Holidays in Hutchinson

Since we moved to Oklahoma over three years ago, we have gone back to Hutch for Thanksgiving. This year we had different plans for Thanksgiving, so we thought we would head up the week before.

Our family was excited to be able to go the Hutchinson Christmas Parade. For several years, Ben and Abby participated in all of the parades. It seems so different to be watching the parade with them instead of participating in it!

Luke really loved the parade! Everything that came by was so exciting to him! I love watching things like this through the eyes of my little guy as he sees these things for the first time! It was very chilly at the parade, however, so we ended up leaving early. Luke wasn't very happy when he found out that we missed the horses! Next time!

One of the things that I love to do while in Hutch is so see my friend, Athena! We don't get to see each other very often. For the past several years we have been doing our Black Friday shopping together. This year, we won't be together. :( This weekend we were able to meet up at Chilie's for a Diet Coke and some appetizers and catch up with each other! We had a great time! I am so thankful that Athena and I have been able to maintain a friendship since I moved! Thanks, Athena, for taking time out of your busy weekend to get together with me! I treasure your friendship!

Ben was also able to spend some time with his buddies while in Hutch. I am amazed that these teenage boys have been able to stay connected! I have said it before and I will say it again, I believe that these boys are going to be life-long friends!This is Luke's favorite thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house...

He loves to play with Toby! Thankfully it hadn't been too long since Luke had seen Toby last, so it didn't take very long for him to warm up!

I know this picture is blurry, but I think it so cute! I had to run out to the van to get the camera and capture this before either one moved! (The camera was cold from being outside.)

Abby enjoyed playing the Wii at Grandma and Grandpa's house! The two of us also enjoyed cable! We don't have all of the good channels at our house and got involved in watching cooking shows until midnight!

Since we weren't going to be together for Thanksgiving, Jeanie made an amazing meal in celebration of Thanksgiving while we were together. YUM!!

Thank you, Ken and Jeanie, for having us for the weekend!

Abby's First Band Concert

Abby has loved every minute of her first year of band so far. She couldn't wait until her first concert. I know I say this about every concert, but I just can't get over how much these kids learn in such to in such a short amount of time! I think at the time of this concert, the kids had been playing for about eight weeks.

This particular band concert in called a demonstration concert. The band directors along with the students show us the things they do in class to warm and breathing exercises.

Miss Benford featured the clarinets. (The metronome sounds off, but I think the clarinet section sounds great!)

The whole band playing "El Toro".

The whole band playing "Jingle Bells".

See, impressive! I am thrilled to be a band mom and that my kids are thoroughly enjoying band! I do believe the Lord has blessed me with some talented kiddos!

Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves!

We are really bad around here about raking and bagging the massive amounts of leaves that fall in our backyard. I think we ended up doing that in March this year. I swore we would never do that again! Jon got really motivated by the gorgeous weather last weekend and wanted to spend some time outside. It's usually me that wants to go rake and bag. However, this time I wasn't really feeling it. Jon made it really easy by using the mower to blow the leaves into big piles that would seriously limit the amount of raking that would need to be done.

Luke LOVES to be outside! Getting to use a rake and "help" Daddy was a huge bonus!

Of course, he spent most of his time just playing in the leaves! He wasn't happy with the fact that we were removing his "hiding spot". We reassured him that in a day or two, the leaves would all be back! Ugh...





As if the leaves weren't enough for Luke's fun day outside, he discovered kite flying! He loved it and did a super job!

I love a good, fall day outside! The weather here has been amazing! We got a lot of work done in the yard and had fun at the same time! Luke was having so much fun that we opted to let him skip his nap. (Which was fine until we made him come in the house!) The backyard is already ready for another rake and bag day...

No, I didn't intentionally leave Ben and Abby out of the pictures. They were out having fun with their friends while Jon and I did hard labor! Next time I don't think they'll be so lucky! :)

Halloween ~ 2011

As a kid, my mom always made our Halloween costumes. Now, I don't believe there is any other way for my kids! I am not opposed to store-bought costumes! I just enjoy making my kids costumes!

Having said that, last year after Halloween I bought Luke a Yoda costume for this year. He loves Yoda and I couldn't pass up the bargain. (How do you resist 75% off?) As we were thinking about what each of the kids were going to dress up as this year, I tried the Yoda costume on Luke. Everything was looking great until I tried to stuff his head into the Yoda hat. The child does not have a small head! So...now I didn't have a clue what he could be! As I was searching my obsession for Halloween costumes ideas I came across a cute idea for a box of popcorn. It looked super cute and fairly easy to accomplish.

I think it turned out great! Is this not the cutest box of popcorn you have ever seen?!

On to Abby...She didn't have a clue what she wanted to be for Halloween. She finally decided that she would just be the clown that she was a few years ago. I was fine with that since it was something that I had made and was pretty proud of. I loved the fact that she would get more wear out of it. Well, while searching for costume ideas I came across something very fun and colorful that I thought Abby would love. I was right. She fell in love and immediately decided against the clown costume.

Abby's hot air balloon costume turned out SO great! She loved it. I loved it. It. was. a. hit!! As Abby was trick or treating, I can't tell you how many people asked to take Abby's picture! It was crazy! As she was walking around people kept telling her how awesome her costume was! (Yes, I was a proud mama! Thankfully the Lord has forgiven me!)

Ben wasn't so sure whether he would go trick or treating this year. He thought he might be getting too old! I assured him that he wasn't too old, but that if he was going to go, he had to wear a costume. (I hate it when kids try to get candy without dressing up!) He decided to go as a hiker/backpacker. I liked it! (Sadly I didn't get a picture of Ben by himself.)

There they are. My hiker/backpacker, my box of popcorn and my hot air balloon. :)

Trick or Treat!

Abby and her ninja, friend, Anna.



Silly boy!



Checking out their loot!


I think the kids all had a fun night! Ben went trick or treating with some friends. Abby's friend, Anna called and asked us to all come over there so we could all go together. Luke has been sick all week and I was concerned that he wasn't even going to be able to go trick or treating, but he made it to about 8-10 houses before he was ready to be finished. I'm glad he made it!

We are already thinking about next year's costumes! :)

Our First Bountiful Basket

Have you ever heard of Bountiful Baskets Food Co-Op? It's a co-op that distributes produce baskets, organic produce baskets, artisan breads, as well as items that change every other week. (This time some of the offerings were Halloween cookies, pumpkins, boxes of apples...lots of fun things!) I had never heard of it until someone mentioned it at MOPS. I completely forgot about it after MOPS until a few friends said that they had ordered and were very pleased with what they ended up with. I told Jon about it and we checked out their website to find out as much as we could. It sounded like something we definitely wanted to try out.

So...this is what came in our basket this week!


Avocados
Cabbage
Green Beans
Roma Tomatoes
English Cucumbers
Romaine Lettuce
Kiwi
Apples
Bananas
Strawberries
Pomegranates

All of that for only $15!! I have never made anything with cabbage or pomegranates, but I am looking forward to trying some new things!

I'm pretty sure we will be ordering again next time!

Nice & Cozy

Nothing beats a new blankie!

Thank you, Grammy, for Luke's new blankies! He has gotten a lot of use out of them while he hasn't been feeling well!

Abby Goes To Camp

Abby's troop headed out the Camp Wah-Shah-She to celebrate the camp's 50th birthday.


The girls decided to camp for two nights and Jon and I went out on the first day (after the first night) to help out with the festivities. When we got there, the girls were making lunch.
Who would have thought that you could cook on the top of a coffee can?! It was so cool! These cool little cans are called "buddy burners". Under the large can is a smaller can (tuna fish can size) that has rolled corrugated cardboard with wick in the middle and dipped in wax. Who knew?! So cool!

The girls also made pineapple upside down cakes on the "buddy burners". I heard they were delicious!

Jon did a dutch oven cooking demonstration. The girls loved it!

These girls are inseparable!

Abby's troop hosted several activities in their camp. Soap carving, yarn doll making, lashing, sand art. This is also where Jon did his demonstration.

Luke had a blast being out at the camp all day! This boy is all about the outdoors! He was FILTHY when we got home, but he sure had a great time!

It was neat to hear the story of the camp and to hear the lady behind the story talk about it. I hope that Abby will continue to make memories with her fellow Girl Scouts!

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!)