happy halloween

Happy Halloween from the purple crayon,

the dog,

and the jellyfish.

Hope you had a fun and safe Halloween.

Now, I’m off to choose another piece of candy from our stash!

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sometimes . . .

Sometimes Rose actually looks at the camera,

but it’s quite rare.

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baking buddies

Yummmmm!  These little beauties didn’t last long.  I’m thinking about whipping up a batch again soon.

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updates

Kait has recently joined the “feather club”.

Around here, many little girls have a feather in their hair, and Kait’s been hoping to get one, too.  She had a red one put in at a beauty salon last Saturday, and it fell out that same night.  Bummer.  They allowed Kait to choose a different one and put it in on Monday.  So far so good.  She’s also going to get a retainer very soon, and she’s a little excited about it.  It helps that two of her friends also just got one.  We’ll see how it goes.

Rose continues to excel at and enjoy her balance bike.  She’s soooo ready for a regular bike without training wheels, but we’ll wait until spring for that.  She needs to grow a little taller first.

She’s also been doing the cutest thing lately.  G has tried to teach the girls how to beatbox, and I often hear Rose beatboxing under her breath.  She’s really good at it!

Pendo continues to be a 3 year old.  She tests the limits every day, all day, but she’s having more and more good days lately.

She’s also been declaring EVERYTHING to be bee-you-tee-ful.  “Mom, you are really beautiful.”  “That shirt is really beautiful!”  “This purple crayon is reeeeeeally beautiful.”  “That pumpkin is really beautiful.”  She also knows where all the treats are in the kitchen and often needs to “show us something” in the kitchen.  You guessed it, the treats.  This is quickly followed by, “Can I have one of those?”

G has been a busy bee lately.  (Well, he always is, but even a bit more recently.)  He grew out a week’s worth of a beard for an event at our church’s fall retreat.

I thought it looked pretty hot, but it was a bit too scratchy for me.

G’s continued to concoct some delightful ice cream flavors.  Tonight he made one just for me . . . The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in The World.  Can’t wait to try it.

He also got a bad slice out of his finger while he and a friend were smoking pork for the church staff and families.  He ended up with stitches and several visits to Urgent Care to check on the healing process.

As for me, I’ve been busy keeping everyone on track as well as getting our home ready to get new carpet.  We have to pack up everything that sits on the floor in the next few days.  That’s a big job, let me tell you.  It will be worth it, though.  I’ve been longing for new carpet for about four years, and the big day is almost here.  In addition to that, I’ve been helping out with a lot of PTA stuff, and that should be coming to a welcome end this week.

So, that’s the quick update on all of us.  Soooo much more to come when I take the time to edit some more pics.

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today

Today, for lunch, the little girls had an impromptu picnic.

The weather was beautiful, and I was able to do some yard work while they munched their lunch.

Double bonus!

In other news, we’ve had another whirlwind of a week.  I’m waaaay behind on blogging and editing pictures, but I’ll catch up sometime soon.  Hopefully.

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harvest fun

Every fall my Kait looks forward to the local harvest farm event that is nearby.  I’ve taken her to this farm every fall since she was two (except for the year we lived in Kenya, of course).  They have the same events year after year.  It’s cute and quaint.  We began with painting pumpkins.  This year the little girls could manage that on their own, and the paint that got on their clothes and jackets was washable!  Not so in the past, but we dressed accordingly, knowing that we would likely bring home some unintended decorations on their clothes.

While their pumpkins dried in the bee-you-tee-ful sunny afternoon, we explored the rest of the activities which, of course, included this little thing.

We happened to see some of our good friends there, so the girls were able to ride around in circles together.

I have a picture similar to this from every year since Kait was quite small.  I think the day is coming soon that she will realize the ride is, ummm, dull and will likely not look forward to this time at the farm at all.  *sigh*  At least we still have a couple more little ladies who will enjoy it for a few more years.

After we explored the farm a bit more, we headed over to the very lame hay ride.

The weather was SO perfect that it was easy to enjoy every minute of our afternoon adventure.  I’m hoping we can go on a REAL hayride in the next couple of weeks, but we enjoyed our time at the farm once again.

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applesauce

After going apple picking in September, I had to come up with ways to use up all of our apples.  I’m still planning to make a pie, but G has been delighting us with all kinds of AMAZING new homemade ice creams lately.  It’s his new hobby, and my tastebuds and I are in heaven!  He’s even been creating some Austin Signature Flavors.  Maybe I’ll blog about that later, but for now, back to the apples.

Rose made applesauce with her preschool class, so I decided to let the girls help me make applesauce, too.  We came up with a great system.  I peeled the apples, Kait sliced them with the apples slicer,

then Rose, Kait and I cut them into smaller chunks.

This is the first time I’ve let Rose cut things with a butter knife, and she thought she was SO big.

For the record, I did let Pendo cut a few pieces, too.  She needed hands-on help, though, so I didn’t take any pictures of her contribution this time.

After cutting up what seemed like hundreds of little pieces,

we put them in a big pot and cooked them.

After a sprinkling of brown sugar and a spin in the food processor

we had enough delicious applesauce to last us for several days.

I think we STILL have enough apples to do a smaller batch again soon.  I love fall and all the yummy seasonal foods that go with it.

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girl scout campout

Two weekends ago Kait and I were able to join her Girl Scout troop for a sleepover at a local science center.  I didn’t know what to expect since we had never been there before, and I was excited to participate in my first girls’ sleepover as a parent.

We began the evening with some habitat games

then, as dusk was falling and night crept in, we took a night hike in the woods.

Wow.  That was certainly the highlight for me.  Kait loved it, too.  The trail was completely dark, and it was just amazing to hike without knowing what was coming up next while listening to the sounds of the night.  We hiked to a pond and back, and I’d love to do that again sometime.

After we returned, the girls, of course, sangs songs around a campfire while roasting marshmallows.  It wasn’t actually as perfect as it sounds because the wood was wet, and it didn’t want to burn at all.  It took MANY tries to get it going enough to actually roast some marshmallows.  Some of the girls opted out after hearing (earlier in the evening) that marshmallows are made with cow hooves.  Not my girl. She roasted a few for herself and a couple more for me.

Everyone cuddled into their sleeping bags (not me.  I brought an air mattress.  gosh I’m old) and was asleep before 11 p.  The next morning was foggy and brisk, but the girls headed outside to learn more about habitats and the birds that live on the science center grounds.

(I really like how these pictures turned out, focusing on the bird and blurring the bars of the cage.)

After learning more about these birds, the girls made the old peanut-butter-on-the-pinecone-covered-with-sunflower-seeds birdfeeder.  They hung one on a tree on the grounds and then made one to take home.

I ended up having to leave about an hour early, but Kait stayed to enjoy petting a rabbit and another animal that I can’t remember right now.  It was a GREAT experience, and Kait and I can’t wait to do it again sometime.  I hope she isn’t too grown up to mind me chaperoning the next overnight event.  It really was a great time for everyone.

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lil’ sebastian

I’ve already told you that we had a fun weekend back in our old college town.  Aunt C and Uncle L graciously opened up their home, yet again, to our rambunctious family of five plus a little dog.

It was SO nice to catch up with them and their sweet granddaughters.

After the reunion lunch, we headed over to the cousins’ house to see their additions, one miniature horse and a regular size horse.  We had heard all about them at our family reunion last summer, and the girls were excited to see them up close and personal.

Things started out well.

Pendo enjoyed sitting on the miniature horse that G affectionately refers to as Lil’ Sebastian (have you seen that episode of Parks and Rec?).  The horse’s real name is Bucky.

Kait also had a turn and was bucked off  and then G was kicked by Lil’ Sebastian when he reached out to save Rose as she was being bucked off.  Needless to say, we decided that this little guy was not in the mood to have someone on his back that day.  We found another, more gentle, animal to enjoy.

The girls seem to be unfazed by their unexpected adventure with Lil’ Sebastian, but they did have some funny things to say as we were driving back home.

Rose: “I think that horse is naughty.”

Kait: “Now I know why they call him Bucky!”

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15 years

This weekend the Austin 5 headed back to the place where it all began, the place where G and I met and fell in love.   It was my 15 year college reunion, and we were able to combine some fun with friends while also spending time with some aunts, uncles and cousins who happen to live in the same town where G and I went to college.

On Friday evening, our girls had a BLAST playing hide and seek with the cousins, then Kait and G went to the high school football game with the family while trying not to freeze to death.

On Saturday morning, G and I braved the harsh, frigid wind and ran in our first 5K in a very long time.  I was SO excited to run the race with my BFF Colleen.  It was her very first 5K, and I loved being part of it with her.

This is us right before the race.  We were actually excited to get started because we were SOOOO cold!  It was 39 degrees and windy!

A very kind student (and friend of Colleen’s) graciously ran right with us, even though he could have finished much sooner than these old alumni.

Colleen actually won the prize for our age bracket.  Way to go, friend!  You did SO much better than I did in my first 5K.

This was the first race I’ve ran with G for three years, and even though he left us in the dust,  I’m glad we could run in the same race this time.  Thanks to Aunt C for watching the girls for us!

After a quick shower, we bundled up the girls and headed to the annual homecoming parade where the candy was abundant, let me tell you.

My girls had SO much fun watching the parade with Uncle Anthony, Aunt Colleen, and, of course, their three daughters.

Kait’s favorite part was getting a root beer float.  Yeah, that’s another annual homecoming parade tradition, at LEAST as old as my freshman year and likely older than that.

There’s nothing like an ice-cold root beer float when it’s 48 degrees outside.

After the parade we headed over to the reunion lunch where we were able to catch up with several friends and meet their sweet kiddos.

Before we headed home, we did one more thing, but I’m going to save that for next time.  It was a really great weekend, and I’m glad we were able to make it happen.

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