Andy |

NYC

Back in November, Andy and I headed to NYC for a weekend (sans kids!) Andy had been asked to be the best man for Kevin and Mandy’s wedding. Kevin and Andy had met first year at RIT and have been friends ever since :) We had the chance to cram in the tourist thing on Saturday and then enjoy the wedding on Sunday. Andy had never been to the city and it’s been over 15 years since I’ve been.

The first thing we did after getting to the hotel was grab some pizza!

Next, on my sister Gabby’s suggestion we found the High Line. It was a beautiful time of year to walk the converted rail trail and greenway.

We also explored Chelsea Market.

Next we headed to the World Trade Center memorial. It was beautiful and somber.

The Oculus train station.

That evening we had the dress rehearsal and dinner with Kevin and Mandy.

I chatted with Mandy’s maid of honor at dinner and she highly suggested we take a stroll down here after the meal. For the life of me I can’t remember where it was/what it was called but it was really pretty! A romantic, calmer, “quiet” side of the city I really appreciated.

Lastly that evening we snuck in a visit to Times Square!

Happy holidays from the Honeckers

by Heather | 1 Comment

Christmas Eve day the kids and I volunteered at our town’s Community Support Shoppe while Andy was at work. We greeted people as they picked out free toys, clothes, housewares and lots of food! Our church helped with the free give away and it was great to just love on people. Afterwards we delivered cookies and jam to neighbors. And that evening we headed to the candle light service at church. Ben brought his battery operated flashlight candle he’d picked up at the Support Shoppe :)

We ended up having a white Christmas after all as it’s been snowing the past two days. Just enough to cover the grass but not make roads horrible.

Christmas morning before the kids were unleashed. Everyone actually slept in until 8, it was perfect! I knew we’d get there some day!

All smiles.

We read the Christmas story from Luke 2, opened stockings and then the kids started in on the presents.

Lamest parents ever…Cassidy received a booster “big kid” seat. She was SO excited though, haha!

Jack was not as excited and just wanted breakfast.

Kids got a few combined gifts like a set of magnatiles.

They’d also picked out a few gifts for daddy at the Support Shoppe. These included Christmas bracelets, tacky ornaments and a USB game controller for a windows 98 computer :D

When you’re an adult and order your own Christmas presents, you act surprised when you open them Christmas morning!

I was surprised by this awesome industrial desk lamp Andy made me. He’d been super sneaky working on it the past few weeks. The LED “filament” is all twisty and neat too.

Another present, I love stormtroopers!

Cassidy got to work building a magnatile castle.

And Ben spent some time with his new legos.

Ben’s big present was a Nintendo DS. It’s his “upgrade” from the Leap Frog video game he’s kind of outgrown.

Snuggly Christmas Colby during our Star Wars movie marathon. We got to stay home in our pajamas all day and it’s been awesome to just relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Merry Christmas!

From the Honecker family to yours!

Into the woods

by Heather | 0 comments

Before fall turned to winter, we went on a few hikes together. There are so many great trails around here and plenty of geocaches to explore. For the most part whining on the trail has ceased, but there’s still the ever present “Are we there yet?”

No, no we are not…keep walking…

Mother’s Day

by Heather | 0 comments

Today we met my mom, Paul, Kate, Brielle and Elloree at Kelkenberg Farm in Clarence. I was doing updates on their website and saw they hosted a Mother’s Day event. I told Andy *that’s* what I wanted to do for Mother’s Day :)

We met Charlene the owner for the first time too (we had never met her in person before).

Our first activity was the wagon hay ride.

We rode around the farm, through the woods and even past a cemetery. It was here Cassidy exclaimed “That’s where zombies live!”

Handsome fellas!

Next, the kids picked their favorite colors and got to make jump ropes.

Ben took his job very seriously.

Then there were the ducky races!

The gentlemen (minus Justin who had to work).

Brielle and Nonna watched the kids make their jump ropes.

Elloree snuggled with Kate for a bit.

Cutest matching ladies!

We headed into the barn to meet some of the animals. Kelkenberg farm makes their own honey and these were some of their bees. I’m so fascinated by the intricacies of bees, but it’s definitely too time consuming a hobby for me right now.

Bunnies!

Cute little baby.

Fuzzy poof.

Baby whose mama is a dairy cow on the farm.

These two farm dogs were the sweetest. The white one had flopped over to get belly rubs from kids and the black one trotted over to say hello too.

Surprise, Ben found a cat…

Love my little beasties :)

We saw some turkeys in the next barn.

The tom enjoyed strutting about.

Elloree kept saying “Turkey!” It was really cute.

There was a huge sandbox the kids could play in too.

And then they each got a pony ride.

Ben was a little unsure (his equine interactions can be counted on one hand).

Thanks for the photo, Paul!

We had a delicious picnic lunch including “Kelkenburgers” made from their own angus beef.

Kids exploring the cracked corn after lunch.

And then lawn games before we headed home.

Fun with Poppy.

I’m so glad Paul got this photo too, I didn’t get any others with myself and the kids. It was such a fun morning spent with my people, I’m so happy it worked out!

Happy Mother’s Day. Humbled I get to be called “mama” by Ben and Cassidy. Thankful I could share the day with my mom! Missing my step mom Leslie and mother in law Judy this year. Overall it was such a lovely day :)

By the moonlight

by Heather | 0 comments

A few weeks ago we had an enormous harvest moon. It was beautiful and lit up the night so well I just had to get my camera.

Earlier that day Andy actually got a doe in the back of our property too! Ben asked to go see it (we were both surprised because he hasn’t really shown any interest before). The light was just too perfect as Andy was explaining what happened and what he was going to do next. Thankful for the provision and being able to teach the kids. Although when we asked Cassidy if she’d like to see it all we got was an “Ew, no.”

Some other deer posts:

Andy gets a deer…kind of… (December 14, 2010)

– Please don’t think I’m creepy (November 24, 2012)

– Circle of life (January 3, 2014)

– Doe, a deer (December 6, 2015)

The first snow is magic

by Heather | 0 comments

The kids have off of school for Veteran’s Day and woke up to SNOW this morning! Just a little dusting, but it certainly is exciting when it’s the first of the season.

Cassidy picked out her Santa dress to wear!

Andy built us a fire before he left for work. I can build them, but it takes me three times as long ;-)

This is real life with a wood burning stove. Shop vac for the dust, fan to push the heat to the other end of the house and fire extinguisher just in case. The rubbermaid bins full of newspaper, kindling and extra firewood. And the hardie board up against the tile because we think the stove was installed a liiiiiittle too close to the walls. Not exactly Better Homes and Gardens worthy, but still cozy!

The kids were so excited to get outside to play. It was cold and windy though (20 degrees but felt like 4) so we didn’t stay out for too long. I was so happy to have found their snowpants!