Northern Indiana Amish Quilting Throw Down

On Christmas, Team Skiles participated in the 3rd Northern Indiana Amish Quilting Contest. Team Skiles, composed of the Dubow, Fleck, Seeck and Laydon families participated in the "comforter knotting" division - a small sub-section of the entire quilting process. The team performed very well, knotting over two hundred knots in less than 1 hour.....an Elkhart County record.

Merry Christmas

Prepare for pink.....

We found out today we are having a GIRL!!!!

Dude....

Do you know where the Fiddle Faddle is at?

Merry Christmas

We got Power!!!!

and temp in is rising (in the house). Currently 56 - up from a low of 38.

more to come later on the outage

We are 1 of the Million

Our Little Cowboy

We went out to the wild wild west (New Mexico) for Thanksgiving this year. We had a great time. We enjoyed lots of Turkey, sun, and relaxing. Tommy had a great time exploring Papi and Coco's house. He didn't destroy it too much! Here are a few pics from the visit

Joe and Tommy going for a walk

Tommy and Coco watering the flowers

Tommy and Coco posing at Josephina's Gate

Because it is the wild wild west Papi and Coco decided Tommy needed a cowboy hat!

To Dunk or Not to Dunk

Some people enjoy dunking food in their beverages. Whether it is dipping oreos in milk or donuts in coffee, these people enjoy the combination of liquid and solid food. We call these people dunkers.

Some people do not enjoy dunking food in their beverages. These people prefer the natural flavors of the solid foods and wet beverages independently. We call these people purists.

When Tommy was born, we wondered if he would be a dunker or a purist. Today we found our answer. The answer was not found in the kitchen or the dining room as one would expect. We found out in the bathroom. This morning when we were enjoying our tea, we noticed our little destructo was hanging out in the bathroom. Wondering what he was doing, we went to investigate. We walked in to see him enjoying his graham cracker with toilet water. That's right he was dipping his cracker in the toilet water and then eating it.....and that's how we discovered he was a dunker.

On another note, it has been getting cold here lately. Here are a couple of pics of Tommy getting ready for winter.

Live Action Role Playing

Amy and Joe went to the movies this weekend. They saw Role Models and highly recommend it. The movie is an inspirational story about 2 men helping 2 troubled youths. Ultimately, they win the children's respect by participating in a Larping (Live Action Role Playing) event.

After the movie Amy and Joe discussed whether or not Tommy will LARP with his friends in the future. Amy said she would make Tommy a cape if he needed a cape to LARP. Joe said he would teach Tommy a couple of good cheap shots (aka biting and kicking to the nads) to use during a Larping event.

For those wondering what Larping looks like....check out the video.

What did Tommy eat today...

15 Nilla Wafers
6 Dilly Beans
7 Pickle Slices
1 Pack of M&Ms
1 Ginger Snap

All washed down with Strawberry Milk


We really do try to give him healthy food (avocado, cheese, ham, banana, organic whole milk, etc).....he just chooses to eat the bad stuff

Time to rake the leaves....

With Tommy's help

Joe's "I would like to read these" book list

Over the next two months the Dubow's will be traveling to New Mexico (Thanksgiving) and Indiana (Christmas). If all goes well when traveling (ie Tommy does not go destructo on the plane) and the grandparents do get sick of having Tommy re-decorate their house, Joe will be able to do a little reading. With that in mind, Joe created a book list he plans to attack over the holidays

God Save the Fan by Will Leitch
Men with Balls by Drew Magary
Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich
Rat Bastards by John "Red" Shea
A Criminal and an Irishman by Patrick Nee
The Rhinemann Exchange by Robert Ludlum
The Main Enemy by Milton Bearden
Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks

Trick or Treat Smell our Little Dragon's Feet

Haverhill had Trick or Treating last Saturday night. Tommy participated in the fun by dressing up as a little dragon and visiting a couple of our neighbors. Below are some pics from the big day with Tommy's commentary.

-Daddy, Daddy give me some of that Kit Kat


-Yummy Kit Kat, I can't wait to get more candy


- I found more candy!!


- Are you guys coming or what?


-To Candy Land or Bust!!!


- Check out my new pet....if I could only catch it and sneak it past Dad


- Here Daddy, try some rocks.....


- I love my MOMMY!!



Amy hosted a Halloween Party for her Mom's group at the local park. Here are some pictures

Arrrrh, Don't Mess with this Pirate.....

If you do, he will tear your house apart in about 2 minutes...

Grandma came out to visit the other week. Tommy and Grandma had lots of fun. Tommy is now a big Popsicle fan.

Life Goes On.....

The Red Sox lose, The Patriots win and the Dubow's buy a new dishwasher.

I bet your dishwasher does not have a Sleek, Integrated Design with Smart Soil Sensor and Pro-Style Towel Bar

Apple Picking

A couple of weekends ago we went apple picking with the Marleys. Tommy loves hanging out with Jonah! Here are a few of our favorite shots:

All tuckered out after a fun day....

Trip to Marquette

A couple of weeks ago the Dubows made a trip to Marquette to visit Aunt Molly, Grandpa and Grandma Dubow. It was a great time....here are the highlights

• Visiting the Jolly Six Pence (Captain Tom's boat)
• Seeing Aunt Grace and Cousin Nick
• Taking Tommy to a kickin playground in Marquette
• Eating some soft serve
• Hanging out with the fam
• Participating in the fall harvest

Here's some pictures from the trip

Game of Skills

So here is the highly anticipated video of the Lake Wallenldfjalfdjpuck Game of Skills. Joe originally had planned on editing the video (chariots of fire music, slow motion replays, etc...), but he could not change the video format to fit his computer's video editing program.

The game of skills was a contest between Joe and Connor where they had to compete in a multifaceted (running, swiming, chugging beer) race with the winner gaining rights to the master bedroom.

Joe thinks the race was close...Judge for yourself

Enjoy

Farming in the U.P.

While visiting Grandpa and Grandma in Marquette Joe, Amy and Tommy participated in the fall harvest (aka - picking peas, beans, potatoes and tomatoes from Grandma Dubow's garden for dinner). Grandma's garden produces so much food the government is going to pay her to stop growing string beans next year.

Here is Molly, Grandma and Grandpa shelling peas (or is it de-shelling peas)

Check out the cucumber Tom is holding

More details of the trip to follow

Tommy's First Haircut

Tommy went to Snip-Its yesterday for his very first haircut. He did a great job...no crying! He looks like such a handsome little boy now! Here are a few pictures:

We started out with the Donald Trump Comb Over look:

Then we let the Snip-Its lady work her magic:

Look how handsome!

Lake Wallen-how-do-you-pronouce-that

Over the Labor Day weekend the Dubows headed over to Lake Wallenpaupack in Pennsylvania to hang out with Brent, Connor, Jackie and Noah. It was a great time. Here are the highlights

• Staying in a very rustic (aka cheap and not quite clean) cabin in the Promise Land on Friday
• Staying in a great cabin on the lake (with boat docks)
• Hanging out with great Friends
• Watching Tommy and Noah play - This was the first time they actually played with each other. They were a bit more tame then their fathers.
• Game of Skills - To be discussed on a later post
• Hanging out on the Pachangas (The Boats of Brent and Connor)
• Great Food - Omelets, Pancakes, Steaks, Brats, Burgers, Salmon - yup, we ate good
• Not Camping

Here are some pics from the weekend....

The Rustic Cabin

The Cabin on the Lake