Family Tradition

My family has lots of traditions and they are all very important to me, and I think it's important to pass these traditions on to our kids. This weekend we went to my cousins to make apple butter. My kids are the 6th generation to be a part of this family tradition. We go down on Friday and peel apples all afternoon, and then Saturday morning at 6am the guys get the fire going and we cook the apples for about 5 1/2 hours until they become apple butter. Our family has a big copper kettle that we use to cook the apples. We also have a large wooden paddle to stir the apples with, and the pot has to constantly be stirred or the apples will stick and burn. The kids don't really understand the signifigance of what they are part of yet, but I hope that one day they will enjoy making apple butter as much as I do and pass this on to their kids.

camping trip

We went on a camping trip this past weekend with a big group of friends and family. When they originally planned the trip I thought it would be pretty chilly, but probably still comfortable enough to enjoy the trip. Boy was I wrong! With highs around 90 degrees it felt like summer all weekend. The kids got to go swimming all weekend. Who would have thought we'd be swimming on an October camping trip? The kids had a great time camping. Megan on the other hand is not such a good camper. I think it was just too hot for her to be comfortable and I had to bring her home early. We also all took pumpkins and carved them on Saturday. I am hoping next year we will do this again and the weather will be more fall-like.

Field Trip #2

The kids had another field trip on Friday. This time we went to the pumpkin patch. They had a lot of fun going on a hay ride, and playing on the huge playground, and then picking out a pumpkin. Their school has so many activities every month we are incredibly busy. The kids are having a great time with everything going on, but I'm almost overwhelmed by all that we have to do.

Family Day

Every year Sean's company has a family day. This year it was at Busch Stadium. We get to arrive at the ballpark several hours prior to the game and we can walk the warning track, the kids can run the bases, and a lot of the cardinal players are out signing autographs. They also had the world series trophy out for pictures, and all kinds of other fun things to do. Then we all got to stay for the hoome game that night. The kids had a lot of fun, even though it was hot, and of course Sean had a good time since it was at the ballpark.

8 months old

I realize I'm a few days late with this post, but better late than never. Megan has grown so much in the last month. I don't know if she's actually bigger, but she is definitely less like an infant and quickly transitioning into the toddler stage. She is a really fast crawler and now she's pulling up on the couch and cruising around the living room like she's done it her whole life. She's still not sleeping through the night, but we are so used to that I know it will completely freak me out when it actually does happen. Megan's personality is becoming more apparent every day. She is so funny, and will do something silly just for a laugh. She loves when daddy gets home and she crawls after him and cries if he won't stop and pick her up. Yesterday we decided to try something new with Megan at bath time. She got into the big bathtub for the first time, and she did really well. I'm glad she is big enough for this as it will make bath time much easier.

Just because

It finally cooled off this past weekend, which mad me happy I could start getting out all the cute hats I have for Megan. Here are sonme pictures for you to enjoy!

Field Trips

Since both Emma and Nathan are in school now, we went on two field trips this week. They were both to the same place, but Thursday Nathan's class went and then on Friday Emma's class went. I really wanted to go only one day, but I didn't think it was fair to either child to not go with their class so we went both times. Originally I was going to have someone watch the other two kids while I went on the trip with whichever kid and their class, but those plans fell through, so I took all 3 kids two days in a row. Emma and Nathan were thrilled they got to go twice, and they were well behaved, so it all worked out. Our field trip was to the local firehouse. The fire chief was great with the kids, and we got a tour of the firehouse and then the trucks. The kids got to climb on the truck and then they got to spray a fake fire with the hose. Of course they all got hats and badges as well. One of the firemen dressed up in all his gear so the kids could see what they look like when they are working. That kind of freaked Emma and Nathan out, but they didn't throw a fit at all.