Phil voting :)

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Fall is falling

Every Wednesday I take the kids to story time at the library. The past two weeks we have gone to the park after story time. Today was such a beautiful day, and the kids both had a blast. The air was chilly, but the sun was shining. I am hoping that we have many more days like this before winter. Not only do we play at the playground, but I like to pack a lunch and make a long day of it. It wears them out!

Traders Point Creamery

Today was the first day that I took the kids to see the cows and watch them get milked at Traders Point. I have been wanting to do this all summer, but the weather was either too hot or they took late naps. Well, today turned out to be the perfect day. It was just right temperature wise, and Phil was going straight to the library after work to study. I needed something to fill up our time, and we had a blast. Austin went right up to the pen and petted a calf, while Ariel (our true animal lover) was somewhat hesitant at first. When she saw Austin do it, she had to :) I am noticing that with potty training too. I hope that it helps to motivate both of them. Anyways, we also got to see some chickens, a sweet barn cat, and the milking time. I have put some really great pics out on our shutterfly website (see previous post).

Trips

We have created a shutterfly website that allows us to share all of the pictures that we take - without taking up lots of room. Our lastest trip is to the Indiana Dunes State Park. Feel free to visit and check it out http://thebrownhouse.shutterfly.com

Sunday School

Phil and I have taken over teaching Sunday school for the teens in our church. We were using the scripture lessons that were provided to the whole congregation every week as a lesson plan, but we didn't get one last week. It really stretched me trying to find something that is interesting but yet full of God's word. In case any of you ever need lessons, this is a great website www.teensudayschool.com
Our first lesson is going to be on the spiritual discipline of studying God's word. Soemthing that I have to admit I still struggle with.

Time

It's amazing how I never feel like there is enough time in the day to accomplish all that I want to get done. I am aware that some of that feeling stems from me not using the time that I have during the day as efficiently as I can, but I also know that it is important to my sanity to have those moments here and there to do mindless things - such as get on the computer. One thing that I am not going to stress about is this blog. Before typing this I started to get upset at myself for not adding more, but then I realized - this blog is mostly for me, so who cares. I will write when I can.
Some cute things that Austin is doing lately:
saying "I won't do it again" when he thinks that he is going to get punished for something
Imagining all the time (for an example) Today I listened to him tell the pen he was holding "be careful honey" as it toppled over onto the floor
He is starting to really like dinosaurs and growls a lot :)
Some cute things that Ariel is doing lately:
Climbing onto Phil's or my stomachs if we are on the floor or bed and saying "giddy up"
When giving an affirmative answer hers is "yup"
she loves her opposite book - today she said "happy....sad" more times than I can remember

We're Back!

Trying to post while we were gone turned out to be impossible. So here is a brief synopsis of what happened.

7-16
Went to the Spa - had a terrific time
Stayed at Dad's late shooting off fireworks - the neighbors called the cops on us so we had to stop
Had either a deer or dog run into the side of my new van on the way back to Krista's from Dad's - didn't see any damage when I pulled over to check

7-17
Krista couldn't open the van door - didn't realize until then that there was any damage to the van
Krista's dress didn't fit at the last fitting. I truly thought that she was going to punch the girl at the bridal store
Went to the mall while the dress was having one more alteration and got Ariel a pair of shoes for the wedding
Went back and the dress fit great - Praise the Lord - and no one got hit :)
Phil arrived in PA - he was not pleased about the new van having a dent in it :( - not my fault!

7-18
Returned the rental car to Erie airport
Took the kids to beach 1 - Turns out that even though Ariel loves water, that much water scared her. She was fine while we were up on the beach but started shaking when I carried her down to the lake and wouldn't let me put her feet in for anything
Got back in time for the rehearsal - sweated (literally) the whole way through it. Krista and Andy chose a church without air conditioning for their July wedding :)

7-19 - The Wedding Day!
Krista and Andy's wedding was beautiful, and thanks to some well placed fans I was able to keep from sweating too much. Austin and Ariel did great. They both walked down the aisle with no problem. I cried during the toast that I made at the reception. What an emotional time!

7-20 to 7-25
Took the kids to the newly renovated Hasson pool. It was awesome and they had a blast.
Went out to eat with Kelly H, Kelly, Amy and Lacy. Stayed out for 5 hours with them - poor Phil
Went to the park and had lunch with Kelly, Amy, Lacy and all their kids. It was the first time that we were all together with all of our kids. There are 9 of them now!
Hung out with Amy, Jer, Kelly, and Josh at the park in Franklin. Austin and Ariel made several new friends.

7-26
Gateway Clipper with Lacy, Ryan, Kelly H, Jim (her boyfriend), Rich, Matt, Skylar, Travis and his wife, Nate and Liana. We had a great time. It was over so quickly (or so it seemed) that we decided to hang out in Pittsburgh for a while. We went over to Richie's office and then down to the Point. Unfortunately the Point was closed, but I really enjoyed the reason why - FIREWORKS! The echos of the fireworks off of the downtown buildings was so cool.

In Pennsylvania

Austin, Ariel and I arrived at Krista's around 10:30pm last night. We had the most crazy day ever yesterday! At 9am we were at National Car sales to sign all the papers that we need to get our new van! The crazy part was that Phil had to catch a plane for DC at 11am. So Phil signed everything that he had to, and I drove him and the kids over to the airport. Then the kids and I went back to the dealership where I signed the rest of the paperwork. We had to wait about 45 min after the paperwork for them to finish detailing the van - I was NOT thrilled about having to wait so long in a tiny waiting room with Austin and Ariel. Oh well.
After I got the van and finished the process of putting the car seats in we headed back home to pack up and leave for PA. Even though we pretty much had all things packed into bags it was still crazy trying to load up the van by myself! Thankfully my neighbor Jen (who is watching the cats for us) came over and sat outside with the kiddos while I ran in and out of the house. We took off to with a stop at the post office first. It was then that I realized that my bridesmaid dress and Phil's suit were still hanging the the bathroom doorway back home. I couldn't believe it and I was so thankful that I hadn't yet gotten on the highway. So back home we went.
We arrived at Krista's around 10:30pm, and my kids were so wired! We didn't end up falling asleep until after 12am, and they still woke up at 8:30 this morning.
Today we just hung out and ran to the store. Krista made us a really nice dinner. Tomorrow the bridal party is going to the spa.

The Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum again today. Thanks to my dad getting us a membership for Christmas we are able to go whenever we want. Which is typically about every 2 weeks. Austin is always asking if we are going to go to the museum. See there is a huge train exhibit there with an actual engine that the museum was built around. If you have never been, this museum is a must see. In fact, just come to visit us and we will get you in for free (our memebership allows us two extra people!)

The Curious George exhibit is going to close early August, and with all of the traveling that we are doing between now and then, and I knew that the kiddos would want to see it one last time. But we also did something new - saw a play. That's right, there is a small theater inside the museum as well. We watched as a handful of actors played out "Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery". It lasted about 45 min. I couldn't believe how well my kids behaved during it! Austin just sat there and stared the whole time, and Ariel sat on my lap and whimpered every time the girl who was playing George left the stage. Each time I had to reassure her that George was coming back. She would softly reply "ok" and then be fine.

Travel

Our July is going to be crazy with all of the traveling that we are doing. My sister, Krista, is getting married on July 19th in PA. Austin, Ariel and I are all going to be in the wedding. Well, we are hoping that Ariel will be in the wedding, but we are waiting to see how everything goes at rehearsal. I am so excited because Krista has asked me to give a toast at the reception. I have no idea what I am going to say yet, but I am very honored that she asked.
Phil is going to DC on the 14th for a seminar. I am a little envious of him because he will have time while he's there to do sightseeing. I have only ever been to DC once (March for Life with CLA) we were able to visit some of the memorials because it was a day trip. Oh well, Phil is just going to have to take us back there as a family some time :)
After the kids and I drop Phil off at the Indy airport we are heading right away to PA. I figure there isn't any reason to stay home by ourselves when we can be hanging out with Krista and helping with any last minute wedding stuff.
Phil will drive up to PA after his seminars are over on the 17th. Then we will drop off the rental and spend some time in Erie on Friday before all of the festivities begin.
The week after Krista and Andy tie-the-not we are going to stay at Gram's house and take care of Minx. Phil is not too thrilled, but the next weekend is my 10 year high school reunion. I am so pumped. We are going to Pittsburgh to have dinner on the Gateway Clipper. I don't really know too much about it, but the fact that Phil and I are going to have a night out without the kids is so exciting!!! Plus I love getting the chance to show off my gorgeous husband :)
So I am going to be in PA for about 2 weeks. I guess that seems crazy to me because I haven't been back there for that long since Phil and I got married in 2002.

Mathews Family Reunion

There are still just 29 of us at the Mathews family reunion. This year we were missing Becca :( and the void was definitely felt. The weather was perfect. Sun the whole time, and it wasn't too hot. I say this because it is a rarity for Michigan to have such great weather 4 days straight - at least in my experience. Here is a pic of the kids packed into the Honda - boy do we need a mini van!
We did lots of playing on the beach and hanging out in the lodge. This year was our first ever Olympic games - thanks in large part to Diana and Toni. It was so great to have everyone together laughing and playing. We did several relay races. Some involved eggs, others water. Our favorite was when the teams would spin around on a golf club 10 times and then try to run to a chair. Phil even tried it with Ariel. The poor thing doesn't have great balance to begin with. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen watching her try to walk. I hope that it is something that we can do next year.

Nick was helping Norman and Doris set up the new laptop they bought. What a nice guy :)My patriotic children - aren't they adorable?

Day Out With Thomas

Our son, Austin, is 3 years old and obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. So this year for his birthday we took him to Connersville, IN to see a life-sized Thomas. We left Ariel with Phil's sister, and made it a day out, just the three of us. He had such a blast. By 1 pm he was so tired that we had to head home.

Connersville is a really neat town. There are so many huge box cars parked on tracks as you enter town. Phil and I were doing our best to guess what they were used for, but they were triple the size of normal box cars and had vent holes in them.This was a day of first for our son. He loves big vehicles, and getting to ride on a school bus was so exciting to him. This bus actually had seat belts on it, and as soon as he sat in the seat he buckled himself in and sat there the whole time. It was adorable.

Austin rode on a mini train pulled by a tractor that was made up to be a train. It was so cute to see the joy on his face when the train arrived back where we parents were. It was as if he was relieved to see that we hadn't left him there :)

There were several tents that we could visit: Sir Toppham Hat, tattoos and drawing, and lots and lots of train sets to play with!

I have to say that Phil and I enjoyed the day just as much as our precious boy. He was so fun to watch as he ran around and shouted and pointed to all of the things that he saw. I am glad that we were able to do this for his birthday.

First Time

This is really strange. I never thought that I would be a person to set up a blog, but here I go. Phil and I talked about doing this a while ago, so this isn't just my blog (although I am sure that I will be entering the most text). I am excited to have this set up so that I can do better about documenting my children.

Running

36 minutes total
8 min running at 6.0mph pace
225 calories
2.32 miles