From a friendly bumble bee and fierce dragon

Happy Halloween!

With Nana P. and cousin Annika, a delightful ballerina.

Ella did not mind her costume, though I did notice that other kids were quite taken with her wings.

The tail that gave us endless laughs.

Chatty

So this is the beginning of a few posts on our trip to Chattanooga. As I menitioned before, we headed south for Covenant's homecoming and for time with friends. It was truly a wonderful two weeks. I don't know exactly what I was expecting (some sort of napping and fussing disaster), but the kids did awesome with the car rides, sleeping in pack and plays, and the transitions.

Ella immediately took to driving.

Pish was a little peeved that the kids ate his candy bar without asking.
Just kidding.

We (that is, the Schmidts and the Potoshnicks) found a rental house in North Chattanooga, about a 10 minute walk from the river. The house was phenomenal for a rental which was a welcome little bonus. Ginny and I had planned to quickly clean it before letting the kids begin crawling around but it was in great shape. Below is a pic of one of our morning meals. On the right is little Evan.

After breakfast, Noah decided to do a little housework on his own.

On to play time. Ella and Noah were trying to explain the intricacies of their toys to Evan and he aptly responded with a fish face. My thoughts exactly, Evan.

Carefully concentrating.

Here are the dads playing with all the kids. Pish is on the left and Andy is on the right --during college people used to get them confused because they tend to look very similar.

Ella's face and Noah's tush.

The boys were up a Covenant for the first couple of nights being productive alumni. Ginny and I, on the other had, utilized the babysitting services of aunt Liz and her friend, and headed out for dinner once the kids were in bed. As the hostess told us, it was kind of a big deal.

More to come.

Laughs at Coolidge Park

Here is a sneak peek of pictures to come, hopefully in the next week or so. We recently returned home from our first road trip. We headed south to Chattanooga for Covenant's Homecoming, time with the Schmidts and Leas, and were able to catch up with a number of people from our college days. I'm still feeling the effects of babies being off their sleep routines while attempting to climb out from the mounds of clean laundry that is filling our family room. That considered, the trip was great and totally worth it.

Apple Picking in Waterman

I feel like I can mark time by going to the apple orchard. Ever since we were newlyweds, Pish and I have traveled out to Honey Hill Orchards in Waterman to pick apples. It feels so fall-ish, so Midwestern. I love it. Honey Hill has pumpkins, apples and raspberries for picking and then they have a little store where you can buy the most delicious and sugary apple cider donuts along with a little cup of hot cider. The first few years, we came home with pounds of apples and scads of raspberries. Last year we were joined by Andy and Ginny. Both Ginny and I were pregnant so our kind husbands picked berries with us so that we could collect as many as possible before out backs started hurting.
This past Saturday, we loaded the munchkins in the car and headed out for picking. It was a gorgeous fall day and we found a good number of yummy Jonathan apples. E&N seemed to be taken with the surroundings, Ella especially liked picking leaves off the trees.

Noah carefully examined each apple.

Ella and I checked out the corn.

We attempted a family picture --not too bad, save Noah's tentative look.

And Pish and Noah made silly faces.

Twas time well spent --can't wait until next year.

Our newest love

Can I just say that I love Cheerios? They are the solution to many of life's problems when you are 9 months old. Wanting to feed yourself? Have a Cheerio. Feeling bored with the food that mom is giving you? Have a Cheerio. Needing to work on your pincer grasp? Have a Cheerio.

Truly, they are a favorite around here. I put the babies in their chairs and as soon as I bring out the yellow box, the kids start bouncing up and down in their seats. They like them so much that I have to remove the box and all evidence of the round bits of goodness if I am going to start feeding them something else.

As expected, they approach the eating of Cheerios in totally different ways. Ella realized that we put a Cheerio between two fingers and then placed it in her mouth. She figured that she would speed up the process and started pulling our hands towards her mouth with more gusto than you'd expect from a 15 lb munchkin. Now that she has developed more fine motor skills she is quite dainty in her approach. She gets one piece between her index finger and thumb, examines both sides, and then gently places it in her mouth, savoring each bite.

You can't tell from the photo but Noah grabs them by the fist-full and practically puts his whole hand in his mouth to access as many Cheerios as possible at one time. Did I mention the massive amounts of drool that ends up on his hands and face? Once they are gone, he checks the trough of his bib for more, reaches in and eats the ones that fell. Efficient little fellow, that Noah.