 40's in a matter of hours. We left the house and the sun catcher was dripping just a little. We got home and hour and a half later and it was completely gone.

A tutu just for her

2011-02-17T18:33:00.001-05:00

When Aurora was born, a friend from Everest's school made her an outfit. Lena has Tea for Tutu's Bowtique. She is very creative and crafty.

This is the first time she has had anything other than a hat on her head and she did great with it.

I love the A onsie!

Her bow got pushed down a little and she noticed it for the first time. It was so funny watching her "get it".

After a while, she didn't even notice it.

I am a happy girl!

Everest had to get in on the action too. He loves this bow. He puts it on her all the time. He is so funny sometimes.

Sitting!

2011-02-14T21:09:00.000-05:00

I am big girl!

Aunt Liz would be so proud....pink and ruffles! Thanks Aunt Liz, this is my favorite outfit to wear to gymnastics with my brothers!

So proud of herself! In a few weeks she can ride in the bike trailer!!!!!!!!!!! The weather is finally starting to get nice and we will be riding again soon! We are all very excited to ride again.

Leaf and Aurora

2011-02-04T14:24:00.001-05:00

I took Leaf and Aurora to the pediatricians today.

They are opposites right now. Aurora is in the 25% for weight and 70% for height. Leaf is 70% for weight and 25% for height.

She is soo sweet!

When Leaf is tired, he lays beside Aurora, holds her hand, and sucks his fingers. It is very cute.

First bites

2011-01-30T22:50:00.001-05:00

We started giving Aurora solid foods. She wasn't sure about it at first.

She would cry and then grab the spoon, push it into her mouth until she gagged and then she would start crying again.

After a while, she got the hang of it. She wants to do it herself, and yes we have started using a bib to feed her.

Saying Good Bye

2011-01-28T08:10:00.002-05:00

It is always hard to say good bye. This year leaving PA was a little more difficult for Nathan. We decided to spend Christmas in PA with our family so we could help Nathan's mom (Bonnie) get ready to move. She has been in the house for over 30 years! She and Jim bought it as newly weds. It was a 200 year old farm house. Over time they added on to the original farm house. Unfortunately, Jim never lived to see the house finished. Nathan spent many years working on and finishing what Jim had started.

This is the house. The original farm house is the middle section. They added the green house, kitchen and master bedroom (sliding glass doors).

Leaf playing in the upper part of the greenhouse.

The barn/garage across the street.

Bonnie and I in the kitchen. Nathan was actually taking a picture of the beautiful chandelier he installed. It was in my parents house when they moved in. We thought it was someones 8th grade metal shop project, but then we found a manufacturers sticker. To top it off, we put colored bulbs in it. (Bonnie's Amish neighbors are buying the house and ripping out the electricity so I am sure they will not keep the light either.)

Saying goodbye to the house and Grami.

The last time the Mentzer's will see where daddy grew up.

It was hard, but necessary, the house is way to big for Bonnie. She will be starting a new adventure soon.

Going Home

2011-01-27T08:10:00.000-05:00

As we were packing the truck for our (according to mapquest) 10 hour drive, we knew the kids needed to get rid of some energy. When Nathan was little he had these scooters. We brought them back for the boys and they turned out to be the perfect things for getting out wiggles.

Everest found a motorcycle helmet too, and HAD to play with it.

Do you remember these scooters from elementary school? I loved them.

Leaf got a turn with the helmet. Both were a little too big for him.

He had to hold the helmet up to see.

His feet almost reach. Everest was scooting all over the driveway. In the 30 minutes they were outside riding the scooters, Leaf may have gone 10 feet on his own. It didn't matter he had fun trying.

Gator

2011-01-26T08:10:00.004-05:00

Aunt Liz and Uncle Jordan got Lily and Cece a gator for Christmas. We were over the next day and the boys could not wait to try it out. They had a blast driving all over the yard. It was so cold that day, they only stayed out for 15 minutes.

Victoria got a huge remote control car. She had fun driving it around while the boys road.

Cheese! I don't know that Leaf got a turn to drive, but he sure had a good time. Thanks Lily and Cece for letting us play on your new toy!

Inside reading with Grami, getting warm by the fire.

While we were all sitting around enjoying the fire a log was touching the glass and it make a loud pop and then cracked. I had to take a picture. The broken glass was beautiful, it looked like a butterfly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUSIN LILY!

Gift

2011-01-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

My aunt Raegan made these for Christmas dinner. I thought they were very cute. I have a hard time resisting veggie pizza. Rae also makes awesome dips. This one proved to be very good!

Look how well I can hold my head up! (Aurora is 4 months in this picture)

The best gifts are having those we love with us. And it is always fun to have an enormous bow on a babies head!

Leaf trying so hard to figure out the Wii controls.

Christmas day

2011-01-21T08:10:00.001-05:00

Good morning!

Leaf's first words were not, "Did Santa come?", "Can we open presents?", nothing like this. His first words were the same as every morning "Up Nonnie."

Of couse, she couldn't resist, few people can. He is just so cute!

Waiting patiently for Papa so they can open their stockings.

Everest tore through his stocking in lightning speed. Leaf pulled out the first two things...a flash light and head lamp, and he was good for an hour.

Aurora's new sunnies.

Aurora doesn't need much, the handle of a bag will do just fine.

Papa has a way with babies.

Leaf got a chefs hat and wanted daddy to wear it.

He also got food and dressings for his kitchen. He and daddy had a blast changing the lids.

Everest and Leaf had fun learning how to play Connect 4 with daddy.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas eve

2011-01-19T08:10:00.001-05:00

Our Christmas eve tradition is to open one gift. When we were little it was always my gift to Teresa and hers to me. As we got older it was a gift from mom, matching pajamas.

I made really cute pajama pants for the kids for Christmas eve and no one wanted to wear them.

This is as good as it gets with 3 kids.....1 is looking, and the other 2 do not look terrible. I call that success!

Love for Aurora. Full body hugs, one of the boys favorite things to do with their sister. She is going to be a tough little girl.

3 kids and a tree!

Mentzer family on Christmas eve.

The boys chose to open gifts from Nonnie and Papa.

WOW! Ironman shoes.

Score for Nonnie and Papa. Spiderman shoes for Leaf!

The boys had so much fun running around in their new shoes. Especially Leaf, these are his first light up shoes!

I am very cool!

Aurora enjoyed the ribbon that was on my mom, sister and my pajamas.

Cousins

2011-01-17T08:10:00.002-05:00

We spent some time with Nathan's sister and her family. They bought a new house, but they are working on it before they move in. We played with cousins and had lots of fun running around the open spaces.

Cece.

Lily.

Tori.

The kids climbed up into the extra space in the closet.

The kids had so much fun in the closet.

Aunt Liz spiked Everest's hair, it was much cooler than when mama and daddy do it.

I realized, we have very few pictures of baby James. He wasn't feeling good over the holiday so I never even got to hold him (we didn't want to get Aurora sick too). =(

Having fun

2011-01-16T13:03:00.000-05:00

A few highlights from December in Pennsylvania.

Everest found another purpose for Mexican Train Domino tiles.

He decided to write Leaf and Aurora's name, but he ran out of tiles. Being the resourceful boy that he is, he got a stack of Uno cards and finished her name.

One of the boys favorite past times, playing in pillow cases. They use them for all kinds of things, Leaf was running around the house in this one.

Papa went with us to Hershey's Chocolate World. He and Leaf sat in the back of the car and Everest and I sat in the front. If you are ever in Hershey, Chocolate World is worth going to and it is free!

The cows that sing throughout the ride.

Everest had a great time watching how chocolate is made. This place has some meaning to us, because Papa put in the duct work. He got to show the boys all the work he did.

There is an enormous tree the boys wanted their picture in front of. (yes it is blurry, it was really dark in there and I had a hard time focusing.)

Decorating Nonnie's tree. Leaf put all the ornaments in this one spot.

Everest helped and, of course, he put all the ornaments there too.

Mom's Montana nativity.

Skiing in Indiana?

2011-01-11T23:40:00.000-05:00

Yes, we got snow today (Tuesday). It was beautiful and made us miss the mountains even more. We made the most of the day. When Nathan got home, we took the kids cross country skiing through the neighborhood.

Everest did very well. We acquired a pair of skis from friends in Utah before we left. He did not get to use them at all last year.

Nathan had all 3 kids. He was wearing Aurora (who fell asleep immediately after Nathan put her in the pack)

Leaf enjoying the ride!

After about 15 minutes of skiing, Everest was ready to ride instead. He took his hat off..check out his hair! He is so cute. He loves it spiked.

Nathan working hard. I know he does all the work around here. We switched and I got to tow the kids for a while.

The other day, Nathan and Leaf put straw on the hop plants to protect them. (Nathan's other babies). Leaf wanted to be like daddy. (Nathan wears a ski mask to bike to school when it is frigid outside.)

Eyes

2011-01-09T14:03:00.000-05:00

My children all seem to have beautiful eyes. Teresa took this picture of Aurora while we were out Christmas shopping. It didn't matter what my boys were dressed in, everyone called them girls. Aurora wears most of the boys hand me down, but people usually know she is a girl.

My beautiful Aurora.

I have found my toes....

and my heel.....

actually my whole foot is good!

Leaf was so excited to get a bath in Nonnie's sink.

It was all fun, until he wanted to swim. He got water everywhere.

He has amazing eyes too.

Aurora's turn in the tub. I think she got a bath every day while we were at my parents.

Hanging out enjoying the tub.

Chewing on Nonnie's arm. Doesn't she just melt your heart?

As hard as the boys were as babies, she is making up for both of them. I couldn't ask for a better baby.

Everest's 5th birthday party

2010-12-28T08:10:00.000-05:00

We usually have a small party at home for our kids. This year we had a unique opportunity, at the Montessori auction in the Spring, a firefighter birthday party was auctioned off. The party is at a Lafayette fire station, with 8 firefighters. They have food, games, decorations, one of the firefighters makes a cake in the shape of a firetruck and the best thing of all, a ride around the station on the firetruck. The party itself sounded cool, but then we found out you actually get to ride on the truck. We have visited many stations and Everest always begs to ride on the truck. He loves firetrucks.
We have been looking forward to this party since May. But on the day, an hour before the party, the firefighters were called to a fire. We did not hear if anyone was hurt, but we hope it was a small fire with little damage.

Here is the fire helmet pinata Everest, Nathan and I worked very hard to complete. Everest decided to save it for his party at the station. Luckily there is not food in the pinata. We sealed it after we put the stuff in.

Some of the party goers enjoying a couch firetruck ride. Everest and Nolan were the drivers.

The kids played dress up at the party. We have an extensive dress up bin. Elliot was a cheetah (which was Everest's Halloween costume) and Meredith was a Purdue cheerleader police officer.

We changed plans quickly and had the party at our house. The kids all had a blast and are looking forward to having another party sometime this Spring.

Polar Express...Santa

2010-12-25T08:10:00.000-05:00

Aurora, sporting her Christmas pj's, is excited to see Santa too.

I love my aunt Teresa!

Santa enters the train and the crowd goes wild!

Everest and the conductor waiting patiently for Santa to make it to our seat.

Santa sits with each family and talks to the kids. Everest said he wanted a Lego log truck. Leaf wants a scooter.

He asks them if they believe in Santa, when they say yes, he hands them a bell and asks them to shake it. Aurora tried to hold off, but she was too hungry and missed Santa.

Everest got a bell for Aurora too. The boys had fun ringing their bells after Santa left.

Ornaments hung from the roof of the train. They swung as the train moved. Aurora was mesmerized by them.

We had a good visit to the North Pole. Too bad we can't get to Alaska that quickly when we go for vacation.

The Polar Express

2010-12-24T08:10:00.003-05:00

We drove 2 hours east to ride the Polar Express to the North Pole to visit Santa. The kids were so excited. We watched the movie the Polar Express the night before. Nathan had some work to do near Indy so he met us at the hotel. The boys got new robes and slippers and I made all 3 kids Christmas pajamas. The only thing that was missing was the Candy cane hats I started to knit for the kids but never finished. Santa hats would have to do instead.
Leaf in his ball robe on the train with Roar and daddy. (Aurora has a pumpkin hat on).

Everest got a camo robe and slippers. Aunt Teresa got to ride the Polar Express with us. She and I drove to Pennsylvania the next day with the kids. Nathan had to work through graduation and he flew out on the 21st.

Watching for Santa. Look how red his hair looks.

Family picture on the train. Teresa asked if we wanted a picture without her. Nathan told her we couldn't break up with her, she was going to be our sister no matter what, we can't break up with her. Although when you get our Christmas card you will see, I cropped the picture. This is the only picture I have of our family.

My handsome 5 year old.

Everest was too excited about the train to be in too many of the pictures. We got hot chocolate and a cookie on the ride.

The conductor had a star shaped hole punch. He punched the kids initials into the ticket. Very cool!

Even Aurora got a ticket.

Santa's workshop. We were not able to get off the train, but we had a wonderful surprise, Santa took a break and joined us on the train.

More pictures of Santa soon.

On the nineth day of Christmas

2010-12-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

My baby turned 5!!!!! I can't believe it has been 5 years already. WOW time really does fly. I came across a quote about raising children recently but can't remember who said it, "the days are long but the years are short". How true that is. There are many days I feel will never end, but then a week seems to go by and I haven't even noticed.
Everest was supposed to have a Firefighter birthday party this year. Nathan and I won it at Montessori's auction in the Spring. We have been so excited for the party. We had everything planned for the day after his birthday. The party was at 4. As I was picking him up from school at 3 on Friday, I got a phone call....the firefighters got called to a house fire. We were all very disappointed but knew this was a possibility and we hope that no one was hurt in the fire. We quickly changed gears and had the party at our house instead. We will reschedule his party for sometime in 2011. We will definitely post pictures when it happens.

Dec. 9th 2010. Everest Nathan Mentzer turns 5 years old. 5 years ago he was born in Logan UT. Nonnie and Papa had just arrived in UT the night before. Perfect timing Everest. He has grown into an amazing boy. We love you so much Everest. Happy Birthday!

Starting the morning with hot chocolate.

Next, we baked a cookie cake. I asked Everest what type of cake he wanted. He wanted a gingerbread cake. He has never had gingerbread so I wasn't sure how it would go, but it is what he wanted. At night he has a very small piece. He liked it, but was too excited about his presents to eat much.

Everest's birthday outfit. It is a firefighter print.

Birthday ring with new ornament. Everest is into cheetah's so he got a cheetah ornament this year. He placed it in the middle where the number usually goes.

Aurora was helping Everest and daddy put together his lego tractor and log loader. Thanks Nonnie and Papa.

Leaf was trying so hard to ride Everest's new scooter.

We love you Everest!

Aunt Gina

2010-12-12T00:17:00.000-05:00

My beautiful little (big) boy just turned 5! I can't believe it. I will post pictures soon.
I am taking a few days off and sending all the positive energy I have to my aunt Gina and uncle Frank. If you know Gina, I do not have to tell you how amazing she is. If you do not know her, here are a few pictures I found. They capture her essence well. She is funny, caring, so full of life. She is an inspiration to everyone who meets her. We love you so much Gina. We think about you every minute of everyday!

These pictures are a few years old, they are from my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. Everest was 6 months old at the time.

Amy, Hil, Gina, Frank, Sarah

Gina holding Everest

This was Everest at 3 months. They were showing off their eyes!

Typical Gina, letting an 8 month old drink a beer. Look at her face, she knows she has been caught. (She wasn't really). She has a playful spirit.

We love you Gina! You are amazing and loved so much!

On the seventh and eighth day of Christmas

2010-12-08T20:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had a picnic dinner by the Christmas tree and then finished decorating it. We have a Ficus tree we use as our Christmas tree. It was given to us by my Aunt Pat and Uncle Dave when they moved out to their house in Oregon. It was given to them many years ago, so we are not sure how old the tree is. The tree has been with us in Montana, Utah and now Indiana. Some day when we have land again and live in Montana, we are going to get potted Christmas trees and then plant them each year. For now, we love the Ficus tree. We usually have white lights on it and the extra bells from our wedding. This year we changed out the lights and have colored ones on.

The boys had fun decorating it.

Leaf hung all the ornaments on one branch. He would walk away and bump them and they would all fall. He didn't get upset, he just walked back over, picked them up one by one and hung them in the exact same place. He did this at least four times, before Everest came over and took all but one and hung them somewhere else.

Aurora and Daddy hung out on the couch and supervised.

What do you mean I can't help yet!

On the eighth day of Christmas, we worked on a fire fighter helmet pinata. Everest is the coolest 5 year old. We won a birthday party at a Lafayette fire station last Spring at the Montessori auction. We are having the party on Friday. We were limited in guests and it was a hard decision on who to invite. We are very excited! There will be 2 fire trucks and 8 fire fighters at the party. The best part is that we get to ride on the fire truck! The party will be at a training facility so we will ride around the property. How cool is that?! We typically do a small party at home, but when we saw the kids get to ride on a fire truck, we had to bid on the party. If you know Everest you know how much he LOVES fire trucks and vehicles in general. We will share pictures this weekend.

On the 6ht day of Christmas

2010-12-07T22:17:00.001-05:00

Monday was Nathan's last 14 hour Monday. He taught a class at 7:30 am Monday morning and another one from 6-9 pm. For us 7:30 Monday morning is no big deal (Everest is up by 6:15...6:20 is sleeping in), but for college students,... I know I would have skipped his class.
The boys and I went to look at Christmas lights tonight. There is a display in Battle Ground (6 miles from us). We watched for half an hour and could have stayed longer. The boys want to take Nathan, so we will go again soon. It was awesome. Check it out if you are in the area. If not, here is the link for information.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NONNIE! We love you and miss you. See you in a week and a half!

We waited all day to call Nonnie (she usually works Tuesday from 7a-7p. We called at 7:30, the boys were all ready to sing, Papa answered the phone and said Nonnie got off work early today to go to Bunco. We were all disappointed we didn't get to talk to her, but glad she is having fun on her birthday. We called her phone and sang Happy Birthday on the message instead.

On the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Day of Christmas

2010-12-07T00:17:00.001-05:00

We have been busy with holiday fun and playing with friends. Nathan was away last week so we spent a lot of time with friends. Thanks for making the week go faster Jeaneen and Heather.

We decided to do Santa pictures one day (although we only go to Everest). He had so much fun making different beards.

Everest has been making Aurora laugh. She is such a HAPPY baby...they do exist! She laughs at him with her whole body. It is so cute. He loves having her attention.

The Griswalds went to the biggest parade in the state of Indiana. We went with our neighbors...the Benharts. We both had more stuff than we could carry, blankets, chairs, strollers, hot chocolate, extra clothes, etc. We had a wonderful time. It was freezing. Last year we went with my sister. We biked to the parade, it was cold, but beautiful.

There was a Breast Cancer float in the parade. We were thinking of Aunt Gina. We love you!

My littlest angel. She really is, if all my babies were like her, I would have a lot more kids. Sometimes I am thankful my boys are as difficult as they are.

My middle devil....I mean angel. His hair really looks red. Can you see the deviousness in his eyes??? He really is a great kid, he is going to have such an amazing personality, very strong, but wonderful.

Just realized it is technically Nonnie's birthday. Happy Birthday Nonnie. We love you. Can't wait to see you and we didn't get your gift finished...surprise, surprise. Some day I will be on the ball and start in August. Miss you. (it is also Pear Harbor day today)

On the second day of Christmas...

2010-12-02T14:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I can't share with you today, because we are making a gift for Nonnie's birthday (December 7th). We will share after December 7th, if all goes well.

I thought I would share a special holiday decoration with you. It is a plastic Alpine Village...I know a little cheesey. It was my Grama Hockman's. When she died we were all asked what we wanted of Grama's. This is what I picked. It is probably the cheapest thing she ever owned, but it reminds me so much of her house. I loved this little village as a kid. It had lights to go with it, one light goes in the back of each house. Grama would have some white material under the houses, all the other lights were covered by the material, so it looked like the "snow" was glowing. This is the first year I have had a place to display it. For next year, I want to get another set of lights and some white material for the snow, just like Grama. My Grama always had a Christmas party at her house. I loved going. I have not been able to go in many years. We live too far away. Now the Hockman Christmas Party is held mid December. Even when we do go to PA for Christmas, we are never able to make it that early in December. I want to wish my family a wonderful holiday season.

Miss you Grama, thanks for watching over me and my family.

On the first day of Christmas...

2010-12-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

Nathan left for DC this morning, and will be away for 4 days. I decided to do something fun while he is gone, to help the time pass faster for all of us. I happen to come across a blog where she does the 25 days of Christmas with her family. Each day they do something fun for the holidays. Nathan and I discussed it and decided to start our own 25 days of Christmas.

My first year at Penn State, my mom sent me something little in the mail every day for the month of December. She would send 2 things for Saturday so I had something to open Sunday. They were little things, like pencils, barrettes, pins, magnets, socks, etc. I loved that December. It wasn't what she was sending me, it was the fact that she was thinking about me every day. I have wanted to do something like this for the kids, but never seems to be organized enough to make it happen. (Since Aurora was born, my goal has been to be more organized in life).

Fast forward ...welll....many years and I am finally doing the same with my kids.

December 1st brought the first snow fall. We have had flurries, but no accumulation.

An envelope with today's surprise activities was waiting on the table.

Starting the advent calendar is on our list, along with reading the 12 days of Christmas and watching a Christmas movie.

Leaf watching the snow fall. He had to close the door and settle for the window because it was too foggy.

Everest was making pizza and macaroni and cheese flavored ice cream for breakfast. So much fun had and all before 8am. Ah the pleasure of having kids who rise at 6am (or earlier). We even took Nathan to work today so he wouldn't have to leave his bike there for the week.

I will try to blog our activities every day. No promises. Aurora is an amazingly good baby, but she is still a lot of work. Now with the cold, it adds another element to getting ready...coats, gloves, hats, and boots for all.

Swim lessons

2010-11-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of another session of swim lessons. The boys were so excited. Everest got new spiderman goggles, Leaf got Everest's hand me down.

When we got to swim lessons, the instructor never showed up. Someone called her and she had mistakenly written us down to start in January. The kids were not disappointed they swam and played for an hour and a half.

Gotta love the straps sticking straight out!

Just having fun

2010-11-23T08:32:00.000-05:00

Leaf and Everest made a teeter totter in the driveway one day, while Nathan worked in the garage. They played so well together and had a lot of fun. They ran back and forth on the plywood ramp.

Leaf was a little more cautious than Everest. He would run full force, but then slow down once it started to tip.

Chef Elliot was over one night and cooking in Leaf's new kitchen.

October 2010

2010-11-19T10:51:00.002-05:00

I am a little behind on blogging. 3 kids keep me busy. Here are a few pictures to share from my parents visit in October.

Is there a pheasant in our tree? Wait ....it's Leaf playing hide and seek.

Papa and Aurora

Pirate Everest, Nonnie, Leaf, Aurora, and Papa.

Aurora: "Nonnie wears me out."

Full pirate outfit (minus the eye patch)

Thinking about his next treasure hunt.

This and That

2010-11-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Playing in the leaves.

The boys have been unloading the dishwasher every morning. Usually Leaf hands Everest the silverware. Everest decided to teach Leaf how to put the silverware away.

Two boys, two boxes, markers = Fun, fun, fun!

Everest made his box into a tow truck. He originally had a winch in the back and a string in the front. He tried to pull his car and tow Leaf's car. When Leaf wasn't in the car, it worked, but he was too heavy for the string.

Aurora hanging out in the couch. Less than 3 weeks until the brace comes off!

Nathan and Aurora doing diapers. We go through lots of diapers.

Everest is digging for buried treasure.

3 Months old!

2010-11-15T09:49:00.000-05:00

I can not believe Aurora is already 3 months old! It has gone by very fast. Have I told you what a WONDERFUL baby she is? I love my boys very much, but neither slept well as a baby. Everest had digestive issue due to allergies and Leaf had digestive issues due to surgery at birth. It wasn't their fault, but they cried ALL the time, and rarely slept more than 3 hours at a time (even at night). When Aurora turned 3 months old, she slept 11 hours that night. Now, I understand why people like babies so much.

I am 3 months old already!

Leaf has been nursing his baby.

He asked for a cover to use while nursing.(I have a nursing apron I use)

Becoming a Pirate

2010-11-08T21:22:00.000-05:00

Over the summer, my mom read a book to Everest about pirates and a treasure hunt. Since then, he has been obsessed with treasures and treasure hunts. He made Nonnie promise to do a treasure hunt the next time she came to Indiana. Of course, she did.

She had all the stuff a pirate needs. When Everest woke up he had a note and a treasure map waiting for him. He found his hat first. And is off to find the next red "X", treasure map in hand.

Reading the treasure map, Leaf was listening intently.

Hat, eye patch and sword, what is next?

A real treasure chest with a lock too!

Leaf wearing the eye patch and watching as Everest opened his treaure chest.

WOW, there is money in the treasure chest! What a great treasure hunt. Thanks Nonnie and Papa.

Papa made the newspaper sword. He taught Leaf and Everest how to make them. Now we have about a hundred paper swords floating around the house.

Pumpkin fun

2010-11-06T21:02:00.000-04:00

When my parents were here in October, they took the boys to a local pumpkin patch. The kids and my parents had a great time. Everest helped Leaf pick out his pumpkin and he picked on for Aurora. They also picked white pumpkin gourds.

Leaf getting ready to carve his pumpkin.

Look at the top mama.

I will just suck my fingers while Papa does all the hard work.

Everest's pumpkin. He carved it himself (with a little help from daddy). He drew a person and then cut it out. Not bad, if you know what it is. I missed my photo op of him cutting it.

Leaf's 2nd birthday

2010-11-01T13:42:00.000-04:00

My little boy turned 2 in October. I am a little behind. My parents came to Indiana for his birthday. We had a small pizza party for him. Our friends Heather, Christopher, Elliot and Micah came over. I got individual pizza pans for the kids so they got to make their own pizza!.

Leaf's birthday outfit. I lined the pants with flannel (my first try at lined pants). I didn't think about it, I used red flannel. After the first wash, the pants are now pink, I don't care so much about them being pink, but they do not match as well now, oh well, he's 2 and doesn't care. He loves his ball pants, and that is all that matters.

Making pizzas

Micah's pizza

Birthday boy with his crown.

Cake.

Eating cake.

"My Birthday" Leaf continues to say this, every time he see his kitchen. My parents got him a kitchen set. He loves it. He makes pizza and ice cream the most.

Happy Birthday Leaf! We love you.

Slime!

2010-10-28T14:25:00.003-04:00

When we lived in Logan, UT we went to a family day on campus. They had bounce houses, games, crafts, and huge tractors. Each college had a station and an activity they did for the kids. One of the activities was to make slime. Everest still remembers that (it was before I was pregnant with Leaf-Everest was only 2). The other day he told me he wanted to make green slime like we did in UT.

I found an easy recipe on Family Fun's website. It is just glue, borax, water and food coloring. The boys had so much fun with it. We usually make play dough, but decided to make slime for a change.

Waiting for the slime to congeal. Everest was so excited. In the beginning Everest wanted green, but when it came time to add color, both boys picked blue.

Everest with his slime.

WOW!

Leaf wasn't sure what to think at first.

Then he rolled it.

Then he realized if you put it near the edge, it will drip down.

We got out cookie cutters and other things we use with play dough. Later that night, I had a meeting and the boys played with Nathan. They found out you can also draw on slime with markers.

* Slime Recipe (recipe from Family Fun Magazine)

3/4 c warm water

1 c glue (white or clear)

food coloring

4 t borax

1 1/3 c warm water

Mix together 3/4 cup warm water, 1 cup glue and several drops of green food coloring in the first bowl.
In the second bowl, mix together 4 teaspoons borax and 1 1/3 cups warm water.
Pour the contents of the first bowl into the second, but don't stir. Let it sit for 1 minute, then lift the now-congealed slime out of the bowl.
Divide slime so that each child has a piece to play with. The glue in slime can make it stick to certain fabrics. To minimize accidents, give each little monster a zip-top bag to store it in.

*A friend told us to use clear glue and add things like glitter or sequence.

Many faces of Aurora

2010-10-27T08:10:00.001-04:00

Aurora just hanging out, being content!

She is a wonderful baby. Now if she can only teach her brothers how to be happy and content.

Laughing. She has laughed with her whole body since the day she was born. In the beginning, I know it was not intentional, but it is now.

Well, if you have had a baby or been around babies, you know what this face means. She was very happy after.

Playing

2010-10-26T07:11:00.000-04:00

Aurora has been staying up late working with her daddy. Phew, all this cuddling is hard work.

Nathan put in a new water heater and he gave the boys the box. Everest drew the lines and Nathan cut them to make a fort. Our friend Micah was over and the boys had a great time playing.

Leaf wearing his safety glasses while playing with Legos. If anyone is interested in well made, real life, kid size things (like the safety glasses), check out For Small Hands. It is a wonderful magazine, it is where Montessori gets their supplies. I ordered 2 more pair of gardening gloves because the boys LOVE the pair I got last year. I also ordered brooms, dust pans and spatulas for Leaf's birthday. (He got a wooden kitchen from my parents.)

My beautiful girl. She is a very happy baby. She smiles and laughs when you talk to her. She also coos often, even in her sleep. It is a nice change to have a baby that sleeps and is happy. We are enjoying her so much.

More playing in the "fort". How many kids can you fit in one box? This box has been a fort, house, ice cream and pizza shop. Now they are working on coloring and papering it.

When our friend Micah was over, the boys asked to play with the beans. They all had so much fun, Micah did not want to leave. Heather ended up buying beans later that day for Micah and Elliot to play with at home.

Leaf will play with the beans for long periods at a time. He loves filling and dumping. We are still working on dumping. He gets about half in the container and half on the floor. For clean up of the floor, I give the kids tall shot glasses and we have a race to see who can fill up their glass first. The kids love this.

Hope you are having a wonderful Fall. My parents were out for Leaf's birthday. We had a great time. The weather has been beautiful, well at least the temperature. What season are we in?

Bottling "kid beer"

2010-10-20T21:52:00.002-04:00

The day after the apple pressing, we had Heather, Christopher and the kids over to bottle some apple cider. The kids had a lot of fun bottling. A few bottles got over filled and some under filled. The kids had fun and that is all that matters.

Elliot filling up a bottle.

Aurora slept through the whole event. She has her harness on now. She has to have another ultra sound in a few weeks. That will determine how long she is in it.

Nathan helping Elliot, while Leaf waits patiently.

We pasteurized the kid beer in Nathan's 10 gallon brew pot.

Everest and Leaf unloaded the brew pot.

Leaf just about fell into the pot trying to get the bottles on the bottom.

Making "kid beer"

2010-10-19T21:47:00.001-04:00

The boys love to help Nathan make beer, but they constantly ask to drink some. Last year we made them a batch of "kid beer". We had some 8oz glass coke bottles, we decided to use for kid beer. We had the kids help bottle apple cider, then we pasteurized it. They loved drinking it and sharing it with friends.
This year, they asked to do it again. We asked some friends to come to. We all had a great time.

Nathan and Leaf checking out the apple press at the beer brewing club party.

This months party was at a friends house who lives on a farm. She has sheep, chickens, ducks and bees. I thought the kids would love all of that, but the huge dirt pile was MUCH more fun.

Everest and Elliot played on the dirt pile all night. Micah and Leaf joined them for a while too. All kids were quite dirty.

Leaf, Micah and Elliot washing the apples before putting them in the press.

Everest and Elliot got on each side of the bar and walked in circles pressing the apples.

Elliot enjoyed her first experience with an apple press.

Apples, apples and more apples

2010-10-18T21:51:00.000-04:00

It is that time of year. We picked LOTS of apples again this year. We didn't get pictures of us picking this year. Bonnie was here when we picked the apples. She and Nathan spent the weekend making and canning apple sauce. Nathan estimated we canned between 200-300 pounds of apples. I think we have close to 120 quart jars of apple sauce. We shared some with friends, but the majority will be eaten by the boys. They can eat a quart a day.

Here are a few jars. You can see the different color apples we used. We picked a lot of yellow apples this year, so we have yellow apple sauce. We eat plain yogurt with apple sauce, coconut and granola. The kids (and us) love it.

We had plenty of apples left over. Everest's school had a craft show and bake sale. We decided to make caramel apples for it. Everest helped make them. We had to wash and dry all the apples first.

Tada. Yes, I did try to make them fancy and add candy corn and chocolate chips to the bottom. That is easier said than done. I think we dipped them too quickly because the candy corn and chocolate chips ended up laying beside the apples. Live and learn. We had fun making them. We actually have not tried any yet, so I can't even say they were good. We have 3 in our freezer for a rainy day.

My mom's family

2010-10-15T13:43:00.000-04:00

My Grandmother Camuso passed away September 23, 2010. We love and miss her so much. My grama was an amazing person. I do not have the time it would take or the writing ability to do her life justice. She had 14 children, 11 boys and 3 girls. The fact that she survived having 11 boys is amazing in itself. She and my grampa were very strong in their Catholic faith, and I am sure they are together now. I will tell you more about my grama in days to come.

Uncle Tim, Chris and Aunt Mary

When my dad called to tell me grama had passed away, I started making arrangement to go to her funeral. I really wanted my family to be there to say goodbye to her and to see our extended family. Nathan and I ended up driving 10 hours Friday evening. We arrived at my grama house at 2:30am. My parents were there and heard us pull into the driveway (we had the truck, it is hard to miss the sound of our beloved truck). My parents were excited to see the kids and the kids were excited to see them. My aunt Raegan (who is only 5 years older than me) heard us come in too. She could not resist coming downstairs to see the boys and meet Aurora. No one went to bed until after 4am. Thankfully my parents got up with the kids and we slept until 10.
Throughout the day family arrived at my grama's. It was wonderful to see my family that I have not seen in so long. We are a very close family, we always have been. Most of my aunts and uncles live in PA, but as the cousin's have grown up, we have moved so we are spread all over. We still try to get the whole family together every 5 years. I look forward to that time.

Nathan, Uncle Joe and Uncle Paul hanging out.

Aunt Raegan, Teresa, Bailey, Aunt Megan with baby Aurora, and Paytan.

The 3 girls: my mom (Sue), Mary and Pat.

We had a family viewing for my grama Saturday night. And 2 public viewing on Sunday. Nathan had to be back to work Monday morning, so we left PA at 7 on Sunday evening. I missed my grama funeral. I am very sad about that, but I am glad we went as a family and got to see everyone and say goodbye to my grama.
I took my camera, but only got a few shots an hour before we left.
We love and miss everyone. Hope to see you soon.

Hanging out at the fire pit. Everest spent most of his time here, chopping wood, unloading and loading wood, and moving wood.

Uncle Bill, Uncle Snare, Owen and Adam.

Catching up

2010-10-13T10:04:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a while. I LOVE the Fall. The weather is getting cooler (except this year, it has been in the 80's and 90's here).

Aunt Teresa with Aurora.

Sleeping Beauty.

A few tomatoes from my garden.

Leaf....my little helper.

He loves to vacuum and mop.

Leaf holding Aurora.

Everest holding Aurora.

I have been so sore from nursing, so I have been pumping. The boys love to help feed her.

Congratulations Courtney and Matt

2010-10-09T21:58:00.001-04:00

When I found out I was pregnant with Aurora, Courtney was the first person I told in Indiana. I was so sick at the time and we saw each other almost every day (Everest and Nolan were in the same class). I knew I couldn't hide it from her for long. She was wonderfully supportive and helped out as much as she could. When I was five months pregnant, she found out she was pregnant too....4 months already. I was very envious, she had no idea. I know almost from the start because I am so sick. It was fun going through pregnancy together.

Courtney had a baby boy, Liam James on October 7th. She had him at the hospital in a birthing pool. Courtney fought hard to get the pool approved in time to have the baby. I can't wait to hear about the birth. You can check out pictures and see what they are up to at The Richards' Adventure.

Welcome baby Liam!
Congratulations Courtney, Matt, Nolan and Meredith.

Aunt Teresa's visit

2010-10-07T00:04:00.000-04:00

Today is the first chance I have had to sit at the computer and work on a post....and I am having trouble loading pictures. I am not sure what is going on, but most of the pictures I have loaded are sideways. So for now, this is what I have.

We had a wonderful time with Teresa. She was here when Aurora was 3 weeks old. She stayed for about 10 days! We kept her busy the whole time.

Teresa and Nathan took the boys on lots of bike rides. The first day Teresa was here, she wore the kids out. The boys never fall asleep on the couch and rarely fall asleep at the same time!

Teresa hanging out with Leaf and Aurora. Everest took the picture. Not too bad.

FYI- Thank you to everyone for thinking about us and my grama. She passed away September 23. We were able to make the 10 hour drive for the viewing. It was a VERY quick trip, but we got to say good bye and see most of my mom's family.

Aurora does have hip dysplasia, she is being fitted for the Pavlik harness on Friday. We asked if we could double diaper her, but as is the norm for my kids, she doesn't have a classic case. Hopefully the harness will do the trick. We will know more in a month when she has another ultra sound.

Thanks for checking on us. Things have been very busy with 3. I am trying to get the hang of it.

Blow up

2010-09-23T09:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday while I was nursing Aurora, she had a classic "blow out." Leaf was standing near me, he turned and said "Mama, Roara blow up!". Yes, Leaf, I guess she did kind of blow up.

Aurora had her appointment at Riley's Children's Hospital yesterday to see if she has hip dysplasia. The doctor said she doesn't have a classic case, but their is a small "click" in her hip. He wants another ultrasound done in another week when she is 6 weeks old (I can't believe she is almost 6 weeks old!). He said they are not completely accurate until 6 weeks. She may have to be in a brace for a while, but she also may not. For now, we are double diapering her. It is the "old fix" (before the brace/harness was invented). It just keeps her legs in a frog like position, which is what helps the ball and socket grow in the right position. We will let you know more when we know more.

Thanks for asking about her and us. We are all doing fine. I am still trying to figure out how to manage 3 kids. Sometimes I do well and other times, well.....

Yesterday, it took me an hour to get breakfast together for the boys. All they had was yogurt and applesauce, you would think I would have 2 minutes to get that for them. Aurora needed nursed, then she had her blow out, which needed to be taken care of, then Leaf needed changed. It was one little thing after another.

On another note, my grama Camuso (maternal grama), isn't doing so well. She has been in a nursing home for a while and she has good and bad days, but so far she has seemed to pull out of things and be ok for long stretches of time. She was placed on Hospice over the weekend, and is not as responsive or eating much. If she is ready, I want her to go. That doesn't mean, I am ready to let her go. I know that is selfish. If there is anyone in this wold who deserves heaven, it is my grama. She is the most kind and generous person, I have ever met. I believe, she is what God intended all of us to be like. I love you grama.