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October 27, 2005

Dad & Daughter Pumpkin Party

Emma's preschool hosts a party each year for dads and kids to carve their pumpkins. The kids come dressed in their costumes and have a little parade. Emma was a cheerleader. Then they carve pumpkins and eat donuts.

Posted by jennifer at 12:54 PM

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Posted by: mac at November 4, 2005 04:03 PM

October 26, 2005

What Not to Wear on Halloween

Thanks to my mom, the kids have PLENTY of dressup clothes year round. We went through them last week in an effort to find this year's Halloween costume. The pictures below are what the kids will NOT be wearing to go trick or treating. Emma loved trying on the traditional boy costumes, but would not be caught out and about in those outfits.

Posted by jennifer at 12:38 PM

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October 24, 2005

Pumpkin Patch & Beyond

Last Sunday we took the the kids and some friends (Jd, Kris, Tiffany, Mac, Pam, and little Megan) to the pumpkin patch. We went to Bauman Farms, the same place as last year--only last year we did not go on a weekend. With Harrison in school full time this year, a week day trip didn't work well with our schedule. The weekend crowds were large and the lines were long. The kids didn't seem bothered, they had a great time. The other adults had fun watching the mayhem. Only Jeremy and I were stressed trying to keep track of Emma and Harrison and complete all of the fun activities, including getting pumpkins, before our scheduled departure time.

The real fun came later at home. We warmed up with drinks and hot cider. Part of the group played Tri•Ominos while the other part hung out in the kitchen and helped prepare the meal. We feasted on fabulous lamb shanks in a cooked down mushroom sauce mopped up with crusty sourdough bread. The weather was so mild that Jeremy made a fire outside for us to sit around. The kids and Jd ran around in the wet cold grass with bare feet. What a wonderful evening with wonderful friends.

Posted by jennifer at 11:42 AM

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October 18, 2005

Vegetable Abundance

All summer long we harvested veggies from the garden for our supper. The tomatoes were especially prolific. As friends and family came to visit we shared our bounty both in meals and sacks to take home. My sisters' children loved picking corn, beans and tomatoes. They were delighted to dig in the soft dirt to loosen and pull out the crazy carrots.

On one visit Lisette set up the saw horses, artfully displayed her pickins, and created an invitation for each adult to the vegetable festival. We each took a basket and filled it up with veggies. Payment was made in the form of filberts. "That will be twenty filberts please." No problem. This form of money actually does grow on trees.

Emma and I are on our way out to the garden to harvest all of the green tomatoes to make salsa verde -- extra spicy, due to the amount of jalapeños available!

Posted by jennifer at 09:42 AM

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October 17, 2005

Oregon Tea Garden

For the kids' birthdays we host a family dinner, complete with a special cake, at our house. I'm not much into the traditional kid birthday party that includes a bunch of kids, themed paper products games, games that usually end in tears, and lots of noise. Some of you may find this surprising, knowing how much I do love to be the hostess. As an alternative I plan a special outing for the birthday kid and one or two of their friends. This year Emma invited Marli and Riley to join us at the Oregon Tea Garden. Since I just celebrated my birthday, I invited a few friends too.

The kids had a good time, despite the fact that they rejected most of the traditional tea party food. They devoured all of the gummy worms and peanut M&Ms. We all enjoyed the dress up items.

Posted by jennifer at 02:24 PM

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October 13, 2005

Soccer Fun

I am having a lot of fun watching Harrison and his friends play soccer. This is his first experience with organized sportsand being part of a team. I really appreciate the structure of the games for these kids, ages 5-7. There are only five kids on a team, for an actual game. The kids either play offense or defense with no offside rules. There is no goalie. An out of bounds ball is always thrown in. And best of all, they don't keep score. Well, the score is not written down or posted anywhere. We all kind of keep score in our heads.

I am surprised at how well the kids play together. They bunch up a little and don't pass very well, but on the whole they can dribble, stop and control the ball, and take a shot on goal. Harrison has scored several times. Last week he had a flare for the dramatic. He tripped quite a few times. With each spill, the rolling and landing were more elaborate. It was quite entertaining to all of the onlookers.

Posted by jennifer at 01:52 PM

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Posted by: Tiffany at October 14, 2005 10:26 AM

Posted by: mac at October 14, 2005 08:23 PM

October 08, 2005

Wasp Nest

On Saturday the filberts were harvested. For those of you unfamiliar with the process there are two steps: 1) Sweep the nuts into neat rows. 2) Vacuum up the nuts.

Jeremy decided to help Tom out by blowing the stray nuts,those that rolled under our shed and play structure, out into the orchard. Half way down the row Jeremy was stung by something on the ear, but that didn't slow him down. About a half hour later, after his lips went numb and his whole face swelled up, my dad whisked him off to the Emergency room. HIs whole body was covered in hives, but his breathing was just fine. So they gave him a couple of shots and he returned to normal.

When Tom heard about the sting he mentioned that there was a huge nest half way down the first row. Sure enough that's where Jeremy had been when he felt the sting. This picture does not do the size of the nest justice. It is pretty amazing.

Posted by jennifer at 11:50 AM

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Posted by: Rich R at October 12, 2005 03:17 PM

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Posted by: georgia car dealer at October 22, 2006 08:50 PM

October 07, 2005

Emma's Birthday

Emma is now five years old. She informed us that she is a lot smarter now that she is five. I made a carousel birthday cake, very fun and easy, for the family party.

Jeremy and I gave her a stable for horses, ponies, beanie babies, barbies, whatever. Hre new unicorn, a gift from Judy, found it quite homey.

Posted by jennifer at 11:45 AM

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Posted by: Judy Gingerich at October 12, 2005 06:22 AM