Halloween

Okay so I apologize  I  am still getting the hang of this whole blog thing and really need to stay on top of this better. But here is the Halloween post. 

Since we no longer live on campus there are a few things about dorm life that I really do miss. Like having your friends close by if you ever get bored, or always having something to do. But I think the things I miss the most are the holiday events. Trick the halls being one of them. Where all four dorms work together decorating their  hallways and dressing up to put on a fun and safe Halloween experience. But lucky for me Him is in charge of the dorms and we still get to participate in the activities just from a different point of view. 

We found the cutest monkey costume for Little miss S and even though it was a tad bit too big, we just had to get it for her. Which worked out perfectly because our first foster placement left his banana costume from last year at our house. So Little miss S was such a stinking cute little monkey and I was her big banana!! We had so many complements on our costumes while we were at trick the halls on the Oakland City University campus. 

Now HIM was not apart of our group costume, even though some people thought he was a gorilla  When he was obviously a ghoul. But that is besides the point. If it was not for HIM having to be at the campus for trick the halls, then we may not have not have gone trick or treating. Little miss S is not quite old enough for all that candy, plus Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year. We don't like to cancel on our youth group, but as since it was for HIM's job we made an exception. Little miss S did really good at only picking one piece of candy from the bowls and she even got to enjoy some of it. While HIM and HER got to enjoy the rest (not that we needed any of it )!! Perks of being a parent of babies. 

We had a really great time experiencing what Halloween is like with little kids. Last year our foster placement was 14 so it was not quite the same as this year with a 17 month old girl. She was so excited and was hamming it up for everyone. Squealing and laughing at all the people in costumes. I was a little nervous that Little miss S would be scared of HIM's costume. But HIM laughed at the mask and made her think it was funny before HIM put it on and she was good. I was so relieved it would've made for a bad night if she had a bad reaction toward his costume. This whole learning life with a baby is a challenge, but a fun one that's for sure. 

Covered Bridge Festival

So on last Saturday Him and Her got up super early and headed out with the Hose's for our second annual Covered Bridge Festival excursions. Last year we were joined by the Denning's who were not able to join us this year due to their new little addition miss Adelae Elizabeth. So it was just the four of us since we got a sitter for Little miss S, and boy did we have a good time. Even thought we live in Indiana, we are still in a different time zone than the festival so I had to get up around 5 am so that I could get me and Little miss S ready.  Most people that I have talked to, say that the CBF is a "chick" thing and they are surprised that HIM even wants to go. But we all have so much fun I think the guys get just as excited about going as us "chicks" do. The food is probably the best and the worst part of the whole experience. Best because there is so many different and delicious foods to eat and samples everywhere. And the worst because you totally blow your diet out the window and gain about ten pounds even with all the walking that you do all day.

We started the day off at the Bridgeton festival and spent several hours there before we headed on the back roads to the Mansfield festival. Bridgeton is a lot smaller than Mansfield and a lot less crowded, but still just as fun. We got the most delicious fudge and roasted nuts from Bridgeton. Both places gave out as many samples as we wanted and were so very nice we couldn't just not buy from them. When we were at the nut booth, I had like 6 different kinds in my hand and he was still giving us more. HER bought honey roasted cashews and HIM got the white chocolate roasted almonds. HER's are gone already, they were just too good. The fudge was pretty much the same they were like have as many samples as you want, they had so many good flavors but I just couldn't decided so I went the safe and got chocolate peanut butter but HIM got chocolate mint. And that is all we bought at Bridgeton, there was a couple items that we would have bought but the sales people were really rude so I just walked away. I mean really your goal is to make a sale and you want to be a jerk then I will keep my money safe in my pocket and walk away. And I did right in the middle of their pitch and all I just left.

At Mansfield I got my apple dumpling which I wanted so bad last year and never got one so the first thing I did when we got there was buy one. And it was sooo good!! But the best thing about Mansfield was the fresh warm homemade Amish pretzels. They were the best thing by far I could have ate three of them but I contained myself and shared the ONE with HIM. The only thing we ended up buying at Mansfield was a hat for Little miss S. There was so much that I should've and could've have bought for Christmas gifts and all, but I kept second guessing myself. That or I didn't want to carry it all day so I said I would get it on the way out and forgot. But that's okay we had a blast even with our minimal purchases. The Hose's on the other had now they got a deal on this huge block of Amish butter cheese all because it was closing time and they wanted to make a sale. Heather loves cheese and was so excited about their purchase!!!

The weather was pretty much great the whole day. It was not too windy, a little cloudy, but that kept it from getting too warm. There was about a ten minute rain shower around 4 o'clock but it wasn't too bad and thankfully didn't make things too muddy. We stayed there until about 6 o'clock their time and then headed out taking the back roads again to avoid the crazy two mile an hour traffic. On the way home we stopped in Terra Haute for some dinner at Fridays and I had the best salad yep it was the bomb. We made it back to our house around 8:45 our time.

Football game Disaster

Okay so we are still pretty new at this whole parenting thing since we don't have any kids of our own and all. And with Little miss S as our first infant placement. So to say that we make a few mistakes here and there is pretty accurate. But none quite as bad as last night. We were definitely not thinking like people with a baby and the possible disasters that might occurs on our little outing.

 My not so little, sophomore in high school  brother had a football game last night that we went to. It was the only game that we are probably able to make it to, so even though it was cold we went. BIG Mistake!!! I have ordered a coat for Little miss S but it hasn't came in yet so I bundled her up real good in layers and brought with us some blankets to keep her nice and toasty. Well it would have been okay if she would sit still on her own and stay snuggled up but she wouldn't so we had to hold her mistake #2. Then to top it off the game started late and it lasted well past Little miss S's bed time and she so did not want to snuggle mistake #3. Then even though I feed her before we left, when HIM got us food from the concessions she wanted ours and got mad when it was all gone (we both shared ours with her too). I even had snacks for her but they didn't quite cut it for her mistake #4. 

Now if all that wasn't enough her teeth started bothering her. Good thing I had the oragel with me but I did not pack any pain reliever for her BIG mistake #5. The oragel only helped for a little bit and after the third time putting it on she was over it and didn't want any of it. I tried my hardest to tough it out until the game was over but that did not work unfortunately. There was a little over 3 minutes on the board and Little miss S cracked. She started crying, screaming and kicking oh man was she giving it her all. We just got up a left, without even saying hi to my little brother. But at least he knew we were there that was the main thing. This was the first time she has had a melt down like that in public and man was I embarrassed and mad. As soon as we got to the car I changed her diaper and put her in her car seat and low and behold the little stink starts smiling grrr. Well like they say you live and learn and boy did we get a lesson in parenting last night ugh.

Auction

She has a monkey on her back

Auction's are so exciting! I have been to a few when I was younger but last year was my first time actually participating in one. Our Alma Mater has their annual Athletic Auction every September.  We really didn't want to bring Little miss S with us but she did surprisingly very well. We had to pick up a child restraint backpack which is just a fancy name for a child leash. But she loved it, she was able to still have her freedom and still not get into too much trouble. And then there was the food, the one way to keep her happy and calm is to bribe her with food. This girl loves to eat she gets so darn excited when you mention "bites" that she starts to squeal and dance on her tippy-toes.

There were four silent auctions where the items were supplied a combination of sport teams. It allows for a nice mix of items there are even some pretty nice foreign items. Then there is a  meal that is followed by the live auction. We only won  one item from the silent auction which was a bummer. There were a few items that we really wanted but were outbid on them. We don't participate too much in the live auction but the excitement of it all is still well worth the time. Though there was this one time that I almost bid $500 on a trip that we so did not want all because of those stupid nats that were swarming our table. They would not get out of my face and I was swatting them away when the auctioneer thought I was placing a bid YIKES!! Good thing someone else placed a bid because HIM was about to have a heart attack. Under no uncertain terms was I allowed to swat those nasty nats from my face the rest of the evening.

New little house guest

 August slipped past me faster the July ever did. It just seems unreal that the older I get the faster the days slip on by. It seems like last week I posted my latest blog and here it is already September. And I never even posted anything in August aahhhh I missed a whole month. Life is slipping by me way too fast. I even started Christmas shopping yes I said it the dreaded Christmas shopping has started. I have not got much done granted, but I am determined to have the majority of my shopping done before December gets here. Which is hard since we never know when and for how long we will have our foster placements. But either way I will have my Christmas shopping done before the week before Christmas.

The twins got to go home right before school started here about the middle of August. It really was a bitter sweet event. But I was glad to see that they were able to go back with their parents. It was a tough situation for those boys who loved their parents so much but started to get attached to us. The plus side is that we still get to see them every once in a while. Their mother and aunt had joined us a couple times at church before they went home, and still decided to join us after they returned! It is nice when we are still able to stay in contact with our previous placements.

We didn't really get any our time from the twins leaving us and getting our new little house guest. The reason being we welcomed a friend and her 3 yep 3 kids ages 15, 7 and 4 into our house for a few weeks until they found their own place and all. They officially moved out this past Sunday and to say that it was an interesting experience is to say the least. It is not that we did not want them here it is just that you get use to your own space and way of doing things and then when people come in and stay for extended periods of time it gets a little awkward at best. And then while they were still with us we got a new house guest, little miss S or as most people refer to her as Little miss Cindy Lou Who. 

She is our first infant placement and first girl placement. It has been an interesting couple of weeks with her in the house. I babysit for a 17 month old boy so the whole baby thing is not that big of a deal for me, but by 4:30 he and his sister go home. To have a baby in the house ALL day and night long is way different than from having one in the house from 7:30-4:30. Little miss S really isn't that bad for a 15 month old little girl that has been placed in a strangers home. It did take her a good week to warm up to HIM though. She did not want anything to do with any male for the first couple of days with us, but she is so over that now. HIM is her buddy now which I am oh so thankful for. It means I can go to the bathroom without having a crying baby banging on the door. Oh the little things in life that we find joy in huh. I have always heard moms talk about how going to the bathroom in peace would be nice but never really understood what they meant until our first week with Little miss S. Now boy do I ever!!! All in all Little miss S is a sweet little girl, she sleeps through the night for the most part, and she is pretty independent. But boy does she like to throw her fits! Whew they are enough to drive a person crazy at times.I just have to give us both a time out and collect myself. 

She is a funny little thing too, she doesn't say many words, but she will let you know what she wants that's for sure. She was hungry one morning and David was up with her she keep running between him and the kitchen smacking his leg and pointing to the table. Then when you get the food out boy does she get all kinds of excited big smiles and excited squeals. And when she smiles it is with her bottom teeth only she looks so goofy and cute! Having a baby in the house versus teenagers is totally new experience. She is in bed between 7-9 and the house is nice a quite. That gives HIM and HER some nice alone time or more realistically it allows us to go to bed early and getting some much needed sleep. I feel at times like I am never gonna get caught up with my sleep. But it is all worth it in the end at least we are able to give Little miss S a safe place to live for the time being. 

Wrapping up July

I am so behind on my postings, I still have events from July that I have not blogged about yet. Hopefully with this one I will be done playing catch up and can move forward to this months events! The last weekend of July was spent camping and boating out on Patoka Lake.

FRIDAY - We arrived at the camp site around 1:30, got set up and then everyone went off to take the jet ski out on the water for a while. I got to stayed behind to relax in the peace and quite since the camp site was still very empty. I am not very big on camping in the first place so to have some time to myself was a major plus. It is not that camping is that bad it is just getting everything ready and most of the time not having a bathroom close at hand. Everyone did not get back until around 5:30 just in time to get a fire going and supper on and most importantly the rain covers and tarps. It had been thundering and getting darker for a little bit and Her just knew we would be getting some rain. Him said it would miss us and we had nothing to worry about but Her was not having any of it. I just knew we were gonna get something and sure enough we had a nice storm with heavy rains strong winds and even pea sized hail. So much for blowing over and missing us. Most of us were out in the storm trying to get all the food and other items covered and stored before they got ruined. One of the first things I did was grab a trash bag and shove over me to help keep myself some what dry I still got pretty wet before I got it on but it still helped. Now here I will remind you that I DO NOT really like to camp. So here I am pretty much soaked sporting the oh so fashionable black trash bag poncho and wondering how in the world am I gonna feed all of us since the storm decided to hit in the middle of cooking everything. The guys were able to get the fire going again and the food cooked thank God and thankfully none of our stuff got ruined! The rest of the night was spent around the fire and goofing off. The one good thing that the rain brought was cool weather. We had a nice chilly night, especially since I forgot our blankets and we had to buy a small throw at the camp store. It was only barely big enough for Her to cover up with, poor Him had to use a towel. Needless to say it was not the best night of sleep either of us have had.

 

SATURDAY - We all got up and had breakfast while the rest of our crew arrived and got set up. Then we were off to the marina for a beautiful day out on the pontoon boat. Our day out on the water was amazing. Not too hot, a nice breeze and warm water it was a good day to be out on the boat. We had our annual diving competition first for all the guys then for us few girls. The guys got a little bit more daring in their dives than us girls. But they were also the only ones who came away with a diving injury as well. There was a lot of swimming, noodle fights and jet ski rides that day as well. After all that fun on the water we headed back to the camp to eat supper, get cleaned up and then ended the night around the camp fire eating smores and telling jokes. That is all of his besides Him, he had to go and work on his sermon for the next morning in our tent. Him was up most of the night putting the finishing touches on it and going over it so he would be prepared to preach in the morning. 

Mount Laundry

SUNDAY morning came way too soon for all of us but it could not be helped. we had to be loaded up and ready to go so we could be back for Him to preach at 10:30. Luckily Patoka Lake is an hour ahead of us so that gave us some wiggle room. After service we all were ready for naps but first I had to get all the laundry sorted and out of bags so they wouldn't get all nasty. I ended up having 8 loads of laundry from this short camping trip (another reason not to like camping) all because the boys decided to bring their comforters instead of a light blanket.  But all in all even with not being a big fan of camping it was a good trip and great memories for the twins who had never done anything like this before.

Lambert's Cafe

Here we are the 2nd of August already.  I can not believe July is already over and school will be starting in a week yikes!! The twins are still with us but are looking to be going home here really soon and they are so excited for that too. T got the okay from the doctor to be off his crutches and start to do more regular activities. He still is not able to participate in highly active sports for about two months, but he is off the crutches which was such a relief to all of us.

David's frog legs

Our buddy Randy

On our way home from the M&M summit, we took a detour and meet up with a good friend of ours from college. We meet up at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston Missouri the place where they throw their rolls. Him and Her once lived about 25 minutes from Lambert's and never once went (I know crazy right) so this was our first time and it did not disappoint. The food was oh so good but the company was even better. Randy graduate in May and is getting ready to move to South Dakota for a job. Which makes her sad but happy at the same time. Him and Her were Randy's Dorm parents and boss so we feel like he is one of our kids even though he is a year older than me. Anyways back to Lambert's I got the chicken and dumplings which were fantastic and Him got the frog legs (yuck) which were huge. There was just so much food I was not able to eat even half of my meal. I filled up on the rolls that they were throwing around, fresh bread is my weakness. I can never turn it down it is just too good to pass up. Especially since I have cut out most breads from my diet this was not one of those days that I stuck to my diet (at all)!