The End of September

Katie LOVES spending time with her older cousins. She gets super excited running around and making weird noises. Notice blanket and little lambie in the picture. It would be a calamity if anything ever happened to blanket and or little lambie. And yes, we are all about creative naming in this family. Mommy letting Katie make a huge mud-pit in the sandbox. I was getting lunch for Levi and looked out and she was just getting ready to play in the nude. Considering the amount of roofing people in our neighborhood at the moment I compromised and told her she needed to wear panties. We have all been fighting colds the past week or so and I am ok with whatever it takes to get us through!

Drinking out of the hose. How is it still in the 80's here!!! Yuck. Bring on the cool.

Doing Nana's hair.

I didn't get great pics of our hike at Mueller...but the color was awesome.

My new favorite trick of Levi's. Whenever he feels shy he snuggles up on me. I love it. I love him! Please stop growing up Levi! Please start taking naps too:)

Day to Day

We took a trip to the apple orchard. They have a pumpkin patch too and the kids loved playing with them. It was a kind of crazy trip juggling kids, trying to pick raspberries and dealing with tantrums. The weather was great and Katie was happy that for lunch she had a powdered doughnut and pudding. I think I would try to go with Taylor or Grandma on the next trip. Trying to get a cute picture. Levi started eating rocks and Katie was throwing them. Then the tractor pulled hay-ride showed up. Who knew how terrifying that would be:)

Playing at the park. I can't believe how good Katie is getting at climbing. Brave too. She can get around on most of the equipment now. I remember last summer she was just starting to go down slides by herself.

Who doesn't love swings!

We stay on the swings for most of the time at the park. Katie has been riding her scooter to park which turns our 5 minute walk into 30. She gets worn out though which I love!

Mommy blinding Levi with the camera flash. He is always sucking that lower lip.

He is crawling everywhere. I had forgotten how many things need to be baby proofed. He also is way more into things and putting them in his mouth than Katie was. Door stoppers are addictive to him. He loves pulling the end cap off and trying to get it in his mouth before I can get to him.

A new dress for Katie. Mini-Boden style copy again.

Making sugar cookies with Grandma. I ran out of white sugar and had to sub in powdered as well as butter and had to use shortening. They actually came out really good. Which is normally not what happens when I make cookies. They tasted like Lofthouse cookies which are my favorite! Katie had to change into her bathing suit to make these cookies. She also ate more dough than we cooked:) A girl after my own heart...about the cookie dough, not the bathing suit.

Another mini-Boden knock-off.

Tonight

Taylor's at class. Here is what I am up to...after I get the booger off Katie's finger. She is yelling at me, "Mom I got a booger." Nice. At least she isn't wiping it somewhere for me to find later!
Making Chicken Stock. Eating these cookies I made for play-group this morning.
Sewing a rod-pocket for new curtains for Katie's room. These are an old shower curtain.
Watching Flicka 2 and reading Cold Sassy Tree. I know I am a dork for the movie choice...but I love movies like this. Horses, bad-acting...woohoo here I come!

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a new project up on the craft blog too! Inspired by miniBoden.

11 Mile Canyon

We drove up to 11 Mile Canyon this past Saturday. We were supposed to camp but it hit below freezing the night before so we decided to pass. We visited The Donut Mill on the way up and then spent a few hours at the river. It is so beautiful there. Playing with sand toys and Grandma.
Fishing with Daddy. We will have to get her a pink pole for Christmas I think.
Can you see where Jasmine ate the toys off the exersaucer:) She chewed all the stuffed toys up. Jasmine is Taylor's parents dog.
Hiking with Grandpa.

Bagels Blogging Bossiness

I made homemade bagels this morning. Yum-O. I made 8. There are 3 left. Katie had 1/2 of 1. I have been using the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day and really like it. I want to try some of their Heathy recipes because I think a lot of the recipes I have tried taste similar.

I am trying to blog more. I like getting my thoughts out there and feeling all interactive and productive. Blogging can tend to be such a braggy thing. "look at me - I make homemade bagels, and craft and am wonder-woman!" Which though true in some areas, does not mean in all areas. Thought in the interest of being real and honest I would show some of the other side:)

And this is a good day! The food on his tray has been there since lunch.

Not a fan of the chores that are uber-repetative!

I have one very bossy daughter. She gets it from one of her parents. Any guesses which one? She likes to tell Levi what to do. Put things in his face and say "no, Levi." She loves to tell Mommy what to do and when and where. Someday it will serve her well. Right?

Waiting...

Life has felt a little incomplete lately...



Taylor and I have been missing something...



It comes in a small package...






Should come in the mail tomorrow! Think we can fit season 3 in before #4 starts? I might need to get a few more tubs of ice-cream.

Balloons

We started checking off the fall list this weekend by going to the Balloon Classic. I was worrying about being late,but we ended up seeing tons of balloons, para-gliders and parachutists. Katie has been looking forward to this for weeks! She was running around pointing saying,"Wow! That's amazing!" She loved it and we are looking forward to making this a family tradition.

The Fall List

September 1st and we just got back from the pool. It is hot out and probably will be for another month or so...but it still feels like the beginning of fall. We made a "summer-list" of things we wanted to do. Almost everything got checked off and now it is time for the "fall-list." Here is the list for the next 3 months!

• Make homemade potato soup the first time it snows.
• Watch the balloons take off at the park.
• Make a 2nd turkey so we actually have lots of Thanksgiving leftovers.
• Go up to the mountains to see the aspens change color.
• Bronco Sunday with all the snacky fixin's.
• Work out 3 times per week.
• Date night to Denver (maybe to Cavalia??? hint hint Taylor)
• Collect leaves with Katie and make some fall crafts.
• Go see Harry Potter 7 in the theater!
• Continue slashing the grocery budget - the goal is by half!
• Go to Montague's for tea.
• Make lefse for Thanksgiving...freeze some for Christmas.
• Carve a pumpkin.
• Visit the apple orchard.

Now to start checking things off. I love fall. It is possibly my favorite season. I love curling up with a blanket and tea while it is chilly outside. I love dressing my kids up for Halloween. And Thanksgiving is such a great mix of food and family. A new season always gives my motivation a burst. And all my shows are coming back on TV! Chuck, Survivor, Parenthood and Glee. I have tried to cut back some but I do love these shows. Taylor watches all of them with me except for Glee. We save them up for Tuesday or Thursday night since Taylor has class Monday and Wednesdays. I'm happy just thinking about the fun to come. Happy Fall!