Autumn Eye Candy

I love Autumn... It is my feast for the eyes before the season of white & grey - & good thing too, as I am such a visual person. I would starve without the Autumn colors.

I love the days we spend up at Strawberry Reservoir fishing for rainbows & basking in God's aspen palette. Thanks Mom & Dad for "Strawberry Days." Ethan loves to go with his Daddy & Grandpa Deano, even the rain didn't stop him - & it stopped just in time for the double rainbow to arc the sky. Sadly, Ethan dropped his fishing rod into the lake, so we are buying a new one before our next trip. Aubrey loves to come on the boat, & is going to be a great fisherman like her Mommy, Daddy & brother. I guess it runs in the family - imagine that?

Austin is loving his new job as a Unit Counselor at Heritage School. He has a good group of kids & is really doing well. It is so fun to have him come home excited about his day. We are so grateful for this job.

As for me, my business is really taking off - I am learning the mechanics of marketing & running a business from home. I am getting lots of special orders, selling items in my shop & having a great time working at home. I am gearing up for the Holiday season & am looking forward to lots of sales!

Our Miracles...

It has been a lean season for the Haacke family, the circumstances of which I am happy to announce, is coming to an end. I by no means project that our troubles are over, but lots of stress has been relieved today. After a month of tense waiting, applying & waiting again, Austin has a new job! He is the new Team Leader for a group of at-risk youth at Heritage School in Provo, UT. We couldn't be more excited! Basically, he babysits teens that have mild learning & mental disorders. We are happy about the pay, hours, benefits, job experience... pretty much the whole package. It has been such a time of stress for us, this is such a huge relief. To bolster our already soaring spirits, we also found out today that Austin's Financial Aid came through when we were sure we would have to pay for another semester. Miracles, miracles.

It Just proves that faith, prayer, fasting & more faith really does work! (And of course tithing). Ethan gives a raspberry-stained Hi-5 in congrats, & Aubrey thinks Daddy's new job is great too - of course that smile may just be for the nummy whipped cream she's snackin' on...

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.

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.

Farewell Summer!

As I write this, I am sad to say that I am looking at my farewell marker to summer - sunflowers... I am glad that we get one last colorful hurrah to summer before the cold, grey winter sets in. In short, I am not ready for summer to end. We went to Swiss Days yesterday (another farewell marker to Summer) & had a great time looking at the crafts. We go each year hoping to see our pottery friend Terry - who always has great pots, but no luck again this year. Ethan was happy to get a rubber band gun, which he hasn't let go of, except to sleep. We are still amazed at the kinds of stuff people walk out of Swiss days carrying. I swear next year we are going to go in the woods, get some branches & make brooms out of them & make a killing - they apparently were the hit thing again this year. We are seriously thinking about selling my play food next year. We'll see. So I guess its time for me to embrace the all-too-soon seasonal change & enjoy the autumn leaves, the Fall harvest, fishing at Strawberry Reservoir, shooshing feet through fallen leaves, picking pumpkins & my change of wardrobe.

Austin's Big News...

Congrats to Austin! We just found out this week that Austin will be graduating with his Bachelor's degree of Behavioral Science in December - hurray for us!! For the longest time we have felt stagnant in his schooling - though he has been learning tons, it just felt like there was no end in sight. Now after all this time, Austin is getting two degrees in one year! He got his associates last April, & now another graduation in December. Another neat thing - Austin has the last Associates degree from UVSC, & will have the first from the new UVU (same school, just new accreditation!) So its on to bigger & better things for the Haacke family - at last! We enter the world of GED exams, Masters Applications, & MOVING!!!! We are hoping to get into either BYU, University Of Utah or Utah State University & may go out of state to Gonzaga in Washington state if we have the opportunity. So wish us luck, as we have some HUGE decisions on the way...

BugBites Blog Site - Ha! That rhymes!

For all interested, I've created a blog with photos of my play food. There are prices & other info listed as well. Go to: bugbitesplayfood.blogspot.com You can also click on the link to the right on the sidebar. Please leave comments, I love feedback!