House-Inside tour

Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes! I am so sorry I haven't posted pictures of the inside of our home yet. Seriously, I can't believe it is November already. Things sure have been busy around here. Or, maybe I haven't posted pictures because these white walls we have are screaming at me for some paint! Whatever my reasons, here is our home. While we continue to look at furniture and accessories, here is what we have been living in. Sorry for the backwards tour, however, we will start upstairs.

Below is our Master Bathroom. A scale, some towels and a shower curtain completes these four walls.

Below is our Master Shower

Below is the picture standing in our bathroom looking out into the Master Bedroom.

Matthew Joseph's bedroom during nap time. As you can see the paper blinds border our home as we find true love in the plastic white clips!!!

Standing upstairs in the hallway

Kids Bathroom

Sam's Bedroom

The Toy room

The Tech Center aka Computer Hot Room

The smiles that greet you when you walk through my front door!!! My new canvas print. Love every bit about this. This canvas brings a smile to my face even on those not so good days.

The stairs to go up.

The Front Door Area

The Dining Room/Living Room

These walls are DEFINITELY screaming for some love and attention!!

View from the front door area

Laundry room!

Standing in the kitchen, looking in the family room

Standing in the family room, looking at the kitchen

So, there you have it. Our first few pictures of our new home. We were a few days late on purchasing our seed to get our grass growing. Next Spring we are first on the list. We did however purchase a few trees, which were planted almost bare the the high winds took all the leaves off.

Pumpkin picking...and a dilema

So, October 28th, 2009 the boys and I had a mission. To find a pumpkin....well, you see, we thought this would be a no brainier. There are pumpkin patches all over town, we'll wait until we get closer to Halloween and we'll go pick then.

So, these last few weeks have been nothing but cold/wet/windy. Apparently, according to the farmers, the pumpkins came in mass quantity, and also diminished in mass quantity. There were only a few good picking days for consumers, and now the farms were almost sold out. However, they still sent us a mile into their farm to see for ourselves.

We did, and darn it, the farmers were so right on. There were pumpkins left, but the pumpkins left looked like the picture above. Rotten, muddy, stepped on, water logged etc.

This didn't stop my darling duo, but it did turn up a bunch of noses. The boys were dressed in their boots and ready to take on the mud, so there was no going back now! We were at the pumpkin farm, in search of our pumpkins, we were staying for a while.

We had fun, but no pumpkins. The kids pretended they were farmers and they pretended they ran the show. They also pretended they were selling the pumpkins to little boys and girls who were visiting the farm. Again, we were the only ones at the farm.

So, after a few hours of playing in the mud, squishing pumpkins and watching the tractors move dirt, it was time to get back in the car, without a pumpkin.

The boys were fine with it. We were on our way to another farm. Damned and determined to find some for this weekend. So we left. Farmers said, "sorry, but come back next year".

Confident they were going to find one.
Lost Matthew as he watched the John Deere tractor.

Just a beautiful picture of some apple trees along the way.

Stunning colors. Just breathtaking.

So we packed up our van, and headed down the street to another farm.

Again, no one in sight. This farm was a little bit more exciting. This farm had a tractor and a corn maze and they had wagons you could pull with you around the farm.
Sweet. Sam was glowing ear to ear. He loves this stuff. So we played. Again, no one in sight at this farm either. We're not even sure if anyone was in the barn across the way. But we played and had fun anyways.

Farmer Matthew was driving the tractor as Sam was picking pumpkins along the way! This was a fun game to watch....Sam fell off the trailer 3 times.....only Sam.

Now they both decided to drive!

Sam, keeping the pumpkin farm running!

Again, moldy, holes, stinky pumpkins!

Farmer Matthew taking a break

And darn it, the only pumpkin Matthew could find was this one. Thankfully we took the wagon as this one was heavy to carry :)

BROTHERS

Dear brothers!

Interested in another almost good pumpkin

The Start of the Corn Maze

Matthew so excited his pants didn't get full of Mud like Sam's

Done. Done. Done

Sam and Matthew

What is leaving a location without a race to the car?

Needless to say, our pumpkin Wednesday didn't exactly turn out the exact way we had planned, but honestly it was so much better that way. The boys loved our ventures to farms that had "icky" pumpkins and they laughed all the way home....I mean, until we stopped at the supermarket and bought our pumpkins under the fruits.

Until next year..

Happy Birthday Sam!

So, 5 years ago today Sam entered our world. I think I say this every year, but WOW! This year really flew by fast. We will have Sam's 5 year well check next week where I can report his progress. Happy Birthday my sweet 5 year old!

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and you continue to amaze us with your spunk and courage. This year, once again (sigh) has been about big changes in your little life. You've battled your worries with huge deep breaths and continued to move forward. We are so proud of you and your determination to be a great friend to all and a great brother and son to us.

Below is a few pictures from the Big 5 year old party!
This years theme was Star Wars! Sam insisted, so Sam received. This year, his party included family. It was fun and just what the dear old birthday boy needed!

Below, Sam and his cousin Zach playing Wii
Matthew helping Sam open his presents. Matthew did such a great job being patient with the presents. It's hard when it's not your birthday.

Hey look, I'm 5!

The cousin's joined us after their trick or treat afternoon, in costumes and all! Sam just adores his cousins and was so happy when they stepped foot in the door!

The Star Wars Cake

Yes, he loved the attention this year!!!

Sam and Cousin Josh

The boys!

Consecration night for Sam!

This was an event, linked with Sunday School at Temple.

It was called:
Simchat Torah Service/Consecration

It is a family service at temple where all the new Religious School Students gather with their loved ones to share this special achievement.It is a time when Jews celebrate their love of the Torah. The kids did great. It was fun. It was great for me to see a lot of familiar faces we once were with before we moved. It was also amazing to see how fast these children great up!

Below is a picture of the new students entering the K4 program and any other new students who joined this past year. Sam's teacher is in there somewhere...but I can't seem to locate her.

Playgroup Family Pumpkin Farm

A few weeks back we had an outing to the Family Farm down the road from our home. It was a chilly day here in WI, but the kids had a great time. We took a hay ride all the way down to the perfect field where we could find our pumpkins. We each were able to pick one pumpkin to take home with us. It was a great morning with friends, families and pumpkins.

Sam found his perfect pumpkin.

Tadah..Matthew looked and looked and looked for the perfect pumpkin....and then he found it. He stopped dead in his tracks. Pointed to it, and insisted this one be his.....

...why you ask?....because his FAVORITE color is Green!

Although this picture doesn't scream excitement, he was so proud of his pick. Good job MJ!

The boys.

Then it was time to roll in the hay. Sam loved this idea, Matthew looked at us like we were kidding. Him, get full of brown stuff and get dirty..."no thanks!".

"Can I jump Mommy?"

1...2....3......

...and he loved every moment of it! (no broken bones)

Matthew found love with this red horse. He didn't' move.

Great, but cool, morning together with friends!