Playing in the leaves

MIsc. pictures

"bare-back" riding
My first attempt at canning, I processed 10 jars of homemade applesauce, not only does it taste good, but I'm kinda proud of myself.

Super happy smiling baby....

Me and the boys

Rosy cheeks!

Not too sick to be cute!

Happy 4th Birthday Bubba!

How do you explain to a 4 year old who has been counting down the days ALL MONTH, that he can't have anybody over for a birthday party right now, because we're sick. He was very confused and concerned all day about when he would see his friends, and family (ok, and get presents) for a "party for my birthday, cuz I'm 4 now". We did our best to have a small celebration, he loves to picnic in the living room for special treats, so that's what he wanted to do. Then we let him have his presents early (well, not really, but they were supposed to wait for the party) and I did my best to make a cake. It's no where near the craftsmanship of Kendall's, but considering it was my first time.....who am I kidding, it was super easy and I still botched it up. But overall, I think he understood that his day will come, he just has to cross a few more off on the calendar.

What does the H1N1 look like?

Jake's nap was interrupted by a coughing spell that was so rough he started vomiting for the next 45 minutes.

Ryan's my nap protester, almost always has been. He was asleep after just a few minutes, and I had to wake him up 2 1/2 hours later.

Jazmin took a 6 hour nap, then I woke her to eat supper cuz she slept thru lunch. She went to bed less than 3 hours later and was out cold in less than 5 minutes.

You would think with all this napping going on we would be a well rested household, but it's amazing how absolutely worn out the kids are, as are Joel and I.

Jake's first trip to the dentist...he rocked!

Learning to can

I'm trying to teach myself how to "can' things. I want to be able to preserve our applesauce for more than a few days, can fruit so that we can have "fresher" stock during the winter, and also just to have one more domestication skill under my belt to pass on to my kids. One of Jazmin's nurses gave me all her old jars and seals, which was a huge step in the right direction. I spent the majority of this evening sealing them off with saran wrap after they got sanitized by the dishwasher (a little trick my mother in law does). I can't wait to fill them all up with peaches, pears, beans, tomato soup, applesauce, etc! Hopefully next year I'll have a more "plentiful garden" and will have more of my own produce to use throughout the following year.

Also,I'm admitting that I'm a bad mom, I gave my 5 1/2 mo old a sucker to play with and chew on while I was finishing up sealing off the jars. She loved it, I hated that she had it, but knew the task at hand wouldn't get completed if I didn't do it. Sometimes, you just have to compromise.

Faith Christian Academy field trip to the fire station

Getting ready for Halloween

Jake plans to be a pirate for Halloween!

H1N1 Hits the Peterson Household

Mister Ryan has the H1N1. We're not happy about this obviously, but we're doing what we can to prevent further spread. Jazmin is going on Tamiflu, We've got Purell all over the house, we've cancelled everything we had planned for the week, and we're saying our prayers hoping it doesn't go any further than our front door. We're not overly concerned about this since the "regular flu's" complication rate is much higher than the H1N1, but it never hurts to take precautions. We all still plan to get vaccinated as soon as it becomes available, if for no other reason than to protect others from getting it. This winter doesn't look very appealing as far as viruses/illnesses go, but we'll do our best to stay healthy and keep from furthering the spread of germs any way we can.

Little ham

Cecilia Grace

Peek-a-boo

I love bath time!

Sickness settles in for the week

Cecilia has had croup for the last couple days. She came down with it while we were on our weekend away staying at the hotel. I finally had to take her in today, she wasn't getting any better, and another sleepless night wouldn't do either of us any good. Turns out she has an ear infection too; not that you would be able to tell be looking at her. All she ever does is smile, laugh, smile, flirt, smile, and smile. She's such a happy kid.
Jacob has an upper respiratory virus, complete with runny nose, coughs, and slight wheezing. He's still bound and determined to keep up with Ryan though!
His latest "stall tactic" with this illness is to say "I got a booger" over and over until we come and take care of it for him. It's fun.
Jazmin is threatening to get sick, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that she and Ryan both stay healthy through this round of bugs.
On a pleasant note, Nana stopped in for a short visit today. That was the highlight of our day. The kids were super excited to see her, and sad when she had to leave. They can't wait to head down to Nana and Papa's for a visit, and neither can I.

Belated Anniversary Wishes

I'm not sure who these young and good looking people are, but I do know that Joel and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this last Mon. We're "going away" for the weekend and we will only have Cecilia with us! Looking forward to that, and the getaway!

MN Twins game

Great Grandma Peterson took the family (minus Jaz who was recovering from surgery) and Bapa Bryce to a game at the Metrodome. It was a good game, what I saw of it! The boys did okay, we were lucky enough to be in the first row and on the aisle so they didn't disturb our neighbors to badly!

Joel's favorite photo subject

Deer Lake Apple Orchard

Learning about the sorting and cleaning.
A wasp's nest...they are very detrimental to apple orchards.

Paying close attention!

Feeding the animals was the only way to get Jake out of the maze.

On the tractor tour of the Orchard.

The tractor the kids could "drive".

In the crate maze.

Jacob loved this, I could hardly get him out of it!