Mas Mexico

Today, we got up really early and took a bus to an ancient Mayan ruin called Tulum. It was really cool.

After Tulum, we drove to Akumal for a cenote - a fresh water area great for snorkeling. We had a great time and got a lot of sun.

Video of a little kayaking and lots of fish under the water.

This is the beach at Tulum. There was a steep staircase to get down to the water which backs up to a cliff - which Steve tried to climb of course!
The bad thing about all this sun and sand - The Boys aren't here! We miss you guys and love you. Behave, and Noah, we wish you luck in your Christmas program tonight. We hate to miss it! :{

!Hola from Mexico!

!Hola! We are having a wonderful time in Mexico. We have been swimming, played volleyball on the beach and we even went kayaking this morning. It's a wonderfully relaxing time in the sun.

Yikes!

This is Noah's back this afternoon. He's very itchy but it seems to come and go. He's getting through it. I think it's worse for me than it is for him. And I'm probably pretty annoying about it. His hand was all bumpy after school today and when I took this picture his arms were getting spotty. Poor guy.

Jakob's Christmas Program

Jakob's 2nd grade Christmas program was last night. His class sang 3 songs. Very cute. The video is about 4 minutes, but it's really adorable.

Hives...

...And no, I don't mean the bee kind. Noah got double ear infections before Thanksgiving and was given Amoxycillan. He finished his course of it and on Saturday afternoon he developed red rashy areas that had what looked like bee stings or mosquito bites in them. They've been coming and going since then, but each time they come back they are worse than the time before. Benedryl seems to help, but it's just sad that he has to go through this again. They are definitely not as bad as when he was 11 months old, but it still sucks! I called the doctor yesterday, and the nurse said that she said it's not from the amox since he stopped taking it before the hives showed up. But what does she know?! I don't know what else it could be. Hopefully, they won't last 3 weeks like before.

Christmas Tree

We got into the Holiday Spirit last week and put up the tree and started to decorate. The boys have advent calendars with chocolate behind each door (thanks, Mom!) We had a bit of a deadline because we were going to have visitors coming for the weekend. But we got it done in time.

Turkey Trot

Steve ran a Turkey Trot 5 miler today in Columbus. It was pretty cold for the boys so we spent most of the time in Starbucks. That is until the sugar from their hot chocolate and cinnamon swirl coffee cake kicked in and they started fogging up the windows and drawing in it. We spent the rest of the time waiting in the car. Steve finished in 42 minutes and won a pumpkin pie.

Since we were in Columbus for the race we decided to stay a few nights - or maybe the other way around. We had an early dinner at McCormick and Schmick's which is a deliciously decadent restaurant. The boys were actually pretty good once we were seated. They got to have ice cream after dinner and Steve and I had pumpkin cheesecake - yum! We got a little silly after dinner and Ben tried to eat a gingerbread boy on a hot chocolate kiosk.

They are currently playing their daily game of football in the hotel room.

Needless to say, I will be making Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday after we get home.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

boredom sets in

The boys are out of school today but it was Ben who got bored and a crazy idea. He, for some reason, likes to have his toenails polished but then likes it taken off right away. He got the idea to do it himself with markers.

Here is the result:

Chef Noah

Noah has been super helpful around dinner time lately. He likes to help (or watch) me make dinner and set the table. And he does a great job. Last night he made the salad for dinner. He cut the lettuce with a special plastic knife and put on the onions and tomatoes. He was very proud of himself. It was delicious and everybody loved it!

November snow

Last Monday was very strange weather-wise. It tried to snow all day. It would go for about 30 minutes with 5 or 6 different types of snow and then stop and start again later. Then about 9pm it snowed enough for this:

Of course it was all gone the next day, but it's a pretty early snow for this area. It snowed again Thursday night and the boys prayed for there to be enough to close school Friday, but I guess the answer was no - but the bus was 20 minutes late so I ended up driving Jakob to school after I took Noah.

food drive barrels

So, tonight, we were talking about what J was going to wear to school in the morning because it's Spirit Day and the kids are supposed to wear Ohio State or Michigan colors because of the big game on Saturday. We were also talking about the food drive barrels they have set up in the cafeteria for the kids to put canned goods in their favorite school's barrel and then it will all go to the food bank. I guess they count the cans at the end (or maybe do a visual assessment) to see who wins. So J started getting really upset about it and said that he saw kids taking cans out of the Michigan barrel and putting them in the Ohio State barrel and now there is so much in there that they need 2 for Ohio State! Oh my gosh, he was so passionate about the injustice! It's all going to the same place, so it doesn't really matter but I guess it's the principle of the thing. I am so glad that he's a good kid. He follows the rules and gets really upset when other people don't. It's sad that he'll have to realize one day that not everyone has the same morals that he does. :(

J's hand

Jakob went to the doctor today and had new x-rays taken. The doctor said he can tell that the bones are healing but two of them are a little dented in still. His fingers remained swollen until he took the ace bandages off today. He did not get a removable splint, but he got the same hard cast-like piece back and a new ace bandage and instructions that he could take it off at home under strict supervision.
With any luck, he'll heal fast and be better than new for that football/baseball career he's dreaming of.

update

We just came from the orthopedist and he said that they will leave the splint on Jakob's hand for 10 more days. Then he'll get more x-rays and see how it is healing. He said it will basically heal on it's own and he'll have a removable cast so he can move his fingers around while he is supervised at home.
The fingers are broken right above the knuckle closest to the hand and they are not completely broken but more like a crimp or crunch. And he said it looks like the were rammed into something with the same force so they are pretty even. And we looked at Jakob's wrist were he broke it when he was 20 months old and you can't even tell it had been broken. He said this, too, would be just a memory. So, I guess he'll be able to have that football career he's been looking forward to!

My baby is broken :{

Last night, Jakob had to take a trip to the ER (and not the good one with John Stamos and Goran Visnjic). He was sliding in the basement (a normal activity for the boys after they get jammies on), and he slammed his hand down on the floor and his fingers bent backwards. OUCH! When the x-ray tech asked where we thought it was broken while Jakob still had the ice pack covering himself, I said he'd be able to tell where is was - it what that out of place! He was not able to make an OK sign for one of the x-rays, but still they determined that he had broken 3 fingers on his right hand. We have to wait until at least Monday to see the orthopedist and have it cast. The splint made him feel a whole lot better right away. He was able to sleep through the night and is currently outside kicking a football. Last night he was a little sad that he'll have to sit out at recess because he won't be able to play 2 hand touch football, but, I think he'll be OK.

And the Immunity Idol goes to ...

I was cleaning out a tub of old clothes for Good Will and found these crazy dudes that we bought in SoCal. Being the Survivor lovers that they are, the boys immediately began making up races and eventually wrestling to determine the winner. The winner won the immunity idols. The next day, while Jakob and Noah were at school, Ben got them out and was playing with them and gave them names and silly voices! Oh the imaginations on these boys!

Happy Halloween

We carved a pumpkin and the boys painted the last one today. It was pretty cold this week but today seemed nice. Steve and the boys played football in the back yard after work. It was a good, relatively candy free Halloween. Pretty boring, huh?

New Scarf

I finally started using my sewing machine and I made Keely a fall scarf. I saw some 2 sided dog scarves at a craft show and decided that they looked really simple to make. So I did it! It's orange polka dots on one side and turkeys on the other. I went with orange because hunting season is coming up and she just happens to be deer colored! I don't think she'll be hanging out outside once she starts hearing gunshots - since she's now scared of loud noises - but it's better to be safe than sorry!

Look what the dog dragged in

OMG! Keely has been going into the woods lately. I don't know what she does when she's there or where exactly she goes, but the other day, she brought back part of a leg bone (or maybe an arm). Today, I just found this:

Halloween comes early

Halloween comes early in these parts. All the different towns schedule trick-or-treating on different days. We get Sunday. It seems strange not to trick and treat on Halloween, but this year anyway, it's was a good thing due to the weather forecast which says it will be really cold on Friday. Sunday's weather was really nice - a little chilly when the wind blew and the boys needed their gloves before we were finished, but it was a pretty nice evening for a walk. There were so many kids that it was difficult to walk on the side walk at some points.

Steve had the scariest costume of all - Dick Cheney in hunting gear! Noah was certainly freaked out by it and wouldn't even look at the mask. Ben liked the mask and even wanted to wear it.

Jakob and Ben got in a fire engine but Noah would only hang onto a handle on the side.

Steve and Batman, I mean Noah.

Ben's ear

So, last night before bed Ben slid down the front of my chair and started whining that his ear hurt and he wanted an ice pack. I thought he had just rubbed his ear on the fabric and maybe pulled it the wrong way. This morning I was just looking at him and I thought he had smeared something on the back of his ear while he was sleeping, but at closer inspection, this is what I saw:

My poor baby. He rubbed the skin off the back side of his ear! :{
We went Trick 0r Treating last night - could this be our annual Halloween mishap?

Soooo Tired

This is Ben Wednesday night. At dinner, he kept asking for more noodles and then he finally said in a very sad voice, "I don't want to eat." Then he put his head down and after a couple of minutes. . .

Lake Katherine Hike

Monday was a beautiful day, so we decided to take the boys on a little hike before it got dark. We went to Lake Katherine, where Steve likes to run and did a lot of training for the trail run he did in September. I think we did the 1 mile loop. It was fun, no one got lost, and everybody slept well that night after a dinner of pancakes at Bob Evan's restaurant. We were about a week late for the most beautiful leaves but it was still kinda pretty.

This is the top of the waterfall that was raging last spring, but now
it is barely dribbling over the edge.
We came over a little hill and Ben started saying, "a guy, a guy." I thought he saw a man in the woods or on the trail. Apparently, he saw a face in this rock. You can kind of see it in the picture. There is a hole that goes all the way thru for the eyes and a nose, mouth and chin. He's so smart and creative!Racing up the hill.

Pumpkin Festival

Unlike the Apple Festival, the Circleville Pumpkin Festival actually celebrates and exhibits the produce for which the fest is named! We went to the pumpkin festival today just to see what it was all about. There were thousands of people and literally tons and tons of pumpkins. There is, of course, poundage competition - 1325.5 lb took first prize. There were too many people posing with the gourd for me to get a good picture, but I got some others. It was pretty interesting, and there were some cute kids with some adorable pumpkin hats.

Fall Fun

The Bob Evan's farm festival was fun. The kids had fun playing games and going thru the straw bale maze. And the pumpkins sold so well - they surpassed the sales of last year.

Today, Noah's class had Farmer's Day. They all got to dress up like farmers or cowboys and we had a little party and made a crafty spider.

Saving the World...

...one appliance at a time. We finally got a new washer and dryer! The old ones stopped working well and were wasting a ton of energy and time so we decided to get new ones.

Love it!

Field Trip

Noah's class got to go on their first field trip today, so of course we had to go along! We went to Weber Farms and the kids got to do a Goblin Egg Hunt. They found some different shaped and colored pumpkins in the grass and some of the kids found some bigger ones in the field still on the vines! Then we took a hay ride and all the kids got their own small pumpkin.
The boys were so exhausted after all that that they both fell asleep on the way home.Noah, Tatum, and Ben

Noah on the pumpkins

Ben with his pumpkin

PUMPKINS!!!

It's pumpkin time in the country!!
My Ladies' club each year paints pumpkins to sell at the Bob Evan's Farm Festival in Rio Grand (pronounced rye-o grand). As it was my first year in the group, I had no idea what I would paint on my pumpkins, so out of the list of possibilities I chose to do Batman. I didn't really think that Batman would be that popular, and I couldn't find a good picture of 'The Dark Knight' that I could copy easily, so I had to find something else too. Much of my free time over the last 3 weeks has been spent finding pictures, tracing, painting, and spraying. I am finally finished painting and ready to help set up the booth tomorrow. And I am looking forward to manning the booth over the weekend! The painted pumpkin booth is very popular and it is even advertised in the Bob Evans kid's menu.

Here are some of the pictures. And we're keeping the Power Cat at the top!

Scarecrow for Hire
A few of my 35 minis

Snoopy and Woodstock

This one was just cute

One of my Batman pumpkins

Cornucopia

Boo!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
embellished with nylon leaves hot glued
on to add dimension and to
cover up my ugly painted leaves