You may have noticed Suzie’s new bangs in her birthday pics. She is not the only one. She shares the look with Ruthie!
Suzie Turns 4!
November 3, 2009 at 6:56 pm (The Girls)
Suzie turned 4 on Monday. We had a little family party on Saturday. As has been our recent tradition, we had Jake’s mom, stepdad, and grandma over for dinner, presents, and cake. This time, we even threw in a rowdy game of “Pin the Crown on the Princess!”
Aunt Kelly, your present of Do-A-Dots was a hit (with all of the girls!)
I think she was peeking!
Her castle cake. I could have made anything, as long as there was candy on it. I used those candy decorations you can buy at the grocery store. Every kid needs a chance to try those, plus it made decorating a bit easier.
Licking the candles. What a cutie pie!
Happy Birthday, my sweet little baby!
Funny 911 Call
October 23, 2009 at 7:31 pm (Favorites)
It is not often that I see something funny enough on the internet to make me cry, but here is a video that does the trick over on the Girl Talk blog.
Fall Hiking Spree
October 23, 2009 at 8:34 am (Family)
One of the wonderful things about Akron is the wonderful parks they have. There are several metro parks on the fringes of the city, and we have been hitting many of them this fall as we have taken part in the Fall Hiking Spree. The metro parks put out a list of about 12 or so trails each fall, and you have to hike 8 of them between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30. If you accomplish that, you get a walking stick (the first year) and a metal badge to put on the stick each year. We were not able to complete it last year, but I think the girls and I will be able to complete it this year (“gym” class during the school day!).
Jake went with us last evening – it was too beautiful and warm outside to leave him behind. We got some great shots of the girls.
This shot never seems to get old. We must have one from every ledgy park we’ve hiked!
Our beautiful young lady.
Ruthie is our daring hiker. She almost got herself stuck right after this pose!
Wish you could see the missing bottom teeth.
I just could not get any sort of serious look for this one. Imagine that!
My Sweet Little Ellie??
October 21, 2009 at 12:13 pm (The Girls)
Jake has this picture of the girls and their cousins on our desktop, and my eye is always drawn to Ellie.
Doesn’t it look like she is smoking a cigar??
Bauman Orchard Field Trip
October 20, 2009 at 4:27 pm (Homeschool)
We went on a field trip on Monday with other families in the church. The trip was to a local orchard, Bauman Orchard.
We took a hay ride out to the orchard where each of us got to pick a Fuji apple. There were lots of sticky hands by the time we got back to the shop.
We were then taken on a tour of the facility, seeing how they store the apples, wash them, sort them into #1 and #2 apples, package the #1’s, and make cider from the #2’s. I was thoroughly interested in the machines they have rigged to do so much of the work.
Of course, the kids are never most interested in the “main event.” They loved the hay bale maze and the pens of farm animals (I hesitate to call it a petting zoo since two of the main attractions were goats and a male turkey that must have gotten very tired of “strutting his stuff”).
Hale Farm and Village
October 14, 2009 at 6:10 pm (Family)
We spent the afternoon on Saturday with Grandma Tyrrell, Aunt Holly, Brianna, and Brooke. After a quick lunch at Chick-fil-a (none of the girls ever entered play land – can you imagine!), we all went over to Hale Farm and Village for their Harvest Festival.
Suzie making apple butter.
We enjoyed learning how to make apple butter and apple juice – and I came away quite thankful for modern conveniences like… well, the grocery store! We were also able to go into homes, a meeting house, and a school house from the 1860’s (all original buildings from the Ohio area). The girls enjoyed hearing a re-enactor tell the story of Johnny Appleseed.
Grandma Tyrrell and all the cousins
National Death To Chickens Day
October 13, 2009 at 3:42 pm (Family)
This is what the girls have been calling this past Sunday. Why in the world, you ask?
Well, my husband spent Sunday afternoon and evening butchering chickens. His friend Dan purchased 25 meat chickens this summer, and he asked Jake if he wanted to go halves with him. Jake’s task was really rather easy. The chickens stayed at Dan’s house, where Dan fed them, moved their pen around (they were free-range, you know), and protected them from murdering raccoons. Jake did help to build the pen, but his big part came on Sunday when it was time to butcher them. Sounds pretty gross to me, but Jake said with was good man-time with his buddy Dan (his best friend from high school – they are so happy to be reunited after being apart for the past 12 years or so!).
Birthday Cakes
October 6, 2009 at 7:45 am (The Girls)
Though not at all impressive, I did want to show the birthday cakes I made for each of the girls this past year, for the sake of all of the family that was not here to celebrate with us. I took the first Wilton cake decorating class about 6 years ago, so I only know the basics. It helps with birthdays, though. I steal lots of ideas from Family Fun and the internet.
Suzie – 3rd birthday. She wanted a “wedding cake.”
Ellie – 5th birthday. We honored her bunny, who is now more gray than pink and missing an eye, but still very much loved.
Ruthie – 7th birthday. She wanted a bear cake. I admit that it is perhaps more like a dog! She was just happy that there was candy and gum on the cake.
Rachel – 9th birthday. Rachel is easy to please – she just wanted candy on the cake! The gift tag was made by Ellie.
Welcome, Trinity Grace!
October 5, 2009 at 8:17 am (The Girls)
There is another new baby in the house. In May, Ruthie adopted a baby girl, and Rachel did the same this past week.
We made the trip to Hartville Collectibles where the babies were waiting in the nursery. Rachel knew the baby girl she wanted right away – love at first sight! She had spent a lot of time on the internet carefully choosing the perfect name. And here she is…
Trinity Grace
5 lbs, reddish hair, brown eyes
Here is Rachel with her new daughter.
And all of our girls and the two baby cousins – Trinity and Maggie!
Rachel says, “It was so fun! I was very excited. I got to put baby powder on her so that she smells like a real baby. At home, I bought clothes for her, and Mommy gave me a few hats and outfits. I am so glad I got a baby!”
