A Banana, Two Monkeys ... and a ???

My crew tonight ... Jack as a ... not quite sure ...
and his "hobo" friend ...

 

Two monkeys and a giant banana ...

October 31st, 2012 ...
One year ago today we were united as a family in the same geography ...

 

Thankful ...

 

Pumpkin Carvin' 2013

Another first for Nora ~ pumpkin carving and painting this past week.  And, I love that Samuel and Nora dressed for the occasion (purely coincidental).

This girl is fearless in so many respects (while at the same time having some unexplainable fears like the cracks in wood planking / playgrounds), she just dug into the bowl of pumpkin "guts"! 

Jason, Jack and Nora are going to have to be the designated "scoopers" every year (the rest of us are happy to let others take care of that step of pumpkin carving!).  

 

Utilizing a technique learned from the cousins last year while we were in China, love that the kiddos have the memories of their time with the Grandmas and their Uncle, Aunt and Cousins so vivid!

 

 

On pumpkin carving day the LilyKids received a package in the mail, super fun trick or treat bags from Elizabeth.  Love that she surprised the kiddos and love that she so accurately pegged each of their personalities!

 

And, that was pumpkin carving 2013.

 

Autumn Bliss {at the cemetery)

Sunday was pretty much a perfect day in my estimation ... crisp air ... but not too cold ... sun shining ... the smell of fallen leaves.  Autumn.  Bliss.  A perfect day for a family "hike" through the cemetery (the boys have been reminding us that we haven't had a picnic in the cemetery for a while so this was a compromise).  The boys brought a football that they tossed around as they "hiked", and the girls had a bag to gather chestnuts from one of the old chestnut trees.

When we were "shopping" for a plot (why can't there be a nicer word for that) while Owen was still full of life, walking through the cemetery was excruciating.  It was one of the hardest things we ever had to do.  I remember that day so vividly, a warm sunny day in May 2008.  We spent many Sundays at the cemetery in that initial year.  And, while it is still painfully obvious that a rung in our family ladder is missing here, we are thankful for the beauty that surrounds us and how we can celebrate life.

Looking at these pictures from Sunday, it caught me how others might it find it so odd that Lydia found a tombstone to sit on as she rested, that the backdrop of a game of catch and chestnut gathering is rows of grave stones, but look at the beauty. 

 

Crazy Boy - Jack may or may not have used the football as a weapon against the poor chestnut tree to get her to drop more chestnuts ... sigh ... boys ...

Hey Pinterest ... got the perfect chestnut craft for me?

 

Lydia was D.O.N.E. at this point ... that girl!

 

That's what He does, doesn't he? Makes beauty of ashes ... while the tears still fall, we are thankful.

Getting All Crafty

I have a fondness for note cards and stationary ... really all paper products, and I like to have a variety of fun and pretty cards on hand to send out little notes of encouragement.   Yesterday the girls I got to spend the afternoon with two of my beautiful friends, a treat for sure.  And, an outing that I wanted to follow-up with some good old fashion notes ... through the US postal service (sorry girls, I'm ruining any surprise of snail mail this week).

Well, I didn't have anything in my stash that I was loving, so while Little Miss napped this afternoon Lydia and I got our craft on!  Inspired by this post (and, of course, originating from Pinterest, where else, right?), we made Autumn note cards.  Jack joined us for a while and got his craft on, but he escaped before I could take any photos of him.  He has a lot of artistic, creativity in him, but he doesn't want to be published on mom's blog painting with q-tips with his little sister (and, I think he's sensing more and more when potential photos now may show up say in 2020 at a certain senior's graduation party)!  

 

 

 

I must say that I am loving how these turned out, and Lydia is quite proud as well (as is Jack, and Samuel thinks they are cool, but not cool enough to convince him that he could also get his craft on!).

12-Mile Family Ride

Today we did the Maywood Earth Ride, it's a "quick" 12-miles which is perfect for the boys (well, for the little boys ... Jason was remembering when he used to do the 100 mile route).  It was perfect for the girls as well as they were being pulled behind while enjoying their treats from the rest stop. 

It's proven, all children go through the cheesy smile phase -

Little Miss is totally there!

Race Day Prep - "How does my helmet look?" 

You're not surprised that she wears the least girly helmet we have, are you?

 

Staying hydrated in the "balmy" 60 degree sun ...

chilly and a bit windy, but truly a beautiful near-Autumn day!

 

CHEESE!

 

The post-ride activities were fun too!

 

 

 

Our non-sports boy is a surprisingly talented hula-hooper

 

Maywood Earth Ride ~ September 21st, 2013

Thanksgiving Week Tradition

A Thanksgiving Week tradition for us is to take the three days before Thanksgiving and head to a waterpark resort in the "Water Capital of the World" (go ahead, google it, it really is Wisconsin Dells!).  We started this tradition eight years ago when Jack was just one, and we have gone for six of the eight last years - only taking a year off when I was pregnant with Samuel in 2004 and with Lydia just last year.  After a year off, it was very clear that the boys have gotten a lot more independent and "brave." 

It seems we have the most pictures of Lydia, followed by Samuel and then Jack.  You see, Jack was often off with his cousin doing nine year old boy stuff.  Nine year old boys can be hard to relate to at times, right Rita?  How blessed we are to be able to do this with Jon and Rita and their family!  I love that that Jack and Samuel enjoy and look forward to hanging out with their cousins!  And, to just listen to the conversations amongst them ... it makes me giggle.  We'll just leave it at that!

May your Thanksgiving and

Christmas Season be blessed!

More Fall Tradition ...

Carving Pumpkins ...

Dressing Up ...

Soccer ... 

Annual "Fall Festival" at Grandpa & Grandma's ...

(apparently with no pictures of the boys!) 

 Ahhh ... Autumn Bliss

The Amazing Race

Today we got the privilege of being in an intense competition - an amazing race hosted by a friend and another family. While this was our first year participating, it was the 3rd year of the race. There were 9 families competing for the best time of getting through 10 clues / stations. Each family had a family theme - we were "Team Autumn Harvest."  We had these cute tees made with our Team Autumn Harvest insignia (a little pumpkin and leaves).  I must admit that I do love how they turned out (my love of Autumn and of personalization all wrapped up in one cute tee!). 

The race was held at a large park and, of course, like any good race marshalls and planners, the clues and tasks had you going all over the park, back and forth.  And, yes, it was intense - we literally were running from one station to the next.  Lydia bounced along in her stroller - what a good sport she was!

We ended up being the first family out and crazy enough, we ended up having the best time (a little awkward since we were the rookie family and all).  Our clues led us to tasks including fishing pennies out of jello with chop sticks, kicking soccer balls through hula-hoops, deciphering morse code, eating cupcakes, "bowling" basketballs down a very large and very steep hill (felt like a mountain when trying to get the balls back up it) to hit traffic cones, putting together puzzles, throwing a frisbee, untangling Christmas lights, and finding objects in a box without being able to see them.  The last task was answering questions about each of the nine tasks already completed - oh boy!  Some of the nine questions we remembered the detail they were asking for.  The others?  We had to race back to those stations and get the answer.  Each task required us to work together and stay together as a family, and each family member had to participate in all of the activities.  We had so much fun!  Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of us completing the tasks as we were too focused on being competitive!!!

Renee (and Michelle), thank you for inviting us, and thank you for all of the planning and coordination you do to make the race amazing!!  We had a blast!!

Autumn Bliss

It's not officially Autumn yet, but days like today remind me why this is my favorite season and all of the things I love about it ...

Crisp, cool air ...

Falling leaves ...

Autumn hues ...

Spiced cider ...

Baking ...

Fall recipes ...

The apple orchard ...

Jeans and sweatshirts ...

Bike rides and races ...

Cinnamon and clove candles ...

Caramel lattes ...

Smell of burning leaves ...

The pumpkin farm ...

Soccer games ...

Birthday "season" ...

Oh, I love this time of year!

Jack - Autumn 2007

Samuel - Autumn 2009

Race Day

Another Fall Tradition - the big mountain bike race!! So proud of my guys and how my little guys have a heart for biking and racing, just like their Daddy!