Owen's Violin

This is actually Casey writing, not Katalyn writing in the 3rd person.
So a while back, we had a special musical number at church and a sister brought in her violin.  Owen was just enchanted watching her play, and still gets excited any time he sees a new musical instrument.
Shortly after that, Owen was home with Katalyn and was saying "Boy, violin... boy, violin?" So, she googled "boy violin" and found this video which they watch together.



It features a 3 year-old boy named Akim who plays the violin.

Since then, Owen frequently asks to watch Akim, and excitedly says, "Akim, Akim!" any time he hears classical music.

Anyway, lately Owen has been using random objects and pretending that they are violins and playing them himself.  So today, I cut him out a cardboard violin and we got this gem.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

For Thanksgiving Katalyn's mom, dad, cousin, and two of our nephews came to visit.  We didn't take any pictures of people (Katalyn's mom took that responsibility), but we wanted to share the pictures of the table and the food (Katalyn was pretty proud of both).

Our Thanksgiving also included a lot of football, some Christmas decorating, a trip to The Horseshoe (that's the name of the OSU football stadium, it's quite impressive), and more delicious food.  Thank you family for coming to visit!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Dancing through life.

He's definitely my son:

He got distracted by the camera, so it's kind of short, but he loves dancing.

Halloween Party

We had a Halloween Party and Chili Cook Off at church this Saturday.  Even though it occurred during the BYU football game, it was still a good time.
This year we decided to be the Curious George cast.  Owen was George, I was the man in the yellow hat, and Katalyn was Professor Wiseman (but you have to have watched the show to know who she is...)

So here are the characters:

And Here we are:

We stayed up late (to us that means 11 o'clock) Friday night making our costumes from felt and thrift store finds.  I think I may have missed my calling as a hat maker...

Our costumes won us the prize for "best group" and Katalyn's chili got an honorable mention in the "Chili with Beans" category, so it was a good night.

Happy Halloween!

Moving!

We moved last week.  It was only down the street, but even if it had been next door-- moving stinks!  It was worth it though, because we now have much more space, and a washer and dryer!  I never thought I'd be so happy to be doing laundry.  We hope to have a housewarming party once we're all settled.  Owen was very helpful in the process:

We sure do love this guy.

It's Fall!

 We went apple picking with some friends to celebrate the beginning of fall.  It rained, but that did not stop us from having a wonderful time!

 Picking apples!  (We may or may not have picked non-designated apples, but it all worked out for us in the end).

 The farmer's market afterwards.

Hanging with friends.

We made a delicious apple pie with these apples (and some left over).  I think we'll make apple picking a tradition. :)

Over the river, and through the woods...

To my grandparent's house we go.  Casey's parents were kind enough to loan me a car, even with extra visitors at the house.  It was so fun seeing Grandma and Grandpa, and as an extra treat my mom and sister (with my nieces and nephews) were able to visit at the same time.  It was a full house, but Grandma and Grandpa were troopers, and we had a wonderful time.

 The grandparent's loved snuggling the babies (although I guess they're not really babies anymore).

 The ATV was very popular.  I learned to drive it, and although I look quite skeptical I did get the hang of it.

I even took my mom for a ride...I'm quite the speed demon, as you can see from her wind blown hair (okay not really).  

I just had to include this one.  I think it captures our true selves just perfectly. 

 We flew kites.  Very fun.

I played with barbies.  Also very fun.  Kaylee had left me with the responsibility to fix their hair.  I couldn't refuse.

Their was also much delicious food that I'm sure was quite a lot of work.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for having us!  We had a wonderful time.

Our Seattle Trip 2012

We had a great time in Seattle this summer.  Here are the pictures, I think they tell the better story.  

 We spent a lot of time at the cabin, and Casey got to sail.  He was very happy about that.

Owen loved the cabin, of course.

 Owen spent a lot of time watering the plants, and playing with his cousins.

 We took a family picture.  Nice.

 There were some hikes.

Owen spent a lot of time with his Nana.  They have a special connection, as you can see. 

 Water was a favorite the whole trip.  Surprise!

We fed the goats at Grandma Lucy and Papa Bob's. 

 We stopped to smell the flowers.

Owen and Zoey's great-grandparents.

Then we said goodbye.  It was a sad goodbye, but not a permanent one.  It couldn't be, or I'm not sure Owen and his Nana could go on living.  Thank you for the fun time!

(There was also a brief trip to my grandparents house, but I'll make that another post.) 

Alum Creek

Saturday we went up to Alum Creek lake with some friends.  It was so fun, and Owen had a blast playing in the water and digging in the sand.

Over the hill...

Yesterday was Casey's birthday.  We celebrated with presents in the morning, cupcakes with friends, and a date at night (that's a big deal...we haven't been on many out of the house dates since Owen was born).  Our date was going to a Columbus Crew soccer game with some friends.  It was a fun day celebrating the day of Casey's birth.

*Special thanks to the Alldredges, the Karens, and Sarah and Roger for helping make Casey's day a success.

Projects: Part 2 The desk

I found this gem of a desk at a yard sale for $8.  I had been looking for a desk for a long time, and didn't think I could do much better price-wise.  After removing the back, priming, painting, sanding, staining, waxing, and replacing the hardware, I'm pretty sure we love it.

Happy 4th!

We had a great 4th of July!  It started with the Upper Arlington parade and ended with a barbecue with friends. (I only have pictures at the parade because my camera's battery died.)

 Owen seems less than enthused.

 Yes, that is a real snake.

 Watching the parade.

I think Casey's facebook status really sums it up, "Parades are way more fun with kids. I don't think that I can remember really enjoying a parade before today. Owen just sat on my lap saying, "more, more" the whole time, and he loved waiving at everyone."

Projects: Part 1 The Poufs

With Casey being out of school this last week, I've been really motivated to work on some unfinished projects that had been cluttering up our house.  I'll start with my poufs.

I finished sewing the first one up a couple months ago, but I just couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do for the filling.  It needed to be firm enough that people could sit on, but small enough that it could fit through the small hole I'd left to fill the pouf.  Also, whatever I used needed to be inexpensive.

Enter: ugly beanbag chairs.  We saw these while driving past a yard sale on our way to the park.  I said if they were still there on our way back then I would stop and look.  Obviously they were there, and I brought them home to finally finish my project. (You'll notice one is now lacking its filling.)

 And here they are (I made a second one a couple nights ago), in all their poufy glory.