Fun Fall Activities

Weekly Happenings: This past week has held some fun fall activities. One was getting to go to Bass Pro’s Shop for their Halloween fun. There was a Charlie Brown-themed backdrop for people to take a picture in front of and some games for the kids to play. After we went there, we went to our favorite BBQ place to have dinner. It was a fun night. Another fun night was the trunk-or-treat at Joseph’s school. It was a little loud for our taste (they had a DJ), but Joseph and Abigail seemed to have fun and a lot of people thought their costumes were pretty cool. Finally, we had our annual trek to the pumpkin patch. We finally have a weekend where it isn’t raining, so this morning we headed out to the Hill Country for some fun walking around, riding the barrel train, petting the animals, and other fun. Other than those two things, not much else happened out of the ordinary for us.

The Weekly Weather: It started out rainy but finally about Thursday, the sun made a reappearance. It’s been so nice to see blue sky!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary for him. He has been kept busy with work and helping out with Young Men’s at church.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I had a pretty typical week as well. I did get to go to a baby shower for one of my friends which was fun.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a good week at school. He loves GT (the gifted and talented program at school) and is learning all sorts of awesome things about the moon and space.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s been her typical happy-go-lucky girl. We let her loose at the pumpkin patch, which was so much fun for her (a little tiring for me, but it was better than trying to maneuver the stroller through the muddier parts).

This Week in Pictures:

Here’s the picture of the kids from Bass Pro’s Shop last week when we went to their Halloween-themed fun day. Joseph had a hard time getting Abigail to hold still, haha.
I think this playground outside of our favorite BBQ place is the biggest draw for the kids.
Abigail loves crawling around after Joseph.
Someone thoroughly enjoyed her blueberry pancake.
Playing dress-up right before bed.
“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!”
Joseph getting in on the act.
She loves hats of any sort…
…even if they’re a little big.
All ready for the trunk-or-treat.
Cutest Pikachu I’ve ever seen!
Trying to figure out the trike.
Gorgeous Texas sunrise.
Joseph loves to decorate a scarecrow every year at the pumpkin patch.
Abigail was more interested in trying to break free, haha.
Running through the hay maze.
Goin’ strong!
Not gonna give up…
You know there’s been a lot of rain when the hay starts sprouting mushrooms, haha.
He made it!
Abigail’s turn!
I think she would have been happiest unleashed, but she came to accept it after a bit.
She made it, too!
This is always a fun cut out for Joseph to pop his head into.
It’s hard to believe that we used to have to hold him up to see into this and now he can stand on his own.
The cutest pumpkins in the patch!
Petting a very bored horse, haha.
Joseph was being very patient and brushing the horse’s mane.
Waiting for the music show to start.
They let the kids play instruments along with the show. Abigail loved it and kept dancing and clapping along.
Visiting the animals in the petting zoo.
Getting ready for the barrel train ride.
This is probably his favorite part of the patch!
Wee! My legs still kind of hurt on the sides, haha.
Looking at butterflies.
Abigail REALLY wanted to get up close and personal with those butterflies.
It was such a beautiful scene out there…
…and a beautiful day to boot!

Fall Has {Officially} Arrived

Weekly Happenings: This past week contained Joseph’s Fun Run fundraiser (similar to a jog-a-thon), a radical dip in temperatures, and a lot of chill time (soaking it in before the awesome craziness of the holidays settles upon us).

The Weekly Weather: It started out rather warm but then a true cold front moved in and dropped us thirty degrees overnight from Sunday going into Monday. Today is the first day that I haven’t worn a coat because it’s finally creeping into the upper 60s/low 70s.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy with work (today he even went in to help for a bit of overtime). We’re also in charge of getting things organized for the Fall Festival at church (mainly a lot of delegation), which he has been organizing.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much on my end…mostly just making sure the routine keeps rolling. I did host book club at our house this past Wednesday, which was fun as always.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He enjoyed his Fun Run immensely. He ran 36 laps which equals out to roughly two and a quarter miles. Abigail and I got to go and cheer him on, which he thought was great.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She really enjoyed getting to go see Joseph run (she loved cheering and even tried to dance to the upbeat music they had playing, even though she was strapped into her stroller). Other than that, it was a pretty typical week for her, full of playing with toys, running errands with me, and playing with Joseph.

This Week in Pictures:

Joseph had to do a book character pumpkin for school. He chose Pikachu from Pokemon. Paul painted the base layer, Joseph did the face (I helped with the nose and mouth), and I did the ears and tail. It turned out pretty cute!
I loved the colder temperatures, but not the rain so much…I’m kind of ready for a break from the rain.
October is the perfect time for her to wear the ghost dress that a friend of mine passed along to us.
We had to break out the winter coats for the kids when the cold front moved in. When I took this picture, it was 48 degrees with 79% humidity. That made the “feels like” temperature more like 42 degrees. Brrrrr!
He wanted me to take a picture of him “looking tough” since he had put his hair into a mow-hawk after bath time.
Snugglin’ with her lemur.
Getting ready to run.
Rain and cold temps made them move the run inside (which I was super happy about). Luckily, when they open up the partition between the gym and the cafeteria, it’s a really large space.
36 laps!
Playing with the gas station that goes with the car garage.
Makin’ the trains go.
Rubbing her brother’s head as we all got some snuggling in Friday afternoon.

Gorgeous Texas Skies and a Couple of Silly Side-eyes

Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty average. Since Monday was a holiday, we scooted out to the zoo for a fun morning. The weather has been rather if-y as of late, so we decided to stay local. We also had our annual HOA meeting where Paul was elected to the HOA board, filling the offices of Vice President and Secretary.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been another week full of both rain and sunshine (sometimes at the same time, haha).

What Paul’s Been Up To: He is continuing the work on the little free library. The rain has slowed him down a bit (he wants to do many, many layers of paint so that it can withstand the elements), but he’s kept at it. He also used some scrap wood to make a rubber band rifle for Joseph. Joseph was pretty excited about that. 🙂

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much on my front. I’m mainly just trying to keep one step ahead of a crazy-active almost-two-year-old. 🙂 Luckily, the just-turned-seven-year-old is a huge help in that aspect. 😉

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He has been loving school, loves to play with Abigail, and loves spending time creating new creations with his LEGOS.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s figured out that her reach is longer and so are her legs. Why is this specific combination important to mention? Well, it means that it’s easier for her to climb up on things…like the coffee table, chairs, benches, etc. I’ve spent a lot of time lifting her back down (sometimes multiple times in a row, haha).

This Week in Pictures:

You know that longer reach of Abigail’s that I mentioned? Yeah…we had to move the Halloween lights because they were too much of a temptation to Little Miss Grabs-a-Lot. The breakfast bar is a bit higher than the bottom of the book shelves.
And she definitely can’t reach these!
I love sights like this!
We let her loose(ish) at the zoo. She had a blast, but it was kind of exhausting following her around and making sure she didn’t get into any scrapes (even being “leashed”), haha.
Baby pigtails!
We did take advantage of a clear afternoon to go to the park.
The kids loved getting out of the house and playing with friends.
They both wanted to snuggle up and watch a show. One snuggly kid on my lap is enough to make me drowsy. Two? Psh. Forget about it! This was the sight that Paul came home to, haha.
Texas does a lot of things right. Sunrises are definitely part of the list. Sometimes they are golden…
…and sometimes they are pinky-purpley-orange.
One morning, we even got to see a rainbow (even though it hadn’t rained). Here’s one side of it…
…and here’s a glimpse of the other side (the middle wasn’t visible). Oh, and a mini photo-bomber, haha.
Here’s one side-eye. We switched out her sippy-cups for spoutless cups. They still have a screw on lid, but instead of a spout, the lid (which has holes similar to a strainer) dips down and there’s a silicone insert that pops in. Basically if she tips the cup and sucks, liquid will get pulled up between the lid and the insert (but the cup won’t spill if it’s tipped over). It doesn’t matter where she puts her mouth, either, which is nice. Plus, we won’t have to keep replacing cups just because she’s gnawed through the spout, haha.
Here’s the other side-eye. He’s posing with the rubber-band rifle that Paul made for him.