Game Night

We started the day with a family game of Monopoly. The boys have been begging to play forever so I told Owen after we had lunch we would play. As we sat down to play, the boys told their dad that it is family time and he had to play with us. Seeing how much he despises the game, it took a bit of coaxing from the boys but he joined in and played with us. It was fun. We didn't finish but we got to a stopping point and then just counted up our money. I am happy to say I won!! Ashton was right behind me, then Owen, then Daddy! Later on in the afternoon the Wedekings stopped by and we continued on with game night. We took turns playing the winner on Electronic Guess Who, then we moved onto a Wii sports tournament, then the guys started playing a game and Ashley & I played Nertz. I wanted to get the pictures posted and drop a line to let everyone know we are still here. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Leaves are fun!

This afternoon I got the rake out and made a pile of leaves for the boys to jump in! O how I long for the days when I was a kid their age. It was so much fun to watch them run and jump and just plain have a great time playing in the leaves. They even got Chainsaw and the kittens involved. Owen and Ashton both told me that they can't wait for it to snow so I can make a huge pile for them to jump in! I on the other can... I am not looking forward to the snow! Hope everyone had a great weekend and stayed tuned to see what happens next in the Winter household!

Happy Birthday Ashley!!

Last night we threw Ashley a surprise party for her birthday. Unfortunately, Casey, Danielle & the kids were unable to make it. Makenna & Emilia were both sick. (Hope they are feeling better) So it was just us and the neighbors. We had so much fun. Meegan made a wonderful pasta dish and I baked the birthday cakes. We drank lots of wine and played our own version of catch phrase. The night ended in a tie between Men and women each winning one round. We had lots of laughs and made some great memories. Happy Birthday again to Ashley!!

Butler Township Fire Dept. Pumpkin Give Away

Today we went to the Fire Department up the road from our house. They were having a pumpkin give away, Ident-a-kids program (where you can have the kids pictures taken and finger printed), cookie decorating and a bunch of little booths of info for the adults. It was a lot of fun. The boys decorated their cookies for Halloween and had them eaten before we left. We waited in line to have them finger printed but wasn't able to get it done before they policeman ran out of time. So hopefully we will be able to have that done sometime soon. Then they had their pictures taken which I have to pick up @ the fire department on Monday. They both got to use the jaws of life which they thought was totally cool. Then it was off to explore the different fire trucks. Each of the boys had to sit in every drivers seat and check out the insides. They had a lot of fun this morning despite it being cold. It was a great way to spend our Saturday morning. Hope all is well with everyone and have a great weekend!!

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight we had dinner then helped the kids carve their pumpkins. It was alot of fun watching their faces as they cleaned out the inside of the pumpkins. Owen kept making a throw up noise and Ashton didn't care how dirty he was getting. Cannin tried to eat the stringy stuff as Ashley cleaned the inside out. Justin drew the face on Ashton's pumpkin but Owen drew the face all by himself. He wanted to carve it but we are just not ready to turn him loose with the knife yet. We cherish these moments because sooner or later they won't want to do things like this with us. I love to watch their expressions as they change year by year but in the same turn I dread them. With each year that passes they are turning more into boys instead of my little babies :( Carving Pumpkins was such a wonderful way to spend a gloomy, rainy Friday night. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Sick Boys!!

Our boys have been sick this week, YUCK! Ashton got sick Sunday night and finally went back to school today and then Owen got sent home from school yesterday afternoon. Ashton ran a little fever and has a cough. Owen on the other hand has run a high fever (@ night especially) and is getting a stuffy nose. I hope that it is nothing serious. I have been keeping them full of fluids and tylenol for the fever. Wish them well and keep your fingers crossed that I don't get it. Poor Owen is still running a fever tonight so I am off to go check on him. I will be making a phone call to the doctors office tomorrow it looks like. I hate it when they don't feel well because I feel so helpless. Hope everyone is having a great week!!

Covered Bridge Festival

This past weekend Ashley & I took a road trip to Indiana to visit my mom and my sisters. We all decided to make a girls weekend and head over to the Covered Bridge Festival in Mansfield Indiana. None of us had been there except my mom. Friday afternoon, Ashley and I hit the road and headed to Amber's house to pick her up and then it off to mom and dad's house. We stopped at the Antique shop that is on 24 just before you get to Mom & dads. It was very crowded but Amber and I both found something that we had been looking for. After we got to Mom & dad's house we waited for Amanda to get there so we could go get dinner. We headed over to Watseka to have dinner. No one was impressed with their dinner but me. I quite enjoyed mine. After dinner we headed back to the house and put in a movie. We watched "The Watseka Wonder" that aired on SYFY channel about a possessed girl that used to live in Watseka, IL. (Mom took us by the house where the girl used to live. It is still there in Watseka and actually looks exactly the same.) 4am came early Saturday morning as we all got up to get ready for a full day of shopping. My car decided that it was going to freak out on us on the way through Attica. Luckily Chuck was just a phone call away to help my out. (Thanks Chuck, You're the best!!) I have an antifreeze leak, need a new throttle positioner, and my transmission fluid needs to be changed. So needless to say this weekend Justin has his work out for him this weekend. Other than that it was loads of fun and it was nice to see my family again. We shopped until we dropped and then headed out early Sunday to get back home to Ohio!!