Fall Fun

We enjoyed a few days of warm fall weather this past week.  In those few days, we scrambled to get some stuff done outside in preparation for the coming cold weather and inevitable winter.  Raking leaves was at the top of the list as our front Maples had pretty much emptied themselves into the yard.  This meant huge piles and lots of fun for the girls!

Tierney's first experience with leaves, she had quite a lot of fun kicking and crunching the leaves, enjoying the sound.

And maybe a little taste too...

 Alora, her usual wild self, was all in, jumping head first and launching through the piles with squeals.

 Ezri, while fully invested in the fun, was a bit more reserved and mindful of Tierney for much of the time.

Once Tierney was done in the leaves, however, Ezri turned up the crazy and jumped right in with Alora.

 Love these beautiful little ladies!

 Even Sadie got in on the fun.  She played in the leaves and enjoyed a run and chase game around the fenced in yard, leash free.  While she is definitely small enough to sneak right through the fence, she did great and we had such fun just running and chasing with her!

 Saturday we enjoyed time with friends at a party for the members of the church praise band and their families.  This meant the girls had plenty of friends to play with.  We ended up sticking around Wayland for the Fall Fun Fest in the late afternoon, and the girls donned borrowed costumes (Ezri was Golidlocks, Alora was a ladybug and Tierney was a bear) and we got candy from the local businesses as well as went on a horse drawn wagon ride.  The kids had a great time!

Sunday afternoon, we participated in our church Trunk-or-Treat.  This year, Ezri and Alora wanted to be princesses...

 So we decked out the van and became the Royal Westrates.

 More fun for the kids and parents alike - and Candy for our sweet teeth!

Our past week also afforded us the opportunity to take on a new venture - composting with worms.  A friend got us 1000 worms to begin an indoor compost bin, and the girls have been glued to it all week, watching and waiting.  They enjoy helping me feed them and are very interested in what is going on inside our tote turned worm hotel.  Ezri even wanted to name them!  If all goes well, as it is right now, we should be growing our worm population slowly over the winter and gathering lots of castings for making fertilizer in the spring.

It's Always A Party!

Running a bit behind, we've had some super busy weeks.  Two weekends ago, we were busy from Thursday night through Sunday night cleaning and repairing the new house our friends bought after their loss of camp director job, as well as helping them move from Pentwater to their new home.  We were exhausted!

  

Amid all of that:

 - Sadie had a little operation, so no puppies... had her dew claws removed, and had baby teeth pulled that had not yet fallen out.

 - Tierney figured out how to sit for a short time, to push herself up from her tummy to a sitting position, and to make the exersaucer bounce by jumping

 - Ezri has made it through the letter G, Alora learning by her side, and the girls have learned three bible verses, one for each of the first three letters of the alphabet.

 - We've begun to insulate and hang walls in the garage, and have two complete walls and part of a third.

In the past week, during a little down time before things got crazy again, the girls kept us entertained.  One morning, Ezri discovered that Tierney was wearing a shirt just like one she had, so she insisted they match that day and was quite proud!

Unfortunately, Alora did not have a matching shirt in the right size, though we do have two more of this shirt in other sizes.  But, she was still happy to be part of the fun...

And why not add in Sadie while we're taking pictures?...

Bath time has become a big party lately with all three girls bathing together now.  It's a bit of chaos for sure, but we keep it short for T when the big sisters are also in.  They sure have fun splashing and playing together, though!

A recent bath also included Sadie, who could finally be washed after having her stitches removed.

 

Ezri and Alora had a great time helping to wash and rinse her.

This past weekend, we headed North to Pentwater again, this time for a wedding.  We arrived at the hotel early Friday afternoon and the girls got a chance to swim for a while before rehearsal.  

 

 

Needless to say, they all had a great time and did not want to get out!

It was especially fun to have time to play with Daddy.

 

Ezri spent much of her time jumping and practicing swimming under water.  She sure is brave and becoming quite a good little swimmer.

After rehearsal and dinner, we put the kids in the pool again before a late bedtime.  After the girls were asleep, we got to hang out with Jay as he and Andy stayed in our suite with us Friday night.  The guys shared a lot of laughs and we all enjoyed the few quiet moments before the busyness of the wedding day was upon us.

 

Saturday was rushed with breakfast, assisting with the decorating for the reception, which was held in the hotel, a quick lunch and baths for kids while Daddy and the guys headed to the church to begin getting ready for the wedding.  Daddy got to be an usher :)  The girls and I met Daddy at the church shortly before the wedding and all three girls sat with me for the ceremony.  Tierney napped, Ezri watched intently and Alora just tried to keep it together and stay in her seat with a snack.  As we were ushered out, Alora, who had been wanting Daddy all day, took off running to the front of the church to see what had been so important up there and then back to Daddy's arms to help him usher for a bit.  Ezri, who was very curious about the flower girl with whom she had made friends, remarked as we were walking out that the flower girl had not dropped flowers, but only petals.  Observant kid!

A few "framily" pictures with the bride and groom, and we headed back to the reception

 

While we waited for the bride and groom, the girls watch the pool intently...

And the guys prepared to make their entrance...

By the time dinner began, Alora was quite tired and falling apart.  A little owie became such a big problem that Uncle Andy had to step in with a big arm bandage complete with Alora's name to make it all better.  Thank goodness for Uncle Andy!

We snuck in a couple of family pictures...

 

And then the girls had some down time watching a show with Uncle Andy while we waited for cake and dancing.

Once the dancing began, Ezri's eyes were glued to the dance floor, very anxiously waiting her chance to get out there. 

And as soon as they could, Ezri and Alora took the opportunity to dance with Jay and Becci 

 

 

Daddy and Mommy got in some dances with the girls too.

Ezri was on the dance floor nearly the entire night, often with guitar in hand rocking out in true 80's band fashion with head banging, guitar slams and the whole works. 

 

 

 Tierney got in her fun too, kicking and squealing and thoroughly enjoying herself as well.  And, even though the girls were quite tired, we got in another swim after 10;30 that night.

We had a wonderful time and were so glad to have been a part of such a special day for our very dear friends!

Sunday morning we woke to packing and then we were off to the storage shed to finish moving our friends' belongings back to Shelbyville to complete their move from the previous weekend.  We're all quite tired and anxious for some quiet time at home for a few days now.