October

We have a cute little family farm and market down the road about a 1/2 mile that sells the most delicious turnovers, beautiful apples, and expensive pumpkins.  We when it was pumpkin carving time we of course made a stop.

The best part about the whole thing was that Tyler did the gutting, Alex cleaned out all the pumpkin seeds and the big girls did all their own carving!

I can't believe how grown up Heidi looks here.  And crazy.

We all dressed up for the ward Halloween party and trunk or treat.  Of course it was raining, but the kids still had a great time. 2 bugs, 2 skeletons and a couple of cowpokes.

Each of the girls came up with their own costume idea.  It was the easiest halloween yet.  2 pairs of PJ's, some stuffed tights for spider legs and some store bought butterfly wings.

by the end of the night Quinn was a smeared makeup zombie looking mess.  It went from cute skeleton to super freaky undead toddler.

Last week we had a zoo date and invited our new friends in the ward.  The husband is from Idaho so we all get each other.  Quinn really wanted to see the Giraffe.

They have a baby girl thats a few weeks younger than Tommy.  They are going to be best friends.

Quinn requested this picture be taken.

be taken

That flew past.

It always seems as though nothing is going on until I look at my calendar or upload my pictures!  I haven't been very diligent at taking pictures (sorry Tommy) but I was surprised at how many I did have that hadn't been posted yet!

Tyler has almost exclusively put Quinn to bed since Tommy was born.  The past few weeks I've gone in to check on her before getting into bed myself only to find that she has relocated herself to the laundry basket.

Tyler discovered that replicas of the Nina and Pinta were going to be in Pittsburgh during the week of Columbus day.  The next day both the girls came and excitedly told me the same thing so we went.

They are working ships that said around the world so people can tour them.  The crew especially didn't seem to like our unruly bunch.  I don't blame them.

There were just so many important ropes to touch and climb on.

It was a fun little break and we enjoyed seeing all the bridges again and exploring downtown a bit like in the good old days.


Alex and Heidi are thriving in school.  Alex in particular seems to enjoy that environment.  In her free time she likes to sit and color or read, things that she can still accomplish at school, and she is doing wonderfully at establishing friendships and working with others.  The habitual, predictable and super organized teaching style is helping her learn a lot, she has developed great penmanship and become a wonderful writer, sitting to write pages and pages in her free time at home.  Unfortunately it seems as though all they do is bland worksheets day after day after day, punctuated by tests and test prep.  In the last 2 months all they have studied in class is Math, spelling, and grammar/ english.  It kills me that they haven't done anything with science or history, Alex's two favorite subjects and ones that I feel need to be introduced while they are young so they can grow to love them!  I find comfort in knowing that at least while she was homeschooled we did a LOT of these subjects so she is ahead of the game in some regards.

Quinn would have nothing to do with organized standing in lines, so she climbed all over the railings.

I overheard a little girl tell her Dad, "Look, they are identical!"  I had to laugh, those 2 sure act a lot alike.

Usually hilarious and wild.

Heidi is a bit frustrated by the lack of freedom and play time.  Her teacher seems to be doing a great job and varying the activities and types of work, so I know she isn't just sitting at a desk all day which was my fear.  It breaks my heart a bit overtime I think about full day Kindergarten and the time I'm missing with her, but I can see lots of good coming out of this as well.  She says that everyone in her class is her friend and she seems to have found a good assortment of both girls and boys to play with. She only gets 1 recess a day which also breaks my heart, and don't get me started on the state and federal computer testing they are doing because I'm so emotionally against that, but not sure if it's a fight I can take on right now.

On probably the hottest most miserable August day ever we decided to ride our bikes to the water steps.  The water part was great, but riding little bikes and pushing a stroller through that heat with a crying baby was a terrible experience.

We used it as a test run for our new school lunch boxes .  And Quinn had a pickle punchable sandwich.

I've had some trouble with one of the kids teacher.  There are variety of reasons, but they make up a large enough problem that I find myself second guessing if I want this particular woman to be such a HUGE presence in my daughter's life!  I'm appalled by the way she treats the children (and adults) and despite the many extra's I've donated and time given, have never received as much as a verbal thank you.  I try not to dwell on it so much, but find myself anxious as Parent teacher conferences are nearing as to whether things are going to come to a head.  I'm doing my very very best to not offend or be offended as I don't want her to take her anger with me out on Alex.  It is a struggle.

Tommy did well for it being a billion degrees out with no shade.

We tried to take advantage as much as we could of the girls late school start, weeks after the city schools were in session, to go have some family adventures.  Quinn insisted she was the one to carry the water bottles.


All of the girls have been in swimming lessons at the YMCA 5 minutes from our home.  It makes Tuesdays a bit crazy but we decided to continue them for Alex and Heidi in the next session because the girls are finally learning how to swim and seem to enjoy it.  I'm just glad I don't have to get in the water with a belligerent Quinn anymore, although Tyler has taken more than his fair share of turns as well.

After living by the zoo for 2 years and going a couple times a month, always super prepared, we moved 30 minutes away and on that next visit forgot the stroller and had to pay $8 to rent a wagon.  I couldn't believe it.  Note how empty the wagon is at the beginning of the day.

We owned the zoo that day.

The leaves are starting to fall, no, dump onto the ground.  With such a large yard and so many trees I honestly don't know how we are going to handle the clean up.  After hours and hours of raking I'm hoping to find someone with a leaf blower that can loan it or assist us-  It's just insain.

About half way through Tyler became the pack horse once again.  Fortunately for him I didn't fit.

Quinn has been sick lately with a cold and extra clingy.  Unfortunately this hit just as Daddy started work!  It's hard to juggle her and Tommy when they both need attention, but things are working out.  Tyler is excited to have purpose in his life again and we are braced for the new job adjustment period that I hope will go quickly.

Also after 2 years of visiting the zoo we finally got to see the crocodile out of the water.  Something new every time!

I was released as the Enrichment leader and called to be the 2nd councilor in the Relief Society Presidency.  It's only been 2 weeks but I've enjoyed it and thus far been able to manage the duties of both callings and our own crazy life.  I enjoy getting out of the house, but don't love being scheduled for every minute of the day which is how life with kids in public school seems to be.  Our calendar fills up quickly with lessons and appointments and meetings and I'm learning that sometimes I do just need to say no.  It's a good lesson and I do feel that overall the new organization of our life has been good, and for our benefit.  I feel needed and useful in my new calling in a way that I haven't felt in a very long time.  I know that I wouldn't have been able to do it if I were still homeschooling, and can also see other blessings in our life that may not have come if I were homeschooling.  I haven't given up the hope that someday the conditions will be right again, and I'm trying to see all the good that public school is offering my kids.

And our baby saline has grown up quite a bit but still performs it's old tricks.

It was just as interested in the girls as they were in it.

We had the rest of our things shipped to us from storage in Utah.  Tyler's chainsaw and the rocking horse were the hot items.  Tyler has already but down 4 trees for an older neighbor lady whose grandson is at the bus stop with us and in Heidi's class.  They are very kind and we have benefited by getting to keep the firewood.  And oh what a huge pile of wood!  Tyler and the girls have been processing it the past couple weeks and there is much to still do.  They sort the sizes and trim up and shorten down the thinner branches and them haul them to the different stacks.  Then there are all the piles of twigs to just burn (they were all pine trees).  Alex LOVES this type of pioneer work and tries to get us out there all the time with the Axes to get to work.  Tyler is enjoying the freedom to start fires whenever he wants and we even had a moonlit date by the coals after the kids were in bed last week.

Adorable.

Sundays are interesting as neither Tommy nor Quinn have made it through an entire Sacrament meeting without being taken out yet.  The next 3 Sunday's Tyler has to work and I'm not sure how this is going to go down.  We have made an effort to make Sunday's family day and put the electronics and selfish desires for a nap away, and have taught them UNO which they love, and sorry, as well as carved pumpkins and tried out many a new milkshake flavor.  The girls are starting to look forward to Sunday and by the end of the day I'm usually sad that they have to leave again mixed with wonder at how I ever homeschooled.

The boys.

Tyler set up a fish tank in the living room which the girls also adore.  Quinn loves startling the fish for reactions (everything she does in life is to get a reaction), and I often see Heidi sneaking up on her hands and knees to peek up at them.  We also have tadpoles inside which Tyler caught on one of our hiking adventures a few weeks ago.

Angrily trying to get the toy he got stuck in the crack.

I can not imagine why this particular type of camp is needed for a fish.  But it wins the award for coolest looking fish ever.

On the cold rainy  day that I'm typing this its hard to imagine how humid and hot it was then.

They finally finished construction and it's crazy how close you can get to the giraffes now.

We rode the carousel.  Well the big girls rode it and I stood next to Quinn while she held my neck in a death grip. I was forced to stand and squat in time with the horse while we went around.  Longest carousel ride ever.

Alex is sure a sweetheart and it seems she is either treating Quinn like her peer or a tiny baby.

There was a lot of this that went on.

We had a labor day picnic with a friends new and old.  It was a great mix of water and food and fun.

Tommy is growing like a weed and loves to roll over.  In fact he is almost never on his back anymore.  He always crunches into a little ball and grabs his toes and then rolls to his side with a big smile and it's the most adorable thing ever.  He is very ticklish and tall and skinny for this age.  Whenever I take his jimmies or socks off he gets really excited about his toes and trying to grab them.  He also likes to suck on his fingers and fist, especially his thumb while I'm trying to nurse him.  I can trust Alex to carry him around now that he has full head control and she is more confident in her abilities.  He loves to pull hair and grab anything that comes close to those sweaty little fists.  His eyes shine when he is happy and he will smile at me from across the room and starts to cry if he is in a chair and I walk past him.  I want him to stay small and cute forever.

Even our great Pittsburgh neighbor Krista came out and held the baby the whole time!

We have the perfect summer backyard.

First day of school pictures!

We dressed up Tommy in this hand me down bunny suit and decided he would never wear it again so we needed pictures.

And they were all so cute I had to take a few.

It was a silly time.

Quinn is a little actress and may just rival Heidi in the absurdly adult things she says.  She found a little 3 year old girl at church who is her same size and about as good as talking as she is.  At ward functions they just follow each other around drawing on chalkboards and jabbering at each other like they are old women and best friends.  It's absolutely hilarious and my favorite thing to watch.  We have her over to play once a week and those two are just a perfect match for each other.  Even when they are fighting over a toy, the yell and scream and tug- but neither has ever hit or bitten- and sometimes the screaming tug of war lasts a few minutes.  Quinn always wakes up in the morning as happy as can be and slowly gets grumpy as the day progresses, the polar opposite of Alex.  She is becoming more of a playmate for Heidi and they make the same faces and sounds and are such a source of joy to me.  All the the children are and I'm so blessed to have them.  Alex is growing up so much and often surprises me with the thoughtful and kind things she comes up with, as well as the tricky and sneaky things she tries. 

I get the feeling that the next 6 months to a year of our lives are going to be like this, a happy balance between family, work and service, and if we can manage it then I feel as though we will be greatly blessed.  I can already see the blessing we have been receiving from our small yet daily good habits and it's surprising and wonderful.  We are very blessed in our lives and I'm excited to see what comes next.