OUCHER!

SATURDAY: October 18th, 2008
Since the weekend was a little rainy, chilly, and dreary...the kids decided to go CRAZY in the house! I tell ya, when they can't get that energy out, there is utter CHAOS around here! So, Aiden and Savannah decided to be little stinky-butts and jump off the furniture! I told them multiple times not to, threatened them, even sent them to their rooms once for disobeying. Think that stopped them!?! HECK NO! For some reason, they thought it would be "a great idea" to put a child sized outdoor folding/portable chair ON TOP of the automen and jump off it. Well, you can see how THAT one turned out! The chair flew back and Aiden fell straight onto his face...carpeted floor:1, Aiden: 0!! It's Wednesday now and it STILL looks TERRIBLE! In fact, it looks worse because the scabs are a deep red...

Pumpkin Faces

SUNDAY: October 19th, 2008
It's a rainy, dreary, Sunday today...bummer! We decided that putting "faces" on some of our pumpkins would cheer us up! Found these things at Wal Mart - they are plastic pieces you push into the pumpkins...the kids had a lot of fun mixing and matching the parts!

Master Po!

Saturday ~ October 17th, 2008
Here we have Aiden's creativity at work! He decided that everyone should call him "Master PO" (after the movie Kung Fu Panda)! Then he found a cape and a sword...it was so cute! He kept us all safe from the "forces of EVIL"! This is just before bedtime, that's why he's pretty much naked! This activity kept him busy for about an hour before bed...yea!

The World...is a Pumpkin!

Another cool project from school...
* Parker learned the continents and oceans
* His teacher had the kids draw what they learned on a pumpkin
* Then, they colored them!
I LOVE this project!!

Sheila is DA-BOMB!..direct quote...

SATURDAY October 11th, 2008

What's one of the COOLEST things kids enjoy!?! GETTING MAIL, of course! Well, a couple times a year, a HUGE box is set on our doorstep for the kids and inside these boxes are the most AWESOME gifts EVER! As soon as they see that the box is for THEM and that it's from cousin Sheila, they are running around the house yelling, "we got another box, we got another box from MICHIGAN!". Then the ceremonial procedure begins: we sit on the kitchen floor in a circle, mom cuts the box open and then 6 little hands are all grabbing at the same time....squeals of delight fill our house. They are so excited about EACH item that they are shoving things left and right in front of each others' faces..."look at THIS", "aww MAN, see what I have...WAY COOL", and this year Parker came up with this one, "SHEILA IS THE BOMB!, she must REALLY love us to keep sending us all this COOL stuff!!". Seriously, it's at least an hour and a half process!
Here's what we got yesterday...

After we had the box destroyed, we set out all the GOODIES! There was spider web cotton candy, PEEPS, sodas, gel clingies for the windowns, a kit to BOO! your neighbor, even a pencil craft! Here, the kids are saying "Thank BOO! Sheila"!!

Not only did they get their own cans of SODA, but there were cute pumpkin straws in the box to drink them with!
Crafty, crafty Sheila! She included these fun pencils for the kids to decorate! These were a HUGE hit!

We put them together as soon as the sodas were gone!

There was even a "treat" in there for mom and dad! Man, we are LUCKY! THANK YOU SHEILA!! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU!!

Rural Minn-e-sooo-tah!

Here is how we get our adorable Hallween decorations in rural Minnesota! As you can see, the sun is almost down...

The boys take off running through the corn field, trying to catch each other and get "lost"! At least until it becomes REALLY dark...then, it's not so fun to be lost!
Did someone say, "incriminating evidence"? Oh well!!
There must also be some swashbuckling sword fighting as well while mom is probably breaking the law!
Well, HELLO, cutie!
Savannah was NOT going ANYWHERE NEAR the corn on this night! I don't really blame her! At least she was willing to stand in front of this tree!

Fall Decor!

Thursday, October 9th: 2008
You know, it's been a couple of years since I've had the time and ENERGY it takes to drag out the boxes of Halloween/Fall decorations, dust the knick-knacks off, and find a place to display my treasures!! Granted, I didn't go FULL OUT today, but I quite a bit of decorating (3 tubs are still full but I'm going to "let it go" for this year)! And now my back hurts! Ha, ha, ha...
Since this is my very favorite time of year (haven't heard that before from me, have you!?), I'm going to post some pics and expose JUST how crazy I am! I hope that at least my children will get some joy out of my efforts!
This is the center of our butcher block...I love the witch hat, my mom bought it for me!
Although I'm not a baker, this tray was too cute to pass up
Kitchen table. It's fiber optic and changes color...better seen in the dark!

My heirloom pump organ from @ late 1800's - early 1900's. It's my FAVORITE piece of furniture!
Halloween Town! At night, it's all lit up. The kids love to press the buttons on the "dolls" in the front, they move and speak...SPOOKY!!!
My entryway. Pumpkins are my obsession this year! The fiber optic one on the bottom is the kids' favorite.

Outside of my home. Yep, I went a little crazy with the pumpkins...
My stoop, I love to sit out here!And that, my dear friends, is how the Juntunen's do Halloween...well, THIS year anyway!

Birthday Boy!

OCTOBER 6th, 2008:
It's SO HARD to believe that my little boy is NINE today! Every time I look at him, I think of the little bow-legged boy that helped me get through Graduate school in a new state with his beautiful smile, his adorable little face, his amazing giggle, and his jaw-dropping personality! Parker has always "presented" older than his actual age...sometimes I need to remind myself that he's only a BOY - a boy who is getting closer to those DOUBLE DIGITS! Everyday he amazes me and I couldn't be any prouder of him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARKER STEVEN - you make life an ADVENTURE!! Cha, cha, cha!! His Minnesota Twins cake! Marble with whipped frosting...awww, come on! You KNOW it came from the grocery store!!
These are his 9 closes buddies (and Aiden...Savannah didn't like the pit when all the big boys were in it, can't say I blame her!). We went to TNT Fitness to let them run off some energy before filling them with cake, ice cream and treat bags and sending them home!! Parker had a GREAT time! I have to add that we went to Mexican Village for a family supper (Parker's choice!) and Parker did a GREAT job dancing with the maracas while everyone sang! What a HAM!!

Pumpkin Farm

WEDNESDAY October 1st, 2008

I've been ITCHIN' to go and get pumpkins since the flip of the calendar into October! The kids and I found this darling little farmstead about 3 miles from our house last year that sells pumpkins, corn stalks, hay bales, and gordes! The children of the farm family started selling these things to earn money for a family trip to Disney World! Of course I love to share my little finds with friends so I asked my friend Angie and her daughter Grace to come with! It was fun...letting the kids run around and pick their own pumpkins...and at SUCH great prices!! We went away with a Suburban full!!
I will post pics of our decorating skills as soon as I get the corn stalks where I want them to be! YEA FALL!!

The MAN...and THE FISH!!

Tuesday September 30th, 2008

LADIES and GENTLEMEN!!, come, gather 'round (drum roll....) for I am about to show you the most AMAZING site your eyes will EVER behold (louder drum roll...). Tonight, you are ALL witness to a miracle of sorts...Lend me your ears! You have all heard the fable of "the one that got away", correct? Well, BEHOLD (dum-da-da-da!!! - that's the trumpets, with a swish of my cape), the "big one" and the magical man that battled the chilly weather, braved the cold, damp sprays of icy water (probably 10 foot waves of course!), held his own when the line went tight and battled - hercules like - the giant, fabled beast!! Some of you may ask yourselves, "WHY? Why would a mere mortal risk all that he is and knows for such a beast?" and I shall tell you the answer...
For bragging rights, of course!! I mean, he IS a man after all, right!!?? Ha, ha, ha!

Good job Honey! It's almost hard for me to still be irritated with you for not coming home until 11:00 that night with NO cell phone service on the lake (in some places, they call that the phone's "off" button...don't worry, I know it's not "cool" to have your wife calling and nagging when you are with the boys!), then dragging my butt out of bed to take pictures of the dead thing when I can clearly see how excited you are!.....................I said ALMOST!

APPLE FARM!

Sunday September 28th, 2008

Today was a VERY special day for the Juntunen kids (and not too shabby of a day for the adults either!). While at the lake one day a month or so back, we happened to drive by an Apple Orchard on Lake Ida...Parker read the sign and was SO EXCITED, "Mom! They have NINE VARIETIES of apples, can you BELIEVE it!?!?" I don't know much about apples so we stopped in at the little store, but alas, they were closed (it wasn't apple-pickin' time yet!).

Since Parker never forgets anything (uff-da!) and I had PROMISED to go back when the apples were ready, one lazy Saturday he harrassed me so much we looked to see if the orchard had a website...and they DID!

I promptly made a call and scheduled an appointment - you have to do that you see, if you'd like the experience of picking your OWN apples in the orchard. AND! They also offered a nugget of another sweetness...you could grind and press your own apple cider! That sealed the deal! We had an appt for the next Sunday afternoon. Next on the list was to call Grandma Pam and Great Grandma Pat and invite them as well (have I told any stories about GMa Pat's FAMOUS apple pie!?!?).

These are only a FEW of the 78 pictures I took that day. We went to Turtle Lake early to have lunch with Gma Pat and Gpa Al, Gma Pam and Gpa Emmett...then OFF we went (just the kids, the ladies...and Chad...o.k., I MADE him come...Family Time is important ya know!). The kids actually got to grind and press the apples for the cider, we got to take home a 1.5 gallon and it was the most DELICIOUS stuff!! And PURE, nothing added - like nothing I've ever tasted from a store...trust me, it was G-O-O-D! Then we ran through the orchard picking our own apples. I got each of the kids a bag, not knowing that they could fit between 20-25 apples in EACH one!

The press...it was pretty neat...

The grinder...also very cool!

The kiddos pickin' "Sweet 16" variety, it was one of 3 varieties that were ready for pickin' that day. They are super sweet and super juicy and the perfect small size for little hands!
Yeah, pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be messing around with the trees; HOWEVER...you know me, couldn't pass it up!!

The FAMWhat a PERFECT day! After we got back to Gma Pat's lake cabin, she had a suprise for Parker. She had the crusts all ready to teach him how to make apple pie!! His FAVORITE! He was STOKED!