Preparing for Winter

It might still be September but it's never to early to prepare for a Michigan winter! We have had the most busy and productive day you can imagine. Addie, Nanna and I put the changing table and crib together this morning before planting a ton of bulbs in the backyard. Addie also tried on her new winter coat which fit her wonderfully.

The most productive part of our day was Michael and Bill adding a ton if insulation to our attic. In the end they added 10-12 inches of insulation which equaled 77 bags of it. They both felt that it could not have gone any smoother. The cost of adding the insulation should easily pay for itself within the first couple months of winter since there was only 2 inches up in the attic to begin with.


I'm sure we will all sleep well tonight!

Fall Festival

On Wednesday we went to a Fall Festival for Michael's group at work. It was a lot of fun for the whole family. It was held at a farm where they had a large corn maze, hayrides, animals to pet, a hayhouse, pedal carts and much much more. Addie had fun with all the activities and was able to play with a friend from school. I was able to meet some of his co-workers and their families for the first time as well as visit with others that I already knew. After such a full day we all slept well!

Summer's End

On Monday we celebrated the end of summer. It was probably the last hot day of the year and our close Texas friend, Angie, was visiting. Angie and I picked Addie up from school with a packed picnic lunch ready for the beach. We had a wonderful time at the beach playing, talking and enjoying the sunshine. It was great losing track of time on careless summer day.


When we got home Addie was busy trying to get in as much Angie play time as possible. Addie loved every minute of Angie's visit. It was hard for all of us to say good-bye but some wonderful memories where left behind for us. Like summer, Angie has left but they will both be back before we know it!

Protecting the Fort

This morning Addie announced that she was not getting dressed since we were not going anywhere. She would just stay in her warm P.J.s all day. That lazy Saturday notion was quickly thrown out the window less then 30 minutes later. Oscar and Roxy where going nuts at the back door. It turned out that the fine collection of nuts Addie and her friends had stockpiled in her fort was being invaded by squirrels. How dare they take her nuts!!! She was dressed and out the door in one big flash with her dogs speeding past her to help.

After assessing the damage she came in and announced that she need her daddy to help her build doors to keep the squirrels out. He proceeded to explain that the doors would not keep the squirrels out and that they are getting the nuts ready for their winter food. Addie was not one bit happy with this answer because they were HER nuts! After storming back outside with the dogs and re-evaluating the situation she came inside and asked me for a basket. She was going to make an even bigger pile in her fort and not let any of the squirrels have any of the nuts from that tree. And in typical Addie style she spent most of her day outside with her trusty dogs collecting the nuts as they fell and protecting her fort from the squirrels.


Michael and I did not have quite the squirrelly adventures that Addie did today. I spent most of my day getting the house ready for our dear friend Angie's visit. She is visiting from Texas and will be here tomorrow. Michael spent his day working on the windows in the office. He just has to varnish them in the morning and they will be done. He is really getting the hang of window refinishing and every window he works on looks better then the last.

An Apple A Day

Addie has been very excited about picking apples and making applesauce. Everyday I get asked the question "Is today the day we pick apples to make the yummy applesauce?". Well, yesterday was the day for a mini trial run. After I picked her up from school we went straight to a local orchard for some apple picking fun. After playing at the playground and checking out all the fun farm animals we finally make it back the gravel lane to the apple trees.


She had a good time picking apples. Most where not low enough for her so I put her on my shoulders to pick them. That only lasted about 3 apples before she decided that it made her to nervous. Then she became my apple runner. I'd pick them and she would run them back to the wagon dodging the fallen apples on the ground.

We ended up with 1 bushel of apples to experiment with in the kitchen. When we got home Addie could not wait to start in on the applesauce. It could not wait until this weekend. Of course it was not to hard to talk me into it since I had a dinning room table full of apples and fresh veggies we just picked up from the farmers market. We made two test batches. Batch one was 100% Mutsu apples. The second one was 2 parts Mutsu, 2 parts MacIntosh, to 1 part Gala. The second one was the winner of the taste test once I added a tiny amount of sugar to it. Michael liked it without the sugar but Addie needed a little more sweetness. Even though we found a winner I'm going to try some different apple combinations until I find a good mix of apples that doesn't need sugar added.

In the Beginning...

We have decided that it's time to start blogging! We designed this blog with the intent to stay in better contact with our family and friends no matter how far away they might be. Michael and I hope that you enjoy the family posts.



FYI. This is a photo of Michael and Addie working on the template for the blog.