Monday

We all have those childhood dreams that we want to fulfill for our children. While the dream of the canopy bed and the power wheels Barbie Jeep are still out there, getting water through the door of the fridge is now a reality. We finally retired the 1989 fridge with "atari letters" (Jim's description of the font on the crisper drawer) and the shelves that were being held together with wire tires. The water dispenser is getting a lot of use from Evie. The only draw back is that Annalise's potty chart needs to find a new home.
In completely unrelated news, Evie has been reading Aunt Becky's blog and is pretend that she is Aunt Becky and Annalise's baby is Juner.

A day in the park

We had a regular old weekend doing all the weekend stuff that everyone does. Farmer market, church, wash car, clean bathroom. Then we decided to do some fun stuff for the kiddos. We headed over to the local park. They have a maze in the native grasses. Fun for kids, not so fun for allergic mom.
Annalise is growing up so fast. She is going on all the big kid stuff. Including this really fast slide.
Then she decides to take a break on the tractor. Boy, that corn is drying down fast...
Evie, on the other hand headed straight for the "spider web". This is the only piece of playground equipment that really give me the creeps. These kids are really sure footed and I should give them more credit at keeping their balance. I'm just worried that they will lose their grip and fall down plinko style.
Here she is at the top!
A close up... Hang on tight!
There was also a big hill that they use for seating at kiddy concerts and when we get enough snow, sledding. Today it was good for running up and down and wearing out kids.

Annalise gets a little help from Dad.

The hill in action. This may be the highest point in all of central Indiana. Our ears popped at the top.

The fruits of our garage sale labor

About a week ago, we went in with some neighbors and had a garage sale. We all had our own specific goals. Our one common goal was to get rid of stuff. With all my profits, I planned on buying my very own bread machine and return the one I borrowed from mom. She wants to make her own bread also!Here is a beautiful loaf of bread that my new machine made this morning. I went through 3 different machines before settling on this one. I probably would have kept the first one but it made loaves like bricks, as did the second. I bought some new yeast and things seem to be looking our way. I'm excited to get back to baking homemade bread. Even the kids like the smell of bread when they come home from school.

Jim sold the 740 and today took delivery on the newest member of our fleet.

You've heard of camouflage, this is Carmel-flage. Yep, we have joined the Honda driving population. Considering how long the last car lasted, this is probably the car Evie will drive to college.

And the kids. We didn't sell their beds, they just insisted on sleeping in the clothes baskets.

Looks like a person could wake up with a stiff neck after sleeping in there.

Weekend trip to Ney

We went to Northwest Ohio this weekend for a bunch of parties. Our first stop was lunch with Great Grandma Wagner. We got a complete tour of the yard, garden, house and a delicious lunch. We snapped a few pics before we left to head over to Grandma and Grandpa Seibert's house.
After dinner, all the kids were excited about the idea to take a tractor ride around the yard. That is until they saw the tractor and wagon and high tailed it into the house. Evie got to drive the tractor around the yard and didn't even hit a single tree!

Saturday brought Annalise's final birthday party. And this time we found a Clifford cake.
So maybe it was a little too big for our modest party of 13, but we all enjoyed a big piece. The best part is that we will enjoy this cake at Grandma's again sometime soon as it is in the freezer.

We made sure that Natalie got a HUGE corner piece with lots of icing and an extra large scoop of ice cream. She basically licked all the icing off only leaving a little cake behind. That's our Natalie.
Evie gets to hold "Baby" June. Evie is probably consoling her about her Thunder Thighs. Evie grew out of them, you will too, Juner.
Of course, at any birthday party, there are presents and lots of eager helpers to get them open.
Mom got to hang on to the tiny baby of the family, Tessa. She was pretty cuddly.
Here are some of the gang. They were dead heading flowers but weren't discriminating about which were dead or not.

On Sunday, we headed over to Archbold for the big baptism.

Juner didn't sleep well one night and Aunt Becky was about ready to throw her out the window. Luckly, we were there to catch her and our plan to steal her was foiled only by the fact that she is still nursing. Next time we will get her.
Here's the happy family with the newest Catholic in Archbold. There are only three kids in this picture, but during Mass, they had 5 sitting with them. Preparation for their future!
Kim and JJ Meyer are Tessa's Godparents.

And believe it or not, all these kiddos are sitting and looking in the same direction. Some are even smiling!!!
Here's the action shot of the baptism.
Stinks, she had a rough one. After her birthday party, she got all whiny and clingy. Turns out she had a 102 degree fever. We were supposed to go to a wedding reception. Dad stayed home and Mom went with Grandma. Turns out it was the best decision that mom made all night because Dad was home cleaning puke off of grandma's couch. Gross. So we pumped her full of ibuprophen and she perked up on Sunday. Hope all the cousins don't get whatever she had.
And finally, here's the Rainbow Nun enduring the car ride home. It's always a longer drive home than it is to Grandma's.

Signs of Fall

It's a sure sign that fall is coming. We are watching the forecast and deciding when the dreaded chore of painting the deck will be. We have washed it and I am in the midst of scraping off the flaking paint. It's no fun, but at least it's a little cooler than last year. Beware if you plan a visit to us, you may be put to work.

Other signs of fall is that our apple tree is ready to be picked. Annalise and I went out and picked a bucket of apples this morningShe ate one for morning snack.
They aren't too pretty to look at, but the insides are pretty clean (with the exception of a worm here and there). We made some applesauce this afternoon and ate most of it. There is another half bucket waiting to be washed, peeled and something done with it. Maybe more applesauce, apple butter, or a pie. It depends on my ambition.

I also wanted to share a picture that Evie created in preschool today. She said that the teacher made an example for them to follow. I think she did a great job.
Also, she says she wants to be an artist when she grows up (instead of a juggler), so store this for when she becomes famous. By the way, the blue circle is a pond.

Tour de Carmel

Did you hear the news about Lance training for the Tour again? Well, he was a little too late to join the Tour de Carmel today. We hitched up the kid carriers and rode through several nice neighborhoods. The kind of neighborhoods that would make Aunt Becky crazy because all the houses were beige and brick. We even saw our exact house in another neighborhood. Man, some builder is probably living the life on some island due to the development of Carmel. Here we are at the start of the ride. Actually, we started riding from home so by this point we had a whole mile and a half under our belts.
At about mile 4 of the ride, Evie started asking about the rest stop that was at mile 8. It took some time, but we made it. There were great snacks and a band! The girls are checking out some of the other bikes on the ride.
Maybe we will get a bike like this--a four seater tandem! Or would you call it a quadem? Uncle Kevin, can you build this for us??
Annalise enjoys a very unnaturally colored cheese sandwich cracker.

Ok, all friends who read this blog and blog yourself. We need to see some updates of your beautiful children (especially the ones we are related to). It's been a tough day here. First, Jim sold his car on garage sale this morning and we bid a fond farewell to the 740. Then, I read on the "interweb" today that Holly is leaving Hef and the Manison! What is the fate of my favorite show? And now, the Buckeyes are losing despite me sending all of my positive thoughts out west, wearing my Ohio State shirts all week, and flying my Buckeyes flag! Wait, they just scored! No!!! there was a flag!!! We really need those updates fast!!!

Annalise's 2nd Birthday

Sorry for the delay on Annalise's birthday celebration. Here it is!

We got up and right away opened presents. Evie had a hard time keepting her hands to herself despite the many reminders.
Breakfast was the birthday special of the number shaped pancake plus M&M's!

During the day, we spent lots of time getting ready for Friday's garage sale so we didn't take many pictures. Then, in the evening, we had the birthday party!
Annalise was so excited to have a froggy cake, but is still requesting a Clifford Cake.
The Bray children got their fill of frosting and then chased all the little kids around.
The Birthday Gild didn't actually eat any cake, just the ice cream. That's the Seibert in her.
Then we opened some presents. Evan and Marin gave her a stuffed and cuddly E. coli. What other kid on the block has E. Coli? Hopefully none.

She also got some wild animals to add to her herd. Thanks Bray family!
Then she opened a book and bear from Erica and Clay--thanks!
Aunt Denise and Uncle Mike's present was finally opened after dinner on the evening of her birthday in true Taller tradition. We will have to find a chain for the pretty charm. Thank you! Mom and Dad also say thanks for the new picture of Jody and Jamie. They are getting so big!
Not to be left out, Evie got some Hand me down slippers from Marin. Do you think that Marin already outgrew these clod hoppers?

Our weekend

We had a very busy weekend. First off, we kicked off the football season with the Purdue home opener. Well, at least mom and dad did. The kids stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa Seibert. But the Grandparents came in for much more than babysitting. They also came for a little birthday party for Annalise. Here she is blowing out candles on her 2nd cake in as many Sundays.
Then it was on to presents. She received this BEAUTIFUL dress to play in. We aren't sure what she thinks about it. She did try it on, but only for about 30 seconds.
Then she opened a Doctor's kit--or a Vet kit, in her case.
Grandma gets a thorough examination of her ears.
Grandpa also gets his ears checked. She also listened to all our hearts, gave us all shots, and checked our blood pressure. We all were in good health.

Something else in our house regained health today. Through the hard work of Jim and Grandpa, the Hot Tub has been resurected! Hooray!

You should see how fast our electric meter is spinning to heat this baby up. We can hardly wait for tomorrow night. Keep your fingers crossed that it keeps running!

In sad, sad news, the Black Volvo passed away in it's sleep last night. It just won't start anymore. We are going to try to resuscitate it tomorrow. If Pete the mechanic thinks it will be too expensive, then NPR will have another car to add to its fleet. It served the Taller family well for 20 years. Jim is sad to see the car he took his drivers test in die. I think he is having a hard time letting go despite the fact that the AC, radio, starter, are all broken and the ceiling is falling down.

RIP Volvo 740 GL

A tribute to the car that has touched us all.