A new farm

We celebrated a little friends birthday (Happy Birthday Kate) this past weekend by visiting a new pumpkin patch we've never been to.  It was fun to go somewhere new and there were lots of fun things to do, like a cornbox (sandbox but with corn in it), fun barrel kids train, baby cows to pet, and much more.  Our 80 degree weather had turned to 40 degree weather, but we all bundled up, pulled out the hats and mittens and had a great time.

 

Good buddies

That time of year

It's that time of year for all things pumpkin, including our annual small group pumpkin carving contest. We decided to go simple this year with a little twist.  Lee only carved a pumpkin this time.  With 3 kids to manage while trying to carve pumpkins, anything too detailed is impossible for us at this stage in life.  So, here's how it turned out...'N' with "projected" fall leaves.  We saw this idea (the projection part) online and I was surprised it actually worked, and actually looked cooler than I even expected because the leaves appeared to flutter around when it was lit.  We also did smaller monogrammed pumpkins for the girls by just shaving their initials in the pumpkins, and I'm kicking myself we didn't take a picture of them.  They were cute and then we found these "lite brite" type things at the store that they used to decorate their letter.  So cute and fun.  Here it is...2012 pumpkin.   

 

Being Together

We had our pictures taken a few weeks ago, by our talented friend Lauren.  She's always really good at being patient with our family, finding fun locations, and making my family laugh and smile.  The picture above is actually one of my favorites, and it's the only one she gave us like this, but it's just a "this is who we are, real life" picture.  We're trying to get it together before we all say "cheese," and 95% of the time, this is what our family looks like.  In the mist of emotions, drama, craziness of the day, this is one of the things we enjoy most, just being together.

 

One year later

Baby to toddler, how this little girl has changed.  She has so much personality.  I never really gave her 1-year stats, but she is a healthy little girl (in the 20th percentile for her weight, which I think is the highest any of my kids have been at 1).  She is an eater and will out eat her sisters at most meals.  She can be so sweet, but throw a fit two seconds later.  She loves being apart of our family's life and doesn't want to miss out on anything.  Thankful for this past year we have had with her, and look forward to many more. 

A fancy affair

One night this past week, Isabel asked me if we could have a fancy dinner.  I'm pretty sure she got the idea from a Fancy Nancy book, but it could be an original too.  We would all wear dresses (a tie for daddy of course), princess crowns, and use the fine china.  I was making somewhat of a fancy dinner that night (a new recipe, for me at least).  How could I say no?  So I said sure.  We sent Lee an invitation (via text message):) and told him to be prepared for a fancy affair that evening.

My dish was my friend's Chicken Tikka Marsala with homemade Naan.  Lee even put our sides of rice into fancy little mounds on each plate.  It was delicious!  I was probably not prepared enough for how much time I would have to put into the dish, but it all turned out well in the end.  It was a fun evening for all.

And just for all you Grace people, here was my kitchen sink after the cooking was said and done.  Keepin it real.  And for all you non-Grace people, listen here to our pastors recent sermon series, Gospel Treason.