General Conference weekend

We had the Coy boys (3 out of 4) stay with us Sat. and Sun. while Jamie and Andy went down to Virginia Beach for his sister's wedding. We had fun and with 5 boys, only Ewan got a boo-boo! Conference packets really helped Hayden and Harrison enjoy watching every session. And the weather was great so they could play outside when we weren't watching. Mike was brave and took all the kids to the park. They were tracing each other's bodies on the sidewalk. It looked like a police scene.

One lone girl.

Friends

York Fair - '08

Yeah, it was last month.

We love the Fair and every year get Mike more into it as well. It's become tradition to paint pumpkins and enter them for each age group. This year Hayden painted Stitch from the movie and TV show Lilo and Stitch. He won 6th place and got a ribbon.

Connor chose Mickey Mouse for his pumpkin. He ended up winning first place. He didn't have any help either! (Okay, I hope you don't believe that!)

Hayden also entered a train that he had made about 7 months earlier and planned to enter it into the Fair. I must say he is a very clever kid, and I really liked this train. He got 2nd place for it.

Besides that, we love eating, seeing all the animals, playing games, going through the buildings (my favorite is horticulture hall), and riding the Ferris Wheel.

I grew up loving the Fair, and I'm happy that my kids enjoy it too.

Friut fun with friends

Within a week we picked red raspberries with Jamie and Josi and kids, then picked apples with Josi and family. We did a great job this year picking fresh fruits and veggies-from our garden we got lots of tomatoes and peppers, eggplant, peas, lettuce, zucchini, squash, radishes, carrots, onions, potatoes and herbs. From Pap's garden we picked lots of black raspberries, and from professional growers we picked strawberries, blueberries, cherries, red raspberries, and apples. I only wish I could say we have a year's supply of all those things! The raspberries we picked are part of a farm that has lots of animals. I put some raspberries in a mesh bag for Serena to suck on. She really got into it and it really showed by the end! Apple picking...

Good books

Does anyone else like reading sappy love stories by Nicholas Sparks? They are simple and somewhat cliche, but I just got done reading another one and they draw me in. It also makes me fall in love with Mike all over again!

Hayden's friendship

I still have several activities that I need to blog, but I really wanted to write about Hayden tonight. Last Monday, Mike taught a Family Home Evening lesson on friendship, and then he encouraged us to go out and be friends to others. Hayden made a chart, and we have been reporting each night at dinner what we did that day that was friendly. Tonight before bed Hayden told me of two times, once on the bus and once at recess, when he went up to a classmates that no one was talking to and became their friend. That is something that is out of his comfort zone, but he has such a good heart and wants so much to exemplify Jesus that he is willing to be uncomfortable. I think he will be a good missionary someday. I'm so grateful he is my oldest and sets such a good example for the younger two.

Outside our window

What 3 year old boy wouldn't love to see this out his window! For the past two days Connor has been watching the tractors demonstrate for some huge convention for construction companies. They have been preparing for this since the fair shut down. So it's been kind of messy and noisy over here, but I don't mind. I know it never lasts forever, and my kids are good at sleeping through it!

Hayden's birthday and no training wheels!

Okay, this entry is just a little late. Hayden started riding without training wheels at the beginning of Aug., and his birthday was Aug. 15th! This is one of those milestones in your kid's life. It seems a little late for him to be learning this skill, but I have learned with Hayden that if I wait to teach him something until he almost seems too old for it, then that is the perfect time. It was that way with walking (he never crawled) at 14 months, potty training at 3 yrs., reading and writing (which he is doing amazing on now!), etc. Next will be tying shoelaces! Instead of a friend birthday party this year, we took him to Hersheypark with Harrison. This was also our annual Brandt reunion, so I have to do a seperate entry about that. But they had a great time. On his actual birthday he wanted us to go spent the day at Pinchot Lake, but it was really rainy that day. So we took him to Chuck E. Cheese and met Harrison and Zane there. Hayden was so sweet-he shared some of his token with his brother! Of course he got to choose what we had for dinner. He wanted cooked carrots and peas. When I asked what else, he said, "I don't care." He finally decided on pasta and meatballs. We had Gram and Pap and Grandpa Brandt over for dinner as well. This was my attempt at making a pirate ship cake. I don't think it turned out too bad. But it wouldn't look half this good without Mike's great masts! I've learned that as kids get older, quality of gifts become more important than quantity. He wanted one thing for his birthday-a Playmobil castle. My parents and I had to go in on it together because it was so expensive, but he loves it and plays with it every day.