Monday, October 31, 2011

roff roff roff

That's Everett's doggie imitation. He love dogs. I'd say besides mama and daddy, his best friends are our dogs. He chases them around the house, tries to ride them (never works), tries to eat his food like them, and yells doggie! doggie! doggie! in the morning until they make their way into his room for a good morning kiss. Needless to say, his Halloween costume was a no brainer. It helped that my sister gave us the perfect little dog costume to wear (thanks Erika)!  I wanted to make sure that Everett would wear the costume, so for weeks he's been trying it on, playing in it, etc. so that I had no doubt he'd wear it for Halloween.

Last year, we didn't really do trick or treating. He dressed up, but that was about it. Everett was just a little peanut. Side note--- was he seriously ever that little?!




This year was a different story. We went trick-or-treating with our cousins and friends the Riggs fam. We went around their neighborhood to a few houses, hit up Aunt Nancy's house, and then headed out to the farm to see Great Grandpop and the Windles. It only took Everett a little while to understand what he was collecting and quickly proceeded to pleeeease us into getting the goods. The kids were so funny. By the time we got to Grammie and Grandpop's house they were so buzzed on sugar they were literally bouncing off the walls and each other. They were running in circles dancing, yelling, wrestling, and just being generally, all around crazy. It was great. I wish I would've videoed it. Such fun memories.






take #1 of about 30

it's the best we got ;) 

Great Grandpop

hopped up on sugar. notice the chocolate all over my chin...

Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

mental notes

It seems like Everett has been taking mental notes lately. I didn't even realize he was paying attention. At least not to the extent that he seems to now be remembering and applying things. Case in point- Providence (my church) has a large focus on community outreach. To that end, one outreach focuses specifically on skateboarders through the building of a skate park on the church grounds. The park is always open and so after church Everett has watched those skateboarders riding, doing tricks, etc. Skip to Barnes and Nobles a few weeks later. We were playing at the train table. Everett zeroed in on an empty train car, put it on the ground and started trying to jump on it. I kept correcting him because he was trying to jump and step on the toy and then it dawned on me- he was trying to skateboard! He spent a good 20 minutes "skateboarding." Since then we've found him trying to skateboard on everything from his little xylophone to his wagon.





Last week, Everett and I hung out with my dear friend Sara and her hubby Keith. Everett calls them Rara and Titi (read Keithie haha) We went to a homecoming bonfire and then hit up Target for a pumpkin spice latte and a little retail therapy. Fast forward to Saturday when I returned that retail therapy to Target.  As soon as we pulled up Everett started shouting Rara! Rara! Thank goodness we were only returning something because he said her name over and over again until we left :) It was adorable and crazy to me that he would remember and associate Target (and a completely different store for that matter) with Sara.

It got me to thinking- if he's able to pick up on things like that, what else is he paying attention to?  Not that I wasn't already, but it really made me think about my actions even more knowing that Everett is taking mental notes. That's a lot of pressure if you think about it! So here's praying for patience, wisdom, and that God's grace would fill in the gaps in this crazy adventure called parenthood.

Monday, October 24, 2011

a case of the mondays?

Mondays were hard last year. I felt like I had a case of the Mondays every Monday. It was the day that I missed Everett the most. It was the morning I didn't get to see him because he was staying at my in-laws. I think Mondays are long regardless of your situation. It's the first day back and furthest day from the weekend. My Mondays are different this year. It's still not my favorite day because Aaron isn't home with us, but it's not a day that I dread anymore. What's to dread when I get to wake up to this adorable little face?!



This morning was pretty awesome. I have been sick since Friday. Getting up and out of bed has been really hard. My sweet husband got up with Everett on Saturday and Sunday because he knew I felt like crap. This morning I was exhausted. Everett usually gets up between 745-8. This morning I woke to my sweet kid talking in his room at 8:45. I love that boy. Seriously- who let's their mama sleep that long and just happily talk in his crib until I drag myself out of bed 15 minutes after hearing him? Everett, that's who. So, Mondays, they're feeling pretty good these days.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

animal obsession

Everett loves animals. I'd say he's obsessed. He sleeps with his stuffed doggie (and monkey and other assorted farm animals), chases our real dogs around the house while trying to hug and kiss them, wants to read his animal books over and over again, and tries to kiss every single animal he sees (ick). Aside from dogs, I'd say that Everett loves horses the most. I think it stems from seeing them so much over the summer at Grammie's house. There is a pasture that they rent out to horses and Everett saw the horses every time we went swimming over the summer. He even makes a clicking sound every time he sees them. So, I decided it was high time we went and saw some animals up close and personal- farm style. This week we had not one, but two playdates that involved animals, a friend, and a really cute little girl!

Monday, we hit up Springton Manor Farm with my friend Sara and her daughter Nora. Everett LOVED it. There are wide open spaces for the kids to run, fences to climb on, and a barn and fields full of different animals. They were in their glory!



hahaha this just makes me laugh




oh hello



Nora girl
intent on driving that john deere



On Tuesday, we met up with our friends Katie and Emeline. They showed us a sweet little farm with tons of animals to pet. There was a turkey on the loose and kiddos too. I think our favorites were the baby pigs. So cute!

can I seriously pet these mom?

my fave

curls galore





making the pumpkin into a bat of course


I'm so thankful for friends, sunny weather, and fun places to take Everett. It's been a good week :)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

bakefest 2011

It's been a busy baking week around these parts. Friday was my man's birthday.  He loves pumpkin and anything pumpkin flavored for that matter and so began bakefest 2011. I had seen so many good recipes for pumpkin stuff and was dying to try some of the recipes. Friday morning I made Aaron pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  I mixed the dry ingredients the night before and woke up early to finish them for his breakfast. I never get up that early anymore, but it was nice to lay there with my birthday boy and watch some early morning netflix ... haha I'm forcing him to catch up with me on Friday Night lights. Anyway, that afternoon I made him his traditional pumpkin pie. Every year for his birthday his request is his very own pie. I'm not one of those "i love pumpkin pie people" which I'm pretty sure Aaron loves because he is stingy with that thing! Saturday I ended up making Crockpot Buffalo Chix recipe that I found on pinterest. Aaron loves hot, spicy, and anything with Frank's red hot on it. These were BLAZING hot and toned down a little with some cheese on the sandwich. Aaron liked them when he wasn't breathing fire... Sunday I crossed another thing off of my fall fun list- making pumpkin pancakes. I decided to finish off Aaron's birthday weekend with some more pumpkin love. I made this recipe and they were great. It was almost like pumpkin pie in a pancake. They were really filling and the recipe made a TON, so if you make these plan on inviting friends for breakfast or freezing a whole lot of them! Add in 2 meals for friends that had babies recently and I was a baking fool this week. It's funny though, I am loving it. I've always enjoyed cooking and now that I've got some more time for it, I'm enjoying it even more. Well, I'm off--- more baking to do. No seriously, I'm bringing muffins for bible study tomorrow.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

some chevron action

Just call me a curtain snob. I can't help it. After my mom and I made my DIY curtains for the living room I just couldn't find store made curtains for the dining room that I liked. I looked everywhere, but they were all just disappointing. (Enter fabric.com) I found this online website for fabric and got free shipping and a crazy good deal on fabric for my new dining room curtains. I'll expand on the website another day. Add in a yard sale with friends that I made some cash and my $25 worth of curtain fabric was covered. Last week while in Pittsburgh my mom helped (read: did them all herself save my cutting efforts) hem the fabric. We decided that the last curtains were A LOT of work and decided that just hemming them and then clipping them up would be just as good. Here's the final product. I love it even more than I thought I would! The blue shows up almost neutral from the other room, but brings a little chevron love and some interest to my otherwise boring dining room.

chevron love

the curtains look almost neutral from the living room

nice view if you can see past the grill ;)



Kai loves the curtains too

closest to the actual color



*Sorry that every picture has a grill in the background... it's poor for picture placement but super convenient for making dinner!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

how bout them apples

Last week, I checked off apple picking from my fall fun list. It was a perfect fall day and a perfect morning for picking. Everett and I went to Weavers Orchard with my sweet friend and her girls. Weavers is pretty much amazing with acres of farmland filled with rows and rows of trees. The kids ate their fill of apples and helped "pick" a few. Everett loved it and especially loved stopping to pet the animals on the way back to the car. It was a great morning, just like you hope for when you make a list of fun stuff to do. It was one of those mornings that the pictures actually tell the story of the morning and how much fun we had (despite the fact that half of them were taken from my cell phone after my nice camera died). Here's to hoping for more fun fall stuff and a charged camera battery next time!





one of my favorites
yum yum

a few with mommy



all in a days work

Friday, October 7, 2011

a trip to the burgh and the coolest kids museum. ever

Being a full time mom has some serious perks and one of them is the freedom to make my own schedule. We try to go to Pittsburgh as often as we can, but have always been limited by our jobs. Now I can go to Pittsburgh for long weekends like I did this last week. My parents took off a few days from work and Everett and I were able to just spend time with my family and friends.

Sunday I got to watch the Steelers game with some of my bests Amy, Lauren, and Leah. The Steelers lost (boo) but it was great seeing Lauren and Matt's new house and hanging out with my sweet friends.


Aunt Amy and Aunt Lauren


cheesing in my new jersey from Aunt Laur


Monday my parents and sister Erika took us to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. It was seriously the coolest place I've been to with Everett yet. There was so much to do a kid could get ADD from it. Seriously though, if you are ever are in Pittsburgh with kids, go there. They will love it.

they had an entire area for art. i loved the screenprinting

all of the impressive kids art

this was seconds before Everett stuck his hand in the paint ;)
the final product

climbing the maze with Aunt E


driving with Mimi, Pop pop, and Aunt E

sand stuff with Mimi


not impressed with the hat

first of many golf lessons with Pop


gigantic light bright

favorite part = water floor... anyone surprised?





Of course while we were there my mom helped me sew something. My house would be so boring without her :)  Everett decided he would help too. You'll see the final product and where these will go soon.


And finally, on Wednesday, I was able to hang out with my college roomie Natalie and meet her sweet little boy Samuel. He's almost 3 months old and looks just like his daddy. Everett loved him too and kept trying to hug and kiss him in his swing. Nat is like super mommy. She had baked french toast casserole and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for when I got there. She's an amazing Mama already - Samuel is a lucky kid!

Everett 19 months, Samuel 3 months (almost)

Aunt Kat and Samuel

a couple of Geneva babies

We had such a great trip to Pittsburgh and can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving!