A Fun Fall Night

 

 I love Fall.  Especially this year when we are coming off an extremely hot summer, it's so nice to wake up to cool mornings, running with my stocking cap again, and fires out back.  Saturday was the first official day of Fall and I thought it would be fun to have our own little Fall Festival in the evening.  We walked around the neighborhood and found acorns and leaves and then came home and made leaf crowns and nut necklaces!  The kids thought it was super cool, it felt good hot glue with them and it was a fun way to spend the first day of Fall!

 

 

 

 

 We ate chili and we drank apple cider out back with a fire.  It was perfect. 

 

 

 

 

All afternoon the kids kept asking if we could have a family over for dinner, but we had decided to just make it a family night.  It turned out so much fun!  After we ate and it was dark enough, we played a family game of ghosts in the graveyard.  I forget how fun it is to just play with my children sometimes.  With all that I juggle each day, just playing with them comes in last most of the time.  We ran and laughed and screamed and had so much fun!

 

 

 

Pizza and Apples

 

 No oven, no problem.

 We had fun one evening cooking our pizza outside on the fire pit!  Our oven broke but that didn't stop us from having pizza!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Friends of ours have an apple orchard in their front yard which is SO COOL!  How awesome to just walk outside and pick your apples...think of the pies!

So we went over and loaded up a few bags for ourselves, thanks to their generosity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Poor George.  He is terrified of dogs.  Big, little, it doesn't matter.  He spent the whole time we were there in the safety of the tree...out of the dogs reach!

 

Fatima Play

 

Thomas and Annie were part of this years annual Fatima play.  Thomas suprised us all by wanting to try out for a speaking part.  He ended up getting to play one of the three Fatima children, Francisco.  He did such a good job and we were so proud of him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was Annie's second year of being an angel, and she did a wonderful job!

 

 



It's just beginning...

 

Living in a house that is surrounded by very large trees has many benifits.  The one disadvantage is that come fall, all those leaves will go somewhere for someone to pick up...

 

On His Own

 

George,

You are handling the transition into school so well, I am so proud of you.  Here you were, having never been in an organized sport or school, and then we throw you into both at the same time!  Kindergarten and Soccer! 

I still can't get over how excited you are about school.  Everything is a big deal...reading the lunch menu at night and deciding whether to have hot or cold lunch, taking your papers out for me to look at when you get home from school, picking out your two books when it's your day to go to library, finding something to take for show and tell, and picking what snack to bring the first time you were assigned...I forgot how these small things are such a big deal to a five year old.

 

 

Pete, Evelyn and I came to have lunch with you at school for the first time.  I couldn't get over  how little you seemed sitting there at the lunch table in your uniform, giggling with your friends, while nibbling at your food.  And yet, you were so content, so comfortable with it all.  I did feel my heart sink a little as I watched you take your tray over to dump it and put it away.  As you were trying to dump out your uneaten applesauce, it spilled all over both you and the floor.  The look of concern on your face was heartbreaking.  Then you threw your spoon away and had to reach down into the enormous pit of uneaten food to retrieve it.  You weren't quite sure where your tray should go and very concerned that you now had pink applesauce all over your shirt.  Oh, how I wanted to grab you and take you home with me right then and there, but instead I wiped off the applesauce, assured you that no one would notice it, and then watch you run off to recess with your buddies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Your first weeks at library you checked out Star Wars books, just like your brother Thomas did when he was in Kindergarten.  I read these same books over and over to him and I think it's funny that you are picking the same ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And watching a swarm of five year old boys run after one soccer ball never gets old.  You raised your arms up in the air and smiled a big smile when you kicked the ball into the net!

 

The Second Anniversary

 

Our little Joseph would have turned two on August 11th. 

Two.

It's hard to imagine, but I do.  Ever so often I find my mind wondering what we would be going through with him right now, who he would look like, what his temperament would be, what he would be allergic to...all kinds of thoughts.  Especially now that we have Pete, I see how much he is changing and growing and it makes me think of Joseph.

 

 

I absolutely love our tradition of celebrating his birthday out at Babyland where he is buried.  Such a simple thing, and yet it means so much to me.  I want our children to always remember him, that they have a brother in heaven, and how important his short life was to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Joseph, pray for us!

Before and After

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Here We Go Again

 

 

The night before the first day of school is here again.  In an attempt to ease any back to school jitters, I like to make the night before a calm, fun and enjoyable evening both for the kids, but especially for me. It doesn't usually end up this way mind you, but I sure like to shoot for that!   I'm fully aware that with tomorrow comes the schedules, homework, stricter bedtimes, packing lunches, and school activities.  Plus, this year George will be going to Kindergarten three days a week.  I looked at him differently today, coming to the realization that his life will forever be changed tomorrow.  Tomorrow he will be a "school kid."  

 

 

 We went for our annual "night before school family walk" which entails bikes, wagon, helmets, stroller, and all of us going for a walk around the neighborhood.  I try and not initiate conversation as we walk.  I have to hold my toung as I am tempted to ask for the one hundredth time "are you excited for tomorrow?"  I just watch them and listen,  a silent memory making for myself, trying to remember this night before the big day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We came home and headed to the backyard for a fire, smores and a story.  We've been telling progressive stories by the fire lately and Annie just loves it.  I'll start with "Once Upon A Time"...and go on to come up with some sort of creative concoction of a story and just at it's climax I point to Annie where she gets to take it from there until she points to someone else.  It's fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first morning of school is always crazy, I don't care how much I plan ahead and lay out.  It was a good morning nonetheless.  I got up and went for a short run and ended at the Pink Sisters so Thomas could ride his bike there and we could start off the new school year with going to confession.  Such a great tradition for us and it truly is a wonderful way to begin something new.  Thomas pretty much takes control of breakfast in our house and so we all started off with scrambled eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 George did so great.  I really had no idea what to expect with him.  He's never been away from me or been in any organized activity yet.  But, he was so excited to get dressed, put his backpack on, and wear his new shoes and ready to get out of Sherman and find his spot to stand.  And just like that, he walked right on into school, by himself, no tears, just ready to go.