Of the Crafty Persuasion

I realize I've been neglecting the craft part of my blog in favor of the cutest little boy in the whole wide world (I haven't heard any complaints) but never you fear, I've been crafting all along. I've got quite a few unfinished projects going around for October birthdays and unfortunately they will probably all be late, just so you know!

I find the days where I make my self crochet or at least doodle or write down some ideas, I am clearly able to get more stuff done. Especially when I see that my list of TO DO projects grows a lot faster than my FINISHED projects.

Right now in vague terms I am-
Working on a crocheted little girl birthday present
An emboidered/cross stitched grown up girl birthday present for a new office
A baby afghan
Toying with the pumpkin package I got in the mail from Grandma Kipp
Jotting down ideas for more unique baby gifts waiting on people to share whether they are having boys or girls
Swirling with Christmas goodies and ideas
Wanting so badly to make a quilt for family snuggle time
A design of Adam's that he swears will be a hit with the little girl recipient
Halloween costumes for my best little boy (Max) and best big boy (Adam)
Scarves- I want to make a bazillion of them all the time
A patchwork kitchen rug
And then today I dangerously come across this

It's so simple and charming, I want to drop everything else and just make two or three of these in autumn colors to hang everywhere!

Recent Finished Projects
A family from the church moved to Minnesota in the past few weeks, they have four little ones and the women in my Bible study had a going away party.

I made each of the older three a scarf (two boys and a girl) and the little one year old a hat since it is infinitely colder up there than it is here.

Adventures

We've been having lots of adventures around here lately. Max is learning to inch his way across a blanket to reach a destination (mostly after a toy) and right now it looks like he'll be an "army crawler," we'll see though. He also weighs well over 14lbs for those of you who are wondering. I'll probably be weighing him tonight for an exact weight.



He's also learning to sit on his own and gets so excited when he realizes he's doing it by himself that he flails his arms and squeals which causes him to fall over.

We've (Max and I) been fighting a sinus crud. I can't tell if it's allergies (it's harvest time around here so they are cutting down all the fields) or a cold, but Adam hasn't seemed to have gotten it, so my guess is allergies.

Max also loves his exersaucer (I may have mentioned this before) but he just learns to do more and more in it. We are looking into getting a johnny-jump-up for him because he loves to bounce.



Baby Food
Today I took on the task of making baby food on a larger scale. I had the squash and some sweet potatoes I wanted to try my hand at (since those are the only veggies Max has had yet and I know he likes them both).





I got my directions from here, but really it's just common sense. I just didn't want to completely mess anything up. I would have baked the sweet potatoes with the squash (since the recipe calls for the same amount of time and temperature) but I realized I was out of foil and really the boiling was almost as easy (except I hate peeling things).





Once they were prepared (boiled, baked) I just put them in the blender with some water to get the consistency I liked. I thought it would be a lot more messy than it actually was, or a lot more time consuming, or something, but it was easy and actually quite fun. Max played in his exersaucer and liked the noise of the blender. He's a goof, he also likes the sound of my hairdryer.



I ended up making so much, I had more food than I had small containers and I thought to myself, "I wonder if it's really any good." And so I had an afternoon snack of pureed butternut squash and it was absolutely delicious! I didn't even put anything in it, just the squash with a spoon. Yum!







New Pastor?
We've made the local papers again. This weekend the church is having what we are calling an "Installation Service" to install Adam into the church. It's just a recognition that will officially celebrate us having the calling to be here. It should be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it, and hopefully some people from the community will come.



Missing Friends
As much fun as we are having things still make me miss my friends. Like this ad in the paper.



My friend Darby was always particular on where her produce came from, she would always notice what state it was from, especially if it was from her home state of Oregon. Well now she's living in Washington and this just made me miss her so much more than I already do.

Our Weekend

We've had a busy weekend, but boy was it fun! I can't think of anything else we could have crammed into it, so enjoy the many pictures!

Homecoming
This weekend was Washington's Homecoming and now that we are leading youth we decided we should try to make it to as much as possible.

Friday afternoon the whole town shut down for the Homecoming Parade. We joined a couple church members and watched the kids parade around town. Adam was so proud of himself, he got some shout outs from some of the youth kids in the parade.


Max's First Parade

Friday Night Lights
Later that evening we set out for the football game and I realized I don't own anything orange to wear! We'll have to fix that one. But Max had his Washington Panthers shirt, Adam had his orange tshirt and I at least had the sling I carry Max in and it has an orange stripe in it.

Max was sleepy, (as it was his bedtime by the time we got to the game) and would just fall asleep in time for someone to score or for there to be a big play. It became pretty clear that I have issues not yelling at football games, it must be all the years of little league and Ohio State football watching. Poor thing, he kept getting woken up every time I yelled.

We sat with some ladies from church and had a wonderful time! We did leave close to the end of third quarter because Max was so sleepy and it was getting chilly out!

Super Sale Saturday
I had heard about this awesome sub development garage sale that's held twice a year around here so I decided to check it out. Adam was kind enough to watch Max so I could easily get in and out of the car. I was on the prowl for potential things for our new home (we'll have a lot more rooms than we have furniture!) specifically I've been wanting a hutch or sideboard for the dining room (no purpose really, just somewhere to display pretty dishes and vignettes like those I see on all the blogs I read). I'm also on the hunt for at least a full sized bed (possibly even a queen) for a spare bed, so when couples come to visit we don't have to always get the air mattress out.

Well the sub development did not dissapoint. I found baby GAP and Gymboree boys clothes for $1 a piece, a small umbrella stoller (for our trip to Florida, so I don't have to bring his monstrous big one), and a hutch. The hutch said "Make Offer" and while I was chatting with the ladies, I told them I would pay $40 for it (completely lowballed them) and they took my name and number in case they didn't sell it over the course of the day. Around 1pm they called back and told me I could have it if I wanted. So I borrowed a van and off I went to pick up my treasure. It was originally a built in so it will have to be in a corner (the one side is completely flat where the molding should be) and I will probably paint it black (since our dining chairs are black) but I'm super excited to put pretty things behind the sliding glass.


Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
Today we had our "normal" busyness but with an added twist. We were invited to go out to Tanner's Orchards where they have apples (of course) and lots of fun autumn stuff. We enjoyed some samples strolling through the market and bought way too much. I currently have a gallon of apple cider, caramel popcorn nuggets, a dozen cider doughnuts, apple butter, caramel apples, and a butternut squash (for further babyfood making expeditions).



Speaking of which, I was totally right about the saving money part, the squash was two dollars and it weighs at least 3-4 lbs. Making this babyfood will save me so much money!

We also took the time to take some pictures for a Kipp family update/pictures to be sent to friends. Here's a sneak peek, just act excited when you get them in the mail, ok? Also you can vote for your favorite in the comments, I really can't decide which ones I like the most! I've numbered them for your convenience.

#1 The Family Photo


#2 Where's the Baby?


#3 Our lil Pumpkin 1


#4 Our lil Pumpkin 2


#5 Our lil Pumpkin 3


#6 Playing with Gourds


#7 Smiling Gourds


#8 Talking Gourds (I like this one because that's a face he makes all the time, the curious, inquisitive, kindof suspicious face)


Autumn used to be my least favorite time of year, the summer was when my birthday is and there was no school, the spring was pretty and had lots of color and flowers, and winter had snow and snowdays and Christmas, and autumn didn't really have anything for me. But as I grow older, autumn has become my favorite time of year, I love anything flavored pumpkin, I love mixing candy corn and peanuts (it always reminds me of you, Darby), and I love the color of turning leaves and gourds of all types, the orange, green, yellow, red combinations. So I had a great time with the camera, I think our friends may have thought I was a little crazy, but my favorite place was around the back of the main event where all the harvested gourds were stored in crates awaiting their debut in the "fields" where people could purchase them. You know, awaiting their autumn destiny.

Lots of Updates

Lot's of things on our list of things to be thankful for and wonderful things happening.

Happy Birthday to You!
Today is Baby Kate's first birthday, that means she officially become Miss Kate in my book. :)
I can't believe a year ago today Adam and I drove chicken up the highway to feed Bill and barely made it in time in Dallas traffic to be there when Kate made her wonderful arrival.

We were so happy then to meet you Kate and we are so happy to be a part of your life, even from so far away!

Baby Food
I couldn't even fathom this time last year (being just 6weeks pregnant) what today would be like! I can't believe that tonight Max goes to his first high school football game (it's homecoming week) and today we are going to the parade that winds through town. I also can't believe that Max is trying to sit up on his own (he thinks he can, but he doesn't quite have it all down yet) and eating fun things like cereal and homemade applesauce I made (really just mushy boiled apples, none of the fun stuff like sugar and cinnamon).

I froze them in a mini muffin tin so that I can just pull some out when I need to. This was Max's first time trying apple and he wasn't so sure about them at first, but wanted more by the end.
So for the food count, he's currently eating - rice cereal with pear juice, sweet potatoes, squash (his favorite), and apples. He really loves food and won't stop himself.

My friend Amy sent me this site and it made me realize how easy it is (and much cheaper) to make your own baby food. As long as you can put in a little prep, it's worth it. I tried with the apples I already had on hand and I'm looking forward to putting up some squash since it's in season and I can get it dirt cheap (and Max seems to love it so much).

Max seems to have a little congestion and has been sneezing which he thinks is hilarious and laughs every time. I don't know if is the sneeze that's so funny or our reaction saying, "Bless you!" each time. He also has been waking up screaming and has had a very low grade fever the past couple of nights. Possibly teething? It sounds like it to me, so we are on constant tooth watch around here.

He's also decided he loves his exersaucer, he doesn't so much interact with the toys around it (he can't quite reach them yet) but he loves to be up and having a rattle or his "night night" and kicking his feet around. This morning I had him playing on the floor and he kept twisting his body around to stare at it. I would try to entertain him otherwise and he would keep rolling around to watch it, so in I put him and he started giggling and yelling and pushing himself up and down in it. He was so happy!

We've also started baby sign language. He really pays attention to me when I talk to him, so I figured now was a great time to start. We do "help," "more," "eat," and "all done."

At last check on the baby scale (on Monday or so) Max weighed almost 13.5 lbs. We go back to the Dr on Oct 7 for our official weight check, but my guess is they'll say he's doing just fine.

Lastly
We made an offer on a house on Tuesday and last night the family got back to us and had accepted the offer! We are so excited to move forward and hopefully this will all continue to go smoothly, we will have a lot of work to do on the house before we move in (inlcuding ripping out the bathroom and a wall to remodel it). So the blog may instead become lessons on home improvement and DIY projects. Stay tuned!

Picture Overload

Pictures are worth lots of words, here's a bunch to keep you entertained....


Max with Auntie Darci


"Hey! No pictures!"


Todd Agnew


Max wanted the youth group candy, he inched himself over to it and chose three pieces he wanted (no, I did not feed my baby candy, I was enticing him to crawl)


Naked Baby


Happy One


Not sure about this food stuff


Feet


"Mom! I can't believe you dressed me in this!"


Reading a book


Sneak Peek at some wallpaper we may or may not be removing in the near future. It's so old, it's back in style.


Trying to whistle?


So sleepy, he fell asleep while playing.


Hello? Is this thing on?