Thanksgiving (artists at work)

When we have Jahn get togethers, especially with the Hamm family, I try to put together some crafty things for the kids to do.  If you take all the cousins, there are almost 20 of them, all under 20, and most of them like to sit down together--and I love watching.

After Amara's wattle, and heading home for a nap, we headed to mom and dad's for dinner.   It wasn't long after that the kids were up running, playing and snacking...long gone are the days of quiet and TV watching, lol!

Someone must have mentioned craft, because like a wave, the kids came up from the basement and we quickly cleared the kitchen table.  In a flash, we'd unpacked 16 ornaments, 2 containers of paint and I think close to a dozen paint brushes.  The kids picked out their favorite shapes--a tree for Amara and Cora picked a present and a ball ornament (I think--the fingerpainting kind of masked any design).

For over an hour, the kids and grown-ups alike all sat together with no fighting, but all laughing, telling stories, talking about Bob Ross, and just enjoying each other.  It was pretty cool.

The kids all marked their ornaments (important for once they are dipped and fired) and then grabbing a slice of pumpkin roll, piece of turkey, or pie, they all disappeared back into the basement for more playing.  The sounds of cackling, yelling, and friendship were so great to hear--makes me so happy to have such great family who all makes it a point to be together, even if it's only once a year.

Amara's first Wattle!

We saw a 5k run in GC back in the summer. Amara was very interested in the runners, the concept, and how she could be involved.

Since then, I'd looked high and low for a run near us--specifically one that had a kids run attached to it. That is a relatively new fad where before the 5k, the event will host a maybe 300 yard or less kids run...

It seemed every run I'd find conflicted with something, so we weren't having luck--until I started seeing marketing for the Thanksgiving Wattle.  Thanksgiving morning at 8am, I knew we wouldn't be anywhere else, so I asked Amara and she was THRILLED to sign up for her race.


The night before, I reminded her and she was so excited, so was having trouble getting to bed, then Thanksgiving morning, the first words out of her mouth were "is my race today?!"

We headed over to the area by the movie theater--the staging area, and got all ready to roll.  We only had to wait a few minutes before the kids all got lined up.  The organizer said there were about 1200 in the 5k, and close to 100 kids under 10.

All the proceeds went to Mid Ohio Food Bank, something that Eric and I both talk about a lot and is local here, so we were happy to support their great organization on this important day of the year.

After a quick countdown, Amara took off chasing the teenage turkeys who led the run.  She blazed right past me with the biggest smile you ever saw!!  At the end, the kids were given a medal, and of course a cookie and juice--since it was SO far, haha.  But she quickly took her medal off, as to not ruin it--and i pinned her running bib to it and she hung it up when she got home.

She was asking right away if she could do this every year and asked Cora if she wanted to run it too, so our little girl may have just singlehandedly changed the face of Thanksiving morning for our family forever! That's what kids do, right?  Congrats baby girl!

Pumpkin rolls!

Sick day? They happen--but sick days in November mean crafts and baking--and yes, she was REALLY sick ;)

Matter of fact, I ended up taking her to urgent care around 4, and turns out she has strep (today, on antibiotics, but anyway...

I was home with her on a sick day, and the kitchen was trashed from making pumpkin rolls the night before. She saw it, and insisted on baking with me.  She LOVES to bake with me, and she is especially great at cracking eggs, I must say.

She followed the recipe right along, and in 15 short minutes, it was baked and ready to roll up.

We rolled it up in the towel together and then frosted it just a few minutes later.

Dennis and Randy happened to be here working on leaks that day, so she insisted on giving them each one--she was so proud of herself and shy at the same time.

I love having time with just Beanie, even if it is on a sick day :)  And I really hope she grows to love cooking and baking and housekeeping as much as I do.

Fall pics with Susie in the leaves

I really wanted to do some fall pics with the girls this year, our first fall at Denton Rd.  Susie and I kept watching the leaves each week, trying to time the perfect fall color, with all the other commitments she had already booked.

We decided to wait and do the pics after we returned from Disney, which was actually into November, but we got lucky! We had a nice warmish afternoon, no direct sun, and got some amazing pics.

We had a lot of firsts, including Susie taking the girls on a trek into the woods for these great posed shots and then daddy using the leafblower to get these hilarious laughing ones--this one is going in the living room.  No. question.  I love these pics!!

The girls fall party: Young Fall Fest '13

Planning the fall hayride/ party this year was tough with our secret Disney trip at the end of October and construction still in full swing at Denton, but with a little planning, we worked it out.  It was planned for November, the week after Halloween, and we were all excited, but a little nervous too--fearful of the weather.

We got all our decorations and planning ready, and Eric even had the great idea to have Maria (who has been painting the girls murals in their room) to do the face painting!

The weather was great, beautiful out and just cold enough to enjoy a bonfire, but we actually moved the time up, because this was the first time we'd had the party so late that the time change was actually a factor in play.

Mom made her sloppy joe and I made a wicked spiked cider.  Melissa brought beer cheese soup (a long story, lol) and Tiffany brought some yummy popcorn with white chocolate and Gail brought her fruit salad. It was so nice having friends chip in and made it nice to have friends who WANTED to!  awesome gals.

The scavenger hunt was a huge hit this year--Amara kept having one over and over with different friends throughout the night :) and we had a silly string tag/fight in the driveway.  Amara thought it was hilarious, but some of the parents didn't appreciate my humor apparently...

Dad ran the hayrides, which got quite dark at the end, and Eric played a great host as always.

Poor Cora got tired and overwhelmed at it all and by 6:30 was asking to go home.  Eric actually took her home shortly after that and I held down the fort--Amara stayed and played with Adley until we forced her to come home.

We decided this year to make our homemade applesauce to hand out to each family as a favor and everyone loved it! It worked out perfectly since everyone already had their fill of Halloween treats and I don't anyone who doesn't love our applesauce, me included!

We all had an amazing time and it always reminds us how lucky we are to have such awesome folks in our lives, mom and dad's farm, and kids who love to have fun, laugh, and hug--A LOT :)

Cora and daddy making applesauce

Since we missed out on all our summer canning and freezing this year, we had all but written off any fall canning or baking--but one Saturday afternoon, with Amara at g'ma's house, we decided to whip up a batch of applesauce.

Cora was so excited she couldn't stand it!

She got our her baking stand and was tossing apples into the pot at lightening speed. Not once did she offer to quit or get down, just kept tossing and piling and occasionally snacking, lol.

We didn't even stop to make her put an apron or a shirt on--who needs that?

When she went down for her nap, Eric and I processed them and put them in the canner--we decided to give them to our friends for fall, how fun!  That is...if we don't eat it all first, its so yummy and how lucky are we to have inherited 2 great apple trees here at Denton, SCORE!

First (fall) snow at Denton

While we were in Disney, it snowed.  It was the third weekend of October and people were posting snow pics and texting us and it was snowmageddon for like one inch--not even, a dusting!

So when we came back, we didn't stress when the forecast called for snow again, other than the fact that it STILL wasn't even halloween and this year of ALL years, our girls had thin costumes that didn't lend themselves to layering well.  No matter....when the girls woke up to snow, we bundled up and headed outside to play a bit, as we got ready for our day.

It wasn't snowsuits and sled playing, but fun to explore in our new yard, step on some crunchy frozen leaves in the driveway, and lick some snow off of the bushes.

I told the girls we could play more when we got home, but the snow pretty much melted by then. I'm glad we all took a few minutes to enjoy the beauty and wonderful October surprise--now warm up before Halloween already!!