It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year.

It is October in Ohio!

This is my favorite time of year in Ohio. The weather is perfect with cool nights and warm days. I find myself taking the long way to places so I can see the new colors that seem to change every day. The only problem is that it goes too fast. Autumn doesn't seem to last as long as the rest of the seasons. So I'll just take a few extra drives, keep my camera in my purse, and enjoy life in Ohio.

Last month was just too much fun. We had our little 'extra' girls here for a little over two weeks and then the day after they left we picked up Layne's sisters Jill & Holly from the airport. They got to stay for a week. We had such a great time. Found great places to eat, shop, and play. They knew that I was so tired after doing the seven kid thing and we didn't get to do much for our anniversary, so they sent us away for the night. We went to Columbus and had a fabulous meal at PF Chang's...and then....at 8:30 I passed out in the hotel and slept and slept and slept. I think Layne found some ballgame and a movie to flip between to keep him company.

THANK YOU HOLLY & JILL!!

Layne is NOT going to love that I put this picture on here because I took it just a few hours after his nose got hit with an elbow in a backyard football game with the neighborhood kids. It is quite swollen. He won't let me take any more pictures of it now, but I'll just say that he has two pretty good black eyes and the doctor told him today that the bone is just cracked and it should all heal up okay. Right when it happened it had a huge bulge and was the wrong color. If he took his contacts out and put his glasses on, the lenses would have been up on his forehead. I would have paid money to see what he looked like in his safety glasses at work the next day. But it is getting better. We just need to get the old guy a helmet.

Today is a perfect autumn day so I decided to make a couple of yummy things I'd been wanting to eat.

I have been wanting to make my own sliders. If you aren't from the Midwest you may not know what they are. (Although, I think they are also found in the Northeast and South.) They are tiny little hamburgers. They are about the size of a silver dollar. I bought a caramelized onion and balsamic spread to put on them with a tiny piece of provolone cheese. Can you say YUMMY!?! So that made lunch extra great today and then I just had to use the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls.

I guess I've caught you up on everything. Now I need to get ready to go to a youth dance. I always drag my feet getting there, but after we are there I always end up having a fun time. Have a great weekend!!

Finally Four!

How fun is this for your birthday?

Not only is he not feeling well, but I didn't get one good picture of him opening his gifts this morning and we haven't even gotten close to singing and eating cake.....so for now here is our tribute to Juddy.

J - Joy

U - Unique

S - Silly
T - Teaser
I - Intelligent
N - Nonstop


Since March he has been asking for a scooter for his birthday. We figured if he stuck to his guns on that request for six months we should try to get him one. So we'll get some pictures of him on his Spiderman Scooter soon.

(BTW-he didn't get to invite his five girl friends over, although he did tell us who they were last night, and there were five of them. YIKES)

Cake & Girlfriends

What would you do for a gallon of milk and a few containers of Stage 1 baby food?

I guess I decided that I'd do most anything because I took the 4 youngest kids to Wally's to do a little shopping.

In our store they place a cart of day old bakery stuff that is on sale over by the milk and egg area. Mauri saw a cake on the cart. She yelled out that she wanted cake. Before I could respond Justin yells right back, "NO! We are having cake on Sunday when I invite my 5 girlfriends over for my birthday."

About then my eyeballs rolled back in my head wondering where he gets this stuff and if he could have said it any louder. Then I hear a lady behind us rolling in laughter. I looked around and she came up to me and asked if he just said that he has five girl friends. I was so happy to find someone that was willing to smile at me and told her she heard right. We saw her a couple isles later and she was still laughing.

So thank you nice, older lady. I'm glad that we were able to make someone smile at Wal-Mart.

Fun Times

We've been so busy around here doing such fun stuff I thought I'd share some of it with you.

A couple weeks ago we went up to Sandusky, Ohio to Cedar Point. What a fun amusement park. My mom would L.O.V.E. love it because they have "Planet Snoopy" for the little kids.


Layne took Josie & Todd to the bigger rides so nearly all the pictures I have are of Mitch & Justin.

Here is the Kite Eating Tree. It was funny to see it drop and the eye balls of all those little kids pop open. Mitch was more afraid than Justin. He's always been scared of heights.Here is proof that these are Aunt Geri's blood relatives. Yummmy drinks. (refer to Geri's Sept. 10th post)







We visited Lake Erie. We needed a whole week here. Maybe next year.

And right now we are happy to have three cute additions to our family.

Scott & Mitzi went to China for a couple of weeks and we got to keep their three youngest little girls. Mauri (3), Maymi (2), and Mylei (7mts). What a fun time we are having.

So what are my thoughts about having seven children?

1. You really should try to have them one at a time.

2. Scheduling can get hairy sometimes.

3. Someone is always hungry or thirsty.

4. Everything that happens is an 'accident'.

5. I get tired much faster than I used to.

6. We have missed having a baby in the house.

7. It is F-U-N!!

Everyone Smile

Yesterday, as I sat in church, I flipped my scriptures open and saw a quote inside the front cover.

"Are you happy? Then tell your face."

Do you love the movie Elf? My family sure does and I love the line..."Smiling is my favorite". Someone once told me to go find a mirror and smile at yourself at least once a day. Try it. It is kind of goofy, but sometimes it is just what I need.

Here are a couple of things, off the top of my head, that slaps an instant smile on my face:

*Little kids laughing.
*Baby kitties.
*Canning lids sealing.
*Padlocks. (I can not explain my strange reaction to them.)
*Love letters.
*An awesome sale.
*Friends and family.

What makes you smile?

Come and Gone

This is how I know summer is almost over....

*school is back in session

*there are too many tomatoes and pears on my counter

*the garden is getting empty

*canning supplies haven't been put away for a couple weeks

*my boys are picking apples

We had a great summer and here are a couple of highlights...

Lots of swimming. It was good to see Mitch enjoy himself this year. He's been a little (okay, a lot) scared of water till now. I must share a story.

Last year we talked him into jumping off the diving board with his swimming class. So it was his turn and he got to the edge of the board. His teacher was in the water waiting for him. It became obvious that he wasn't going to jump. I was across the pool so I walked over there, yelling at him to jump. After about FIVE minutes everyone at the pool was chanting "Mitch, Mitch, Mitch...". I was yelling at him at this point and bribing him with DQ. The next thing we knew he is on his hands and knees. Then some how, and to this day I don't know how this happened, he was holding on the board with his fingers and toes. Yes, he was now underneath the diving board hanging on, like a monkey. I was more than mad and embarrassed and he was scared to death. His teacher finally peeled his toes off and he hung there by his fingers till he finally lost feeling in them. At that point I gathered up all the kids and we went home.

This year we are proud to announce that Mitch jumped off the diving board several times (with his teacher waiting for him, and yes, it was the same teacher) and down the slide all by himself! Yay Mitch!

One more swimming note. I got smart this year and put Judd in a life jacket as soon as we would get there. Last year I had to pull him from the bottom of the pool TWICE. Did I mention I was fully clothed both times? Wow, he could jump in there fast! I didn't have a chance.

We had a fun day playing in the mud. Is there anything more fun? Looks like Todd & his buddy Jonathan already cleaned up but Mitch and Judd are still covered head to toe. It must have been cold to clean off.

Anther really fun time was the day before school started. On August 19th Josie hosted the neighborhood children to a Coleman Back-Yard Olympics. She had laminated signs at each event station (about 10 of them). There was shot put, javelin, a triathlon (bike ride, running, end in the kiddy pool), and discus throw to name a few of the events. Here are some photos. They ended with an awards ceremony (medals made from canning lids) and lunch. She did such an awesome job and had the kids separated into age groups so they all had a chance to do well. It was enjoyed by all.

Now we are back in school. Josie is in the 8th grade, Todd is in the 6th grade, Mitch is in the 2nd grade, and Judd is still home with me. He watches the clock so he can be ready when "his friends" get home.

Summer was fun.