Post 300

You know you are going crazy when you are loading child #4 into the car seat and child #3 says, "Hey! I have a shirt just like that!" Then you look and notice that the 6 month old is wearing a size 3T shirt that you put on 5 minutes earlier.

These pictures are out of order, time-wise, but that's ok. :)

Joe worked late last night. I have been SOOO tired lately, I think because I am border-line anemic, and I was just laying on the floor sleeping while the kids played. Anyway, the door-bell rang and I had one of those panic moments like, "who is it! where's my glasses? my hair looks crazy!" I tried to hurry and put myself together and get to the door, and I was greeted by this beautiful fruit from a lady in YW with me! The kids and I oooo'd and aww'd over it and then dug in. It was delicious! I need to learn how to do this! And I need to pass on the good deed, because you never know whose day you will brighten by doing something nice.

Grant and I attend a little play group/ preschool with some other 3 year olds. It was our turn to bring a snack today. . . for the letter "U!" I could NOT think of anything, so I finally just made some dough and shaped the rolls into the letter "u." We also brought fruit roll-Ups. The kids ate them, but I think the moms may have appreciated them more. They were prettier out of the oven, but I failed to document in the rush to get to the play group.

Yesterday we went to the Dallas Arboretum with a friend in the ward. It was beautiful! There were pumpkins galore and princess houses made out of pumpkins and a Texas history area. We were able to attend story time and kindermusic there, too. Oh, and Grant got his face painted as. . . Spider Man! He was excited and proud to show his face to Logan and Madison when they got off of the bus yesterday.

I really enjoy these outings. Sometimes I feel bad that the other kids don't get to go. And sometimes it feels like I only have 2 kids, which makes me feel younger. I would love to go back with the whole family, except that I am sure that everyone has the same ideas on Saturdays, which is the only time the whole family could go. Darn that public education.

This is what Ammon did at the Dallas Arboretum. . . in his 3T shirt.

The weather is cooling down here in Texas. . . to about 85 degrees. In the mornings it feels quite chilly. . . at about 65 degrees. A few years ago, Joe and I decided that our family hobby would be hiking. We've been slowly collecting hiking gear (like the baby backpack), but then we moved to TX and finding a good place to hike has been a little harder to do. We decided to check out the trails around the lake by our house before the Saturday morning session of General Conference. In truth, we could have pushed the stroller on it, but it was fun to pretend. We also surprised Logan and Madison and picked up their friend Alison and took her hiking with us. We only went about 2 miles, but fun was had by all.

And now it's time to clean the kitchen. I'd rather take a nap.

Leaves

Last Friday, which may have been the last nice day of the year, we raked up our leaves.  The kids were sorta' helpers... well, they tried, anyway... and they had fun.  Well, Grant had fun for about .1 second before Logan and Madison thought they would have fun dropping itchy leaves on him. We started out with jackets but raking apparently burns some calories.  I also discovered it's easiest to rake the leaves into a pile then push, instead of pull, them to the street. Something cool about this place: we leave the leaves on the tree-lawn and this cute, Dr. Seuss-like truck (thanks for the imagery, Melinda) comes by and sucks up the leaves.  

Outlet Mall and Ducks

We found some GREAT deals at The Children's Place.  Shopping was even fun with the kids because they have DUCKS and a PLAYGROUND.

I'm a Believer...

For the last year we've been hearing about Patterson's apple farm.  I kinda' grew up on a farm, in farm country, and I thought, "apples shmapples."  But while Joe was having some serious  teeth pain, some great neighbors took the kids there and they had a blast.  So we decided to check this place out--and I'm a believer!  We left the house in a hurry (it was our turn to clean the church) and thus a little unprepared for the chilly autumn weather.  We stopped at WalMart and got some $1 hats for the kids and a long-sleeve shirt for Joe (who insisted he was fine in 50 degree weather).  We spent quite a bit of $ on fresh kettle corn, apple cider, apple yummies, doughnuts, and apples (which we picked ourselves).  We got to go on a tractor wagon ride down to the apple fields and back (confession: we went more than once just for fun!)  Definitely tradition-worthy!

Going to the ZOO (again)

We bought a Boonshoft pass this year, so we've been going to the Cleveland Zoo, and reciprocating  museums, on a regular basis so we can get our "money's worth."  Some friends invited us to go with them, and Grandma and Brent came too.  This was the middle of October, and as you can see, it was warm enough for shorts.  We forgot to bring the Benedryl for Joe, but he didn't brake out in hives while visiting the gorillas this time.  We even rode the train.

I love Grant's face here--he looks like an old man who has lost his teeth!

Canning

In the seven years we have been married, Joe and I have never lived closer than 20-30 hours (driving) from either side of our families.  (Joe--TX, Jenn--PA).  Since moving to Ohio we have been blessed to be able to see my side of the family (2 1/2 hrs.) more often.  My parents live in the middle of nowhere.  They own a nice chunk of land, have some sheep and chickens, a big garden, four-wheelers, and tractors.  There's lots of work to do and much fun to be had when we visit Grandma and Grandpa (and Uncle Brent).  In our September visit we canned tomatoes, rode four-wheelers, canned applesauce, watched some football, and canned some more.  (And we took a romantic walk without kids!)  Who knew that work and food storage could be so fun?  Parents are wonderful.  Not only did they share their knowledge of food preservation, but they gave up their Saturday, sent us home with almost all of the day's work, plus 25 bags of corn they had frozen for us during the week, among other odds-and-ends.  I was touched by their love for us, reminded of the love our Heavenly Father has for us, and encouraged to be a better mother to my children.

p.s.  They usually wear helmets when they ride the four-wheelers.  I just caught them as they were parking them back in the shed.  Also, Logan LOVES riding.  Madison is hit and miss.  She was really excited to go out, but then screamed the entire time that she was ready to go back home.  

p.p.s. Yes, Joe is pulling applesauce out of the water on the front porch!  We had apples and tomatoes boiling in the house, so my dad started a gas stove on the porch to do the rest.  It saved a ton of time.