Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Sarah coming over to watch the boys so Julie and I could get some couple time and attend a Bible study with some other couples from our church.  Since that first night, Sarah has become more like a big sister to Simon and Hudson and they love having her come over. Sarah is on staff at camp and handles all of our Retreat Groups for the winter months and works with our Guest Services department throughout the year.  She does a great job and is a real encouragement to the Huffman’s as a family.  I am not sure what we are going to do if and when she ever leaves Camp Forest Springs. 
  Last night I asked Simon how much he loves Sarah and he spread his arms out as far as they can go and said, “this much Daddy.”  Hudson gets a huge smile on his face when he see’s Sarah out at camp or when she walks in to the house.  Last night he instantly wanted up and wanted to snuggle with Sarah.  Hudson isn’t always one to snuggle with anyone so we knew she’s golden.  They always have a great time together and we know it because we now get a detailed play by play of all the things they did the next morning. 

From All of us here Happy Anniversary and thank you Sarah. 

Yesterday was a day off for me and I decided to kick Julie out of the house for the day. It was her day to go where ever she wanted but she wasn’t allowed to stay at home. Deciding to go to Wausau, she left just after breakfast and came home just before supper time. The day was filled with lots of adventures with Simon, Hudson and dad. We built tracks for the train, colored pictures and were going to make cookies.  However, after getting everyone in aprons, dragging out all the ingredients and finding a cook book, I discovered we were out of butter. So we made a cake instead.  It turned out to be better than the cookies because the boys could watch it being mixed up and once it was in the oven, they could come back and check on it, looking through the glass on the stove to see how it was progressing. 

(I also discovered it is harder to take a picture of the three of us without utilizing a timer)

Much more fun to take a picture of the two bakers themselves.

Simon on the other hand, knew exactly what he was getting when he got to lick the spatula.  In fact we wanted to lick the bowl and the counter where some had spilled. 

The caked turned out great and after a failed attempt to make some frosting, we called Julie to have her pick some up at the store on the way home. Great fun and look forward to more adventures with the Huffman boys. 
Hudson didn’t know what to think of licking the spatula until after to realized how good it tasted.

Last fall, Matt challenged the Awana T&T kids to pass more sections. His motivation was that any clubber who passed 25 sections by Christmas got to throw a pie in his face. Now for some of you who know about Awana, 25 sections in 12 weeks really isn’t that much for the clubber whose parents are already motivating them. But for the clubber who might not have that support base at home, 2 sections a week is a really big deal. Well, the challenge was a big hit and Matt had 20 clubbers who got to throw a pie in his face.  Of course Matt made a huge mistake. He allowed them to throw it up close instead of from a distance and as you can see, it got smeared all over him.

Twenty pies later, Matt was a mess.

For the record, Reddi-whip does not make a good hair gel.  After washing his hair four times and taking two showers, he still smelled like sour milk. 

Trying to get Simon back into a little routine, we decided to do some Halloween baking today.  Simon and Matt made up the sugar cookies while Julie started carving a pumpkin. Once the cookies were in the freezer to set up, Simon and Matt made some pumpkin muffins as that is what he kept saying wanted to do, “make muffins!” 

Julie with Simon getting ready to cut out cookies

Simons first pumpkin shaped sugar cookie experience

Simon is a natural although we think he likes the precooked cookie more than the baked as he ate as much as he could sneak in

We won’t mention how many times he “accidently touched each cookie as he put decorations on it. Excuse to taste the frosting

He loved putting on the sprinkles, jimmies and fall leave shapes

Many of you know that Matt is not a huge fan of cats. Well each summer at the end of Labor Day weekend, the mini farm animals like the cats and rabbits are given away to who ever is willing to take them.  This summer Simon had a lot of fun with an orange tabby at the mini farm and after a little coaxing Matt finally agreed to allow him to come to the house after family camps was over.  Of course we agreed he would be an outside cat and could live in the garage.  Simon thinks the “kitty” is great and since we hoped he would catch the mice and chipmunks around the house decided we would name him Hunter.  So far he is doing great. Four chipmunks, a mouse and a mole. 

I believe Hudson has his Dad’s streak in him as he is preparing to turn the house on the cat.  Can you see the look in his eye?