What do you love about....

ASHTON?
Owen - He's the cutest boy on earth! (make sure you put an exclamation point at the end!)
Liam - That he's part of the family.
Jordyn - When he smiles when he sees me (99.9% of the time).
Kevin - That he's happy and healthy
Heather - EVERYTHING!

OWEN?
Liam - That he scratches me and all that and makes me look tough.
Jordyn - How funny he is, when he doesn't try to be.
Kevin - That he's his own person in his own world.
Heather - The funny things he says.

LIAM?
Owen - He gives me so many laughs.
Jordyn - He's always nice.
Kevin - His eyelashes.
Heather - That he's the best big brother ever.

JORDYN?
Owen - That she takes care of us.
Liam - That she will take me places and she's always nice to me...well not always.
Kevin - That she is generally a sweet, sweet person.
Heather - That she's such a girly-girl.

DAD/KEVIN?
Owen - That he's so loveful.
Liam - That he loves to come outside with me and that he's really active.
Jordyn - That he's funny and fun to be around.
Heather - How much he loves his family.

MOM/HEATHER?
Owen - That you are so nice and that you give me so many treats.
Liam - That she's loving and caring.
Jordyn - That she has style still.
Kevin - That you're adventurous and willing to take chances.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!
Tell the ones you love what it is that you love about them.

The Fall List - Progress

Back in September, the family put together a Fall Bucket List of sorts.

And, here we are, almost the end of October, and I'm happy to report that many of these items items have already been checked off the list. Such as:

Mom's List
* Oxford Football Game
* Go to the boys' soccer games
* Farmer's Market
Dad's List:
* Watch a Bucs game with out yelling
* Make Chili
Jordyn's List:
* Go pumpkin picking
* Go costume shopping
* Visit the Parsons' puppy
* Go to a corn maze
Liam's List:
* Score four goals in one soccer game
Owen's List:
* Make applesauce

There are a couple of things on the list that we are scheduled to do in the next couple of weeks:
* Go Ghosting (before Halloween)
* Costume party (Jordyn already went to one at a friend's house, and the boys will each have one at school)
* Go to a parade/Have a parade (not really sure what Owen was trying to say here, but they have a costume parade at school, so that counts in my book)
* Carve Pumpkins
* Burn Pumpkins (This was Owen's description for putting a candle in them as jack-o-lanterns)
* Go trick-or-treating (on Halloween)
* MSU Football Game(11/7 vs Western Michigan University, Family Tailgate)

A couple of things on the list that we WON'T be able to do:
* If the Tigers make it to the World Series, go to Detroit to walk around during one of the home games (Make it to the World Series??!!! How about make it to the PLAYOFFS??!!)
* Go to the Funky Fall Fest (not sure why I haven't seen anything on this yet, but it looks like the PTO has chopped this event this year, so sad)

And, a couple of things that I'm sure we'll get around to at some point before Fall 'leaves' us:
* Starbucks for Hot Chocolate / Hot Caramel Apple Cider
* Make Peanut Butter/Marshmallow toast
* Rent a scary movie around Halloween
* Make a Halloweeny dessert
* Make Halloween cookies
* Make Halloween decorations

As much as I'm excited about crossing more Fall Family Fun items off our list, I must say that I'm already looking forward to making our Winter Bucket List!! :)

It's more than just creating lists and checking things off, though. It's about creating lasting family memories and cultivating some traditions that will (hopefully) last for generations.

The Fall List

You may remember our Summer Bucket List...

We gathered the family around the fire pit on the patio for one last summer hurrah and discussed the Summer Family Fun items that we did together:

Cook's Farm Dairy * Parsons' Pool * Finish Liam's Birthday Album * Driving Range (Kevin & Owen) * Gulda's Pool Party* Binder Park Zoo * Pancake Breakfast * Grand Rapids * Movies * Fireworks * Catch a Frog / Toad

Then, as we watched the summer sun set across the lake and made some S'mores, we discussed what types of Fall Family Fun things we wanted to do this autumn.

We may get to do some of them, and not others. And that's OK. As long as we do them together.

Here is the Hillary's Fall Bucket List:

Mom's List:

*Oxford Football Game

* Starbuck's for Hot Chocolate / Hot Caramel Apple Cider

* If the Tigers make it to the World Series, go to Detroit to walk around during one of the home games

* Go Bowling

* Watch our wedding video on our anniversary (Kevin and I have NEVER watched our wedding video!!)

* Make Peanut Butter/Marshmallow toast

* Farmer's Market
* Family Photo Session
* Go to the boys' soccer games


Dad's List:
* MSU Football Game
* Watch a Bucs game with out yelling
* Make Chili
* Kill an animal (all ideas get written down, that's the rule)
* Develop a new work out routine (not a family activity, I know)
* Develop a new dinner menu

Jordyn's List:
* Go pumpkin picking
* Go costume shopping
* Visit the Parsons' puppy
* Go Ghosting
* Rent a scary movie around Halloween
* Go to a corn maze
* Go on a haunted hay ride
* Make caramel apples
* Make a Halloweeny dessert
* Go to the Funky Fall Fest

Liam's Items:
* Score four goals in one soccer game
* Have a fall party
* Stay overnight at a hotel
* Bike ride on the Polly Ann Trail
* Make Halloween cookies
* Sell apple cider
* Kids Kingdom

Owen's Items:
* Plant an apple tree
* Carve Pumpkins
* Burn Pumpkins (we figured out that he meant to put a candle in them as jack-o-lanterns)
* Go trick-or-treating
* Catch more fish
* Ride horses
* Costume party
* Make Halloween decorations
* Make applesauce
* Go to a parade/Have a parade (not really sure what he was trying to say here)

And since we talked so much about Halloween, the kids discussed what they wanted to be:

Jordyn - a French maid
Liam - Storm Shadow (some GI Joe character)
Owen - a butterfly

Now, Jordyn and Kevin kept telling Owen that he couldn't be a butterfly, which made Owen want to be a butterfly THAT much more. And Liam and I kept telling him that he could and should be a butterfly. Eventually, lest we wonder which team he's gonna play on when he grows up, Owen changed his mind and said that he wanted to be a gun...."So that I can SHOOT the butterflies." Oh my.

The List

On Father's Day, Kev and I and the kids gathered around the fire pit on the patio to spend some family time together. The conversation turned to things we want to do this summer...primarily as a family, although there were some personal goals thrown in, too. I recorded all of our thoughts and the result is the following list - grouped by the idea originator.

I give you the 2009 Hillary Family Summer Bucket List, if you will. Although, in this list, if we get to them, GREAT. If not, well, there's always the fall...who says Family Fun has to be limited to one season?

And, BONUS! We've already checked some items off the list!

Mom's Items -
*Cook's Farm Dairy
*Parsons' Pool (Check)
*Stargazing
*Family Photo Session
*Make Gazpacho
*Finish Liam's Birthday Album

Kevin's Items
*Driving Range
*Play in State Softball Tourney
*Get a non-travel job
*Train for 5k

Jordyn's Items
*Gulda's Sunday Pool Party
*Binder Park Zoo (Check)
*Blockbuster Movie Night
*Pancake Breakfast
*End of Summer Party
*Grand Rapids (Check)


Liam's Items
*Bowling
*Detroit Zoo
*Space Museum
*Movies (Check)
*End of Summer Party
*Birthday Party

Owen's Items
*Fireworks (Check)
*Dinosaur Museum
*End of Summer Party/Kindergarten Mixer
*Catch a Frog / Toad (Check)

On the Road Again

Heading over to Grand Rapids today for a post-Christmas Christmas party with Kev's mom's side of the family, Owen took my camera out of my computer bag and started taking pictures.

I think he was getting bored because the drive took longer than usual due to the extremely poor driving conditions (we saw TONS of cars in the ditch, one was even turned upside on its roof, scary).

O - "Mo-om, say chee-eeth!"

O- "Mom, it's your turn."

Mom- "Owen, say chee-eese!"

Mom- "Your turn again, O."

O- "Wia-ahh, say chee-eeth!"

O- giggle giggle giggle "Your turn, mom."

Mom- "Daa-ad, say chee-eese!" (he didn't say cheese or even look at the camera, and I was totally OK with that)
Mom- "Jordyn, say chee-eese!"
And that's how we passed our time on the way to GR. What I love about these pics is that they truly capture how we pass the time during the long drive.....

.....Kev driving. Liam playing DS. Me reading a scrapbook magazine. Jordyn listening to her iTouch. And Owen being a sweetie.

Delicate Snowflakes

As part of our daily December calendar activity, Jordyn got to pick what to do last night (each kid will get their turn to pick). The rule is that the activity has to be Christmas-y or winter-y.

At first, she thought about going sledding, but it's too dark (and cold) to do that after dinner.

Then she decided she wanted us all to go out for dessert. While that would have been a fun thing to do, it didn't really follow the "rules".

So, I gave her some more guidelines, "Jordyn, pick a Christmas movie, a Christmas book to read, or a Christmas craft."

She chose a craft (more work for me, but hey, it's all in an effort to make December that much more special). "Ok, so what craft do you want to make?" I asked.

"Let's make snowflakes!"

Wow, I haven't made paper snowflakes in forever. As a matter of fact, I sort of forgot how. Fortunately, Kevin (of all people!) recalled the proper paper folding technique and all was well with the world. And we went about creating the most beautiful, delicate, white paper snowflakes.

Just as delicate as the snowflakes, however, is Liam's emotional state.

He ended up having a melt down because his snowflakes weren't any good (according to him). So, that translated into nobody liking him, and he went to bed in tears.

Not EXACTLY how I had intended the extra-special December evening to pan out, but that's my little drama queen for ya.

Fortunately he woke up today in a good mood. I think he was just tired.

Anyway, the snowflakes turned out quite nicely and they look spectacular and festive gracing the sidelight windows by our front door.

Now the inside of the window matches the outside of the window.

Snow.

Things we love right now

I had a wonderful evening with my family last night. We were all doing things that we love to do right now and I just had to capture it with my newly repaired camera.

Jordyn read one of her Twilight series books. This from a girl who used to HATE to read, and now she can't get enough. Just LOOK at the size of those books!!

Liam watched Cartoon Network. Uh, yeah, it's kind of ridiculous that the cartoon characters are bigger than he is. Didn't realize that until I took this photo!

Owen played with trains in the hallway. He's a train guy all the way. And he's currently going through this phase where he won't look at the camera. Nice.


Kev grilled up some mean steak for dinner while drinking an ice cold beer. Dinner was DELISH! I sliced up my steak and spread it over a field green salad with goat cheese, walnuts, grape tomatoes, grilled onions, and balsamic vinaigrette. YUM!

And I...I watched a gorgeous autumn sunset across the lake while taking in a glass of German Cabernet Sauvingon. Hanging on to the last traces of summer as we melt into fall here in Michigan.

And when this was gone, we dipped into the box of cab sauv. What a perfect evening.

Beach Bum

This weekend was the epitome of Lake Living for me.

I wish every day could be spent exactly how I spent Saturday and Sunday….basically being a beach bum in my own backyard.

Living on a lake has been more enjoyable than I ever thought it would. I just wish I could enjoy it this thoroughly every day…but I'll take what I can get, and with the summer quickly dwindling away, I'm on a mission to spend as much as time as possible being a bonafide beach bum.

The enjoyable lake living actually started on Friday night after our softball game and subsequent trip to Casa Real, Kev and I retreated to the deck to sip on some adult beverages and relax in the anti-gravity chairs watching the moon dance across the water. It was lovely.

Saturday brought my cousin Lisa and her daughter Rochelle visiting from California. My mom and my sister's four kids also came out to enjoy the day. Owen had been asking for days when he would see Bella again and as soon as they got there, he ran out to the driveway to greet her and immediately said, "Bella, Bella, Bella! There's no girls allowed in my room!"

But, back to the whole Beach Bum theme of this post... Immediately following my mom's great lunch, we went down to the beach where we stayed for nearly 4 hours, during most of which, 10-year old Rochelle rarely emerged from the water. We don't see her very often (once every 3-4 years), so it was a special treat watching her interact so effortlessly with my kids and my sister's kids, who, Lisa and I decided, are like her 3rd cousins. Or her first cousins twice removed. Not really sure how that whole relationship thing works! It doesn't matter, it's still family. The kids had fun swimming, retrieving dive rings, hauling rocks out of the water to add to my on-shore rock collection, jumping off the paddle boat, and watching Kevin catch a decent size bass.

It was also fun for me to catch up with Lisa who does lots of really interesting things….she homeschools Rochelle, plays really tough word games (REALLY well), takes lots of different types of dance lessons, scuba dives, participates in square dance calling. Fun conversations. Too bad the top of Lisa's head got sunburned (darn those parts!)

Saturday evening brought Pat & Maria from Grand Rapids and their two girls plus my one girl (who spent last week in GR at Gramma Carol's and Grandpa Don's getting tremendously spoiled). Pat and the girls stayed home with Kev and the boys while Maria and I met up with Aimee (home visiting from Tennessee for the month) for dinner at Sagebrush and then dancing at Overtyme. Not an overly wild and crazy time, and completely un-beach bummy, but I sufficiently got my dance on. Just like our old dancing days....while at the same time nothing at all like our old dancing days!

Sunday morning, we went down to the beach immediately after breakfast with Maria, Pat, their girls, and my boys. Allison swam all by herself for the very first time (with the assistance of her Dora life jacket) and Rachel played in the sand. Such cute girls! They left to head back to GR (too soon) before lunch (taking Jordyn back with them for another week).

After saying goodbye to them, I returned to the beach for pretty much the rest of the day…. reading one of my favorite magazines, catching some rays, catching some ZZZs, pulling weeds in the water, and feeding my rock fetish. The boys were in and out of the water, back and forth at the beach, roaming from front yard to back yard: swimming, playing ball, playing Pokemon, and swimming some more. Once Kev was done watching the Tigers avoid being swept by the Indians, he came down and we took the paddle boat out so the boys could jump off the back. Owen doesn't really jump, he uses the ladder, but he's pretty brave for a 4 year old, out there in the middle of the "deep end", swimming and giggling, and getting increasingly further and further away from the boat.

Around 4pm, Kev & I retired to the hammocks where Liam fell asleep lying next to me. Ahhhh, perfection.

I can't wait to do it again!

Tractor Trails at Cook's

I grew up with Cook's Farm Dairy in my backyard, at least by Ortonville standards.

It was about 2 miles from my childhood home and my parents used to let us walk there on a hot summer day, or a mild spring/fall day, (a good way to get us out of their hair for a couple of hours, no doubt). In hindsight, 2 miles seems like a pretty long distance to let a couple of ten to thirteen year olds walk unaccompanied by an adult, but those were simpler times back then…even though the abduction and murder of Adam Walsh had demonstrated to most parents (including mine) that the world was not as safe as they hoped it would be. But I digress.

I remember when Cook's first started selling ice cream. The pungent smell of the cow manure. The hand dipped, creamy, hard ice cream. MMMmmm.

It was 75 cents for a single, and if you've ever been to Cook's, you know that their singles are hu-normous (a word coined by my 3 year old niece Bella).

I remember when they first increased their price form 75 cents to $1.25 and unlike other price hikes, when people tend to bemoan the atrocity of rising prices, this price hike was met with a resounding agreement that Cook's was finally charging what their hu-normous ice cream cones were really worth.

We now live about 8 miles from Cook's, it's about 15 minutes to drive there. And with a Frosty Boy around the corner and gas prices soaring, we don't go there as often as I did as a kid. (As I'm typing this, it makes me realize that we really should go more often.)

After a long day swimming in our lake and sunbathing at our beach this past Sunday, we went to Cook's while the dads were out golfing for Father's Day.

Me & my kids.

My sister & her kids.

And our psuedo-sister Lorrie & her kids.

Today, a single cone at Cook's costs $3.25, and that price is still worth it since they are just as yummy and almost as hu-normous as I remember them. I'd dare say that back in the early eighties, the singles were even hu-normouser than they are today. But, it was such a treat!

I had Tractor Trails (vanilla ice cream with fudge swirls and peanut butter truffles) - is your mouth watering? Jordyn had Mint Chocolate Chip. Liam had Blu Moo.

And Owen had White. No, not Vanilla. White. (OK, it really was Vanilla but he'll argue with you til he's blue in the face that it's WHITE ice cream.)

The farm has grown since I was a kid. In addition to cows they now have pigs and chickens. After finishing our ice cream, we walked around the farm.

Here is a pig defecating on another pig's snout.
And the pig getting dumped on didn't even mind! He didn't even flinch! Kinda makes me want to swear off pork like my sister's family has done. Too bad it tastes so freaking delicious. Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! BACON! (to read the bacon sequence correctly, you must recall a certain Kibbles & Bits commercial.)

And, speaking of pigs, I couldn't resist taking a picture of Cook's marquee.

Would you like the one dumping or the one getting dumped upon? I certainly hope they let you specify that you would like a non crapped upon the snout pig.

Bailey saw a very tiny dead baby chicken, which looked like it had slipped out of an egg and was squashed by a tractor (she refused to let me take a picture of that). It was gross.

There were calves that the kids were able to pet. One even took a liking to Jordyn's rear end so the calf LICKED it! Jordyn thought it was me goosing her (I love pinching my kids' butts!) and she was even more embarrassed to learn that it was a calf LICKING her!

And in case you're a complete moron, there were signs like this one all over the place.

It was the perfect way to end a perfectly splendid Father's Day. Too bad the dads missed it.

If we go there more often this summer, which we should, we'll have to walk the 8 miles for a couple of reasons.

A. To save gas.

B. To save my thighs from further expansion.

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Here are some more shots from our trip to the farm:

(To get the pictures to load, you may have to press refresh on your browser)

Family Fun Day

Saturday was Family Fun Day at our house. But before I get into that, let me rewind a bit.

We have a marble system at our house where the kids earn marbles for doing chores and being nice to each other and they lose marbles for the opposite behavior. Then we cash out the marbles periodically. A certain percentage of the marbles goes back into the marble bank, a certain percentage goes into their pockets in the form of CASH (1 marble = a quarter), a certain percentage goes into their savings jar (which we eventually turn into cash and take to the credit union to deposit in their accounts) and a certain percentage goes to the family jar, otherwise known as TAXES.

Now, when enough taxes have been collected, and the family jar is full of marbles, we get to do a family fun activity. Previously we have gone bowling or out to the movie. But this time (due to our new budget - which is an entirely different post altogether) I suggested that we have a Family Fun Day at home.

I explained to the kids that during Family Fun Day everyone would get to pick 2 activities that they wanted us to do at home with the whole family (a specific game, ice skating, sledding, etc.) Then we would write those ideas on a piece of paper and pull them from a bowl one at a time. And whatever activity we pull, the whole family would all do together for at least 1/2 hour. I also told them that they could pick what they wanted for dinner and a special snack and when we went to Meijer we would get it.

Liam, following in the footsteps of his forced family fun averse father, did not think this sounded like a fun idea at all and took some time to warm up to the idea. But he HAD to warm up to the idea, because that is what our budget would allow.

So, on Saturday, we had our Family Fun Day.

And let me tell you, it was FUN! We went to Blockbuster and got movies (Kevin's idea), we played a Quizno's aquatic version of Slapjack called Deep Sea where we were slapping a squid, we played Apples to Apples, Jr. and Frustration and Harry Potter Scene It, we made banana nut bread (this was probably my favorite activity, and not just because it was my choice, but because the kids were SO into it! Jordyn even wants our next Family Fun Day to be ALL cooking!), then the kids played play-doh while Kevin and I made dinner (Hamburger Helper - Liam's choice), Kevin and the kids played trains with Owen while I cleaned the kitchen, and we finished off the evening by watching Where the Red Fern Grows. A movie that Liam was positive would be boring (thanks, again, to Kevin) but then he watched and really liked it. Owen was asleep within the first five seconds of the movie. I don't even think the TITLE of the movie had appeared on the screen, yet.

It's not very often that Kevin and I PLAY together with the kids. Let alone for a solid EIGHT hours. No amount of money spent at a bowling alley or anywhere else can compare.

Even Liam and Kevin both agreed that it really was a Family Fun Day.