Pumpkin Patch & Halloween 2016

The kids were off on Columbus Day so we took them & two friends to the pumpkin patch. 

Halloween fell on a Monday. We carved our pumpkins the Sunday before.  Ben had picked a little pumpkin that was too small to carve, so we let him paint his.  Isn't it cute? Isn't he cute? :)

 It must have been Lily who took this pic, but I liked that it documents me carving the kids' pumpkins. Peter drew me a picture that he wanted it to look like. Mattie, our neighbor, came out and carved Lily's pumpkin. Woohoo.  I didn't actually get pictures of our finished products.  But read previous years here:  2014, 2013, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010

Ben was Benjamin Bunny.  It was a day of decision.  We'd talked about him being a puppy but when I bought home the puppy ears, he got cold feet and Lily decided she liked them.  So I spend one afternoon sewing spots on a sweatshirt outfit for Lily.  I ran out on Halloween to just buy a costume for B, but I was just too cheap.  So sewed these rabbit ears for him about an hour before the kids got home.  He also had a little yarn pom pom cotton tail.  I attempted to dye a sweater brown with Rit Dye but it came out silver.  So as he woke up from his nap, I opened his closet brainstorming brown sweater options, and found this one that one of my mom's friends knitted for Lily! I finished up the "headband" minutes before we walked out the door.  Mike was cutting carrotts for the neighborhood gathering so we handed him one. :)  Whew.  A close one.

 Our neighborhood has pizza beforehand. :)

 Our only pic of the crew.  

We went super simple this year after a family star wars theme last year.

A ninja- bought a black shirt and red duct tape. :)

A CUTE puppy- did her own face paint

Benjamin Bunny

SC in Oct

In October, we went to SC for my cousin's wedding.  

She got married in the cute coastal town of Bluffton, SC.  

We took the kids out of school for the day, so we can still feel like we have control of their schedules. ;)  We had a day at the beach.  I always love feeling like I can extend summertime.

The wedding was at a very picturesque church surrounded by palm trees.

Her dad, my Uncle Richard, had been fighting brain cancer so we knew it was a chance to see him.  He bravely took her down the isle, not in his usual army-strong state.  

 We also got to see John and Jessica.

 A picture of the brides parents on their wedding day. Love.

 On the way back, we stopped at South of the Border so that our Pedro could see that Pedro.  It was like walking back into 1988.

We've been enjoying our more frequent road trips and loved the chance to get away together and see family.

First Day of School: 2nd & 3rd

It feels weird to type those grades.  My kids are in the middle grades of elementary school.  You anticipate K for so long and subconsciously forget to think that it just keeps going and going.  That's a theme as this fall has brought a few silly things that have made us feel ushered into middle age.  Haha! More on that later... Here are my cute second and third graders.  I chose Peter's outfit.  Lily chose her own- and surprisingly, I think it actually works nicely- which isn't always the case.  I gave the kids their back to school haircuts.  I took 2-3 inches off Lily's and left Peter's on the long side to preserve the summer blonde a little longer.

 Our bus stop crew was thin the first morning, but THICK with donuts.  Mattie is our high school senior, cul de sac neighbor who is also a lifeguard at the pool, who is also just all around amazing (& follows Jesus). She bought the kids donuts on the first morning.  The other kids really missed out. Grateful for her sweet & cool influence on the kids and we may not let her leave next year. :)

Oh, the many faces of Peter & cute photobombs by BenBen. 

 Bye Bye, Kids!  Like I said in an earlier post, it felt more mixed this year to send them off.  

But certainly, I've adjusted just fine. :)

 The first day of school also just so happened to be our anniversary!  So with a few months notice, I was able to convince Mike to take the day off.  It helped me ease back into having the kids gone and didn't feel so eerily quiet.  His mom generously offered to adjust her schedule to be able to watch Ben so we could run out for a lunch date.  It was lovely.  We sat outside, had complete sweet conversations and dreamed that we were somewhere coastal (it was breezy & warm so that helped us dream).

 And then they came home.  How fun to have Daddy at the bus stop after school!

 And an after school picture to include more of our neighborhood crew.

 Back to the middle age thing, our sweet kitty, Clove, who is front and center here died this fall (Oct 13).  So it was a fun surprise to see she made it into these pics. She was 18 & 3 months (July 1998-Oct 2016).  She had a nice, full, long life.  Mike joked that she wanted to live to be old enough to vote but then when she realized who her choices were, she decided it was OK to go. She had been my kitty since college (and now much prefered to be Mike's kitty).  She was a good girl, living different places through two different years overseas, a new marriage to Mike (adoption by her favorite human would be her boast), and through three new babies and toddlers who pulled her tail and petted her any way but gently. She was sweet, patient, and friendly. We will miss her.  Ironically, she is standing on the rock Mike buried her under.  Haha!  We are those people who buried their cat in the front yard.  Ben talks fondly about "my kitty who's under the ground".

Speaking of Benny, aren't his locks and his cheeks beautiful?!

{We also sold our '99 Civic the same week Clove died.  Also ushering us away from any semblance of our college & young adult season.  We cleaned it up (first wash since it became Mike's car 9 years ago) and sold it on Craigslist.  We had 5 responses to our ad within the first hour of it being listed.  So we sold it quickly.  Mike got a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek and we all love his new ride.}

The first weekend after school was nice and HOT.  This mama's dream to help ease the blow of summer ending. So we hit up the pool once more.  

Peter's 9th Birthday

Hopefully, Peter won't mind sharing this post with August Birthdays first! :)

We celebrated Mike's birthday a weekend early, at the river with my parents, Holly & Glenda.  Holly had this amazing, delicious cake made for him.  It was lemon blueberry- Yum!

He is easy to celebrate.  Sweet, generous, laid back, and endlessly kind to us!

He continuously grounds us all in our faith, reads us the Bible, calms us, hugs us, holds us all, helps us worship, and reminds us of the big picture. We love you, Mike. 

 We had a shared celebration of Mike & his mom at our house, with spinach and artichoke enchiladas:  my favorite new recipe from the summer.  

Moving on to Peter's big day.  I also let him plan his party.  I offered a sleep over, thinking that could be less work than our parties of the past.  And it was.  Three friends came for the evening party and two of those slept over.  It was honestly less stressful than the years of throwing big parties with adults too. It was sweet to see interactions with his friends (not that it was perfect) but I'd rather see it than not. :)

First, there was a water balloon fight!

He wanted a little free play inside to do Legos, snap circuits, etc.

Then pizza!

Then presents!

The boys were in bed by 8:30/9 and asleep by 9:30/10pm.  We had pancakes the next morning and pick up by 9am.  It was a fun party and not too jarring for our first sleepover.
Happy Birthday, sweet PT!  We hope and pray 9 is a great year for you!

A Farm House Trip to see Maw

 We made our summer farm house visit.  

Maw had to work one afternoon so I babysat and did that my sending the kids out to run in the field.  They had a great time, picked some beautiful Queen Anne's Lace, and didn't get a single tick.

 This guy explored around the out buildings.  Isn't he breath-taking?

 It was also breath-taking to watch these kids run through fields of green- a picture of childhood summer!  

 Let's take a picture, kids!

 I thought it would be neat to take a pic with the kids wrapped around the tree.  Didn't work out for me.  Who knows why they didn't get my country photo op memo?

 We went back to the Sylvan Heights Bird Park again this summer.

 Please note the country girl, chicken farmer's hold on the parakeet. Love it!

Back at Maw's house, we had a little water play. Future hydro engineers right here---

 My little cuddle buddy got cold in the water and needed some warming snuggles.  Done.

Glad to fill our tanks with some country summer.  Thanks, Maw & Paw.  

Take some time off next summer, Paw. We missed you!