Psst....Carter it's not summer anymore!

(This post is over a week old, I just never got around to publishing it)
Although its been a nice fall around here, our eldest son has failed to comprehend the conversation about how cold weather= the need for warmer clothing. Here -we caught him roaming the landscaping in his socks, underwear, sweatshirt, and hat. Scott found it so hilarious that he snapped these pictures.

How I know it is fall with Carter in the house:

> the rattling noise coming from the washing machine the other day.....just fifteen acorns rolling around the bottom of the bin. When I asked Carter about them, his reply was "thanks mom, you find my acorns!"

>when I feel a cold draft, I know Carter is on the loose. He just opens up the slider (closes the screen door of course) and heads out back.

> Carter has a small stock pile of "walking sticks" in the garage. I am bound to break my neck on them someday soon.

> Carter LOVES collecting leaves for others,

he finds perfect, bright colored leaves

and gifts them to the family members. Sooo cute!

> We walked into Walgreen's this week and Carter stops dead in his tracks and says "Look mom, they decorated!" Then after he paused to examine the "decorations" he grasped his chest, with eyes the size of baseballs and said in an exasperated tone, "whew mom, that scared me!" Needless to say the decor was a bit to spooky for his liking!

The Big Man Needed His OWN BIG WHEELS!

I think part of the problem was that Scott just couldn't stomach the thought of how much time Carter was spending on Ella's pink princess Hot Wheel. So, we got Carter his very own Big Wheel to enjoy. As you can see they love racing each other down the driveway. Carter is putting lots of miles on his new hot rod.

P.C.L.B

Pumpkins

Carmel Corn & crafts

Leaf piles

Bus Rides

What a perfect weekend we have had. It has been filled with lots of fun festivities. I am running low on creative titles, thus the initials.

The kids have been having a blast playing in the leaves. You can see from the pictures that running and riding down the hill into a pile was highly amusing. Ella would ride her Big Wheel through them and Carter would charge through with one of his enormous trucks. Christian seemed like he wanted in on the fun so I zipped him through the pile in his stroller. Lots of kicking and squealing followed so I was assured that he loved it! Sorry, Christian doesn't always appear in the photos because...well I just can snap pictures of he and I very well. However, this fun activity did let me onto one fact...my children can RAKE! Which if you know our property very well, you know we can use all the help we can get with the leaf management. I was able to claim myself handicap last fall since I was exhausted from being 5 months pregnant (and knowing it would be the last time I would be pregnant so I was milking it for all it was worth!) So this year, we'll be putting the kids too work!

On Friday, Elle and I had the good fortune to be able to go on a field trip together. She was so excited! She's gone on field trips before in pre-school but the most exciting part for her was the anticipation of the bus ride! She was down right giddy getting onto the big yellow transporter! As I am riding (only ten short minutes from our school to the high school) I noticed something.....I hate riding the bus! Not to mention the fact that it is just a huge yellow hazard driving down the road: tons of loud, crazy kids, not buckled into their seats, and man it does not ride smoothly AT ALL! Nonetheless, Ella was tickled and fully enjoyed it. All the k-3rd grade classes in our district went to the high school auditorium to watch a play. It was great! Only one minor oversight on my part. I forgot to prep Ella. In my defense, I figured 'hey she's been to a few outings that would be similar to this (no movie theater yet). As we are sitting there in the seat she leans over to me and asks very seriously, "so mom, when are the Ponies coming out?" Yikes, as the sweat starts to form on my brow, I am grappling with the words to excitingly tell her that there would be no larger than life My Little Ponies dancing and singing on stage. That rather this was a cultural experience about the ups and downs of peer relationships and about a girl whose best friend moves away. I somehow manage to say this and she buys it. But she looks at me after the production and says, 'you know, we should really check to see if the Ponies are coming here sometime soon!" All in all it was a fun day to spend together.

A Friday Night Full of Fall Festivities

Friday evening was one of those nights that I hope we remember when we are fifty. After a fun day of bus riding, going out for a special girls lunch, and then stopping to pick out pumpkins, Elle and I picked up our boys. I nestled the children into their beds for a quick afternoon nap. As the boys slept and Elle read in her bed, I feverishly planned a fun night for our family. I printed off designs we could use for the pumpkins, made dinner, and even managed to do three pages of my photo album (I realize that this hobby is sorely missed but I have little energy or creativity left at the end of the day never mind you my failing memory). I was revitalized after this short spurt of 'me time'. I even managed to make up three batches of baby food for Christian. I must have been stuck in some time warp with all that I accomplished during this 2 hour period. As one can tell, I rarely get this. Plus, I was experiencing a caffeine buzz since I had a tall latte at lunch with Elle. (maybe that is my key to fitting more in a day). The boys woke up downright cheery and Ella was just a peach. The kids played so well by themselves. Scott came home and wondering if someone (me???) had the kids hopped up on some medication??!! So we ended up carving our pumpkins and making a scrumptious batch of caramel corn. We let the kids stay up well past their bedtimes since they were so content to play nicely with one another and generally not bug us as we sat, conversed, and ate way too much Carmel corn. What a great night! This is what family traditions are built on.

Below: Carter lined up all the pumpkins in the house. He told me "wook mom, I made a pattern, big to wittle" I was so impressed!

Here Carter is shaking our huge bowl of caramel corn. We popped the corn, made the caramel and then put the hot caramel in here to shake and spread. Then we baked it in the oven while we were carving the faces on our pumpkins.

Rub a Dub Dub, Three Babes in the Tub

We are trying to pack lots of fun into these beautiful fall days. Yesterday afternoon we headed to the library. The kids love going, checking out lots of new books, playing with the puppets and puzzles and then relaxing to read in the fun stuffed animal chairs to read their books. Since it was such a gorgeous day, we decided to go on a serendipitous rendezvous at the park. We called Scott at work and told him to meet us at the park for a picnic. The kids had so much fun playing, and running, and enjoying the outdoors. However, in the process of all the merry making we got a little grubby! We were running short on time since we have strict bedtimes, so we threw them all in the tub at the same time. They thought it was so fun. Christian was so tickled and content!

Dumping water on each other's heads?@! Hmmm! Maybe the caption should read:

The Three Stooges! ......all smiles though.

It was off to bed with LOTS of great new stories. I think we checked 18 new books and tapes out! We LOVE the library. Ella thinks she is so cool since she has her very own library card and does the scanning of the books, "just like the librarian, right mom??"

A week's worth of fun

I was busy snapping pictures of all our fun activities last week and in the busy-ness of it all, had no time to blog. When I finally got to the weekend, which by the way didn't slow down much, I realized I had left my camera in the top drawer of my desk.....at school. Ooops! So here I am stealing a few minutes to jot down some of the fun we had. I am so bummed that I didn't have the camera this weekend because the fall colors here are absolutely beautiful. We went for long walks Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday was so great. It was 77 and absolutely breathtaking. We went up to mom and dad's to enjoy a warm fall day at the lake. It was so such a fun filled day full of playing outdoors (but watch out for hailing acorns that can beem you in Grandma's front yard), fishing off the dock, a picturesque kayak ride to see the turtles and beautiful changing foliage and a leisurely pontoon ride around the lake. We even managed to go for a picture perfect hike through the woods that surround the east end of the lake. We hiked the trails collecting different leaves, ewwwing and ahhhing over all the spectacular colors, and searched for the perfect walking stick. Grandpa and Scott managed to impress the kids with their brute strength by pushing over a couple of trees (that were dead and rotten) nonetheless VERY impressive to the 5 and 2 year olds! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for leading us on so many fun adventures! Speaking of adventures here are some of the other fun things we did this week:

A Trip to the YMCA:

Ella and Scott went rock climbing. Ella our little dare devil watched Scott and the proceeded to scurry up the wall! Carter sat so patiently watching and soaking it in. He was ever so disappointed when we found out that he has to be 4 to try it!waiting so patiently while Ella is climbing. Look! no diaper for this big guy. He is even going on outings now without accidents! Yeah!

getting hooked into the harness. Look at how high she is!
After all the rock climbing, basketball and soccer playing we hit the pool. Yep, all 5 of us! And we liked it! Christian was in the pool with no complaints for 45 minutes. Ella & Carter are such fish!


Sitting around home! Grandma Moorlag brought Christian this book and he loves it! It's a favorite toy to play with and chew on!

The boys out by our colorful mums!


We went on a walk through our woods and gathered lots of different shaped leaves and came back inside to do leaf rubbings. The kids LOVED it and now we have tons of rubbings hanging all over the house. Ella calls them our fall decorations!

This is a proud mom moment: Ella was nominated Student of the month with one of her good friends Shannon. I took their pictures in front of the bulletin board that displays their pictures and certificates. I was so tickled however, when I asked Ella why she got student of the month, she had absolutely NO CLUE! I guess she is so busy learning that she's not concerned with all the other business of school. :)

Cue the fairytale music--it's been that kind of day

What do the following have in common?
A totally 'dry' for Carter (in potty training lingo)
A generally happy morning of getting out the door
A good report from both daycare and school
A good long nap from Christian
Children who have played joyfully together all afternoon long
A magical 35 minutes of reading stories to Ella & Carter while ---get this because this is the unbelievable part---they sweetly and willingly shared snacks back and forth
A wonderful time of collecting leaves in the yard, enjoying nature, and then bringing them inside to do leaf rubbings to decorate the house
The UPS delivery of a beautiful pair of pants I ordered from Ann Taylor Loft
Heaps of laundry to be folded
A flat tire on the van --the following two don't even count when the rest of the day's been this good

Generally this would be a list of dream activities for me to aspire to for a week but this happens to be my Tuesday afternoon if you can believe it. Quite honestly, I am sensing this is a "God Moment" nothing short of miraculous! I am soaking it all in but I HAD to blog about it quickly, before the 4 o'clock hour, because typically that is referred to as the WITCHING hour at our house. I have been so consumed in the enjoyment of the day that I have failed to plan anything for dinner. Good thing we have left overs from the weekend--since the Fairy Godmother won't likely show up to Bippity-Bobbity-Boop a dinner worthy of Outback onto our table! Just had to share the wealth of blessings that I have experienced today. Hey! maybe I will even squeeze in a run, a glass of wine, and an early bedtime for myself! Who am I kidding?! That is something only fairy tales are made of! Have a great day.....I know my head will hit the pillow with a big ole' smile tonight. Many thanks to a truly GREAT and gracious God who has provided this for me today. ;)

So many blessings

This weekend was filled with family and fun. We celebrated Christian's dedication at church on Sunday. Mike, Sarah, & Josie made the trip up from Indianapolis and Grandma & Grandpa Moorlag trekked in from Minnesota. It was great to have the family together. We missed Ryan and Carrie terribly and look forward to seeing them in December for Christmas.

The kids absolutely adore their time with everyone. Ella loved holding and fussing over Josie. Aunt Sarah was so sweet to let Ella pick out Josie's outfits and help with the diapering. Uncle Mike was busy with Carter. Carter can never get enough of his uncles. They played trucks and went on a hike in the woods. Grandpa played in the sandbox with Carter and enjoyed fun in the driveway riding bikes and scooters. Grandma was busy of course soaking in all the snuggles from the babies and taking time with each of the kids individually. Josie and Christian are only 3 months apart in age and 1 pound different in weight. They were busy exploring each other. Our noisy house was highly entertaining for Josie who is used to a much slower, quieter pace of life. She fit right in! Ella asked if we could keep her at our house for awhile. I told her we'd have to wait for sleepovers like that until Josie is much older.

Here Christian and Josie are finding each other hugely amusing!

Goofy Christian was so interested in Josie Bumbo seat that I sat him in. The look on his face was...ohhh how exciting is this? Looks like a ride to me?!!

Christian says, "this pretty little cutie is with me!"

Grandma brought each of the boys a new Vikings sweatshirt for football season.

Ella sure looked cute with her new haircut. She spent lots of time coloring this weekend, something she has gotten very meticulous about since the advent of school. She sure loves her Grandpas too!

It sure was a busy weekend, but now that the house is quiet (considering how tired the kids were we put them to bed by 7:15 tonight) and all the hoopla is over, I am missing the busyness and fun of it all. We will wait for another fun gathering that won't be long! I had better get things organized for the week. It's going to be a busy one.....I think I say that every week! YIKES!

A Walk with Elmer Fud

One of our favorite fall things to do is go for a walk in our woods. Since the poison ivy is the first plant to die we are able to get out in the woods to explore. Carter is in his glory while out here. He is like a little Elmer Fud in this new fleece that Aunt Pat picked out for he and Christian. Today I was reminded how much fun it will be for the kids to be able to roam, explore, play, and observe nature in our own backyard. Carter surely has my dad's blood running through his veins. He loves trekking paths through the woods, stopping to check out a hopping tree frog, and finding the perfect walking stick. He is quite ready to go hunting with dad yet, as he needs to work on the whole "being quiet" concept. But I see many adventures in their future together. He was absolutely so happy and content outside in the wilderness. I am so thankful for this and it's just what Scott and I envisioned when we bought this house. The house was secondary to the location and school district. So glad to see the kids out enjoying.

Sitting down for a rest on this stump!

Collecting rocks to throw is so exciting!

An enthusiastic Elmer is "weddy to det do-ing mom!"

Ella our budding fashionista put together this lovely look. She wants to wear her headband like her PE teacher. I think Elle's interpretation is a tad off! :0 )They were having fun balancing on a fallen tree.

Chopping down a tree with his stick/saw

They climbed the mountain. That's Elle's pose for king of the mountain.

Tossing rocks into the pond on the back side of our property.