Pumpkin Picasso

Not only did Macklan carve his first pumpkin this year, he also painted his first pumpkin. Nana planned this colorful activity for Macklan and Briley a few days prior to Halloween. I was so proud of my little Picasso that I displayed the perfectly painted pumpkin on my kitchen counter for several weeks. He is such a talented little man!


Macklan's brush strokes must have been a little off aim. Notice the blue on his forehead.

Dora-o'-Lantern

Of all the Disney, Noggin, and Nick Jr. characters Macklan has been exposed to, his favorite is most definitely Dora. The proof is evident! Nothing else matters when he is entertained by a Dora episode, and one of his clearly spoken two-syllable words is "Backpack." He gets super excited when he sees Dora's face on products, and as soon as he is buckled into his car seat he points at his travel DVD player and sweetly requests, "Backpack!" When it came time to carve Macklan's 1st jack-o'-lantern, Scott found an awesome Dora pumpkin stencil so it would be extra special. But before the face could be carved, the lid was cut and the gooey, slimy insides had to be scooped out!


Macklan loved holding the scoop (which he called "spoon"), but he didn't really like the seed-filled gooey insides of the pumpkin touching his hands. This resulted in Scott scraping out most of the pumpkin while Macklan stirred the gooey mess in the bowl.





After the stringy strands, seeds, and pulp had been removed, it was carving time! The stencil was placed on the pumpkin, then Scott carefully punched out the design. After he had finished, we revealed the glowing Dora-o'-lantern to Macklan...





I think he liked it...make that loved it! Thanks Daddy!!! You did a great job.

I'm Just a Little Buck

Leaves, Scarecrows, and Pumpkins...Oh My!

Spelunking...Our Cave Adventure

We rounded out our family weekend trip by taking a 40 minute walking tour at Marengo Cave, a U.S. National Landmark in Marengo, Indiana. The discovery story of this cave is quite astonishing, and the Crystal Palace tour consisting of formation-filled rooms and huge flowstone deposits was very interesting. This was Macklan and Briley's first trip into the deep, darkness of a cave! Macklan was quite the observer, pointing at everything in sight. Briley on the other hand was hesitant at first due to the darkness, but quickly turned into a little explorer herself. Scott, the science teacher among us, lectured us on all the formations by using "scientific" lingo. Marengo Cave was discovered by siblings Blanche and Orris Hiestand 125 years ago, and only recently heard of by my family or me!

Couldn't Get Enough Of That Farm Fun...

Two weeks after our first trip to Huber's Orchard and Farm, we made our second trip with my family. Huber's is a great location for a family day out, and I knew it would be just the place for my family to have an amazing time.

The petting zoo, mountain slide, and miniature Kabota tractor rides were right up Briley's alley, although to my surprise the jumping pillow terrified her so it entertained her for only about 30 seconds. Macklan made friends once again with the goats as he feed them kernels of corn that he picked up off the ground. Riding the mountain slide with Mommy and Pappy were also at the top of his list. The fun didn't end with the kiddos. Dad, Scott, Kristen, Briley, and I raced each other around the dusty 1,000 foot track on the pedal karts; it was so much fun that I didn't even care that Scott had won! It did however bother Briley, and she can't wait to go back so she can beat Uncle Scott in the race. Being a family of ice cream lovers, the Ice Cream Factory was a hit as we enjoyed the delicious pumpkin and peach flavors. A hayride, pumpkin picking, and apple taste-testing completed our fun-filled day.

Nana and Pappy speak for all of us. We had a stomping good time!

Little Hilltopper

August 2007

October 2008

As alumni of Western Kentucky University, Scott and I have been intentional about creating memories with Macklan on our old stomping ground..."the hill". When Macklan was only a few weeks old, we traveled to Bowling Green for his 1st visit to the campus. Also being sports fans, we began a simple tradition of taking Macklan's picture next to the Edgar Allen Diddle statue outside Diddle Arena. It's obvious that our little hilltopper is already a fan of WKU's mascot Big Red, so maybe one day he will follow in Mommy and Daddy's footsteps and climb the hill himself.

Huber's Orchard and Winery

It's true. Good friends are hard to come by, but the Lord has blessed our family with a circle of the most amazing friends. On October 4th, we made our first ever trip to Huber's Orchard and Winery in Starlight, Indiana with our friends The Fogles. Although their ages span from 1 to 10 years old, Cooper, Macklan, and Cole have a blast together. The Fogle boys are so thoughtful, protective, and loving when it comes to Macklan. It's no secret that they love one another. With beautiful weather on our side, we enjoyed our time together picking pumpkins, riding the hayride wagon, playing at the Family Farm Park, and enjoying a sweet treat of homemade pumpkin ice cream. This experience, like many others that we've shared as families and friends, will never be forgotten!

Every Dog Needs a Boy

Do I smell a friend? Whiffer is a brown, tan, and white floppy-eared Beagle who loves being our little man's best friend. Every dog, stuffed or real, deserves to be loved as much as Whiffer!

During my pregnancy, I bought this adorable Ty puppy dog for Macklan. Over the past year, Whiffer has remained in his place on a shelf in the nursery awaiting his chance to become Macklan's most loved companion. About three or four months ago, Macklan began to notice and point out dogs in our neighborhood, Mammie's dog Copper, toy dogs on the shelves at Wal-Mart, and dogs on Noggin and Baby Einstein. Macklan quickly learned to imitate puppy dogs with his own, "Arf, arf!" as he jerked his tilted head and chin down to his chest.

With my help, he also discovered Whiffer. One afternoon as I was attempting to get Macklan to down for his nap, I offered him this soft-velvety puppy. It didn't take much coaxing for Macklan to latch right on to Whiffer. The start of a friendship right before my eyes!

Now, Macklan loves to nuzzle, hug, and chomp down on this puppy's soft, fluffy face. Though the key is probably the long, velvet-like ears. When Macklan is sleepy or desires comforting, he will rub Whiffer's ears through his fingers which almost immediately relaxes him. This puppy has become his best sleeping buddy...well, except for Mama!

Worried that Whiffer might one day fall apart or be left behind somewhere, I purchased another Ty puppy (similar to Whiffer) at Cracker Barrel just a few weeks ago. This new brown puppy with a spot over one eye is Barkers. Macklan shows no favoritism between the two dogs. Usually if he has one, he has the other. It's kind of like a package deal where if you get one...you get them all. These two puppies definitely belong to a boy who loves them. I smell a lifelong friendship!