Fuller Fun

Winter?

2012-01-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

To say winter this year has been very nice would be an understament. It seems like its been in the 40's all winter but we did finally get a little snow. The kids were excited to finally have snow.

Jerky Anyone?

2012-01-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

Sorry Bambi's mom! Chris was excited to get this one on a solo hunt with his bow. Also his first time field dressing by himself. Now this is what grubbies are for! She only ran about 60 yards and collapsed after a shot to the heart and lungs.

Hitting the Trails

2012-01-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

Westerville has some pretty fun trails through the woods. The boys have been taking advantage of Christmas break and hitting the trails. They even ran into a huge flock of wild turkeys on one of their rides in Sharon Woods. Where is the bow when you need it? Dad just likes to honk his horn at pedestrians.

Cardboard Coloring

2012-01-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

Daddy and Tommy had the very hard job of supervising while the kids had fun coloring on their cardboard house. Jocie was very proud of her coloring job on the little dog.

Christmas Happenings

2012-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Some happenings from Christmas this year. We tormented the kids and made them wait until after church was over but they said it was the best Christmas ever.

Skype Christmas Home Evening

2011-12-31T10:27:00.000-08:00

We had a Skype home evening with the Fuller clan. Here are our Christmas trees we made out of ice cream cones, green frosting, and candy decorations. It was fun to participate long distance. Almost made it feel like we were there.

Hat Thief

2011-12-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

For the first 18 months of Tommy's life he could not stand hats. Then suddenly he fell in love with them. No hat is safe. He finds everyone's hats and will wear them the rest of the day. Here he is in the girls room with one of their western hats that looks more like a sombrero than a cowboy hat after much wear and tair. He has gone from ripping hats off his head immediately to screaming if someone tries to remove a hat from his head.

Bus!

2011-12-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

Our little guy loves watching the kids get picked up by the bus and gets very exicted when they come home. He is really into anything with wheels that moves right now. Tractors, trucks, cars, motorcycles, buses, mail trucks etc are all his favorites right now. Every now and then he just likes to yell BUS!! Its such a fun word.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar

2011-12-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

1. Melt Chocolate 2. Put melted chocolate into spoons 3. Decorate with assorted candies 4. Let them cool and harden 5. Eat and enjoy

We used Jelly Belly's, M&M's, candy pearls, and other goodies.

Brothers!

2011-12-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

Tommy Reading

2011-11-24T15:25:00.001-08:00

Tommy is beginning to love books and learning new words every day.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T14:59:00.002-08:00

Pulled Pork

2011-11-24T14:59:00.001-08:00

Leaves Are Gone

2011-11-24T14:45:00.000-08:00

Mother Nature put on a great show this year. We didn't really capture much on camera this year but the reds were really nice. It was fun to see the sun accenting different trees each morning as they changed and lost their leaves.

Trunk or Treat

2011-10-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

The kids costumes are pretty easy to figure out. Jocie grabbed a fancy skirt to add to her costume and called herself Scooby Doo's momma all night.

Aaargh!

2011-10-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

Chris had a Halloween pirate party at work. Can you spot which one is him?

A Wolf in the House

2011-10-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Heber earning his wolf badge and placing the mom's pin on his mom.

Freeman Farm

2011-10-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Fall up the road at Freeman Farm. Apple butter, the best kettle corn, hay rides, iced pumpkin cookies, pumpkin butter, and a few pumpkins too. There have been some really good red and orange fall colors this year. The wind has been working at bringing the leaves down the last couple of days.

More Ugly Drum Smoking

2011-09-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Second outing with the ugly drum smoker. We smoked barbecue chicken pieces. 2 hours on the grate smoked with apple wood. Then 1 hour wrapped in tinfoil on the grill to make them nice and moist. We let the smoker stay at about 250 to 260 degrees

Ugly Drum Smoker

2011-09-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is our new homemade toy. The Ugly Drum Smoker! It could probably fit up to 6 slabs of ribs at once and at least 2 turkeys at once.

Farewell To Summer

2011-09-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

Farewell to Summer! Great year here at Fuller Farm for corn and tomatoes. We got to see for the first time what growing a peanut plant is all about. That was fun to harvest. We really had a bumper crop of Roma tomatoes this year and they all came up on their own! The giant sunflower is kind of droopy now and not so yellow a signal that Fall is on the way. Some of the trees have already begun their ritual. Time to plan for next year.

September Birthday Time

2011-09-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our September birthday's this month. Happy Birthday Ashlyn and Jocie Bea! The kids always enjoy telling their mom exactly what kind of cake they want. Ahslyn went with cherry and chocolate and Jocie went with a chocolate chip cookie cake and pegasus on top was a must.

Kitchen Before and After

2011-09-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

Back to School

2011-08-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day back to school. Here is our big second grader Ashlyn and third grader Heber. Jocie decided to stay home another year to play and help mom and Tommy.

Velvet Ice Cream

2011-08-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

What is summer without a visit to the Velvet ice cream factory. There was an amish family selling all sorts of homemade goodies there too. We had to grab some strawberry rubarb jam, lemon drop cookies, and home made bread (holes and all).

Day at the Park

2011-08-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

Bellybutton in the Garden

2011-08-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

We found a bellybutton in the garden. Had to post this cute "tomato navel". Nature makes some funny things sometimes.

What's Cooking at Fuller Farm

2011-08-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the processing of the aforementioned Legend Hills Peaches. We even gathered up some tomatoes, banana pepper, and cilantro from the garden to make some very nice Fuller Farm Peach Salsa

Baby Vs. Jeep

2011-08-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Weenie Roast

2011-08-15T20:25:00.001-07:00

Picking a Watermelon

2011-08-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

Silver Queen!

2011-08-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

Its harvest time. We've been blanching and freezing a few batches from the garden so we can enjoy them all winter long.

Legend Hills Peaches

2011-08-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

We've been meaning to get peaches from Legend Hills for a few years. One year an ice and cold snap ruined the crop another year time passed us by and we just missed the crop. We made it this year to get a couple boxes and they are yummy yummy. There is a party in my tummy!

Swim Lessons

2011-08-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

2011 Swim lessons at the Orange Aquatic Center

Field of Dreams

2011-07-31T16:53:00.001-07:00

This year we doubled the garden from 10' x 20' to 20' x 20'. Half is tomatoes, peas, peppers, cucumber, and melons. The other half is all silver queen corn. It grew about 3 feet while we were on vacation and with the hot humid days since we came back they have really shot up. All the silks are out this week. Won't be too much longer.

Raingutter Regatta

2011-07-31T16:46:00.001-07:00

Heber raced in his first raingutter regatta and won a piece of pirate treasure. The kids enjoyed the pirate theme. Really beautiful weather at the park too.

Cub Scout Camp

2011-07-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

Heber went to camp this year at Boy Scout-owned, Camp Lazarus. The boys went to camp all week participating in crafts, swimming, archery, bb guns, fishing, creeking, obstacle course, sports, and all things nature. Its almost like boys scout camp. They go all day but come home at night. Really amazing facilities and only 15 minutes away. Heber made a lot of new friends and had a great time.

Niagara Falls

2011-07-31T16:12:00.000-07:00

We had a pizza picnic above the falls. The seaguls watched patiently while we ate hoping for some leftover moresel. Instead, they were chased by 4 running children while the cool rushing wind from the falls blew around us. After getting soaking wet climbing to the Falls from below the wind quickly dried us off and was quite refreshing.

Erie Canal

2011-07-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

A little hike along the Erie Canal

Hill Cumorah Pageant

2011-07-31T15:28:00.001-07:00

We showed up to the pageant 3 hours early to get our seats then we had dinner. The world-famous upstate New York salt potatoes drenched in salt were yummy. The kids really enjoyed the fight scenes and special effects with fire and water.

Aspen

2011-07-10T11:29:00.001-07:00

Telluride

2011-07-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

The Great Fuller Campout

2011-07-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tenney Times

2011-07-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Big Texan Steak Ranch

2011-07-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

If you ever watch Man vs Food you have probably seen the episode where they feature "The Big Texan". A couple of people were doing the challenge of eating a whole 72 oz steak and get it for free. Neither succeeded but we enjoyed watching them try while eating good food. and enjoying the interesting decorations all around. Oh, and yes we did try the rocky mountain oysters.

The Arch

2011-07-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

A pit stop we made along the way to Arizona. There is a nice park with restrooms for potty breaks on the east side of the Mississippi with great views of St Louis and the Arch. Thats Cardinal stadium with the lights on the left.

Columbus to Phoenix

2011-07-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

After many seconds of recording we have created the most boring video on all of youtubedom. Feast your eyes on the roadtrip from Columbus to Phoenix in less than 30 seconds. We tried to take video every time the scenery changed on the drive. Captured for your pleasure are the interstates of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

The Lego Gnome

2011-06-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Lego Gnome. A short film by The Fuller's

Captured the Culprit

2011-05-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Kind of hard to hear at the end, but thats Chris saying "OH SNIKES!"

Just to be Safe

2011-05-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Jocie came out of her room with a swollen left side of her face along with red splotches and blisters. To our surprise, she was in no pain and did not itch or scratch at all. 24 hours earlier we recalled her picking a strange plant by the mailbox (no it wasn't poison ivy or oak etc). She didn't recall being stung or getting into any chemicals but we assumed it was an allergic reaction to something. Just to be safe, we took off to the urgent care where the Doc took a look. Despite our proposed theories to the Dr, that it must be some type of allergic reaction, he was convinced it was an infection behind the eye. Just to be safe, he asked us to go to the ER at children's hospital downtown. Still thinking it must be an allergic reaction, we decided to heed the Dr's request, just to be safe. We navigated through the ER fairly quickly and stress free. Jocie read books and watched cartoons as we waited for the Dr, unphased by one big swollen eye. Dr one thought it looked like an allergic reaction but just to be safe called in an "older" Dr to take a look. Dr two also thought it was an allergic reaction and sent us home to get benadryl and steroids. We thought about getting those things "just to be safe". However, Jocie was in no pain and not bothered by the seemingly botox-enhanced eyelids. The next morning the redness and swelling had gone down considerably. An expensive allergic -reaction diagnosis but, afterall, its better just to be safe.

Highbanks Hike

2011-05-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather is nicer we took a 2 mile hike in Highbanks. Spring is certainly in full gear. We had a fun time looking out at the observation deck. It was a great home evening and Heber even passed off something for scouts.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2011-05-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

Easter Eggstravaganza at Fuller Farm

2011-05-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Velveteen Rabbit

2011-05-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

The Westerville library put on a presentation of The Velveteen Rabbit. They gave each family a new copy of the book. Part of the Westerville orchestra was there to play the music that had been composed to accompany the reading of the book. This was their first ever public performance and we just happened to sit by the composer in the back. It was interesting to watch as he followed along in his book of music. He seemed to anticipate each note the orchestra played as if each note were one of his kids performing. The narrator was very animated and the kids enjoyed the performance. Afterwards they got to meet the orchestra and try out some of the instruments.

Blooms and Blossoms

2011-04-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

Some blooms and blossoms that are popping up around the yard right now.

The Great Egg Harvest

2011-04-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here is Jocie being a good helper getting all the chicken eggs from the coop.

Holding the Bunnies

2011-04-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here are Esme's mini rex kits at 9 days old.

Snakes in a bucket

2011-04-24T15:59:00.001-07:00

We found these two garter snakes under a pile of leaves when doing some spring cleanup. The kids enjoyed watching them.

Happy 1st Birthday Tommy

2011-04-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Bugz!

2011-04-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn had a great time participating in the 1st grade musical, "Bugz". Here she is front and center in all 3 shots. She did excellent on her speaking part and had fun dancing and singing.

Last Snow

2011-04-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

This was earlier this month and hopefully the last snow of the season, although its not safe to plant garden here until 3rd week of May. The chickens awoke to a snowy playland in their new larger pen. It was fun to see the firepit covered in snow instead of a bonfire. Farewell Snow!

Day 31

2011-04-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Right on time! Esme had her babies last night. 3 black and white and 3 solid (either black or brown like dad). Less than 24 hours old.

We Are Expecting!!

2011-04-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

We know We know! We are way too late for an April Fool's joke. We are excited to be expecting our 2nd litter of mini-rex bunnies in a couple more weeks. Check back then for updates. Proud mama to be is Lambquarter's Esme (broken black) and Fuller's Peanut Butter (castor). Here is last year's litter: Sweet Pea with buns from her first litter.

Biker Boy

2011-03-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

Tommy playing on his rocker.

World's Smallest Hay Ride

2011-03-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

Chris has a new toy to hook to his lawn tractor.

The Aloha 500

2011-03-01T19:05:00.000-08:00

Heber had a lot of fun working with dad to build the perfect car for his first pinewood derby race.

Hooray for 8 Heber!

2011-03-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

Now that Heber is 8 he officially gets to join cub scouts.

Testing out his new Mongoose birthday bike at Heritage Park

Sleepy Food

2011-03-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes dinner is not that exciting at our house.

Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles

2011-03-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

Jocie was not feeling very good but nothing cheers you up like a warm bubble bath

Jocie's Swim Lessons

2011-03-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

Jocie at swim lessons with her friends. Its nice being able to do swim lessons year round inside.

Blast Off!

2011-01-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

Each year the kids do a musical in school. Glorified photo ops for the parents. Here are some clips from Heber's 2nd grade musical: "Blast Off!"

Change Me Booty!

2011-01-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

Basement Fun

2011-01-22T20:09:00.000-08:00

With the temperature at 10 below with wind chill this morning, the kids were definitely staying inside to play.

Down The Hill

2011-01-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

Our adventures in sledding so far this year out back.

Growing Up

2011-01-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

Candid Nature Camera

2011-01-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

These are some nice screen captures from the trail cam from the last 30 days. We cropped them for better viewing. There is a buck with one antler that keeps coming back around. He is the one in the color photo. Look how tall he is to the feeder. We saw one of those fawns get hit by a car right in front of the house. So that group is down to 4 now : (. We loved the shot of the doe with her tongue up her nose. Its fun to start recognizing specific deer even if they have not walked in front of the bow yet.

Hippo For Christmas

2010-12-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

Thomas' first Christmas. There is only one gift worthy of a first Christmas. Enjoy the video. The funky Christmas tree prism shot was shot thru our fireworks glasses. Far out!

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree
You Are So Very Tempting.
O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree
I Want to Pull on Your Branches.
I knocked you down onto your side.
Then crawled away so I could hide.
O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree
Your Ornaments are so Tasty.

Lights in the Snow

2010-12-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

First snow storm of the season today and we thought it sure made the Christmas lights out front look fun. It rained a lot yesterday so the snow kind of plastered to all the trees and bushes. Not looking forward to 10 below with wind chill tomorrow morning. Chancho is back to his old tricks of eating snow. The kids are anxious to get the sleds out to make new sledding records on Fuller Hill. Its so peaceful and quiet to watch the giant snowflakes as they meander to their resting spots.

My First Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T12:13:00.001-08:00

A Fuller Thanksgiving. Sweet Potatoes from a jar, freezing cold celery to soothe my teething, and mom and dad even let me gnaw on a turkey drumstick for a full 10 seconds. Life is good!

Turkey in a Pit

2010-11-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2010. A Fuller Thanksgiving. We put strips of salt pork, butter, and seasoning all over the turkey then triple wrapped the turkey with aluminum foil. Added bailing wire for easy handling. Popped into the firepit and covered with coals. Then we covered with damp burlap for extra protection then dirt on top to trap in all that heat and create an oven. Roasted for 4 hours then remove salt park, and use real oven to bronze. gObBle GOble!!

Trail Cam

2010-10-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

The corn feeder has been up for 30 days now so it was time to install the trail cam and see who has been in the habit of visiting the feeder. Its only been up since Thursday and already catching great infrared shots of the visitors. Hopefully we get some morning or evening color shots. So far they've been showing up late at night or super early in the morning. Hoping to catch a shot of the big buck we saw jump in front of us on the trail. Can you spot the raccoon?

Freeman Farm

2010-10-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is our 2nd year to visit the Fall Festival at Freeman Farm. Last year it was in the 40's brrr. Yesterday was 65 and beautiful. It really has been a nice October so far this year. Freeman Farm is agritainment at its best. Fun hay rides, kettle corn, pumpkins, crafts, roast your own hotdogs on the fire, make scarecrows, visit the farm animals, and watch them make the big batches of apple butter. We love visiting the market anytime of year to find fun goodies. For our local readers, Freeman Farm celebrates their Fall Festival for 2 more weekends. From Westerville area just a 10 mintute drive north to Galena. Enjoy! http://freemansfarm.com/

The Color Walk

2010-10-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

The Metroparks (the woods) here have free weekly educational programs for kids that we like to utilize. We invited our friends Amanda and Bexley to go to Blendon Woods to the "color walk" and learn about the plants that are changing colors. We learned that the leaves are not as brilliant this year because of less rain than normal. Jocie got tired at the end and Amanda hauled 2 kids. She probably had back problems the rest of the week. Thomas slept most of the time in the moby wrap.

First Ohio State Game

2010-10-10T17:56:00.001-07:00

Giggling Thomas

2010-10-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

Playing with Thomas in the boy's room.

Backstrap Fever

2010-10-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

Someone hit this 10 point buck in front of our neighbor's house. We were there first and got a tag from the sherriff to take him. Cars kept stopping wanting to take him so luckily we were there first. Chris called a friend who he is going to bowhunt with this year and he taught us the ropes of field dressing a deer. Then came the fun part of making steaks out of the backstrap and grinding the rest. We cooked some up with butter, salt, and italian herbs and it was great. Hoping to use the dehydrator to make some jerky.

Tooty Tot

2010-10-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

Jocie's Birthday

2010-10-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Evolution of a Beard

2010-10-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Chris made a new world record. A whole 5 weeks of beard. (his previous record was 3 weeks). His coworkers likes the "nike swooshes" the best.

Winter Commute

2010-10-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Now that we are into Fall its just a matter of time before the white stuff returns. Some old cell phone pics just to make you feel better about your daily commute during winter. Just remember it could be worse.

Farewell Summer

2010-10-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

No more making mudpies or weed soup with friends, no more afternoon naps in the tire swing, no more searching for bugs all day in the grass, and no more tree climbing like monkeys...until next summer that is.

Brave Little Girl

2010-10-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

We finally downloaded all our cell phone pics onto the computer. These are from last winter of our brave little Jocie. You can tell she was not to thrilled to stay at the hospital but she was a trooper and still sleeps with the teddy bear they gave her. Just had to post.

Gone Fishin'

2010-10-03T16:07:00.001-07:00

Friday night and we tell the kids we are going fishing up at the lake. To their surprise we go through the drivethru at Long John Silver's to "catch" fish and then head up to the lake for a picnic dinner. It was a beautiful evening at the lake. The kids found 5 or so tree stumps all close together and had fun running to a different tree stump everytime they yelled switch. They even got us to play a little too. Thomas just watched. That was our fishing trip.

Happy Birthday Ashlyn

2010-09-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Opening Day

2010-08-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Opening Day of Fall Ball 2010. Blue Lightning vs Green Goblins. Heber had fun playing pitcher and catcher and had a line drive down 3rd baseline that decided to go foul last second.

Back to School Blues

2010-08-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hi ho Hi ho its back to school we go!

Butterflies and New Teeth

2010-08-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Heber and Ashlyn doing what they do best: Being Goofy. We now have 2 kids in that funny state where seemingly giant teeth grow in place of missing teeth. Ashlyn lost her 2 front teeth recently and here come the new ones. The kids spend a lot of time discovering nature outback. With all the animals and plant life to explore they truly appreciate nature and have a greater understanding of the circle of life. Instead of playing video games or watching tv, they are using their imagination, gathering sticks and making pretend fires in the shade. They identify the birds and animals that come into the yard while collecting bugs, leaves, and rocks. Heber's teacher even commented about his great interest and appreciation of nature and science. The yard provides a priceless schoolroom for the kids.

My Buddy

2010-08-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Thomas had his 4 month check up and is already 17 lbs. He's gonna pass his 3 year-old sister if he doesn't slow down. All the kids adore this little fella and fight over who gets to hold him, which is a welcome relief to us.

The Creature Stirs

2010-08-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday naps can be dangerous at our house. Surely by now you recognize our infamous stovetop, but what is on it this time? Do we have a mouse in the house? Turns out little miss Jocie was not napping. Those used to be 4 blueberry muffins with crumble topping remaining in the pan. Now we have 4 blueberry muffin bottoms.