Our Aweful Beautiful Life

Keaton is cracking us up lately ...there are so many "isms" I could share, but here are a few off the top of my head.... Over Christmas break, you spent some time chilling watching TV, and I didn't think it was that much or too much screen time. Either I need to rethink that thought, or you just paid SUPER close attention, but you couldn't stop talking about SC Johnson -- and there were several times a commercial would come on and you couldn't wait to catch me and prove to me that SC Johnson was a thing. There was the night we were reading books and you stopped me, "Hey, Mom, um, who's the author?"....hmm....I didn't teach you that, but cute....so I answered who the author was. And started to read again. You interrupted again ... "Mom, wait, who's the draw...the illustrator?"....my jaw dropped. You just grinned so proud of yourself for remembering these things from school. Last night, you were to be in bed, and you came back d...

This year, we didn't just have one child playing basketball, Em joined the ranks by joining her 3rd grade girls team. Because the class above doesn't have too many kids who play, Colton and a few classmates moved up to the 6th grade team. This worked out well for us as far as scheduling, but a we found, made for a tough year as a team and the W column..... First Em - it was her first year playing. She was lucky enough to snag Kinsey (Lehe) Howe are her first coach. Considering Kinsey is a local legend in these parts, what a great first coach to teach her the fundamentals of basketball. Em - you were a joy to watch. I can't count on one hand how many times I said you were so blissfully ignorant on the court. You played with heart and hustle, but couldn't seem to grasp that defense was only necessary on one end of the court! That said, you never lost sight of your man! HA You made some baskets, grabbed some rebounds and definitely played great man to man defense. It was...

In early December, Jason and I, along with Wiese's and Maxwell's planned for an adult only getaway. We didn't get our typical adult camping trip, so we thought this might be fun instead. A chance to get away, visit without interruption and just have some fun. And fun, we had! Friday after dropping the kids off at school, we blew the coup! Well, 4 of us did -- Seth and Jen had to come later, because Jen is assisting coaching Harrison Girls basketball team this season and they had a game Friday evening. We headed to Columbus and stopped at Simmon's Winery for their infamous chocolate dipped wine bottles. We went for the wine, tasted that, a flight of beers, their amazing woodfired pizza, and then headed up the road to Brown County.  Saturday we hit the local wineries, breweries, did some shopping. We even stopped at The Hillbilly Footwash for a comical pedicure! It was a great weekend getaway. We are so blessed to have these great friends in our life and ...

Fall always sparks outdoor thoughts -- including all things hunting. Jason knew it wouldn't be long before Keaton was trying to keep up with the bigs as far as hunting trips and learning how to shoot his own bb gun. Lessons with dad are always my favorite thing to watch from afar. It tests Dad's patience (which is always at treat, because patience is minimal with Dad) but when it involves hunting, he always finds all the patience needed. Its funny too, how Jason promises Colton and the Wiese boys he'll take them hunting.....then realizes just how much patience it takes to actually achieve that task. Once they are dressed and going though -- it is all good fun! We snuck away after a Saturday football game in October to celebrate Jason turning 38! It was a fun afternoon evening at Carpenter Creek Winery, then dinner at Michael's in Chalmers. We dolled Em up for Frontier Football Homecoming and got to cheer on our summer sitter Hallie as she was nominate...

I could title a fall post Fall is our Favorite EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. But honestly, it IS our favorite time of year. It's football for Colton and cheering for Em. It's farm field work. It's sunsets that take your breath away. It's air that is warm in the daytime and chilly by evening. It wouldn't be fall without an e-learning day shipping bigs and Kendall to the farm! Colton even got to drive the grain cart "by himself" with Dad in the cab with him. And Kendall. Pretty sure the chest was puffed up that evening! He's always happiest, with the purest smile, during harvest! This fall also brought some "family" changes too, as Grandma Jacki decided to retire after 37  years with the Lafayette Police Department. The department had a great luncheon to honor her and we were glad to be there for it! It was Colton's 3rd year on the Falcon Youth Football team, and this year his grade led the 5th/6th grade team as there were...