Pre-Halloween Fun

Halloween is here! On Saturday Addie had a Halloween party at school. Everyone had a great time as the kids had a chance to play games, dance and visit. It also gave Michael and I a chance to meet some of the other parents of Addie's classmates.

After the party we dropped "Cookies the Cat" (Addie) off at her friend's house. Her friend's teenage sister babysit the two girls while Michael and I went out for a couple hours. It was nice to just get away for some quiet time. We went to the South Bend Chocolate Company for some hot chocolate and dessert. The girls of course had a great time playing. When we got back the had made a tent over Moria's bed and where playing in there with a flashlight.

On Sunday we had a last minute visit from my parents. Addie was very surprised to see them at the airport. I'm still not sure why she didn't figure out why she went to the airport trick or treating! But that's okay since everyone enjoyed the surprise. She loved playing with them and was sad to see them leave. That evening we went to our neighbor's house for a Halloween gathering. Our neighbors have a granddaughter Addie's age. The girls are very close friends and this gave them a chance to spend some time together all dressed up. We had a fun Halloween dinner with yummy desserts. The kids loved playing and talking about their costumes.

Addie's First Field Trip

Today Addie went on her first field trip. She was very excited about it and I think that the trip lived up to her expectations. She was most excited about getting to ride in the school bus. That in itself was a fun first. Then when we got to the orchard they learned all about making old fashioned apple cider. After they kids tried the apple cider we where able to go for a hayride to the back of the orchard where the kids where each able to pick out their own pumpkin. I've never seen kids make a decision so fast in my life! You would have thought that someone had told them that they were running short on pumpkins. Before Addie and I where even off the wagon there where kids lined up with their pumpkins to get back on. With that kind of pressure Addie picked one out fast then while carrying it around took a good look at some other ones just in case she had not picked the right one. It was a beautiful day and everyone had a great time. Unfortunately my camera is not working so I did not get any photos of today :( Hopefully the camera will be working again soon so I don't miss to many of these great firsts.

Trying to keep warm

Well, it's the end of October and we finally decided to breakdown and start the boiler. Wednesday night after Addie went to bed (thank goodness!) Michael turned the gas on to the boiler and light it. No problems... then I went upstairs and cranked the thermostats up to get the boiler to running and the house a little warmer. As soon as I turned the thermostat in our living room own I heard an explosion sound in the basement and all the electricity browned out. As you can imagine it scared the you know what out of me and went running to the basement screaming for Michael to make sure he was not hurt.

Thank God he was alright. One of the water pumps on the boiler had the motor burn up and there was a bit of smoke in the basement. We turned off the gas and electric to the boiler and called it a night. We all just slept with lots of blankets and toughed out the cold house in the morning. I was able to get a heating guy over here yesterday afternoon to replace the motor. I had the same guy come out who the previous family used. He's a great guy who has been doing this for 30+ years. He was saying that our boiler is the oldest one that he as serviced and that he thinks that it will probably be the only one that he will see make it to 50+ yrs in age. The boiler runs great and has no problems so he thought that we still have a few more years left. That's good to hear!

As most of you know I've been making baby legs. My test pair for my neighbor was a hit. I just made her 7 more pairs yesterday so that she will always have a clean pair for her daughter to wear. She loves them that much. There is another thing you can do with baby legs that is kind of fun and that is to use them on your arms for the older kids. Addie has some t-shirts she just can not give up (like her Girl's Fly one) but with no heat in the house it was to cold to where them by themselves. My solution was to have her wear a pair of Margaret's baby legs on her arms. She loved it! Here are a couple photos Michael took of her with them on.

I need to make a few more for us to use but I have also decided that it would great to make some extra pairs for others. I would like to give the extra pairs to the Sisters that run the Readiness Center and Social Services Programs for Benton Harbor through our Church. It might be helpful for a family on a tight budget to be able to extend the use of their kids clothes during our cold months. If anyone has any gently used ladies knee hi socks, that are not being used, please feel free to send them my way. I'll make them into baby legs/ arm warmers.

Fall Colors

Over the past week we have been busy but not to busy to watch the leaves turn to their fall colors. This morning Addie and I had the chance to take one of her school friends along with her mom to Fernwood with us. We spent the morning walking through the gardens and the trails. It was a great chance to slow down and take in the beautiful season. After our walk we enjoyed a picnic lunch. I'll post a few pictures here on the blog but feel free to check more of them out on our Flickr site.




This afternoon Michael's uncle Don, aunt Terri and cousin Kelly came over to pick up a new appliance. The girls had a chance to play while the rest of us where able to get a great visit in. As usual it's never long enough but at least we are close enough to get any visit in!

I know that I have not had a chance to post in a little while so just to update those who are interested... I made a few more baby legs this weekend along with some other sewing projects (Christmas items I can't talk about). I also cut and froze a bunch of fresh herbs from my garden. On Monday Addie and I put up the last of our apples (made apple sauce). She loves it so much she wants to take it to school tomorrow for her special snack to share with her class. This weekend Michael and Addie where busy with building a kitty house for our outside cat. It is almost done. He also finished the new storm doors he installed the previous weekend. He added with the weather striping and did some other little things to them.

Relaxing day at the Circus

We didn't exactly go to the circus but life does some times feel like it is. After not sleep but maybe an hour last night because of back and leg pain I finally decided it was time to go to the chiropractor. I was able to get in right away this morning. It did make a big difference and I know that after a couple more visits I will see even more improvements.

After my appointment I decided that I need to scratch my plans for the day and just relax. Thank goodness it was an absolutely beautiful fall day. After lunch Addie and I got the hammock out and literally spent our entire afternoon in the hammock. We both caught up on sleep and then I enjoyed a couple hours of daydreaming under my beautiful canopy of trees while Addie slept some more.



While I was taking the time to analyze all the branches and leaves in the tree I noticed a bird's nest about 100 feet straight above us. It was no ordinary nest. I had to laugh in amazement. The stories I have been telling Addie are true. I give her pieces of butcher twine to tie to sticks for a cat toy. Her and Brownie (our outside cat) love to play with the twine on the sticks but they always disappear about 3-4 days. She has went through countless toys and is always upset when they get lost. To comfort her I tell her that a bird must have needed the string for their nest. They just picked at the string until it came off and then they flew it way up high to the nest they are making for their babies. It never really comforted her but it did get her to move on to something else.

Looking up at the nest I could see a piece of butcher twine in the nest and then it hung down about 10 inches. Hanging off the end of the twine was her stick. The stick was just dangling in the wind like it is not quite ready to admit that it is not apart of the tree. As I looked and laughed I realized that God must have a good sense of humor when he lets a cat toy become a permanent part of a bird's nest. (The photo below is of the nest)


After our relaxing afternoon all three of us rushed off to the circus! Okay, it really was just the library but they had a wonderful children's program on the circus. Addie loved the circus books. Her and her friend had to sit right in front of the librarian. No one could be between them. It was like they had been sucked up into the book and was in their own world. After the books they had the chance to "practice" being in the circus and play circus games. As the other kids ran off to get prizes from the games Addie and her friend where running over to the face painting table. Addie became a clown and her friend became a lion. After that they started practicing all their circus acts. They had a great time. They finally decided to try the games but where really not that into it. It was a very fun time for all of us. I would even say that it might be one of the funnest circuses that we will go to as a family.

Week 28

Yesterday I had my 28th week baby appointment. At this appointment they did the lab work to check for diabetes and for anemia. Since I have not received a call yet I'm assuming that all is well with those two issues. The baby's heart beat was strong and she is growing as expected.

Michael was able to put the new chimney caps over the to flues on the roof before we went to the appointment. We where both glad to have it done before the next storm rolls in. Hopefully that will keep us a little drier.

Baby Blanket Project

Last night I was able to start and finish the baby blanket for friend's new born baby. I actually thought that it would take a little longer since I had to get all the ribbons just right. The blanket is 35 inches square with 7 ribbons on each side. The middle one is silver the rest of the ribbons are white. I also embroidered the baby's name on the corner of the blanket. The blanket is made from a very soft fleece. We are hoping to deliver the blanket this weekend if mommy and baby are feeling up to it. The baby is a week old today.

Special Bag Project

I was not going to post this project at first but I decided to go ahead and do it since I know the person receiving the bag will not be viewing our family blog. I had found a really neat embroidery pattern using pink ribbons that made me think of a young lady who is battling breast cancer. So I decided to get the pattern and make her something useful with the ribbons on it. I came up with this tote bag that has lots of great pockets on both the inside and outside. The photos don't do it justice. I was very excited with the way the bag turned out. I could not have done a better job if I had tried. Anyways, I just wanted to show it off a little before it leaves my hands.

Today I start a new project. I'm going to be making a fleece baby blanket for a friends new born baby. I'm sure I'll be posting photos of it soon.

More Apples!

What a busy weekend. I'm finally recovering from our busy weekend. Saturday we put up 51 quarts of apples. We made 22 quarts of apple pie filling and 29 quarts of apple sauce. We also made 3 apple pies. Peggy and my neighbor helped with it. We started at 8am and finished at 8pm. I still have a lot of apples left but I'll be working on them a little at a time in the afternoons until I get through them all. If you are wondering how we will be able to eat all these apples don't worry, only half of them are ours. The other half is our neighbors.



Michael and Bill kept busy on Saturday as well. They hung two new storm doors and repaired the third one. Then they tarred the roof where it is leaking and measured the chimney for a cap.
Addie spent her weekend with my sister and her husband who live in Ohio. She had a great time. She was so wore out though that she asked to take a nap twice on Monday! They must have done some serious playing for her to be that tired.

Great Times with Great Family

Thursday grandpa and grandma Suiter came for the day. Addie and I had a great time. We where also able to meet Michael for lunch at a great local bbq restaurant. After lunch Addie and I took them for a drive through the country to a local apple orchard where we literally bought a trunk full of apples. I bought 5 bushels for applesauce and apple pie filling that I will be making with a neighbor this weekend. We also bought some of the best apple cider there as well. It's made the old fashioned way and it tastes so good that I keep checking the label to make sure it really is just 100% apples. And it always is... When we got back from the orchard we where able to play Skip-bo before my grandparents left. Addie loved playing cards with them. Of course it helped that she got about every single skip-bo in the deck and totally creamed us! If this trend keeps up she will be the next skip-bo queen in the family. Watch out Anne!

Speaking of Anne, Addie spent her evening packing and planning her weekend trip to my sister Anne's place. I just hope that Anne and Ryan have been saving up their energy because they are going to need it. Today I'm going to meet Anne halfway between our houses (about a 2 hour drive each way). Then on Sunday Michael and I are going to drive to Ohio to pick up Addie and see their new place. While Addie's gone for the weekend Michael and his dad are planning on trying to finish up priming the outside trim on the house since it is going to be to cold to paint within the next week or two. I'm planning on spending my day canning with my neighbor and Michael's mom. It should be a full weekend for all of us!

27 Weeks

Today I officially start my third trimester. A couple weeks ago I could not believe that I was as far a long as I was. Now I feel like I'm farther then I am! It's just the little things like heart burn and backaches. Nothing to big (other then my belly).

I had seen these things called baby legs online and they seemed really cool. They keep the baby's legs warm and go all the way from the top of the thighs to the ankles. It should keep a baby's legs warm when their pants ride up when they are in the sling or carrier. The only thing was that they were $12 a pair plus shipping! So I did some searching online and found a pattern for taking ladies knee hi socks and sewing them into baby legs! It only takes about 10 minutes total time to do the sewing. Below is a photo of the pair I just made. I gave them to my neighbor who has a little baby girl. She is going to let me know if they work. If so I'll be making some for Margaret Anne.

The other big baby prep thing we did was last night Michael removed the old standard rod and shelf out of Addie's closet and replaced it with a new closetmaid system with shelves in the middle. It should make a big difference in her closet which we really need since she will be sharing it soon!

What a weekend!

I can't believe it's already Monday. We have been very busy for the past four days but we have sure had a lot of fun too!

Thursday Addie and I went with a friend and her two kids to Calderwood apple farm to get some freshly picked apples to take back to Indiana for family. Produce tastes so much better when it comes straight from the farm!

Friday morning we all had to get up really early so that we could head to Indiana. Addie didn't have school and Michael had agreed to be a guest speaker for a Friday lecture series at Purdue for Industrial Design students. Michael's presentation went very well and he enjoyed visiting with the staff in his old department. Addie was excited about farming with her papa and uncle Ben. I think that she called her papa 3 times on our record breaking 2 hour drive! As you can tell by the photos she was dressed to work in the field. On Saturday when we went to pick her up from the field she was riding in the tractor with my sister Anne. Addie saw us pulling up and started begging Anne not to stop the tractor. "Just keep going" she said. When we finally got her out of the tractor (only with a promise of one last ride in the combine the next day) she was in tears. She was also begging for another 6 more days on the farm. She was just not ready to leave.

Sunday we did have drag her away from the farm. It was a long drive home with lots of tears, pouts, and ignoring mom time. The only thing that helped was that she got a toy "Ben" and "papa" with a combine and tractor for a Halloween present. She talked to them and played with them the rest of Sunday.

Addie received a rocking chair/cradle for her birthday while we where home over the weekend from grandma and grandpa Suiter. She loves being able to rock her baby while she rocks herself. We tried to get a good picture of her in it but if she's setting, she rocking. It's a little blurry but it's the best one we could get.

Amish Country

Addie and I had a full day today. After I picked her up from School we headed straight for Shipshewana. We try to go to Shipshewana once a month to stock up on meat and some other items. Shipshewana is a small town in northern Indiana. It's an Amish community. We love getting our meat from Yoder's Meat and Cheeses. It's excellent quality meats that are raised hormone and steroid free. The flavor is out of this world and it is affordable at the same time. We also like to pick up other items like eggs, noodles, jams, cheese, popcorn, fabric, etc while we are there. Addie loves to watch the horses and buggies. She also likes to "spot" the Amish people in the stores and restaurants. We always make it a point to be there over a meal so that we can enjoy the yummy food. Even Addie will eat her whole meal! If you ever get a chance to spend a day there you should. It's a fun and relaxing day.
I forgot to bring my camera today but here is a photo from this spring.

Week 26

It's hard to believe that I'm already 26 weeks along in my pregnancy. Just three more months to go and Margaret Anne Lah will be joining us. I'm sure the next few months will go super fast with the holidays. Today I started sewing cloth diapers for when she does arrive. So far I have four of the prefolds embellished. I have another three to finish embellishing tomorrow. Then I'll move on to the harder diapers (prefitteds and fitted diapers). I have everything already cut out they just need to be sewn. I'm sure I'll have photos posted soon of my diaper sewing adventures!
Addie had a great day today. She was able to have a play date with one of her classmates. The girls had a great time. Addie was sad when it was time to leave. She never seems to have enough playtime with her friends. At least according to her...

Painting time!

Michael and Bill spent Sunday working on the exterior trim of our house. They were busy scrapping sanding and priming. Our poor wood siding and trim is in need of some need of some major TLC before winter sets in and we are very happy to get this project started. The guys got a good start to the project but it this is will take some time since it is getting darker earlier every day.

Us girls worked hard in the basement sorting out more of our stuff that has been down there since the move and also some of the items left behind from the previous owner. It's another slow project but it'll get done! Addie had a great time with her Nanna and Papa this weekend. She also had a fun time at a friend's birthday party on Sunday afternoon.

We had a very productive weekend and all of us are very sore! Especially poor Michael. It was really hard on him being in the short attic all day Saturday. He is really looking forward to setting at his desk!