more fall

We have been trying to enjoy as much fall as we can the last few weeks. It has been chilly here and we have had so much rain but on sunny days we have picnics outside, go on walks, ride bikes, or just go to the park. Pretty much all the things we do in the summer, just with jackets and the sense of urgency feeling...... like any day could be the last "nice day" until spring. So we are trying to make the most of these gorgeous fall days before the dreaded winter comes.

We were also blessed with a visit from the Springer's this weekend. It was so fun to have them stay with us and the kids are already missing them. Hopefully the next time we get together it will be even more fun :)

Out my back window

Seriously! This is the gorgeous view I get to look at everyday from my kitchen window. It makes me happy. I LOVE watching the seasons change, but FALL is always especially beautiful to me.

We teach em' young

Why else do people have kids if not to put them to work.

Ethan is supposed to have a dish night once a week and it has actually been like a month since I've had him do it. So tonight I decided would be a good night to re-start and since He can't do ANYTHING without his little shadow/buddy, Molly helped. It was so funny, but they actually made a great team and did a really good job. Maybe we should have a dish night every night?

It's FALL!!!!

Fall in Ohio is always one of my favorite times. Although this year, here in Cleveland, it is a little colder than I'm used to, which I feel has somewhat limited our fall adventures. But despite the cold it is so amazingly gorgeous here! The trees in the last few days have been unbelievable and WE (me included) have been getting really excited for Halloween.

HaPpY FaLL!!!!

REUNITED

Conference weekend I was lucky enough to see two of my really good friends. Trisha came out for a visit from the rocky mountains and Melanie drove down from Buffalo. (Julia you would've made my life complete) Anyways we had a fabulous weekend. We went to beautiful Kirtland to see the sites and then just hung out the rest of the time like old times, laughing and reminiscing til 2 am. It was soooo fun and I've been wishing ever since that I could get together with all my favorite girls more often. Thanks again for coming ladies..... it was much needed :)

Soccer

Ethan started soccer a few weeks ago and it has been so fun to go to his games. He is on a team with all of his friends and he just goofs around and has so much fun.

At his first game he pretty much ran around tackling/pushing kids over, even when the ball was at the other end of the field. When I asked him about it he said "cause I've gotta get the other team." So we had a talk about how in soccer you just kick the ball with your feet. Well for the last few weeks everyday Ethan has wanted to "practice" in the back yard. So we have been playing a lot of soccer, and it was so great to see the difference.

Today in his game he actually went after the ball and not the other players. He was pretty good in the first half and scored 3 goals. The second half he was too tired so for part of the time he just sat on the ground. But I was so proud of my little soccer stud. It is seriously so funny to watch these kids run around and have fun.

Here are some videos from his game today. The first one is of him scoring a goal.

Half-time

This one is of him yelling at the other player for holding the ball. He was telling him that he can't touch it with his hands..... only feet!!

Apple Picking

We went apple picking with the kids last weekend. It was a gorgeous day and we came home with LOTS & LOTS of yummy apples.Ethan did the picking & Molly did the eating.

They make a great team.

I Love FALL!!!

chi town

Last weekend we went on a fun little family get-a-way to CHICAGO. Why Chicago? Well cause that's were we got a hotel, and it's only a 6 hour drive. We stayed with some friends that live just outside of the city on Sat and they were so nice to let us crash. On Sunday we headed into the city. Our hotel was right on the lake, which made it very convenient since we pretty much walked everywhere (to save on ridiculous parking charges.)

We found a really fun children's museum that we got into for free!! So we went there a few times cause the kids loved it.

We walked around Millennium park. The kids favorite part was the giant silver "jelly bean"

We took a boat tour of the city which was really cool and then we went up the John Hancock bldg.

We, of course, had some famous deep dish Chicago style pizza from Giordano's. E is giving some cheese to honor all the cheese pizza he just ate. I think I'm still stuffed from it.

Rode the ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

Went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It is a really fun zoo and it's FREE so that makes it even more great.The kids were soooo good on the drive. We had a few meltdowns while in Chicago, but for the most part it was a fabulous trip. We all had so much fun and E has asked everyday since when we are going back!

Thanks Chicago for such a great vacation.

Bears, Beets, Batttlestar galactica

We saw this "office mobile" dirving around the streets of chicago. It had talking and moving parts and it brought a smile to my face to know that my favorite show is back!!!!

Blast from the past...

Today while we were playing outside (in between rain storms) the UPS man brought us a really BIG package from my mom that we weren't expecting! The kids and I opened it up to discover that it was full of BABIES!!!!!! Oh Molly just couldn't contain her excitement! She just kept saying "baby" over and over.....it was so cute! For those of you that don't know she is absolutely obsessed with babies...preferably real ones but if none of those are around then a plastic one does just fine. These were not just any babies though. These were all my old babies from when I was little that my mom had saved for me. She thought they would get some good use at my house rather than in her storage. They were a little dirty and a few looked kind-of creepy but we got them all washed up and ready for LOTS of slobber kisses.The box was also full of doll clothes, half of which my mom sewed herself when I was little, also blankets and a cloth bassinet that was made by my mom too! It brought back so many memories. This is a picture of me with one of the dolls that is now Molly's. I got her on Christmas and my mom always talks about how that was her most favorite Christmas. (if you notice in the picture me and the cabbage patch are matching.... so cute!)
My favorite thing I found in the package were the matching aprons that my mom made for the two of us. There is a really cute picture of me making cookies in this apron when I was little but I couldn't find it. But I got really excited when I saw this cause I LOVED this apron. I always felt so special when I got to wear it and help in the kitchen.

Ethan had fun helping us pull everything out of the box and was happy when he found something he could claim as his own. We named him fuzzy blue and he thinks his crazy hair is pretty funny. He was a little confused and asked me why HE was wearing "girl pajamas"? Good question? He said "Boys don't wear pink pajamas!" Maybe I can dye them. But we all had a fun afternoon playing with all the new babies.

THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM!!!!!