This is how we Fall

It's Fall Y'all!!  Crazy, busy, beautiful Fall.  Life has looked a little crazy and busy and beautiful this fall.  

First of all....my baby turned FIVE.....

What?!?!  I am not even to the point of denial that we are one short year away from school.  I am in denial about my denial.  He and I have been having a great year at home..he asked me the other day...."Mom, who are you going to eat lunch with next year?"

I don't know.

And that's all I really have to say about that right now.  For his birthday we did a party that I have always wanted to do.  A S'mores bar and outdoor viewing of a movie (Zootopia).  It was just such a great fall type of a party.

The sweets were plentiful, the fire was warm, the air crisp, the company was great.  It was a fun and relatively easy party.  No crumbs to clean afterwards...the squirrels did all my work for me!

Andie face-painted at the party and showed off her skills the next day to Papa and Nana.  Andie...you have some pretty special grandparents.

Craig was gone for a few days for a conference in Kansas City.  It just so happened to be a special 4 year Anniversary for us:  October 2, four years ago, I took the kiddos out on this trail in Rasmussens woods.  It was after an awful day of house hunting.  There were tears the day before, lots of uncertainty and I, more than once, doubted our decision to move here.

The next day, however, I took the kids on a little hike here:

And I remember thinking.....Thank you Lord.  I was so encouraged just by finding a place I could foresee coming to over and over with the kids.  I felt excitement for the first time for our next chapter in life.  

So, on this 4th Anniversary, I took the kids back and we played and basked in the sun and enjoyed this place that we now call home.

Oh....and Isaac picked up rocks and had leaches on his hands and brought them over to me and very calmly told me to look at them and I felt a little disturbed that he wasn't more alarmed but then we started looking at the little leaches together and I realized....he's weird because of me......

And my two oldest doing their first night of swimming.  Andie loves it.  Isaac is not quite ready for it yet so we are waiting another year.....

And our trip to pick our pumpkins:  This patch is where it is at.  They give you a little hayride to their pumpkin patch complete with free cider.  You pick up these huge pumpkins and you get back and they say "$8.00" and you say "each?" because that seems believable.  "Oh no....$8.00 for all three"

And our yearly Pumpkin patch trip wouldn't be complete without a stop at the local Universities Arboretum:

This is how we Fall.  Crazy, busy, beautiful Fall.