WHAT A DAY: V.I.P. day

This is the day I've been waiting for all year. The day where this nosey mom, who is sad to be missing everything her daughter is doing at school, got to go to school! Very Important Person day started our amazing day. I got to sit in class with Olivia for one hour of pure enjoyment. We colored, cut, glued, stapled and talked. I got to see where she sits, who she sits with, put faces to names, and see the infamous shoe bin, where her "outdoor" shoes go when she enters the classroom and puts on her "indoor" shoes. All very weird to me, but whatever! It was great to spend an hour with my wonderful Olivia. She is an amazing little girl, who never passed on a chance to help, spoke kindly to her classmates, and is just too smart for her own good! Forgive me if my chest is puffed up a bit, I can't help myself.

Lined up for Info-Tech, what we all called, Library.

Reading me her story.

Her BFF Rebecca.

Another good friend, Zoey. They passed out the kids books for them to read. They were so intent on reading all the names and worked together wonderfully.

So happy to be in school!

WHAT A DAY: In the leaves

October 26th - snow, freezing rain, and howling winds. October 31st - sunny, breezy, and 64 degrees! What a day! We had fun this afternoon playing in the perfect weather. I raked up a pile of leaves for the girls while Gideon crawled around in the dirt. I love fresh air, leaves and dirt on kids, it's a great combination!Olivia throwing Gid in the leaf pile. . .

. . .and he liked it.

Es takes her jump.

The girls liked to go together.

WHAT A DAY: Halloween

To end the wonderful day, of course there was trick or treating to be done. Garrett woke up this morning with a fever, so he was out for the night. He took it well and enjoyed handing out candy (and maybe a fever) at our house with Josh and Gideon. We live in a rural community, but our little town of Burnips is quite the stop for trick or treating. We've never ventured too far from the house in the two years that we've lived here because it is a lot of walking. This year our friends from church offered to let us use one of their golf carts to get around in. It was a BLAST! I thought that Josh would really want to take the girls out, mostly because of the cart, but I got to go! It was a first, driving from house to house, but soo worth it! The girls had a great time riding and getting LOTS of candy. And I had a great time driving and talking with the other adults. We ended our night at the fire house in town, where they had pop-corn, cookies, donuts, cider, bug juice and coffee. Something for everyone! Hope you all had a safe and fun night too.

Hannah Montana, Ninja, Monkey, and Abby Cadabby.

Hannah's ready for her solo!

The ninjas ready for a fight.

Oh, my! Abby's going to take flight!

My little monkey.

The caravan of golf carts. LOVE IT!

Chad sporting his daughter's Hannah Montana wig.

Olivia ran the whole time! She wasn't a great help with Esther tonight. Oh well, every one's got their vice! Candy seems to be hers.

Mommy and the girls.

Hannah's still posing after 3 hours of running.

Esther liked the talking fire truck at the station. All the kids seemed really excited about it.

I think that face says it all.

THE END!

Here's to Hoping!!!

GO Phils GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WIN IT TONIGHT!!
The Colts win is a long shot - but we will cheer all the louder!!!
GO COLTS GO!!!!

Weekend in Indiana

I am so far behind on blogging! Every time I've sat down to do it, something stops me. Does this mean I'm not suppose to blog anymore? NO WAY! These pictures are from our visit to Indiana last weekend. We had lots of fun spending time with cousins, Nana, Pa-pa, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles. It's amazing how much the kids change in such short times between seeing each other. It's always a great time for the kids and adults!

Garrett and Isaiah jammin' with Pa-pa. For a live feed of that jam session, check out the video at the end of this blog!

Olivia and Elijah add to the music.

Esther sat by and clapped along. She does it so beautifully, doesn't she?

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Ledbetter on Friday afternoon. Gideon loved having Nana help him drink lemonade!

Grandma had cupcakes for the kids to decorate, they were a huge success! This is Maggie (I think) showing off her cupcake.

There were 1o kids 6 and under playing at Grandma's this day. When they were all on the play set, it looked like a swarm of bees at the hive!

The kids love to play with Nana's computer. Olivia was showing the boys the Mr. Men games on the Internet. The boys are all modeling their new winter coats, complimented nicely by their pajamas.

Attractive, I know!

Nana helped Isaiah and Esther put puzzles together all weekend, what a patient woman!

#1's

#1 SMELL OF THE DAY: 2 LOADS OF THE BOYS CLEAN LAUNDRY,THAT IS YET TO BE FOLDED. . .

#1 taste of the day: homemade cookies made by my oldest daughter

#1 sight of the day: looking out my bay window to find that fall has showed up all around me while I wasn't looking

#1 touch of the day: a hug that speaks volumes

#1 sound of the day: laughter filling our home

Here we Grow!

There's nothing special going on in chilly Michigan. Just the same routine of, Olivia to school, Garrett's school at home, chores, errands, church, and family time. We've been playing Sequence for Kids and loving it. It's so easy Esther understands most of it. She enjoys finding the square that matches the card she picked. The kids have even played by themselves, without fighting! Gideon is all over the place and really likes music. I've been trying to catch him dancing with his zebra toy, with no luck. I did catch him singing along with Josh tonight, so that video is here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy the goofy pictures!

Me and Esther trying to take a good picture. I cut myself out and she thought it would be funny to make the 'pout face'.

My little man!

Garrett taking a picture of himself - hilarious! Check out Josh in the background - he's watching the Colts lose. Good thing they pulled it out in the end.

Olivia enjoyed the extra cupcakes from a baby shower I hosted last night. That's icing, not a mustache!

She's such a goofy girl!

Just a couple of notes about this video: The extra clicking you here is Garrett playing his guitar with Josh. I was annoyed with Esther for distracting Gideon from the guitar, until she started her silly dance. And Olivia is asking me to take her picture, which I had, except it wasn't her alone, so she was mad.