Christmas Card Outtakes

= why there is rarely a group pic of my kids....i think if I REALLY want this I should hire a professional.

Thanksgiving Week

I was thankful that dear friend Tina watched my littlest boys so I could go to Eden's class. They had a Thanksgiving feast and she and her school bestie both were polka dot clad.

Van was the only one to help me make my pie crusts. Therefore he was the only one to get to eat dough. Still, everyone got a doo-dad.   Is this just something my family does? Never mind...I googled it.

Delivered this baby quilt to a new little man, Harry! His mom was going with a Dr. Seuss theme. I wanted it to be Seussesque, without the cat in the hat all over it.

Eden found a teeny, tiny snail in mom mom's pond.

My lovely Liz, my partner in rebellion, bucked the traditional fruit cups and made a fruit turkey. The turkey is on the right, har har har.

YES! We are building a house! Yikes! It's a family project. While the littlest ones napped the rest of us waterproofed the basement walls with pitch. A messy job but someone had to do it.

Warning: Clothes were damaged in this process.

My littlest boys on a walk....love them.

'Round Here

 I'm sure most parents will agree when I say that one of our great joys is seeing our kids enjoy each other. Sure they still bicker, but mostly they are becoming  best friends. I LOVE this.

snuggles

First Cone

that face....we have serious personality here, folks

"That was a great book mom!" = things I love to hear

Technology

 The other day Jesse wanted to show us this video that his music teacher showed his class at school. Eden then asked  (in all seriousness) if it was the same video that he watched on her laptop.

This is her laptop.

This is her "regular computer".

Does anyone else think this is hilarious? I love my kids imaginations.

Last Warm Days

 We had some beautiful fall days in October and the boys loved being outside. The especially enjoyed eating outside!

8

My daughter is now 8. Oh my. She's a joy and trip, and blessing and a challenge. I love her tons.

We had a kitty party with her cousins and two friends.  The cousins stayed the night.

On her actual birthday it was just our little fam. She requested Chinese food and there were celebratory beverages.  (In reference to my cake/cupcakes...Eden thought the cats looked sad...then I had the soft kitty song in my head but it was sad kitty instead.  Anyone know what I'm talking about?)

Why you don't see many group pics of the kids.

First Snow

I couldn't believe it came this early. These photos were early into the snowfall, there was a bit more as the day went on, but now it's mostly gone. The kids LOVED it.




Goodbye Zinnias!

A Van Moment

A Beck Moment

*yes...that's poop

Embracing Fall

I've been pleased to learn that I'm not the only person who doesn't just looooove fall. I don't hate it. I don't love it either. There are things I love about it, but it's my third favorite season. Living here has helped me come to a place of greater appreciation for it. It brings relief from humid summer days. The days get shorter, which is normally a minus, but that means Dennis gets home from work sooner and that is a plus. Holidays. nuff said. However the biggest downfall of autumn is that is reminds me that the drab days of winter are knocking at our door and pretty soon I will have to let them in. Winter is the guest that wears out its welcome and doesn't leave until it's darn good and ready. So when I saw these pumpkins on Pinterest I knew they'd be the perfect way to welcome fall and still keep some summer color in our home.
*



*E helped by stuffing the pumpkins and she sewed the tiny green one pictured in her hands.

Today

Yes....same day blogging. Can you believe it? Today I took the kids to Kitchen Kettle Village and the outlets. For you locals, you might be thinking that I must be certifiable to be taking four kids to such popular tourist destinations on a Saturday. I might be. But we got going on the early side and it wasn't crowded at all!

We first stopped to see the animals.

This guy cracks me up.




Then we went to our main destination; to decorate cookies at the Jam's and Jellies store. I had 2 coupons for a free cookie so only $1 for the 3rd decorator. LOVE it. My older two went for the "how crazy can I make this?" look and V let me help him a bit.





Snacking on the sample chips.

At the outlets (5below) the kids spent their money that Grandma Linda left them to shop with. I'll try to get pics another time of their purchases grandma!

Catching up...again....

Blame computer woes, blame motherhood, blame laziness, blame me, but there's been an obvious lack of blogging. Talking to several friends who also have little ones comforts me that I'm not alone in this busy pace that we call life.

Here are a few things that October has brought us so far:


Breakfast date with my daughter at Katie's Kitchen; an amish run restaurant with CHEAP food.



Local fair


Visit from Grandma Linda


This is not Grandma Linda; this is a llama.



Ducks


Pretzel factory tour



lots of love from the little ones