Taffy Apples

We decided to start a new fall tradition in our house...making caramel apples! Honestly, I don't know why we haven't made them in the past. We all love them (except Tom)!

First, we dipped....

....then we decorated in lots of fun fall sprinkles....

...finally, we gobbled them up. We all had alot of fun and they were really yummy too!

Autumn Colors

We had beautiful fall weather last weekend so we took advantage of it and got some pictures in the leaves.

Good to see that smile!

With leaves.....

....and without!

Hope you're enjoying fall as much as we are! :)

(Not So) Hot Wheels

On Monday, October 11th Nicholas fell off his bike and broke his collar bone! We knew that it was only a matter of time before we experienced our first broken bone and we were pretty certain that it would be Nicholas that it happened to. Poor kid.

The story goes like this: Nicholas and Jenna decided to keep me company while I went for a run around the lake in our neighborhood. They rode their bikes a short distance ahead of me and went around a curve so I didn't see him when he fell. Yes, he was wearing a helmet. When I got to him, he was all tangled up in his bike and crying. He had a bloody knee and a bruise on his collar bone where the handlebar hit him. To make matters worse, of course we were all the way on the other side of the lake (the farthest point from home) and noone that I asked had a cell phone. So, what did I do?? I made him ride his bike home. It was the fastest way to get help at that point so that's what we did. (Yes, I win the mother-of-the-year award for making my child ride his bike home with a broken clavicle.)

By the time we got home he was telling us that his "heart" hurt so we suspected that there was something going on in that area. He was extremely protective of himself and wouldn't let us come near him. We didn't even wait for our doctor to call us back and headed straight over to the ER. I knew immediately that it was broken when the X-ray popped up on the screen. They put him in a sling and told us to limit his physical activity. We did the usual "drive thru Sonic to get a slushy cause you hurt yourself and had to go to the ER" stop on the way home. It's become a Martin tradition...you go to the ER, you get a slushy from Sonic on the way home regardless of how ridiculously late it is. He was such a trooper!

At first limiting his activity was easy because he was in pain and didn't want to move much. Thankfully he's having minimal pain now but he also wants to jump, run, play, and do all the other crazy things that he usually does. The other day he asked me if he could ride his scooter and told me that he would even wear his helmet!! Also, this little injury has really interfered with his ability to sock himself when he sees a Volkswagen.

I'm not posting any of the pictures of him during this whole ordeal. They're just too pitiful and sad to look at. Instead, I'll share the X-ray with you. Beware: this is not for the faint of heart!



Yeah, he didn't just break it a little....he snapped it in half! We followed up with the orthopedic doctor and he reassured us that he would heal up fine. It just will take a bit longer than the typical collar bone break. He's out of school for a few weeks and will likely be in a sling for 6-8 weeks! He has been really good about wearing it. Dr. Aunt Ali is tracking down a dinosaur sling for him. :)



Thank you for all the phone calls, visits, movie playdates, crafts, and cards. They have all helped to cheer him up and keep him safely distracted. He was especially happy to have a very special visitor...his teacher Miss Cathy! His preschool class made Nicholas a get well book and she stopped by to deliver it. Here they are reading it together. He's planning to bring in a copy of his X-ray to share with his class. They're studying the body right now so it's totally appropriate! We'll keep you posted on how he's doing!

Fluffy Pillow

Marissa found the perfect spot to settle in for a good book. Max didn't move the entire time. :)

Mercy Fest

Every fall our church has a big fall carnival called Mercy Fest. The kids watched as they put up the rides in the parking lot. Nicholas had his eye on the roller coaster and couldn't wait to go!

While we weren't sure who would be participating in rides this year, we decided to buy all four of our kids the wristband that grants them unlimited rides. Turns out we definitely made the right decision! The kids rode everything and multiple times each. After 2 1/2 hours of fun we were all hot and exhausted so we headed home for a little break. Plus, Jenna wasn't feeling well after she got off the Tilt-A-Whirl. But we went back for the last hour and rode more rides. The wristbands were the way to go and we had a wonderful day together.

Marissa was absolutely hilarious. She must have rode the dragon roller coaster 20 times! Jenna taught her to put her hands up in the air. Every time she went around she would wave and we could hear her laughing. It didn't take long before she was riding alone or with a complete stranger! She had a blast.

She also really liked the flying dragons.

Jenna was thrilled to find her friend Abby at the carnival. They stuck together like glue and rode everything together.

I could not believe it when Jacob told me that he wanted to go on the Edge. He's definitely not my son when it comes to rides. There's no way. It freaked me out especially when the whole thing tipped forward while going around. He loved it though and rode it at least 10 times. In the second picture, he's the fifth person in from the right side.

If he wasn't on the Edge you could find him on the Cliffhanger.

Jacob and his friend, Connor on the Ferris wheel together.

Jenna went on the Fun Slide over and over again. Nicholas wasn't up for it unless either Tom or I went down with him.

He stuck to rides close to the ground. Here he is on a Volkswagen (of course)!

We're looking forward to going back next year!

Keller Farm

On Friday, Nicholas visited Keller Farm with his preschool class. He was really excited about this field trip especially since Tommy went along with him. It sounds like they had a fun day together. Nicholas told me that his favorite part was when he got to touch a huge tractor tire. He couldn't believe that it was bigger than him! Oh, and I totally forgot to put Nicholas in his Good Shepherd t-shirt. Oops! Yep, he's the one in the bright orange shirt! Mrs. Cahill put together a little snapshow of their fun outing. Click on the link below to take a peek!

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/mmsplay/slideShowOid=1011801014/ownerid=124270847/controllerType=mms/preview=true/

Punch Buggy!

Nicholas has a new infatuation....Volkswagens! And it doesn't have to be a Bug to get him all excited. Any Volkswagen will do and he knows them all! It's amazing, he can spy one from a block away and can identify them in the dark by their headlights alone. You know immediately when he spots one because he yells out "red one!" or "blue one!" and then proceeds to slug himself on the chest. Wondering why he hits himself and not the person next to him?? That would be because usually it's one of his siblings who are on the receiving end of that punch. So we had to make a rule that he is only allowed to punch himself now. It's working out nicely for everyone.

Nicholas and Jenna recently got to take a ride in a green Volkswagen Bug! (Yes, this is cool if you're four and like VW's.) Our next door neighbor, Melanie, rented one for a couple of days so I arranged for her to swing by and pick them up. She took them on a spin around the neighborhood. They were thrilled! I wish I had taken a picture of them in it.

You can imagine Nicholas' excitement when he realized that one of the mom's that we carpool with has Volkswagen minivan. He asks her all the time if she can pick him up in her VW. She's so nice and does her best to honor his request. He also was excited to learn that his teacher drives a Volkswagen Bug. He insists that I park right next to it when I'm dropping him off for school.

By the way, this intense interest in VW's is a direct result of Nicholas seeing all the Volkswagen commercials that are running right now. He saw that commercial once, immediately caught on, and has been punching himself ever since.

Apple Picking

We love to go apple picking and look forward to this family outing every year. The kids were super excited when we announced a surprise visit to Kuipers Family Farm to get our apples! This is a new orchard for us and we picked a very chilly fall day to go!

We took a nice hay ride out to the orchard. Each of us got a bag that holds a 1/4 peck of apples.

We picked five different kinds of apples this year. Tommy taught them how to find the perfect ones on the tree. It was amazing how fast we filled up our bags!

The orchard staff invited everyone to sample apples while we picked. Yum!

We came home with a ton of apples. So far I've made homemade cinnamon applesauce and I'm planning to make an apple pie this weekend.

Back to School

Jacob and Jenna started back to school at the end of August. Jacob is now in third grade and Jenna is in first. We had a fun summer, but they were both looking forward to getting back in the classroom. Jenna was extra happy to find out that she got the teacher she was hoping for, Mrs. Karl. She loves her new Hello Kitty backpack. Jacob was very open-minded and didn't have a teacher preference this year. He has Ms. Powers. I'm the room parent for his classroom so I'll be busy planning holiday parties and organizing volunteers for his class. Both Jacob and Jenna are looking forward to participating in the Accelrated Reading Program. Jacob has about 100 pages left in Harry Potter Book #4 and he's anxious to rack up some serious points for such a big read!

Nicholas is attending a new preschool this year called Good Shepherd. I'm anticipating a great year as we've only heard wonderful things about this preschool. While we enjoyed having him home an extra few weeks this summer, Nicholas didn't start until mid-September so he was really ready to go. He's in the "Blue" room and his teacher's name is Mrs. Cahill. I get to see her before and after every class so it's nice to hear about how his day went. She always has something funny to report about him. He's had no problems adjusting to his new school and is already making new friends. I'm surprised that I haven't received a phone call home about him yet. But don't worry, Nicholas keeps us fully informed about his behavior. Almost every day he comes homes telling me that he got counted to "one" for talking or interrupting. I can't wait for parent teacher conferences. I'm sure it will be interesting. He's looking forward to his first field trip this Friday to Keller Animal Farm. Tom is going to surprise him and go along too!

Marissa isn't going to preschool this year, but I did put her in a little class at the community center called "My Own Time". She attends with her best friend, Brianna. Here they are on their first day. It's kinda like preschool, but only meets once a week for an hour. They do crafts, sing songs, eat a snack, and have storytime. The first two weeks were rough for Marissa. She had been talking for days about "going to school" and couldn't wait to wear her Dora backpack, but as we walked into her class on the first day she said to me "Mommy, I think I'm going to cry at school now" and she did! Ms. Anne, her teacher, had to peel her off of me. It was sad, but she's doing great now and really liking the class. I think it's perfect for her. I'm planning to put her in twice a week at the beginning of next year.