Swing Photos

I have been wanting to take candid professional photos of the kids swinging for a few years now. So I set up a mini session just with the kids at the swings in Lithia Park. I have no idea if they will turn out, but I was excited to try. The session was super last minute. I actually set it up yesterday so I ran around today trying to coordinate the outfits for the kids. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Before the photo session we went to the pumpkin patch with Estelle and the cousins. We were going to go to the pumpkin patch on her birthday but it was closed. The cousins had a great time and the weather was beautiful. I love Fall. Following the pumpkin patch I picked Mary up from Kate Stidham's basketball birthday party, got the kids showered and cleaned up and headed to the photo session in Ashland. To reward them for their cooperation we took them to Red Robin for dinner and celebrated Noah's birthday. The kids were really good.

Sleep Over

It's been a while since we had a sleepover with the cousins. We thought that since there was no school tomorrow it would be the perfect opportunity. Plus, it's a great incentive for getting chores done. They had a great time, of course.

Doll Hair

A well-loved doll is also a hair mangled messy doll. Today Nicole and I took Hallie and soaked her synthetic hair in some fabric softener. Besides smelling nice it made her hair brushable, sort of. Let's see if it will keep.

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After:

Fire Station

I joined Nicole on her field trip to the fire station today. We walked over from preschool and met the fireman, watched a safety video, toured the station and fire trucks. Nicole loved it.

Bee Sting

The school called today on my way from picking up preschoolers. Noah got stung by a bee. He was pretty upset. It was painful and it was even bleeding. So, I took him home to recoup. He really couldn't use his hand the rest of the day. At least it's nice to know that he's not allergic.

Plucking Pumpkins

Before conference started this morning the kids went outside with Aaron to the ditch where a random pumpkin plant was growing. We are not sure how pumpkins started growing in the ditch. Our only guess was that when we disposed of our pumpkins last year we must of thrown them in the ditch and a seed sprouted and grew? The kids only remember putting our old Christmas tree there and think it was probably from that. Ha! I am sure there is a good parable in there somewhere. I think all these amazing conference messages are making me see life lessons out of everything around me. Conference was incredible, of course.

Noah is SEVEN!

Noah's birthday started with some fresh made cinnamon rolls. Then soccer games, MRE's school clean-up, and conference. I took the kids to Panda Express to celebrate while Aaron went to the priesthood session and we spent Noah's birthday money at Toys R Us on the xBox 360 Skylander game. Although it was busy we made sure to shower Noah with a lot of love on his special day.

Noah is such a great boy. I love how tender his heart is and how good his actions are. He is so helpful at home, playing with his siblings and keeping them happy. Noah is the first to give me a snuggle and has a joyful spirit. When we learn about the gospel he soaks it all in. He loves to sing, hum, and keep up with the big boys. I'm so blessed to be his mom.