Fall Things I Love

The last few days have really pushed us into Fall.  

The temperature is dropping and its officially time to pull out the coats, hats, and gloves. 

I embrace this time.  

Falling Leaves

Scarves in every color

Boot season

Cozy nights by the fire

Apple Orchards

and

Especially the return of pumpkin EVERYTHING. 

{pumpkin spice latte}

{pumpkin shake from Whitey's}

The house is decorated with pumpkins, gourds, and mums.

It is hard to resist picking up more pumpkins every time I 

go to the store because you can never have too many.

I had the chance to take the girls to a pumpkin patch so we can check 

that off our Fall Family Bucket List. 

This face painting quickly changed her halloween costume choice from 

Cowgirl to Kitty Cat.  

Then we took the family to an apple orchard yesterday. 

The kids had fun loading up our bags with apples, 

and even more fun eating the apples. 

 We have great ambition to make apple pies and applesauce this week.  

Now it sounds like a lot of work.  

 But as the days get colder, cooking and baking in the kitchen 

doesn't sound so bad. 

Of course one of my favorite things about fall is... Football. 

It wouldn't be fall with out the pigskin. 

Time to bundle up to watch another game.  

I am suddenly remembering how much I prefer watching the games on TV and not in the cold.  

Bundle up.... 

Say Cheese!!

I like taking pictures. 

Let me rephrase that... I LOVE taking pictures. 

I love capturing a great shot of one of my kids. 

I love seeing their personality in a photograph. 

I get lost in looking at old pictures that I've taken. 

I LOVE anything related to photography. 

I am not a professional. 

I am a casual photographer who has a great Nikon camera that I shoot in Automatic. 

Which is a no-no, but its not that I don't know how to take a picture manually. 

It's that I let everyone in my family be a photographer. 

The hubby grabs my camera just to get good shots occasionally and Miss Rosie Posie is 

becoming quite a great photographer too. 

This isn't more evident than in a little photo shoot we did last week just the 6 of us. 

I realize the value of having a professional photographer take pictures. 

I tried scheduling a photographer this fall, but timing and our schedules don't leave a lot 

of time for photographers to get a session in. 

Oh, and how I really wanted outdoor photos this year of ALL 6 of us.   

I have photo sessions with the kids a couple times a year, where we get dressed up and 

mommy gets to play with different shots I want to try.  

I even rearrange the furniture and create backdrops.

I rarely never get the Hubby to play along though.  

 I did catch him in a very good mood last week though, and talked him into getting dressed up and 

playing model for me while we shot a picture for Christmas cards. 

Yes, it is that time of the year. 

Are you not listening to Christmas Carols, yet?

 The Hubby does get some great shots! 

 She informs me every day now, that she is daddy's girl.

 {Lil Miss almost 4}

 {Rosie - one month from 10}

It is hard to get THIS smile from her. 

She has the most beautiful smile and when she shows it my heart grows. 

{Bubba -- 8 years old}

This guy has style. 

The girls do not have a problem with me picking out their clothes for pictures. 

I know there will come a day that mommy's style won't be their style, 

but for the most part they love what I throw together. 

This guy on the other hand has an opinion on what he has to wear. 

He knows what he likes and is particular, even to what shoes he is going to wear. 

Notice no shoes are shown on any picture, but he spent 15 minutes deciding what high-tops would 

look the best. 

{Gigi - Age 7}

What can I say about this beauty?

She's gorgeous and knows how to work the camera.  

She comes up with her own poses and every picture is stunning.  

 There was lots of love as we ran around a field of prairie grass trying to get pictures. 

It was comical. 

For shots with all 6 of us in them, I would set up the shot press the timer and run to my spot while trying to put my hair in place, straighten my jacket, not fall, and try to smile. 

I don't recommend this way to get a shot.  It's exhausting and half of the photos I look like I'm panting. 

Occasionally you get a shot worth something. 

I picture where all 6 of us are at least looking at the camera, because that's all I really need.  

  {my babies}

So for an hour on a Sunday afternoon and 30 minutes after playing on the playground, 

I got pictures for me to get lost in years from now. 

Pictures are priceless. 

 There are too few pictures of Mommy and Daddy, but Rosie was 

able to even get a great shot of us two.  

Again, priceless! 

Into the Woods

This past weekend was our last camping weekend of the year. 

It's sad, because we haven't used our camper nearly as much as we had the past two years. 

This is mainly due to mommy being gone most of the month of July.

 We went out to a park only 20 minutes from the house.  

For those of you who don't think that is really "getting away from it all", 

you haven't been out to Scott Co. Park. 

 We've camped out there before, but we stayed in a new area. 

Which means a new place to explore.... and explore we did. 

At night it got cold.  Like finger freezing, knit cap wearing, 40+ degree cold.

 The fire was not only pretty and used to roast marshmallows, it was to keep warm. 

{frost on the dandelions}

On Saturday morning, we woke up with frost on the ground. 

It was a pretty frost.  We bundled up and took off looking for some geocaches, aka "treasure".

 Bubba had a friend along so we showed him the ins and outs of geocaching.  

We were tromping through the woods and navigating through brush to find our "treasure".

 Getting muddy is fun. 

Not so pretty for the camper, though. 

 When we needed a rest, I pulled out the craft supplies and we made leaf drawings 

and play-doh popsicles. 

Mommy also had fun crafting by making long stemmed roses out of maple leaves. 

They turned out great, with a few leaves, sticks, and duct tape. 

So many things you can do with duct tape.  

We've been out to the Walnut Grove Pioneer Village a number of times, but the kids 

always find it fun to explore.  

 On Sunday the fun and games came to an end, and we packed up the camper, got it 

cleaned out for the winter and parked it in storage for the next 6 months.  

Bye Bye Camping Season. 

The Pumpkin Patch

On Wednesday I had a chance to go on a field trip with Lil Miss. 

I am so excited to go on as many field trips as I can with the kids this year.  

It was a beautiful fall day for the pumpkin patch.

 The preschoolers had fun looking at all the petting zoo animals: the bunnies, ducks, chickens, 

and sheep.  Of course my child always likes to be by the teacher, asks tons of questions, 

and has plenty of stories to share with anyone who will listen. 

It was funny see her interact with the other children. 

She only knows a few names but is not shy at all. 

Her favorite part (after snack time) was the wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch.  

She loved the bumpy ride into the field, but then when we got to the actual pumpkin patch. 

She flipped out.  

My girl would not step foot into the pumpkin plants.  

All the other kids were rushing out to get the perfect pumpkin and my girl was scared of the plants. 

This is not acceptable for this plant loving momma.  

So I carried her out in the patch, sat her down to pick the "perfect" pumpkin (also known as the first pumpkin we saw) and then hurried back to the wagon.  

The first field trip of her little life.  

I was so glad to spend this time with her, and I can't wait to chaperon the 

older kids field trips too.  One of the best parts of Lil Miss starting preschool this year! 

Fall Favorites

It's the first day of Fall.  

I love Fall. 

Football season. 

Sweater and hoodie weather.
The Beauty of Leaves changing color.

Everything Pumpkin. 

The warmth of coffee in the morning. 

And scarf season. 

Happy First Day of Fall! 

one...two... THREE!!!!

Our baby girl is 3!!! 

I can't believe it.

Where has the time gone?

Only yesterday she was learning to crawl..

and now she is doing everything her self.

Why do they grow up so fast?

She's my baby girl

and always will be.

Being three or thirty three won't change that.



Happy Birthday Lil Miss!!!

You fill our life with sunshine and sweetness.