Fall Happenings...

Lots of fall activities in the last week! This post may get long, as I have 3 big things to share! The above picture is from the apple Orchards last week. Dave's sis, Heidi, and her two girls, and the boys and I headed over to the Denver Apple Orchard. It's perfect for kids our ages. They let you pick your own apples, it's not too big, and it's 20 minutes away! It was really pretty out there and we had fun getting apples together. These four hardly sit still long enough to snap a photo...the above is as close as I could get! We love having all our kids cousins so close! There is nothing better then a nice fall afternoon in Iowa spent at an apple orchard.

Austin liked eating apples when we weren't looking :)

Jaxon insisted he was strong enough to carry both buckets!

Next up is...Pumpkin Farm with Jaxon's Preschool class! I got to go along to the pumpkin farm with Jaxon and his preschool class. It was really neat to see him relate amongst his peers and hang out with his old buddy, Gabe. They are in the same class and they just love each other. It is really cool to see your children develop relationships with their peers and find friendship with one another. Jaxon had a blast and talked about it all night at dinner. It was weird to be a "parent chaperone/volunteer" with the preschool. I remeber being the teacher and it was odd to have switched roles in just a few short years. His teachers are great and they did a nice job organizing a fun day for the kids!


I'm not sure which Jaxon was more excited for...the pumpkin farm or the BUS RIDE! he was pumped even more when he saw it was BLUE!! Talk about easy pleasing!

Jaxon and good buddy Gabe

And, last but not least... the BARN DANCE!!!

That's right...I said Barn Dance! There was a fundraiser barn dance & auction for a camp that many of the Longfellow kids attend in the summer. (Longfellow is where Dave used to coach soccer until the school closed this year) The camp is for under resourced kids to come and just be a kid. Forget the tough things going on at home and just enjoy their childhood a bit on this ranch! The camp offers great leaders/councelors/programs to teach, love, and nurture these children. The kids love it and I'm happy we could be a part of the cowboy night! The Barn Dance was at a beautiful ranch here in the Cedar VAlley. It was really amazing! Above is my friend Kris and below with Dave is her hubby, Mark.. We all went together with some other friends from church. It was quite the boot scooting night! We didn't mess around dressing for the part either!! (-:

8 days apart

Addelyn and Austin... 9 months old and only 8 days apart. I still remember Kris telling us she was pregnant...and I remember telling Dave we were having another baby with Kris sitting on the couch with us! The Hoskinson's lived with us during this time and it was pretty fun to have two preggo's in the house for a couple months! We couldn't help but take some pictures of the two babes together! Of course getting them to look at the same time and smile was another story!?!?

Mom & Dad need breaks too!

We have been adjusting to our fall schedule as it is slowing down tremendously after our month or so intense busy time at DTI. This is the first year both Dave and I have been employed by the same company and we did not predict the toll that would take on us as we battled through the busiest time of year together...as co-workers and as parents. End of July through end of August or so is DTI's "crunch" time of year and we both put in a lot of extra hours to keep up. Usually, we could juggle or hand off some shared duties around the house while one or the other is unusually busy. This time...well, lets just say we didn't invite a lot of visitors over for dinner much since the kitchen was rarely cleaned! I finally feel like we are recapturing control of the house and our sleeping time! Whew! After an end to our busy summer we both made plans for some trips with our friends :)
For me, this meant a day trip with the girls. For Dave, this meant a weekend long trip with the guys. Apparently he needs a little more time away to recuperate...or he just can't handle having mom gone for more then a day with the kids by himself :) To be honest, 1 day away is plenty for me...I miss my kids by evening anyways! Some girlfriends and I headed to DesMoines for the day. It was a great day to spend with the girls doing not much of anything...some shopping, some eating, some chatting, some sitting. It was a great day! I had saved up some birthday money and even did a little spending on...myself! I usually buy for my kids when I spend and it was fun to shop for myself a bit. A little selfish of me, but I enjoyed it for the day :-) I am a woman who needs some time to just connect with the girls (especially when I live with a house full of boys!) and this day trip was just what my body and soul needed! Thanks girls!
Dave headed to Nashville and on the way down the guys stopped in St Loius for a Cardinals game. They went to the Vikings game in Nashville and stayed at a friend's place. From what I've heard...they had a great time too. Dave was tired when he returned, but ready to plunge back into normal life after he got back. A perfect get away for the both of us! We both feel so blessed to have such great friends to do special things like this with. We're already thinking of next years location for our day (or weekend) away! Whoo-hoo!

A walk in the park...

What is the old saying... it's as easy as a walk in the park? I was thinking about this as the boys and I strolled through Hartman Reserve this last weekend. I was referring to the fact that it should be so easy to find time to make moments like these with our kids... I love quiet moments when there are no distractions and no running off to something and no phones to be answered and no televisions to stomp out our conversation opportunities and to-do lists to live by... I don't even have kids in "school activities" yet and I feel the pressure to protect our family time and quality time spent, simply together. We had one of those moments early Saturday morning at Hartman and I was reminded of just how intentional we need to be to provide these moments in not only our kids lives, but moms and dads too. Even when we're "just at home" I want to work on being intentional about providing an environment where we are together...not one of us in front of one TV, another in the kitchen, and another couple in a toy room. My new goal (or old goal just being revisited!!) is to be aware of the things that distract us from being together as a family. And, taking action to avoid these distractions or redirecting our focus as a family. I want to make everyday be memorable in the little ways... one would think this is a walk in the park. I think it can be... I just need to make it habit- to avoid or limit distractions that intersect with good family time or togetherness. Check back in a few months and see how I'm doing! Seriously, I could use some accountability!!
Here's a few shots from our early morning at Hartman. Our first hike around the park since Austin was here in person and not just in my tummy :) I'm going to turn my computer off now so I'm not tempted to come back to it until later tonight when the kids are in bed- a step towards not being distracted!!!

Today + Austin = 9 Months Old!

Jaxon and Austin really do play well together. Jaxon is usually eager to help Austin find a toy or to make him laugh or to help him from one spot to another. I hope this picture is a feel for what lies ahead for these two... a life-time of being friends and brothers.

Austin weighed in today at 21.5 pounds! He actually lost a little weight :)

Austin LOVES to be outside still. He crawls all over the yard these days looking for something interesting to pull or put in his mouth.

Austin's new thing is "so big". It's so funny to watch him play by himself. He will get excited and then just throw his arms up like this..."so big". When Jaxon plays football and scores sometimes Ausitn does this...we call it his touch down dance :) Of course, two of his favorite toys here...my cell phone and a football.

Austin is walking along all our furniture these days. If you look quick enough, you'll catch him standing by himself for a few seconds. Jaxon was walking at 10 months old...perhaps that is in the near future for this one too??? So crazy to think that!

So Happy and So Big!

This is Austin and a little buddy, Boaz Bartlett. I have a cute picture of them both looking at the camera, but this one really captures Austin's excitment that day to see Boaz. Austin kept tyring to "kiss" and "hug" on Boaz. (a.k.a. sucking on and crawling on him and head banging on him :)

He randomly throws his arms up when eating... food is good!

So, I let Ausitn try to feed himself the other day... it was hilarous. He loved the spoon and the bowl on his tray. He kept looking at me like "can I really stick my hands in this"? Needless to say...we had a mid-day bath after this meal!

Austin is on his way to 1 year old already. Where does the time go? This year has been so great as we've prepared for this baby boy and welcomed him into our lives. Babies are such a gift from Above and this one has blessed our family so much. We love having him here and are just really loving this life with two beautiful, healthy, and growing little boys!

Making Memories...

Making memories is easy...it's the recording, scrap-booking, and picture album part of them that takes so stinkin long! In an attempt to keep up with the wonderful moments in our life, I'm going to try this new thing. I take SO many pictures and the thought of printing them, organizing them, getting them into albums, and spending money on all of that...is well, overwhelming sometimes. It's not that I don't like doing all those things. Actually, if I had all the time in the world and money to spend I actually love to scrap-book and put albums in order. But, my time is pretty valuable to me and I have a lot of other things going on that I don't want to miss...so I'm trying this new thing!
As I posted below...Jaxon & I have been having fun with the movie maker on our computer. We've played around a bit and are sort of figuring things out. My new goal is to put together a short video of the kids 3-4 times a year. Summer season, Fall & Winter, and Spring time. This way I can capture a handful of pictures and moments and put it into an easy to watch video/slide show. I don't have to spend money on albums, don't have to store all my albums, spend money on over printing, and this is something Jaxon and I do together. It was fun to pick pictures out as he sat on my lap or right next to me on his stool. Since this was "our" project I even let him choose some music. I, of course, had a great Keith Urban tune picked out to go along with this video with a great verse that sang something about "these days"...it was great... BUT, this is OUR project so when I ran that idea by Jaxon and then offered him the chance to bring his ideas... he brought me his Larry & Bob CD, Wee Songs CD, and Piano Lullabye CD. Hmmm. Not exactly what I was thinking to really catch my emotions as I watched...but Larry & Bob it is! I apologize for the high pitched tunes with this video, but it forever will leave the imprint that Jaxon had a say in this first completed video! For those of you confused by who Larry & Bob are... they are a tomatoe and a cucumber who find themselves in the hearts and heads of many of our little ones. Incredibly annoying at times, but great role models for our little sprouts! Ha! So...here's to making memories and remembering them! Enjoy!!
(side note: when watching the video it is over at 4:29 min/sec... the music played twice and that is why it says it is 10 minutes long. it's really not. it's over at the 4:29 mark!- a learning step as we go here... :)

Live Hansen Footage

Jaxon and I have been playing around with our movie maker on our computer. He likes to see what we can put together and I like to try and create fun videos of our boys. Here is one of our first attempts as we were learning what we are doing!! (I do not claim to have any creative skills when it comes to this sort of stuff!!!)
This is live footage from the Hansen's this summer! Jaxon is quite the little fish and during the Olympics he insisted I call him Michael Phelps when we were at the pool :) Austin & Jaxon are "playing" more and more together as Austin gets older... and, last...Austin had a great "worm" style of crawling before he went to the full crawl for his natural way to get around. I should've taped him earlier when he wormed his way around the house... now he is crawling and walking along our couch everyday! Enjoy the mini-show!