So Thankful

I am lucky. 

I have a ton to be thankful for. 

double trouble

And these four well, they top my list. 

just a moment of love between sage and ells

Its the moments we take for granted that I want to stop and cherish. The days I have to watch them grow up before my eyes. 

my favorite part of each day! seeing him come home! 

Trick or Treat

We got to trick or treat in our neighborhood this year with some of our best buddies.  We had the quite the crew and they had a blast despite the crispness in the air.

Carving Pumpkins

We got to carve our huge pumpkins this year. 

We waited till thursday and those pumpkins were massive and really thick. d was our carving machine as usual and he did a great job. i do the cleaning and the kiddos were entertained by grandma and grandpa (they are way more fun)

Aren't they great?

We decorated a few at our fall party in the neighborhood too.

And our jack o lateens and our best pumpkin faces too. 

Quilts

we got to visit great grandma k awhile back. we had so much fun hanging out and timed it perfect to also see his aunt and her gran baby. 

we are so thankful for these beautiful quilts that grandma k makes for all the grands. she has een making them for years as we have ds too.  i had hoped to grab a picture of all my babes with theirs but i just got these two. when we had them out they used them non-stop and kept asking for their grandma k quilts. such a meaningful tradition and they all feel so special with their own. 

                                          

thank you grandma k. we love our quilts but more importantly that you loved us each so much to design and make us each our own special one.

Shadd's Fall Party

I was lucky enough to be able to volunteer at Shadd's school fall party. The were wrapping up their section on Community so we got to go to various centers in the school or a mock community. 

We kicked it off with a visit from the mayor. Then to the library. The bakery. The grocery store. The YMCA. and finally the construction site. 

Here are few pics from the day. I didn't get too many as there are quite a few little ones to get from place to place. 

Shadd with some of his buddies in his class

 The construction site build.

The bagging grocery store race.

 And the library.

Zephee 3 Months

How cool is this?

A little train on Chugginton (Disney Jr show) has the name Zephie.

I think its cute and since that is what we call the little z most of the time, I love it!

Well he is getting bigger - 3 months already!

He is a smiling machine lately. Just look at that grin. Love him!

Still eating about every 3 hours. Spits up all the time. Reflux? Maybe. Hard to know. He is a happy spitter and seems to be gaining but I leave a trail most days around the house, usually smell like spit up and don't go far without two or three burp rags. I think they are most of the my daily laundry. I will not miss that part of this stage.

Sleeping still a long stretch at night with waking around 3-4 and then going back down till morning. He is learning to soothe himself back to sleep at night which is amazing and makes for a much quicker feeding. Still a few naps a day but somedays are better than others. No real routine and if they all nap at the same day like today it is really a miracle.

He is really starting to talk and coo. He is so so close to a rip roaring laugh. He still loves to hang out on the changing table. Love his baths. He is starting to notice toys and loves to play with his siblings. He is a smiley little guy and can follow voices and really knows his momma and daddy already.

Center Grove With Dad

Since we didn't get to do the corn maze last time...we took the first free day Shadd had and headed out to the orchard with Dad. Always easy and way more fun with Dad.

There was a lot of the jumping pillow!

We tackled the corn maze and found all ten checkpoints. Holla! However we forgot to turn in our lists for the prize. Bonehead move Dad!

I fell in love with all the pumpkins but we already had way too many

Ells could pedal the tractor cars this year so that was fun.

And we got to do the big slide too. Of course Zephy and I were there too.

Football Season

I know. I know. A little late with this post. Well thats what you get when you actually take the time to get the photos of d's phone too. 

Well no longer because we are officially an apple family. All connected all the time! Amazing!

So here we are getting pumped for the ISU season. Only to be very disappointed. I mean we are pumped up for basketball though! 

We also got to cheer on the DUTCH! They have done awesome and unfortunately new baby, basketball, cold weather, sickness etc. we only got to go to one game this year. Total bummer. But we did get fireworks afterward so that was such a treat.

the cousins pumped for the game

D and Shadd went to the first ISU game with some friends and hit up all the extras. 

Monkey Bars

This dude is getting so big...

After watching American Ninja Warrior (it was quite the hit around our house and amongst our gang of neighborhood boys), he is getting a bit adventurous at the the park playground.

It never ceases to me amaze how watching others can help you have the confidence to give something a shot you never thought was possible.

And after days of blisters on his hands - I think the monkey bars might be a BIG part of recess too.

I was just IMPRESSED he could get the entire way across. I doubt I could. Mine more weight vs strength though!

Daddy Daughter Date

Ells got to go to a daddy daughter dinner with D the other night at Chick Fil A.

It was a frozen themed dinner complete with hairstylists and the princesses Elsa and Anna.

she loved the cow and his rendition of let it go

getting an official elsa braid

Since Ells is going as Elsa for Halloween she got to wear her dress. It was a surprise and she was pumped. She had a blast of course. And lucky for her she got to enjoy the night with her cousin M and cousin H and their daddies.

And the crown hasn't really come off ever since. Even wore it to the grocery store.

Big Thanks to Aunt K for the hook up otherwise we wouldn't have ever even known about it, let alone be among the few couples that got to enjoy the festivities. And kudos to Chick Fil A. Great marketing. I love that place for way more reasons that the yummy chicken sandwiches, fries and cookies.