Suddenly Six!: October 2018

"Dear God....
Thank you for this day...
please let tomorrow be a good day...
and please let there be a full moon tonight instead of a half moon again.
Love Caleb."

Shaking his fist at the heavens, Levi demands that the winds stop blowing leaves onto his neat lawn and tidy leaf pile. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"
My daily experiences in the laundry room allow me to empathize with him.

"Go Mom Go! Go Mom Go! Go Mom Go!" My children chant an encourage chorus as I attempt, with all my strength and might, to push an extremely large pumpkin over a bumpy pumpkin patch in a wheel barrel.Banging my shin into the side, I soon realize that it has a flat tire.
Nonetheless, I was one determined mama to get my super sized Patton Pumpkin home and make it a magical day for my kids.

Magic pumpkin day

James about to devour his sticky Carmel apple treat at the pumpkin patch

"It doesn't get any better than this!" declares my dear friend Emily as we pass yet another brilliant fall afternoon sitting in the cul de sac while our kids circle us on scooters.

She's right.

When I look back on a year, I tend to focus on those "big moments," those Life Events.
That is why I think my years keep going by faster and faster and faster! I tend to skip over the small little moments while I plan and strategize about the approaching milestones.
My friend reminded me that I am spending a lot of time passing time, when the time I'm passing is my life!
However, this fall has had so many little moments that I have really enjoyed. As I sit here and try to remember the funny phrases and cute little stories I am filled with so many visions of beautiful afternoons with the kids, under trees, at playgrounds and with friends.

This fall we could actually enjoy and play in the leaves! It has been so beautiful and dry; the leaves aren't goopy and wet from rain.

I'm one of those people who never gets tired of the change of seasons.

I wouldn't want to live in a place where the leaves don't change color and the air doesn't get crisp. The older I get, the more I really really appreciate and anticipate the beauty of each month.
Yes, I even like the rain.

We've had so much going on in our family the past month. There has been vans, trucks and workmen coming in and out of our house daily. We had to have our entire house repiped and redry walled and repainted. Although it was an inconvenience, I am so grateful we are able to complete all these projects and just get it done. It truly was surgery on our house.

We completed these projects in the "Nick of Time", hours before John's entire work team flew in to conduct their annual meeting in our basement.

I have really relished in the changing leaves. They are more beautiful to me than ever before. I have often times spent afternoons after picking up my boys at the preschool playground, letting them run around and enjoy the sunshine.

"Can you make this into pumpkin bread mom?"

We've enjoyed sunny Saturday mornings at Evie's soccer games, cheering from the sidelines.

Bottle this day up

Evie is really enjoying her soccer season playing on the "Cute Cuddly Puppies" team! 🐶

The tooth fairy also visited our home again. Complaining about her front tooth for weeks, I got an email from the school nurse that Evelyn marched into her office at school and wanted her to help pull it out! (She won't even let me brush her hair!)

Levi walked around trying to pull his own teeth out because he could use the extra cash too.......

The boys had their field trip to Lusher Farms. Again, it was on a beautiful fall morning and John and I both got to go with them and help build their scarecrows and tour the farm.

They were very proud of their work.

The boys and the scarecrows. I can not believe this is the last preschool farm field trip!

Caleb following the farmer's directions and tearing up lettuce to feed the earthworm. He's determined to do a good job.

Despite the chaos in our home this fall, I've really really enjoyed this season. I don't want it to end. It is bittersweet that this is the last fall with my children at preschool, and sometimes I simply stand in the preschool playground and just soak it up.

The surrounding trees at BCP are so colorful.

We had a great time as a family at Fir Point Farms picking out our pumpkins.The kids loved finding their perfect pumpkin. Now, we just have to carve them all!!

And, James really wants me to cook him more pumpkin spice goodies.