Fire Safety!

Every year, the township in which I works puts on a "Fire Safety Festival" for the kids. It's a wonderful event in which they have fire trucks for the kids to climb up in, safety courses when riding their bikes, a house that the kids go in to that simulates a fire and how to get out, a tent where they give free bike helmets and they also give free lunch as well! How good can it get! This was our third year in going because the boys just love it and this year, Grandma and Papa decided to come along as well! The boys participated in an obstacle course where they had to dress up like fireman and then do the course to save a "baby" and then run over to a wood house and put it out with a real firehouse (held by a fireman but they boys "helped"). I love these pictures of the boys in their "uniforms" and especially the one of Samuel where he looks like he's just spent a long day at work!

Samuel Turns SIX!

This was the first year that we let Samuel have a group of friends over for his birthday and so the main friends from our street came over...11 kids total! He had a "Star Wars" theme and so some of the games included a "Jedi Training Course" and "Pin The Part on R2D2". We had pizza and cake and it was a successful, chaotic, but fun 2 hour party. Glad it's over but it was worth it to see Samuel's happy little face the whole time!

How to view pictures larger...

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FUN day in the MUD!

What a fun day for Samuel it was playing soccer this morning! We got to the fields after a rainy Friday night and arrived to find dirt and water squishing underneath our feet. The games must go on and it made for a entertaining day watching the kids slip and slide around. If you look at the larger picture of Samuel standing, you can even see dirt on his face! By the time Caden played, his field was more dry and so the mud on him was minimal, hence no pictures! I felt a little bit of both sadness and joy at the same time...Caden so wanted to get dirty and have fun in the mud and so he was sad that he didn't get that much and it was joy for me for the fact that he didn't because I don't have to worry about trying to get the dirt out of his jersey and shorts as well! And to think we have pictures next week...this will be a true test to my laundry and stain fighting abilities! ha! Despite it all, both Samuel and Caden's teams won with Samuel scoring 6 goals and Caden, 5!

Chicken Pot Pie

Last night I made my first "homemade" chicken pot pie and boy did it turn out good! Kevin ate half of it by himself! I was proud of it though and it was super easy to make and cheap as well and so a "keeper" for my recipe book. I got it from the Kraft Foods website but I altered it just a bit and so here's the recipe if anyone wants to try it:

~ Quick 'n Easy Chicken Pot Pie ~

2 refridgerated pie shells

2 cups cooked chopped chicken (I used a bit more & I boiled mine first)

1 can mixed vegetables

1 can green beans

1/2 cup milk (again, I used a bit more)

1 can (10 3/4) cream of chicken soup

~ Cooking Directions ~
Preheat oven to 375.
Take 1 pie shell and lay it flat in your pie dish.
Mix vegetables, milk and soup in mixing bowl.
Pour into pie shell.
Top with 2nd pie shell and pinch together.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until crust is done.

So how easy can it be with as few as ingredients as this has. We also had rolls to go along with this. I can't wait to make it this winter when a "comfort" food is what you need for a long, cold night! Enjoy!

Christmas Quilt for Dad UPDATE #1

This weekend I finally finished cutting all the squares for the quilt I'm making my father for a Christmas present. I've spent total, about 7-8 hours just in cutting alone and so I felt a huge accomplishment in getting this first step out of the way. I believe I have about 180 squares of tan flannel, and approximately 90 squares each of the two plaids. I switched one of the original fabrics to the tan flannel to make it warm and cozy for our cold Indiana winters and I like the way it works better with the two blue plaids which have a hit on tan in it. So, the sewing part is next but I don't think I'll be able to get to it for another couple of weeks as we have soccer all day next Saturday and Samuel's big "6th" birthday party this upcoming weekend that I have to prepare for. Stay tuned for the next update...!

Cicada Shells!

I LOVE this picture of Caden because this reminds me of what I used to do when I was a little girl! We used to hunt down the cicada shells on the trees and then attach the empty shells on to our shirts! Caden has a true love for insects, bugs, and animals and so when I saw that he wasn't squeamish about these, away we went putting them all over us and collecting them! We can only get these and Grandma and Papa Brown's house as there just aren't enough trees in our home community and so the past few weekends we've been over there, he knows to go out and look at the trees to see if there are any "hanging" around!

We have a new baby...bunny that is!

We have a family of bunnies that live underneath the deck of our next door neighbor's house. We see the "parents" out in the yard all the time by our bird feeder and this past weekend, we finally got to meet their "baby". She ventured out just long enough for me to grab the camera and sit still before Pepper scared her off. She was so sweet and tiny and you could barely see her in the grass.

Day at the Indianapolis Zoo!

Last Sunday, August 24th, although it was scorching hot outside, we made a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo because we wanted to see the Koala bears before they moved on to another. Uncle Dan decided to go with us as well and what a fun day we had with all the animals out and about, there were many "touch and feel" opportunities such as the pictures show of the boys getting to feed the giraffe's...what a need thing for a 4 and 5 year old to get to experience! We also got to touch the baby sharks, a starfish and then they had the center open finally (it's always been closed before) where you can feed the birds right out of your hand...they were beautiful with all their colorful feathers! We saw the koala bears last but I was a tad disappointed as they were sleeping and all cuddled up in the trees and so we couldn't really see them. But overall, a really fun day!