A Saturday Morning Retreat

Happy Labor Day to you all!  

We are camping the great wide unknown of Michigan this week.  Hope you all are enjoying time with your family!  

This past weekend I had to get ready for camping.  Camping for my first time to be more precise.  It was Cray-Z-ness!  

Saturday morning I was knee deep in about 8 loads of laundry, trying to make lists of items we would need, and suddenly I realized that the Pioneer Woman was about to come on.  

Screech to a halt the madness.  

I needed this.  

 So I ran upstairs to my haven...our bedroom...doesn't it look serene?

 I got some iced coffee...

 And scrounged around for the muffin I had gotten in Nashville, Indiana the week before and had managed to hide from the masses...

And sat in front of our teeny-tiny television to watch the show...

Ahh, heaven.  I was alone for an entire half hour while the children were downstairs doing their thing.  I don't think they even knew I was gone :)

May you find a soft place to hide and rest and destress amidst the craziness of life, sweet friends!

Fall Party

 Homemade Snickerdoodle cookies...perfect Autumn food :)

 Here's our picnic.  I love our life

 This sweet little boy loves bread.  There is nothing he loves more than a good piece of bread.  And that's one of the things I love most about him...the simple things in life are the ones that bring him such joy.

 Apple cider of course

 Aren't they so precious?  Don't you love the little waterfall behind them?

 This is what usually happens at the end of a photo shoot...it's how I know they are fed up with having their pictures taken

 Here's my big guy.  It amazes me how big he is getting.  4T?  Are you kidding me?  What happened to 18 months clothing?

 My little girl.  She looks so big to me!  I know that someday I will look at her someday and think "my little girl!" but right now she looks so grown up to me!

 I love this series of photos... "hey where's Cal?" "hey where's Em?"

 "There you are!  Get over here!"

Kisses!

 Pure bliss!

 I love these Dahlias!  So cute!  The kids called them apple flowers which is so true...they really do look like apples!

Here are the two of us...we are usually just in the background of the fun, watching to see what the kiddos are doing.  How they will surprise us with their magnificence.  Watching them running around and chasing one another, and laughing, and laughing, I couldn't help but notice tears in my eyes.  The time will be gone before we know it and I cherish the days where the sun is shining, the weather has a bite of cool in the air, and we have the time to watch, to laugh, and to cherish our family. 

Yesterday was the first day of Fall.  We celebrated with our picnic of Panera, cider, and Snickerdoodles.  Afterwards Momma got some pictures and then we toured the mill in the background of the picture above.  We do this every year and it is one of my favorite things to do!  The children were fascinated with it and every year we notice something different about it.  I may have forgotten to mention this but it is actually a working mill!  We buy our stuff from there.  Today I needed cornmeal so that's what we got.  There's something really special about the millstone's grinding the wheat into flour right in front of your eyes, placing your order, then the man gets a bag out, scoops it up out of the freshly ground bin right next to the millstone, weighing it on the ancient scale, and then tying it closed with a piece of twine. The kids really understand where things come from when we watch it being made! 

After this we went to pick apples.  But those pictures are for another post... :)

The Three-Piece Suit

There can't be anything sexier than a man in a three-piece suit. Right? That is unless you are talking about my husband when he has taken off the jacket from his three-piece suit and then...
ow-ow!

(whistle, whistle)
That's one fine package of man meat wrapped up there.
Sorry family...just had to say it.
I love this man. Glad he's mine.
He is fyyyyyine.
He makes my heart skip a beat.
With butterflies.
And goose pimples.
I think I need to go find that guy.
Bye.

The REAL way to Easter Egg Hunt

If you thought getting your basket out and skipping gaily through the yard was the way to hunt for Easter eggs, boy were you wrong.
This year Nick thought it would be fun to take the kids' JEEP to Gram's house to hunt easter eggs. They had a blast.
Well, sort of.

This is how it went most of the time. Cal drove, Em hopped out and got eggs. Gee go figure. Guy sits around relaxing while girl gets up and does all of the work.
Haven't heard that story before.
I wonder where they concocted that dynamic from.



Here is Cal zooming along. Doesn't he look devious? He is out to hit someone. Which he usually did. Only as much as you would think it was on purpose based on that face, it's not.
Nope. And how do I know you ask?
Because homeboy can't drive to save his life.
If you think JEEP driving is bad you should see the kid on a tricycle.
Watch out folks the kids driving a lot of metal around!
Where was I?
Oh yeah, look at how cute the eggs are in the back! I love it!

Here's what happened for most of the time...

Emma hopped out and was all cute finding eggs! Can I please just keep these kids little forever??? Who told her she could go getting all grown up and stuff? Uh, so not cool. Anyway, Emma get's out and is adorable and...

Cal drives away. Because that's how he rolls apparently.

Yes.

Pun totally intended.

Judge not lest you be judge.

Pun judger you.

And as adorable as Cal is too, kind of irks ya to watch him make Emma chase after him.

The little weasel.

I guess to make it even Nick and I will just have to eat some of their candy.

Seems only fair to me.

Easter Egg Hunt

This past week Emma had an Easter Egg hunt at school. Would you like to guess who was in charge of it? That's right, yours truly!
I straight up am not good at things like this. But parent's (thank God!) donated candy and Nick and I stuffed 250 easter eggs. I made whoopie pies with the typical-like cream cheese filling and m&m cookies.
Then my new best gal pal Natalie and I hid them. So much fun! Dishing and hiding eggs at the same time is a blast!
Emma always looks so little to me when she is with other kids. That's normal, right?

Emma with her boyfriend/best friend Eli. How cute is he? How cute are they together? Coincidently my new friend is Eli's Mommy...we are all very, very happy in the friend department these days!

Emma pulling up her pants because...

I see biscuits! I saved you from the crack shot! Her poor dilemma of a non-existant buttser means her britches are always falling down and her biscuits are hanging out.

You also all really love that I put her in tennis shoes, don't you? She and I call them "sneaks"...cause we're sooooo cool like that .

Easter 2009

That's right...I'm one of those nerdy moms who dresses their kids to match!

Easter was a wonderful time as Calvin was old enough to have fun with Emma. It was such a nice and beautiful day and we were washed in such a feeling of being blessed. Even our day was just terrific. We were able to wake up later. We had strawberry pancakes with freshly whipped butter (thats right I made the butter myself!). The kids hunted for eggs and baskets and then we got ready and went to church at my Grandma's church. After church we went to Bonefish for lunch that was spectacular. Very full we made our way to my Grandma's where the kids hunted for eggs again and we enjoyed dessert. How was your Easter? I hope it was a joyous occasion as we celebrated all that Jesus did for us so we can have this life and salvation!

Together as a Family

During Easter week we are celebrating by being together as a family as much as possible. Last Saturday we went to our Neighborhood's Easter Egg hunt. We enjoyed fantastic fresh coffee and I must say that the banana nut muffins I took were a wonderful pairing. After that we went to Nick's family's easter. We hunkered down in the dining room, feasting on lobster tails, lamb, and roast beef, laughing and chatting with one another. After the dinner plates were cleared we filled our coffee cups and enjoyed Nick's grandmother's pineapple upside down cake and my chocolate cake. My cousin Jaime teased me that I made the cake from scratch and yes it did take a TON of time...but let me tell you...every bite was worth it!
This week I am making dinner every night and we are spending time together...getting the house tidy as we welcome Spring and making preparations for Easter Sunday! What are your Easter traditions?

Yes They Match because I'm a Dork

Seeing as how Easter has come and gone now, I thought I would talk only briefly on the kids' outfits. They too are frugal finds...yeah me! Their matching outfits came from Pottery Barn...bet 'ya didn't know they sold clothes did ya? Ha! They were actually winter outfits that were on clearance but seeing as how it is always so stinking cold here until May I figured wool would work out just fine. And lo and behold I was right! Calvin's pants were $14.99 and Emma's dress was $24.99. I know the pants are kind of pricey...that's about my max amount I would pay for pants for myself, but I was dead set on matching outfits and figured I would be hard pressed to find matching anything for that price. So I ordered my little heart out and joyously clicked checkout when I realized I also got free shipping! Calvin's sweater and hat combo I already had; I purchased that set from a consignment shop when he was still in the womb, and that started the cable knit craze! Emma's sweater I got at the Burlington Coat Factory for only $9.99...a lesson to look high and low as they didn't have it in her size but I was so desperate I tried on the 6-9 month sweater on her and sure enough, it fit...weird! Emma's shoes I believe were $5.00 and they also match her Birthday outfit so we will get lots of uses out of those. I am trying to not go nuts in spending when clothing these children. Its hard having cute kids...they should look cute all of the time if they are cute, right?
Speaking of dressing kids cute, I wanted to share a site with you I found. Its Gaga's and it looks amazing!!!! For around $14.99 an outfit you can rent a dress or outfit and keep it for about three weeks! Then you return it to them and they clean and sanatize it for you! For fifteen bucks you'd be hard pressed to find an outfit for an occasion, especially of the quality that they have. Plus you can get matching outfits for the kids. I always swore I wouldn't do this because my mom always had my two sisters and I dressed alike and its not cool when you are fourteen by the way. So I figured since I've had a change of heart I might as well do it now before they begin complaining. Anyway, I am planning on doing this for Christmas time or Calvin's dedication so I will let you know how it works whenever I use the site.

Did You Have a Hoppy Easter?

The official Witwer Family Easter picture...that's right, they are in matching outfits!
Emma unpacking Easter baskets
OOOH...found an egg!
Mommy and the boy...doesn't he look so "toughguy" in this picture?
Laughing! I love it!

I know that we did and it is still continuing! I guess that we are just going to Jesus celebrate rising from the dead all year long...but that's the way it should be right? Easter was celebrated by going to my parents' church and then out to eat at Bonefish Grill...yummy! Then we went back to my Grandma Jean's house for an Easter Egg hunt and Emma (and Calvin) opened all of their baskets. It was so much fun! This Saturday we are going to Nick's Mom and Dad's house for their Easter, which I am super excited about! I am planning on making a cherry crumble from cherry's picked from our very own back yard! I will have to let you know how it is. It will be so great to see everyone and the kids love, love, love Auntie Bean and Uncle Mark. Plus we keep forgetting to give Emma her easter basket from us. I know, I know, how bad would it suck to get your Easter basket two days late, but thats the way the cards fall I guess when you have us as parents. So how was everyone else's Easter? Awesome? When I was at work on Friday before Easter, I noticed how pathetic our world is, even us Christians (at least me). Someone told me to have a Good Easter and I found myself surprised that they said Easter. Isn't that sad? Hardly anyone gets Good Friday off even though that's the day Christ died for us. DIED people. And when I was looking around at church I noticed how sad it was too. What happened to the days everyone wore new gloves, shoes, and hats because it was Easter and Easter is such a big deal? Everyone looked the same. Again...Jesus ROSE FROM THE GRAVE!!!! Let that sink in! Okay, I am done venting. I just think it is so sad Christmas and Easter are being swept under the rug. I think we as Christians should put up some type of fight.

Coloring the Eggs

Sunday my parents and sister came over for some good old fashioned easter egg coloring. We had so much fun. Emma loved coloring the eggs, especially the part where you put the eggs in the color, or should I say where you plop them into the color and then laugh at the water splattering. I boiled two dozen eggs and I think we may have just over a dozen now...who knew the child had man hands when it comes to eggs? I think this picture is a good example of what I am talking about:

Calvin basically had this bored, "what in the world is with you people?" expression on his face when he wasn't sleeping. I couldn't help but look forward to the Easters when they both will be splashing Easter water everywhere.

Here is Emma using the metal egg holder thingy. I was surprised at how well she did...well how well she tried I guess you could say. She would get the egg on the metal thingy and then it would take a nose dive off. Oh well!

I shouldn't end this without a frugal tip. When doing your grocery shopping after Easter be sure to keep your eye out for the Easter Clearance. That would be a great opportunity to buy your egg dyes and things for next year. They are normally about $4.00 and on 90% off last year I got the dyes we used this year for only about .40. Can't beat that, can you? Plus then you don't have to try to remember to go buy them and accept what they have left if you buy late and don't have what you want; You'll already have them waiting at home for you!

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was our neighborhood's Easter Egg hunt. We took Emma and Calvin out early this morning to hunt down some eggs. Emma was very cold and still sleepy and not in a very good mood. There was this look on her face when she was not out and out crying:

On the verge of tears. Then she decided that it would be cool to start hunting for eggs before everyone else...not so cool, but instead of hunting for them she enjoyed picking them up with her mitten hands and then tossing them to rearrange them...alright I decided, we'll let that pass. Once the hunt did start though, she was a machine, sometimes picking two up at a time. We then went back home and warmed up. We had had so much more planned for today including watching the river being dyed green and craft time at Michael's. But with how chilly it turned and how Emma liked to cry so much we decided to just stay home. We did however get to the library and I made it to the Superette for some ingredients for Chicken Parmesan. Yummy! That's all for now; tomorrow is dying egg day so I will post pics of that!

First Stroll Around

Exploring the park
Wheeee!

Here we are!

At the little kid slide
Loving the big kid slide

Yesterday was beautiful around here...how is it around you? So we decided to head to the park before making dinner. It was one of those times when you just decide that you love your life...point blank. Emma enjoyed playing and feeding the geese. I can't get over what a little girl she has become! I also realized how wonderful my husband is and what a great daddy he is to our little ones. At the end of the day as we began the walk home I just kind of hung back from Nick and Emma and fought back tears as I looked at them and hugged Calvin and thanked God for all of it...He is amazing isn't he? He has given me such a gift in my family, gifts I never could have expected or deserved. I think we may go to the park tomorrow too...especially since it helps me to see everything I have to be thankful for.

First Easter Basket

We received Calvin's first Easter basket in the mail today. Aunt Jan sent it and made it and it is soooo adorable! I am so lucky to have such a talented aunt who can weave baskets! Inside she

had all kinds of cute outfits, socks, a bib, a bunny, a frame, and on and on...so cute and so very much needed. Thanks so much Aunt Jan!