2015 In Review

I have been trying to get in one more post before the end of the month. Since my last post, we had a baby and ... celebrated the birth of Jesus. Busy times.  I thought a review of the year would be a good way to close out the year. We've had a full year of joy with Eva. We also have enjoyed preparing and welcoming Audrey into our family. Get ready for an overload of photos.

Always cheering on the Buckeyes.
National Championship, Baby! 

Snow day stroll to Marshall's for breakfast. 

Hanging out with Commodore Perry
at the Cleveland boat show.

Valentine's Day date at the Fish Market. 

Winter reprieve at Franklin Park Conservatory.

Opening Day at Progressive Field.
A fun tradition.

Easter Day. He is Risen!

Happy Birthday, Eva! Lots of love and celebration. 

COSI trip with Larkyn and Rhys. 

Opening Day fun at Progressive!

Mother's Day at the Clippers baseball game. 

Our washed away beach.

Carrie, Julie, and all the kiddos. 

Date night at BNL concert. 

Aftermath of our basement flooding due to heavy June rain.

Playing Fascination with the Christensens at the Lake. 

Yay! Keith finishes 50 miles at the Velosano.

Our growing family standing in the same spot
where we were engaged seven years ago.

Labor Day in tie-dye. 

Marching band selfie. Go CCHSMB!

Columbus Oktoberfest is a great tradition.

Pumpkin picking at Pigeon Roost.

A baby is born! Welcome Audrey!

Decorating for Christmas.

Unseasonably warm December weather gives us
a chance to walk the Scioto mile. 

Quiet time with Mom.

Getting ready for family photos. Our first time as a family of four. 

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. 

The Blessing of Waiting...

... while we wait for our little blessing. 

We are now past the point in pregnancy that we were with Eva. We really don't know what it is like to be 39 weeks, 3 days or beyond.  But we can rest easy because God has the date and time already picked out for Baby Girl Hallas #2. 

When we were waiting to become pregnant with Eva, I often had to remind myself that there IS blessing in waiting. In fact, if God gave us everything we wanted exactly when we wanted, we would miss out on so many blessings that our lives would be dull. 

Waiting allows us to be productive. 

Waiting allows us to be excited in anticipation.

Waiting often provides protection of our emotions. 

Waiting requires self-discipline. 

Waiting helps us mature. 

Waiting allows us to cling to our Sovereign Lord. 

I will use this current gift of waiting to practice patience. I want to see and appreciate all that the Lord has in store for us. If I choose not to be content with this waiting period, I might miss out on the true blessings. 

"The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

-2 Peter 3:9

We've discovered Play-Doh

I can't believe we are there already but we are. Eva can play with Play-Doh. Her attention span for it is about 5-10 minutes but I think that is pretty good. She still likes rolling it in her hands and flattening it out.

Using cookie cutters with the Play-Doh.

My grandma used to use phonebooks
as booster seats for us. This seemed to
fit the bill today. 

This was when I said, "Smile and show Mommy your Play-Doh."
Obviously, not willing to deviate from the task-at-hand.

So, the traditional store-bought playdough is easy to come by but there are a few homemade recipes out there that do the trick, too.
This is one like my mom used to make for us kids:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
• Food coloring
• Saucepan
• 1 cup flour

Directions

1. Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.
2. Remove from heat and add flour.
3. Stir, then knead until smooth. The cream of tartar makes this dough last 6 months or longer, so resist the temptation to omit this ingredient if you don't have it on hand.
4. Store this dough in an airtight container or a Ziploc freezer bag.

My wonderful friend, Ruth, who spends two days-a-week with Eva, made something similar to this recipe for our little girl one week.

1 cup oatmeal baby cereal (or rice cereal for a gluten-free option)
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup apple sauce (one packet of the squeezable kind)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Food coloring of choice

Mix the baby cereal and cornstarch together well. Add in the apple sauce, vegetable oil, and food coloring and knead with hands until the dough is a thick, moldable consistency resembling play dough. Repeat for additional colors. Dough can be refrigerated when not being used for up to 4 days. Simply microwave it for approximately 15 seconds or however long to warm it up to where it is moldable. 

Apple Hill + Pigeon Roost

The fall fun continues. We are so thankful that the weather held out for a rare weekend off for Keith. We had some family fun planned and were able to enjoy it thoroughly.

But first, Eva and I took a few side trips. One to head up north to spend time with Charlie and James. And another to spend time with Kara, Leah, and Bethany at their hotel pool.

In our northern journey, we got lost a little. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't use GPS (yup, Annie Atlas at your service) and there were some road closures I didn't expect, but the drive was pretty.

We had a great time with James and Charlie at the Safety Town park. Then continued the fun at Miller's Apple Hill. This fun apple-picking orchard seemed to be located in the mecca of apple orchards. We could have visited any one of the three orchards nearby. Carrie and I were a little apprehensive about how the kids (read: toddlers) would handle being out in the orchard but once each of them found their own apple, which was within the first 90 seconds of being dropped off by the tractor-pulled hayride, they were just fine. An apple in hand was clutch (pun intended). 

Once back in Columbus, Eva and I were happy to join up with Kara, Leah, and Bethany for some hotel swim fun. Eva liked the pool almost as much as the big girls did but she really liked that they all wore "gagoos" (googles). We had a nice dinner afterward as well. 

Our family fall fun at Pigeon Roost Farm was great. It does seem like a drive to get out to Kirkersville but I think it took fewer than 35 minutes. And Pigeon Roost is totally worth it. We had heard good things about this farm and all seemed to live up. Big pumpkins. Even humongous pumpkins. Straw. Farm animals. Games. Swings. Slides. A sand pit. Toddler Town. Giant gerbil wheels. Corn maze. Enchanted Forest with chickens wandering about. It was all there. 

See you next fall, Pigeon Roost!