A Date at the Duck Blind

Henry and I went on a date today after we took Josh Oliver to school.

I let him plan it.

He picked a walk down to Great Grandpa's lake so he could show me the duck blinds.

It seemed like a good idea until we got about 100 yards down the road. It was super windy and below freezing. We dressed warm, but I obviously underestimated how cold it was going to be.

When we got to the blind, he opened it up and we climbed inside. I was ecstatic to find a single glove the boys had left behind from their hunting trip last weekend. I really thought my hand was going to just break off, it was so cold!

We hung out in the "warm and toasty" blind for awhile. Henry told me all about what they do in there, how shot gun shells work, showed me some goose blood on a decoy. He is very knowledgeable!

Here's some of his duck calls:

(He always talks like he's making a documentary when I tape him!)

On our way back we looked for some nice "snowman" rocks--we were just so numb from the cold that an extra five minutes or so didn't make a difference.

After that we went to Target and warmed up with some hot cocoa.

I don't really think I want to do it again until it warms up a bit, but it really was such a fun date--and such a very Henry thing to do!

The Year I Overcame My Fears

Clearly, I am thankful for all the obvious things, Ben, our boys, our family, but this year I was equally, if not more, thankful that my Thanksgiving Dinner turned out so well.

It sounds a little shallow, but I was really, really worried about it!

I mostly feared that big frozen butterball.

I'd barely even seen a whole, raw anything before--let alone cook something like that. I went back and forth about passing the turkey off to someone else, but ultimately I decided to do it on my own.

There were some set backs. I shed some tears and said some choice words as I tried to get it thawed and into the brine, but in the end it turned out better than I thought. It was so juicy and delicious!

This year was so different from the last Thanksgiving I hosted. Everything came together so well. The food was good, my tables were nice, and I planned it out well enough, that there was no stress on the Thanksgiving Day.

I absolutely love this holiday--and now I can say that even on the years I have to host!!

The Day Josh Oliver Got Married

Josh got married on Saturday.

She was a princess.

From the minute Emery walked in the door, Josh was in love.

He spent the party watching her and trying to sit next to her any chance he got. Occasionally he would steal a feel of her beautiful dress--touching it oh so gently.

I even heard him invite her up to his room, but she passed on that one!

Towards the end of the party, Henry came inside and announced that Emery and Josh Oliver got married. From Henry's account, Josh asked if she wanted to, Emery said yes, they kissed or hugged--I heard it both ways--and the deed was done!

He's a fast mover!

Arm Candy

Silly Bandz have taken over our house.

Luke got a couple of packages of them for his birthday and so the craze began for the Jonker Boys.

Henry especially loves them. He likes to wear as many as he can get his hands on. He also made a yarn necklace to hold some of them. The boys also now have couple of actual Silly Bandz necklaces.

I don't totally love Silly Bandz--it's a pain finding them all over the house--but I get why kids like them. They are pretty neat and kind of fun to wear!

Ben on the other hand HATES Silly Bandz.

I often hear him mumbling grips about them. He also likes to question whether boys actually wear them. (Hello?! All kids wear them!)

He's apparently forgotten back in the day when he french rolled his jeans--I often question whether other boys actually did that!

I don't know where Ben's coolness has gone!

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween the boys went as characters from Super Mario Bros.

There was Mario, Luigi, and a Koopa. (Josh Oliver was dead set on being a turtle so we worked around it!)

Unfortunately every other kid at their school also went as Mario and Luigi. How did I not know that was such a popular costume this year? Josh's was unique, at least!

Halloween night was perfect.

The weather was just a little crisp. The boys trick-or-treated for a couple of blocks and then happily came back home to pass out candy. All of the adults got to just sit back, eat, and watch all the kids in their costumes.

Next year I think we may dress up too, so to add a little extra fun to our Halloween night parties--that is if I can talk anyone else into it!

Annual Halloween Weekend

Two weekends ago, we had our Annual Halloween Weekend in Kansas City.

It was fabulous!

The weather was perfect--overcast and windy, yet still warm and lovely!

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch first. It was fun--as always! I've come to the realization, though, that I hate picking out pumpkins. Every year it's a nightmare trying to carry them back to the tractor and this year I think they picked out the biggest, heaviest, yet. Next year I may go with a strict, "You Pick, You Carry" rule.

We also took the boys to Night of the Living Farm at Deanna Rose. Instead of wearing their actual costumes the boys wanted to pick something out of the dress up room. Henry picked his "Spiderman" costume--the one where Spiderman has a cape and looks very similar to the devil. We made Gigi claim him!

Among all the fun stuff at Deanna Rose, I think my favorite is the Dance Party Stage. I love watching those boys jump and spin around up there--plus they get candy after ever song so they really love it! They started it off kind of slow this year with some Phil Collins, but soon enough they livened it up with some real dance music. My goal next year is to get Eli up there!

Before we left we also got to go to a Trunk-or-Treat. It was full of hair spray painting, fire trucks, fresh kettle corn, and the park. The best thing about it was that we got to sit down and just watch the kids for most of it! It was nice and low maintenance!

It was a jam-packed weekend. I loved it! It's a weekend that I look forward to all year long!

(if only that was the size he acutally picked out!)