We did a lot this week :) This past Friday, the girls and I spent the morning at MOPS. I am leading a brand new group at our church, so after lots of planning, we had our first meeting. We started small, with 5 moms including myself, but are confident the number will grow. Regardless, it was a good time of fellowship with other women/moms, and the girls got in some play time with friends :) Saturday evening, we spent time with Grandpa and Grandma to celebrate Grandma's birthday. Sunday, we were able to spend the afternoon with Opa and Oma. The girls got lots of extra love and attention over the weekend!
Monday we rested up... Tuesday we were back at it again in the evening. We went to Grandpa's work for an open house, where Ezri had loads of fun! She got her face painted...
Got to choose a prize (a ball, of course), and got a balloon lady bug from the clown. We were worried she might be afraid of the clown, but that was the first place she wanted to go, and it never bothered her the three return trips she made as she got a second balloon which popped twice and had to be replaced :)
We ate together, and Ezri was thrilled to have "brown beans".
Then we walked around to look at all of the machines Grandpa helps build. Ezri was enthralled with those that were moving to demonstrate how they work. We had to drag her away each time. It was so cute to see her sit in front of the machine and just watch... then start "reading" the sign and talking about what she was seeing. We got quite a lesson from her as we listened, and I am thinking this little girl has her Daddy's mind...
At home this week, Alora took up walking with help. No slowing her down and no stopping her now! Just days after the video, she is walking around pushing things and holding others' hands pretty well.
We were blessed with two absolutely gorgeous fall days this week, with temps in the 70's! We lived outside as much as possible and had some fun with fall activities. First, we had to get our little pumpkin in the proper attire... smile, check!
Pumpkin shirt, check!
And out to carve pumpkins. Ezri got some special help from our pastor's wife, Carrie, who spent the evening at our house with Pastor Scott while Daddy fixed a car of theirs.
Alora had no fear of digging right into her pumpkin, pulling out the pulp and seeds, and of course, wanting to taste it :)
And, after Mommy got to business putting faces on the pumpkins, a picture of our pumpkins with their pumpkins which Ezri picked out!
And then Thursday we were off to play in the leaves!!!
Even Mommy got to join in - and why not with such a big pile, it was too much to resist jumping in myself :)
We could not have asked for a more perfect fall day... breezy enough to help remove the leaves from our yard, but warm and sunny.
Most of our leaves have fallen now, so a few more piles to rake and haul away and our yard will be bare and (gulp) winter ready. Flower beds and gardens, not so much, but what's the hurry? No sense in encouraging the winter to come, right?
As always, our week is full of interesting things :) This past week, toys were re-discovered and our living room turned into a Dr. office. Everyone was expected to sit through an exam, including the animals...
Tobi wanted to play too!
Sunday, after some much needed naps for everyone, we went to the farm to finish up some Sr. pictures for my cousin. A rainy day already, we happened to get a good chunk of time to take some pictures. Then, we had to run and take cover as another storm rolled through. Perfect weather for rain boots, a rain coat and a toddler!
Ezri just loves her little rain set!
After the storm, we got in a few more pictures...
We have had a cold running through our house this week. The girls started out fairly mildly, Daddy got hit hard through the weekend and beginning of the week, and now as the week closes, Mommy is without a voice and feeling the effects. Ezri seems to have faired the best, with just a small cough that is mostly gone. Alora's little nose just runs and runs and she's fighting it much harder :(
Fortunately, kids are on the mend and they were still well enough to enjoy some fall fun. When we could be, especially on Wednesday (our 70 degree day!) we were outside playing, raking leaves and swinging our hearts out. When we could not be outside, we found some fun inside! Alora took a couple of steps with help this week, and Thursday evening stood on her own for several seconds!!! Slow down baby girl! She also is very into waving hi and bye any chance she can get - with the sweetest little grin while she does it, of course :)
We got in some fun decorating the two pumpkins that grew in our garden as well. I am part of several organizations that provide products to try in return for reviews. This past week, we got a pumpkin decorating kit filled with glitter glue, stickers, markers and sequins. What fun!
Alora was more interested in taste testing the pumpkin, Ezri could not wait to get into the glitter...
And once she got busy, Ezri was so focused and creative!
Alora took it all in while Mommy got her pumpkin decorated.
And then she got her little hands in the glitter and added to her shining personality
Our little explorer has been busy at work this week! The places I have found her and the things she has gotten into...
Crawling at full speed, we can hardly keep up with Alora. As with big sister, if she is quiet, we know we'd better figure out where she is quickly. This week, she discovered she can crawl under her Exersaucer and hide. What a fun game!
We've been seeing a lot of fun faces from Alora, some very similar to those we saw from Ezri at this age, including the puckered up lips and scrunched face Ezri was famous for. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough with the camera to catch it yet... but I will!
Very interested in eating now, Alora is trying lots of new foods, all on her own. We had such success with waiting to introduce solids until Ezri was ready to feed herself (no pureed mush!) that we are doing the same with Alora and she's getting the hang of it with no problem. As I am finishing the process of canning tomatoes, I've had many around the house this past week, many on the porch ripening. Alora has found several and helped herself!
Amazingly, she loves them! Her little body isn't quite ready for all that acid, so we've been trying to keep her away from them so we don't have a repeat of the rash that arrived after she ate tomato the first time. I would love to be able to let her eat them, but we'll have to wait a little longer... I also caught her getting into a bushel of pears awaiting canning as well.
This past Sunday, we were able to spend a beautiful fall day with our friends the Rollandinis. We enjoyed lunch together and then headed out to a local park for a walk on their nature trails...
After we played on the playground first, of course!
And by we, I mean ALL of the kids...
What a perfect fall day!
Our week at home was fairly quiet, mostly spent inside as the temps have dropped considerably and it has been quite cool, windy and rainy. More opportunity for Alora to try new food - like bananas!
And a chance to build a fort with Ezri. We also got out the tunnel and Alora got to have her first crawl through - and loved it! The girls were having such fun playing in that tunnel together, chasing and giggling :)
Thursday, the girls and I headed out to Meijer to get a few groceries. While there, we returned a few more pop cans, one of Ezri's favorite things to do!
We spent our Friday morning planning, again, for the MOPS group I will be co-leading starting next Friday at our church. I am excited to get the group going, though clueless as to how many mom and children we will have or how this group will flow. It's all a prayer thing, which has been interesting to see God put together, from the moments I began desiring to be a part of a group, to the moments I felt the elbow in the ribs from above telling me to start one, to the women who have came to me to volunteer to help lead... I have seen God in so many ways through the start up and planning of this group and , while I have been worried and tried to get things worked out on my own, each time I have essentially been "told" to go sit on my hands in the corner and watch things work out without my interference.
A lesson I am learning as things at our house at times have become stressful as of late with the responsibility of owning a small business. A gentle reminder to keep praying and trusting while taking a back seat and watching the show. Not easy to do, especially for a control freak and organizer like myself.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
