Linder Farms

We decided to try out Linder Farms this year. Brad and I took turns with kids because Luke just wanted to play on the bounce houses, and the bigger kids wanted to try a few more things. Emma and Jake enjoyed jumping with a harness, and Emma tried out a ride that's supposed to flip you upside down repeatedly, but after getting a little more than half way around, she freaked out and the other girl stopped it so she could get off. Maybe next year.

 After trying a few other things, Emma and Jake came across the zip-line and spent almost the entire night here.

And they each found their perfect pumpkins to bring home.

Oct 26, 2017

Unbe-leaf-able great time!

 There was a frost in the morning, and that day, ALL the leaves from our backyard tree fell. It was mesmerizing to watch them all drop, and a beautiful day to play in the leaves! Playing in the leaves is probably one of my all-time favorite family activities of the year, every year. Smiles and laughs all around! Emma loves striking a pose after her throw.

 I love Jake's smile behind his falling leaves.

 Luke always has a good time outside, and got his leaf-throwing figured out this year. 

That being said, we still dropped piles on him anyway :). 

 Emma and Jake (hidden behind the air-born leaves) teamed up against Brad.

And Jake's ready to take off running, knowing he's going to get it right back. Emma's just enjoying the moment she successfully got her dad. 

My parents happened to be there with us, and my mom enjoyed the leaf-storm with us. Look how pretty and happy she is! I'll convince her to get a little dog one of these days. 

 And this is one of my all-time favorite pictures! Lizzy going in for the kill! (Of the leaves in Luke's hands). Apparently the pile all around isn't enough for her. This puppy loves leaves.

Brad pulled out his leaf-blower to help make piles to jump in, and to blow leaves at the kids. Of course, every kid needed a chance with the blower also! The piles didn't last long before the leaves were strewn out all over the yard again.

 I made sure to have a leaf-battle with the kids.

 I showed no mercy. 

I think Lizzy ate enough leaves to fill her belly for the entire day. She loved being out with the family jumping around, chasing, and catching leaves. Puppy's got some hops!

Oct 14, 2017

Soccer and Smiles

I have hundreds of these pictures. Lucas loves the camera.

 And Lizzy (along with Lucas) follows me everywhere, and when she gets especially snuggly, she sits on the edge of the couch where I am, and lays her head on my shoulder to get extra rubs. 

Emma decided she wanted to try soccer again now that she's done with ballet. I was thrilled, although a little hesitant due to it not going so well when she played a few years ago. So we put her into Brayge sports because all the games were conveniently located right at our park. She surprised the heck out of me when she ran out there being very aggressive, fast, strategically passing to team members, and making goals. Holy smokes!  

 Jake finished another great season with his same soccer team. These boys have so much fun together! I am continually soccer team mom for them, and we decided to forgo trophies/medals this year, and instead I made them the candy leis, which they seemed just as excited about. Phew!

 At Jake's dental appointment, they discovered his tooth was coming in behind his baby teeth instead of below it, so we went in and had his first two teeth extracted. The Tooth fairy paid big for those two babies to help make up for that, slightly less traumatic than anticipated-- but still unpleasant, first visit.

And I always cherish those pictures I manage to grab of them all getting along and being kind. Ahhh.

 Non-Halloween side of October 2017

Bodies in Motion

We discovered a new place in Boise called Bodies in Motion. They had a section dedicated to American Ninja Warrior training activities. The kids had fun trying some out.

And boys being boys at the park while we wait for Emma at piano lessons every Monday.

Oct 2-4, 2017

September

This poor blanket is the one and only blanket Lucas will sleep with. It has been VERY well loved. He frequently wears it around his neck. Sometimes as a bib, others as a super-hero cape. I would worry about how I'm going to break the habit, but by the looks of it, the blanket will be disintegrated soon enough. 

And the other kid at the house got the Lego Millennium Falcon Star Wars ship. They all had a lot of fun "helping" put it together, but it now sits on a shelf to admire, as any single touch from Lucas destroys blasters or some other integral part of the ship.

The entire time we've been living in this house, I've been battling weeds in the back yard, where it looks like they were trying to do landscaping, but ditched efforts, leaving me with a couple bushes, a dead tree, weeds, and dirt. So Brad and I took out the tree and stump, I removed all the weeds, placed black landscape fabric, landscaping bricks, and asked for a big pile of rocks for my birthday to finish the job. It looks so much better, but I have yet to take a picture. I want to do a little more work on it this spring, and we'll see how it looks. I'm pleased with it so far, and will hopefully spend much less time with weeds this year.  

Lucas does NOT like hair cuts. I don't know if you could tell by his death glare...he's not happy with me.

Emma and Lucas happily rolling around in the grass at Jake's soccer practice. 

 And a few pictures to make you check every cheeseburger you order. Brad brought me some Sonic, and thank heavens I'm in the habit of checking my order, because I always  make sure those onions and tomatoes are absent. This time, they tried to sneak in a little extra protein in the form of a moth. Wow. I cannot express how disgusted I was. And no longer hungry. Sonic dumped out all their ingredients, refunded our purchase, and gave me a $20 gift card. Which, after months of avoiding the place, was spent on slushes, because I just can't stomach ordering a cheeseburger there anymore.

Sept. 2017

Growing in Different Ways

The kids' bus stop is right at the park, so we frequently stop and play on our way home. This is their favorite tree, because it's the only one they can reach the branches to climb. Jake wouldn't go very far up in the beginning, but shocked the heck out of me when he climbed to the tippy-top a few days later. 

 And Lucas's stats are in... we've got another little shorty-pants on our hands!

 Luke and I frequent the library singing time quite often. He usually stays right by me the entire time due to the high number of kids and adults crammed in there. Finally, one of the times we went only had a small group, and he enjoyed himself quite a bit more.

August 2017