Pics of the boys

Just pictures of the cousins. See below.

Picture/Video Updates

Last weekend it warmed up enough that Henry and I (Derek) got to build a snowman. Our neighbor saw us out working on the snowman and came over with a 'snowman kit' for us to use. This kit included almost everything you see on the snowman (scarf, nose, eyes, mouth, pipe) except the hat and the arms. Before you pass too much judgement, remember that he's only 2.5.

Besides that excitement, we've been enjoying listening to what Henry has to say and watching him play and grow. Here's a little video sampling of the last month.

I don't know where he gets this idea from about standing and singing with a guitar. Maybe his uncle Trent had something to do with it.

Oh and what language is that?

This is exactly how he sings at church during congregational hymns.

Loudly.

It can be a little distracting for everyone within a 10 ft radius.

Hello Winter.

We have just a bit of snow on the ground. Today was spent at home digging out since I'm not sure we could've made it anywhere anyways. Henry was disappointed that the snow didn't work to make a very good snowman. I'm guessing we'll have another chance this winter.

Fall/Thanksgiving/Start of Christmas Fun

Fall: a few weeks ago we had nice warm weather and enough leaves for Henry to jump in. Very fun.

More jumping--now mostly inside with cooler weather here.

Thanksgiving:We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving break so far here at home as a family. We had some friends join us for a jointly planned and prepared Thanksgiving dinner. It was quite wonderful and very relaxing. We were too busy eating and relaxing to document the occasion.

Start of Christmas Fun: Last year we went to get a Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving and decided it would become a tradition. Henry really was interested in helping choose one this year. This was his top pick. Thankfully there was no tag on it so it could not be purchased. I wonder why?

We all agreed this was perfect.
The anticipation of decorating.
Finally able to "help."

Henry quotes (no pictures)

I wish I wrote down all the things Henry says these days but I'm not that organized. Here are a few from tonight.

After his bath with a toy polar bear. " ARGH!!!..(pauses) I don't know what a polar bear says."

Then about 2 seconds later. "Daddy your eyes are ovals AND circles."

I don't follow the thought processes of a two year old but they can be quite interesting and random.

Fall Photo Shoot

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend enjoying our last chance to soak in warm weather. One day we did some hiking and playing at a nearby state park. Derek began snapping tons of shots so here are just a few.

Belated Halloween post

Sorry for the delay. I was going to post earlier but kept forgetting. Here is our Bob the Builder/Construction worker getting ready for trick or treating. He's already decided that he wants to be a fire fighter next year. We'll see. It's a bit of a long way off.

Jump.

Henry learned to jump a few months ago. He now jumps all the time.

Look at that AIR!

Henrycross

This fall I (Derek) have dabbled in something called cyclocross. As the link describes, participants ride their bikes ...
and jump off and carry their bikes over barriers before hopping on and riding more.
It's a lot of fun and painfully difficult. Henry has been able to watch me race twice and he seems to get a kick out of it. Recently he's taken to riding his bike off the sidewalk telling us that he's doing cyclocross.

Here's a little video clip. Enjoy.

Finally a little video.

Tina already posted about our weekend in Indiana. Well I finally got around to going through the video footage and putting a little something together. So here it is:

Also, Henry's really taken to playing with power tools (actual toys mother, not real power tools). So here's a little sample of what's been going on around the house lately:

Busy weekends

Last weekend we braved the first snow of the season (no accumulation) to go apple picking and also buy some pumpkins. Also, Henry went on the hayride again and enjoyed in even in the very cold weather.

A few weekends ago we travelled to Indiana for my 10 year college reunion. We visited many friends and some family while there. If only we could spend more time with all of them since a weekend seemed very short.
Henry and 2nd cousin Sam being monkeys in the tree. Henry still mentions Sam sometimes as the big girl. Thanks to Angie, Dan, Sam and Jolee for a short but wonderful visit.

Henry and Noah enjoying Jon's rousing bedtime story. Henry had a wonderful time with Noah. We have many pictures that are blurry since there wasn't much sitting still for either of them.

Eliza (and parents) came over to the Yoder Schrock's for a while too. We also were finally able to meet adorable baby Anna, who is such a sweetheart and very mellow. Mandy and Jon, thanks for hosting us and sharing your home on a cold, rainy weekend!

Some old and some new

I'm the worst at getting pictures off of my point and shoot (aka not so snazzy) camera. Here are some from the last few months. Oops. They are in reverse order (because I'm having a fight with blogspot about importing images--sorry).

A Wednesday morning "hike" at a local bike/walk/running path that is somewhat wooded and near the lake.

We had to find some nice sticks.

Then we used said sticks to fish leaves out of mud puddles.

One day Henry and I went hiking at another place in town to find some bugs.

A month ago or so there was an event in town where streets were shut down to cars and open for bicyclist, runner, etc. It was really interesting to ride where it is usually very unfriendly to bikes. Derek and Henry were doing the sidewalk drawing on the normally busy street. It was a great event with music, kids activities, obstacle courses, etc.

Side note: we finally have capabilities to take decent video again so we hope to post some soon.

Early fall fun

We are enjoying the wonderful weather and the many activities going on this fall so far. Here's just a sampling.

Running. Now Henry is enjoying running on the sidewalk for no reason in particular.

Really enjoying the views of the capital while at the market.

Was very interested in the camera lens because he saw his reflection.

The bounty from the garden on Saturday. I'm so excited for my first ever red pepper. I've tried in the past but failed. This is the first but more are on there way.

We went to a parade this weekend for a neighborhood festival. This is why Henry is now rolling around on a big red ball and trying to perform crazy stunts on it.

And he's also wearing gloves (aka his socks on his hands) since all good wacky wheelers wear gloves??

Same parade. Very cool bubble car and person on stilts with a bird puppet. The puppet was quite amazing. This parade always feels like I'm living in a Dr. Seuss book.

Henry was very excited about the parade. We actually watched it once and then moved to another spot to watch it again. It is quite a short parade but never disappoints.

2 of Henry's favorite things

1. Things that match:

Items that are identical (notice two Henry trains), things that match in color, even words that rhyme are a match to him. It's quite interesting to hear his take on things that match.

2. Smoothies.

Henry likes to have a smoothie for snack almost every night before bed. I'm not sure when we started this routine but it's definitely an important part of the evening.

Sauced!

Today we started at the farmers market by purchasing about 40 lbs of local tomatoes and about 2 lbs of onions with one goal in mind. Make and freeze as much tomato sauce as we can. I thought it was something worth documenting. So here you go:

1. Tomatoes

Tina doing the processing in the back yard. This definitely saved us from a large mess in the kitchen.

2. Blending

3. Blended tomatoes + tastey herbs and spices (this was the first of 2 batches)

4. Stirring.

5. Cooking...after two hours this reduced the sauce from 10 quarts to about 7.

6. First batch cooling on the counter. When all said and done we will have about 14 quarts of sauce. Of course we still need to get some more freezer containers.