Pioneer farms

Austin had 2 exciting things happen today. First he went to Pioneer Farms for his first field trip this year. But even better then that was that fact that his daddy was able to go with him. This was the first Field trip that Kevin has been able to chaperon and he was it was a blast. He loved getting to know Austin's friends and see his teacher for a few minutes. He said that it was really cold!

Time to carve

Since it has been almost 2 weeks since we bought our big pumpkin to carve we thought it would be a good idea to actually carve it. The kids have been patiently waiting for us and only asking about it several times a day.


Kadin was a little freaked out about putting his hand into the pumpkin and pull the guts out but he quickly learned how fun it is. I think that this will be our last year to get one big pumpkin to share. Next year we will be getting one for everyone... it should help out at least a little bit with the joyful communication that occurs as they are all wanting to gut it at the same time.

Since Mayla was too little to help us carve it we thought she might look cute in it!

Yep...she does!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Many years ago a tradition began. It started 5 years ago with 3 families and 7 children.

What began by accident one Sunday afternoon has become a one of my favorite traditions. We have grown to include a couple more families and a few more children.

This year we returned to Schultz farm. The weather was wonderful! I love the weather in the fall. I love the cool evenings and the warm (but not hot!) days.

I never get tired of watching the kid's excitement. And they are really good at getting excited. This morning Kadin wouldn't go into Sunday School because he wanted to go to the pumpkn' patch! Now!!! Thankfully he only fussed for a few minutes then enjoyed church until it was time to go.

We enjoyed the farm but most of all we enjoyed just being with our friends.

Preschool Orientation

Today was a big day for Emma. Her family was invited to an open house at school. She called up grandma and grandpa and off we went. Austin was also excited because Ms. Marilou and Ms. Sheri were his preschool teachers and he couldn't wait to see them again.

Emma dressed up in her best dress and was thrilled to introduce us to her teachers ans show us her classroom, playground, and all her artwork.

sweet cheeks

When Mayla was born Daddy nicknamed her sweet cheeks. He couldn't have picked a more fitting name. She has the sweetest cheeks!!

Scrapbooking!

For the last 5 years I have had the pleasure of spending at least one weekend per year scrapbooking with 7 wonderful friends.

These weekends have been a blessing for me in so many ways. There are moments in motherhood that I feel overwhelmed and alone. God has placed these women in my life as my support system and my friends. We have spent countless hours together laughing, debating, and scrapping. They have given me a breath of fresh air in the moments when I need them most.

This year was quite a bit different. Three friends couldn't come. We missed them...a lot! But we were thrilled to bring in three new friends to join us (one was my awesome sister!). The other huge difference was the table full of computers! In the past we have had 8 women fighting over table space as we created cute paper scrapbooks. This year almost everyone has switched to computer scraping. We were left with just a single paper scraper. I'm not making a permanent switch though...you just wait until I have time again...I'm going to knock your socks off!

2 months

Mayla is growing so fast! She is 2 months now and doing great. She is officially out of her newborn clothes and is wearing 0-3 months size now and using size 1-2 diapers. She still loves mommy very much and likes me to wear her all the time. If I try to put her down she will normally only sleep for about 5 minutes before she figures out that I'm not holding her and "calls" for my return. She is so cute that I just love hanging out with her and showering her with kisses. When I talk she will look around for me and smile when she finds me. She can stay awake for several hours at a time and is starting to drink in everything that she sees around her. She loves to smile at everyone in the morning but not so much in the evening. I think that she has stopped using the pacifier and still nurses every 1-3 hours around the clock. Austin, Emma and Kadin all still fight over who gets to hold her and when daddy gets home from work he joins right into that fight!


What she loves the most... Cuddling with me on the couch while she sleeps and trying to make little cooing sounds while she is awake.



What she hates the most... alone time!



She is now 12 pounds 8 ounces and 24 inches long








Lets compare with her older brothers and sister at 2 months old:

Austin-11 pounds 8 ounces. 23 inches long


Emma-12 pounds 3 ounces. 23 inches long


Kadin- 13 pounds 0 ounces. 24 inches long