Family Pictures

The past couple years we've taken our family pictures for our Christmas card at mom and dad's before Thanksgiving dinner. Last year the weather was so nice and warm - it was great being outside. This year the weather was not so nice - it was freezing! I made sure to put multiple layers on the kids and we braved the cold to take a few pictures. We (Danielle took some too) got some good ones for the brief time that we were out. 

New Addiction

Danielle's been running for several years and has gotten mom to start back up again too. They've done 5K's, half marathons, and Danielle's even run the Chicago marathon twice. I've always thought they were crazy - who likes to run?! But last spring, Danielle sent us all a text wondering if we wanted to run the Hot Chocolate 5K in Chicago this fall. I thought, 3 miles, yuck! But everyone else was going to so I said I'd run too. In August I started running and found that - shock of all shock - I like running. I'm not sure if it's the quiet alone time or the fact that I'm getting some exercise or what it is exactly, but I really enjoy it. We spent the weekend at Danielle's for the race and got to enjoy some kid-free mom/daughter time. It was so nice. The morning of the race we got up very early, took the bus to the starting point of the race, and then waited. It was freezing and there were so many people, but once we got started, it was awesome! I can't wait to run in another one. Now, if I could just get my knee straightened out...

Waiting for the race to start

Chicago sky line from the starting point of the race

Running

After the race

Enjoying hot chocolate after the race

My good friend Jan ran too so I caught up with her after the race

Halloween

The girls struggled a little this year with what they should be for Halloween. I bought Coye's fish costume at the end of the season last year for less than $5. We usually make our own costumes so I tried to come up with ideas that the girls would like. Chloe first wanted to be a princess, but they were that last year, so I discouraged that idea. When my Parents magazine came in the mail, it had a section on homemade costumes. Chloe saw the "smart cookie" idea and decided that's what she wanted to be. We made her cookie out of cardboard and pieces of paper the girls cut and glued on. She had the play glasses and also a graduation hat from graduating preschool. My niece Clare was going to be a fair queen, but then decided on something else. Aubrey loved that idea so we got to work figuring out her costume too. She had a fancy dress so I just had to sew her a sash. I looked up pictures of what they looked like, got some material from Eileen, and got to work. We added a crown and some fancy jewelry from my stash, and she was a fair queen. Halloween day was rainy, but we managed to avoid the rain while trick-or-treating. They had a blast walking around to different houses and they got tons of candy. 

Wade and Coye

Happy Halloween!

Aubrey the fair queen

Chloe the "smart cookie"

Coye's fishy tail

Coye the koi fish

Trick-or-treating with their cousins

Walking up to the houses with Daddy - at every house Coye said "trick or treat, smell my feet" no matter how many times we told him to not say that. (We got a library book that had that phrase in it and apparently it stuck.)

He eventually got brave enough to walk up with the others.

Aubrey's sash

Going through candy

Coye finding his candy

Carving Pumpkins

The past couple of years mom and dad have come and helped us carve pumpkins. It's so much easier when the ratio of adults to children is equal. After a little pleading, they came. The kids each carved the pumpkin they picked out at the orchard. Aubrey and Chloe's pumpkins were big and much harder to cut open and clean out. Coye's was a piece of cake. He loved helping scoop out the insides. The girls did much better this year too. In the past, they've been grossed out by the slime inside, but this year they both got right in and dug some of it out. Once they were all cleaned out, the girls drew faces on the outside and then mom and dad helped them cut the pieces out. Their faces were a bit elaborate so some adjustments had to be made, but they turned out cute and the kids had fun carving.

Curtis Orchard 2013

The end of September we headed to Curtis Orchard. This year I was determined to go on a day where we wouldn't get rained on (like last year). It happened to be nice and warm that day with a chance of rain that we managed to avoid. The kids loved it and had such a great time!

Annual picture in front of the apple

The kids and I in the big chair

Climbing the ramp

Riding a pony for the first time

Chloe loved it

Aubrey did too - probably her favorite thing of the whole day

Going down the slide

Aubrey helping Coye up the inflatable

Feeding the goats - none of the kids were very excited about this

Going across the zip line

Doesn't she look extremely tall here?

Chloe's turn

Aunt Jenna, Grandpa, Aubrey, Chloe and Coye

Headed out to the patch to get some pumpkins

Aunt Jenna and Aubrey led the way

Searching for the perfect one

Aubrey found hers

Coye insisted on a little one for himself

Dining Room Redo

This summer I decided that it was time to redo the dining room. It was in desperate need of a paint job (walls and ceiling) and the light we had in there was hideous (what were we thinking when we picked it out ten years ago?!). Most of our main floor is a cream color, so I wanted to do something different. I also wanted to recover the dining room chairs, so I first found material and then went from there. We painted one wall a dark brown color and the other three walls a dark tan color. We bought a new light and I re-did the decor on the walls (well, I'm in the process - I have yet to find curtains I like). Once I get the rest of it finished, I'll take pictures, but for now, here's the dining room chairs that I recovered. I love how they turned out!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I know it's been forever since I've last blogged. Things have been so crazy around here for the past couple of months - there's always something that needs to be done. I've been working on several projects that I never finished over the summer. Plus canning and freezing everything from the garden. I need to get caught up so here goes.....