brewing up a good halloween

Having two little girls old enough to have opinions makes picking out Halloween costumes that much more fun... and that much more difficult!!! We spent hours in several different stores looking for the perfect costumes, and it wasn't until the girls spotted these purple sparkly brooms that they both agreed they'd like to be witches!

When we got home with our costumes Sam sprinted out into the backyard and immediately straddled the broom and stood still for a few minutes. I went out to see what she was doing, and she said "Mommy, it's not working!!! It's not flying me!" She was sadly disappointed when I explained to her, after having a good laugh, that the broom was just for pretending to fly.

We spent lots of time doing hair and makeup, which my girlie girls love!

We had our annual tradition of trick or treating with Joe, Lisa, and Reece!

Lisa and I walked door to door with the kids while Joe and Dan stayed behind to hand out candy. Normally we switch half way through, but it got SO cold that we called it a night!

annual brand halloween cookout

We spent the weekend before Halloween at Aunt Vi's house. A bonfire with hot dogs and smores, a haunted forest, and parade of costumes has become an annual tradition, thanks to Ed and Vi throwing this party for many, many years. This was the first year without Uncle Ed there (he passed in a car accident in August), which made this particular visit somewhat sad and definitely made it different, but we still enjoyed being there very much.

A perfect Halloween drink for Sammi to stir!

The kids after the "Monster Mash Parade"...

I am so grateful for such a wonderful family!!

birthday trip to sarah b's

I spent my 32nd birthday weekend taking the girls to visit my life-long friend, Sarah B in Dayton. We had SUCH a great, relaxing weekend! It was truly wonderful! Dan gave me an awesome new point-n-shoot camera for my birthday, but I had the settings all wrong this first time I was using it (imagine that - it's different than a professional camera! Ha ha!)... so the photos aren't great but the memories are!!!

We spent the first afternoon walking to the park with Sarah and her wonderful husband, Josh. Sarah and Josh are both teachers, so it goes without saying they are wonderful with kids and definitely two of my kids' favorite people to visit!!!

The park near their house has this amazing, huge slide! We brought wax paper with us (to make it even faster) and took turns going down... so fun!

We went out for pizza...

And Sarah baked a birthday cake for me & they sang! So sweet!!! Thanks, Sarah!

Bedtime stories...

Art projects in the morning...

And one last trip to the park for a Taco Bell picnic lunch before heading home! :)

Sarah and Josh, thank you so much for having us! Sarah, I am so glad we are still such close friends after over 25 years!!!! You always take my kids in as your own, and you are family to us!!! We love you!!!!

taff and sonkoi visit from africa

My dad's sister is one of my favorite people on earth. She is so wise, has amazing street smarts, always the right thing to say, and mostly I have always admired her for not being afraid to go out into the world and do whatever it is she wants to accomplish without hesitation. (We call her Taff because she loved Taffy as a kid, and it's always stuck! And my dad's brother has always been "Malt" to us because he loved malts growing up! How funny! And I don't even think of that when they're around, they just are Taff and Malt!)

Until recently, when Kenya started getting very violent due to the droughts and lack of food, Taff and her husband, Sonkoi, have been living there in a house they built by hand, giving tours to visitors, raising cows, and building a rhino sanctuary.

Sonkoi is an elder in the Masai Tribe, and we sit for hours listening to his stories of lion-hunting, rituals, and ceremonies when they visit. I SO wish I could get past my fear of traveling and being away from US medical availability (sparked from my 4-year bought with kidney problems, infections, stones, and IC), because visiting them in Africa would be the trip of an absolute lifetime. Maybe someday.... with lots of Zanax!
The Sherman family got together for a cookout to visit!


We LOVE you, Taff and Sonkoi! Thanks for stopping to visit us while staying in the US for awhile!!! :)

sammi writes her letters

Samantha has been learning to write her letters in school over the last few weeks and we are blown away by how fast she is picking them up! She can write almost any letter you tell her, and she is even starting to learn how to sound words out!

I am so thankful for her wonderful teachers!

Here is a close up of the letters from the video...

Here's a family portrait she drew of us at school. I love that she has brown hair, Natalie has blond, and mommy looks like a rocket and daddy looks like a jellyfish - what's that about?! :-)

They ask the kids at school to finish the sentence before drawing a picture. Since she has many friends at school, we thought it was sweet she said Natalie on this one!

They do so many really cool art projects at school, which both girls LOVE. Someday we'll photograph all of them and post some here. :-)

a spoon full of sugar

My mom took Sam and me to see the musical Mary Poppins this week and it was a blast. Mary Poppins was a favorite movie of mine and it was very sweet to get to go with mom and Samantha to see the musical together!

The morning of the musical I was cleaning and washing dishes, and headed upstairs with just enough time to get us all ready. As I reached the top of the stairs I heard the hair dryer running (?????). I ran to my bathroom to see Sammi, who was sooooo excited to see Mary Poppins that she got "dressed up" and had painted her toenails to look pretty for the occasion. She was trying to dry them before she did her other foot. I was simultaneously filled with laughter and panic, as she had inadvertently painted the floor, my stool, and the counter too!

Sammi innocently "getting ready" for the show!

We made the show in plenty of time and our seats were fantastic!!! Thanks, mom!!!! All of these photos are taken with my phone, which I'm not thrilled with even on a phone-photo level, but oh well... it was the best I could do in the theatre!

Patiently awaiting the show...

Mommy and Sammi:

Grandma & Sammi:

Looking through the playbill... She really wanted to wear her (huge) ring! Love it!

These are some photos from the advertisements... It was an awesome show with an unbelievable amount of talent!!!

The two children in the musical were absolutely fabulous. I could not believe their amazing voices as well as their acting and dancing!

While we were enjoying the show, my dad took Dan and Natalie out to eat lunch and then Dan worked while Natalie spent the afternoon with her grandpa. I wasn't too sure how Sammi would do in the show considering that it was exactly during her usual nap time. I got a little worried when she started asking me if I would take her home to take a nap to her own room during the first act! But, she sat on my lap, mostly watched as they sang, danced, climbed on the ceiling of the stage, and more... The poor girl was so tired, but she did a really good job and I'm really proud of her! It was great fun taking her to a real show. I can't thank my mom enough!!!

After the show (and a quick nap in the car), we met the boys and Natalie out for dinner at Houlihans, which was such a treat!!!

Thanks again, mom and dad!!!!
The day was simply, SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALADOCIOUS!

our summer 2010

We've had a busy summer! We've been through some tough times this summer but we have so much to be thankful for! Since I have gotten so far behind in blogging this summer, I just compiled photos snapped with my phone all summer to give you a taste of what we've been up to all in one post.

We've had lots of trips to the zoo, to different parks, to see friends, to play on the playground. We've had picnics. We've played in the pools and in the sprinklers. We've dressed up a lot. We've been to parties, hosted a carnival, traveled to Purdue, and ate lots of vegetables out of our parents' gardens. (Yeah, mine didn't quite make it!)

The girls have spent a lot of time with their grandparents, which I am so very thankful for on so many levels. Our parents have been the most supportive team, rooting for us - assisting us - stepping in to help whenever we need it - however we need it - as we grow our family and our business. I don't know if they know it, but we know they go waaaay above and beyond the normal scope of what parents do to help their children and grandchildren. We are so very lucky to have them all in our lives. The girls have spent lots of time with their wonderful aunts and uncles too. I could have never imagined how lucky I would be to gain amazing siblings through my marriage in addition to my husband.

This summer we've worked hard and played hard, and we've had lazy days too. We've laughed hard and cried hard. We've learned a lot. And we are so thankful for all that we have.

I'd be lying if I said I was ready for fall.... time seems to flash past me and as much as I try to slow it down it just seems to get faster each day. It's hard for me to believe I will have a four year old and two year old in just a few short months. But until then, we have lots of planning to do for pumpkin picking, halloween costume-finding, apple orchards, bon fires, and much more....

So... Cheers to wrapping up this summer and heading into fall! May you all have a wonderful season full of memories!!!