Life’s Little Moments

I took the day off on Friday to celebrate Andrew’s birthday. I worked a bit over Thursday night so they would be set for Friday and the weekend.

We got Andrew an indoor trampoline to help him build some upper core strength. I knew I’d be putting it together when I got home. That way, it would be ready for him when he woke up.

As I was in the front room, at 2am, I heard a noise from the kitchen. Apparently, he heard me come home and wanted to see me. Surprise ruined.

So he helped me build it! Of course, he wanted to stay up when it was done. So he jumped for a few minutes before we all headed back to bed.

When we woke up, I took him to get his birthday pictures done. They were all done outside and I can’t wait to see them. There should be some really great shots.

Afterwards, we drove to pick up his cake. He got to pick what was on it. Sam told me I would find it extremely funny. I had no idea what he could have chose, but was not surprised.

“It’s poop, Daddy!”

It sure is ….

The kids were still not feeling 100%, so we laid low for most of the day. We had a nice day with warm temps, so we decided to go to the local Homecoming parade, which happens less than a half mile from our house.

They were ready for candy with their Halloween buckets. And Andrew told everyone would listen that it was his birthday. It probably got him extra candy.

On the walk home he told us how awesome it was that somebody threw him a birthday parade!

Yesterday, our whole family met with our friend (and Andrew’s former speech therapist) Christa and her daughters and went to a pumpkin patch for the afternoon. The day was beautiful and we all had a blast.

They had so much to do and so many photo ops. The kids enjoyed feeding the many animals that were there. Sam and Christa kept trying to talk me into getting a goat!

They had a beautiful little Sunflower patch.

Pony rides for the kids

And a little barrel train ride.

It was a perfect day to check out all the sites, but after a while, someone got tired and needed a lift

They had these amazing apple cider slushies, fresh baked donuts, regular cider, kettle corn, and donut sundaes!

After we enjoyed our desserts, it was off to get a pumpkin. Ella found hers, Andrew picked one that was no bigger than a softball!

Knowing we couldn’t carve that, I grabbed another one for him. Sam found a huge white pumpkin and said she had to have it. After a great day, we sat outside and carved the pumpkins and they are out on the porch.

Having two days in a row with family is an absolute joy! There were plenty of smiles and many memories made!!

Friday Photo Flashback

I’m not going to go back too far today, just a few years ago. While we were outside this week, the kids were talking about the leaves that were falling. They’ve been picking them up and coming over to me and showing me the different colors in them.

Fall, as you may be aware, is my favorite season. We’ve got a trip to the pumpkin patch planned for later this month already. This got me to thinking about the first time we took Ella to the local orchard.

It didn’t take me long to find this picture. This was such a fun day! Dimitri, my second born, came with us that day and we rode the hayride into the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins.

I remember that Covid was only about 6 or 7 months old at this time. Everyone was masked on the hayride and there was plenty of social distancing. Despite that, it was one of the first real outings we had had in a long time and it felt so good to be out and about.

As I look at Ella in the photo, I can hardly believe it is her. She is so tall and thin now and all the chubby cheeks are gone. It’s amazing how much she has changed. That shirt is folded up and in her memory bin in the basement. I will resurface in about 13 years when she graduates! I think we may have saved that bow, too!

I cannot wait for the trip this year. Andrew’s former speech therapist is coming along with us and bringing her daughters (who Ella calls her older sisters). It will be a wonderful time and I hope to be able to get some great photos while we are there.

Gourd Ahead, Make My Day!

Saturday morning, when I got home from work it was raining. I had hoped to come home and take the kids to the local orchard to pick up pumpkins. I love going there because they do a hay ride that takes you out to the pumpkin patch and you can go get your own pumpkin. Along the way they have wooden cut outs of super heroes, cartoon characters, and things the kids get a kick out of.

The rain let up in the afternoon, and we decided that it was probably too muddy to go to the pumpkin patch. Sam, however, remembered that there was a local stand that had pumpkins, corn stalks, hay bales, and more near her mom’s house. We had to head that way, so we decided we’d make a stop.

As soon as we were out of the car, Ella began her search for a pumpkin. I grabbed a wagon and once she found the one she wanted, we put it on the wagon. Sam picked out one for Andrew and that went on the wagon next. Sam saw these “stacking” pumpkins she wanted for the front porch, so we picked up some of those, too. On the way out, Ella found a table with little pumpkins and she started throwing them on the wagon!

It was the first time Andrew has ever seen a real pumpkin! It was fun to see him look at all of them.

Because of all the pumpkins, we didn’t have enough cash to get corn stalks or hay, so we may have to go back out to get those another day. I still hope to be able to get to go on our autumn hay ride.

For now, the various gourds make the house ready for fall.

Autumn in Michigan

The weather has been nice enough over the past two weeks for us to get out and really enjoy the fall weather! It’s been pleasantly warm with temps in the high 60’s and low 70’s. I’m glad, because this has allowed me to take Ella out for walks in the stroller through the neighborhood. At one house, the red leaves on the ground were so bright, I took her out of the stroller and let her play in the leaves.

After we got home, we both sat on the front lawn and watched the cars go by. She just loves to be outside! She loves to watch the squirrels, listen to the birds and wind chimes, and play in the grass.

This week Ella turned 8 months old! She has 4 teeth and two more popping through. She’s pretty much crawling like a champ and will no doubt be walking before we know it! To celebrate, we took her and her brother to the orchards to go pumpkin picking. I hope that this will remain an autumn tradition.

At the orchards, you can purchase pumpkins that are already picked, or you can take the hayride and pick your own from the pumpkin patch. Naturally, Ella needed to go on her first hayride, so we did that! She was SO tired when we went, but I was still able to get some amazing pictures. This one is my favorite from the hayride:

I love how she is cuddling with mom! She was loving the ride and the colors were just awesome. She wasn’t really sure what we were doing when we got out to the pumpkin patch. At one point, Sam made her sit on a pumpkin … she was unimpressed!

I love the way Ella looks at her brother. She lights up when she sees him. I have no doubt that she and him will have a strong relationship. After we got our pumpkins, there were quite a few pumpkins out in front of the orchard. I had Dimitri sit down among the pumpkins and then sat Ella next to him. While there are some really great pictures of them looking right at the camera, my favorite is probably the one below. She reached over and put her hand on him and they both are kind of looking at each other. A priceless moment!

I’m hoping that the weather cooperates in the next week or two, as I’m hoping to get both boys over and take some family pictures outside. Sam bought a cute outfit for Ella and shirts for everyone that match the polka dots on Ella’s outfit. I can’t wait to go out and get these pictures done!

Fall is my favorite season and I just love looking at the beauty of God’s creation! Happy Fall!