Life Lately: Fall Edition

Is it me or has fall flown by? It's like I blinked and suddenly the stores were filled with Christmas trees. Fall is undoubtedly my favorite season of the year which means it can never be long enough, but to make matters worse we try to cram as much fun as possible into those three months which makes it go by even faster! But this year, we have fully embraced every second of this gorgeous fall weather. Sixty degree temps means boots, scarves, and all the apple cider. Seriously, my kids are obsessed with it. We spent quality time with both sides of our family, made our way through multiple pumpkin patches, and had an absolute blast on Halloween. This may very well be my most favorite fall yet!

We kicked September off with tailgates, birthday celebrations, and a half marathon. (I guess two fulls were too much for the hubby to handle in one year. Slacker.) We took Logan to his first first football game at the beginning of September and it was HOT, so we spent the majority of our time standing in line for shaved ice and ended up leaving at halftime. The kids enjoyed running up and down the bleachers and spending time with their besties, so we called it a win and had Mexican for dinner. Later in the month when my birthday rolled around, we decided to switch things up and go on a Goodwill date with two of our favorite people. For those of you who've never heard of a Goodwill date, it's where you go to Goodwill and buy outfits for the opposite couple based on a set budget. We set our limit at $20 per couple and were amazed at all of the fun stuff we were able to find. Jake ended up with a 90's velcro wallet, and Corey got those sweet shades. You're welcome. Michelle was about 36 weeks pregnant in this photo so finding her an outfit was quite the challenge, but, ladies, never underestimate the power of a two piece suit and a belt! Little did we know at this time that baby Henry would make his debut 3 days later, arriving 4 weeks early on Taylor's birthday! That very next weekend, Jake completed his first competitive half-marathon at the Roots N Blues festival here in Columbia. Despite his lack of training, he managed to beat his personal record and completed the race in a little over 1 hour 40 minutes. The guy's a rock star.

In October, we had a visit from Jake's sister, Monica, and her husband, Jacob, who live in Idaho. Living far away from half of our family is incredibly difficult, but we're always thankful when they take time out of their busy schedules to come visit us. We took them to all of the local hot spots: Flat Branch, The Candy Factory, and, of course, Lloyd's Pumpkin Patch. Our kids had a blast spending the weekend with Aunt Mo and Uncle Jacob and can't wait for their visit again next year! ;c )

The following weekend, we made a trip to another pumpkin patch down around my home town and celebrated my dad's birthday. These crazy kids always have such a blast together, usually with equal parts laughter and tears and way too much sugar. This time was no exception. Four opposing little minds are hard to navigate, but after 4 hours and lots of compromises everyone was tired and happy. We ended the weekend with a big family dinner at my sister's house followed by apple pie a la mode (per the birthday boy's request). Weekends like these fill my cup to the brim and remind me just how lucky I am.

The next weekend was Halloween, so we did all things pumpkin: painted pumpkins, carved pumpkins, watched movies about pumpkins, and, of course, make cookies in the shape of pumpkins. Taylor was dying to wear her Halloween costume the entire weekend, but we made her hold off until the actual holiday. On Halloween night, we started with their party at their daycare before heading home to trick or treat in our neighborhood. Taylor was Belle and Logan was her Beast (which was really just my way of reusing Taylor's old lion costume since I didn't want to spend money on a new one that I knew he wouldn't wear). They were ridiculously cute holding hands as they walked up to each house to ask for candy. Logan tired quickly so he and I went home to hand out candy while Jake and Tay ventured on around the block. They didn't last long due to the frigid temps which was good for me because our street was filling up fast with trick-or-treaters. The kids helped Jake hand out candy in between bites of pizza and M&M's until the rush died down. Then, it was to the tub to scrub, scrub, scrub and finally off to bed. Jake and I ended the night watching Stranger Things and eating the rest of the Reese's. Perfect.

 

Annnnnd that brings us to November. I'll have another post soon, but, for now, it's probably best to end this one here. Sorry for being MIA so much, but I hope to have more updates on that soon. Let's just say that big changes are coming for our family, and Jake and I are trying our best to keep up with it all. More info to come!

Taylor's 4th Birthday

...which was on September 27. #motheroftheyear

My experience with birthday parties for our kids goes something like this: for their first birthday, they get a big, over-the-top celebration. This includes a well-thought-out theme, hand-made decorations, an elaborate cake (courtesy of my mother), and beautiful invitations sent out to all of our family and friends. On their second birthday, I'm still recovering from the previous year so we host a small, family party and take them to a fun event (for Taylor, it was Disney on Ice). By their third birthday, I get the party planning bug again and throw another large, theme party. For Taylor, we hosted a carnival in our backyard with handcrafted games, prizes, and circus-themed snacks. Of course, I was so busy running around like a chicken with my head cut off that I forgot to take any photos (which is why that post never appeared on the blog). So this year, when we got to her fourth birthday, I said screw the party and asked her what she wanted to do. Her request consisted of a sleepover with her twin cousins and a trip to the local indoor bounce house. Fine by me. Since my sister was out of town the weekend of Taylor's birthday, my parents opted to bring my nieces up to help with the girls and celebrate with us. I love my nieces dearly but they are polar opposites and require a lot. of. work. Especially when you add a third wild child and a feisty one year old to the mix. I'll take all the help I can get.

On Saturday morning, we had Taylor's annual birthday breakfast of whipped cream (with a side of waffles and fruit) before heading to Tiger Bounce. The kids bounced and ran until it was time to head home and begin Taylor's birthday celebration. She tore into her presents one by one, receiving Barbies, baby dolls, and more accessories than we knew what to do with. After every toy had been unwrapped, we led everyone into the backyard where Taylor's last present was waiting. She came down the stairs to find this Fisher Price Dune Racer from Jake and I, and her face lit up just as I had imagined! The kids took turns driving and riding, making endless circles around the trees and trying not to run into the fence. Eventually, we had to drag them inside for cake and ice cream and ended our fun-filled day with popcorn, candy, and a movie that evening.

The next morning, the gang was up early to squeeze in every possible minute of play time before our guests to leave. Logan was in heaven playing with the big girls and would do anything to capture their attention, even letting them dress him up in tutus and jewelry. The big girls loved treating him like their real-life baby doll and argued over who got to push him in the baby stroller. Side note: my 30 pound "baby" is entirely too big to fit into a toy baby stroller. Since it was an usual 90 degrees outside, we blew up the pool and bounce house and had an impromptu backyard fiesta. The kids asked to have a picnic outside, so we snacked and swam our way through the afternoon.

Later that evening, we sat on the front porch steps and waved goodbye as our guests headed home. Taylor was sweaty and sunburned and thanked us over and over for the best birthday ever. Next year, we'll have another over-the-top birthday (because FIVE is a very big deal), but I think a small, simple celebration was exactly what our four year old needed.

Happiest of days, sweetheart. We love you more than you'll ever possibly know.