It's not what you want.....

 ...house pictures that is.   I know, I know....I'm getting to it. I just need to take them, and I've been waiting for a few more things to be finished (not perfection, just a couple things that need to be done). But here's us in the meantime.

enjoying the evenings

and the mornings

and the leaves

and more than one bathroom

and reading

and train building (of which I am the master)

and our new additions, Mrs. Frisby and Tonna,

and the home owner responsibilities (den has the end of a rain gutter duct tape to his leaf blower to clean out the gutters. my man is a genius :)

and our imaginations (van is her pet dog, willingly by the way)

 

 

and the woods (for ex. making an awesome fort)

and I love the details that the kids thought of.

and we are enjoying this. Hopefully this will hold you over for a while.

 

'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

Last Warm Days

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

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!

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

Closing November

We're going to close this month with bullet points and pictures...ahem...

• visited both classes of the kids on Wednesday before T-day. J was having a class meal where he learned how to properly set the table, push in a chair for a young lady. His teacher also went around to each kid and expounded on something that he was thankful for about each student. It was really beautiful to see the kids respond. You could tell that some of these kids might never hear it at home. E's class had a feast of snacky things but the teacher changed the time of when they were going to do it so I missed it! Boo. But I still stopped in and grabbed a pic of her and her teacher who J had in first grade too. We love her!

• Thanksgiving day was cold and rainy, but still a really good day and Den's parents. I made the annual cheese ball turkey ( i don't make the cheese ball, i just turn it into a turkey), dolls joined in on the fun, and V and Joash were said to look like the E trade babies as they sat in their high chairs. We dropped into a couple other family drop ins later that night and it was so good to see everyone.

• Then on Friday I decided it was time to say goodbye to someone. I have an issue with holding on to the past. But I believe in personal growth and saying goodbye was a big step for me. Van didn't quite understand.

"Why mommy? Why?!?!?"

"Because it's time, my love. It's time"

"I still don't understand."

Goodbye James....we had some good times. I still have small mementos of you hear and there; magnets, a picture, your 3 films. But I can no longer have you cluttering my life. Farewell.

Take a moment and wipe your eyes if you need to. Okay, ready to move on?

• Friday night Den and I built the tree and put on our sad little lights. EVERY strand was only lighting up halfway. Odd. Part of me wonders if it's not our electricity. Saturday we decorated.

• Also on Saturday we had our own turkey dinner. A simple menu of turkey, stuffing, and baked sweet potatoes. We also broke out the china and the sparkling grape juice. Nothing was actually broken. The bird was beautiful and deeelish...thanks dad for the tips!

• In closing our two youngest crack us up. It's so fun to see their personalities come out when they are young. Dennis took these two pictures.

um....can you say perfect baby bum? However I must admit that I'm a little reminded of George Costanza.

Dennis said when he first saw V like this, he was snuggled up with his cheek on the Millennium Falcon. He moved while Den went to get the camera.

*this post is dedicated to my dearest Carla who gave me James many moons ago....