Weekly Happenings - 10/5 - 10/17

Two-week catch-up and I'm quite sure I will miss some things but here we go!

1.  We had a really quiet weekend the first weekend during this time and it was great!  One day we went to the park / playground TWICE and we even had a picnic at the playground outside Deanna Rose - a big hit with the little people!

2.  Here is Garrison's soccer picture from this season.  So serious looking!  He has LOVED soccer this year and done really well.  Whenever he had a chance to be on the field, he ran hard and got in on the plays a lot.  He never scored a goal but did get the ball to his teammates in a few matches and overall had a ton of fun!

3.  We got a tankless hot water heater a few months ago and I finally got around to cleaning out the jets in our big tub so the kids got to take a bath in the big tub with the jets running - they thought it was the best!  They dove under the water since it was so deep, swam around and played for 30 minutes!

4.  Royals Fever has hit us again this fall and we couldn't be more excited (despite Garrison's face in the below picture!).  We have watched games at home, with our neighbors projected on a garage door, and at friends' houses.  

5.  Daddy had a birthday this past week and we started it off right with a donut cake and coffee for breakfast!  The kids were super pumped for the donut cake and later that day we baked Daddy his favorite, cherry coffee cake!

6.  On Daddy's birthday, Garrison had his fall field trip to the cider mill.  Since Peyton was out of school, we both were able to join in on the fun!  The tour was great, we learned out to make cider donuts and cider, a hayride, picked pumpkins, and played on a great playground!  What an awesome day!!!

7.  On Friday night, we went to celebrate Chad's birthday with friends at Top Golf!  We had an awesome night playing games and enjoying dinner - it was perfect.  After golf, we even went on to Coaches for an late night drink before heading home.  The fire pit on a cool evening was very relaxing!  Thanks to the Hockers and Scholtes for joining us. 

8.  While we were away on Friday night, Garrison & Peyton kept an eye on Grammy & Grandpa!  They went out to Burger King for dinner (and playtime at the play place) and decorated a cake for Daddy's birthday.  I think there may have been more sprinkles on the cake than cake itself but they had fun!  We also went to Cinzetti's to a tasty birthday meal - yummy!

9.  On Saturday, Garrison had his last soccer game and he did great!  He also had a huge cheering section with Daddy, Mommy, Peyton, Grammy and Grandpa Arthur and Grandma & Grandpa Todd all there to cheer for him.  What a lucky boy!  It was a little chilly but a great end to a fun season.  Garrison brought the drinks so he got to help pass them to his teammates!

10.  On Saturday afternoon, we went to one of our neighbor's 3rd birthday parties - look at this crew, they had so much fun together!!

11.  On Sunday we went to Lexington to celebrate Morgan's birthday but beforehand we stopped by Nana & Papa's for a visit and to Grandma & Grandpa Todd's for a tasty lunch to continue celebrating Daddy's birthday!  Then we were off to Morgan's house for his party.  The weather was beautiful so we had fun playing with the cousins and uncles outside before cake and presents for the party.  The kids were so tired they managed to take a short nap on the way home!

12.  Last, but not least, our weekend was wrapped-up with a visit from a traveling petting zoo and it was awesome!  A tortoise, camel, kangaroo, zdonk (zebra / donkey), goats, a calf, pig, and so many more!  The kids were able to feed and pet all of the animals, even a skunk!  Wow!!

Weekly Happenings - 9/28 - 10/4

1.  One evening when I was working late, Chad worked with the kids on some "homework" and Garrison prated writing his name.  Wow - he has improved so much in the last few months!  As of July, he really wasn't interested in even holding a pencil.  This week, he made Gs (backwards), a great A, I, O and N.  His S was improving as well.  What a big boy!!

2.  For the last couple of weeks, Garrison has had a rough cough.  Unfortunately Friday night, his cough only got worse and he was up several times in the night.  Saturday morning, we decided to take him to the Dr. and found out that he had a respiratory infection.  Poor guy!  He has, however, decided that being sick wasn't the worst thing and milked it for all it was worth.  For example, Peyton was on the couch but he wanted to lay down on it.  "Peyton, I'm sick, I need the couch."  Hilarious!  I must admit, it was nice to have a little extra cuddle time with our ever busy preschooler!!

3.  Garrison was supposed to have a soccer game on Saturday but since he was not feeling great we decided it wasn't a great idea for him to run around outside in the cool temperatures.  By the time we made the call, Grammy & Grandpa were already near the city as they had some stops on the way so they came by the house to visit for a bit and have lunch with us.  We tried a new (to most of us) place - Burnt Ends BBQ and man it was tasty!  Grammy, Peyton & I also snuck in a trip to Costco in the morning.

4.  All in all, we spent most of the weekend just hanging around the house.  The kids had fun just playing with each other and with us.  The giggles that ensued from the picture below were priceless!  We also filled our weekend with watching a little TV outside with a fire and s'mores and decorating of white pumpkins with glow in the dark paint for an activity at Garrison's school (Light the Night).    

5.  Also - on Sunday we fixed our first pot of chili for the winter and it was a hit with everyone!  Peyton helped me pull the chili together, Garrison was our official taste tester and everyone enjoyed it for both lunch and dinner!  I also tried to get ahead of the game a bit for the week and cooked an extra dinner tonight for the fridge.  Here's to hoping dinners this week are a little easier and smoother as we have a hectic week this week!!

Weekly Happenings - 9/21 - 9/27

1.  It's that time of year again - school picture time!!  Peyton's smile is still not her natural smile (notice the missing dimple!) but better than last year's.  Love the outfit she picked out for pictures - adorable!!

2.  On Saturday, Daddy ended up needing to work much of the day so we decided to check-out Deanna Rose's Pumpkin Hollow for our Saturday activity.  Grammy came up to join us and we had a fantastic day exploring the farm and the pumpkin patch!  We started with riding the ponies and feeding goats before we caught the hayride back to the patch.  We were excited to have a hayride all to ourselves!  Since we got to the pumpkin patch early, it wasn't crowded at all!  The kids loved the corn maze, shoe/foot golf, life-size checkers (Peyton beat me!) and a tractor ride.  Of course, the kids loved picking up their pumpkins too!  After the ride back to the farm, the kids talked us into having lunch at the farm which was topped off with an ice cream cone!  Next up was rest time and then Peyton had a playdate with her friend Claire while Garrison finished his rest.  

3.  Sunday was Family Funday for our family and it was the best!  We started our day with a morning movie to see Hotel Transylvania 2 which the kids had seen advertised on TV.  They did GREAT and loved the movie!  Of course, the snacks from the theater may have been the biggest hit but all in all we had a great time!

4.  Sunday evening we were greeters at church and the kids keep doing better every time we serve!  Both kids stood outside and greeted people as they came in saying "Good Evening."  Peyton is also paying attention so much more at church and participating in the service which is great!  The kids also said one time this week, "You know Mom, I really love God a lot."  These little tidbits remind me how important it is to keep up with encouraging them in their faith!