Life with the Holmes'

Family Photo Fall 2011

2011-11-20T21:37:00.001-05:00

Outside Clothing?

2011-11-05T15:26:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Daniel headed outside to play in the morning. It was not quite 50 degrees yet, so he apparently put on the extra clothes he would need.

Needless to say, Mommy helped with a jacket and hat too.

Pumpkins

2011-10-31T15:24:00.000-04:00

We carved Daniel's pumpkin on Halloween and his sister, my little pumpkin pie, watched the action.

Exersaucer

2011-10-29T15:22:00.000-04:00

Ellen is already done with the bouncer and the swing. So, I pulled out the exersaucer and after a couple of weeks she seems to have gotten the hang of it. She plays with many of the toys on it, especially when her big brother shows her how they work.

Fall Photos

2011-10-24T15:17:00.000-04:00

Arrr....Matey

2011-10-13T22:13:00.003-04:00

Daniel is a pirate for Halloween this year. Oh coconuts!

Happy Family

2011-10-13T22:11:00.003-04:00

Ellen 3 1/2 months old

Cheers!

Sleeping Buddies

2011-10-10T22:09:00.000-04:00

Carving

2011-10-03T22:06:00.000-04:00

Our compost pile grew some interesting gourds this summer that appear to be a cross between a pumpkin and a sweet dumpling squash. We had three large ones, so we carved them!

Beautiful Zinnias

2011-10-03T22:04:00.000-04:00

My flowers have been outstanding the last few weeks and I've enjoyed making bouquets for us and friends. Here are two I made recently. Jessica, see the parsley?

Happy Birthday Aaron!

2011-09-30T22:08:00.000-04:00

#33

NH Trip

2011-09-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

We drove all night with my Dad, Daniel, and Ellen to Bartlett. It was 14.5 hours and the kids did really well on the drive. We only stayed four days, but did some fun things in such a short time. The weather was unseasonably warm (lower 80s most afternoons). We finally got to ride the Conway Scenic Railway. We went canoeing together. Daniel went on his first hike with Poppy and Uncle Chris. The drive back to Wooster also took 14.5 hours, but we traveled during the day and it seemed to take much longer. All in all the kiddos did really well in the car, but Daniel declared he didn't want to go on any long trips for a while.

Family Waiting To Board

North Conway Train Depot

Poppy and Daniel On The Train

Ellen and Mommy On The Train

Nana and Daniel Enjoy The Scenery

Watching The Run-Around

Steam Engine That Pulled Our Train Cars

Color Out Front of The Bartlett House

Canoeing On Echo Lake

Jessica Wading At Echo Lake

Nana With Ellen

Sitting Around Fire Pit

Chris Cooking Steaks

Ellen Holding Her Head Up High

6 Weeks Old Already!

2011-08-10T10:34:00.000-04:00

Proud Big Brother

Look at My Cheeks!

Happy Anniversary, 10 Years. A lot has happened in 10 years, I can only imagine what the next 10 might hold for us.

One of her first Smiles

Ellen comes home.

2011-06-25T12:33:00.000-04:00

Last night we had our celebratory meal at the hospital.

This morning we were ready to take Ellen home.

Ready for her first ride in the car.

Little girl in the car seat.

Katie ready to go home too.
.

A welcome home sign from Grandma and Grandpa!

Quickly asleep in her crib.

She looks comfortable.

Taking some pictures.

Ellen and Friends

2011-06-24T18:27:00.007-04:00

Often sleeping with her mouth ajar.

Visiting with Nana.

Visiting with Poppy.

Visiting with Grandma.

Visiting with Grandpa.

Visiting with the Vizzos.

Visiting with the Falks.

"High five Ryan! Look at my long fingers."

Rylen enjoying the visit.

Visiting with Jen.

Visiting with Beth.

Daniel had just left with Grandma & Grandpa when we heard a
chopper landing outside the window. Grandpa arranged a picture.

Daniel and Life Flight pilot.

Baby Ellen is here!

2011-06-24T11:26:00.005-04:00

Ellen Esther Holmes was born 6-23-11 at 5:56am. She was 7 pounds, 7 ounces at birth, and 19 3/4" long. Ellen and Katie are doing very well and they are doing an excellent job of feeding. We will be out of the hospital Saturday morning and will provide some more updates soon. Thanks for everyone's prayers for us!

Baby Girl's Room

2011-05-11T08:26:00.004-04:00

Well I had some inspiration shortly after we found out we were having a girl for the theme of her room. I really liked the pattern on my Kleenex tissue box so I decided to copy that pattern onto one of her room walls. Wow! What a lot of work that was! With help from family and friends, I finally finished the project after several weeks. I love it and it looks great all put together. Just a few more touches and her room will be finished and waiting for her.

Happy Easter 2011

2011-04-24T09:09:00.000-04:00

Daniel waited patiently for several days so that he could open the package from Aunt Jess and Uncle Chris that was in his Easter basket. He was delighted with all the contents this year. He even knew what a fishing pole was! I gave him a toy magnetic one.

Because he loves marshmallows so much and the color blue, I decided to put some blue Peeps in his basket. He thought they were really cool. I think there might be too much sugar in a Peep because he has been wild after eating just one. Those might be rationed.

Rylen Marie Falk

2011-04-20T08:56:00.004-04:00

Welcome baby Rylen!

Aaron made a welcome home sign for Rylen and Daniel helped with the installation. Check out Aaron's blog for story:
http://aaron-at-aakt.blogspot.com/2011/04/happy-0th-birthday-rylen.html

We went over for a visit once they got home and Aaron finally got to hold her. He didn't want to compete with all the other women at the hospital when we visited, so he waited patiently. What a gentleman!

Yikes..Spiky!

2011-04-18T08:51:00.000-04:00

Look at my spiky hair after a bath!

Hunting For Easter Eggs

2011-04-17T08:44:00.000-04:00

My parents came down a week before Easter and brought down Easter gifts for Daniel. My Dad also went outside with some treat-filled eggs for Daniel to hunt. They both enjoyed themselves and Rocky even got to help a little.

First Picnic Outside

2011-04-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

Finally, our first backyard picnic of the year! The kids loved eating outside and they actually ate well too.

Nice poses

2011-03-20T08:34:00.001-04:00

March 17th

2011-03-17T15:40:00.005-04:00

Today is for the Wearing O' The Green and we were wearing ours today. Today was our first true Spring-like Day with temperatures in the low-to-mid 60's and plenty of sunshine. We headed to Shreve Park after bible study for a picnic and playground fun with the Ackers. The kids loved it and so did the Moms.

How about that dinner! Should be delicious. There are even turnips in there from our fall garden that overwintered. I pulled them out of the ground on Monday when we planted our peas, radishes, spinach, broccoli, and turnips.

A Daniel Snack

2011-02-16T21:00:00.002-05:00

Today I was downstairs transferring laundry from the washer to the dryer for a few minutes. When I came back upstairs it was quiet. Uh-oh. I called for Daniel and asked where he was. He replied he was in the living room. I came around the corner and found this.

He told me he was having a snack. Oh my. I asked him to walk to the bathroom with his hands up in the air and not touch anything. After cleaning him off with dish soap to cut the greasiness, I explained that eating peanut butter for a snack was okay, as long as he used a spoon. Of course, it would be best if I helped and he sat at the kitchen table too.

Leisure Reading

2011-02-08T17:08:00.002-05:00

Daniel ran to the bookshelf the other night and grabbed a book. He took it to the chair and delved into it.

Too funny!

Baby Girl

2011-02-08T17:02:00.002-05:00

Here's our little baby girl's 20 week ultrasound pictures.

Her arm up by her chin while laying on her back.

You can see her thumb and wrist bones very well here.

Another arm picture.

Big Boy Bed

2011-02-08T16:49:00.004-05:00

Daniel had to give up his binky last week, but because he can sleep without them now....He got his big boy bed! He has been sleeping in a twin mattress on the floor since last April. We finally got around to finishing the wood bed frame. This is the one that Aaron used as a child and can be bunk beds too.

Yogurt Painting

2011-02-08T15:58:00.003-05:00

We had some fun last week doing Groundhog Day activities as well as yogurt painting. You mix plain yogurt with some food coloring to make paint. It's edible too!

Daniel had fun because we have never painted at home. I didn't worry when he tasted his materials. He kept telling me, "This is cool Mommy."

Jessica and Chris' Wedding in NH- Part 3

2010-11-24T14:42:00.002-05:00

There was a brunch reception on Sunday at Mom and Dad's house in Bartlett that everyone was invited to attend. Jessica and Chris opened presents while the guests ate brunch and toured the new house.

One of their friends made a wooden snake that Daniel really like too.

They received lots of nice pottery dishes.

Here they are opening the clock that Aaron made for them from us.

We left around 1:30 to head back home to Ohio with a stopover in Syracuse, NY. Daniel enjoyed his "little computer" (a borrowed portable DVD player) while we were driving. There were lots of Elmo's World watched with binky and blanket.

Jessica and Chris' Wedding in NH- Part 2

2010-11-24T14:19:00.008-05:00

The morning of the wedding we checked out the pond across from Whitney's Inn and Daniel had fun inside the kayaks. We didn't mention that the boat actually could go out onto the water. We'll keep that excitement for another time.

Making corsages and boutonnieres the morning of the wedding. Lori came and helped us.

We all had our hair done in Jackson at Debony's salon. Here is Jessica getting her updo.

Getting ready for the wedding back at Whitney's.

Already color-coordinated!

Arriving at the church. Brian didn't want to spoil anything so he covered his eyes.

Betsy, Chris' Mom, and Jim with Mom and Dad before the ceremony.

A blurry picture of the bride and father walking down the aisle. I didn't want to miss the moment in person by taking a picture so I just pointed and clicked. Unfortunately the focus was a little off, but they look happy!

The lucky groom waiting expectantly for his bride.

Now, he seems quite serious as Dad has to agree to give her hand in marriage. Of course Dad agreed!

After the wedding there was a reception line outside the church.

The Hasselman clan (Tucker, Finley, Hawkins, Piper) and Daniel having fun outside after the ceremony.

One of my favorite pictures from the day.

Jessica's creative table numbers for the reception.

The bride, Mom, Daniel and I.

Chris' rather cool tie.

Grandpa and Grandma Marsh

Jessica and Chris' Wedding in NH- Part 1

2010-11-24T13:43:00.007-05:00

Here are the best of our photos from the grand event that happened October 23, 2010 in Jackson, NH. We came the week before and helped with the final details. Aaron brought his mountain bike and enjoyed the local trails.

Aaron and Chris Riding at the Quarry in North Conway, NH

Carving Daniel's "Scary" Pumpkin

One of the View's from Aaron's Ride in the Bartlett Experimental Forest

Jessica ordered roses from a local florist and we gathered greens from the woods and yard to create the table arrangements.

Jessica and Anya working on the vases.

Leslye put the final touches on, including the ribbons.

Having fun at Aunt Jess' and Uncle Chris' while the flowers were put together.

Gorgeous roses and petals.

The final masterpieces and their creators.

Hard at work making food for the Sunday brunch.

Shredding lots of cabbage for Fumi salad.

Daniel and Great-Grandpa Marsh reading the paper together.

Rehearsal at the church on Friday night.

Memorial Day Parade

2010-06-12T09:37:00.002-04:00

We went to the Memorial Day parade in Shreve this year. It was great for Daniel and all little kids (especially boys). There were tractors, horses, goats, a cement truck, a tow truck, fire and rescue trucks, police cars, a high school band, majorettes, a monster truck, and others I can't recall. Only once did a vehicle blow a loud horn, so the little kids weren't scared. We loved it and so did Daniel, though he doesn't look like it in the picture. I put him in his patriotic t-shirt and gave him a flag. He was quite the all-American boy.

Strawberries......

2010-06-12T09:34:00.002-04:00

We have loads of strawberries right now. Our plants are three years old and producing wonderfully. I picked several large bowls full and one day a nearly full 5 gallon bucket!

I've made 24 cups of jam and frozen some whole berries. Unfortunately, I am strawberried-out and they are starting to go to waste. I'm giving them away to anyone who wants to come pick them. Any takers??

Summertime Fun in the Clear Fork River

2010-06-12T09:29:00.003-04:00

The Mommy gang (Holmes', Ackers, Foxxs) headed over to the Clear Fork River in Mohican State Park one recent hot, muggy day.

We all waded and played in the clear, cool waters and had a picnic lunch on the banks. What fun! We already plan to return a few times this coming summer.

Mother's Day Weekend

2010-06-12T08:39:00.003-04:00

We headed up to Whitehouse for Mother's Day weekend.

There was a lovely lunch at Grandma's for all the ladies catered by the menfolk. What a treat! Afterwords, Daniel got to ride his first horse at Great Aunt Rita's house. He seemed to enjoy it.

She also had pigs, sheep, and a few goats. The pigs were his favorite. Just like at our county fair last fall.

Veggie Scraps

2010-04-06T15:13:00.003-04:00

The girls love compost. When I walk out of the house with the compost bucket, they start running towards me. If I'm headed to the compost pile, they race me there. When I see the girls in the neighbor's yard, I can just call them and show them the bucket and they come running home. My girls are so funny.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

Now that he's old enough, we took Daniel to an organized Easter Egg Hunt at Church of the Saviour.
There were a lot of children and the older ones were "experienced" egg hunters. By the time Daniel got into the room with the eggs, many were already gone. But, he knew what to do and ran quickly over to a small pile of eggs and picked one up.

He was very interested in opening it up and seeing how the plastic egg shell pieces worked. I told him to hurry and pick up the other two in the pile before someone else did! So, he found three eggs and was happy.
On the way home he ate a Hershey's kiss that had been in one of his eggs. What a mess! Fortunately, he didn't touch much and we were almost home.

On Sunday after church, we had our own egg hunt. I filled twenty plastic eggs with strawberries and hid them around the flower beds in the backyard.

He grabbed his bunny basket and headed out to find them. Once he opened the first egg and found a strawberry, he was quick to look for the others so he could fill his belly with berries. It's hard to hold a basket, a strawberry, and look for more eggs.

We also gave him a few things in his Easter basket including a soccer ball and a sticker book with airplanes.

Daniel loved everything.

New Hampshire

2010-02-18T15:38:00.000-05:00

Helena and I took Daniel to New Hampshire the week of February 6th-13th. It was Daniel's first plane ride and he did really well. I think he was scared during take-off, but during the ride he was fine. We flew into Boston from Akron and then rented a car to drive north to Jackson, NH, where Jessica and Chris live.

We were busy the whole time and I didn't take as many pictures as I should have. I'll try to get pictures from everyone else and add them as I can. Here we had gone for a short hike up the mountain behind Jess and Chris' cabin to see the view. Daniel was all bundled up, but he didn't seem to mind.

Back at the cabin, we had lunch together. We stayed with Jess, at the AMC Highland Center where Jessica works, with Chris' Mom and stepfather in Portland, ME, and with my parents at their new home in Bartlett, NH.

As a result, we spent a lot of time driving and Daniel started to protest when we put him in the car. Fortunately, we did the longest drives during his afternoon nap, so he was able to sleep.

We had several beautiful winter days with blue skies and amazing views of the Presidential Moutnains.

This is the Portland Headhouse in Portland, ME. It was Daniel's first trip to the ocean and he kept trying to say, "ocean". The fog horn was blowing, so it was a little loud with the crashing waves too. He enjoyed the commercial harbor with all the cargo ships, tug boats, ferries, and fire boats. On top of that, we saw several airplanes landing at the nearby Portland airport. A little boy's dream.

At L.L. Bean in Freeport, ME, they have several dioramas with stuffed animals. Daniel enjoyed the moose and black bear with Aunt Jess.

L.L. Bean also had an indoor aquarium with New England river species. Here, Aunt Jess showed him the trout from inside a bubble. This was quite amazing and Daniel took it all in with wondering.

We are recovering from all our travels this week. Poor Helena fell during the trip and fractured her elbow, but it is healing well and she will only be off work for 4-6 weeks the doctor says.

Potty Success!

2010-01-30T10:34:00.000-05:00

We've been working on potty training since the first of January. We have a great movie with a song and lots of little kids learning to use the potty that Daniel loves to watch. It's called "Once Upon a Potty For Him".

This past week Daniel has been telling us when he went in his diaper. On Thursday he finally sat down long enough on his potty to relax and go potty!!!! An hour later he went again. I was over the moon, but he seemed to think it wasn't such a big deal. Almost as if he was saying, "Geez Mom, this isn't so hard. I can do it whenever I want." :) So we'll keep working on it and hopefully he will start going all by himself in a few weeks. Yeah!!!

Christmas and Wintertime Fun

2010-01-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

Daniel helped make Christmas cookies. He really liked licking the spoon!

Christmas Day- His present from Mommy and Daddy

As first-time parents, we were introduced to the term "Some Assembly Required". Fortunately, Daniel liked helping us put it all together and even played with all the parts as we sorted through them.

An hour and a half later, we finally had it all together on Christmas morning. Daniel loves playing with his kitchen.

Standing in front of Grandpa and Grandma Holmes' tree on Christmas day.

On New Year's Eve Day we awoke to perfect snowman-making snow! So after breakfast we bundled up and headed out to make our first snowman and clean up the driveway. Daniel loves to pretend he's driving the snowblower everyday because it sits in the garage waiting for its next use. So, he was very excited to see it actually being used today.

Eating breakfast-He picks up his bowl at the end and drinks the milk out of it.

It's a crab! No, it's just Daniel showing off how he can put Mommy's gloves on his hands all by himself.

A recent sunny day, Rocky was sunbathing in the back room and Daniel jumped up to sit next to him. Rocky was probably glad when he didn't have to share the sun with anyone anymore.

Daddy and Daniel playing drums to a Waylon Jennings DVD.

Christmas Decorations

2009-12-15T22:14:00.001-05:00

Daniel really loves the lights in the house and around town. During a recent Lowe's trip he enjoyed watching the blow-up outdoor decorations on display, especially the elves on a helicopter and Santa on a rocking horse.

We have two trees this year. Our little 3 ft artificial is decorated with shatterproof balls and bows just for Daniel. The big tree is a white pine this year with 4 strands of colored and white lights and primarily child-proof ornaments. He loves watching us turn on the lights and gives a big smile when they light up each time.

New Tricks

2009-11-20T15:16:00.000-05:00

Daniel has figured out how to open drawers and use them as steps to get to things much higher. That has added a new level of childproofing.

Additionally, anything with a string or cord is super fun to pull around the house. This includes acceptable items like his grasshopper, but also things like my hairdryer and hand mixer. I'll be amazed if those last two items still work the next time I try to use them. Funny little guy.

Samuel's 1st Birthday

2009-11-20T15:11:00.000-05:00

We traveled down to Centerville last weekend to celebrate Sam's first birthday and help David and Beth move into their new home. Daniel and Sam really enjoyed playing with each other and even seemed to talk back and forth at times. With the holidays coming we'll hopefully be able to get those two together more frequently.

New Chicken Pen

2009-11-20T15:08:00.000-05:00

The girls insisted on visiting the neighbor's yard over the last few weeks and kept wandering further and further. So I finally got around to making their movable pen. When Mom and Dad were down over Halloween weekend, Dad helped me finish it up.

The girls seem to like it and it rolls well across the grass. Interestingly, ever since I started building the pen the girls never really strayed from the yard. They must have gotten the message!

Halloween Fun

2009-11-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

We carved our first pumpkin with Daniel this year. I went with the traditional pumpkin face to keep it simple. He didn't know what to think of those pumpkin innards, but he really enjoyed putting the lid on and off again.

When we lit it up he would stand by the front door and watch it outside every few minutes letting us know he had seen a pumpkin outside.

We also took him to the church Fall Fun Fest on Halloween.

He was the Incredible Hulk, I was a chef, and Aaron was a cyclist. There weren't too many things for him to do yet, but in a couple years he's going to love it. Even so, he had a good time looking at everyone and taking in all the activities.

Leaves

2009-10-26T22:12:00.001-04:00

The trees in the front yard have been gorgeous the last two weeks.

Now the leaves are falling....but now we can play!

A Weekend At Dillon State Park

2009-10-26T21:31:00.000-04:00

We rented a cottage and drove down to Dillon State Park for the weekend: our first getaway with Daniel! Our little cottage was nice and homey with two bedrooms, bathroom, living area, and kitchen. And, it had heat, a major requirement for this time of year with a young one. It was a beautiful, fall drive down to the park because the trees were in full regalia in golds, auburns, and russets.
While there we generally relaxed with Daniel by exploring the park. The park surrounds Dillon Reservoir and it's known for its boating, fishing, and hunting. We walked down to see the marina, but not much was going on this time of year except for all the gulls sunning themselves. We also walked a few trails, the campground loop, and played on the playgrounds.

We had a good time and look forward to more outings in the future as a family.

Apples Galore

2009-10-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

Beth Acker and I took the kids to Moreland Fruit Farm on Tuesday to pick apples. We wanted to make some applesauce to put into the freezer. The farm gave us plastic bags that held a half bushel and we took two and headed out to pick some apples. We found the Melrose trees, which were supposed to be excellent for making sauce, and started picking. These apples were HUGE! Nearly the size of Daniel's head! Needless to say, the bag filled up in a few minutes. So we thought, gosh, that was fast....let's get some more! We ended up picking three bushels between the two of us of Melrose, Cortland, and Golden Delicious.

The kids had lots of fun helping and eating the apples.

Then we had to make the applesauce. After three hours of cooking, we only had done one and half bags. Wow, we had picked a lot of apples. We plan to work on the rest of them later this week. Maybe some pies or apple dumplings? Yum.