Matthew was eager to help with the home made granola bars.  They turned out delicious and quite easy to make.  It could be a great recipe for school lunches next year.  I also have to laugh at the conversation I listened to while cleaning the dishes.  Matty was "caught" lying.  He asked Tyler and Ethan for a guy to play with.  They shared a monkey with him and later found out he actually had three guys hiding in his tower.  Tyler said "you know, Matty, what I always say is that telling the truth always wins.  It's not nice to lie to people.  You want to be nice.  It always wins."  And then Ethan proceeded to say "yeah, don't you want your kids to be good one day when you have them.  Aren't you going to teach your kids to be good.  You should be good."  It was one of the cutest conversations and a moment of pride.  After all those lectures I give Tyler about being good and telling the truth, it tuns out he actually listens to some of it and now trying to teach his little brothers.  Love it!

Hurricane Sandy

Last day of Soccer

Matty's 3rd Birthday

Picnic time

Leaf Pile time

Eating back to health

It was the first time since being a SAHM that I had to ask Adam to stay home and help with the boys because I was diagnosed with strep and didn't want to give it to anyone else.  It was no fun but what made it even worse is that as I was getting sick so was Matthew.  We seemed to keep developing the same symptoms and fortunately we both were able to see a doctor and get on meds right away.  On day two of the meds we both were starting to perk up and I wanted to make something to cheer Matty up a bit. 

These pumpkin doughnut holes sounded so scrumptious, looked easy to make, we had all the ingredients, and would be a perfect addition to Matty's morning (and my coffee!).  He hasn't been eating much the past 48 hours, but when I put three of these in front of them they quickly disappeared and he was happy (which made me feel much better too!).

Pumpkin pancakes

It's officially fall and it makes me want to make/bake anything having to do with pumpkin.  So, I thought I'd experiement with a delicious looking pumpkin pancake recipe for our Saturday morning pancakes.  Ohhh, I am so glad I did.  They were delicious and quite easy and everyone ate them with smiles on their faces.

I will definitely be making these again.

Annual Pumpkin Patch

Matty's Candy Land Party

Pottery painting for CMN

 We were able to help the Children's Miracle Network with one of their requests.  They needed some miracle children to help paint pottery that will then be auctioned at the Miracle Ball.  We had an open night and Tyler seemed very excited to help.  It was at the store, Toys On the Square.  We arrived at 4:45 and he meticulously painted until almost 6:30.  He was very happy with his final product and kept saying "I think someone is going to spend a lot of money for these.  Maybe Grammy and Baca can buy them?"  He was proud and a great helper.  And I was thrilled to finally be able to start giving back our time for CMN and I think this was a perfect "first" event for our miracle child.  After painting, Tyler spent a few minutes picking out a birthday present for Matty (pretend ice cream cones which he ended up loving!). 

Sidewalk Paint

I was trying to think of something fun the kids could do while Teddy was napping.  They seemed to be wondering around the barn not knowing what to do, so I finally offered to make some paints for everyone.  There was a loud "yeah" in unison and in I went to make some of our own sidewalk paint.  The part they seem to enjoy the most is making their own colors.  Once we started painting the driveway we realized that the sidewalk would be a better place because it's much light in color.  It turned out to be a great morning activity that lasted all the way until lunch time.  

2nd Annual Jazz and Beer Festival

Once again, the boys entered the homebrew competition at the Jazz Festival.  It turned out to be a beautiful, warm afternoon and Adam and Patrick were having a great time sharing the beer with everyone.  Turns out that a lot of people enjoyed drinking it because their IPA received first place in both the Judge's Choice and People's Choice categories.  Way to go guys!  And our little guys and Momma went to show our support were there to hear their names announced.  The boys sat for a while listening to the jazz while eating their apples.  Then Grammy, Baca, Willa, Bea and Mille came and somehow they ended up playing in the mulch for most of the evening!  Oh well, we had a nice, long bath time! 

Picture Day

 I had no reason to take this picture other than I thought my boys looked so cute and so much older that I felt the need to document their cuteness.  I'm loving Matty's eagerness to go to school Friday mornings.  It makes all the effort worth it and to see his proud face when I pick him up is priceless.  

Apple Picking

We've been figuring out a good time to doing some apple picking and decided this was this day to visit Sycamore Orchard.  Teddy was on his best behavior sleeping through most of the picking!

The weather was a spectacular fall day, low 60's, no humidity, and all sun. 

All the boys were pumped and guessing how many apples they could hold.  Each one was responsible for carrying his bag and picking his own apples.  I'll tell you what, they did a great job finding some beautiful apples and avoiding the ones with bruises. 

As you can see, the bags are practically as big as the boys themselves.

Once I noticed they were having a hard time carrying all the weight, I decided it was time to call it quits.  When the man officially weighed the apples we picked a total of 33 lbs.  And at 60 cents a pound, that's a good deal!  We visited the horses, played on the playground, and then ate apples on the way home.  We left our home around 9:15 and didn't get back until 11:45, just in time to have a quick lunch and be ready for the school bus.  It was a fun morning and one we just might have to replicate again sometime soon!

Heshey Wine and Food Festival

This was such an indulgent Sunday afternoon.  Hanging out with friends, eating some incredible food, and drinking lots of drinks :) while the boys were at Grammy and Baca's house having a great time of their own.

This was such a fun afternoon with the Reagers.  To say the least, we had ourselves a very good time enjoying all the food and all the beer and all the wine!  Good times (even though my body was all confused the next day!) and hopefully something we can attend next year too!