Family Photos

Today was family picture day! This was our first official family photo session. My friend Kate took our pictures, she did Lucas' one year pictures a few weeks ago. Lucas did not have a nap so he wasn't in a great mood, but Kate managed to capture some good shots. You can see a little preview by clicking on this link :
http://www.katepodjanphotography.com/images/faust2008/

Carving up a Storm!

Brian loves carving pumpkins and he is really great at it! I give him a lot of credit for doing it. It usually takes him several hours, depending on the pattern he chooses. This year, he carved Slimer from Ghostbusters on his pumpkin and Tigger on my pumpkin. I might let Lucas try to paint his little pumpkin or maybe we will just carve an "L" on it.

Putting our pumpkins on the porch! Can you believe it started sleeting while we were out there! Don't worry, Lucas had on several layers!

Our Little Sock Monkey

Brian and I both love sock monkeys. I just think they are the cutest! When Target received their stock of costumes we instantly knew what Lucas was going to be for Halloween. Unfortunately, Target did not have his size and when I went to order it online, they were sold out! We were disappointed to find several other online stores sold out, as well. Well, we were not going to give up! We finally found one online and of course spent way more then we originally would have if Target would have had his size. He's only small once, so we went ahead and ordered it. I think he looks pretty darn cute!

The Tale of Pumpkin Guts and Little Lucas

We were planning to go to Zoo Boo today, but the weather was a little cool and it was super windy. Lucas has had a runny nose the past few days. He is working on cutting his fourth bottom tooth and rumor has it, it is molar time! I am not sticking my finger back there to find out, though! I have made that mistake before. Anyway, I didn't want to risk him catching a cold. Last thing I want is a sick, teething baby!
We decided today would be a good day to carve our pumpkins instead. Lucas had a great time. He is such a boy and didn't mind getting down and dirty with the pumpkin guts! He thought it was great fun to transfer the "guts" from the pumpkin to the bowl, or from the bowl to a cup, or from the bowl back to the pumpkin (see video). He was a riot to watch. I was amazed, he only tried to eat the seeds twice! After we cleaned out the pumpkins, Daddy began the long process of carving them. I gave Lucas a bath and then he took a nap.


"We gonna get started soon, Dad?"

"No, Dad! You do it like this!"

"Alrighty, lets do this!!"

"Yum, Pumpkin!"

"This is so weird!"

Working hard.......

"This. Is. AWESOME!!!!"

This is Lucas at the end of the cleaning process. Pumpkin guts

and seeds all over his legs and the butt of his onesie was soaked

and orange!

On the hunt...

For my whole life (and well before I was born), my Dad has been an avid hunter... I've always tried to figure out why I never got into it... I know my Dad didn't want to push us (my brother and I) too hard to be interested in it, and we didn't really make any effort to try... The funny thing is that I've ALWAYS enjoyed spending time outdoors. I spent many hours on many days going out to spend time in the woods near our old house throughout junior high and early high school. So, with this in mind I gave my Dad the shock of a liftetime when I told him I'd like to go out with him sometime hunting... I wasn't necessarily interested in having my own bow and arrow, but I thought I would enjoy going out with him and sitting up in a tree enjoying wildlife and possibly seeing some deer. I was definitely right...
The morning started well before dawn... Dad told me the night before that he was gonna get me up at 4:30am... I'm not that far removed from 4:30am being a late night down at IU rather than being an early morning... So, we got up, got dressed and equiped, and headed out... We got to where we were hunting and had to get through the woods and to our treestands in complete darkness... I actually thought it was fun kind of sneaking into the woods (the thought is that you don't want to make a lot of noise going in b/c you'll scare all the little critters away). Dad had a little red light he used to make his way, and I just stayed on his heals and tried to stay quiet. We had to cross a little creek, which was interesting... It's not exactly easy to walk through water in the dark without making noise... Our treestands were right on the creek, so after crossing it all we had to do is get up into the trees.

Here is a picture I took from my stand of the creek and where we crossed in the dark...



Dad put up a ladder stand for me so it would be easier for me to get up into the tree. For those worried about safety, Dad and I had on body harnesses which were then attached securely to the tree. Once we were up in the trees, we just had to wait for the sun to rise and for the animals to come... We had a few racoons walking by before dawn (which when you can't see anything, and you have something walking toward you making noise, you automatically think it's something huge because it's the only sound you can hear). Later, still before dawn, we heard what sounded to me to be a very large log falling into the creek. Dad later informed me that it was actually a beaver hitting the water with his tail.
The sun finally came up, and I was able to actually see that monstrous racoon walking down by the water... Later I saw a couple of racoons down by the water, and they were all of a sudden scared off by something across the creek. I didn't see anything right away, but then Dad pointed out a deer walking toward the creek. As I watched, it crossed the stream and directly toward us.

**HIPPIES AND ANY ANTI-HUNTING PEOPLE PLEASE SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH**

I had my eyes pretty much fixed on the deer, and then I looked up and noticed my Dad had stood up and readied his bow. The deer walked directly under Dad's stand, and with me thinking in my mind something along the lines of "Get 'em, Dad!", I heard Dad release the bow, and off goes the deer (with the arrow in it). We both watched as the deer ran away (both of us trying to watch closely as to what direction it went). We gave the deer about a half hour to "pass on" and then we got down to look for it. I won't go into the gorey details about finding the deer and getting it home, but let's just say it was a workout because it was a pretty hefty buck.
I thought I'd post some pictures from the hunt (Dad said he doesn't know what he looks like in a treestand (see above). Just so we don't get any negative comments from hippies, I'll leave the pictures out of anything with blood and/or guts. So, like I said, I was right in thinking I would enjoy going out with my Dad... I've always known how much he enjoys hunting, and I was very proud to see him in action. Mainly I enjoyed sharing time with him doing something I know is important to him. Hopefully we can go out again soon. Dad commented that I'll probably be disappointed next time we go out because I'll be expecting to get a deer right away like we did the first time. I'm realistic, though, and I'll enjoy just spending time out there.

Here's the ladder stand I used...




And here is Dad with the buck...

Pumpkin Patch

Last night we ventured back out to the Pumpkin Pacth. Lucas and I went earlier this month with my parents, but Brian was out of town. We had to go back with Daddy and to actually buy our pumpkins since the first time we went it was way too early to get them. This is a cute little farm just down the road from us. There are several other pumpkin patches in town, but they all seemed to be too expensive, especially because the activities were not really age appropriate for Lucas. We will definitely head there next year when he can enjoy all of it!

Brian sporting his pumpkin shirt my parents bought for him.

What a good sport!

The Great Pumpkin and Mini Me

Lucas was all out of smiles for his photo shoot with Mommy

The horse and the donkey

The cows were afraid of us and walked away

Oh, this must be the Great Pumpkin

"Ugh, this one is pretty big"...Lucas was trying to lift it!

Finger Painting

Lucas finger painted for the first time last week. After putting a handful of it in his mouth, he had a pretty good time...for about 10 minutes. Then it was "meltdown city!"

And now we are done!

One Year Pictures

On Tuesday, Brian and I took Lucas to the park so my friend Kate could take his one year pictures. Kate did an awesome job. We don't own the rights to the photos, so there is a watermark, but I think you can get the point. This is a small sampling of the proofs she provided us. I have no idea how we are going to pick our favorites! We are going back in a few weeks to do our first family picture. I think we are even going to try to include ol' Pacey dog, too. He certainly is family. Wish us luck!

What's the difference....

between hot dogs, franks & weiners? Seriously, no joke here. Why does this particular food have three different names?

ps-how is that for random?

Some Randomness

Here are a few things, because I feel like blogging. Nothing of real importance, just me wanting to blog....
-I got gas for $3.28 a gallon today! Sad that I am excited about that price, but such are the times. Did you know gas was $1.47/gallon when Bush took office...chew on that for awhile.
-Lucas was so good in Walmart, today. Up until recently, he has always been a fantastic shopper. But seldom nowadays do we go shopping without at least one meltdown or whine fest.
-I am still amazed by the deliciousness that is Oscar Myer turkey dogs. I may even venture to say I enjoy them more than regular hot dogs!
-I have read a lot of blogs recently where people have posted that this is their "favorite" time of the year. I may be alone here, but I dread this time of year. Sure the leaves are pretty, the comfort foods are endless and the Holidays are unbeatable, but this time of year gives way to snow and cold. Two things I absolutely do not care for. I hate driving in snow and ice and stepping outside instantly chills me to the bone. I hate scrapping the snow and ice off my windshield in the morning. I also hate the "dryness" in the house. Fall and winter are ick!
-Betty Crocker makes a fantastic oatmeal cookie. I am smelling their yumminess right now. Oh, and if you are wondering raisins do not belong in cookies!!
-I will make cookies, brownies, cakes etc for the sole purpose of licking the bowl, beaters, spoon, etc. But, doesn't everybody? (yes, the oatmeal cookie dough is divine!)
-I love that Lucas will sit and "read" books alone for at least 15 minutes at a time
-Why am I so lazy that I cannot untie my shoes before I take them off?
-I hate dish water. I absolutely refuse to stick my hands in it without the protection of rubber gloves.
-The sight of wet bread in the sink makes me want to vomit.
-I can handle the sight of blood, poop, pee, vomit, snot, and just about every other bodily function except saliva & sputum. In nursing school, I saw a half full container that holds the "junk" you suck out of a persons tracheostomy and I just about tossed my cookies then and there! So gross!
-I can't stand when people claim to be Christians, but insist on judging others. Last I checked, the position of judge has been filled.
-I love that Lucas was just throwing a fit & I asked him if he needed to go "night-night" and he said "nigh-nigh" and pointed downstairs.
-I have yet to discover if I have any real talents. I don't think it is sports, I don't think it is arts & crafts, I certainly can't cook. I made a pretty cute baby, I wonder if that counts?
-I love my family and I love my friends.
-I love my life!

Trains, his new obsession.....

Trains pass by the house, all day long. Lucas is obsessed with them. He loves to hear the whistle and always imitates the sound. We may have a future engineer on our hands!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jeremy!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jeremy! We love you and hope you enjoy your day!

First time meeting his Uncle

In May, when we visited Florida

We hope you get to do a little of this, and.........

A LOT of This!!!

Chuck E Cheese

We had lunch and played at Chuck E Cheese today, with Steph and Will. It was a lot of fun! We love to get together with old friends and we are so sad that Steph's Dad is moving to AZ. It was really hard to get good pictures. There were so many things to look at, the boys were really distracted.


Squished nose!

Almost, up....just a little further....

Driving the bulldozer with Bob the Builder

Lucas & Will driving the train


Playing the "toddler whac!"