Monday...

We all got together tonight at the market and made dinner together and had birthday cake for my mom. Her birthday isn't til Wednesday (the big 5-0) and she's already had 2 birthday cakes!

Chocolate with buttercream frosting...

Charlie and Uncle Rick

Nanna getting some help from Jackson and Charlie blowing out those candles. Good thing we didn't put 50 candles on the cake...we might have burned the market down :)

Charlie front and center with Grandma Reeger and Auntie Lana. His favorite thing to play with is that Cars wipes holder. So odd...

We fly home tomorrow. 7 days never seems like enough time for a sufficient visit. But someone at home is missing us :)

the rest of the trip

This posting is random. We just snapped pictures all week and I'll try to fill you in on what we were up to! I am packing and doing laundry (I don't like to travel with dirty laundry) and the kids are winding down for the day. I was trying to download pics from my mom's camera, cause it's way better than mine, and Lana's like, "I'll take care of the kids! You just blog!"

Charlie is driving the car here. jk, the car is in park. I am not pulling a Britney.

He was having too much fun! It got cold here yesterday. Like the high today was 49 degrees! That's chilly, plus factor in the rain.

I have some sad news to report. Charlie has weaned himself of me. And I am taking it personally. All of a sudden this week he decided he no longer needs my milk, at least from the source. He'll take a bottle of it, but I seem to be lacking in the milk production department lately and it's just not cutting it for him. SOOOOOO, today I had to give him the "f" word. Formula. And he loves it. And I am sad. I feel as if there is some sort of detachment from him. I knew this day was coming...just didn't think it would be so soon :(

Yesterday we (me, Lana, Mom, Steve, Beau and his girlfriend, Holly) all went to Pittsburgh for dinner to celebrate mom's birthday. She didn't know what was going on and started assigning people to cars...we just snickered. And then this monstrosity pulls up. It was TOO fun! We went to a restaurant called Hyde Park Steakhouse. (www.hydeparkrestaurants.com) I don't know how to do the link where you just click on the name...(any help Mel would be greatly appreciated.) Anywho, it was fabulous! Excellent food, atmosphere, etc...

This is Beau's girlfriend, Holly. We love her and she's a great addition to our fam. She is pointing out the fact that we had a FIREPLACE and 42" flatscreen tv in our hummer! We couldn't get over it...so we made a big deal out of it. The leopard seats were a nice touch too...haha



Beau and Holly...aren't they a cute couple?

On our way back home..Lana and I were "warming ourselves" by the fire!

Maggie and Charlie at the market

The boys and I made "stepping stones" for mom for her birthday to put in her flower beds. It was a fun project. All you have to do is mix the concrete then pour it into the molds and decorate any way you like. Of course my mom loved them when we gave them to her!



Here's Jackson's final product. He decorated his all by himself! On Charlie's square I imprinted his little feet. It's so cute..I didn't get a pic of his though.


Aunt Barb and Charlie at the market.

Maggie and Molly tickling Jackson on the couch at the market. He loves these two and makes them cart him all over the farm. He gets confused and asks to go to the barn but says farm instead. He hasn't gotten the fact that the barn is at the farm...a little confusing for a 3 year old!

The girls drew Jackson a hopscotch on the floor and then when they were bored with that he asked them to draw a line....because he wanted to race as you can see in this picture. He'll say, "ready, set, GO!" He's running so fast his shoe flew off.

Still racing....

Today we had lunch with Steve's mom and sister and brother-in-law. This is George and Charlie meeting for the first time.



Then we went to Steve's coal mine and Jackson got to ride a BIG TRACTOR with Tom, one of Steve's co-workers/close friend. He took him up to the coal mine and on a tour of the land. Jackson came back with a big smile on his face!




Big smile above!


This was the car ride home from our busy day today. Even Auntie Lana fell asleep!

And this is what I found in my bed when I went in the room the other night. He was exhausted! And so heavy to move!

We are going back home tomorrow. It's been another great visit, thanks Mom :)

Jackson can't wait to see his Daddy and tell him all of the fun things he has gotten to do.

mid-visit update

Hello from Pa! The kids and I have been here since Tuesday and have been going nonstop as usual. I figured I should post a blog mid-visit or I will really have my hands full when I get home. First of all, the weather has been perfect and Charlie has been sleeping like 12 1/2 hours straight a night since he's been here!! Those are the two things that I was excited to announce.

We met my cousin, Chelsea and her baby Carter, and my friend Kim and her daughter Courtney, at the playground yesterday afternoon so the kids could play. It was nice to visit with them and have "mommy talk."

This ladder was like 9 feet up in the air and Jackson crawled up it like a champ. Made me super nervous cause the last thing I need is a broken limb, but he's pretty agile and conquered the ladder with total confidence! Look at that proud face :)

We were just excited that it was so beautful outside. Chelsea brought dinner and we had a great time.


Here's Mr. Carter checking out the world from his stroller. He's so sweet. You should hear him when he is nursing....it's the funniest thing the noises he makes!

Charlie enjoying a Cheerios snack in the stroller!

Baby Carter giving his mamma heck...that lower lip is about to protrude!





Courtney saying "hi." Kim taught her baby sign language. I am very interested in learning it so I can teach Charlie. It's so cool to watch her talk to Courtney and Courtney answer her with a sign.


Charlie and Carter meeting for the first time. They are 6 months apart. Charlie wasn't feelin it.

My sweet baby sitting in the grass. He had his hands up "girlie style" because he didn't want to touch the grass. This dandelion was interesting enough though.

Jackson, Charlie and I went out to pick asparagus on Wednesday. It's just the beginnings of the season and they aren't selling it at the market yet, but we got the first pick! I taught Jackson how to pick it, and he had so much fun. Not that he would even try asparagus, but it's one of my favs. Isn't this a cool picture? You can see the market, barn and shop in the background.

I love being out in the field. It's so peaceful and calming. Ask me that question about 12 years ago and my answer would have been totally different. I used to hate to pick vegetables...

We're heading back in...

We got much more asparagus than this...this is just what Jackson picked himself. Aunt Mary, you've got yourself another picker!


Jackson asked if we could go feed the fish...so we did. We took a stale loaf of bread and walked to the pond. We saw some huge catfish in the pond!

I love this picture. The water is so calm...but not for long.

What a face!

I contemplated posting this picture of my son's naked rear. But for all of those who are around Jackson alot, this is what you will see. Everywhere you go. The kid likes to relieve himself in the great outdoors. He'll pull his pants down just about anywhere!

Feeding Aunt Mary's chickens. We've come a long way since last visit. He screamed when he met the chickens last time. Good job on getting over your fear of chickens Jackson.

...There was one chicken that got out of the fence and was loose. He didn't come to close to us, but Jackson kept a close eye on that chicken til we left.



Charlie is the king of Cheerios. He loves them (what kid doesn't, I know) but he will eat them and eat them until you cut him off!

These Diego gloves; a gift from Nanna. They haven't come off the kid's hands since he got them except to eat and go to the bathroom, and that's only because I make him take them off. It's funny..who would have thought a pair of gloves would be such a hit with a 3 year old. That's one thing I love about kids. They are so unpredictable! They are so easy to please! I need to have more enthusiasm like that! I guess I kinda do..especially when I go to like Banana Republic and they're having a sale...

Nanna and Charlie. Mom bought him a book called "Charlie Monkey" and it's so cute. It's about these animals from far off places with funny faces and when you open the last page these little flies are buzzing around and make a cute noise. Talk to you soon!