Weekend Fun

What a busy weekend. Friday we spent the evening making ghosts and decorating for halloween. Halloween is definitely Eli's favorite holiday. He spends hours looking through magazines with spooky decorations and party ideas.

Saturday was the first annual Hebron Music and Arts Festival. We watched a parade of high school bands, saw a chalk drawing contest, looked at old cars, and ate aND ATE! Abby even lost her front tooth while eating a hot dog! After we were done with the festival activities we headed over to Pigeon Roost Farm down the road. It is a wonderful little pumpkin farm set up with tons of fun things for the kids to do. We went through a corn maze, saw the enchanted forest and spent the rest of the afternoon playing on the toys and games they had there.

Adventures in Canning

This is the first year I have attempted canning. Really, it's not too hard, I actually enjoy it. So far I have done 30 quarts of tomatoes, 3 quarts of apple sauce, and Chuck and I did 10 pints of salsa. We will definitely modify our garden next year for more canning. Too much squash this year. Way too much squash!

YIPPEE ABBY!

So you all know how miserable the first days of school are. Not for the kids, for the moms! ALL of the mountains and mountains of paperwork that has to be sent in. Emergency release forms, medical forms, address verification, surveys from the teachers, and the good ol' handbook that has to be reviewed with the kids and signed. Normally YUCK, or in our case YIPPEE! It literally paid off this year as I received a phone call from the principal this morning. When I saw it on Caller ID I was sure someone would need to come home because of sickness or something, then I was more leery when I discovered it was the principal. 'What did Eli do now' you ask. You're Wrong! It was Abby. She won a $100 gift card to the mall in a drawing because I spent hours filling out paperwork and I got it back in on time. So off to the mall later with the kids. Abby has been eyeing new pajamas with her new crush, Bobby Jack (a cute little monkey, apparently all the girls LOVE him) on them.

Sunday Drive...and a swim

After church I got really stir crazy so we set out on the open road to explore Ohio. After getting mildly lost we ended up at Clear Creek (not our intended spot, but fun none the less). We went on a small hiking trail and ended up at a small sandy beach on the creek. I told the kids they could roll up their jeans and play. I think it took 2 minutes for them to end up completely soaked. The hike back was in underpants and their shirts.

What does Eli think of School?

I was checking Eli's school work he brought home today. He did wonderful on all of his worksheets. He said that after they finish Mrs. Carignan has them draw pictures on the back while they wait for the rest of the class. So I flip it over to see this picture. On the left a tractor being driven by Eli with a wrecking ball in full motion, on the right, his school.

Out of the House

Chuck had to finish up 5 weeks of school work in one weekend. He was getting Highly Qualified in English and Math and because of the roofing project was WAY behind. So I took the kids up to my parents house in Mount Vernon on Saturday so he could get caught up. What a busy day we had! We went to an amish bulk food store, played on the swings, flew kites, toured their new barn where Eli got stung by a wasp, went to a festival in Brinkhaven, rode an Amish Buggie, walked across the longest covered bridge in Ohio where there was a speeding buggie pulled by one horse and driven by two thrill seeking teenage Amish boys, hand pumped water for drinks, and ended the day with a flight around Mount Vernon (This was Abby's first time in Grandpa's plane), the kids earned their pilot wings, and we finished the day with delicous cupcakes at the airport.

Whew!

Eli's Off to Kindergarten

This morning Eli headed off to Mrs. Carignan's kindergarten class, obnoxiously excited. I couldn't get him to stand still in even one picture. Good luck Mrs. Carignan!

I think I will spend the day catching up on some reading, maybe even alone at Olive Garden for lunch to celebrate, and then canning salsa in the afternoon. Oh what to do with myself?

He, He, He!