Getting into the Fall Spirit

Yesterday morning, the kiddos and I were taking a walk through the neighborhood when what should walk right in front of us but three deer! I was amazed by how close we were able to get and how long they just stood there. Noah and Mikayla think the wildlife around here is the neatest thing (we have black squirrels!). We have also discovered (thanks to Bella's keen nose) that the deer actually use our backyard as a sleeping nest on a regular basis. How cool is that??

Yesterday promised to be one of those days that the weather couldn't quite decide what it was doing so I took advantage of it and sent most of my day in the kitchen. Two dozen bagels, a loaf of bread, filling for 5 pies, two completed pies and a meatloaf dinner later, I'd call it a success ;-) Sometimes I forget just how much I enjoy playing in the kitchen. Believe it or not I made it through the rest of the apples we had picked over the weekend already. I can't believe how quickly they went! I really wanted to try my hand at making some apple butter and freeze up some filling for apple crisp, so I'm debating going back and picking another 1/2 bushel here in the next few weeks. On that note, if anyone is looking for a Christmas idea for me (it's never too early to start planning) I would love to get a medium size chest freezer for the garage. I had to employ some clever tactics yesterday to get the pie fillings in and it made me realize I'm going to have a hard time fitting anything else in, especially once I get making some french bread loafs and cinnamon rolls here this weekend. Good thing I'm creative ;-)

Took some pictures of my cooking masterpieces. Dad and Scott, don't worry, I'm hooking you up with some bagels and a pie tonight! The kiddos and I are off to Fremont this afternoon for a weigh-in and dinner with the fam. Until tomorrow...

Apple pie filling (bet you wish you could smell it!)

And we have bagels - Noah was begging for one as I was taking them out of the oven

Apple pie bread. Taking this loaf to Fremont, but going to make another one tomorrow and turn it into French toast on Saturday morning, I'm thinking...

Apple Pie! (Mikayla and Noah DEVOURED it last night)

Noah's First Field Trip - Erwin Orchards

As promised, plenty of pictures today! The kiddos and I went on Noah's very first field trip to Erwin Orchards to pick apples this morning. Chaos reigned as 28 pre-schoolers ran wild in the apple orchard ;-) Below are my two adorable munchkins.

Riding the tractor

We had to find just the right tree

Noah is a pro now

Kayla too :)

They each got to pick a 1/4 peck

Trying for a class photo

Donuts and cider!

Noah mowing through his donut

Kayla enjoyed hers, too

He's a flower!

Petting the goats

He still hasn't quite gotten the hang of a tricycle

Tire sittin'

Tire standin'

In the flowers

Cute Kids and Apples

A thousand apologies to anyone that's been missing up lately. We have been going non-stop 'adjusting' to being here and getting settled. This weekend was our annual "Kosakowski Applesauce Bonanza" We made over 50 quarts of applesauce from the 3 bushels of apples we picked. Everyone got in on the action and we had a fabulous time hanging with the fam on Saturday. More pictures and updates tomorrow, promise :)

Say what?

Cheese 1 and Cheese 2

OK, gotta admit that they are adorable...

Picking away!

Grandma lifting Noah WAY up

Cheese Monkeys

It appears that with the new daily use of the camera again so I can keep the blog up to date I have created a couple of 'cheese' monkeys. Yesterday morning, as I continued to slave over the labor of love that is cleaning all the weeds out of the cracks in the driveway (I am now a little over half done...) my kiddos were outside playing with bikes, scooters and sidewalk chalk. I'm mid-pull when I hear Noah pipe up "Mom, we look really cute right now, I think you need to go get the camera." The kid has an eye for it apparently - the first two photos come from his impromptu session.

If that's not enough, after I think they've moved on a bit later, Mikayla picks up the camera, brings it to me, cocks her head mischievously and says "Cheese!" How can I possibly say no to that face? Not to be outdone, Noah quickly adds "take a cheese picture of me in the car" Well of course ;-)

After School: Day 2, the kiddos and I are headed down to Fremont for the afternoon as I have a couple things I need to take care of in town. Really looking forward to catching up with my parents for awhile. More tomorrow, but for now, go check out my adorable little monkeys :)

Kristi's Favorite Things about Michigan (So Far)

Just thought I'd share a few in no particular order (except the first one):

1) The fact that all 4 Gatchel's (and the dog) are all under one roof again!
2) My house - Even though it is the exact opposite of what I thought we'd end up with, I so love my house and I see so much potential in it
3) The neighborhood - can you say trees with deciduous leaves? Woo hoo!
4) Farmington Hills main library - I can see the kiddos and I going multiple times every week. Noah and Mikayla both love story time!
5) Buying soda in Ohio and collecting the refund in Michigan. We're trying to decide what to do with this 'found' money. I think if we collected all the cans from my parents house, too, by this time next year we could buy a car!
6) Not only can I pick up the phone and talk to the fam whenever I need them, I can get in the car and go on a whim anytime I want!
7) It is guaranteed that the Michigan football games will never be pre-empted by some stupid SEC team here!
8) It's mid-September and some days we actually have to put on jackets :)
9) Shopping at Meijer - can I just say that I adore Meijer?

Noah's First Day of School

Well, we officially snipped yet another heartstring today - and boy did this one hurt more than I expected it to! My heart officially goes out to each and every mom that has ever dropped off one of their kiddos for the first day of school. I honestly think that I had a harder time with it than he did. In fact, my kiddo gave me one last hug and ran off to join 'circle time' while I headed out of the room, clutching Mikayla as if she might escape to, but managed to make it to the car before the waterworks started.

Two and a half much to short hours later, I arrived back at the school to learn the following:

1) My son is a trend setter - they all got smiley face stickers at the end of the day to celebrate how good they had been and Noah decided he wanted to wear his on his chin. Apparently this was seen as very cool because every kiddo that walked out of the classroom also had their sticker on their chin. His teacher says he's either a born leader or the class clown. Lovely..

2) My son wasted no time finding a 'girlfriend'. Noah comes running out at me and the first words out of his mouth are "Mom, can Chloe come to Michigan?" I'm baffled as I have no clue who Chloe is nor why she wouldn't already be in Michigan. Cue the teacher pulling me aside to divulge the above information and the fact that I may want to keep an eye on the budding relationship between Noah and Chloe, as she and Noah apparently say holding hands during story time and Noah sat stroking her hair. Oy vey, he's three! Noah was full of news of Chloe all day so apparently I'm going to have to make a point to meet Chloe's Mom first thing Thursday morning...

We'll chalk up day one as a success, other than the fact that Noah was exhausted by the time we made it home, which even after nap time translated into a major case of the crabbies. He was over it by dinner time, but apparently it was contagious because Mikayla picked it up for the rest of the night. Ah well, you win some and you lose some. I'm so proud of my little man today!

Eating a good breakfast before school

Noah and his cheerios, Kayla and her pop tart

Getting ready to go in his special 'first day of school outfit'

Heading out

And he's off!

Hanging his bag in the locker room (with a look on his face that says, OK Mom, enough with the camera already!)

He survived!

I took him to McDonald's for a special treat to celebrate such a great first day (but of course, the play area was closed because it was under construction. Some days the universe is so against me ;-) )

My two munchkins

A Visit from Aunt Sarah

Yesterday my sister Sarah was able to come up for a few hours to check out the new digs and see Farmington for the first time. The kids adore her and they had a wonderful time hanging out with her while she was here. I was glad to see her and hear all about life in Cinci :)

Kayla mid-mess

Aren't they adorable??

Sarah got even better pictures than I did. If you check out her facebook, they're there :)