The Wisener Family

Still into Legos

2011-12-30T22:57:00.004-05:00

Between birthday gifts and Christmas presents feeding Nathan's obsession, Legos have slowly been overrunning our house. Nathan is loving putting together a lot of Lego projects. He is doing some pretty advanced things. Way to go Nathan.

Happy 5th birthday Nathan

2011-12-30T22:51:00.003-05:00

On November 18th, our little boy turned 5 years old. It was only yesterday he was a tiny baby and now he is a little man.

We had a pretty low-key birthday. Dinner at Red Robin with a few friends (he loved the free ice cream sundae and even the singing) and presents.

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!

Clean teeth...no cavities

2011-12-30T22:43:00.003-05:00

Nathan went to the dentist recently and did so good. His last visit was pretty bad with a lot of crying and little cooperation. 6 months later, he was such a little man. Even the dentist made many comments both to Nathan and in his chart how good he did.

Nathan takes good care of his teeth and he had no cavities at this visit.

Norah came along and had a great time playing with the toys at the office.

Highview soccer

2011-12-30T22:31:00.003-05:00

This season, Nathan tried soccer at Highview, the church we attend. He liked playing with his friends from church. The season was short, but he seemed to have a good time.

October

2011-12-30T22:16:00.003-05:00

October = Halloween activities

The kids had a lot of opportunities to trick or treat for candy with fun activities leading up to Halloween night.

Norah was able to trick or treat with her preschool class at the hospital.

Of course we had to go to Halloween at the zoo, our favorite activity.

Several parks and shops around town have fun Halloween activities sure to elicit lots of treats.

Our neighborhood is great for trick or treating on Halloween night. We went through 16 bags of candy that night, giving it away to tons of cute costumed kids.

Nathan at Disney

2011-12-30T18:25:00.004-05:00

To celebrate Nathan's 5th birthday (Nov 18), my parents too Nathan to Orlando on a wonderful vacation. They went to Disney's Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, the newly opened Legoland and to Coco Beach. Nathan had such an awesome time with his grandparents.

Legos

2011-09-29T14:06:00.001-04:00

Nathan has recently become obsessed with Legos. We have a big box of the basic bricks and he will make airplanes, cars and buildings for hours. He can get on my iPad, look up instructions on a Lego app and make various things with little to no help.
Jeff splurged and got him a Star Wars Lego set (ages 7-9) after they finished watching all 6 Star Wars movies together. Nathan laid out all the pieces on the kitchen table, followed the step-by-step instructions and completed the space ship in about an hour. He wanted no help from me or Jeff.
Enjoy the pictures of the build. He is so proud of himself.

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Sleeping on the floor

2011-09-27T09:02:00.001-04:00

For more than a week Norah refused to sleep in her bed. She made a mat in the corner of her room, put all her toys and books there & slept there every night and nap.
Then...all of a sudden, it was over. The novelty wore off and she was back in her bed like nothing happened.
Such a funny girl.

Who needs a bed when you can sleep on the floor.

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Norah's trip to Mackinaw

2011-09-09T13:04:00.003-04:00

Over the holiday weekend, Norah went to visit her Mamaw and Papaw. This trip coincided with the annual Mackinaw Bridge walk so she went with them to Michigan. She had a fume time camping in the RV and strolling across the Mackinaw bridge with thousands of other walkers.

Familypalooza

2011-09-08T20:03:00.001-04:00

Southeast Christian Church has an annual festival on Labor Day. We missed it last year. This year, Norah was in Michigan with Mamaw and Papaw, Jeff was working so Nathan and I went to the festival.
It was a free event that included lots of bouncies, carnival games, rides, yummy goodies, music, crafts and even a petting zoo. After a week record high temperatures near 100 degrees, the weather dramatically improved and was nice and cool for the festival. Nathan and I had such a good time.

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Pix of Norah

2011-09-08T19:54:00.001-04:00

Just because she's cute and crazy, here's a few pictures of Norah.

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Creekside Park & Splash-Pad

2011-08-18T15:07:00.001-04:00

There is a new park that opened on the east side of Louisville, off Beckley Station Rd. After a week of relatively cool weather, it got hot enough to take the kids to try it out. It is super cool. The playground has some neat climbing structures and lots of fun things to do. On the far side, is a splash-pad and covered pavilion with tables. We had a picnic lunch and let the kids play. Great fun followed by great afternoon naps!!

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Jeff took the kids to the zoo

2011-08-10T15:15:00.002-04:00

For the past month or more we have been suffocating in temperatures in the high 90's with heat indices >100 and stifling humidity. It was no fun leaving the cool air-conditioned house for anything much less taking a trip to the zoo (or any outdoor play area).
Today the temperatures have significantly dropped to a cool 83 degrees. I wish I didn't have to work and could enjoy the outdoors with the kids. At least Jeff was able to take them to the zoo so they could have fun.

Could this picture be any sweeter?
Nathan is showing Norah the gorillas.

Petting Zoo

Watching the baby giraffe in his enclosure

Grizzly Bears at the new Glacier Run exhibit

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Nathan visits Mamaw & Papaw

2011-08-08T22:18:00.001-04:00

Nathan just came home from visiting his Mamaw and Papaw in Fort Wayne for 5 days. Ever since Norah got to go a couple months ago, he has been asking to go.
He always has such a fun time there. My mom had a list of fun things to do while he was there. They went to the pool and splash pad, rode bikes, played with cups,went to the park, played with sidewalk chalk, made cookies, spent the morning with Uncle Aaron and went to Uncle Andy & Aunt Jenni's house and pool. I'm sure they did even more things than just what I listed, but it sounds like a fun-filled, jam-packed trip.

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While Nathan is away...Norah will play

2011-08-08T13:46:00.001-04:00

Nathan went to Fort Wayne to visit Mamaw and Papaw for 5 days. While he was having fun with his grandparents all to himself, Norah got to act like an only child (if just for a few days).

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Frugal Shopping

2011-08-03T22:21:00.001-04:00

Couponing has become very popular in the last months and years. Just look at shows on TV like TLC's "Extreme Couponing" (which I do not watch).
I have become much more efficient at the world of couponing. Don't get me wrong, I don't spend nearly the time and energy on it that I have seen on TV or read in blogs. Thanks to blogs that match sales with coupons to get products at their lowest "rock bottom" price, I have recently scored some good deals and I now have started a small stock pile of items my family uses on a regular basis such as TP, toothpaste, spaghetti, etc.
I do get one Sunday paper and print coupons online off sites such as Coupons.com. I am also able to print coupons for items directly from a link on one of the blog pages when a specific deal is discussed that I may be interested in.
Not only is this fun and a little addicting, but I can already tell it is saving a lot of money. We are also eating at home a lot more instead of always eating out because we have a lot of food on hand and can make meals at home much more easily (and cheaply). See a previous post about Make Ahead Meals
The below pictures represent a few of my best shopping trips recently where I scored the best deals. I could never have matched the sales and coupons on my own. I have to thank Moneysavingmom.com and Thekrazycouponlady.com and their contributors for putting the sale scenarios together for me.

Target Deals
Retail total $101.44
Paid $9.72

additional Target purchase
2 pair of jeans for Jeff
Retail $29.99 each
Paid $1.98 each

Walgreens Deals
Retail cost $60.29
Paid $16.04

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Teeball season

2011-07-30T10:46:00.001-04:00

Nathan loved playing teeball this season. We could tell he liked it better than soccer but if you ask him, he'll tell you he likes soccer better. Oh well.
Enjoy!!

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Norah's toddler bed

2011-07-30T08:30:00.001-04:00

Norah figured out how to crawl out of her crib so we decided to convert it to a toddler bed for safety. We were afraid she would fall to the ground if we left it as a crib. Of course she was excited about her new bed but wouldn't actually stay in it the first night. We had to put a gate behind her bedroom door and a child safety lock on her door knob to keep her in her room. She eventually gave up and ended up sleeping in her new bed all night. I think the next few nights and naps will be a challenge but she will get it.

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Norah is 2

2011-07-30T08:24:00.001-04:00

I know this post is a little late, but I wanted to wait until Norah went to her 2-year well child Dr visit before I posted her stats and achievements.
Stats: 25.6 pounds (25-50%), 33.5 inches (25-50%)
Achievements: I can't even list all the things that Norah can do. She is leaps and bounds ahead of where Nathan was at age 2 and even ahead of most other 2-year olds we know. The Dr asked how many words she knows and I had to honestly answer: all of them. She can comprehend everything we are saying and will repeat everything with full understanding of what she is saying. She speaks in full sentences and can be quite sassy with her words too. The Dr said it might be a good idea to start working with her using flash cards because her language is so good. She should start recognizing letters and numbers if we work with her. As of this week she has started requesting to go to the bathroom. She will take off her pants and diaper and ask to sit on the potty. She had one successful potty experience, but otherwise it is just practice for now (I think she is still too young). Another thing this week, she figured out how to crawl our of her crib so for safety, she is now in a toddler bed. The next few nights and naps should be interesting.
Norah is such a delightful little girl. We love her so much.

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Mission Trip

2011-07-24T01:50:00.004-04:00

For the final part of our trip to Indianapolis, a group of families from our church helped a church plant in Fishers, IN put on a marriage conference for the community. We helped specifically with distributing flyers, setting up for and entertaining the kids while the parents went to the conference and also helping out at a local women's shelter one morning. Doing this family mission trip with our kids was a great way to show them practical ways to help others in a safe and fun environment.

Pulling weeds at Third Phase Christian Center

(this is most likely my source of poison ivy...Yuck!!)

Otherwise, we did a lot of good work at the facility

While the parents were in the marriage conference, our kids and their kids were involved in VBS-style classes and activities.
There were 8 families from Highview on the trip
Here are most of the kids from our group.

Children's Museum of Indianapolis

2011-07-24T01:16:00.005-04:00

Day 2 in Indy we went to the Children's Museum. This is the most awesome museum for children because it is so hands-on. The kids had a wonderful time exploring the 5 levels of exhibits and play areas.

Indy Car

In Oct 2009 we took this cute picture of the kids on a penny horse

Nathan age 3, Norah 3 months
Same kids, same penny horse in July 2011
Nathan age 4 1/2, Norah age 2

Dinosphere Dinosaur Exhibit

Norah is roaring at the T-rex

The kids could try their hands at a dinosaur dig

They had to have the proper gear: goggles and brushes Our little family on an alligator

Indianapolis Zoo

2011-07-24T00:51:00.003-04:00

We took a long weekend trip to Indianapolis to work with a church plant in Fishers, IN (family mission trip with our church), visit friends in Fishers and see the sights on Indy.
First on our trip was the Indianapolis Zoo. You know how much we love a good zoo.

The best exhibit at the Indy Zoo is the big indoor dolphin show. We got to see 6 dolphins perform flips and flops in the pool. Both kids really loved it. This is definitely something our zoo in Louisville is lacking.

Elephant exercises show

Nathan got an opportunity to touch the elephant's tusk and skin (leg) after the show

Nathan's first roller coaster ride

He was beside himself with excitement

He loved every twist and turn

Norah took a turn on the carousel

Norah's 2nd Birthday

2011-07-24T00:32:00.005-04:00

On July 2nd, my little girl turned 2. Because of the holiday weekend (her curse for the rest of her life), we had a very small party at home.

Her latest obsession...interest...is a PBS TV show called "Word World". It is quite a novel show about animals and everyday objects made out of letters. It teaches preschoolers letters and reading. Both Norah and Nathan love the show. We decided to have her party "Word World" themed. Thanks to my amazingly talented sister-in-law Norah had a beautifully made cake with several characters on it.

Even though the party was small, we had a fun time celebrating our big girl and her 2-year milestone.

Happy Birthday Norah!

Portrait Innovations pictures

2011-06-23T09:47:00.004-04:00

My baby girl is turning 2

So sweet

Nathan and Norah really love each other

Silly Nathan

Make-ahead meals

2011-06-23T08:54:00.003-04:00

In an effort to spend less money eating out and eat healthier, we are eating a lot more meals at home. I am trying to make meals ahead so it is easier to prepare a meal in the evening, especially after a long day at work and school.

I got the idea here on Money Saving Mom to spend about an hour a week preparing a few freezer-meals. She posts on her blog her weekly endeavors and includes recipes as well.

This week I actually did this twice (Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon) because I am starting with nothing and wanted to stock the freezer a little more thoroughly. I plan on cutting back next week to only once and limiting it to about one hour.

Day 1:

Green chili rice casserole (made 2 pans out of one recipe)

1/2 Lasagna Bake

1/2 Canyon Casserole

1/2 batch Brown Bag Burritos

Easy marinated chicken (1/2 Garlic Herb, 1/2 Sesame Garlic)

Burrito assembly line

I cheated and used store-bought marinades.

Still yummy when made on the grill.

Day 2:

Corn Dog muffins (double batch)

Stove Top chicken bake (made 2 pans out of one recipe)

Caramel Corn Puffs (see recipe below)

Edible Sand (I added ocean-themed fruit chewies)

Caramel Corn Puffs (a.k.a "Crack" because it is soooooo addicting)

1 bag Mike Sells Original puffs

2 sticks butter (not margarine)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 tsp baking soda

Combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a very large saucepan (much larger than you think you need). Stir over medium to high heat until boiling and boil without stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in baking soda (mixture will lighten in color and expand in size quickly). Stir in corn puffs until completely coated with syrup mixture.

Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour coated puffs onto covered baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees x 45 minutes total, stirring/mixing every 15 minutes.

When cool, break apart and store in airtight container.

tee-ball

2011-06-11T21:51:00.002-04:00

Instead of soccer this season, we decided to try tee-ball. Nathan wasn't overly excited about soccer so we gave him a choice to do it again or try tee-ball. He made the decision to go with tee-ball and it looks like a good one.

We signed him up at the YMCA. One good thing right off the bat (pun intended) that I like about tee-ball over soccer is that there is much more male parent involvement. His soccer coaches last year were mothers of team-mates, which is fine, but Nathan tends to respond better to male instruction. His tee-ball coach is a man (father of a team-mate) and at the first game there were several fathers helping base-coach and direct the action on the field.

After a horrible experience at tee-ball orientation and team pictures ($30 for pictures of Nathan crying and wailing), he did a great job at his first practice and game.

Me and Norah watching Nathan's first game

Sandbox

2011-06-10T04:28:00.002-04:00

Allergy testing

2011-06-10T02:24:00.002-04:00

Nathan has been plagued with severe allergies ever since he was little. He has one food allergy: eggs, which is pretty mild (we avoid eggs in most things, but don't deny him foods baked with eggs such as cookies and cakes). He is also allergic to cat and dog dander; which I just learned is the highest allergenic material. Even knowing those things, he suffers with allergy eyes making his eyes swell shut and water excessively.
At his last allergist appointment in March the doctor could tell he was really suffering and asked if he was getting allergy shots. He was suprised to hear we weren't getting the shots. Because of Nathan's food allergy and seasonal allergies, he is on course to develop asthma (although right now he has no respiratory symptoms). I was very wary of allergy shots and wasn't sure I wanted to subject Nathan to weekly shots for years. What tipped me over the edge was going to the pharmacy to pick up 4 medications to treat his allergy symptoms and the ear infection which was a direct result of the allergies. I also talked to a number of friends who either had allergy shots as a kid or knew someone who did. Another friend has a son about a year older than Nathan who has just started the shots. He has multiple food allergies and respiratory symptome related to allergies.
This week was his appointment for allergy testing. He was a trooper and only mildly complained when they poked him with all those scratches in the back. He was quite distracted by the movies on his iPod.
The results:
Molds High
Pollen High (especially oak trees)
Cat & Dog dander High
Dust Mites Moderate
Egg Mod-High
In the next 1-3 weeks they will be making his allergy serum and then we will start getting regular shots. There is an initiation phase which takes 1-3 months (50 shots), then he will get a shot once a week (full dose) for about 1 year. At that time, they should be able to start decreasing his meds and decreasing the frequency of the shots. The overall goal is asthma prevention and halting the progression of his allergies.

Watching Veggie Tales after the scratches were administered

Check out the grid on his back

You can see some of the red spots (positive reactions)

A3 = oak tree pollen

C1 = penicillium mold

E1 = cat dander

E2 = dog dander

It doesn't seem to bother him
Happy Boy

Bows

2011-06-06T15:23:00.003-04:00

Now that Norah is finally getting some hair (very curly hair), we can decorate that hair with cute bows. She thinks bows are pretty and likes wearing them on occasion. Now she is exerting some control and won't let me or Jeff put the bows in her hair. She won't put them in herself either. Who can make Norah pretty in bows...Nathan (our budding hair-stylist):

(4 bows: white, pink, black and purple)

Meal time

2011-06-06T15:20:00.003-04:00

The girl loves her cupcake

A boy after his Papaw's own heart:

eating corn on the cob

Scooter

2011-06-06T15:14:00.004-04:00

Nathan got a scooter last year for Christmas and he likes to scoot around the driveway and up & down the sidewalks in the neighborhood. Of course, everything that Nathan does, Norah has to do too. She wanted a scooter. She would get on Nathan's scooter and stand there so he couldn't have it...he would scream...she would scream...good times.
For Norah's 2nd birthday (next month), my parents got her a scooter of her own. It is a Fisher Price convertible scooter: it converts from a riding toy for smaller kids to a scooter for bigger preschoolers. Norah saw the box and wanted the scooter...she wanted nothing to do with the riding toy.

Now Norah has her very own scooter.

Look how happy she is to ride it.

Gatlinburg weekend

2011-05-29T05:40:00.004-04:00

Our weekend trip to Gatlinburg, TN

Unfortunately our camera was lost after the first day so we lost our pictures of the Ripley's Aquarium and the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.
Other than that, the weekend was wonderful. The kids had a great time and Nathan only asked to go to the beach once (he thinks vacation = beach).
Our hotel was right along the creek/river that runs through Gatlinburg. It was beautiful (not exactly a beach) and the kids enjoyed playing on the rocks and watching the ducks and fish in the water.

We spent one day up the mountain at a little village called Ober Gatlinburg. During the winter months this is a popular ski destination, but there is still a lot to do when the weather is warm. We rode the chair lifts up the mountain and rode the mountain slide back to the bottom. There was a kiddie playground, swinging chair ride, water boat ride, carousel and a wildlife rescue/zoo.

Daddy and Norah on the chair lift ride

Nathan's bear friends
Daddy and Nathan on the chair lift
Norah loved the pool at the hotel

Cute pix

2011-05-29T03:52:00.002-04:00

Strawberry pickin at Huber's

2011-05-29T03:34:00.004-04:00

Huber's Orchard and Winery is about 20 minutes from Louisville. We love going there for their fresh produce, wine and fun activities for the kids. This past week they had just opened the u-pick strawberry season. The kids love fresh strawberries so we thought it would be a fun activity for them and yield some nice snacks for the whole family. Because of the rainy weather, the strawberries this year are huge and delicious. We could have picked boxes and boxes of strawberries and not made a dent in the number of berries on the bushes. We had to restrain ourselves because we cannot eat enough before they go bad. As it is, we got a pretty big box and have been eating strawberries at breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past week (we still have more in the box). Nathan and Norah loved picking their own berries. After a quick tutorial on which berries were ripe and which were not, they did great. Although, quite a few berries were eaten straight off the bush (shhhh...don't tell Mr. Huber).

While on the farm, we visited the Family Farm Park where they have lots of fun activities for the kids and a petting zoo. Both kids enjoyed feeding the animals and were begging for food at every new animal display until we ran out of quarters. Norah's favorite were the bunnies (because they were smaller than her) and Nathan liked the pony.

The love affair is over

2011-05-08T21:23:00.004-04:00

Norah had a love affair with her Paci. If I am to be completely honest, I encouraged this bond because it made things so much easier. She rarely used her Paci outside of her bed for naps and night-time, but that was enough for her to develop an unbreakable bond.
Since she is approaching 2 and getting a mouthful of teeth, it was time to wean her off of her Paci for good. I was dreading the event. I knew she would cry and throw a fit for her beloved Paci. She was going to have a hard time sleeping, which would mean I would have a hard time sleeping. It was going to be bad.
I read tips online about getting rid of the Paci, I asked friends who had gone through similar situations. The consensus was to cut it out cold turkey; she would have a rough couple of nights, but be fine after 3 days. I was skeptical about the 3-day prediction since she was so attached, but we went ahead with the plan.
May 1st was the first night (no significance to the date). This first night was awful. Norah cried and asked for Paci for a full hour after bedtime. At times she was hysterical. I would occasionally go in to soothe her, but it didn't seem to help. She finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. The next day she was cranky, moody and tired.
Night 2 was a repeat of the first, but she only cried for about 15 minutes. Night 3 there was a little whimpering, but otherwise she was fine. She did ask for Paci a few times but we told her it was gone, "Paci went bye-bye" and she seemed to be okay with that. By the 4th night there was no crying, no asking for Paci and she went to bed without a fuss. I can't believe it really only took 3 nights, but it's true.
Below are a few Paci pictures which show the beginning of the love affair up until the last week before Paci was gone forever.

Humble beginnings

Sleeping with Paci

Who let you have Paci outside of bed?

The last night with Paci

Caged Animals

2011-05-07T14:50:00.003-04:00

We were brave and took 4 kids to the zoo, just Jeff and me. They were ages 7, 4, 4 and 1. We were quite a rambunctious group, but everyone had fun.

Caged Animals

Lily Stacy (4), Nathan (4), Evan Stacy (7) and Norah (1)

AWANA Awards

2011-05-07T14:38:00.003-04:00

For the past year Nathan as been going to AWANA at church on Wednesday nights. He participates in their Cubbies program for preschoolers ages 3-4. They have fun activities, snacks, bible stories and learn memory verses. He has been very good at memorizing his verse each week. He even finished his whole book in this first year.
At the end of the year (school year), they had an awards program where they featured each class and they recited a few verses and sang a few songs for the parents/families. Nathan's class recited 2 verses, said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang their Cubbies theme song.

(Sorry for the blurry pictures, the lighting was bad and we were not very close to the stage)

KY Derby Pegasus Parade

2011-05-06T12:51:00.004-04:00

Nathan and Norah's school has a lot of activities during Derby week for the kids to participate in.
Monday: decorating jockey silks
Tuesday: Air Show with paper airplanes
Wednesday: KY Derby with stick horses and Diaper Derby for the infants/toddlers
Thursday: Pegasus parade through the hospital
Friday: Chow Wagon

Nathan's class dressed as "Thunder Fireworks" (see the hat)

Norah's class was Millionaire's Row

After work and school, we headed downtown for the real Pegasus Parade (one of our favorite Derby events). It was a beautiful day, quite a reprieve from the cold and rain for the past several days and weeks. There was a large crowd so we had to stand 3-4 people deep but we still had a great view. Thanks to the city's green efforts of installing artistic bike racks on the sidewalks, we had a "seat" on one of the bike racks and were quite comfortable.
It took a while after the parade official started for it to get to us, but once it did, the kids really enjoyed all the horses, floats and big character balloons.

Watching all the parade actionSweet siblings sitting together

Norah and daddy at the parade

(she is not sleeping, although she is very tired)

Whole Foods deal (mistake)

2011-04-26T22:24:00.002-04:00

I have recently been following a number of blogs where occasionally someone will show a picture of their groceries and enumerate the great deal they got using store sales and coupons. I have never been able to get the kind of deals I have seen others get so I have never taken a picture of my groceries.
I have to share the awesome deal I got today.
Every other week I do my major grocery shopping after dropping the kids off at preschool. I first go to Whole Foods for produce, meat, dairy and some miscellaneous items. After Whole Foods I head to Kroger for the rest of my list.
Today's trip to Whole Foods yielded a half-full cart (see photo). As I pulled into the checkout lane, I noticed only one lane open with a cashier and the store manager standing by. They proceeded to tell me that their computers were down and started bagging my groceries before I could pay for them. I questioned the manager and he said it was my lucky day and I was getting my cart-load for free. FREE!!! Of course I thought of all the things I should have shopped for but didn't. It's a good thing I didn't shop even one minute longer because the computers came back on-line as they were loading my bags into my cart. I was told to have a nice day and I didn't have to pay a cent.

Pictured above:
Tortilla chips, Veggie straws, Pretzle Crisps (x2), frozen egg rolls, frozen tater tots, frozen cheese tortellini, frozen stir fry vegetables, frozen broccoli florettes, bag of Clementines, 2 fresh organic broccoli crowns, one organic zucchini, carton cherry tomatoes, 2 organic Roma tomatoes, 4 Granny Smith apples, bunch of organic bananas, carton organic Strawberries, carton organic raspberries, carton organic blackberries, organic Spinach Hummus, Feta cheese crumbles, shredded Parmesan cheese, Laughing Cow swiss cheese wedges, organic cottage cheese, and Babybell cheese wheels
Approximate value: $75 (I don't know the exact amount since nothing was actually rung up on the register)
Out of Pocket: $0

Norah's Mamaw camp

2011-04-23T21:19:00.003-04:00

Norah had the opportunity to visit my parents' house all by herself this past week. Nathan has gone several times in the past, but this time it was Norah's turn. She had a great time running around with the doggies, watching Sesame Street with Papaw and riding the carousel at the mall (a must-do activity anytime we visit Fort Wayne).
Because the end of her visit coincided with Easter weekend, we drove up on the Saturday before Easter to spend the holiday with the family before heading home after Easter service.
We met my parents at a local church for their community Easter Egg Hunt. Norah got to have her picture taken with the Easter Bunny, had fun collecting eggs and making crafts.

Birdfeeders

2011-04-21T18:02:00.002-04:00

Nathan learned how to make bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter and bird seeds on TV (a cute little show on Disney channel, "Special Agent Oso"). He had been asking to do it for a while and we finally go the bird seed so we did a fun little afternoon activity.

Nathan had a great time and did a very good job spreading the peanut butter and rolling the cones in the bird seed. Norah, on the other hand, thought the bird seed was a snack and ended up eating more seeds than she put on her feeders.

The finished product

Norah is trying to get her bird feeder so she can eat more seeds

Love this picture of the kids together

Nathan can ride a bike

2011-04-21T17:48:00.002-04:00

After months of being afraid, Nathan decided to get on his bike one afternoon and took off. He is riding around the neighborhood sidewalks and cul-de-sacs like a pro.

In this video, Nathan met up with a neighbor girl who borrowed his tricycle. They were riding around the cul-de-sac behind our house together. Every once in a while you can see Norah race by with her push toy.

giggling

2011-04-20T16:49:00.004-04:00

Nathan was in his room "napping" when Jeff heard a lot of giggling. He had his toy camera and was taking pictures of himself. He was also setting up scenes with his toys and taking random pictures of them as well. He was having a grand ol' time.

Enjoy the montage of photos taken by Nathan

Nathan's camera

2011-04-20T16:34:00.003-04:00

Nathan got a Fisher Price kids camera not long after Norah was born. He has taken and deleted many pictures. He asked if we could put the pictures on the computers and we had quite a laugh looking at all of the random pictures shot by a 3 and 4 year old.

Nathan's foot

Norah as a tiny baby

Daddy and Norah on the couch

Norah wants to see all the action

Nathan took a picture of himself

(he didn't know it)

Norah's checking out the camera from her car seat

Norah playing with toys

Me and my little man

Elmo

2011-04-10T14:55:00.003-04:00

Norah adores that little red monster from Sesame Street, Elmo. The touring show, Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb came to town so we took both kids. They had a blast. Norah was absolutely fascinated.

As the scenes changed, different characters were on the stage at different times. Norah was very concerned about the characters who were not on the stage at a given time.

The kids both insisted on taking their Elmo dolls to the show. Both of them had a firm grasp on their Elmos the whole time

They were completely worn out after the show.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

2011-04-10T14:37:00.005-04:00

The circus came to town and we decided to take Nathan, Norah is still to young to sit still for the show. As it turns out, Nathan fell asleep just after intermission and missed the second half.

How is it that he never sleeps at home during nap time, but falls asleep during a noisy circus show?

The show was spectacular. It really is the greatest show on earth.

Inside Out

2011-04-10T14:31:00.004-04:00

We love going to Outside In Family Fun Center. It is a small facility with a few bounce houses and slides for the kids. There is even a toddler play room in the basement.

Eating push-up popsicles after playing

Play-Doh

2011-04-10T14:22:00.004-04:00

Nathan loves playing wth Play-Doh and until now we had to reserve it for when Norah was sleeping becauase she was too young and would eat the dough. I recently go it out for her to play with, supervised of course and she had a great time.

Hair

Nathan's sea anemone

April 2011 photo dump

2011-04-10T14:00:00.003-04:00

Everyone calls her a boy, now she even dresses like a boy

That's Norah under that baseball cap

There was an incident with orange paint at school.

More paint made in on Norah's head and face than on the paper.

What a mess!!

After the paint incident, they washed Norah's hair

and styled it in the tiniest pony tail you ever saw.

There is hope for her hair, it is growing.

Nathan and Norah are the best of friends

Nathan is showing Norah how to play computer games

I often find Nathan asleep in my bed when I come home late from work

Norah's helping daddy drill

Nathan has discovered the joys of climbing trees

"Buckle"

There was a goose perched on top of our house

Another trip to the zoo

2011-04-10T13:58:00.001-04:00

We go to the zoo a lot and I take a lot of pictures of the kids and the animals. This recent trip went without any falls or broken body parts (unlike last time when Nathan busted open his lip on the pavement).

It was a nice, cool day so the animals were out and easy to see.

Norah is geting so big.

She's climbing the big playground all by herself.

Diaper Cake

2011-04-10T13:43:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to show off my craftiness. I made a diaper cake for a friend's baby shower. I have seen these at other showers and looked online to buy one but ther are quite expensive (way more than the cost of the materials). I decided to give it a shot and make one on my own. It turned out really cute, if I do say so myself.

Boxes of rolled diapers awaiting assembly

Assembled tiers without accessories

Finished diaper cake at the shower

FW visit

2011-04-10T13:40:00.002-04:00

We took a brief visit to FW to see family and to get our taxes done in early March (maybe late Feb). There was still a lot of snow on the ground so the kids got to play in the snow. They had a lot of fun; so much fun that Norah fell asleep in her dinner early that first evening.

A trip to FW wouldn't be complete without a trip to the mall to ride on the carousel. Nathan insists on it. Norah got to ride this time and had a great time.

Blogs I Follow

2011-02-20T05:20:00.002-05:00

I have a newer habit of following several blogs. Some are, of course, friends and family blogs, but most recently I have been turned on to blogs by other moms (I guess I would call them "for-profit blogs", although I don't know if there is any realy money being made by these ladies).
I have been following Money Saving Mom for a while now. Crystal (blogger) posts a lot of coupons and money-saving tips and tricks. Who doesn't like to save money? I do. A lot of what she posts doesn't necessarily apply to me or I am not in a place where I can devote much time to the planning and organizing of these money-saving ideas. I do find several good ideas and good links to coupons.
My sister-in-law recently turned me on to Pioneer Woman's blog. I got her cookbook as a Christmas gift and checked out her blog online soon afterward. A lot of her blog posts are recipes (very good recipes; I have tried several), home-shooling tips (doesn't apply), photography (beautiful pictures, but doesn't apply) and life on the ranch (again, doesn't apply). Ree (blogger) is so funny and entertaining that it is fun to read her posts, even if the content doesn't apply to my life much at all. She has recently published a novel about her adventure from high-society girl to rancher's wife. I am in the middle of reading her book and am thoroughly enjoying it.
Tonight I was introduced to a new bolg that is going to be part of my daily/weekly routine, I can teach my child! I found this site on Money Saving Mom (I think she was a guest blogger publishing a craft or something). Although I am NOT crafty and don't have a lot of teachable moments with my kids, I think this is a very cute blog for moms who want to use everyday objects and experiences to teach their preschoolers. Hopefully reading this blog will help me do more with my kids to make everyday experiences, teachable experiences.

It's been a while

2011-02-19T05:57:00.002-05:00

Apparently our computer got several "nasty" viruses and stopped working a few weeks ago. I was very concerned about all of the pictures, files and music we had stored on our computer. We have an external hard drive, but are not very good about taking the time to back-up, so therefore we would have lost about a year's worth of information. Thankfully we have a good friend who knows a lot about computers and could retrieve our files.
All of that to say I have not had the opportunity to upload new pictures and write new blog posts in about a month. I am posting several posts all at once using mostly iPhone pictures.
Hopefully we will get things up and running in the next month with new computers and we can avoid this problem in the future. Technology is great...until it's not.

Medical Ememgencies

2011-02-19T05:42:00.004-05:00

One morning, Norah woke up early with a slight croupy cough. She'd had a runny nose for several days (along with everyone else in the free world). I gave her a dose of steroids we keep on hand for Nathan's croup and made sure to turn on the cool mist humidifier in her room. The next night Jeff and I had a rare opportunity to watch a movie after putting the kids to bed. I came upstairs about 10:30 to hear Norah struggling to breathe with a terrible croupy cough. I quickly got her up and took her into the shower room for some hot steam treatment. I again gave her a dose of steroids. She did not seem to be getting any better after 20-30 minutes so we made the decision to take her into the hospital to be checked out. There is a new satellite children's hospital (Kosair) not far from our house. It is a beautiful facility and very geared toward children. They quickly assessed Norah and got her congestion resolved, X-rays taken and more steroids. The final diagnosis: croup, viral bronchiolitis and double ear infection.

While at the zoo (see previous post), Nathan tripped over his feet while running and took a nose-dive into the pavement. It didn't look like he hit his face too hard, but he must had hit and slid because his face too quite a beating. Poor baby scraped his nose, under his nose, under his chin and busted his lip significantly. Despite all the trauma, he did not want to leave the zoo. He wanted to see the rest of the animals.
Thankfully, even though his face looked horrible, the swelling finaly went down in 2 days and is healing very nicely.

A day at the Zoo

2011-02-19T05:34:00.003-05:00

While continuing to enjoy the nice, Spring-like weather, we went to the zoo and enjoyed the day. There was almost no one there and it felt like we had the zoo all to ourselves. Despite a minor fall on the sidewalk, Nathan had a wonderful time looking at all the animals. Not to be out done by her big brother, Norah was not fit to be contained in the storller and was running through the zoo as if she knew what she was doing.
I love our zoo pass and plan on using it quite often throughout the year.

A day at the park

2011-02-19T05:30:00.003-05:00

The weather finaly warmed up (significantly) and we were finally able to get out of the house and ejnoy some time outside without having to bundle up in layers of clothes, jackets, etc. On Sunay afternoon, we walked to the park nearby. The kids played on the playground and then flew a kite in the open field. I was a beautiful day to enjoy outside.

Valentine's

2011-02-19T05:23:00.003-05:00

Nathan and Norah had to take Valentine's to school for the kiddos in their respective classes. Instead of purchasing pre-made Valentine's and just signing their names, I was a bit more creative. I saw a very cute idea online for making Valentine's cards and thought I could do it. I wasn't enough "on the ball" to order cards in advance, so instead I just printed pictures from my camera memory card and used a little construction paper to make some heart details. I think they turned out super sute and very unique.

Super Bowl

2011-02-19T05:14:00.003-05:00

Super Bowl Sunday we hosted our church ABF class (like Sunday School) for a party. We have done this several years and love having people over for a party, even though neither of us actually watch football all that often.
One of the couples from our class is HUGH Green Bay Packers Fans. They were, of course, all decked out in the Pack-gear. Marshall brought a -shirt for Jeff to wear and a jersey for me. I put the jersey on Norah and she loved running around in it all evening. The shirt came down to her toes, but was very cute.

Snowflake Tortillas

2011-02-19T05:03:00.004-05:00

I found a fun recipe online for making Snowflake Tortillas. Since we were hearing about all the snow that was falling around us, but not in Louisville, we decided to make some snow of our own. The kids thought is was so much fun pushing dining chairs up to the kitchen island and "helping" make these sweet treats.

Norah and Nathan enjoying their yummy creations

Winter Babies

2011-02-19T04:59:00.002-05:00

We haven't had nearly the snow that was dumped North and East of here, but we have had a few snowfalls. We bundled the kids up and took a nice stroll in the newly-fallen snow (that is until it got too cold to keep going and we had to turn back)

Elmo

2011-01-15T15:14:00.004-05:00

Norah is not much of a TV watcher, unlike her brother. She is much too busy to stop and watch a TV program. Surprisingly, she does know who Elmo is and loves him. I don't know what it is about that red, fluffy monster with the squeeky voice, but kids love him.
New Year's Day the Science Center had a special event at their Sesame Street display where Elmo would be making an appearance for photos, etc. Since Jeff was working and Nathan was at my parent's house for the weekend, I took Norah to see Elmo. She had a great time playing with the cute displays and even saw Elmo's World.

When the "real" Elmo came out, she was more than a little wary of meeting the big monster. She wouldn't sit with him at all so I had to sit with her for the photo. You can see her looking up at him with a puzzled look.

Computers

2011-01-15T15:10:00.002-05:00

Both Nathan and Norah got a "laptop" for Christmas (little toy computers). Don't they look like such big kids sitting together with their computers?

Nathan's Visit

2011-01-15T15:08:00.003-05:00

After Christmas, Nathan had the opportunity to go up to Fort Wayne and stay with my parents for a few days. He loves going up there and having his Mamaw and Papaw to himself for a few days. As you can see, he had a blast:

Mamaw made him eat all his dinner
(what a mean Mamaw)

Christmas morning

2010-12-27T08:58:00.005-05:00

While I was sleeping (worked night shift Christmas Eve)
Nathan and Norah found some gifts under the tree and played around the house

Nathan finishing the Advent calender

Nathan's new PJ's

Jeff's favorite book
"There's a Wocket in my Pocket" by Dr. Seuss

Nathan's new Batman Cave

Norah loves her new stroller for her babies

Merry Christmas!!

Reindeer food

2010-12-27T08:53:00.003-05:00

On Christmas Eve, Nathan put out reindeer food for Rudolph. He made it in school and was excited to put it out in the yard. Reindeer food is simply oats and craft sprinkles. The oats for the reindeer to eat and the sparkly sprinkles to shine in the moonlight and light the way to your house. Nathan went around the house to the chimney and sprinkled the baggie of reindeer food on the ground.

Norah and Daddy watching Nathan
sprinkle reindeer food on the ground

Cookies with Santa

2010-12-27T08:41:00.004-05:00

Baptist East has a cute event each year called "Cookies with Santa". A Sunday afternoon, they open up their Eastpoint facility to the community for a Christmas celebration for the kids. They could participate in games, crafts, snacks, local craft vendors, and Santa. The kids had the opportunity to meet Santa and have their picture taken (complimentary). Nathan didn't know what to ask for from Santa and Norah was just scared.
Nathan had fun making ornaments for the tree and getting his face painted. There was a children's choir there singing Christmas carols while we ate our refreshments.
A great way to kick off the holiday season.

Nathan and Norah eagerly anticipating meeting Santa

Norah realized she did not like Santa

I ended up having to be in the picture with the kids
(Santa is scary when you are only one)

Nathan's reindeer face

Family Photos

2010-12-18T08:16:00.004-05:00

While we were in Fort Wayne for Thanksgiving, we had a photographer come to the house for family portraits and for my brother's engagement photos. They turned out great!!

Nathan's Christmas Program

2010-12-10T16:04:00.005-05:00

Nathan's school put on a Christmas Program. There were 4 classes involved ages 2-5.

First they acted out the story "Twas the Night Before Christmas". The kids all dressed us as some part of the story: kids tucked in bed, visions of sugar plums, stockings hung by the chimney, snowflakes, reindeer and St. Nick.

Nathan was a reindeer

The second half of the program, the children all sang songs:
Away in a Manger
Jingle Bells
We Wish you a Merry Christmas

It was such a cute program and Nathan did great as a reindeer. I was very impressed that he knew all the songs and sang out loud (even though there was quite a bit of fidgeting and looking around).

Twas the Night Before Christmas scene

Nathan looking for us

Singing...playing with his mask

Me and Norah at the show

Christmas decorations

2010-12-10T15:55:00.004-05:00

I think Christmas decorations are beautiful, a lot of work, but beautiful. I love looking at the lights and the stockings hung over the fireplace.
Last year I was not into it at all. We did some decorating for Nathan's sake, but my heart was not in. I'm doing better this year. I still wish someone would come to my house and decorate it for Christmas for me. That would be so much easier.
This year we are branching out and putting up outdoor lights. We want to be "green" and use the energy efficient LED lights on the trees and bushes. Unfortunately they are pricey so we are doing a little at a time each year and buying some after the season so in a few years we will have a great display. This year we have white LED lights on the 2 trees that flank the front door and they are very pretty.

Nathan and Norah watching Daddy string lights outside

In addition to outdoor lights,
we have 2 Christmas trees (one in each front window)
and the mantle decorated with our stockings

Daddy's little helper

2010-12-10T15:52:00.004-05:00

Jeff was putting together our kitchen table and Norah wanted to be a big girl and help. She actually did a very good job putting the washers on the bolts.

Daddy's Little Helper

Shutterfly Promotion

2010-12-10T04:38:00.003-05:00

Tis the Season...
For Christmas cards, that is. This is one of my favorite holiday activities...sending and receiving Christmas cards. I love catching up with friends who live far away and especially seeing their families grow which is why I especially love photo Christmas cards. I also love showing off my beautiful family so I love sending photo Christmas photo cards as well.
In the past I have used a number of retail photo sites to get our annual Christmas card. I have not been unhappy with the results, because my kids are so stinkin' cute and anything with their pictures is cute, but I am disappointed every year with the card selection process. It seems what I picture in my mind does not always match what I can find. I guess I just want to see more variety and a better use of my pictures in my photo cards.
This year all that is going to change...I found Shutterfly. Shutterfly is an online photo storage site that allows me to make cards, scrapbooks, calendars and so much more. I am new to Shutterfly so this will all be a learning curve, but so far I have seen so many great photo card designs. My problem this year may be narrowing down my choice to the one that is the best instead of settling for the one that is the closest (as I have done in the past).
Here are some of the card design I like (insert my cute family photos, of course):

If you are a fan of Shutterfly like me, they are offering a great promotion to bloggers for a limited time. I am definitely taking advantage of this offer (as evidenced by this blog post) and getting some great photo Christmas cards in the deal.
Thanks Shutterfly!!

Festival of Gingerbread

2010-11-26T20:27:00.002-05:00

After waking up at 3am to power-shop at Kohl's on Black Friday, I went back to bed for a few hours. We woke up a second time and went to downtown Fort Wayne to The History Center to the Festival of Gingerbread. There are many age groups ranging from K-1st-2nd thru adult and professionals that make gingerbread houses for the display throughout the holiday season. This year was the 25th anniversary of the event. Interesting point: 25 years ago, for the first annual Festival of Gingerbread, my mom and I made a gingerbread house to enter into the festival. 25 years later, we took the kids to see the same display.

My favorite "Teen Category" house
a blue Victorian house

My favorite "Professional Category" house
Candyland

Norah and Papaw

The History Center houses many interesting displays of
historical Fort Wayne
The old jailhouse was in the basement of the building
and is now part of the exhibit
Nathan behind bars

Elser Family Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T17:44:00.004-05:00

Every year the extended Elser family get together for a big Thanksgiving Feast. Everyone brings food to share. It is an opportunity for the family to reconnect at least once a year. This year the estimated count was 80 people in the Greene Center (an old school building converted into an event hall).
We started with the feast:

While the adults socialized, the kids (and many adults) made foam-sticker crafts

It was just too much excitement for Norah
She passed out in Stan's arms

Lights Under Louisville

2010-11-25T17:38:00.003-05:00

For the second year, we went underground to see the Lights Under Louisville at the Mega Cavern. I had a Groupon that got us in for half price.
The lights display was even better than last year and the kids really enjoyed the lights and the Christmas music.

Veggie Tales Birthday Party

2010-11-25T17:25:00.004-05:00

Nathan is into Veggie Tales right now so we had a Veggie Tales Birthday Party to celebrate his 4th birthday. We invited a few of Nathan's closest friends from church. There is a lot of information online about theme birthday parties, but not a lot of Veggie Tales specific party things without paying a lot at the Big Idea website. I tried to be creative and made a lot of things using printouts from online sites. It turned out very cute and the kids loved the theme.

I printed small characters on sticker paper and made flags with toothpicks
to put on cupcakes and label Veggies on a vegetable tray.

From "The Jonah Movie": Mr. Twisty's Twisted Cheese Curls (i.e. Cheetoes)

I found Veggie character cut-outs and the kids made puppets

Big 4 Year Old

2010-11-17T22:02:00.004-05:00

My baby boy is turning into an awesome young man right before my eyes. I can't say enough about how I love this little boy.
Who would have thought 4 years ago tonight would change my life so much. I can't imagine my life without him.
Everyday he is learning and doing more and more.
Nathan loves to play outside one the swings and ride his tricycle around the neighborhood. His favorite indoor activity is watching Disney Channel on TV or watching movies on the Wii (we have Netflix). He knows all his letters and can write his name very well. He can count to 29 with very little help. He has a super memory and can memorize scripture for weekly Cubbies homework at church with no problem, and can even remember verses days and weeks later. His current obsession is Veggie Tales, but that could change any day because he is into so many things. He loves to read and play with stickers. He has such a creative imagination and can make up stories about his surroundings, especially while in the car.
Stats: 30 pounds (5%), 36 inches (20%)

Happy 4th Birthday Nathan!!!

Big Boy bed in his new room

siblings...friends

2010-11-11T10:17:00.002-05:00

Nathan and Norah adore each other - despite the fact that they annoy each other and pick on each other. Norah has to be where ever Nathan is, doing whatever Nathan is doing.
The other night, Nathan was watching a Veggie Tales viedo before bed on his iPod/radio and Norah had to join him on the floor (even though she doesn't like to watch TV or video) just because her big brother was doing it.

End of Soccer

2010-11-11T09:57:00.004-05:00

After 2 season's of soccer (and quite a few tears), Nathan has finished soccer. Thankfully he ended on an up-swing. His last game was a great success - no tears, lots of fun, and a trophy.

Practice Drills

Nathan kicking off the quarter

An attempt to get a team picture
(snacks were much more important)

Halloween Night

2010-11-01T10:28:00.004-04:00

We took the kids around the neighborhood trick or treating. They had a great time. Nathan (Super Why) was running from house to house (a far cry from last year when he through a fit and wouldn't participate). He was so polite, saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" at every house. Norah was dressed as a ladybug and was so excited to be outside and running around the neighborhood. She had her little goodie bag and went to a few houses. Even Norah learned how to say "Trick or Treat" and Thank You".

Halloween parade

2010-11-01T10:20:00.004-04:00

On Halloween day, our neighborhood (Holly Springs) has a Halloween parade for the kids. Kids and adults can dress up in their costumes and parade around the main loop behind a Lyndon Fire Engine. Nathan dressed in his Super Why costume and paraded with his tricycle (Norah was still napping). It was very cute to see all the little kids in their costumes.

After the parade, we all met back at the neighborhood entrance for
Halloween donuts and apple cider.

Nathan's pumpkins

2010-11-01T10:06:00.004-04:00

I think carving pumpkins and painting pumpkins are quite messy and I just didn't want to get into all of that this year. We took a day trip to Brown County, IN and saw these cute pumpkins that looked like Mr. Potato Head. What a great idea, we could do this. After church we stopped and picked up 2 medium-sized pumpkins. Jeff used a small screwdriver to poke holes in the pumpkin and Nathan used Mr. Potato Head pieces we already had to decorate faces. They turned out great and the best things were no mess and super easy.

Nathan is very proud of his pumpkins
(He also painted a pumpkin at the neighborhood party)
He picked out a baby pumpkin for Norah (not decorated)

Westport Village trick or treating

2010-11-01T09:53:00.003-04:00

There are so many Halloween activities going on all throughout Louisville. We live near a new shopping center called Westport Village and on the Friday evening before Halloween they had a trick or treating event. Kids can dress up and trick or treat to the different shops in the village. This was our second event in one day (see previous post: trick or treating at the hospital). Nathan wanted to wear his fireman costume from last year instead of Super Why.

Nathan gets treats from Kermit the Frog

Nathan (Fireman) and Norah (Ladybug) at Westport Village

Free samples of Happy Cow ice cream
Nathan shared his ice cream with his baby sister

Tick or Treating at the hospital

2010-11-01T09:31:00.002-04:00

Nathan and Norah's daycare have all the kids dress in costume and trick or treat through the first floor of the hospital. Many departments come down and hand out candy to the little goblins, witches and superheroes. Parents are invited to join the classes for trick or treating and also for the class Halloween parties afterward. Norah didn't want to be separated for either of us so we kept her with us and we went with Nathan's class.

Nathan (Super Why) lining up with his class

Me and my Halloween baby
Norah didn't wear her costume, but had a Halloween shirt instead

Daddy and his Halloween girl

Jeff walking the halls of the hospital with Nathan (Super Why)
and Norah - she had her own treat bag and it took no time for her to figure out how to work the crowd and fill her bag with goodies

Highview Fall Festival

2010-11-01T09:19:00.003-04:00

Our church has an awesome Fall Festival every year. The kids dress up in non-scary costumes, play fun games, bouncies, hay rides and lots of candy. Nathan had a great time, especially on the bouncies (his favorite).

Nathan (Super Why) running/bouncing through the obstacle course

Nathan (Super Why) and Norah (Ladybug)

Big girl

2010-11-01T09:14:00.002-04:00

Norah is getting so big. What happened to my baby girl? She is so independent and has just recently decided she wants to use a spoon and fork to feed herself and is doing quite well with this new skill. As you can tell from the picture below, she is using her left hand quite a bit. I know it is too soon to determine handedness, but she may end up being left handed.

Veggie Tales Live

2010-11-01T09:00:00.003-04:00

Southeast Christian Church had a week-long event called "Momentum" with nightly guest speakers and entertainment. One the last night, we took Nathan to see Veggies Tales Live, a touring show with the popular Veggie Tales vegetable characters and silly songs with positive lessons. Nathan really loves Veggie Tales right now and was very excited to see his favorite characters singing his favorite silly songs

Me and my boy at the show

Nathan got a new Veggie Tales CD
It's his new favorite CD and asks to listen to it all the time now

Our seats weren't the best.
We had a slightly obstructed view of the stage and had to look straight up to see the big screens, but Nathan loved every minute and he didn't seem to care where we were sitting.

Heatherfield photos

2010-10-24T15:01:00.005-04:00

Jeff's band, Heatherfield had a great opportunity to record in a professional studio one weekend in Baltimore, MD. In preparation for this trip and for the release of the CD, they had their band photo made. I think it looks awesome and very professional.

They should get the recording back soon and then their music will be available to purchase as a 5-song CD or on iTunes.

Holly Springs Picnic

2010-10-24T14:55:00.003-04:00

Last year was out first year living in our new neighborhood, Holly Springs. Then we discovered they have an annual picnic for all the families. We went and had a good time. It rolled around again this year and we were excited to go again.
They had lots of fun activities for the kids:
Sidewalk Chalk
Painting Pumpkins
Bike Decorating
2 Bounce Houses
Lots of food

Nathan's Pumpkin
He drew N's because "N is for Nathan"

Bouncing in the bounce house

Norah made quite a mess playing with the sidewalk chalk

A fun park

2010-10-24T14:45:00.003-04:00

Louisville has a number of great parks for kids to play. One afternoon, with nothing else to do, we decided to load up a picnic and take it to one of the area playground parks. After eating, the kids played on the playground equipment and had a great time.

My very independent little girl
(she climbed up the steps and slid down the slide all by herself)

So proud of herself

Nathan swinging

Norah has to do everything her big brother does
Nathan was climbing the rock wall so Norah had to try and follow

Halloween at the Zoo

2010-10-24T14:36:00.003-04:00

Every year we take the kids to the Halloween at the zoo. They get to dress up in costumes and trick or treat around the Louisville Zoo after hours. We have a great time every year.
Nathan picked out his own costume this year and was Super Why (from the PBS TV show) and Norah was a ladybug.
We all had a wonderful time.

Nathan and Norah in the hay maze
with Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin

Elmo
(it was getting pretty dark)

We didn't go into see the dinosaurs
but they had cool blow-up dinosaurs
Nathan thought they were awesome

Outside In Family Fun Center

2010-10-24T14:26:00.002-04:00

I heard about a new bouncie play center on the radio so one day when both Jeff and I were off work, we decided to check it out. The Inside Out Family Fun Center is brand new and located in southern Indiana. They have several slides and bounce-houses both inside and outside. They also have a toddle play zone on the lower level. Also outside are 2 go-kart race tracks and a miniature golf course. We must have gone on an off day because we were the only ones there that day. Nathan had a great time playing on all the equipment and even met a new friend, the owner's 3 year old daughter Makayla.
I would highly recommend this place to anyone with young children looking for a fun day. I hope more people check this place out so they stay in business.

Nathan sliding down the big blow-up slide

Jeff had just as much fun as the kids

Pure joy

Norah enjoyed playing in the toddler zone

Birmingham Zoo

2010-10-15T23:33:00.002-04:00

Since the drive to Destin is over 10 hours, we stopped in Birmingham, AL both on the way down and the way back home. We met up with our friends from Highview who had moved there in the last few years. It was great reconnecting with old friends.
With our Louisville Zoo pass, we have reciprocal membership to many zoos around the country. We try to look up zoos near our vacation destinations and visit them if we have the chance. Birmingham Zoo is smaller than Louisville but the kids (especially Nathan) love going to the zoo, any zoo.

Nathan likes to pose in face cut-out placards.
Giraffe Nathan

Nathan and his daddy playing on the natural rock playground

We got to see a snake feeding demonstration
Nathan was fascinated

Family photos

2010-10-15T23:23:00.002-04:00

I love my family.
We had several great family photos taken while on vacation.
Enjoy.

playground

2010-10-15T23:14:00.003-04:00

Vacationing with kids means finding fun activities that they enjoy. Nathan and Norah love playgrounds so we found a nice play area in the middle of Destin Commons shopping mall. The kids loved it and we had the chance to sit and relax while they played.

Fudpucker's

2010-10-15T22:49:00.002-04:00

One of the most unlikely places we ate in Destin was Fudpucker's. We were told by the receptionist at our resort that it was a good family restaurant and she was right. The food was good, but the experience after dinner was unique and one the kids will not soon forget.

Fudpucker's has its own alligator farm, which would be cool all by itself, but the coolest part was that you could feed the alligators.
Jeff and Nathan feeding the alligators.

The Beach

2010-10-15T22:30:00.003-04:00

We love vacationing at the beach, especially during the off season when it is not so hot, not so busy and still beautiful. This vacation was all of the above. Destin, FL is a popular beach vacation for people of Louisville and our trip to visit the Doughertys allowed us to experience this beach vacation everyone was talking about. Destin has beautiful white sandy beaches and warm clear water. We will definitely be traveling back to Destin

Family photo on the beach

Nathan loved the beach
(last year in SC we discovered Nathan's love of the beach)

Norah was a little wary of the sand at first but was soon playing in it
What a beautiful beach baby

Daddy's beach baby

Mommy and Norah outside our resort

Santa Rosa Sound and Crab Island

2010-10-15T22:09:00.004-04:00

We rented a pontoon boat and drove around the Santa Rosa Sound and anchored on Crab Island (a beautiful sandbar great for swimming and playing in the clear water). Jeff and Joe took the opportunity to fish in the gulf. We had a great day on the water.

Norah did NOT like being in the life-vest

A much happier baby

Nathan loved the boat

Jeff and Joe had another opportunity to fish
The only thing biting were catfish

Captain Jeff with his first mate Nathan

Playing in the water on Crab Island

Nathan swimming in the Sound at Crab Island

Navarre Beach and Pier

2010-10-15T21:53:00.002-04:00

Joe and Becky live in Navarre, FL which is about 20 miles from Destin. Navarre is also on the gulf and has its own beautiful beaches.

Navarre has the longest pier in the gulf
Jeff and Joe heading up the pier to fish

Nathan peering off the pier

Hurlburt AFB

2010-10-15T21:39:00.002-04:00

As soon as our good friends, Joe and Becky Dougherty were stationed at Hurlburt AFB in Fort Walton, FL we knew we would travel there to visit them. This past month we took that opportunity to take a wonderful vacation to Navarre and Destin, FL.
On our first day there, we went to Hurlburt AFB to see 1st Lt. D. Joseph Dougherty. Hurlburt has an airfield with many Air Force planes and helicopters on display. Jeff was in heaven looking at all of them (we have many pictures not displayed here).