The Rogers' Creativity...

As I am downloading the pictures on my camera, I noticed that the Rogers' children and myself have been pretty creative over the past few weeks. A couple of weeks ago, the kids were out of school for some kind of holiday, and it was rainy and cold. So as you can imagine, the kids were bored. So Joel asked me if he could make a cheesecake we have been looking at for about a year now. So, since we had most of the ingredients, I told him he could. He had so much fun. And let me tell you, it tasted SO good. Who knows, he might follow his two cousin's footsteps and go to culinary school. He did an awesome job on the cheese cake and it tasted AWESOME!!!

The finished product.

Then last week, Jesse had to decorate a paper "pumpkin" after a favorite character and/or book he had read the month before. It was not hard for him to come up with a character. He loves the Dr. Seuss books, so he picked The Cat In The Hat. Again, we (Jesse and I) had a lot of fun coming up with ideas and decorating the pumpkin. I think he did an awesome job:) I think he did a pretty good job.

As you can tell, he is very proud of his "Cat in the hat"!

Then a few weeks ago, my friend Angie found this little craft project to do for the kids. I think they came out so cute. They are little jars that have been decoupaged with orange tissue paper and then we cut the vinyl and put it on top of the tissue paper and put another coat of decoupage glue over it. And when its done put a tea light in it and enjoy it. The kids love it!!!

I have to say, this is my favorite one.

Yesterday, Josiah came home and begged me to play with play-dough. I have to say, I don't LIKE play-dough. Especially since we have carpet in our dining room. So, I told him he would be able to play with the play-dough in the mud room. Let me tell you, he thought that was an AWESOME idea. So Josiah and I went down stairs and we got him set up. He had so much fun. And I loved it!!! Because when he was done...all I had to do was grab the broom, and sweep up the play-dough and throw it away.

ALL SET UP...

What a beautiful boy!!! He was having so much fun:)

Finally, do you know what this is and what it belongs to?

Yes, its a foot peddle...but to what you ask???

Yes, is a sewing machine.

If you know me well, you know that I don't sew. But now that my Riley is getting bigger and my sewing sister lives in Alabama...I figured it would be a great idea to maybe learn how to sew. So, a few years ago I got this sewing machine for free from a friend from church. And it has just been sitting on my shelf. So since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought it would be a great idea to make Riley her costume. So when I heard that my friend Rebecca was making two poodle skirts for her daughters, I wanted to make one for Riley. I went to Hobby Lobby and got me a pattern and fabric and all the other things I needed for the skirt. So Angie came over a few weeks ago and we sewed the skirt together. I have to say, it was so much fun. And I am very impressed with the outcome of the skirt.

I think it is so cute. I love the poodle. I am not totally done with the skirt yet. I am gluing pom-poms onto the poodle but I ran out. So I am going to have to get some more. As soon as it is ALL DONE, I will post the final product. But you get the idea.

I am ready to sew something else now:) Maybe an apron or some other kind of skirt or dress for Riley. I am loving this "Crafty Stuff".

3rd annual apple picking trip

This was our 3rd year in a row to Sky Top Orchard. This year our friends Mike and Angie Bianco went with us. Since Mike is moving to St. Louise in a few weeks and Angie and the kids will be here until the house sells, we thought it would be a fun trip to do together. We had so much fun, and so did the kids:)

Our kids look forward to this trip every year because we pick apples and then I turn them into apple butter. I love making it for teacher gifts. Joel especially likes going so he can climb high into the trees and pick apples.

The Bianco's.

We were trying to get our family Christmas picture BUT...

in every picture, Josiah was making silly faces. So we might have to come up with something else:)

I just love this picture of Josiah. He is having SO much fun.

 Walter and Josiah. They are best friends.

Another one of my favorites. I just found them sitting like this looking at the orchard and mountains.

Another picture I just had to take, this boy does NOT eat fruit! But this day he did!!!

Hanna and Jesse. Jesse loves to play with her.

Hanna also loves Riley (Finally a girl she can play with!)

JoJo giving his "thumbs up" on the Sky Top Apple Cider. That stuff is GOOD!!!

And finally, our annual pictures and the "How Tall This Fall" sign.

We had to keep our pumpkin safe. So the extra car seat in the trunk of the van did that job:)

Ready to go home!

I am so glad we got to this again this year. I have to say, I can't help but think of dad every time we go. The first year we went, he got diagnosed few days later. I bet he would have loved to come with us every year. I am glad our kids will have these memories though when they grow up.
Mike and Angie, thanks for coming with us this year. I am glad we got to do this with our families. Its so great to see our kids get along so well. We love you guys, and we will miss you a lot. But look forward to see what God has in store for you guys.

Our little wolf.

Yes, we have another scout in our family. Jesse is so excited to be part of cub scouts this year. We went to the Scouting store the other day to get his uniform. He was so excited. Terry and him have been working on his work book and I know he is enjoying it. They other day I found him laying in his bed (during the day!!)  looking at READING his handbook. He was working on memorizing his cub scout pledge and he did. I was SO proud of him. If you know Jesse well, you know that he does not enjoy reading on his own. He will look at pictures for hours but if you tell him to go read a book for fun...that's like pulling teeth for him. So when I saw him doing this, I was SO excited!!!! I have a feeling this boy is going to grow up A LOT this year!!!

Doesn't he look handsome???



My two scouts!!!

What did you say? We are missing one??? No, we are not. I am sad to say, Joel has decided to step down from scouts and go back to his first love-SPORTS!! I have to say, I was a bit sad when he stepped down because he really thought he would go all the way to Eagle scout. But Terry and I wanted to give him a choice and this is what he wants to do right now. Especially since next year, he owill be elligible to play football at school.

So, if you are reading this and put two and two together....we are now selling popcorn!!!
So if you are in need of some awesome popcorn...don't run to Wal Mart. Send us an email and we will get you set up!!!! And then come on back in the Spring, and we will set you up with some awesome Girl Scout cookies!!!!

ENJOY!!!