Pumpkin Patch with the Hunsbergers!!!!

We decided one morning, to take our families over to the local pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins and let the kids run off some extra energy.  Micah was off hunting, so I took our two and headed over to meet Pap and Bleppies.  I attempted to get a picture or two of the beautiful Hunsberger family of 5, but as you know, with three kiddos in one picture, it is a hard job.  They did really good actually, so I just wanted to throw one of the pics in to show you my brother and his wifies gorgeous family. I loved Sofia in this one and so I had to use it.  Poor Reecey was probably covering his nose because it was cold but even with his face half covered he is so handsome.  Roman, looking at the camera while clinging to his mama, what a sweetie and of course my favorite Bleppies and Pap smiling away. 
We did have so much fun.  The kids loved all that there was to do including but not limited to hay mazes, corn mazes, slides built into hay bales, Indian Corn and Indian Scarecrows to sit with at the camp fire, and of course spiders made out of huge hay bales and piping.  One funny event of the day was that Christian hates to walk and anytime there is a stroller involved, he wants to ride.  He makes sure he gets the opportunity before anyone else.  Sometimes, he won't get out of his seat in fear that he won't be the first one back and then he will lose his seat in the stroller.  So, the seat in the double stroller that was for Sofia, ended up being occupied by Christian most of the day, which I am not sure that she minded too much. :)  She got to run around and play freely.  Below are some fun pics and I love the one of the kids sitting around on the hay bales looking at Pap and I talking to the Indian Chief Scarecrow.  They thought it was funny too.  I think Pap kissed the cheek at one point and that is why they are laughing. Who knows with him.  :)

There was plenty of room to run around and hide and play.  The kids really liked stomping through the corn field and it was difficult to keep them all together.  However, they had a blast.  It was also not easy to capture shots of them, so we just had to get some candid shots as they were running around.

Overall, we had a great time, as per usual.  I am so grateful for these five in my life. . . and the two children that belong to me make me so happy.  Love you all so much.

Old Toys . . .New Memories

Sometimes it happens. . . something happens and you go back in time.  Back to when things were easier and when there were NO real worries.  Oh, yeah, of course when there were no real worries, we worried about things like wanting to stay up late and wanting to eat candy whenever we desired.  We dreamed of the EASY days that were to come of being an adult, when WE could make the decisions and drive the cars.  However, now that we are WELL into the stage of adulthood, we understand how easy life was as a child.  Hind site is 20/20 and though I wouldn't trade the life I have, I do wish I had realized as a kid, how easy life was at that time. :)  Maybe I would have enjoyed it more and stressed less.

So, that said, sometimes there is a toy, an object, a place, a smell, or even a food that takes you back in time.  It takes you right back to when you were a kid and it is sweet to sit and remember those times.  This happened to me recently as I was packing up items from my parents house and bringing them to my house. I came across my favorite doll growing up, the well known, "My Kid Sister."  I loved that doll and carried her everywhere.  I loved to braid  her hair and I can still remember the commercial that was on all the time about her and her brother, the boy doll, "My Buddy."  So, as I was happily basking in my memories, I then came across the boy doll, "My Buddy." in Micah's stuff.  I couldn't believe it.  Here, he had the same doll.  Being sentimental like I am, I was sure I had found another DESTINED reason we were "meant to be."  :)


So a few weeks later, we  decided to give our kids our dolls.  Ava got My Kid Sister and Christian got My Buddy.  They were so happy to get these dolls as we told them how much fun we had with both of them as we were growing up. 

Yeah, they loved them.  I love Christian's face in the top picture as he was so excited. I also think it is so funny that the doll is almost his size.  Then, the other picture is them, pretending to get in the Ducky Bathtub of Jamie Blue Eyes that they are pretending is a boat.  This was Ava's attempt at photography. . . she says, "mom, I have a great idea. . get one of us in this boat like this.  Isn't that a good one?"  hahaha.  I loved her idea but not quite as much as she did.  They spent days playing with these two dolls because they were so excited to have toys that were once mommy and daddy's when we were little.   Then I got a really bright idea.  What about a Jamie Blue Eyes dress up party and making him into a "My Buddy" doll.  We had so much fun and he cooperated well.  Doesn't he look so thrilled?  hahahha, He truly is Our Buddy.  We love this little cutie.

Fall Fun In the Leaves

Micah is an awesome daddy and he has certain things that he does with / for the kids every year.  They are finally to the age that they absolutely LOVE certain times of the year for these special events alone.  One that he started in the fall is of course, a simple task of raking a pile of leaves for them to jump in.  They remember doing this from last year and they were bugging him to do this, so one day he was home from work and he took them out to play in the leaves.  They love helping him around the yard and pushing the wheel borrow too.  Here they are just standing and waiting for the leaves to be piled up so they can enjoy the fun.

I love the above action shot.  We had just gotten Jamers a few days before and he was very young. . .like a month old.  We brought him outside with us and let him enjoy the nice day and the sunshine.  Then Micah and I sat down with a cup of coffee and watched as the kiddos played in the leaves for awhile. :)

 I know we always love spring for what it brings our way, and we love the "new beginnings" but I have to say, I also feel that way of fall in my life. My daughter, and son were both born in early fall and our Jamers came to us in early fall.  The weather is crisp and our family was complete.  Little did we know he would end up being therapy to our souls for the following events of the next few months in our lives. :)  Below is a picture of me with our Jamers and of Micah with our Jamers on his first Four Wheeler Ride.

Bowling for Good Times - Christian Turns 5

Remember when it was THIS exciting to have a birthday party??

I can't believe it. . .our little guy turned 5 years old.  Really, where did the time go?  He is still on the small side of things, and yet we can't believe some of the growth we have seen in him this past year, both physically and mentally.  We gave him the option to choose what he wanted to do for his 5th Birthday and who he wanted to come.  He asked to have his family and his Birth Mom and Dad too. I was glad he asked, because I knew they would enjoy sharing that moment with us and we enjoyed sharing it with them.  Then he chose a BOWLING PARTY!!!  The funniest thing was we were pretty certain he chose Bowling due to the fact he was so good at bowling on the wii game system.  On the Wii he can get a strike while bowling backward!!! He had no idea what REAL bowling was. :)

 Grandma and Pappy had the Goofy Bowling Cake made for Christian and he was so proud of this cake.  The excited eyes and big smile were on his face pretty much all night.  For months, before his party, every time there was a birthday, he would get upset that it wasn't his.  This happened a lot since Mommy, Daddy, and Ava's birthday all came before his.  He was so excited about his party coming and he couldn't understand why everyone else had their birthday's first.  So, the night of his actual party, he was a super happy little boy.

The Bowling alley had the table set up nicely for the kids with goodie bags and plates and a real bowling pen for everyone to sign so he could take it home as his keepsake.  There were balloons and then of course Pizza and soda provided.  The cake and extra snacky foods were on the other table with his Goofy Table Cloth we found in his daddy's stash of Goofy Collection stuff.  In fact, going through that collection was what inspired the whole Goofy theme that Christian wanted in the first place.

I love this picture of Daddy Helping Christian bowl his first real bowling ball.  I also love the way Ava is on the ground, eyeing up the angle and cheering him on.   We did have a ton of fun and I think he was on over load all night.  He was so happy.  Of course, he couldn't wait to open his presents that were just sitting in the corner calling out his name.  Below is a picture of his birth mom and dad, that brought him Bumblebee transformer costumes to dress up in.  He was so excited. They also got him a scooter that he uses EVERY day around our house. :) 

If you look in the backgrounds of some of the pictures, you will see people making odd faces and holding their breath or even holding their noses.  Yes, this is due to a very gassy husband of mine that was lighting up the whole place.  Even Christian's G-ma made the famous quote, "I feel bad for Michelle!!!"  hahaha I will say, that will be one thing that will always go down in memories of Christian's party. . . that his daddy smelled the whole bowling alley up. :) 

At the end of the night, as we were driving away, Christian exclaimed, "mommy, that was so much fun!!! I loved it!!"  That was worth it all right there.  We are a few months out and he still refers to his Bowling Birthday Party occasionally. I am glad he enjoyed himself so much and I am appreciative of all the people that came out to help and make it so special for him.  Happy 5th Birthday to the sweetest little guy in my life.  We love you Buddy. :)

Ava's Boys

I am going to blog about the "Special Like Interests" in my daughter's life. I know she is only 6 and she is young but hey, when you like boys, you like boys.  Right?  Anyway, I promise as she gets older, I won't embarrass her through my blog entries, but for now, since she can't read this and won't know I did this, I am gonna share some sweet secret conversations between her and I over the past year.

First, one must know that Ava has a loyal streak in her like her father.  When she says she is going to do something or that she really likes someone, she means it.  So, that said, she has had one HEARTTHROB that has lasted for the past few years.  His name is Titus Mong and he is three months younger than her.  He is actually extremely sweet and her daddy and I totally approve, but not for another 30 years or so.  They are really cute though when they get together.  They have grown up hanging out since his parents and Micah and I love to hang out and vacation together.  So the kids have kind of grown up together.  We have numerous pictures of them all the way from when they were both laying on their backs as babies beside each other to now when they are hanging out.  We, as parents, did the typical funny thing and joked around about them getting married but we stopped talking about it in front of them as they got older.  Below are some pictures of the cuties while at the beach last year.

We actually have captured at least one picture each year of these two curled up in some Way like this on the couch in the beach condo. . sleeping like this.  This year in particular, we heard him ask her to scratch his back so she did for awhile and next thing, we looked over and saw them sleeping.  See Christian in the background playing with her hair. :)

Okay, so I am not pushing them together, but they do have fun and we love to see how they get along.

One day we were out at Troy and Carrie's house and Titus was pushing Ava on the swings.  He was being really sweet and Micah happened to be within hearing distance of this conversation.  It went a little something like this:
Titus said, "Aba, I am gonna marry you someday." (very matter of  fact)
Ava Said, "you are?  okay." (Like, that would be okay with her)
Titus said something like, "will you marry me then?"
and this is how the conversation went.  Then we packed them up to go to the carnival and as we were leaving, he climbed up into our vehicle. . .kissed Ava and handed her some hand picked flowers.  Then when we got to the carnival. . .  they were inseparable.  They held hands and had arms around each other.  It was quite comical.  When they said goodbye, they hugged each other and gave a quick kiss on the cheek.  We we were on our way home, Ava informed me that she really was gonna marry him someday.

Another funny incident, that threw us all of a loop.  We were at the beach this year with Carrie, Troy and Titus again.  We were waiting for our food at the restaurant and the kids were getting a little antsy.  They were tired from our long day on the beach.  Ava finally asked daddy if she could lay over on his lap and he said yes.  Titus, was propping his little head on his little arm and leaning on his mommy all at the same time. He was directly across from Ava, and he mentioned to his mother, in a very DREAMY voice, "I just LOVE her.  I'm gonna marry her."  Carrie looked at me and we howled laughing.  He quickly recovered from his dreamy state and said, "uuuhh, I mean I am gonna marry you mom."  I think he thought he was going to hurt Carrie's feelings.  He is hilarious.

A week later I was finishing salsa and Ava was talking to me as she was helping me.  She randomly started talking about having babies someday when she grew up. I informed her she had to find a daddy for her babies first.  She said, "I know mommy, I am gonna marry someone just like daddy.  He is nice and a good daddy and he is Hot and stuff."  OOPPS think she has heard me talking to daddy. I told her then that she was too young to call someone HOT.  Now she thinks it is a bad word.  Anyway, she then quietly thought for awhile and said, "mom, what if I line all the boys up and I ask them if they have Jesus in their hearts.  IF they say no, I say, you're going home."  hahahah, what confidance to think she is gonna have that many guys to line up for her. ;)  Finally, and this is my favorite, she says, "mom, I know I am going to marry Titus and stuff, but what if I forget to marry him?"  I had to go on to tell her that if she forgets to marry him, then he wasn't the one for her. 
She has had a few other guys she likes or has crushes on.  One of them being Peter from the series Narnia. She even wrote him a note one day and put it in the mail box, addressed PETER.  She def. likes the dirty blonds.  She also liked a boy from her Bible school this year, but he was 19 years old.  His name was Luke.  She didn't even tell me she liked him but I think everyone around her knew it for she was stuck to him like glue.  She kept leaving her crew leader, who was my brother, to go stand near LUKE.

Now this brings us up to Kindergarten.  I was waiting for the day of when the "do you like him" drama started in school for her.  Sure enough, she came home last week and said, "mom, someone today asked me if I liked Isaiah. I was mad and said, NOOO!!"  I asked her if she liked him and she said, "No I don't and I told those girls I already had a boyfriend!"  yup, you guessed it, she fessed up to having a boyfriend named TITUS.  hahah, well, her daddy and I think if having a boyfriend in another school district keeps her from having boyfriends in her school, then that is great. ;) 

Okay, so yesterday she comes home and says, "mommy, Trevor hugged me today in school!"  UHOH, I saw it all over her face.  After awhile she admitted that "Trevor is really funny and we laugh a lot and tell knock knock jokes."  Then she said, "I guess I like him more than all the boys in my class and I might even be his friend still when we are in THIRD GRADE!!"  I started laughing and then she said, "I guess I just like Titus and Trevor both.  Now what?"  I told her she was allowed to have two guys she liked for now and we dropped it.  Then Daddy heard her say she got hugged and he was picking on her about needing to "have a talk with this boy."  She got all scared and was telling him, "no daddy!!! Trevor is a really nice boy."  She informed me that she is shy with Trevor, but doesn't get that shy with Titus. :) She also said she doesn't want to tell Titus that she likes someone else and him too.  I didnt' tell her that Titus has lots of other Options of his own. ;)

So, that is the latest on the boy drama in my six year old's life.  Hopefully it stays this low key and so far she has picked great guys. :)  

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I have been wanting to have icicle lights put on my house for years now so I could have a lit up house for Christmas.  My mother-in-law and I have been talking about this and each year we say we are going to take a day and do it and have never gotten around to actually doing it.  So, this year, for my birthday, I get a phone call.  My lovely Mother-in-law and Father-in-law are coming to my house on my birthday and bringing the ladder so we can put the lights up.  SO sweet. I had plans and had to meet a friend for lunch later that afternoon, so we only had a few hours and so we thought we could hurry up, do the project and be done in time. However, there is something you may or may not know about myself and my mother-in-law.  . .  .We think we can do more in a days time than we really can. :)  After a few set backs and a run to the store to get more of what we needed, making a surprise last minute batch of applesauce (because we have time.) and a hubby who was somewhat stressed at us trying to get all this done in a few hours, the lights were up.  They looked awesome and I was sooo happy with my birthday present. :)

What a sweet birthday present and it made me smile every time I came home and saw the lights lit up.  Christian of course had so much fun playing on the ladder, pretending it was a train track and he was the train.

Special Lunch for Ava with Nana & Pappy

Yes, she is a goof ball and she stays in character ALL the time.  She is true to herself and very confidant in who she is.  She knows that she is very loved and she is secure in that. 

While my parents were here visiting a few weeks ago, they opted to go and have lunch with Ava at school.  The school secretary allowed them to come in and had a little private room in the office where they could eat together.  My mom and dad took her chicken nuggets and french fries from Wendy's as this is one of her very favorite meals.  She was excited to have them come eat with her and is very happy as you can see in the pictures.  She must have been wound up because when I got my camera back that I had sent in with my parents, it was full of goofy pictures she had taken of funny faces she was making and funny faces pappy was making. :)  So silly.  It was at this special dinner / lunch that they told her that they were going to be staying for another WHOLE week.  I think that may have been why she was SOOOO wound up.  She was full of excitement over the news. :)  Of course so were we when we got the second hand news.   Somehow she rated higher and got the news first. 

When Life Gives you Apples - Make Applesauce

I think we have all heard it said, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Well, life gives us lots of apples for the fall and even though Christian would still rather his sister be here at home with us, he still tries to make the best of what time we do have at home without her.  He still asks about her alot and is always sad when she gets on the bus, but he is starting to adjust to our newer routine of just him and I. 

One of our activities we have been doing more of is making and preserving all things Apples.  He loves to help me season the cooking apples and then grinding the apples into applesauce with the food mill. He usually makes it through the first little batch and then he is done. . but none the less. . .he is doing great at making Applesauce out of the Apples in life. :)  He may get bored while at home with just me, but I have to say for me, I am not bored, I am in love with this little man in my life and savoring every moment.  Until some other GIRL sweeps him off his feet and steals his heart, I will most definetly savor being his favorite. :)

Christian's Big Day Out with Fire Trucks

We never get big days of just mommy, daddy and Christian, so we took advantage of this the other week.  An event was being held at the Lowe's in Shippensburg and it was supposed to have numerous fire trucks, ambulances, cop cars and a medi helicopter.  I read this and thought it would be something that he would love to do.  Micah was hunting in the morning, so we waited until he got home.  He was pretty bummed about the morning hunt, so we weren't too sure if he would go with us or not, but he decided to go and make it about Christian that day.  So off we headed to Shippensburg Lowe's.

When we got there, the first thing he saw and started talking about right away was the HELICOPTER.  He was so excited to see it and started telling us how he got burnt with coffee when he was a baby and he had to ride in one of those so he wouldn't die. He doesn't remember, but he has heard stories.  So, our first stop was at the medivac.  He thought it was so big and he wanted to get inside.  We got to share his testimony of his burn and how God MIRACULOUSLY Healed him in a few days verses weeks on weeks we were told it would take.  God spared his life and he was excited to tell the people around the helicopter all about it.  Then we got up and took some pictures with him and the helicopter.

They let the kids climb up into the helicopter too and have a look around.

Next we headed on toward the numerous ambulances and emergency vehicles.  One of the ladies standing at the first ambulance we came to helped Christian up inside and showed him around and explained what all they did in there.  He seemed very interested and she even let him sit on the gurney.  Then we headed toward the firetrucks.  They had so many and he was really amazed at all of them as he pointed each and everyone out to us.  The one truck had a lady and a Dalmatian sitting outside of it.  He asked if he could pet the dog and of course she told him yes.  There he stood with his fire engine hat on, and petting the firehouse dog. 

We loved how small he looked beside the fire trucks tire.  :) 

We found out quite a few interesting facts about House fires, and fire trucks and what fire men do.  At one point, they even had me dress up in the entire fireman's outfit, which by the way, weighs 75lbs extra after you put it all on.  It really was HEAVY.  Wonder how they even get around in those things.  Then they were telling us things like how they have to put the whole suit on in one minute flat and they have drills to help them get faster.  We learned that the average house fire gets to 1100 to 1200 degrees F.  Wow, crazy, huh?  I can't believe it.  Christian was more interested in laughing as I was dressing in all the attire. :)

Then, we found that they had a little event for dad's and children to do together.  It was a cute little fire truck that was to be assembled.  Micah and Christian had fun putting this thing together, after I messed up the first two steps and had to throw my kit away. ;)  So below are some pictures of them working together to put this project together.  This was most definitely Little Man's most favorite part of the entire day.  I don't think he laid the firetruck down for a whole day or so.  He even slept with it.   Surprise surprise.   It has a pretty realistic sounding siren and I kept thinking I was hearing a real firetruck on the way home.  Then I would realize it was his play toy.   Silly guy.  This was fun for the boys to do together and Christian was so very proud.

To end the day, we went to the two oldest firetrucks in the parking lot.  They were so cool looking and the one from 1937 even allowed a person to sit on it for picture.  The other one that was older, from 1926, was not available to be sat on, but you could get pictures of it.  That one was my favorite.  It actually still had the crank you had to use to get it going. 

We had a fun day and glad to spend some quality time with our favorite little man in the whole world.

Chucky Cheese with Nana and Pappy

My mom and dad came to visit us from Missouri.  They moved about a year ago, and so it had been three months since the last visit, I think.  We decided to do something fun as a family, so my parents took my brother and I and our families to Chucky Cheese.  The kids were mostly excited because they "had seen a commercial about this place."  We got pizza and then the kids each got a cup of tokens and were sent on there way to go and make memories.

Here Christian and I are playing the "pop the bubble game."  We had way too much fun with this one.  Below, Dad and Ryan and sharing a deep conversation while Sofia is trying to figure out how to get her belt unstrapped for the ride. :)

The kids got to dance with Chucky and then they just hung out with him for awhile.  Sofia wasn't too sure of him on her own, she kind of stood behind the bigger kids.  Reece wasn't too interested in Chucky but Christian was so excited.  Then they realized they could see themselves on the big T.V. if they were standing in a specific spot, so they took turns, HUMBLY PUSHING each other out of the way so they could each be front and foremost.  :)

Nana was attempting to help show Ava how to play this game and win some tokens.  Sofia was quite interested.  Then below, the men were showing the boys how to play baseball and pin ball.  Wonder who was having more fun?

Ava found her favorite ride, her own personal horse to ride.  She was in her glory, on a horse and Nana and Pappy on either side.

Roman was just hanging out and being cool.

We had a really fun family day, full of laughs and good memories. I am grateful for the memories we shared and it reminded me of how we used to make the best memories when my grandparents would visit us from Missouri.  Memories are what keep the relationships going strong.  What a fun day.