"Kitten Died"

We went to the orchard yesterday, the four of us, and did not pick one apple. We played leapfrog, jump over the dad, roll on the ground, etc, etc, and Tate often forgot that there were others enjoying the day around us. She kept yelling (happy yelling) and just being generally loud. We finally told her that every time she yelled, a kitten died (play off "It's a Wonderful Life," albeit a little darker...). Few minutes later, she screamed, looked at us and said, "kitten died!" That girl is quick. Cracks us up.


We ended up buying much cheaper pumpkins at Home Depot - a little sad buying pumpkins off a pallet, and a little sad not supporting a local orchard, but we all are feeling the pinch. Plus we just laid out a tidy sum for eye doctor checkups and glasses for all (!!!).


Happy, happy fall.

Getting ready

Weather could not be more beautiful right now. The last several days have had skies of all blue, crisp evenings and nights, and up to 75 during the day. FALL IS HERE!!! And no rain! Ahhh - perfect. 

Wood pile moved to the back, check. (It spent a good week and a half in our driveway under a tarp to keep it dry). Who says we don't provide our kids with good, clean fun? Well, maybe not clean...

Tate's soccer is back on after the rain, too - Smith was David's assistant, and he told David "now I understand why you like coaching kids so much." He loved helping his sister's team. It's all girls now, and they scrimmage with a ball always in play, but David is teaching them real soccer, and they are getting it! Look at that girl - she's getting so big!

Nerds and making lemonade

Chipotle, our weekend favorite. The boys were making a Tate sandwich. Tate found a Nerd anomaly, and no, she doesn't have two left hands, the other one is Smith's. Finally stopped raining on Monday so we went outside - we ended up very wet and soggy, but darn it, we were going to enjoy the rain respite! Leapfrog was ON!

Rain.

We haven't had this much rain since...yesterday. I feel moldy. We've had soccer cancelled over and over again. Fall is my favorite time of year, usually! This is getting very old.

Finally got the caterpillars from the Butterfly kit that Santa gave Tate last Christmas (!!) - they are firmly ensconced in their chrysallids currently, and we should see some moth action in the next couple of days. Amazing creatures that are able to transform from one shape to another like this. 

We were able to get some fun in at JoAnn Fabrics - Check out this scary mask! Freaky, right?

This was the sky at soccer one night. Gorgeous. We were waiting for the dark skies behind us to drop their rain again (are you sensing a theme of pessimism and lack of sunshine? I would never make it in Seattle!). 

Walk to 7-11 for slurpees - it's now gotten quite cool (put the heat on for the first time), so this may be one of our last walks for this season. Always a favorite. And look at those cutie patooties!

Lately...

This is on my needles - a sweet, soft, blue and green baby hat for a friend who is having a baby boy. I'm making this hat.

We're back on with Lego Club Fridays - 4 of Smith's best buddies come over and they eat, play Legos, eat, run around outside, eat, and play Lego's. They are great kids. 

Tate and I are getting in the FALL Spirit - she collected beautiful red leaves from our outside tree (sadly, we have ONE tree in our yard. That must be corrected!) and decorated a pie plate with them. 

Smith played a game in Culpeper, VA, Sunday - long drive, but beautiful. We are becoming intimately involved with Route 15 - seems all our games are that way. Here he is, #5, doing his thing!

Rainy Day(s)

Started raining here Monday and hasn't let up much. I'm not complaining - days like this make me want to stay home and ACCOMPLISH things. I've vacuumed, dusted, done laundry, baked, hugged my kids, worked on my work projects.

We had a break in the weather, so we headed outside...I seem to have a few pictures of Tate emptying her boots over the years...These kinds of days, I encourage the kids to get sloppy muddy. I remember playing in the rain when I was a kid.

This Moment

From Soulemama