Game day!

Whether he likes it or not, Will was born a buckeye. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the Buckeye State, on the campus of THE Ohio State University. So, we've decided to dress him accordingly. Later in life he can choose his own sports allegiances, but for now we're deciding how he shows his school spirit!

Will's newest toy

A few days ago Will really finally noticed Maeby, and reached for her like he would one of us or one of his toys. Maeby was sitting nicely next to Beth on the couch, while Will sat in her lap. And suddenly he lunged forward with his hands outstretched and grabbed at Maeby's ears.

Maeby wasn't quite sure what to think about it, but we encouraged Will nonetheless. He kept trying to get a grip on her ears or her head.

Eventually she submitted to the attention. Her months of impatience, as we've neglected her (in her mind, I'm sure) in order to raise our son, have finally paid off. Pretty soon she'll have a little buddy who just won't leave her alone. This is only the beginning, we told her.


We can't wait to see what's next for our dynamic due of Will and Maeby!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving...a little late...

Did you know that Wild Goose Creative is an international organization? Well, it IS! Our very own Jacqui Hoke is Canadian and that means........TWO THANKSGIVINGS!

We've celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving for the past two years and, let me tell you, the only thing better than one Thanksgiving dinner per year is TWO Thanksgivings per year.

We went all out this year, as usual, and everyone brought a dish.

This was also the night to celebrate Caitlin Foley and Abbey Meyer officially joining Wild Goose Creative!



Will has also just started noticing food and eating...I think he's gearing up for his first solid food in a few short months! I hate to break it to him..but I don't think rice cereal is nearly as exciting as a full mouth-watering feast!

MOM! There is a BABY in there!!!

Will had his 4-month check up on Tuesday and did very well with his shots. And it's confirmed - he's a big boy, as we all have known for a while. He tips the scales at 17 pounds, 1 ounce, and is 26" long! That's 80th percentile for both, people! I gave birth to a crazy giant man-child.

One of the best things about our doctor's office is the giant mirror just behind the exam table. Will has always loved looking at himself in it, but this visit was different. He went nuts when he saw himself and me in the mirror.

I grabbed my phone and started snapping away as he kicked and waved his arms and giggled and yelled at himself. You'll notice I'm laughing too as I'm trying to hold him so he doesn't fly off the table while documenting this hilarious moment. Also notice the exam table paper...it didn't have a chance.

Compost surprise!

This spring we started composting our kitchen scraps and some of our yard waste. We've put fruit, egg shells, coffee grounds, grass clippings, and more. Well, halfway through the summer I noticed a peculiar vine growing out of the bottom of the composter. Just out of curiosity, I let it go, and it slowly climbed up the back fence. Eventually I saw three fruit growing off the vine, although I couldn't tell what they were. First I thought watermelon... then I thought pumpkins... but finally last weekend I picked them and cut them open. And what were they? Cantaloupe! Very tiny cantaloupe.

So now the question is... what do we throw in the composter this year?

Kim and Kurt!

Our good friends Kim and Kurt visited two weekends ago to introduce Will to his future wife, their daughter Maddie! We took in the Circleville Pumpkin Show (check out Nick's breakfast blog for some more pics) and headed to Lynd's fruit farm for some more apple action! We honestly can't get enough of fall!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

A few weeks ago, my parents visited to celebrate my sister-in-law Marcia's graduation with her BSN! We went to Lynd's fruit farm for a bit of apple and punkin pickin' and, of course, made a trip to North Market. Here are a few pics of the weekend.

Boo

My main nickname for Will is "Boo" - don't ask me where it came from, but I started calling him that the first week we had him...and it just stuck.


So, when Halloween rolled around, you can imagine that it took all of my restraint to not buy him EVERY shirt and outfit with "Boo" on it. I limited it to two this year. But I can't promise anything during the after-Halloween sales!

Happy Halloween!

Last night we enjoyed our first Halloween with Will! He spent the event dressed as a pumpkin, while we sat out on the porch and gave out candy. He seemed to enjoy what was going on, although he eventually fell asleep on Beth's shoulder.

We saw a wide range of costumes over the evening, everything thing from the I'm-too-old-to-be-trick-or-treating sweatshirt-wearers to numerous Batmans, princesses, a James Bond, a veterinarian, a stormtrooper, a cow, a zombie doctor, and a handful we couldn't identify. We even had one little boy dressed as a monkey who took the time to thank each and every one of us on the porch. Cute!

Spaced!

On Friday, October 24th, we "officially" opened our new Wild Goose Creative space. We signed the lease on September 1st and took about 3 weeks to fit it out with help and generous donations of our friends and family. We have also had about 7 events in it so far, but we decided to open it to the public in style!

Because we want our space to be used for a variety of arts and events (both our events and other groups'), the majority of our furniture is on casters and can be moved very easily. We took our two giant craft tables into an 'L' shaped bar/food area. We also projected our logo on our sexy brick wall!

We were also fortunate to have six Columbus artists display their art in our new gallery!

We were able to see so many familiar faces and meet tons of new people, which was so wonderful - people seemed to have a great time!

We ended up having over 160 people come and hang out!

And here's the whole...I can't resist...Gaggle! - From left to right, Karl Boettcher, Will!, Me, Jacqui Hoke, Jessie Boettcher, Ryan Hoke, Nick, Andy and Amanda Anderson, Andy Taylor, Abbey Meyer, and Caitlin Foley. Of course, our extended family is much larger, but this is the main planning group. Thank you all who came out - it was such a blessing to us and we can't wait to see you at our next event! wildgoosecreative.com

Swing time!

I promise pictures to come of our weekend with Kim and Kurt, but, until then, I give you, WILL IN A SWING!

Will has always been very active, kicking and reaching and wanting to sit and stand up. Recently, he has been making motions to try and sit up from laying down, but his little ab muscles aren't strong enough yet, obviously. But we thought the baby swing would be a good activity to keep him busy.

It's a bit big for him, but we stuffed the sides with a blanket to keep him upright, and he had a good time tapping his feet on the ground and spinning around to stare at the toilet. He seemed pretty happy with it, and cried when we took him out of it!

This little device just might allow me to get some dinner cooked for once!