Trick or Treat

Halloween. I am not a huge fan of the holiday, but I do think dressing up and getting candy sure is fun. When I was little, we didn't go trick or treating, but as I got older I got to take my little sissy a few times. And once I started college there were lots of costume parties. This Halloween, we were one little pirate family. The idea came from one of Max's favorite videos, a Veggie Tales video about Jonah that features silly pirates. AAARRRHHH!!!! So, when I stumbled upon his costume, (I wasn't even shopping for that and it was the only one left in his size) I thought perfect! Max was such a big boy really getting to trick or treat for the first time. He would say "trick or treat" before they even answered the door but he was very good at saying thank you! The next day he wanted to wear his pirate costume again. :) So, dessert for a while now will be dumping the candy contents from the plastic pumpkin and deciding on which treat to eat. And sharing a few with mom and dad of course.

Covered Bridge Festival

Every year, during the 2nd and 3rd weeks in October is the Covered Bridge Fesival in Park County Indiana and surrounding area. We had the opportunity to go on two different days. During the early 1800's, there were three archiects living in the area who were all designing covered bridges. The bridges didn't really take off across the country due to cost and practicality. I think they are super neat and make for beautiful scenery. We even got to ride in horse drawn wagon over one! Boy were Max's eyes big! Gpa "Mutache" was sure holding on to him tight. Yes, this month we had the joy of hosting both sets of grandparents! We are so thankful to them for driving the distance to see us. Max is already asking when they are coming back to our house! Thanks for all you do grandma's and grandpa's! We love you!

Max & me by some gourds

One of the many covered bridges in the area


Max pickin' out a gourd

Love the Coca-Cola on the brick ads.



Max and Daddy "antiquing"



Festival goodies.

The saloon made for some good eats.

Cool downtown buildings

Stephen perhaps "thinking"of his next lecture in front of old school house.

Oh, I made homeade banana bread. Yes, I did say homeade. :)

Falling for Fall

Fall. Autumn. It is officially here. What a fantastic season. I don't think it gets enough credit. The trees ablaze and shed their leaves; the farmers are harvesting; the air is crisp, fresh, cool-perfect for cozying up; pumpkin patches are brimming and cider is brewing. Everything about it says AAhhh. Relax, unwind and be thankful. It is the the time for thanksgiving after all. Oh, and I forgot its football time too. I think thats pretty important now also.

Hey Folks!

Hello! I finally found that adapter thingy! Yah! Thought I should get ya'll caught up so I sifted through photos of our summer and picked some of my faves. Scroll, scroll, scroll and scroll some more. Thats the drill with this not so computer-savvy chic. Highlites of the summer:

1. We Moved! During the most blistery hot weekend of the summer. To the country. 40 minutes from the U of I. We love it.

2. Will turned 10!

3. Sisters and Wilder came to visit

4. Experienced our first all day rain out 4th of July.

5. Went back to Kansas for Wilder's 1st birthday!

6. Max did slip n' slide for first time. We have hilarious video footage of this. We're talking "funniest home videos"type stuff.

7. Attended our first " pig roast" labor day celebration.

Enjoy all the photos! Sorry so many, but hey its been a while!

Max-just this morning on the way to school with a piece of granola bar stuck to his chin. Hmm. Did I get that off before he went in? oh well. Beautiful rainbow

Sisters visit


Sisters and our boys.


The Peters Boys/Men. I heart them all.


Tree climbing fun-Max almost made it. Hah!



Even the big boys had fun in Max's pool.

"Surprise lilys", "Naked ladies", or what have you.

The infamous walnut tree laying on the ground.

HHMMM-wonder what used to live in there!?

Max cheesin-duplicate style.
Sweet boy.

Max and me on the tree.

Lots of fun at the park.

THE. MOST. GIANT bug i've ever seen. In our firepit.

Crosby and Clapton Peters

Wilder excited about a kiss from cousin Max for his birthday

The beautiful Harris family.
Headed home from Gma and Gpa's house-Exhaustingly fun.

Max "playing" guitar hero. Check out that handwork.

Campfires in our own yard. Bye Bye bug. See previous photo.

Hello!

Where the heck is my camera to computer hookup thingy?! Sometime since my last post it has gone missing. I can not find it anywhere and I have pics

that I would love to share with you.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying our country home and working on
projects daily. We survived our first big storm out there but a 150 yr. old walnut

tree did not. We are sawing him down slowly and his piles of wood are beautiful!

Widdle anyone? Hi Daddy! This has also brought on endless hours

of entertainment for Max. "Whoolnuts"(Maxy says), sticks, and leaves to boot.

We acquired two kittens this past weekend. A black tortise female we named Crosby

and a gray/white male tabby we named Clapton. Music fans see where we got the names?

We went to the town of Paris to explore and visit the Farmer's Market

and came home with 2 kittys. Oops.

It was all Max's idea.

If you are wondering about Stephen's allergies, he decided to give it another try.

He has not had to use his inhalers yet. Praise the Lord.

Hopefully, I will find that adapter thingy so that I might share photos of the fun we've

had on the farm the past month. That or buy a new one. I think you can buy those right?

We've Moved to the Country Folks!!

Thank God I'm a Country Girl!

Now, don't get me wrong; if you know me you know I love to shop, enjoy fine dining, taking in the vastness of the skyscrapers(I've always been crazy about skyscrapers for some silly reason). I love visiting the city. Key word-visiting. But when it comes to everyday living, I'm a front-porch sitting kind of girl.

Stephen and I stumbled upon an ad. It read: "Peaceful, country home, ranch on 1 and 1/2 acres. " It was at a price that seemed to good to be true but we checked it out anyway and thank God we did. It needs a little TLC and is a work in progress but we were anxious to move in.

Its about a 40 min. commute to the Uof I but hey, don't the city folks do at least that every day in bumper to bumper traffic? Or on a stinky, crowded subway or L-train or whatever? Our commute will be of beautiful peaceful countryside. Truly theraputic.

So if you need some fresh air and a little relaxation and just want to "get away," you can come sit on my porch. I'll bring ya a nice ice-cold beverage and a cookie (probably store bought). :)

Front yard view

Oops, when you live in the country you can't leave your work boots outside or Mr. Toady might find a temporary resting place.


These beautiful tiger lilys are everywhere!

One of the side yard views

One of the neighbors barns. They have horses, a donkey, goat, dogs, cats.....

Front of house

Back of house

View into backyard.

And a couple of Max. I'll post some pics later of him playing in new yard. Favorite activity is finding sticks and throwing them in tall grass by creek.