"Catch Air" Fun Day!

For a change of pace, I took Jack and Henry to "Catch Air" in John's Creek for some fun. It is similar to Monkey Joe's in that it has lots of blow-up inflatable jumpy houses, but it also has a huge multilevel obstacle course. (If you are my age, you may remember Discovery Zone. You probably went to or had your birthday party there once in the 90's.) It was awesome! Jack had so much fun, and Henry was mildly amused and for an added bonus the slight hum in the air was very soothing and created optimum napping conditions for him. :) We stayed for three hours and had a blast for the low low price of $6.42 with the facebook coupon code! What a value! Jack just thought it was fun.

Mamamia! It's just a phasia!

So those of you who think we are of English and German background, that may not be the case! Perhaps we have a bit of Italian in us, or at least Jack may think so. He is going through a phase that sounds just a tad Italian. By the end of the day, I may use another word for it! He has within the last few days decided to add an -ia ending to the end of words. Don't ask me why. Mommia and Daddia are the new names on the street and if doesn't go away soon, I might go crazia!

Punkin' Portraits at the Church Pumpkin Patch

We were still missing the feel of the pumpkin patch since it wasn't really set up that way at Kinsey Farms and there is an adorable pumpkin patch just across the street from Jack's preschool. They have lots of pumpkins for a more reasonable price, and the cutest set-up. They have bales of hay, scarecrows, and homemade face cut-out for any photo-ops, and little children's games.. It is exactly what a cute church pumpkin patch ought to be! Jack loved walking up and down the rows of pumpkins, climbing on the hay, playing Jack-o-lantern bean bags, and ring toss. I got the oh-so-necessary pumpkin/kid picture combo to mark the Fall 2012 milestone.

Fall Happenings: Kinsey Family Farm

Time for pumpkins! Or, so we thought... We usually go to Burt's Pumpkin Farm up in the North Georgia Mountains, but wanted to stay a little closer since Henry is still little and it is hard to stay out all day. (The kid likes to nap in his crib. What can I say?) We did have a nice little drive to the farm. It is a cute nursery and would be a great place to shop if you are landscaping. They did have a cute pumpkin patch underneath a pavilion. I was hoping that the pumpkins would be as far as the eye could see and range from the giant prize winning state fair kinda pumpkins to the tiny jack-be-littles, but their selection was very limited. We had a great time walking around on the first cold day of the season and had a good picnic, but we won't be coming back specifically for punkins! It is a great place to go if your children like to see farm animals, want a closer destination, and don't mind spending an extra large price tag for a pumpkin! We ended up leaving empty pumpkin handed but did stop at Aldi for a great $2.49 pumpkin! Sorry Kinsey Farm, we'll try to support you when we have landscaping needs, but for now, budget is the word!

Pinterest Potluck: French Onion Casserole

Today I took the boys to a Pinterest Potluck. The goal was to try a recipe we had pinned but had not made to see if it was any good before serving at a holiday dinner. Most everyone called last minute and cancelled because of the bad cold going around, but we were all healthy so we made it. It was just us, one other mom and her little boy, and the hostess. I made French Onion Casserole as a side dish, and the hostess made a delicious caramel and chocolate pretzel bark. It turned out to be okay that not too many people made it because we devoured the casserole and chocolate and caramel bark! Lunch of champions!The bark was delicious with the homemade caramel. I am definitely making both this year. However, I am sad that I have gone this long in my life without having had this onion casserole. It was delicious!!! Think of french onion soup, but in a one dish casserole and much easier to make! It is relatively inexpensive to make because it has such few ingredients. I used canned cream of mushroom soup instead of the cream of chicken and will probably add a tad bit of wine and thyme to the casserole next time, but it was still so yummy and easy to make. The most time consuming part is slicing the onions. Other than that, it's a cinch! We will be eating a lot of this recipe this winter.

From Forkable, Slow Food for Fast Living: Onion Casserole

A Scentsation Science Experiment

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we typically have a relaxed schedule since Jack is in school and it is also on these days that Jack and Henry soon, do special projects. Today, we explored our sense of smell. See the picture below for how we arranged the scents.

 I picked on purpose, a variety of strong to weak smelling scents. Some are a little stinky like vinegar and garlic to sweet smelling vanilla. Funny enough, Henry really liked the vinegar smelling cotton ball. Maybe this has to do with his congestion. (It could be that it was the only one he could smell!) Jack liked the vanilla scent and insisted it was chocolate. We talked about the other ways we can explore the world without using our eyes. We had a good time branching out and touching some interesting feeling items from around the house. Jack picked out a smooth pumpkin, a fuzzy sweater, and a wet wipe to feel. I suggested that Jack taste the scents on the cotton ball, but nope, he thought it would be yucky. What we all discovered is that we can use more than our eyes, to "see." 

Welcome Message

Hello! Welcome to my family blog. I wanted to create a space where I could share general news and tid bits with friends and family about this branch of the Breunig/Russell family tree. I say very affectionately that it is me and my three boys: my wonderful husband, Doug, and my two little boys Jack (3), and Henry (as Jack says, 0.) I am not making any commitments to post daily or weekly as is common, because I am busy with all my boys, but I will try my best for myself and others who may view this blog to post as regularly as I can! I hope you will enjoy reading and seeing pictures of what projects I may have going on around the house and with the littlest boys. Pictures of my growing boys will be a certainty!