Nana was visiting family up north, so we traveled up to Downers Grove to Pat and Mike's house to celebrate Thanksgiving. We got to see Nana, the food was great, and the kids played with Uncle Mike and Mr. Hankie.
After leaving there, we stopped by and visited with Papa John for about an hour.
The boys had a great time playing and Baby I was the star of the show. It was great to see Nana - we don't know when the next time we will see her. We will have to make a trip out to Arizona when we have more money and the kids are more manageable - that will be several years away, I am afraid.......there are too many important people too far away in our lives! We don't like it!
It was a great Thanksgiving day! I hope every one's day was as joyous as ours. Happy Thanksgiving.
yummy pumpkin pie. the crust was awesome - homemade by Pat!
Oh my goodness! We love our big boy!!!! Gareth's pre-school has a family night once a month. Tonight, we had a speaker from WEIU discuss healthy family habits. We got a bag of goodies, Super Why video, and some free books. The kids sang some songs for the parents before the presentation. He is so darn cute!
Nana came to visit with her friend Joan Sunday. Thank you Joanie for driving her down! We will see Nana again on Thanksgiving day when we drive up to Chicago suburbs to have dinner at Pat and Mike's.
We visited, showed them around the house/land, and we got a chance to go on a quick date WITHOUT the kids!!!!!! woohoo! Brian and I went to the nature center near Mattoon and took a stroll around their trails. We also had dinner at some Chinese restaurant. It was enjoyable to spend some alone time with Brian. I miss my dear husband even though he is right next to me often times......kids will keep you busy and limit the quality time you get with one another. The other night, we watched a movie after the kids went to bed. It was so nice cuddling up with each other. Usually, we will watch The Office online once a week and we enjoyed NOVA's recent program they had online Becoming Human. It is so nice when we have alone time, but of course, we talk about the kids most of the time. :) Thanks Nana and Joan for watching the kiddos!
Nana brought Iris a pajama outfit.
Nana brought the boys wooden boats. We plan to take them down to the creek to see how they float.
Nana carrying sweet baby I.
Brian helping his momma down the hill - I think we wore Nana out.
Yay! We all made it down safely.
showing Nana and Joan around the farm
Nana with her youngest grand baby.
Best attempt at a family photo. Boys did NOT want to sit still.
Iris will hold still.
Nana saying her goodbyes. We will see you Thursday!
The other day, 8 deer were crossing the field across the road. By the time I got the batteries in the camera, this is the shot I got. About a minute later, there was a HUGE buck with a HUGE rack. He was so big, he looked like a moose galloping across the field. A few minutes later, a couple of trucks with hunters (guys with orange vests) kept driving by slowly around the field. There are several property owners around us who allow hunting on their property so occasionally we hear shots ring out. I know the deer are overpopulated and the hunting serves a purpose, but I always hope for safe escape for the deer every time I hear a shot. Lately, when we go on walks down to our creek, we have seen several deer hoof prints and piles of deer poop. They are hiding out safe on our land, I suppose. They seem to be using the same paths we are when walking around our land. We have yet to see them on our property though.
The boys are LOVING the land we live on......I can envision them playing outside all day/night when they get older. I am looking forward to packing a snack pack for them and them going off by themselves in the woods, down to the creek, exploring the land, and them being gone for hours. They are truly lucky kids to grow up in a place like this. This is what childhood is all about....freedom, fun, learning, exploration...... NOT sitting on their ass in front of a TV, hardly ever going outside! I don't know how many times I have told Brian lately that I want to go back to childhood and live here.
The boys wore their rain boots to keep their feet dry.....that helped all of about 2 minutes. :)
My Neanderthal man using a sharp rock to try to break open another one to see if it was a geode. No luck finding anymore since that first one Lala found.......
Playing in the mud, throwing rocks, and hanging out with daddy
The path to "Fern Island" - a little sand/rock island with some ferns on it.
Baby I with mommy
Daddy talking like a hick, Zaners doing whatever his brother tells him to do, and Vito stealing a stick from Gareth.
Zane is pretty fearless and will do almost whatever his brother tells him to do. We expect Zane to get in trouble or hurt later in life and when asked about it, he will state "well, Gareth told me to do it. " I wonder how many times we will hear this. Gareth will ask Zane to do things that he would like to do, but does not have the courage to......but I wouldn't say Zane is courageous.....Zane just doesn't think about it....he doesn't think about the risks......oh goodness child! I wonder where this characteristic will lead him.......it definitely will not be boring! Watch - he will grow up and be an accountant and love it......lol.
Lala invited us over for dinner last night. We had pancakes and sausage - yum! The kids played, we made sugar cookies, then skyped Ms. Anna in Oregon. What a great evening! We love Lala! Gareth had a ton of fun cutting out the cookies. He asked to do it again soon. Maybe we can try to make some next week for Thanksgiving.
Yesterday, while Gareth was in pre-school, I took Zane and Iris to the nature center near Mattoon. It was a very nice center and we look forward to going back to explore the trails. It was cold and rainy yesterday, so we didn't get the chance yesterday. We stayed for a program - they had story time, then we made turkeys by painting out hands/fingers. We will definitely be going back. Maybe I will meet some like minded people there. Yesterday, there was a quiet dad, a nice, but quiet grandma, and 2 unsociable mommies. Better luck next time hopefully.
They had a nice open area with rugs, exhibits, and play area for the kids. They also had a great library area.
Watching the squirrels and birds.
Looking at the fox snake
no real bats, but Zane liked going through the dark bat cave
Look at Ms. Pink Explosion - the big girl is on the go!
Hello from Brian, Carla, Gareth, Zane, and Iris. We live in rural east central, IL on 10 acres. Brian works as a web programmer and Carla currently is a SAHM, used to do social work type stuff.
We have 2 sons, Gareth and Zane and 1 daughter, Iris. We have 6 cats and 1 dog.
This blog is mostly for friends and family to see what is happening in our lives and to serve as an online scrapbook. Come share in our adventures of raising 3 kids that were born within 2.5 years of each other and moving to the country as of June 2009 to live on 10 acres. Our plan is to fix up the old farm house, live in it a few years, and start building a new home further back on the property.
We are interested in gardening, beekeeping, sustainable living, attachment parenting, and secular humanism.
