October...

Sunday morning Selah woke up around 4:30am not feeling so well, but ended up fine and falling back to sleep. I couldn't fall back asleep, though, and I laid in bed letting my mind race for well over an hour. I wish I had just gotten up and been productive instead! :)

But I eventually got up, and when I went downstairs the golden sunshine was filling the sunroom. It was so beautiful that I just left all the house lights off and enjoyed the warm light and silence. I put on the hot water for tea and then I heard Ben's little footsteps coming down the stairs. He greeted me at the bottom of the stairs with the biggest smile. It was so precious. I scooped him up and he held onto me super tight and didn't want me to put him down. So I got to hold him the entire time we made our tea and I soaked it up! We drank tea together and talked about Legos, and then built a little pirate ship together. I can't believe he'll be 5 in Decemeber! My baby, FIVE! Wow, time is going by so quickly.

The beautiful sunrise we enjoyed.

I love the way the light changes as the sun rises higher in the sky. That pink glow is so dreamy. See the sheep in the neighbor's field?

I did a photo trade with a friend this year and she took some sweet pics of our family and I took hers. I posted this on Instagram with the caption: If Christmas cards were real life...

I love this picture!

The kids worked hard on their school presentations last week and shared a little more information than usual. It's so sweet to watch them grow and be stretched. The theme was the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Selah talked about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Jude talked about the Pharos Lighthouse...

...and Ben talked about the Colossus of Rhodes.

The driveway looks extra gorgeous in the fall. I snapped this as I pulled into the driveway after a photo shoot recently when I had my camera on hand, and was in awe of all of the colors.

This is walking back from the mailbox, taken with my cell phone. ;) Can you find Jude and Selah in the pic? They always love to run ahead.

Selah checked out a book last month that had all sorts of leaf creation ideas, and she impressed me with all of the leaf animals she made! This peacock I got to make with her, and it was such a fun craft! Isn't it cute?

We love football season, and the kids love dressing up and cheering for the Ducks when we go to my mom's house. I want them to love the Beavers too, so each week when we drive to Awana's we drive by the Beaver stadium and say, "Yay! That's where the Beaver's play!" :) But we're not very good at actually watching their games. Shame on us Corvallisites.

We start each school day with writing and math here in the dining room. It was extra cozy Monday morning to hear the rain on the roof, and have a candle lit. And Josh brought me these autumn-colored tulips last Wednesday when he came home from a long business trip. He knows me well.

Just for fun, Josh's company hosted another movie night where they rented out a movie theater and offered up free concessions for the showing of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. They'll do it again in November showing the Return of the Jedi... all in preparation of the newest Star Wars movie coming out in December. I love this old theater! They even serve kombucha! :)

A couple of Josh's co-workers wore their halloween costumes to the movie. :) Jude approved!

I shot a beautiful rehearsal dinner and wedding in Bend two weekends ago. The sunset was sooo lovely!! This is my cell phone snap shot during the dinner. :)

The kids stayed the night with my mom that weekend and she captured this pic of Ben. She asked him why he only ate half of his grapes and he said, "I don't like the bottoms." :)

We got to watch Nora the other day while Gina helped Granny at her costume shop. Look at Nora's cute shirt! :) Auntie B sure loves you, Nora Bean!

Life's been really busy as I'm wrapping up this photo season, and last night it was soooo nice walking into Janet and Dad's house to celebrate Eric's birthday with a big family dinner! The house was warm and smelled amazing, and yummy foods were spread across the counter, and family all said, "Hey!" and I just took a deep breath and thought, "Ah, this fills my tank!" 

Happy 26th, Eric! We love you!

Janet lived in Japan for a bit, years ago, so she served up a delicious Japanese dinner for us all, complete with a chocolate mousse for dessert. Her miso soup was amazing!

Our kids love Legos, like all kids their age. They spend so much time creating worlds that they play with. Last week they built a Back to the Future world and traveled back to the old west. I loved overhearing their play conversations. ;)

They also love Mixels, and making new creations with them. They discovered that you can upload your creations to Lego's website, so Ben and Selah's asked me to upload theirs... they are the ones in focus.

Here are a few of Selah's recent creations that she had fun dreaming up:

A multi-level home...

... a backyard patio with mini pool/hot tub...

And a clock, with gears. It's fun to see what they come up with. :)