Fall Fun

I always say that summer is my favorite season, but everytime that autumn comes along, I get so excited to do "autumn" things! A friend gave us a bunch of apples that Lucy, James, and I took ALL DAY to peel and cook (well, it felt like all day - but it was still fun!), which we eventually turned into applesauce! It was so yummy! The applesauce didn't last very long in our house because it was so good. :)



My visiting teacher left us a pumpkin lantern this week. I think she made it from an old spaghetti sauce jar and painted the inside orange. We put a candle in it and had a lot of fun making a spooky haunted house!



And this last picture is just my kids all playing together this morning when it was too cold to go out and play. I caught them spinning each other around on the exeresaucer. I said, "Where's Annabelle?" as they were spinning at top speed past me. "Oh, she's in here!" was the nonchalant answer as the saucer came to a hault. She had a big grinn on her face and was obviously really enjoying the ride! As long as everyone's having a good time, right?

Thank Heaven for Spontanious Visits from Friends!

It started off being a pretty typical Monday morning . . . getting Caleb off to school, packing up the 3 kids to catch a minute of exercising at the church. Then, just after I had pulled into the driveway, I was greeted with a familiar white minivan with our good friend (who has since moved to North Carolina) at the wheel! How fun! It was so good to see Lindsey and Parker for a bit, and so glad that the kids could play together again! Just like old times. If we could have random visits from friends everyday, what a wonderful world this would be! Thanks for stopping by!

Cousins!

We just had a wonderful visit with Melanie's sister, Lisa, and her family: Ward, Audrey, Max, and Hannah. What a wonderful birthday treat! We spent the notorious 10-4 attending the virginia tech football game, confrence, and pumpkin cookies! Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were filled with the kids playing together making secret hide-outs, haunted houses, paper airplanes, "sledding" down the hills, playing at parks, picnic at the duck pond, riding the bus around Blacksburg, and horseback-riding. Despite a few getting sick, our car breaking down, and bad Thai food, we still had an absolutely wonderful time! Thanks so much for coming you guys~ we love you!

School Days

Since I never posted the First Day of School pics, here they are! Caleb loves first grade and even really loves having homework! He made up a homework assignment yesterday for Lucy explaining that she didn't have to do it perfect because she wasn't in first grade yet, "Just try your best," he told her. Lucy loves going to Joy school with her friends and always brings home all sorts of fun crafts and new songs. Today she came home with an "I Can Obey" badge which I have to say, she really has been quite good at lately!

RRRRAAAARRRRR!!!

James and I were shopping at Walmart today when he found this little dinosaur hat and wouldn't take it off! Everyone in the store kept smiling at him and saying how cute he was (which is much better than the usual, "You've sure got your hands full!" comments). So, of course I had to buy it! He hasnt taken it off yet! Two year -olds are so fun.

Temple Trip

So, apparently I did not take enough pictures this weekend, but here are a few, anyway. We met our awesome friends, the Parkinsons, at the DC temple this weekend. It had been a while since we had seen each other, so it was fun to get together! We stayed up way too late friday playing settlers (Bryce and I won, by the way!); then Saturday Heidi and I spent the day with the kids shopping at Ikea and hanging around the temple while the boys were busy getting trained to be veil workers. It was such a great day and sad to say goodbye. Lucy cried in the car for a long time after we left. Hopefully it won't be as long before we see them again!

Science

So, about 7 years ago, a dear friend opened my eyes to the world of growing wheat grass (thanks, Maureen!), and its been probably that long since I've grown any. So I bought this cute pot in Louisianna this summer and it sat empty until about a week ago when we decided to do an experiement with wheat. First, we soaked it over night. Then we planted it on some soil and covered it up. We watched as the next day it already began to sprout! Within 3 days it was like 3 or 4 inches high! The kids are so excited watching it grow and love taking care of it. I think they even eat it sometimes! Anyway, I think it looks fun and fresh - a good way to keep things green all year long!