Perhaps....

...it might be time to take the bottle away.

As a mom of 4 girls...

....there are going to be a lot of moments like these.

Oh, the joys!

Remember When?...

...I said I would run another half marathon HERE? Well, I wasn't quite sure if I meant that, I was mainly just on a runner's high.  But then...since I am friends with some pretty amazing people that motivate me to do things like run 13.1 miles (and train for it weeks before), I jumped in again...especially when I talked some other friends into running it too.

 My sis-in-law Sara, my bro Mike and my friend Lisa...they rocked!!

 And of course, my neighbor and friend Tina...I was SO proud of her.  She was a rockstar too.  She trained for this mostly by herself while her hubby is halfway across the world.  Now that takes some motivation.

Thanks for pushing me Sara!

Missing from these pictures is my friend Lindsay (the one who talked me into it). We ran together in April and we set a new goal together for this race.  She trained all the way up until TWO weeks before the race (which is a whole LOT of miles) then she had to undergo heart surgery.  While I was sad I lost a running partner for the day, I have a friend for a lifetime and I'm SO VERY thankful that God was looking over her and that her condition was one that was able to be caught and fixed when it was.  Which means...I have another race to run.  I can't wait to run with you again soon, Lindsay!

(Beth, Nikki, Lindsay & I in April)

Some days are just like this....

Who needs a new present....

...when the box it came in is way more fun??

This is what happens when...

....you are eating chips and guacamole, then your phone rings and it is an important phone call so you just HAVE to answer it even though you would rather just have a little snack...then your 15 month old starts screaming and pointing at the quacamole and you REALLY need her to be quiet.  So you give it to her because of course, it works when she shoves fistfuls of it into her mouth...(nevermind the need for chips when you can just use your hands)...then she rubs it on her pant leg and starts slapping her leg and quacamole splatters EVERYWHERE...you try to teach your 15-month old to eat chips and quacamole.

Ladybugs, Butterflies, Witches and Pirates, oh my!

It's so much fun when you get your very young toddler all dressed up and they have NO CLUE what is going on...

 ...until you go to those first few houses and they figure out that when they ring the doorbell, someone comes to the door and gives them candy!!  That's pretty cool!

Clap, clap, clap!!  I already have 2 suckers in my bucket!!!

Ellie the pirate, at her school party with one of her BFF's!

Here's to another memorable year...now if I could just stop eating looking at all of this Halloween candy!!!



Love this busy 15 month old...

...she is into EVERYTHING.  Big sister doesn't help when she tries to show her how to take a drink of water out of the garden hose.  Of course, Eva wanted to do it herself and suprisingly it sprayed her right in the face.

 But she just laughed and giggled..oh how we LOVE this girl, her adventure and laid back personality.

May you always be able to laugh at those unpleasant surprises in life, Eva Faith.

Conversations with a 3 year old...

Me: Guess, what Edyn, I'm not working tomorrow, what do you want to do?

Edyn: Well, I have it all fig-red out.  First we wake up then get those sisters on the bus, then me and Eva play and giggle then you play that game with Eva when you stack up ALL her blocks and you say Eva don't knock over my tower, then she looks at you and smiles then knocks over your tower then you say oh no! you knocked over my tower, then she laughs SO hard and we all laugh, you know that game mom?  Then we put Eva to bed then me and you, we build a tent together then you make me do some homework and I say I don't want to do homework but I kind of like doing my homework.....then we go and have a picnic in the park and play some more....then I just might be tired so I might go to sleep a little but then I really won't because I know you will get on the treadmill and it will be loud so I will just listen to you run because you like to do that....then I wake up and we play some more and maybe we can make brownies together and I can lick the big spoon and you will put more chocolate on it so I have lots of chocolate to lick from the spoon....

Me: Wow, that sounds like a busy day....

Edyn: Yep, that's what mommy's do, they are just busy all the time.

I love our photographer...

....somehow she managed to get these (and more) from our photo shoot on Saturday.  Thanks Jen...I don't know how you do it!  These pictures make me smile :)

Fall.

One of my most favorite times of the year.  We discovered an orchard very close to our house and we couldn't have been more excited to go pick apples and pumpkins....

 Edyn had to be the taste-tester!

 Grandma Deb and Papa Tom were in town and came to help us pick...

 Looking for bullfrogs...they spotted many little eyes poking out of the mucky water :)

 My attempt to get all four of them...if Eva could talk I'm SURE she would be saying, "I DO NOT want to get my picture taken right now!!!"

 We even got to roast marshmallows...for FREE!  There wasn't even an admission fee to get into this place...so family friendly!

 Hangin' out with Papa...

 Getting a taste of some marshmallows!!

 Time to pick pumpkins...hmmmm....so many choices!!

 Edyn found the perfect one!

 ...And so did Ellie!!

                                                                           Posing with their pumpkins!!

 Family picture time! Hopefully it goes a bit better next weekend :)

 We HIGHLY recommend this place!!! Wonderful owners and just a perfect spot for the whole family!!  We picked approximately 2 bushels of apples, came home with a few pumpkins, apple cider and memories to last a lifetime!!

Deanna Rose Farmstead....

...Such a neat place that we don't go to as often as we should.  There is just SO much to do at a very low cost...this family on a budget sure loves it!

Eva getting a little push from big sister...right into a bush!

Taking time out to strike a pose...I love that they are loving the camera these days...even one year-old Eva runs over to look at the screen on the camera to see what the picture looks like...(although I'm pretty sure she is just copying her sisters!)

Don't pay any attention, Uncle Curtis...pretend this tractor is green!!

Feeding the goats...these are agressive little things...

"ooooh, oooooh" was Eva's response all day....she was LOVING all the animals!!

 And this is how the Indians lived...

Who needs flowers when you have these?!?