Fall Colors or Snow?

Yesterday, we took a drive up by Monte Cristo, to see the Fall leaves. And we found more snow than leaves! I think the leaves still need a couple of weeks to change. We knew there would be snow, so we packed our snow clothes, and our lunch, and had a fun day!

The girls were so excited to see snow! Elle couldn't wait to play in it. And I've got to say, that it was really a wonderful site! When we got back in the truck to head home, the temp read 32 degrees! Yikes :)

Our first Snowman of the year! We actually had some carrots with us for lunch, and gave it a proper nose.

The Pines were plastered with snow. Everything looked so amazing. And smelled so good too!
Me and the Snowman! (My Snowman) When I married Chris, he was into Snowmobiling big time! His email name was Snowman :) He sold his really nice sled and trailer, but last year, we picked up a little retro sled. I think he has plans to pick up another little sled sometime, so he can take us girls and play in the white stuff! His FAVORITE thing to do!
Oh yeah....here are some Fall leaves, that we did find :) The sun wasn't out, or these just might have been even more brilliant.

On a side note.... the Raccoons have been eating our grapes this year. I can't believe how many were gone! But I still have juice from last year, so I'm only making Jelly this year. We are down to our last jar! Tonight after church we picked grapes in the backyard. These are the ones the raccoons didn't get :) Whew!

I just LOVE contributing to my family food storage. I love knowing that we can grow food in our yard, and can turn it into a years supply! There's just something about it that gets me excited. And oh man, you should smell my kitchen right now :)

First Grade

My little first grader is LOVING school.

Although, it's only been 2 months, and she's already lost her coat 3 times. And yeah, we found it each time. And today she left her show and tell item at school. I super cute, brand new book, that we haven't written her name in yet. I just hope it is still there on Monday. These kinds of things drive me crazy!

Last week they had picture day. It was raining and Bree was dressed up, so I took her to school. Not to mention, that we were able to get Elle's 4 year old pics taken too. I'm so glad that they invited us to bring our pre-schoolers to school for pics too! Bree's teacher had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Mrs. Vellinga has never seen another student so confident, and apparently Bree looks just like the teachers 6 year old grand daughter. I guess they could be twins.

She loves to ride the bus! We've missed it a couple of times, and it broke her heart. So we really try to be on time in the mornings, so she doesn't miss the bus. And she's been having me pack her lunches everyday. She is afraid, that they won't have anything for school lunch that she likes. But then the other day she told me that on Fridays, she sees kids with chocolate milk, and other things that she likes. So she asked me if she could eat lunch on Fridays. Today was our first try. Last night she got out of bed, to tell me that she was crying, because she was afraid they wouldn't have anything she liked and then she would go hungary. She asked if I would pack her lunch anyway, so that if she didn't like school lunch, she could go get her back up lunch. I agreed. And when she got home today, she had such a great experience, that she has asked if she can eat school lunch everyday from now on. I'm really glad, because if it were me, I would get bored of the same old sandwich in my lunch everyday. Variety and hot food are good! And they've really tried to make school lunches healthy these days. I know she's going to love it!

The other day, we received some awesome hand me downs from her cousin Aleigha. Bree was so excited about the new clothes, that she wore 2 of the new shirts to school this week. I took some pictures of her, so we could show Aunt Jennifer! :)

I can't believe how well Bree is reading! She has a spelling test every week, and has gotten 100% each time. It's amazing to see her learning so much! So we are just loving 1st grade, and now if I can get her to bring all of her things home from school each day, I will love it even more! ha..ha..

Rain

Wow, we've had a couple of really good rain storms today! Elle and I couldn't help but to open the front door and watch! Elle even got a little bit wet :) The temperature is supposed to drop about 30 degrees this week! Yep, it's definitely Fall.

October is here

I love October! I love Halloween. I always have. I've always loved the fact that for 1 day out of the year, we all get to dress up and be who ever we want to be. Kinda cool. Friday after school, we took the girls to a little pumpkin lot, to pick out our pumpkins. It was so HOT!! 90 degrees in fact. I was a little disappointed that we didn't do the whole Farm and Hay ride thing this year. But it was okay. So is this really for the kids, or for me? Hmmm, probably BOTH :)

Saturday we made some fun Halloween Cupcakes. I baked them, and the girls decorated them. They had fun making Orange and Purple frosting, and adding the candy corn and pumpkins on top! Then we took some over to grandma and grandpa :)

As you can see, some of the cupcakes, got lots of candy on top!
And today was General Conference Sunday. We decided to take our radio out in the backyard, and have some fun while listening to the second session of Conference. We even got out the hammock. And after conference was over, we played catch with the girls, and a tiny football. Just fun to hear the girls laughing.

It's been a fun weekend. October is here, and we've already started to celebrate :)

Dinner on the Deck

Pork Chops

Potatoes

Punch

My Family

The Camera

Fun

On the Deck

Fun with tomatoes and other things....

Fall is here! And I just Love it :) I've been enjoying myself immensely, the past few weeks. There is a coolness in the air. I need a blanket to lay in the hammock these days. Walking around my neighborhood feels great! Fresh air, Football, and Fall T.V. shows are back! The grapes are getting ripe! By the end of next month, I'll be putting up Jelly. A LOT of Grape Jelly! We have 1 jar left on the shelf. Wow, I didn't think we'd make it :) I think I'll make triple the amount this year!

I just LOVE being Mom right now! My girls crack me up :) I mean, I just smile when I look at them, watch them talk and tell me things. They are so amazing!!!! I can't imagine life without them. I have fun making our home a place they love to be. I LOVE spending time with them. I love to watch them learn and grow. They are fabulous! I think these are the BEST days ever :)

This weekend, we got out the Halloween decorations. To see the excitement on Elle's face was priceless! The girls have been carrying around their Trick or Treat buckets. We already have our costumes. I'm really excited about our costumes this year. We are dressing as the Scooby Doo Crew! It was the girls Idea. Bree as Daphine, Me as Velma, Elle as Scooby, and Chris as Shaggy. I even found some lunch boxes in the form of the Mystery Machine! Super fun!! As you know, this is one of my favorite Holidays.

Tomatoes!! This year I planted 8 tomato plants. Crazy I know. But I just LOVE tomatoes! Chris told me that he can't believe I've actually used them all so far. He was afraid that we would waste so many. But I've picked and picked tomatoes, filling my counter tops a few times, and trust me, they do not go to waste! We've made tomato sandwiches, spaghetti salad, put them in green salads, on burgers, nachos, and tacos, bottled tomatoes, and my latest venture......, bottled salsa! It's been amazing.

I've been having fun at home lately. Sewing the girls dresses, bottling food from the garden, packing Bree's lunches, and walking her to the bus. Making yummy dinners, as we are trying to eat out less and less. It's amazing how much money you can save by eating at home all the time. And then I've been noticing, that those fast food dinners just don't taste like they used to. Don't get me wrong, I love a nice dinner out once in a while, but I've been trying to stop myself from buying fast food all the time. So I've posted a picture of the awesome home made Pizza we had the other night! Yum :)

Yes! Fall is here. And I have been in the creative mood lately! I'm so glad that I have these talents and can do things for my family! I am so in Love with my little family :) I love how hard Chris works for our family too! He is amazing!!! So Happy Fall Everyone!

Our latest project

Do you see that Planter thingy in the middle of the yard? Well, it's got to go! :) he..he..

Apparently, there was another huge tree in our yard that died, and they couldn't get the stump out, so they decided to cover it up. But we've decided that we'd like it to be gone. More lawn to mow, but one less thing to mow around!

What....where is it? Oh yeah, it's almost gone!

And one of these days it's going to be just as flat as the rest of the yard, and covered with grass. And you won't even know it was there :)