The weekend with no game

We may not have had a game this weekend but we kept busy with some visitors and a birthday.

Grandma Schenk and Cousin Jessie came to visit all the way from Kansas.

Jessie & Sawyer

Grandma & Sawyer

Family Pic

Jessie, Sawyer, Grandma, Gracie

Flea Market Finds

On Saturday morning the girls took advantage of the boys weekend off by leaving the kids and heading to the local flea market. We had lots of fun perusing all the "junk." I didn't really think I would buy anything, but I came home with a few treasures that have now turned into more projects. Each item, except the brown globe will transform into something great I hope. I'll keep you updated on the projects.

The weekend off also allowed Kyle and Sawyer to have some great daddy/son time.

Kyle will get on all fours and start chasing Sawyer. Sawyer gets so worked up laughing and crawling as fast as his short legs will go. It's too cute!

Sawyer has recently become very ticklish. I think we will have lots of tickling fests in the years to come.

The Tree Stump

During the summer there have been several home improvement/landscaping projects going on in our neighborhood. One house's landscaping project really intrigued me. Let me paint a visual picture, since unfortunately I did not take any pictures of the project.

There was a nice house with a large tree stump (approx. 3 ft. high x 3 ft. wide) in the middle of the front lawn. It was an eye sore and one day I was happy to see some activity around the stump. My first thought was they were removing the stump. As the days went by the stump remained, however a large pile of stone/brick pavers were delivered to the stump.

The stump and the pavers set for several weeks. Then one day I drove by and the homeowners had made a large circle of pavers two levels high around the tree stump. At this point I laughed every time I drove by because it looked ridiculous to have a circle of pavers around a large tree stump. It became an ugly focus of the front yard. Once when Kyle and I were discussing this horrendous landscape project we determined they must be building a fire pit. We thought it was strange to place a fire pit in your front yard, but to each his own.

The spectacle remained for several weeks. Then one day I drove by and to my shock they had built up the stone paver circle. It was now a 3 ft. high stone circle around the tree stump. It looked even more ridiculous than before, but it always brought a smile to my face when I drove by. I thought, what kind of people would put this monstrosity in their yard? Kyle and I again discussed the project and determined they must be making a large wishing well. Again it sat in this state for several weeks. Then one day I drove by and this is what it had been transformed into:

A prominent flower bed with a statue of Jesus loving the little children perched on the large stump. I was astonished and immediately humbled. That day the Lord reminded me of three lessons.

1. What I see as beautiful may be ugly to others and vice versa.

2. Jesus does love all the little children :)

3. Don't judge so quickly. What may appear ugly/bad at first could turn into something beautiful/good.

As I drive by this house almost daily I always smile and I am reminded that judging others is not my job.

Thank you Lord for teaching us lessons in subtle and not-so-subtle ways :)

He's a Cowboy

Kyle thinks the name "Sawyer" sounds kind of hillbilly or redneck. He does not say that in a derogatory way as he thinks it's cool to be a hillbilly. I tend to disagree that the name sounds hillbillyish (I'm aware that's probably not a word, but I almost have my master's so I'm pretty sure I can begin to make up words :). However, the other day Sawyer was proudly wearing his made in Kansas bandana bib and I couldn't help but smile. While I wouldn't say he looked like a hillbilly, he did look like a old west cowboy (or a small dog with a bandana :). Though we now live in Ohio, he looked like a true Kansan. And while I will probably never consent to calling Sawyer a hillbilly I will gladly call him a cute cowboy. Now he just needs some wranglers and cowboy boots.

Master Bedroom Project

I'm joining my first ever blog carnival. This is linked to Show Us Your Life @ Kelly's Korner blog. Welcome new visitors!

Our master bedroom is not done (just like the rest of our house), but I have been working on it, so I thought I would share some of the progress.

Pillows: I made all the pillows. Oddly enough some of these fabrics were used on a bed in the Jo-Ann Fabrics ad this week :)

Curtains: I recently made these curtains. I planned on only putting 2 on the window, but Kyle put the curtains up and used all three panels on one window. I kind of like it, so I think we'll keep it. Who knew he had any decorating sense?

Bedside tables (not quite done, the hardware is in the mail)

Bed: This is the only piece of furniture we have ever bought. We love it!

Sorry the bedding is wrinkly I didn't feel like ironing it just to take pictures.

Dresser: We got this dresser for free from one of the colleges Kyle worked at. We refinished it and added new hardware. It was one of our 1st pieces of furniture and we love it!

Any decorating ideas for the dresser? I want to keep it very simple...but I'm thinking it looks a little bare.

Obviously there are still projects to be done including painting the closet doors and trim.

I also hate that the bed is blocking part of a window. It used to be caddy-corner between the two windows in the room, but after I added the bedside tables it would no longer fit diagonally. So, after trying many different arrangements this is the best option. I think what I want to do is get more white curtains and make a wall of curtains so it looks like a long window. What do you think? Any other suggestions for disguising the bed over the window?

Sawyer's Tricks

Here's some evidence of Sawyer's latest tricks. Sorry some of the videos are sideways. In all my computer wisdom :) I couldn't get them to rotate. And just a warning you might want to ensure your volume is not up too loud because I feel like my voice is kind of loud in some of these.

Saying "dada" (sorry this is blurry for the 1st few seconds)

Untitled from Kristen Schenk on Vimeo.

Pulling up

S Pulling Up from Kristen Schenk on Vimeo.

Clapping & waving

Sawyer Clap & Wave from Kristen Schenk on Vimeo.

I didn't realize that once he started crawling he would progress so quickly with other physical developments.

Jumping on the coupon bandwagon

Since I no longer work outside the home and bring in a paycheck the idea of couponing intrigued me. I feel this is a way I can help the family save money. When I first researched the idea it seemed very time consuming and confusing. But I finally decided to jump in with both feet. Here's the first week's results.

Target

2.5lb Chicken Breast Bag $5.84

$2.00 Target coupon

Final Price: $3.84

Suave Hair Care $1.89

$.75 Target coupon

Final Price $1.14

Savings: $2.75

Total: $4.98

Giant Eagle

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls 4 pack 1.50 x 6

Sale & Coupons $8.40 (this includes a $3 coupon on my next purchase)

Total $.60

Solo Cups 20 ct. $2.39

Sale & Coupons $1.89

Total $.50

Cheerios $2.99

Sale & Coupons 1.60

Total $1.39

Yo-Plus Yogurt 4 pack $2.50 x 2

Sale & Coupons $3.00

Total $2.00

Betty Crocker Cookie Mix $2.59 x 4

Sale & Coupons $5.56

Total $4.80

Ziploc Freezer Bags $2.49 x 2

Sale & Coupons 1.98

Total $3.00

$1.00 Checkout coupon from a previous trip

Total Savings $20.62

Final Price $11.42

I am committed to only buying items that we need now or stocking up on items I know we will use in the future. I will not buy items that we don't use or don't need. As I build up my coupon stash I should be able to get even better deals. I use this site and this site for resources on weekly deals and coupons. These sites are specifically targeted to the area where I live, but there are probably sites for your geographic region too.

Let me know if you coupon. I would love to hear tips from the experts.

Game #3

It was a beautiful day for football and the Pioneers didn't disappoint. They won spectacularly with a final score of 69-0. It was the 1st home game and the opponent was Anna Maria. At half time it was 48-0 and I pretty much stopped watching because Sawyer wanted to run around. It was good to get the 1st win and a lot of players had a chance to get on the field and gain some experience.

Happy players during the after game talk

Sawyer was all over...in the stroller

and on the bleachers

Me & my baby

Me & Candace (sister-in-law)

Our family of three

(yes, that's snot on my shoulder...never knew I would have to worry about snot on my shoulder :)

Final Score

Hold On

When did this kid

get big enough to do this?

Pull up on a chair, stand strongly, and eat a snack!

I know it's a cliche, but seriously they grow so fast!

Football craft

I searched high & low for a team-themed football outfit for our little one to wear @ football games. I did not find anything I was super excited about, so I took matters into my own hands. I bought a "plain" onesie at a thrift store and then used fabric scraps to make Sawyer a Malone football onesie.

The front says "EMAP" which means Every Man A Pioneer (this is a team theme).

The back has his last name and daddy's old college football number.

I love how it turned out! I especially like how it supports the current team and his daddy.

8 months

What you're up to:

• During your 7th month you started crawling and now you don't ever sit still. You don't even like to be held unless you're tired.
• Started drinking out of a sippy cupYou used to be great at going to sleep. We would just lay you down and you would be out. Now you think it's play time because you pull up on the crib and talk to yourself :)
• You love the red light on the power strip and I pull you away from it no less than 50 times a day. You are one persistent little boy.
• Started cloth diapering
• Learned to clap
• You say dada, hi, & yeah (Kyle said he said mama, but I haven't heard it yet, so it doesn't count :)
• Pull up on everything including chairs, couches, legs, toys, toy box, crib, etc.
• Threw up for the 1st time (still not sure what caused that, I checked on him in bed and he had thrown up all over himself and slept through it, then as we were cleaning him up and he was smiling and crawling around on our bed and he threw up several more times, but he had no fever or other symptoms of being sick)
• Went to 1st football game
• Wear size 2 disposable diapers (but we're moving up to size three when this package is done)
• Wear size 6-9 month shirts, and anywhere from 3-9 month pants.
• Ate 1st finger food (Mum-Mums)

This sleeper was given to Sawyer as a gift before he was born. I remember when I opened it I was delighted because I think it's adorable, but I also thought he will never wear this it's huge. Well, I pulled it out the other day and he not only fits in it, it's already a little snug. I think he will be wearing this several times a week to get good use out of it before he outgrows it :)

Hey mom, what's that you're holding in front of my face?

Game #2

If you click on the image it will take you to the Malone football website for detailed information about the team.

Game #2 was in Iowa against St. Ambrose. I didn't attend, but I listened to the live stream online. The game started really well with the defense getting a red zone interception on the first drive and then a interception for a touchdown on the second drive. I did a little happy dance because this team is historically very tough and the Pioneers were doing really well with a 7-0 lead early in the 1st quarter. But then things started to go bad and kind of fell apart in the 3rd quarter. The final score was 7-28. While this afternoon did not turn out well I'm looking forward to the next game because it's the first home game.

I spent the game sewing and doing laundry while Sawyer napped. I kept having to switch activities because when I got frustrated with the game I would get frustrated with my project. Sadly, I think my sewing today will reflect my frustrations :)

While we waited for the guys to get home the coaches wives got together for dinner and crafting. Yay for girl time! I can't wait to show you the craft I intended to worked on... Instead of working on my craft we all learned about the awesome and amazing Silhouette!

The last Florida pictures, I promise.

I love this one of Sawyer...doesn't he look mischievious?

Is it only me or does Sawyer look terrified surrounded by all girls?

While he loved the pool he wasn't so sure about the ocean.

Hanging out with Uncle Troy

The Schenk "kids"

Photos taken by Candace