- summer.fall.winter.BOOM! -

Did someone say, " S N O W  D A Y ? !"

Yessss!

But first, can I just have seven seconds to sulk about the fact that we were totally gypped out of fall this year??!  I. LOVE. FALL, and I'm so mad that we only had a couple weeks [at best!] of legit autumn weather.  It went from scorching hot through September/early October to freezing cold in November -- and with very minimal "happy weather" in between! One month the kids were picking out pumpkins and planting mums in their summer sundresses, and the next month we were bundling up in five layers to trick-or-treat in our FROZEN wardrobes.  What the hey????

But still, we set the bipolar weather aside and carved out a few "fall weekends" for ourselves, and they were full of all of our favorite things!

...Like crafting!

And drinking hot chocolate! [Scarlett's first time!]

We played at the park with friends without sweating our booties off...

...conjured up a few fun fall treats for Harper's snack day at Pre-K...

...planted a tree at the Children's Museum with Harper's class...

...and alsoooo hit up the local pumpkin patch with Grammy!

We even enjoyed a special lunch at Freddy's afterwards! 

[Amidst all of our fun, we also checked on Daddy and took food out to the house for him almost every evening! Looking so forward to a quickly-approaching move in day!]

So there! Non-"fall" weather, you couldn't/didn't stop us from enjoying the season!!! 

#happyfallyall

.....Although, this will easily go down as the shortest season ever, because now we're officially on to winter!

- Let It Go: Halloween 2019 -

Elsa brought a little too much frosty magic to Halloween this year...

I mean, seriously???! Freezing temps and even a few snowflakes spotted on October 31?  No. Thanks.

Very luckily, we were able to squeeze in a quick photoshoot [which, again, was not a fan favorite...]...

...our first ever "trunk or treat" at the parish...

...a Halloween parade...

...and some LEGIT trick-or-treating...

...alllllll the weekend before the frigid temps rolled in! 

On the "real" Halloween week, the kids stayed occupied inside with Halloween card decorating with Mommy...

...pumpkin carving with Daddy...

...and cookie decorating with Grammy!

So much Halloween-y fun!  Not thrilled that we had to sit out the official town trick-or-treating night, but since we had so much other fun to distract the kiddos, I guess we'll just "LET IT GO!" for this year! 

Happy FROZEN Halloween 2019 from Anna, Elsa, Olaf and Sven! :) 

- On FIYA! -

I've heard it said that "a house without a fireplace is a house without a heart"... But really, we stuck this guy in the floor plan, because -- obviously -- how else is Santa supposed to bust in with all of our goodies?!?  We've been really REALLY good girls and boys for the duration of this e-n-t-i-r-e, veryyyy very long year, and I'm expecting quite a big load of toys to drop down this beautiful chute at Christmas!  

[September 2019]

[October 2019]

*Belted*: THIS GUY IS ON FIYAAAA...

...So whatcha think, Santa?  Gonna have any problems fitting down this thang? ... ;)

SO MANY THANKS to Papa Ron, Uncle Brantsy, and -- of course -- our very own daddy for completing such a monstrous and messy job! The stone handiwork looks so great, and the fireplace + column combo really adds a ton of unique character to the house!   I love it!!!

...And on the seventh seventy-seventh day, he rested!

- Field Trip to Liberty -

I ooh'ed and ahh'ed over Liberty Apple Orchard a few weeks ago, so we weren't mad at all to head back to this wonderful place for Harper's first preschool field trip and more apple picking fun!  We rolled in riiiiiight on time [and although my kids can never get their sh*t together to get out of the house on time, I totally take the blame this time. I was nonchalantly following another SUV through the winding country roads and the driver seemed to be on the right path towards the orchard.  All of the sudden nothing was looking familiar and I realized we should've been at our destination several minutes ago, and the rest is history...]. However! We swerved into a parking spot, bolted out of the car, and the three of us ran up to the line [pictured below, lolz] just as Mr. Miller was welcoming everyone to the orchard.  No sweat!  After a few sing-along songs outside, the lovely Mrs. Miller gave the students a lesson inside the Liberty Schoolhouse all about apple seeds/trees/fruits, etc., etc., etc., before they set us loose outside in the orchard.

Siblings were invited on the field trip as well [mostly probably because parents were required to attend!], and Scarlett just thought she was the bee's knees for getting to hang with all of the big kids.  My momma heart swelled as I observed Harper being soooo kind to her -- and even showing her off -- as she held her hand through the orchard and introduced Scarlett to all of her friends: "This is my baby sister, her name is Scarlett!"  Harper also so lovingly included Scarlett in the few photos I took, and Scarlett nuzzled right in to Harper's friends like she was an original member of the pack!  So stoked that these two beautiful sisters will always have each other in their corner. :)

After all of our apple bags were filled, we met back up at the school house and Mr. Miller brought out cups of homemade apple cider for all of us to taste. Yummmmm!  It was a super chilly morning, so we were thrilled when it was finally time to retreat back to the car and crank up the heat!

Thanks to the preschool teachers and [again] to Mr. and Mrs. Miller for organizing such a special day!  We love cutting into our Liberty apples!!!