Our October In Pictures

The first of the month, Annie ended her first season of club soccer.  I'm not much of a fan of the world of competitive club sports with their two-hour, twice a week practices, and, then, one or two games a week with an hour practice beforehand.  Brad was the "soccer mom," mostly, while I was home with a new babe.  But when I did go to the games, I almost cried . . . . in sadness.  This is a whole different ball game than community sports.  I liked it better when Annie was the star player and we actually scored.  Ah, well.  She has positioned herself as the goalie now since that is where all the action is-- our team's goal.  It would scare the beegeebees out of me to play such a high pressure position, but, Annie likes to be where it's all going on.  She was really proud of her "shut-out" on this, the last game of the season.  








The middle of the month, Brad turned 33.  Someday I should probably stop announcing his age, but we are young yet, right?  (Thanks, Mom, for taking a picture.)



We also enjoyed our meager, end-of-Fall harvest.  I was exceedingly proud of my tiny apple crop.  I almost had Brad chop down the poor, crooked, straggly tree multiple times this year, but, now, the red and green is so pretty, and, I'm just so thrilled that my kids and the neighbor kids didn't pick them all as tiny green balls for their "potions" this summer.  It may have won itself another year.



We did better in the baby harvest area.   I like this picture because here she is in front of our family picture in the background.  Our new addition.



Babies and bills and homework. . . at least she's happy about it.



She is really just the sweetest thing.  I wish I could capture her cheek dimples-- can you kind of see them?  Someday when I have Brad helping maybe. 



A self-portrait-- hard to do with a baby in arms.  I must have been feeling artsy that day.




At the end of the month, we blessed Brielle in our ward.  



Before church, I was just going to snap a quick picture of all the girls in their white dresses when cute Caleb asked so sweetly, "could I be in the picture too?"  Of course you can!  What was I thinking?  











I don't usually think Brielle looks much like me, but this picture looks exactly like one of me at that age.






And, then, of course, Halloween.  Do we recognize these costumes from last year?  I prefer to keep things very low-key.  Besides, Katie insisted that she needed to be a Chinese girl again because now she can actually speak Chinese.   

She's here!

I took these back when she was two weeks new. She's a little older than that now :) but transferring pictures to the computer and sorting through them and posting them on a blog took a little longer. I seriously don't get anything done these days-- at least that anyone but me and my family would notice. Keeping everyone clothed and fed seems like a mammoth task. We are just in love with Brielle and exhausted as the sleep deprivation is adding up.











. . .more on the photoblog.

Confessions of a Squeamish Gardner

I went out and harvested some fresh lettuce for my lunch today. I haven't had a very successful garden this year, which is sad, because I've really been trying. But, I've been watering faithfully and some lettuce is finally thriving. I washed it really well and then spun it in my salad spinner. . .really well. I loaded up my plate (I'm all about greens, you know), put some dressing on and was so excited to taste those tender, organic greens that I'd grown. I started cutting up the lettuce on my plate, and then, I noticed a little garden spider limping away. My stomach dropped and so did my appetite. Poor little thing just limping, trying to get away off my plate. I put him back outside, although he'll probably die. I think I chopped a leg, or two. . . or three. I just couldn't bring myself to eat that salad. A little too fresh for me.

the grand fiesta

Happy 6th, Kate! If only every day could be your birthday. You are our own little princess. You are so observant and kind and attentive to others, you deserved a day where all the attention was on you. What a sweet, cuddly, independent soul you are.



Here are some glimpses of Katie's day and her first friend party. We were out of town last year on Katie's birthday last year and I have absolutely no pictures. This year I may have overcompensated out of guilt.









All smiles!

Mother's Day

Did I mention how spoiled and loved I was on Mother's Day?  I LOVED my homemade cards and gifts and love coupons from my children.  I loved that Brad got to stay home from all meetings and relax and play games with the kids Sunday afternoon.  (He also got to speak in church that day with his new Elder's Quorum Presidency, lucky him.)  I love being a mom.  It is getting more and more rewarding.

He's four!

I remember dying of heat before Caleb was born, but this year it was raining and we were back in our pants and long-sleeves. We had a fun family party at Jumping Jacks, although, I think Katie got some foul disease there so I may not go back for a long while. And, I even unbent enough to make Caleb a real old-fashioned chocolate birthday cake-- I still sweetened it with honey instead of white sugar, but, you know. Heavenly. (Annie's phylum husk pudding cake was my low-point. Sorry to the extended family that was subjected to it.)









We had another party at Grandma's.







Caleb, you are just the cutest kid. You love to tell jokes and educate me on superheros and animals and their creature powers. You've been so patient with your health challenges these past months and so loving to your sick and pregnant mother. A thousand times a day I'm grateful to have you in our family.

Baptism

I thought Annie would burst out of her skin. It was like her spirit could hardly be contained inside her little body on this baptism day. She was baptized with her friend, Andrew, from our ward and when the 1st counselor in our bishopric asked which of them would like to go first, Annelise's hand immediately shot straight up into the air. She had waited long enough.  Brad gave her a beautiful blessing during her confirmation and we had great extended family support.  Such a sweet day for our family.

Annie

Annie had a happy birthday and felt loved and adored by all.  Can't you just tell by her face?  And rightly so.  She is such an energetic, intelligent, helpful, compassionate girl. We're so lucky to have her.

She requested a surprise party this year and I think she was actually surprised when she got it.

Happy Easter

I feel like I've fallen off the face of the internet for awhile. This pregnancy has been hard, but I think things are looking up. I'm just hoping I can handle these last three month of getting huge now. Well, I made the heroic effort to pull out my camera for Easter. Dad was already at church at choir practice but right before the kids and I left, I snagged a couple of shots. I think I have the best children.  I look at these pictures and can't believe how old they are getting or that we are soon going to add another.