Halloween 2015

Trick or Treat! We had a monkey, a peacock, a snowman (snowgirl), and an "Army American Hero" (this is what Russell called himself - to be fair, the front of his uniform did say American Hero).

The snowman was more interested in sleeping than going out in the drizzly cold, and besides, she hated her costume, so she and I stayed home while the others went out.

I could not get over Paige - I think she was the most darling monkey ever! She LOVED her costume and kept saying, "He has a banana!" in delight. (I guess her monkey costume was a "he" to her.)

Meredith picked out her peacock costume and was adamant about it. I wasn't sure if she'd really love it since it wasn't a full costume - just wings and a mask - but she did.

Pickings are slim for boys Russell's age - he's not big into super heroes and we don't do any sort of scary costumes here. Soldier it was. He does love the military so it was totally good with him.

The kids wanted Jason to dress up too :)

Our strong army men!

Daphne woke up from her nap so I could get a photo of her Halloween outfit :) Her shirt says "I'm so cute, it's spooky".

The kids racked up on candy and saw lots of friends in costume - the best parts of Halloween! Great night!

Grace Pointe Country Fair!

We go to a wonderful church up here called Grace Pointe! We changed churches a couple of times since moving here, and Grace Pointe feels like a great home for us. Sound, Biblical teaching, lots of fellowship and service opportunities, several homeschooling families - a great fit.

Grace Pointe had our first Country Fair last night. It was such a fun get-together, complete with fair-type games and prizes, an official square-dance caller, desserts and popcorn and apple cider and candy. So fun!

Our sweet neighbor Sophie came with us - we love her and were so happy she joined us!

The games were very cute; lots of bean-bag tosses and ball throwing.

After we tried our hand at the games (and won tickets, which were later turned in for candy!) we headed downstairs for the big square dance. 

It was really fun and all of our kids participated in some way - although it was a bit challenging to keep up with the instructions while Jason held Paige and I had Daphne in the Baby Bjorn and we were helping Russell and Meredith figure out how to square dance - phew! But I'm still glad we did it; Meredith said it was the best part of the night :)

There was a photo booth set up and it was SO cute - photo booths are definitely my love language ;) The picture turned out a bit blurry unfortunately, though! 

Such a great family activity!

Daphne is 2 months old!

Look at this sweet face!

Miss Daphne weighs 10 lbs 14 oz (50th percentile) and is 21.25 in long (34th percentile - shorty! She's been the shortest of our babies since birth). She's wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 mo clothes still.

She really dislikes tummy time, but she enjoys sitting in someone's lap and gets head control that way - in fact, she has really good head control. She loves cooing and smiling at anyone who will talk to her, and the little toys on her playmat. 

Meredith asked to be included in the pictures :)

Daphne is less and less like a newborn and more and more like a baby - how quickly it flies by!

Late October Days

Just a few pics of our late October days. This year is flying by!

Sweet little sis:

We are still loving our Craigslist swing!

The picture below is a good, everyday, crazy-life snapshot: a toy-cluttered screened porch, kids going every which way, being loud and silly!

Jason and Daphne had a sweet chat during dinnertime this week :)

I wanted to take some pictures of the kids in their Sunday best after church. Three out of four were cooperative - I'll let you guess the unwilling one ;)

A fact about each kid lately:

1) Russell is coming up with the BEST Lego inventions. He can (and does) spend hours building them. He says he wants an all-Lego Christmas :)

2) Meredith has a couple of best friends (for my future memory: Rachel, Reina, Abby (from CBS); Megan, and Abby (from KDO)), and it's so sweet to see her concern for them (and theirs for her).

3) Paige - I just love two-year-old expressions. She now asks for "yellow ranch" with her food (commonly known as mustard) and to watch "Build the Bobber" on TV.

4) Daphne lately loves the prints I hung up above her changing table: gray and yellow pictures of a kangaroo, an owl, and an elephant with "I am a child of God" written below. She gives those pictures the biggest grins!

We're having busy fall days and enjoying most of them! :)

Daphne's Newborn Photos

I took a few newborn photos of Daphne while my parents were here. My friend Jessica (the one who took Paige's newborn pics - an amazing photographer) edited them for me. (My editing software died with my last computer a few months ago).

So glad to have these pics. Love this precious girl.

Yearly Pumpkin Patch visit!

My favorite season is fall. Always has been. I love - and always have loved - the start of a new school year with fresh pencils and books, a new football season, all baked and coffee'd pumpkin things, the cooler weather, the holidays, etc, etc. 

And one of my very favorite of our family traditions is our fall visit to a pumpkin patch/farm.

That day was today!

Keller's Farmstand was much better than the farm we visited last year - I think this will have to be our yearly place :)

We did the "short" corn maze - in quotes because none of us thought it was all that short! But thankfully even the littlest children had fun :)

A picture to prove that Daphne and I were there ;) with our Moby, of course!

There was a big children's play area that had play ships, trains, and trucks, all with slides.

Our neighbors told us of the goodness that is the apple cider donut - they were totally delicious! I think this is a midwestern thing?

Naturally, Russell LOVED the ride-on tractors (and the donuts :))

Playing in dried corn was a hit!

I got a quick picture of all the kids in the pumpkin patch - a yearly tradition!

Keller's was a great experience! We'll see them next year!

The little sisters

 Love how Daphne is watching Paige :) The feeling is mutual!