Pumpkin painting

Before the month of October was completely over, we had to get a family night of pumpkin painting in! I knew Ava would love it . . .but Kate and Olivia were right there with her. I think sometimes I forget how big they really are and just always think of them as babies. All my little girls had a ball.

Ava excited to begin

Kate hard at work

Olivia showing off

(speaking of showing off: one of Kate and Olivia's favorite things of late is showing off any art project they're working on in search of some praise. "Maaam - Loooook" is something I hear all throughout the day. It always makes me smile).

Such concentration : )

Some Kate Cheese

Olivia cheese

And cheese all the way around.

Let's just say it took an entire night and then some for these pumpkins to dry.

And of this just in time for it to rain 3 nights later and wash most of the paint off. : )

It's the memories - right?!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Poor Ryan spent his birthday flying back to Illinois by himself to get back to work while I stayed to drive our girls home from michigan the next day (my parents had them while we were in Mexico). Actually, it wasn't a big deal for him. But Ava was quite worried about missing daddy's birthday. : ) So the night we got home we had to head straight to the store and have a birthday party for daddy.

Decorations up and ready

Daddy and his 3 girls

We love you!

Magdalena

Ryan and I each have a college roommate and close friends who have spent the past 5 years down in Magdalena, Mexico serving at an orphanage there. While I still can't believe it took us 5 years, we finally were able to get down and visit them and see their daily lives. It was such a blessing - not only to be with them but to see how clearly God is using every individual down there to permanently affect the hearts and lives of each child there. I didn't take lots of pictures, but here's a few.

Our first morning there (after being up and traveling roughly 18 + hours the day before), we got to spend the morning with Seth at Keith and Emily's for breakfast. It was so fun to catch up and just relax . . .and the fact that I got to snuggle Keith and Emily's sweet new Brielle for long periods of time was a double bonus.

One of Seth's boys, Michael, hung close to Ryan most of the time there. It was fun to watch them together.

Some of the boys playing

Helping in the kitchen

The sanctuary they have there on campus I think is beautiful - this picture doesn't do it justice. It was really neat to be able to see the people that come, share a service with them and see God's work in action.

How Carissa and I spent much of our Saturday - getting the meat ready for Sunday's dinner.

Katie is opening up the most adorable coffee shop in town. We got to go visit it Sunday afternoon. If I could, I'd totally go spend quiet afternoons there! It has atmosphere, good books and lots of delicious stuff to drink and eat. We definitely pray God will bless her dream and vision to touch the lives of those in Magdalena.

Ryan and I got to go visit the downtown area . . .a little sunny. : )

They have a nice tradition of smashing a birthday person's face in their birthday cake . . .since Ryan's birthday was going to be the day after we left, we HAD to indulge the kids. : ) Ava still quite get over this one. She keeps asking, "Why did they push Daddy's face in the cake?!"

Our last morning on campus with Seth and Carissa

Thanks for your incredible hospitality and friendship. We were blessed by your hearts of service and trust that God will continue to give you the daily wisdom, love and patience : ) you need for every moment.

Chuck E Cheese

For better or for worse, we introduced our girls to the world of Chuck E Cheese last month while my niece Auburn was here for a visit. Surprise - it was a big hit. : ) It was fun to watch my girls enjoy some of the same games I remember.

Kate and Daddy have fun

Ava takes a turn

I remember spending hours playing this game as a kid - I'm a little rusty these days : )


This sort of counts as a group shot - right?! : )

Me and Auburn

Ava LOVED this horse

rule #1 in blogging. . .

What you can't stop . . .

. . .you post about.

Give you one guess which parent came up with this idea.

And no. It doesn't sound anything like mommy.

need a makeup consultation?

Ava's now booking appointments through december.

a trip to aunt amy's

I have to get my last "September" post up before November 1st. : )

At the end of September, Ava and I headed off to Aunt Amy's in Georgia. Ava was so excited to go see her cousins and I was looking forward to the fun time with her and seeing my sister. Most of the pictures we took are on my sister's camera but here's a few I did have.

On the plane, Daddy had cards for both of us to open. Ava was quite excited with her card and discovered gum inside!
An added bonus? Ava got to share Sophie and Cole's bunk beds with me. I thought it would be really cute too . . .until my daughter spent the ENTIRE evening our first night there coming out every 5 - 10 minutes asking me if I was coming to bed yet. This lasted until midnight at which Ava's very tired mommy climbed into bed . . .and I still think I fell asleep before my excited little girl did. : )

Taking a picture to "show daddy."

What does Ava love as much her cousins? Her cousins' dog Oliver. From the time she was a baby Ava has LOVED this dog and Oliver is a very gracious sport to all of Ava's affections. Mommy was thankful for Oliver since Sophie and Cole had school during the day.

Snuggling Oliver in the morning.

Every morning when Ava woke up she LOVED taking Oliver out for a short walk.

Quite the cute pair. : )

Friday Ava was a fabulous sport as we drove into Atlanta for a FULL day of shopping. Aunt Amy was quite the sport riding the escalator more than once with our shopper-in-training.

The shoe section and a balloon - what else does a girl need?! : )

All excited to go have fun at the pool with Sophie and Cole

Saturday we took a boat out on the lake and spent the afternoon enjoying the water and sun.

Movie night with Sophie and Oliver

Oliver slept each night at the foot of Ava's bed . . .whether he wanted to or not. Ava was quite insistent and sweet Oliver would come dutifully trotting in as Ava excitedly called him to bed with her. He deserved more than a few treats for this one. I'd check on Ava at night and he'd lift his head to look up at me and then lay back down almost as to say, I'm convinced, with a sigh, "I'm only doing this for her." : )

After a long weekend away, we came back home to Grandma! My mom had been here helping my sister pack up to move. Grandma always helps ease the pain of leaving cousins.

And speaking of moving? Before my other sister's family headed out of town, we got to soak in one "last" sleepover before they were officially gone (but we're counting on many more since they're expected to come back to visit ; ) ). We already miss having them close by so much but are so thankful for the fun memories of the years we did have nearby.