Big Fall Fun

We have had a week filled with fall fun.  The week was full of beautiful, warm days, and we took full advantage of the chance to be outside together.  The leaves in the front yard have nearly all fallen now, but we sure have had a blast playing in them!

 After walking through town a few weeks back to look at the scarecrows the local business had put out, Ezri decided she wanted to build one of her own.  She went as far as to draw up plans, including a drawing of how it should look in full, a page with all of the pieces she would need, and a page listing the supplies she would need to gather and how much of each item.  This kid and her abilities just blow me away!  She clearly got that engineering part of her mind from her Daddy :)

We set to building the scarecrow early last week, and she was beside herself with pleasure at the final results.  All three girls thought it quite fun.  Quickly named "No Noggin" after the scarecrow on a Curious George movie, our new friend has already set to startling people like Daddy several times.

The girls and I  were able to enjoy a picnic outside one afternoon.  Knowing this warm weather is soon to be replaced with the type that keeps us inside more, we are taking advantage of every opportunity to be outside without coats, hats and gloves.

When we weren't outside, there was no end to the usual chaos.  Tierney is really keeping me on my toes lately.  Her favorite thing to do is disappear into the bathroom, the sneakier the better, where she climbs up onto the sink, then into the basin, where she stands to reach toothbrushes.  After she has one, or five, she sits in the sink to brush her teeth, or turn the water on and soak herself, or help herself to a drink.  This kid!  If it's not a mess in the bathroom, it's toilet paper draped through the house, dishes strewn through the kitchen, crayons happily dumped onto the floor and more.  Meal times are not short on messes either!

We started on a big home project this past week - A new garage door.  Before we Daddy could begin hanging the new door, we had to do some work to the garage, add some structure and make the opening a bit smaller, as well as remove the old door.  The girls were thrilled to be in on helping with all of this.  Tierney was especially interested in the tools, and soon hers were not good enough.

 

 This past weekend, we did a little trick-or-treating a couple of times.  Saturday, we hung out at Uncle Andy's house in Wayland and walked through the town where the girls got to wear their costumes and trick-or-treat at the local businesses.  There was also a petting zoo, where Tierney and Ezri were all about the rabbits and Alora got to milk a goat!  They had a great time!

Sunday, we donned our costumes for this year's Trunk-or-Treat with our church.  The girls decided they wanted to be Pirate Fairies, and that Daddy and Mommy should be pirates.  We met up with our friends to set up our cars and prepare for the predicted 900 kids on Sunday afternoon.

 Going with the pirate theme, the girls had helped me make a pirate flag and treasure chest to hold the candy.  The older two were very engaged in the whole process, and very excited to finally be wearing their whole costumes together.

 Our little pirate fairies sure were adorable :)

 The littlest fairy couldn't have cared less about the costumes, she just wanted the candy!

 For a while, the girls helped hand out candy.  Alora was thrilled to be able to help with that task.  But, as time went on, and the people kept coming, the kids grew tired of waiting and soon found themselves in the middle of the field playing, which was just fine.

Now, to sort through the candy before the next round comes on Halloween!

Making Memories

Early last week, the girls and I finally got around to making applesauce from many of the remaining apples we picked at Crane's a few weekends back.  A good amount had been eaten, or at least nibbled on and left aside by a certain toddler in the house, but we still had plenty left for canning.  Ezri and Alora were very excited to help peel the apples, and it soon became a game to take turns turning the handle on the apple machine.

Tierney was too small to handle that task, but wanted nothing to do with being left out.  She was right in the middle of the action, helping herself to a snack whenever a piece of apple went astray, and playing in the curls of peels that came off the apples as the girls turned the handle.

Last Wednesday, this Mommy got to spend the evening with some very special friends as we attended the "Girl's Night Out" event hosted by Allegan General Hospital.  For four of us, this was our second time attending, the first time being last year when my friend Kathy was a guest of honor and a recipient of the "Spirit of Women" award.  This year, Kathy, Jacci, Kelly and I  met up late in the afternoon and headed off to enjoy dinner together. 

Later in the evening, we were joined by Becci, shortly before the event began.  We enjoyed our time together, and the opportunity to dress up a bit.  I know how truly blessed I am with these friendships!

 After a week of school, play and "regular" life, we ended the week with MOPS on Friday and then got on to our weekend.  My heart melted a little after MOPS, when Ezri and Alora told me that their friend Emmett had asked them to help take care of him while they played together at MOPS.  Ezri told me he was afraid without his brother there and wanted the girls to help him not be afraid.  They willingly agreed.  When they told me, I was so thrilled to hear that my little girls are already displaying compassion for their friends.

Saturday greeted us with a cool day that got colder as the day went on.  We went to Burnips for a fall festival with Uncle Andy and the Sebrights.  While there, it actually snowed several times!  With the wind, clouds and already cold temperatures, it was pretty miserable.  Poor Tierney was bundled up in her stroller under several blankets to keep warm as she took in all of the activity.

BUT, the other kids had a great time.  They played on bounce houses and visited animals in the petting zoo area.  They were thrilled to go on a hay ride behind a big tractor to a pumpkin patch where they each got to pick a pumpkin to take home.

Ezri was excited when she found the "perfect" pumpkin for Tierney.  Baby sister was quite pleased with her little pumpkin as well.

Off to Grandpa and Grandma's house on Sunday for a surprise birthday lunch in Grandma's honor, along with Uncle Mike, Aunt Kerri, Aubrey and Wesley, we were ready for some quiet and the warmth of our own home by Sunday night.  While I know fall is here, I am hopeful we get some warmer days back for a stretch.  The kids are anxious to play in the leaves and be outside, as am I!

Never A Dull Moment

Here we are again, another month older and another month of growth and chaos behind us...

In the past week, we have been fairly subdued.  The girls, a little stir crazy, kept themselves busy playing various make believe games together, working on their school, playing with some MOPS friends in our home on Thursday (finally, a beautiful fall day) and the neighbor girls on occasion.  On a couple of evenings, the girls and I took a bike ride into town.  One of the favorite destinations is the parking lot of the doctor's office, where there is a little hill to zip down.  Ezri, quite the pro on her two wheels now, felt the need to get tricky with her riding!  Not to be left out, Alora also wanted to be in on the fun.  So, Tierney and I watched as they played and showed off.

 Unfortunately, our Thursday evening ended a bit roughly as Ezri wiped out making a turn on some wet pavement, and got her first bike riding battle wound :(  Her little elbow was scraped up pretty badly in two spots and she was quite upset.  So, the riding fun ended and we limped our way back home, Ezri's arm wrapped in a Kleenex from my pocket and secured with a hair tie.  Our ride home took longer than necessary as our free spirited Alora was all about the sights the whole way back and not feeling nearly as urgent about Ezri's bleeding arm.

When we finally made it home, I set to cleaning a very dirty scraped elbow.  Ezri was tough and brave, hugging Barky during the worst of it.  After it was cleaned, we found some bandages and got her patched up.  Then, she was quite proud to tell Daddy and Uncle Andy all about her big crash and the big owie she got.

 The resident clown also got in on the showing off....

 Not to be left out, little sister found some stickers and proceeded to "bandage" herself!

Never a dull moment... and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Always Moving

True to form as of late, I am once again behind on updates!

Much like other weeks, we spent time with Great Grandma last week. This time, we just hung out and played, no real jobs to tackle.  The older girls spent a lot of time playing "work" and dress up upstairs while Tierney was content to play with Great Grandma's old baby doll.

 On September 26th, we participated in our first official 5K.  Alex and I registered and completed the event with the kids tagging along in support of Cranio Care Bears.  Cranio Care Bears goal is to spread awareness, support & compassion through loving care packages to families of children facing surgery for craniosynostosis.  This ministry affected the lives of our friends the Sebrights when their little guy Emmett was having his first surgery, 3 years ago.  The 26th also happened to be the one year anniversary of Emmett's most recent surgery.  So, to continue the cause, Kathy hosted a portion of the virtual run set up by the organization.  We gathered in Burnips with several other friends and walked or ran the 5K together, and then celebrated!

 That Saturday afternoon, the same group of us gathered in Andy's apartment to begin the final packing and cleaning marathon.  It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun with friends.

 Last Sunday, Alex and I took the girls to Crane's Orchard to pick some apples together with Uncle Andy.  They had such fun picking their own and helping me to fill my bags.  The free snacks were definitely a benefit too!  It was a beautiful, warm fall day, and we had a great time together.

 Sunday Night brought the special Lunar Eclipse.  We were fortunate enough to see a bit of it, but before the full eclipse happened, and for the rest of the night, the clouds blocked our view, so we missed the red moon and all of the excitement around that.  Still, it was fun for me to watch and I enjoyed using my birthday gift to get some photographs as I sat and pondered the depth of the universe and all that.

 This past week was filled with a lot of activity.  Tuesday night, we loaded, moved, and unloaded Andy's things to his new home.  It was a busy afternoon, but plenty of laughs were shared along the way!  We were also busy with various friends and family for birthday parties, meetings, meals and more.  It was a week filled with prayer for many friends around us.  We ended our week back at Andy's for a bit of unpacking help and some hang out time.  The girls wore themselves out and crashed in various locations.  Tierney, the holdout, found herself asleep sitting on the couch as she refused any other option.

 She had good company, though!

 We look ahead to a new week and some warmer weather, thankfully!  The kids are already a bit stir crazy from last week's cold and rain, which makes me even sadder for Summer's end and the impending winter lock-in.  We shall celebrate the now and take the opportunities to play outside, however, and push the thoughts of winter away.