The Pumpkin Patch

I always miss Michigan at this time of year! Once the weather cools down I start thinking about going to the apple orchard, drinking fresh apple cider and eating those amazing cake donuts! Or going to the pumpkin patch and picking a pumpkin right off the vine! There are no such things in my neck of the woods.

For now, we have this place. It's nice. It's just not the same! It is insanely expensive and the pumpkins aren't even attached to the vine. I have a feeling that the pumpkins come from the same place as the ones at the stores and they just put them out in a field for you go to choose one. Disappointing! But, a my MOPS group was going, so we went anyway. Luke knows no different and thinks it's totally awesome!

Before we headed out to the "patch", Luke had a blast playing at the playground. This was his toy of choice.

It was hard for him to lift those big handles, but he did not give up! I would love to have one of these digger toys in my backyard. He loved it SO much!! He would not get off for anything! Well, until I told him it was time to ride the tractor...

The boy was amazed by all of the pumpkins! I thought he would want to choose the biggest pumpkin he could find. He, however, only wanted one that he could carry easily. He really liked the little pumpkins the best!


Once we got back from the patch I let Luke sit on the tractor. This kid LOVES tractors!!


The Pumpkin Patch had a little petting farm with goats, baby pigs, cows and some roosters that ran loose. I always hesitate to go to the petting farm. Maybe I'm a too much of a city girl/germaphobe, but petting farms just seem gross to me! I got over myself real quick knowing that Luke would love to go see the animals. I was surprised when he actually wanted to go inside the pen (instead of looking through the fence.). He played in there with the goats for a long time before I had to pull him away to go home.





So, it's not Michigan, but it gets the job done. Luke and I had a great time!

A Visit To Hutchinson

We finally found some time to head up to Hutch for a quick visit to see Jon's parents. It was a beautiful weekend so we were able to spend a lot of time outside!

It didn't take Ben long to climb up in his favorite tree!


This is how Jon and his dad spend a lot of their time when they are together.

Jeanie's birthday was coming so we took a sopapilla cheesecake up with us.
Happy Birthday, Jeanie!

Luke went to the grocery store with Grandma and came back with these cupcakes. What a mess! He loved them!

Dorky!


Luke is in love with Toby! (Well, after warming up to him anyway.) Luke wouldn't really give Toby a break the whole time we were there! That poor dog was wore out and probably glad to see us leave!



The top of this shed has always been one of Ben's favorite places to hang out at his Grandma and Grandpa's house. He wasn't very happy that we allowed Abby to get up there...

Abby, however, loved it!




Abby always loves to play with the neighbor's dog, Emmy.

I love this! It's not very often that you see these two working together. Nicely, anyway... Ben was pretty patient with Abby and willing to help her out!



I tried several times to get Luke to want to be in there tree. He is a boy, after all. He is supposed to want to climb trees, right? He was afraid for a long time, but finally asked me to put him in the tree!



We had a very relaxing weekend hanging out in Hutch.

(For those Hutch friends that are reading this, we hope to be back soon and be able to visit. This was such a short trip that we decided that we needed to just spend time together as a family. Hopefully next time!)

Feeling Kinda Crafty

Yes, I've been feeling kind of crafty lately. My house is a blank slate and Pinterest (yes, again) is quite the inspiration. One day I made a list of things that I wanted to make and then Abby and I made a trip to Lowe's and Hobby Lobby to get all of the supplies.

This cute frame is something I made at MOPS. (I already had it pinned on Pinterest!) I love it! I write notes, menus, grocery lists...super useful! And super cute!

I found this idea in a book and was excited when I found the letters half off at Hobby Lobby! Score! Super easy and cute!

I fell in love with these little guys when I saw them on Pinterest! Fun and easy! Luke really likes them!

Yet another Pinterest idea.

And another.

I am thrilled with how this grouping turned out! I love it!!

This is just fun to me! It makes me happy!

I am happy about the crafty things I have been able to make lately. I am looking forward to finding more to work on. The next crafty episode could potentially include a little taste of Christmas.

Puzzle Time

Luke has taken a liking to doing puzzles.


Trying so hard!


It fits!


He's so proud!
(I didn't help him at all!)
I'm so proud of him too!

Mother/Son Night

I was thrilled when Ben told me that he signed us up for the Mother/Son banquet at church! Last year he wasn't very excited about going and I know I guilted him into it. This year, no guilt was involved!

(Ugh...when did he get SO tall?!)

We had a great time eating dinner together and learning about what it means to be a godly mother/son and had the opportunity to pray together. Precious, special time with my oldest boy! I love you, Ben and am so proud of the young man you are becoming!

My Baby Is Growing Up! :(

Ben has been very excited about the signs of growing up! I would love to leave out the fact that he would check for armpit hair everyday, but he did and it's just a part of saying that he's growing up.

For several weeks Ben has been telling us that he needed to shave. WHAT?! I can't possibly have a child that is old enough to need to shave! Well, one night Ben said it again, Jon felt Ben's face and said, "Yes!" Oh my goodness! Of course, when I think of Ben wanting to shave I think of razors and shaving cream. Thankfully this "first" wasn't anything like that! Jon uses an electric razor, and therefore didn't have any shaving cream and razors in the house. So Ben's first shave was with an electric razor. As silly as it sounds, I think it actually softened the blow to this sad mama's heart.

So, there it is. Ben's first time shaving...



There are many firsts in life and it seems like so many of them are happening these days with three growing kiddos! Sometimes it seems like they will never grow up, but some days I look at them and wonder, "when did you get so big?" I want to cherish every moment of my kiddos growing up and remember them forever!

Third Day Concert

In February 2010 Jon and I went to Winter Jam. There were about ten different groups performing that night, but we were most excited to see Third Day! The concert was great, but Third Day's performance was short. We decided that we would both love to go to see Third Day the next time they came to town. Well, in July I found out that they were going to be in Tulsa in October! I knew that Jon and I had to go! I was thrilled when Jon was on board and bought tickets right away!


Jon splurged and got us great seats! Only 8 rows up!

Trevor Morgan was up first. We really enjoyed him! We bought his cd at the concert and have thoroughly enjoyed it since then!

Peter Furler was up next. I didn't realize he was the former lead singer for the Newsboys. He was a little...different...but we ended up really enjoying his group.

Next up...THIRD DAY!!!




The concert was AMAZING!!! Those guys know how to put on a great show! It was awesome! I would go again in a heartbeat!

Ben's Introduction To Marching Band

Ever since the first day of school when Ben got his band calendar, he had been counting the days until October 7th. On October 7th the 8th grade band students would get to go to the high school football game and play the fight song on the field with the marching band and sit in the stands and play pep songs along with them! WOW! As a former marching band member and lover of marching bands, I was happy that Ben was so excited about this experience!




"B-R-U I-N-S
BLUE & WHITE
BLUE & WHITE
FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!"


Ben had the best time at the game! As if he didn't already know that he wanted to do marching band already, this just really solidified it for him. He is ready! I hope he realizes how much of a commitment it is and how much work it is! I just know he will love it!

I am excited to have a child in marching band next year!
Bring on the games and competitions!!

Ummm...

You just never know what you might find in the Grief house...

Kitchen Fun Continued...

When Jon was in South America last month I got motivated to do a little bit of kitchen decorating and craftiness. I have become a bit excited with how things look and have been working on giving the room a finished look. Thanks to pinterest (again) I came up with the idea for this fun collage.


I am really happy with how it turned out! I was able to print the pictures from my own computer and have them up on the wall in no time! Hooray for progress! If I can only get the rest of my house to look cute...

Train!

We have a little bit of a gem in our town. It is an old restored train engine. I have posted about this train before as Luke is completely obsessed with the train. We can't go downtown without Luke asking to go see it.

One night we ate dinner downtown and, as is common, Luke asked if we could go see the train. We were surprised to find that there was something new on the tracks. A caboose! YAY! There was a sign on the caboose that said that there was to be an open house the very next day for a few short hours and then it would be closed for restoration. I had plans during the time of the open house, but I encouraged Jon to at least take Luke down for a little bit to check it out. Being the great daddy that he is, he did! Apparently Luke really liked the caboose, but was ready to leave because he wasn't fond of the constant whistle that was coming from the caboose. (The kids were able to blow the train whistle.) I heard that Luke was pretty vocal about how he felt about the whistle...

I think the shows how he felt about all of the noise.

If the new caboose is restored as great as the engine was, this is going to be great! We can't wait to check it out!

YUM!!

I have to say, we have had some delicious meals around here lately! One reason could be that I've just been in the mood to cook. One could be my obsession with Pinterest. Whatever the reason, the meals have been great! I thought I would share a few.

This chicken was amazing! I took chicken out of the freezer not knowing what I would do with it. I thought we might just grill it. Jon is burned out on grilled chicken so we tried to come up with another option. Jon thought we could stuff it, but I had already fileted it, so it was too thin to stuff. I came up with the idea to marinate the chicken in a spicy chipotle marinade, pound it thin, put cheddar cheese and sliced jalapenos on it, roll it up and grill it. Jon quickly agreed that that is what we needed to do! Oh. my. goodness. It was delicious!

Another meal we had that was amazing was a copycat from McAlister's. I saw this sandwich advertised and knew that I would be re-creating it at home! It was a southwest turkey sandwich. Turkey, pepper jack cheese, bacon, guacamole and a southwest chipotle dressing. (You could add lettuce, tomatoes and onions if you want.) One word: AMAZING!! We all LOVED these sandwiches! (Well, except for Luke, of course. He doesn't like anything!)

Here are some things you have to try. I found all of them on Pinterest! :)

Slow-Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos

The Absolute Best Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Jalapeno Ranch Dip
This is WAY better the next day! It was a great dip for so many things!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Oven Baked Ham & Cheese Sliders
I made these with and without the mustard. I liked them both ways, but Jon preferred them without.

Easy Potato and Bacon Breakfast Casserole

Cheesy Bacon Pull-Apart Bread

I love to cook (when I have the time), but had gotten completely sick of all of the same old recipes. It has become fun again since finding a great place to find new recipes or come up with some on our own! Have you tried anything delicious lately? Please share!!