Harvest Palooza

Four bushels of corn. I picked it up at the local fruit and vegetable stand. They simply have the best corn I have ever eaten. As they were loading it into the back of the Suburban, Bruce and Will were saying, "No, don't put it in. We don't want to have to husk it!" They each did probably three ears of corn. Justin was my best helper.

Last year I froze sweet corn for my first time and we loved having it to eat all winter long. This year we froze about 40 quarts. Can't wait to eat this yummy corn year round!

Mmmmm...reminds me of my mom's canned peaches when I was a kid. We've already eaten a jar and they were delicious! Last year my friend helped me can tomatoes so this was technically my second year of canning. However, because she did most of the work, I consider this my first year. I'm afraid of the pressure cooker so I've decided I'll only can things I can do in the water bath.

Canned pears - not my favorite, but variety is the spice of life, right?

The apple picking was awesome this year. The applesauce I made from them is so yummy! I'm sure we don't have enough to last us all winter, but it's so nice to see the jars lined up on the shelves and in the freezer. I didn't take any pictures, but the kids and I also picked strawberries and blueberries this year. We love all of the "u-pick" places. The kids are so proud to eat the food and know that they helped contribute to the bounty. Here's to happy eating...

Toothless

Bruce proudly joined the ranks of his older brothers and sisters and lost his first tooth a few days ago. It was hardly loose, but one morning while eating breakfast, he bit down on his fork a little too hard. That night while he was getting ready for bed he asked Aaron to pull it. I don't think we've ever had a kid ask to have their tooth pulled and be so brave. It took Aaron three tries before he got it out. Bruce had prayed at lunch that day that he would lose his tooth so he could get money from the tooth fairy. Apparently, his prayer worked because the tooth fairy remembered and we had a happy boy the next morning.

Signs of Fall

Fall is my favorite season. Here are a few things I love:

Apple picking. There were so many that it only took us less than half an hour to pick 75 pounds! This is one of our favorite family traditions.

Will and Bruce are on the same soccer team this year and Aaron is their coach. At their first game, Will scored his teams only two goals!

College football, "Buckeye football", need I say more?

Colorful mums

Leaves full of trees - this means lots of leaves to clean up soon (Okay, this is not my favorite part of fall). What do you love about Fall?

Rope swing

It shouldn't come as any surprise that Aaron was the one who was sold on buying our house first. One look at this gigantic playroom and he was ready to move in! I love that he is always coming up with ways to entertain the kids. Last weekend we were at his mom and dad's and he saw this huge rope sitting on the floor. He asked his dad if he could have it. He knew immediately what he wanted to do.

He bought the supplies at Menard's and went to work yesterday morning. The kids have been so excited all week.

As soon as he was done, they had a few of their friends over to play on it. They had so much fun swinging, but we've decided we might need to put a timer out there to reduce the fighting (as if that would help!)

Madelyn had so much fun and did really well holding on.

Of course Bruce would love it - he's our little monkey boy!

Will was so proud that he was able to climb to the top and touch the ceiling.

Justin also made it to the top! Thanks Aaron for being such a fun Dad!

Labor Day weekend

It never fails - when everyone gets together - Aaron's brother Kim brings out his guns. Justin thought it was way cool to shoot the AR and pose for a picture holding this gun.

Aaron's aunt, uncle, and cousin from Texas were all in Ohio visiting, as well as an aunt from Idaho. It was so nice to see them, as well as family in Ohio!

Mama (Aaron's Mom) gave our girls and their cousin, Sam, a ride in the wagon while she mowed the lawn. They must have been in here for close to an hour. They loved it!

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of a breeze. The boys found a few kites and pulled them out. They really had fun flying them. Could this picture be anymore perfect? We were sitting out on the deck that goes out over the pond, surrounded by cornfields. Yep, we're in the midwest.

Monday morning we went to the county fair for a couple of hours. The kids loved seeing the animals. Well, almost loved them. Madelyn was pretty scared of most animals, but the rest of the kids loved them. Naomi was just amazed by everything.