Sadie Turns 8!!

 This year Sadie had a party at a local pottery place.  They made really cute jack-o-lanterns out of clay and painted them. 

We sure love our sweet Sadie. She's definintely her own person with her own sense of style. If there's one kid who's going to express themselves through their clothing and not worry about what other people think, it'll be Sadie. Check out her birthday outfit.

Here's some other examples of our little eccentric :0)

 She wore this spider all day at school.

We found her wearing these in her sleep.



 At least she's wearing a helmet :0)

Halloween

 Okay...it's almost Thanksgiving, so it's time to post our Halloween pictures :0).  Elise was Cookie Monster, Sadie a Monkey, and Anabelle The Bride of Frankenstein.

Fall Hues

 I just can't get enough of the colors at this time of the year.  I find myself being hypnotized by it.  Here are a few pictures I snapped one day in our neighborhood.  I just couldn't drive by without trying to capture what I enjoy most about the season.

 These pictures were taken on High Bridge Trail in Farmville.  I'll post about that adventure later :0).  Even though we missed the peak of the leaves, the colors were still worth admiring.

Rocks & Sticks

So the kids had an early release day and we didn't make any plans.  After some squabbles about what we should do on a beautiful fall day, I decided we would compromise and do one small thing on each person's list.  For Anabelle, we went to Target to look at shoes.  For Sadie, we got ice cream.  For Elise, we played outside and for me, we walked through the woods.  Despite the bumpy start, it ended up being a great afternoon.  My favorite part was when I took the kids to a little spot by the reservoir to eat our ice cream.  At first, we all sat there on the dock, but after a few minutes of chatting, the girls started throwing rocks and trying to see who could make the biggest splash.  Then that turned into finding the biggest rock which turned into digging in the mud to pull out those rocks.  Then that turned into making tools to pull out the rocks.  Which turned into who could come up with the coolest collection of rocks.  I really enjoyed watching my girls play.  I think lots of children don't have opportunities to do that or just choose not to...especially middle schoolers.  Sadly, play takes a backseat to phones, TV, and video games.  I was such a proud mom watching my girls just be.  It was so wonderful for me to see their play develop and change; to see them interact with each other and have fun outside on such a beautiful day~

Mama turns 40!

 It's true. I'm 40!  I had a nice birthday with my family.  I had to work which was kind of stinky, but we had a nice evening at home.  The kids decorated the house with black streamers and balloons with pictures on them.  They didn't make me feel any younger :0).

Sadie's turn at Softball

 We signed up all three girls for softball this fall!  Sadie is in the rookie division where they have machine pitch.  Her team is the Rockies.  We really enjoy watching her team play.  One parent said this age is like watching the Bad News Bears :0).  Sadie is having a blast & really enjoys playing catcher!  I think that's because there's lots of action there.  Out in the field...not so much.

 Go Rockies!

First Day of School

 Up at the crack of dawn for middle school.  Definitely an adjustment...yawn. 

 It all hits me as she's walking out the door.  "No wait!  How in the world could she already be old enough for middle school?  What happened to my baby???  I just want to hold on to her a little longer this morning."

 And she's off with her buddy. Mom & Dad weren't allowed at the bus stop this year.  Anabelle respectfully disinvited us :0(.

 Round two.  Elise is in 5th and Sadie is in 2nd.  Look...they match!

 Okay...this doesn't happen every morning...spare time before the bus comes that is. At least Danny got some quiet time to chat with one of his ladies.

 There they go.  Danny's ready to party, I'm in tears.  Why does this happen every year?  Danny took the day off, so we did party a little.  We went to breakfast and on a bike ride together.  It felt really weird to be alone!

Here's Anabelle & Danny after the first day.  Looks like they're ready to take on day two!