October In Review

Golly jeepers!  Has it really been over a month since my last post?  I am failing in epic proportions these days…  Time marches on, yet motivation to get on the computer after a full day is just about the last priority on my list.  No worries yet, I still love having the blog and won't be ridding us of it anytime soon!  How else can I keep my peeps across the country updated of our latest and greatest (and not-so-greatest?!)  Here's a re-cap of the fun we had in late Sept/October:

This little lady is becoming quite the personality.  She is a talker (wonder where she gets that from?? ;), a lover, a drama queen (what 18mo isn't?), a caretaker, a keen observer, and a contributor (in noise, opinion, etc.)  She will not be the forgotten baby! ;)

Case-in-point: take a look at our little photo bomber, crashing her big bro's first Cub Scout shot!  We are excited M has committed to Cub Scouts this year.  So far, so good.  He has been camping with our Eagle Scout Papa as his escort, has earned his Bobcat Badge and a few belt loops!  It has been a really cool opportunity for him.

The weather here has been so beautiful and the boys have been playing oodles of football and soccer games in the backyard.  Occasionally they'll swing too.  This is what happens when three boys are left to their own devices.  lol.  Mom to the rescue, but only after I snapped a pic and J uttered a few cries! ;)  These boys are silly beyond belief, especially when they're together.  I love it.
 

And the girls go along for the ride.  It's cute to see these two begin to emerge as friends--that's if one isn't stealing something away from the other.  They speak the same peaceful girl language and will most likely become best frenemies.

Did I mention she's a ham?  Oh Lordy, she kills me!

Here is another fun sibling game in the works--lightsaber LIMBO!  J is not making the cut in this shot.

To see the games they come up with…  I love it.  Fun is always to be had in G-Ville!

M conducted his first big science project for class.  He was curious which would taste more sour--a lime or a lemon?  This involved polling our whole family and having us taste Sample A and Sample B (mom knew which was which!)  The final tally was 4 in favor of lime to 2 (Mimi and J) in favor of lemon.  M seemed to really enjoy the project and seems to be a budding scientist.  (This thrills his mother, the dormant science teacher!! :)

J learned to ride a 2-wheeler!!  It helps that his best buddy learned a few months ago.  J was bound and determined to join the neighborhood kids riding without training wheels up and down the block!  He spent an afternoon or two learning to coast without pedals and then added the pedals and was off!  Way to go, J!

October was not without a pretty fall Sunday trip to the pumpkin patch.

MG and I were in pursuit of the perfect pumpkin.

Here's Daddy and his sweet girl

And another nice one of Daddy and the middles

We got this fun family pic--notice anyone missing?  M was at his Cub Scout campout with Papa.  We were sad to be without him and definitely felt his absence.  4 is not nearly as flavorful as our 5!

The next week the boys participated in their annual Golden Shoe Competition in gym class.  They run for 6 minutes and try to log as many laps as possible.  Here was M with some buddies.

He ran well and achieved 4.75 laps.  I was impressed that he never stopped and just kept up his steady pace even when others were getting tired.  Mama and little sisters were cheerleaders extraordinaire!

Later that week we had the chance to root on T in his class' race.

T was determined...

and victorious!  He beat his personal best with 5.6 laps.  It was a great effort and he was so relieved to be done.  Definitely a chip off the old block of nerves here!!

I was able to capture a few shots of J and his best bud, Cooper, who is our neighbor and also his classmate.  These two are peas and carrots.  They argue like brothers and play like they've known each other since birth.  Cooper's mom, Christy, and I enjoy catching up during preschool carpool.  She saves my sanity many-a-day!  We talk and the boys get to play…  Aren't they cute?

Speaking of cute, here was our little love after spending some time at Mimi and Papa's house one afternoon.  Daddy was out-of-town seeing college buddies, so the crew and I landed on M/P's doorstep that Saturday evening.  We ate pizza and the kids enjoyed playing trains and legos.

The next week was spent in preparation for Halloween.  The kids all designed their pumpkins...

but left the gooey grunt work to mama.  Yuck!  I seem to always get stuck with the cutting.  Next year, it's Daddy's turn!! ;)

The outcome was worth it, though.  Our original plan was to have 3 Duck Dynasty brothers and two girl ducks.  We ended up with 2/5 following the plan.  T was Uncle Si and V was a duck.  J decided last-minute he wanted to be Spiderman, so I scrambled to find a costume that would fit (hello pajama section at Wal-Mart on Halloween?!)  M chose to don an old ninja costume from years prior (we've gotten SO much use out of those ninja suits for any and all occasion).  MG switched with 10 minutes to go to trick-or-treating--thankfully I have an upstairs closet pretty much devoted to old costumes.  A purple butterfly, it was.  As I've said to some, she's lucky she's cute. ;)

My littlest lover has a hankering for sweets.  Not surprising in the slightest!

So does her big sis!

And with that, we wrap up a wonderful October 2013.  

It was a great month and was exceedingly full.  I look back at these pictures and am humbled God has given me such a bountiful life of goodness and blessings.  With the good, comes hardship too and October was not without a little of everything.  As I mentioned before, at the beginning of the month we lost the boys' piano teacher.  He was a 40yo father-of-three who contracted a virus during a dermatological surgery and didn't catch it in time.  The boys handled it surprisingly well and we all attended his viewing to pay our respects.  The piano stood still for a good month in our home and has just started making music again.  M and T began lessons last week with our former teacher's brother and we are seeing God use this new start to help inspire their love for playing again.  Our new teacher is encouraging 6 days/week of playing, so I'll let you know how that really goes in a few… ;)

Blessings to you,