Because it's Fall.

Fall, in case you didn't know, is my very favorite season. Hands down. Today felt like the first fall day of the year: low 70s, windows open, wearing jeans, watching football (okay, okay, having it on in the background...), quilting AND......

Making apple pie.

Pretty much everything is in a new light and seems fresher and newer and more wonderful.

Just because it's fall:)

Cool Little Miss.

 Busy day around here! I was very productive this morning, which is always a good feeling! I've had so many headaches lately that it's been tough to want to keep up with housework but I've started a new chart system that I'll share below that's helping me!

Eliana is being spoiled rotten by all the one-on-one attention! She especially loves the days that Daddy works from home and barely lets him out of her sight. She does all sorts of silly things to make us laugh and constantly asks us to "watch." Hope we're not turning her into a narcissist...

One funny thing she has been into lately is carrying around bags and filling them with treasures! She walks all around the house with lunchboxes, bags or her little purse. This is a glimpse of her most recent treasure bag:)

Shoes, her brother's hat, her cup, Mr Potato head pieces, applesauce.....I even think my missing sunglasses might be in there:)

I tossed out our old chore chart from last year and made up a new one, based off of what was/wasn't working. There are certain days that I really don't like doing certain chores so I switched some around. Mopping, for instance! Who wants to start out their Monday mopping floors?!

Not me. I also added more things for the boys like unloading the dishwasher and helping clear/wipe off the table after dinner. It's good for them to have more responsibility! Of course, you may notice that Daddy gets away with very few chores. He does work hard at his job and working on his dissertation so he gets a little slack.

For now:)

So to help me keep up with things, each morning I write out the day's chores on my dry erase board so it's easy to remember and check off! It's really helping me keep up with things I'd rather neglect. And helping me remember to keep the boys busy and contributing.

There is so much to be done around here constantly and it's hard for one person to keep up with! I find myself thinking it seems to be so easy for other people to keep their houses so perfectly spic and span and what is wrong with me?? But, I don't have a play room so my living room is filled with kid's stuff and I have a LOT of helping undoing the the cleaning:)

But I won't mention any names.

All I know is, I try hard and I shouldn't compare myself to other people! I'm sure your houses are messy, too, sometimes, right?

Is that wrong of me to hope so?

New skills and attack of the man-eating gallbladder.

 I am really confused about what day it is this week because of the holiday on Monday! It seems so strange to me that's it's already almost Thursday. It could also be from the lack of sleep I had last night.

My poor husband suffered from another, and the worst yet, gallbladder attack in the middle of the night:( I cannot even tell you how scary it was to watch him go through it and to feel so helpless, when all I wanted to do was take away his pain. When the very worst of it had peaked and he was laying on the living room floor, trying to breathe, I just sat and rubbed his back for at least 30 minutes straight. It was the only thing I could think to do to comfort him. Watching your loved one go through pain like that is absolutely heart-wrenching!

I had a glimpse of what it was like for him to watch me go through labor! Thankfully, after a day of rest today, he is feeling better, although not 100%. And I caught a minor stomach bug and felt ick but am mostly feeling better now. Some homemade chicken and noodle soup brought some healing to us tonight:)

Eliana just loves her family so much! She talks to me each day about which family member is where. "Sayuel? Kai? 'cool." (school). "Dada? Home." or "Dada? Work." She really loves when we're all back together and she can interact with all of us, showing us her new tricks or just being silly.

She and I spent a good chunk of time at the library this morning. She looked at books, watched the fish, pulled books off shelves and watched some of the other toddlers there play. We also signed up for Story Time, starting next week, so we can have a fun little thing to do together:)

My wild Kindergartner that makes my hair turn gray, is learning to read!! He came home from school with a little book they had made and read it to us. Then he picked up a board book in the car when we were running an errand and started reading it and sounding out words! So last night Ben sat down with him and helped him read on of E's books.

He now wants to make flash cards and copy down the stories. He spent a really long time yesterday and today before dinner, copying down the pages in another book and loves to show me what he has written. So fun to see him learning so quickly!

He's really proud of himself:) This is the confidence I have really been hoping and praying he would gain this year!

I also thought I would share a bit of Zakkai's brain with you. Instead of brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed , Zakkai has to make a few detours. Which may possibly be incredibly aggravating!

However, when I walked into the bathroom after getting them settled in tonight, this made me burst into laughter!

This kid is totally going to be an engineer or mechanic of some sort someday. And I can say it all started here.....

Eliana's been working on a new skill and finally is getting her feet off the ground a bit! Enjoy.

Labor Day Weekend

 Due to an uninvited internet interruption, I was not able to update you on our wonderful weekend but now I'm back! We were blessed to have some good, former-Chicagoan friends come stay with us this weekend!

We will forever be thankful for our married couple's housegroup we were a part of a few years ago because we met some of the best people we know. Our friends who came to visit have a little girl that is about a month older than Eliana. I totally fell in love with A! She has a belly laugh that will make you smile everytime and is just darling!

We packed up our crew and headed to our favorite zoo on Saturday, hoping to beat the rain. It's really fun to take Eliana now that she's into animals and tries to say their names. She was crazy about the camels:)

"Mama, camel! Camel, Mama!"

Ben and I, who unashamedly enjoy the zoo as much as our children, were enthralled with the lion! He and his mate, Iris, are usually sound asleep every single time we come. But we just happened to catch them between naps and he was quite a sight!

Enjoying the views:)

On Sunday we all had the chance to hear another former housegroup friend preach at her church back in our old stomping grounds! Not only that but we all enjoyed a fun pizza lunch catching up and enjoying time with each other. I got the chance to sit right between these two doll babies and they kept my attention!

It was fun to see Eliana with someone her own age, since that doesn't happen too often.

After a round of naps, kids and adults alike, we headed to the park to blow off some kiddo steam. Always hoping for good sleep!!

Eliana just adores playground and loves to climb and slide to her hearts content. I find it hilarious to watch a toddler throw themselves down slides all by themselves:)

The boys rode their scooters to the park and after they got tired of riding around, they had fun playing in the train and just being boys:)

The train engineer!

2 little girlies enjoying the slide.

Some swing time.

A sweet moment:) Forget the stroller; walking with Daddy is way better!

We really enjoyed our time with our friends; watching the kiddos play, talking, laughing and catching up. So thankful for such wonderful people in our lives!

More pics tomorrow.

Big News.....!!

Someone lost his first tooth!!! I think I totally freaked him out when I yelled when it came out (he asked me to pull it out before he brushed his teeth:) and he won't show anyone yet. I had to beg for special permission to take this picture for Grandma and Mugga;)

I told him he will want to remember this day. I sure will!