My favorite

Before we ever new about the perfection that is Grabill, I knew about this store and it became my favorite the moment I walked in. Back up a bit. Within the first month of moving to Indiana I asked fellow ward members where I could buy bulk items (besides the church supply in Indy). Most said they didn't know, then one directed me to Shipshewana, home of all Amish goodness. However, it's like, an hour & 1/2 away, which is where one of the big families went...they faithfully drove their truck to pick up the items that were cheapest there to last for 6 months...and then drove to Indy/Church Supply to pick up the items that were cheapest there (they have 7 children). We made the trip twice to Shipshe & then this glorious establishment opened up just 10 minutes from Woodburn--mini Shipshewana!! So, when I found out the rental house we're in was available my first thought was about being within walking distance to this beloved store :)

This is where the Amish park...as a side note, the Wal-mart & several other stores closest to Grabill all have these sheds w/ hitching posts for the horses. It's awesome.

This is my favorite aisle...well, it's all my favorite. I love that I can order anything they have in the store at a bulk price and wow, their selection is amazing. From nuts, to spices, rice, flour, powdered milk...they have it all & most of it is cheaper than anywhere else (the brown rice is even cheaper than the church's price!)

This is the boys' favorite aisle. For obvious reasons. Red 40 and Blue Lake screaming their names, I tell you what.

And this is my most recent favorite discovery...Pear jam first of all, but with no added sugars! It's hard for me to be motivated to make my own when I can buy this deliciousness.

So, after working in the yard (see post below) we headed over to this store's 1 year anniversary par-tay. They had taste tests galore (homemade, organic PB & chocolate PB, cheeses, honey, fruit dips, etc.), a few games set up, buggy rides o' course and...buggy races, minus the horses. Between the Amish gentleman running the 'event' & me, we convinced Devin this would be a worthwhile endeavor (hee hee)--the boys really wanted to do it. You had to have four people and then you were supposed to switch the one who pulls the buggy, but because I was in flip-flops Devin said he would run down & back. The Amish director said we could do that as long as someone switched places, so the boys did. One pushed on the way down & the other pushed on the way back (I was the 'sitter'). Up to that point the fastest time was around 50 seconds (mostly Amish groups, I might add). Devin earned the title of 'a horse' (as a compliment of course)--they announced the time "38 seconds" with a surprised voice & plenty of looks all around. One lady even said, "Well, you must have done that before." Riiigghht...lots of buggies where we come from :) I think the Amish took it as a challenge so we were beat out by 2 other Amish-only groups after us, but only by 3 seconds! And Devin was told he should come to a complete stop before the 2nd stretch, whereas the others didn't stop at all so I'm thinking they [I did nothing but 'helpfully' urge them on 'faster, faster!'] would have had that $100 in the bag if he hadn't. The boys both pushed with all they had, too, they were great. Anyway, it was so amazing...the Amish guy kept saying, "Wow, you guys really surprised me, you surprised me the most." Yes, Devin, you are definitely 8-cow husband material. Put it on the resume.

Then, at the end of the yard work, Amish store day we headed to a Tincaps game where we had free tickets (Tony's work) in a Suite. One of his co-workers bought an endless bowl of popcorn & told the boys if they could finish it before she came back he'd give them $5--which they did, so he did :) I don't know who won, but we sure had a good time!

Devy-poo

My youngest brother, Devin came to visit for a couple weeks before heading back to college. We are so lucky! I didn't think we'd have anybody come visit us once we moved to Indiana. Boy, was I wrong...my family is really close & I've been so grateful because they've all been to visit us here [except my Dad, cough cough]. So, starting it off right, here's his breakfast/mixing bowl of oatmeal he had every morning. I made bread every few days while he was here compared to my normal every week & a half...he eats at least 3 sandwiches every day. And that's because it's dense, homemade bread. On his mission sometimes he'd eat five. The Cobia men are legends. I pity their wives. And bank accounts.

We put him right to work...there's been a lot to do (& still a lot left) & since we're running out of 'working' season we worked plenty while he was here and he was a great sport about it. He ran the boys to soccer, scouts, let me run to the store, appointments, etc and I had an adult to talk to during the day. Wow, it was a dream come true :) Come any time Dev.

cleaning out nasty gutters (thanks to the landlord who let us borrow their ladder & hedger)

boys hard at work. They're in "stick heaven" here because we have quite a few trees on the property. Every time they have to go pick up sticks so I can mow, very few make it in the garbage...

Ari worked hard too...eating dirt apparently.

A 'before' shot of our cute little house, though it doesn't show the worst part...the gravel area in front. They're common here so cars can park in front of houses without taking up road space, kind of nice actually--unless they're weed-infested like ours.

This is how it looks for now...the sign by the door is a 'unique' display of a stone piece with the house number on it mounted on a normal piece of wood which is covering the hole where the AC wall unit used to be. Interesting...if I had my way I would paint it black at least & then paint the shutters to match. We'll see about that in the spring, I have enough projects for now.

Brotherly Love whilst asleep

Ari was keeping them awake & they like sleeping in our bed so I let them on this occasion...apparently they turned at the same time & since NOTHING wakes them once asleep, I got this beauty.

-Her newest word is "hap-py." We all make her say it 50 times a day it's that cute. Still not talking a ton, but she's saying more two word sentences. The other day she was in the bath & when I turned the water off she said, "mo peasss." Couldn't resist that one.

-Most frequent words are "no!" "bu" [book], "Bee" [binky--she's so addicted it's not even funny] and of course "Mommy" & "Daddy." She needs a new "bu" about every 30 seconds while traveling in the car & is particular about which ones.

-We finally broke down & bought a high chair a couple days ago from a garage sale for 10 bucks. At long last we have a tray she can't kick off! She still will only eat a few bites before throwing everything on the floor, but she loves using her spoon so we're hoping that will be motivation to keep food ON the tray

-Once upon a time when Ari was crying the boys wanted to cheer her up so they let her hit their faces & then they fell over, much to her delight--she laughed hysterically. They still do that, much to my chagrin cuz you can see how it's now hard to explain to her that hitting the baby is just not ok. Also, when she meets new people she hits her nose which has frozen many a smile on these friend's faces...uh, what is she doing? Oh, it's ok, it's her meeting ritual...along with showing her tummy.

-She is not shy AT ALL. At the stake activity I literally followed her around while she made friends. 'Hello, cute little girl with zero personal space...you're like 2 inches from my face!' At story time she goes up to all the other mommy's & plops right down in their laps. Cutely awkward, that's my Ari. She waves to everyone & still whispers "hi."

-She backs up to sit in your lap...from across the room, sometimes without even looking backward! That, is faith.

-She definitely has improved her eating habits, but still about halfway through she just spits out her bites, but then will ask for more.

-She still loves her "bee-bee" [baby Rhett]. Still working on his safety in her presence...the other day I found her straddled over him yelling, "hi, hi!!" excitedly in his face.

-She's not a destructive toddler (like a couple other of my children I could mention), but she demands 100% of your attention & is very busy. It's hard to get anything done because she won't play by herself for more than 5 minutes--even after I have spent quality time with her. I'm hoping when Rhett can 'play' with her it might help with that.

-She is a darling "Mommy's helper." She loves to use rags, brooms, anything except the vacuum...she's still scared of it. She's a copy-cat of almost anything we do...me putting on make-up, the boys growling at her, Daddy dancing around (which she LOVES to do & is still a Daddy's girl)

-She also loves to sing...well, she does all the actions, we sing for her, but she is starting to copy us doing that too :)

-She loves animals & isn't even scared of big dogs unless they're very excited & knock her over :)

-She can say her name & it is so darling!

-She will finally at least sit on the little potty...it's been a very gradual thing for her...first she would cry if I asked if she wanted to sit, then she would sit on the lid, then on the corner of the potty, now finally she'll sit on the potty...now to the real work...

-She's still scared of the vacuum, but she'll just go climb on a chair instead of bursting into tears. That's improvement :)

Metamorphosis from mailman to Santa Claus

Remember THIS post? I sure do. Seems like only yesterday I was wishing for one of those beauties...cause it pretty much was. Then I went to the magical post office & the kitchen fairy paid me a BIG time visit! First...one of these:

Do you hear the heavenly choirs singing? Devin (little bro) really wondered when I immediately pulled it out of the box & started snapping pics...a photo shoot for a kitchen gadget? Nothing but the best for my babies. Seriously though. It's been nearly two years I've been lugging wheat to the church at least once every month so some incredibly kind women could either grind it for me or so I could grind it there at the church. I feel SO grateful to now be able to grind wheat myself--it promptly earned a permanent home in the garage, constantly plugged in & ready to go at a moments notice :) Delayed gratification, I tell you what. So, naturally I said thank you to those fine women with some bread and homemade butter whipped up (literally) in five minutes with kitchen fairy gift #2:

THE Vitamix. Pictured here are the ingredients not for the butter, but THESE awesome babies. Fudge Babies to be precise. Delicioso.

Wondering if we went A.W.O.L. & won the lottery? Well...you know how seeming curses can sometimes be big blessings in disguise? At our last place I couldn't accept money for my music students because it was considered a 'business'. It seemed rather tragic at the time (dramatics come quite easily to me). Well, I found out I could give lessons in trade for something else. 6 months-ish later, enter: these two culinary dreams...two things I've been longing for, but would not have been able to buy any time even remotely soon. So go count those curses, they might be your blessings after all! ;)

A week past his 3 month mark I'm posting his 2 month (though the pics are true-to-age :)...at least I'm posting, right? 3 month is soon to follow...

--This kid is easily pleased. Food. Diaper. An occasional face to smile at. Sleep. Just what we needed in all the moving hubbub. I fed him, he'd fall asleep in his swing, then would wake up a few hours later to eat & repeat...the whole day we moved!!

--The night Tony & I painted all day (14 hrs of it anyway) this dude slept his first 8 hour night! Didn't last, but that was an amazing tender mercy.

--He's still my sleepy little newborn & we all love to snuggle him

--He smiles constantly. I wish I knew what was going on inside his little brain, but his smiles are just gold (& yes, the dimple is still there!)

--He has the beginnings of a laugh...so darling!

--Ari is already so much better with him. She still loves him to pieces, but has gradually let me go an entire feeding without having to hold him :) and is learning to be a little gentler.

I'm an addict with no desire to rehabilitate.

aged wood perhaps? a little dirt, not too bad, right? enter generous neighbor's power washer turbo X ! (they were tired of looking at what could be...)

I feel so flattered my name is the clean wood...are you seeing the color difference? what the?! I can't believe I let Ari scootch off this deck (yeah, her bum was black. so nasty)

Our 'new' deck! Thanks go to brother Devy-Poo who is here for a visit & the Tone-meister. I want to power wash EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!! Just don't show me the water bill.

And this is the aforementioned neighbor's pool...we scored big time in the 'neighbor' department...next door they have brought us tomatoes several times, told us we could swim any time, let us use their b-ball hoop, are going to grade our weed-invested gravel driveway spots, etc...who are these people to have so many kind bones in their bodies??

BMX track for pack meeting. Totally wicked. Tony even tried it in his dress shirt & slacks :) & the guys working there said he was a 'natural' (hint: it's harder than it looks!)

Cubmaster Jenna was so grateful to those who let us do this for our fantastic family picnic. What a blast!