Fall is my absolute favorite. If only its lovely temperatures and fabulous colors would last longer. There are lots of "little things" to love and document about fall, but there are also bigger things...like pumpkin patch outings and football games and fun decorations. I realize that my "Little Things" posts have morphed and are now a combination of random "little things" - single moments captured on film- as well as "times to remember" - bigger outings deliberately documented. Whether truly "little" or a little more significant, these documented "things" were the fabric of my life during these months. And this life of mine, whether in little moments or more significant times, is something worth celebrating!
Celebrating the Little Things
{Fall 2014 Edition}
{Bobbed Again}
Just in time to go back to school, Molly made the decision to chop her hair again. This decision was completely independent of my love of little girls and bobbed hair. One of her best little buddies was diagnosed with cancer in late summer and bobbed off her own hair in preparation for her chemotherapy that would eventually cause it to all fall out. Molly decided that she wanted her hair to "be short like Liz's". She was resolved in this decision and cut at least 4 or 5 inches off!
{Short & Sweet Piggies}
Molly's piggies are back to the short, but ever so sweet, variety! I actually heart short piggies more than long piggies...especially at dance class with big pink bows! Does it get any better?!
{2 Parents + 2 Kids = EASY Vacation}
Wow! Traveling - or doing anything for that matter - is so easy with only 2 kids! Vance and I got to take Noah and Lucy on a short 2 night trip to Kansas City for an appointment Lucy had at Children's Mercy. It was heavenly. So much fun. And SO easy! Noah got to spend the night and day with his friend that had to move from Wichita to KC. They reunited as if the last time they saw one another was last week; not last year! The next day we went to Lawrence for the football game. It was another glorious Fall day on the KU campus... perfect for having a baby at a football game...she slept through the entire thing! We came home refreshed instead of exhausted because 2 parents + 2 kids = EASY and fun getaway!
{Girly Room}
In anticipation of Lucy's birth, we rearranged the sleeping arrangements. Again! We had no choice but to say goodbye to our playroom and transform it into a room for Emily and Molly to share. It was time. Prior to the move, Emily was sleeping in a toddler bed (at age 6!) and Molly was sleeping in a crib (at age 4!). The room is still a work in progress, but I had great fun shopping for and decorating this little girly room with a vintage theme. The quilts at the ends of the girls' new (age appropriate!) beds are quilts from Vance's grandmother. The quilts hanging on the ladders belong to the girls and have been made for them by their grandma (YaYa) and their Aunt Toi. The doilies hanging as buntings are a mix of my grandma's and others purchased from antique stores. The embroidery hoops are not complete. There are more to be assembled and hung. I just haven't finished it yet. But it's still adorable and fits them perfectly...even if it's not quite complete!
{Party of 7 in Dallas}
Shortly after school started, we pulled the kids out again...to travel to Dallas for the Regional Finals of the Drive, Putt, and Chip contest. We went a few days early so that we could (attempt to) enjoy a little mini vacation while we were there. As should be expected, things didn't quite go so smoothly (Emily puked the entire drive for starters!), but we still managed to do a few fun things on what would be our first vacation as a family of SEVEN!
{Playing Makers}
Molly and Abby sometimes have a harder with imaginary play when their biggest sister is absent. Emily is the one who is most creative and comes up with the best situational imaginary play ideas. But these two...they have been engaging in more and more imaginary play now that Emily is back to school. And they creative skills are developing. Like for instance, this one. They are "makers". As in..."they make things!".
{Sunglasses for the Littles}
I'm not sure where she picked up the habit, but Molly routinely wears her sunglasses on top of her head...like a hair bow. And Abby...well, she sometimes joins Molly in the "on top of the head" look, but most of the time, she is just trying to manage to get her sunglasses on the right way instead of upside down!
{Smiles for the Greats}
My sweet grandparents are no longer able to travel to Wichita. My Granny is in a care facility and my Grandpa never leaves her side. And so they don't get to see my kids as often as they used to, or would like to. So we try to go to visit as often as we can. We took a quick trip to say hi on Labor Day. We didn't get to stay for very long, but we were there long enough for Miss Lucy to charm her great grandparents with lots of little baby smiles! My Granny won't remember any of it because Alzheimer's disease has stolen her memory, but in the moment when Lucy smiled at her...well, her face shows how much she enjoyed that moment. And so did I.
{Headstands}
Molly is a head standing maniac! I can't keep she and Emily from doing headstands on the furniture constantly...even when wearing super inappropriate attire for such head standing!
{A Milestone: Altar Serving}
If Noah looks nervous, he was! Although in the first picture, he was less nervous than he was 3o minutes prior to taking it... because he had just finished his first time as an altar server. Father trains the 4th graders and they begin participating in the weekday school masses. Noah was happy to get to do this with one of his good buddies, but even being with Gabe didn't totally kill his nerves. He did great though! How is it possible he is old enough to do this? I can remember holding him in my arms at Mass, whispering in his ear, "the miracle is happening now" as the bells rang aloud. And now... now he is the one RINGING those bells! Time, please slow down.
{Bad Baby Hair}
Lucy's hair is in the stages of bad baby hair. It starting rubbing off in the back, creating a landing strip of sorts. As it has continued to rub and fall out, it has morphed into more of a samari-wrestler style. In other words, she now only has one tuft of long hair right on the top in the middle! These are definitely baby hair DON'Ts!
{Outdoor Help}
I had a few outside helper this year when I decorated the porch for Fall. I'm not sure they got much accomplished, but they sure looked cute in their costumes and boots!
{Face Paint}
Where there is face paint, there, too, will be my girls. They are all about the face paint. They want it whenever and wherever they see it!
{Meet Unicorn Horn}
Molly has become obsessed with unicorns. She 100% believes they are real and I'm not about to squash her dream of riding a "real unicorn" just yet. One day when we were out doing some Fall clothes shopping, she spotted this unicorn horn on a headband. It had to be hers. And she proudly wears that horn everywhere. To school. To church (without me having to tell her, she respectfully took it off as she got to the alter for her communion blessing). To restaurants. To bed. Everywhere. All the time! It is her signature. And I adore it!
{This}
One of the benefits of having a baby in the summer is the lack of schedule and need to be up and around at a certain time. It made it nice to just sit and let my new sleeping baby sleep on my chest. But after school started, this became harder as my schedule was, well... a schedule. But I still made time as often as possible to sit and savor this. Even as I post this image I realize that my days of this are over as Lucy has already grown past this stage of sleeping so peacefully on my chest after she nurses. This though. This was great.
{Glorious Fall Days Outside}
We had a glorious Fall. Gorgeous temperatures. Knowing it would go by quickly, I tried to force myself to put down my "to do" list occasionally and take the time to be outside with the littles in the prime of the beautiful Fall days. We visited a new coffee shop, went to the park with our friends, spent an afternoon at the zoo, enjoyed the butterfly house, and played at a local pumpkin patch on a day off from school with the big kids.
{Themed Fashion Shows}
This household sees many, many fashion shows! Recently, the shows have morphed and have started to feature "themed" outfits, courtesy of Emily's imagination. Sometimes just the costumes are themed (see cowgirl and bride on the right) and sometimes the combination of the two costumes is a theme (as in "circus act" - the superhero and the gymnast on the left) and sometimes their is an acting component that is the theme (as in "Under the Sea" on the bottom"). With or without a theme, these "shows" are childhood at its best.
{Fall Decor}
Oh the Fall decor...my absolute favorite. The colors. The funky pumpkins. The mums. The simplicity. I didn't do much this year, but I loved what I did manage to do!
{Daddy Love}
No explanation needed. Another Daddy look alike makes him very happy indeed!
{The Many Faces of Lucy & her Chocolate Drop Eyes}
Oh this one! She is such a happy girl! I didn't know babies could be this happy. It took her a while to figure out how to smile (2 months), but once she figured it out, all I have to do is glance at her and her that tiny mouth centered in between those chubby cheeks opens wide into the best grin I've ever, ever seen!
{Baby Love by the Bigs}
There has not been a single ounce of sibling jealousy since Lucy's arrival. Even with Abby. In fact, I think Abby might be her biggest fan. Actually, ALL the big kids are Lucy fans. Whoever says that having more kids is tough on the older ones hasn't experienced my reality! These big kids LOVE this little chunk of a baby love!
{Big/Little Sister Love}
Oh to have a big sister! I am so happy that my girls have sisters. I always wanted a sister. One of my greatest hopes in life is that these girls will grow to be each other's best friends and supporters... just like they are now.
{Prayer Partners}
4 years ago, I gathered a very small group of women (most of whom I barely knew or didn't know at all) and began a ministry at our church called "Busy Mom's Bible Study". We began meeting in homes and the group was focused solely on stay-at-home mom's. Over the past 4 years, the group has grown immensely. We now meet at the church in a large meeting room and have 2 groups; one catering to stay home mom's and one for mom's who work during the day. I've remained the facilitator and attend both groups. I'm proud of the growth of this group, but more proud of the relationships and the prayer partners I've developed because of it. This group prays each other through lots of things. Most recently, one of our members' daughter was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Not only do we pray for this family regularly and visibly (see miraculous medals below!), but apparently our kids have picked up on the concept as well. One day after school, some of us were visiting in the parking lot and looked over and saw our kids, kneeling in the school's "prayer garden", praying for Liz. They did this spontaneously and without suggestion. It was remarkable to witness these little people engaging in their own form of prayer partners!
{This Face}
Oh this cute and ever so ornery face! Whenever this face is silent for more than a few minutes, I know I'm in big {messy!} trouble!
{Crazy Die Hard Fans}
Vance's title as most die hard KU fan may have been passed on to his son! Despite freezing temperatures, this kid would not consider missing a football game or an opportunity to tailgate!
And on the topic of freezing temperatures, that's how Fall 2014 ended...with SNOW! Farewell Fall, Hello Winter!
