I have gotten behind again. Alas, it's the stage of life I am in, I suppose. This post had been in the works for several weeks now. I can hardly believe that Christmas has already come and gone! I had every intention of posting all this fall fun long ago; at least before Christmas came. Better late than never! We had a wonderful fall here in Kansas. It was very beautiful.
Here are some pictures of harvesting the garden and the yard and chickens:
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| Digging carrots. The white shirts are supposed to keep their clothes cleaner. |
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| Hooray for carrots! |
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| This child makes the funniest faces! |
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| Digging potatoes. Why use the shovel when you can use your hands? |
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| I really enjoyed the color of those trees this fall. You can see the chicken coop in the backyard. Isn't it cute?! |
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| The chickens love to eat the berries off this bush. Can you see that chicken in the background? |
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| Yes, you saw right! She is jumping to get the berries. Isn't that hilarious?! |
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| The kids love these chickens so much. They even get rides in the car. |
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| The ladies. She's watching you! |
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| Dad and the kids love to play baseball. |
Remember that post about the snow and I really wanted to be able to go on our trip? Well, we were able to go after all. We only got a dusting that stuck an the grass and melted on the roads. So, we were good to make the 3 1/2 hour drive to Oklahoma City. We went for my Birthday. We stayed overnight in a hotel there so that Kenneth could go to the temple that evening and I could go early the next morning. When I got back we all went to the pool and had a blast! I haven't swam in a while. Kate was too small, or I was too pregnant to want to swim. But, this time, all six of us went swimming. Kate loved it! We went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Yummy! We stopped in Wichita on the way home for a little bit of shopping. Here are some pictures of that:
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| What happy kids! (And Daddy, too!) |
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| It really was fun to swim with everyone |
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Even, if I did feel a little mobbed at times.
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| 35 years old! Wow! Can it be? |
At the end of October the kids had their Primary Program at Church; Grant's first one! He did great. As much trouble as he sometimes gives me here at home, he is an absolute angel every Sunday in Primary. His little face in those little glasses just melts my heart! The girls did really well, too. |
Kate had her 9 month check up the beginning of November. She is a little bitty (for which I am grateful- it makes her much easier to carry around!) She weighed just 16 lbs. oz.
Later in November we hosted 5 of Kenneth's coworkers for dinner. It went pretty well, considering I can barely pull dinner together for our own family most nights lately! Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the company. Three of the visitors were from Germany, so I was able to practice my German a little bit. The kids really enjoyed having them. (Yes, we ate dinner with the kids too!) I was actually away from the table for most of dinner between nursing Kate and taking care of the other kids, but that was okay. Kenneth was a very gracious host. In preparation for that evening, I worked my tail off to actually get the dining room to look presentable and lived in, instead of just empty with a couple of pictures slapped up on the wall. It looks pretty good, I think!
The week after that our good friends came to visit for Thanksgiving week- all the way from California! They were already in Utah and figured they were half-way here, so they drove out and stayed a while. We felt honored that they would drive so far. It was so good to see them! Grant was delighted to have 4 boys to play with!! The girls also had their good friend to play with. We mostly stayed home and cooked for Thanksgiving and hung out around the house and yard. We were given a fresh turkey from someone in our ward who works on a turkey farm. We also made 3 different delicious dessert: Bavarian Apple Torte, French Silk Pie and Pumpkin Pie. World's Best Dinner Rolls from Our Best Bites were especially good. The kids all enjoyed them for days afterwards. (I'm glad I made a big batch!) Kenneth took Marty and Evan on an AGCO Tour and they got to drive tractors. We all went on a walk to visit the horses nearby. On that Saturday, Kenneth BBQed chicken and we had another family in our ward over- I thought it would be fun to get two of my most influential homeschool families together. It was great fun. It was also a great way to celebrate Kenneth's Birthday!
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| The Thanksgiving Village Kenneth put together with the kids. It is on top of the new entertainment center we bought for the family room. |
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| Close-up |
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| G carving the turkey and T looking on |
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| The very full and happy Thanksgiving table (full of people, that is!) |
This is what the Dads did Thanksgiving evening:
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| We put everyone to work raking leaves |
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| And also let the kids play in the leaves! |
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| A little work. . . |
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| then some play! |
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| My wild woman of the earth |
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| Here is the whole bunch of us minus Kenneth, who was the photographer, and Kate, who was napping |
We sure miss our dear friends in California!!
Here is some more leaf pile fun with just our kids:
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| We piled all the leaves on top of the dormant garden plot to break down |
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| Burying Arianna in the leaves |
The beginning of December was a piano recital for the girls. Arianna did amazingly well for her first recital, even though she was a little nervous beforehand. You would have never known. She played her pieces so well! We are so proud of both of them!
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| Arianna playing her pieces with her teacher |
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| Grinning Arianna |
It was Emma's second recital, so she seemed pretty comfortable. She practices hard, so she felt very prepared.
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| Emma playing |
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| Happy Emma |
Finally, Kate learned to play Peek-a-boo. Such a cutie!
I am planning on doing a little more blogging before the start of school next week, so check back soon!
