Camping with daddy

This past weekend Matt wanted to take the boys camping so they could try out our new pop-up camper. I stayed home for a relaxing girl weekend with me, myself and I.

Casey was very excited that it was going to be just the boys. He always loves boy night at home when I work...hmmm. I think Caleb misses me?!

Here are some fun pictures from thier camping adventure....

I can just hear Casey now, "don't worry dad, I'll set it up"

That was hard work, we better take a break and watch a movie!

Just chillin', having a little strawberry milk

Gettin' dirty

Firepit entertainment

The inside of our home away from home

Daddy fed me donuts for breakfast!

I had dirt!

Thanks for taking us camping daddy!

Busy Barns Adventure Farm

Today Caleb and I joined Casey's K4 class on their first field trip of the school year. We rode on a big yellow school bus to Fort Atkinson to the Busy Barns Adventure Farm. My sister came with her girls so it was fun to have someone to talk to on the bus. We both agreed that it better be a really good pumpkin farm seeing as it took us almost an hour to get there!

I have been to many pumpkin farms in my teaching days and this was by far THE BEST pumpkin farm ever! It just opened last year so many people may not know about it. There were so many cool things for the kids to do there. We could have spent hours there. The best part was that everything was included for the small price of $7.00....even a pumpkin! I can't wait to go back next year with Matt.

The first thing we did was check out what looked to be a large sandbox filled with corn kernels.

Next we went to climb and slide in the barn. This was a big hit all around.

Here is our (my sister and me stuck together) group
(back row) Sammi, Casey, Hailey (front row) Caleb, Riley and Collin

Next we moved on to the outdoor adventure area...very cool.

What's a farm without animals? They had pot belly pigs, turkeys, geese, goats, rams, cows, horses.....and many roaming kitty cats.

Before lunch it was time for our hayride around the farm. We sang "Old McDonald" of course.

After eating lunch we headed out to the pumpkin farm to pick our pumpkins before heading home. They were the perfect size for these munchkins!

I love that I was able to share in these fun memories with Casey and meet some of his new friends. There are some great kids in his class. I can't wait to chaperon the next fun adventure!

Casey Jones

A couple of weeks ago my dad gave Casey his very first electric train set. It just so happens to be a Casey Jones engine! Matt put together a table for him in the basement. He really enjoys being the "train engineer". Casey shared with me that his new train was so old it was even older than Grandpa Lew!

Hug A Tot

One Friday morning a month Caleb and I participate in a program at a nursing home called Hug A Tot. For about an hour the kids are able to bring smiles to the faces of some very lonely people. All they do is play and interact with them. We are joined by friends from church.

This past week we brought along cousin Lucy as well. All the residents thought she was such a doll. Caleb really enjoyed tapping balloons back and fourth with some of the residents. It is so neat that Caleb can be a part of something so meaningful at such a young age.

First day of 4K

Today was Casey's first day of 4 year old kindergarden. On Monday night we went to the open house at his new school to meet his teachers and see his new classroom. All day Tuesday he kept asking me, "when do I get to go to school?"

This morning he was filled with enthusiasm as we ate our waffles and went over mommy and daddy's expectations of him. "Don't worry mommy, I'll be a super good listener".

Look at that smile, watch out girls!

Ten minutes before we needed to leave Casey was in the van waiting for Caleb and I. I had to drive very slow to school this morning as it is only 2 minutes from the house.

When we got there he was the first one there and couldn't wait to hang his bag on the hook by his name. His teacher asked him to color a picture of himself in his journal. When I left he was drawing train tracks (so much for the good listening we talked about)!

Journaling

When I picked him up he was very excited and of course couldn't remember anything he had learned that day. Although he did share with me that his favorite part of the morning was playing on the indoor play structure. I guess you could say that would be considered recess?

Summer fun

Here are some fun shots of the boys as we wrap up summer 2010!

All three boys mowing the lawn

Caleb is watching for the bubbles!

I love Caleb's face on this shot

Casey doing his favorite thing, swimming in our "big pool"

Caleb making some really big bubblesSplashing at Kinderberg Park

ONE bouncing baby on the way!

If you haven't already heard the good news...there is a baby on the way! Today I had my first trimester screening and got to see the little one bouncing all over the place. Here are some pictures from the ultrasound.

Here you can see the full body view of baby

Look closely and you can see the little face

Here is the belly shot, on the bottom is the heartbeat, 171 beats per minute (much higher than the boys, could that mean something???)

God's creation is amazing, wouldn't you agree?

To answer the most popular question I've heard...yes we are going to find out the sex of the baby, on my birthday:) Our due date is on Matt's birthday, March 12th. So we are hoping for an arrival early March. We'll keep you posted!

pumpernickels?

Matt was so excited to have a really big garden and grow lots of tomatoes for his salsa. I requested that he grow some pickles so we could make dill pickles. It appears that we planted the pickles a little too close to the pumpkins and ended up with...pumpernickles?

My wonderful hubby knew how excited I was to make the dill pickles so he surpised me yesterday morning by picking up a bag of pickles from a local market.

We cut some into spears and others into slices as we were boiling jars and lids and the dill mixture. It is quite a process. Our kitchen was the Buntrock pickle factory for a couple of hours.

After all was said and done we ended up with 10 jars of dill pickles. I can't wait to try them!

Great America

Grandpa Mark, Grandma Jill, Nana, Buppa, Cousin Amy, Dylan and Summer went with Casey to Great America on Monday. According to them, our Casey is an amusement park junky. His favorite ride was the Whizzer roller coaster (one of my favorites too!) He had a blast splashing around at the water park and going on any rides he was tall enough for. Grandpa was a real trooper and went on almost all the rides with Casey. What fun memories!

Annual Reed Luau

For the past seven years Leah and Nick have had a Luau every summer. Everyone brings a dish to pass and Nick cooks up some meat on the grill. This year Matt's parents were in town for the fun. Here are some fun pictures from the day.

Group photo

Casey swinging to the moon

Caleb loves riding around town in this hot pick ride!

Riley and Hailey looking festive!

3 generations of handsome Buntrock men

Caleb loved playing catch from way up high

Lucy got a turn too