Sunday, September 21, 2008

Berry Days



We have been busy these last few weeks, with food storage on our minds & berry season at hand (literally) - we have been berry picking! Raspberries & my new favorite - Blackberries! My great friend Rebecca found a nice farm in Payson where we can pick our own. Austin is our master berry picker - the fastest I have ever seen! He is also the designated jam-maker & our freezer is beginning to overflow. Ethan is the best picking buddy we have - granted, he eats 90% of what he picks, but has a great time anyway. His favorite part is jumping out of the bushes, scaring the "monsters" away from the berries he is about to eat. Aubrey is there to help too, hanging out in my sling, doing berry "quality control" every few minutes. She likes raspberries the best. The best part of berry season is the waffles - which makes me happy, & Aubrey has discovered whipped cream! We are excited for apple season next!
We are excited to see the change of seasons here. Our valley, as well as Provo canyon is already beginning to turn brilliant
colors - Becca's eye candy before the gray season. We are enjoying each warm day we have left - & spending as many that we can in the berry fields & together.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Well, with Summer over we are back to the grind & embracing Fall at the Haacke home. But its a GOOD grind, so that's ok.

Austin started Fall Semester at UVU & has some really interesting classes right now. He's getting into the practical stuff - so he gets to interview & do some counseling this semester. We are so excited to be finishing up Bachelor's stuff & to be MOVING soon! We're pretty sure its going to be Orem or Provo for us. Austin is excited for the Fall spawn fishing at Deer Creek inlet, & of course fishing at Strawberry with Mom & Dad - our favorite of the year!

I am busy as always, being a wife, mom & working hard on my play food creations. My store at bugbitesplayfood.etsy.com is doing great! It's been one week & I've had 3 sales already! I am happy to be contributing to the handmade movement & creating toys that get kids imagining again. (Turn off your TV's & play!) A good mantra for us all. I plan to sell toy food at Swiss Christmas this December, so I'm busy stocking up. I hope it goes well.

Ethan is very excited for Halloween! He changes from wanting to be Spiderman (again) to Batman, to Wolverine, to Wall-E (don't know how we're going to pull that one off) about once a day. Oh, & the other day he said he wanted to be Optimus Prime - yeah, & I thought a Wall-E costume would be hard! Austin thinks we should slit plastic cups down one side & put them around his arms & legs. We'll see. We are thinking that Aubrey will be a ladybug. ;) Ethan is my best little helper with her. Every diaper change, I have my little buddy right next to me, handing me toys to entertain her & keep her from wriggling off the table! We are enjoying family reading time a lot - we just finished Charlie & the Chocolate Factory & have started James & the Giant Peach. We highly reccommend them both! Austin is our "reader" & he makes the BEST voices for all the characters. We giggle constantly!

Aubrey is doing great - a little too great some days. She is in a big hurry to catch up to her big brother. She started pulling up to standing in her crib a few weeks ago, & now pulls up on everything within reach! Legs, chairs, open dishwashers, garbage cans (yuck when they tip), you name it! She doesn't know she's only 7months old & can't do that stuff yet! NO walking till 1 year old Little Aubs! Oh, update on her cloth diapers - they are great! After 4 months (?) we are hooked on them & will never go back to disposables, not to mention that they save us $40 a month! Aubrey is an absolute delight. Her smile melts us all. She has this look that she likes to give us as she is crawling toward something she's not supposed to have - a look that says "Yeah, look at me, I'm gonna crawl away & get into trouble & I'm so cute you can't stop me!" She definitely knows what she likes.