look-a-likes

w at 3.5 months

addy at 3.5 months

the swagger-wagon

when we were in oregon last summer our dear friends, the sherrells:

introduced us to the swagger wagon commercials. (they have one by the way:). kev and i seriously spent at least an hour at my folks' watching swagger wagon commercials on you tube (you can watch our fav here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4). we laughed SO much b/c it is totally the season of life we are in and most of our friends have MINI VANS now. never thought i'd say that. admittedly, i occasionally dream of owning a real swagger wagon myself... but for now, THIS is what we call our "swagger wagon":

let me tell you, it can haul a mean load of groceries, 3 kiddos (when we want to bring a pal along), and whatever stuff we happen to come by. i've even put w's bike on top. the challenge is getting all the "stuff" we come home with up 5 flights of stairs. no garage entry for this swagger wagon.

where there's a will there's a way

woke this morning to the sound of a football game... kev figured out a way to watch a game on espn live. like he's sitting on the couch in bend only with the time diff and all it ends up being at dawns early light. gotta say i love it. the sound of commentators and screaming and such is quite nostalgic for me....oh and oregon rocked it by the way!

feels like fall

feeling a lot like fall around here. it has been down-right chilly this week. here are some of the things we've been up to...

made a scare-crow for our door

read our favorite fall book, "in the leaves," by huy voun lee and had a friend come teach w some simple characters

took a snooze

enjoyed some indoor playdates

and gobbled up some killer sweet potatoes (with lots of butter and brown sugar of course)

that's our week. how has fall been treating you?

woody

this is w's birthday present from his papa and nana. as you can imagine he loves it and it (along with his buzz light-year jammies) is his favorite outfit!

remember this dress?

still lovin' it!

soccer

here are a couple of pics from w's 1st soccer practice. he has gone two weeks now and absolutely loves it. i too am enjoying quiet saturday mornings at home with adds. he looks so big...and yet so tiny in his soccer duds!

the birthday song

my apologies ahead of time for my ear piercing voice. thankfully i have yet to be asked to do karaoke:).

birthday boy

w decided that for his birthday this year he did not want a party. instead he wanted to do something special with his favorite friend here, eliana... so we did.

we went to a place that resembles chuck e. cheese... only it was 1/4 the size with twice as many people. kev and i were a little over stimulated, but the kids loved it.

we met eliana's family afterwards at our favorite american restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed eating burgers.

and then we came home and ate "john deere" birthday cake and opened gifts from our far-away loved ones. it was sweet. weston beamed all day long. happy birthday big guy!

to my son

my dear dear weston. words cannot express how much you mean to your daddy and i. how much joy and life you have brought to us. we cannot believe it has been 4 years since we brought you home from the hospital, all swaddled up in a tiny bundle.

we never could have guessed how much our life would change because of you. how much you would make us laugh. how much you would cause us to worry. how deeply we could love.

just read your baby book this morning. made me cry reading about who we thought you might be as you grow... curious...adventurous...thoughtful...kind...

you already have those attributes and so many more....funny, persistent, sensitive, strong...

you are an amazing big brother an extraordinary boy. we could not be more proud. here's to year #5. may God continue to place His mighty hand on you and bless your every step this year.

lentil

this week we read "lentil" for preschool

we learned where alto ohio is

we talked about patriotism and put hearts on the map where our loved ones live

we used pencil for making shadows like mscloskey did in the story (well almost:)

and we did a taste test guessing which was bitter, sweet, salty, and sour

having so much fun with this....

picnic

walked to a near-by park yesterday for a picnic (w loves picnics).

we made silly faces

addy was more amused by her blanket

feeling super blessed. that i get to be home with my kiddos. that i can up and decide to go for a picnic mid-day. that we can play and grow and be silly together. my cup runs over.

love that i have a daughter!

soccer star

w is starting an international kids soccer league on saturday. he went and got his shin guards with kev yesterday. he is beside himself- excited and wore the shin guards and socks most of the day yesterday!

mediterranean bean soup

have you all been in the mood for fall foods as much as i have? applesauce, soup, pumpkin bread... i have been making this really yummy mediterranean bean soup lately and thought i'd share it with you. it is super healthy and, here at least, i can feed my whole family for under a buck! in case you want to give it a try:

mediterranean bean soup


1 1/2 C dried haricot or lima beans (i just found some white beans)
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 or 3 bay leaves
1 medium onion chopped (the recipe calls for 2, but w HATES onions, so i held back:)
2 large carrots, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
5-6 tomatoes stewed and peeled (or maybe 1 big can)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C olive oil
pepper
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/2-3/4 C brown sugar

soak beans in 10 C of cold h20 over night.
add garlic and bay leaves. simmer for 30 minutes.
add onions, carrots, and celery and simmer for another 30 minutes until the beans are soft and the veggies are tender.
chop tomatoes and add to the soup in their juice. add olive oil, salt, plenty of pepper, and parsley.
best if let to simmer for a few more minutes.
enjoy... the leftovers are even better.

here is mine

and this is the amazing bread i am addicted to right now. i buy it from a street vender near our place and then put olive oil, garlic and salt on it. kev thinks it's weird that i took a picture of it, but i thought i'd post it anyway. sorry, you'll have to come visit in order to try it yourself:)!

little miss blue

after being thoroughly saturated in pink for the past 3 months, i decided to put a blue sweater on addy the other day. she looked so pretty. the blanket is gg wiemers gift to her. isn't it beautiful?! love it.

the owl

i read this nursery rhyme to w yesterday and i have been pondering it ever since. thought i'd share it:

                                                           The Owl
                                A wise old owl sat in an oak,
                               The more he heard the less he spoke;
                               The less he spoke the more he heard.
                               Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

something really good for a talker like myself to contemplate:).

out on the town

we went to a park/walking street/temple/shopping area for the day yesterday with some dear friends of ours. this week is a holiday week here, so most of our friends are off work and have time to play:).

no...these are not our friends, but it was fun to visit with them too, though they didn't have much to say.

these guys are beating out this amazing candy. tastes kind of like peanut brittle, but even better. so good and so bad for your teeth!

i had just told w the story of "swiss family robinson" the night before, so he was delighted to find a turtle big enough to ride on.

ping

one of the curriculums i have been using for preschool is "5 in a row." last week we read "the story of ping,"

 everyday and did projects centered around it. ping is a duck on the yangtze river who gets separated from his family and captured by a boy on a fishing boat. he almost gets eaten, but is rescued by the boy who caught him and then thrown back into the river to find his family. 

w practiced drawing the illusion of water by making ripples.

he put ping on the map where his home is... on the yangtze.

and to top it all of he got to have duck tonight with a friend of ours. he did inform me though, that the duck's name was not ping... it was pong!

(by the way, all of w's artwork is being held up by his "favorite people" magnets... in case you happen to see yourself:)

two peas in a pod

everywhere we go everybody comments on how much w looks like his daddy. today they happened to have matching shirts on and i couldn't help but think the same. even more alike though... are their personalities:). love these boys!!