October

Last night Josh and I sat in a coffee shop with our friends Matt & Jana and played spades, our favorite card game, and we laughed so hard; it was just what our souls needed. Partly what was so funny to me, aside from our typical conversations, is that Jana and I beat the boys badly, which never happens. We're always neck-n-neck until the last couple of hands and then the boys usually get some stellar hand or they go blind nil and win on a hail mary, although I'm sure they'd say differently. ;)

This Fall has just been so beautiful. I know the rain is coming this weekend, so we've been outside this week more than usual. Josh and I played catch with the football out by the driveway the other night with the kids and it was so much fun. He's also been riding bikes with the kids most every night until it gets dark. I love hearing their squeals in the moonlight.

These are the Ben outfits I never want to forget...

Jude's favorite place to play catch is from the top of the slide. I love seeing that big smile!

The moon rising over the field each night in October is my favorite!

And from another night...

We made our first apple crisp of the season for dessert Sunday night. It was so yummy that I had to make one for breakfast again this week. ;)

The kids wanted to make applesauce the other day so we grabbed a dozen apples from the orchard. Their favorite part was getting to climb nearly to the top of the ladder to pick their own.

Selah peeled them all for us, then we did the cheater method and blended the apples in the vitamix and heated the puree on the stove for 20 mins. So yummy.

Now that Matt, Gina & Nora live close by, the girls have been stopping by for visits and we love it. I make tea, and with this nice weather we've been heading outside.

This is Nora's swing, and she loves it! We all love to hear her squeal when she flies. :)

I love that Selah has another girl in the family! Even though they are 6 years apart, I have a feeling they will be good friends as adults. Selah adores Nora.

I've loved growing white pumpkins this year because they are my favorite to decorate with! I'd love to try growing some of those gray-green ones next year too.

And oh Ben, you're bias mother thinks you're such a cutie! :) I feel like we're slowly exiting the "tough 3's", phew! ;) All of our kids went through "the 3's" rather than "the 2's", and Ben has definitely been our most stubborn 3 year old! :) But I have a feeling 4 is going to be an especially sweet age with this boy. I can't believe my baby will be 4 at Christmas!

I picked a few tomatoes from the garden the other day. This was my first big batch I've ever picked! I pureed them and froze 5 jars for future fall soups. I'd love to can some too, when my photo editing slows down.

I'll end this post with a photo I love from a sweet day that I forgot to blog about this summer. Just looking at this pic brings back the feelings of deep contentment from that day; I sure love this bunch!

Why was it so special? It was just a random combination of the little things in life. It was the first rainy day in the midst of a slew of hot days and it smelled so good outside. It was also the first Saturday in over a month that I wasn't shooting a wedding, and it just felt so good to be doing nothing important. We went garage sale-ing that morning and it was fun to watch the kids carefully spend their chore money. I loved watching their thinking process. We grabbed coffees and headed to a park we'd never been to and Josh and I sat side-by-side on the swings in the chill, with warm drinks in hand, so content while the kids played. Then we swang high! :) The playground was just right for the kids to be able to play American Ninja Warrior (a tv show that we love to watch as a family). We took several videos of them going "through the course", timing them, and interviewing them after each course. :) Selah was SO proud of herself when she completed the entire course, monkey bars and all, and her little interview just about made me die from cuteness-overload. The car was a buzz with their excited energy on the drive home and it was just one of those moments as a mom when your heart feels SO full and gratitude spills over and you can't help but thank God for all of His good gifts in your life! :)

xo

Writing this just made me think of James 1:17 and this song my class sang in 4th grade :) 

Every perfect gift come from above

From the Father of Lights, from the Lord of love

This joy that I have, that I'm singing of is from the Lord

From the Lord

That's where my joy come from, that's where my joy comes from.