Last Sunday we had a bit of Indian Summer around here... so we decided to take advantage of it! Janelle and Brady and I took all the kids and we went to the lake to walk and see the pretty view. The kids had a lot of fun in one particular tree and we got lots of really cute pictures of them.
After the lake we took them to the park and just let them run free for a while. Brady spun all the kids around on the tire swing until Jaxson and Taylor were sick to their stomaches. Good times....
Today the weather is changing and fall is in the air. It's so beautiful, I absolutely love fall. Look for some fall pictures soon, we have plans to visit a great picture park as soon as the leaves start to turn and drop!
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Big news.... Vance was dry all day yesterday! Not a single accident. We've been potty training for maybe 4 weeks now and he does great if you remind him to go.... but usually he has at least one accident during the day. I'm not as consistent as I should be and it shows- it's taken longer to train him than the other kids. But we had a dry day yesterday so that's a great sign!
Way to go Pooky!
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Today is normally my early morning shopping trip but Brady had an early meeting so I got to sleep in (I am in awe of how 7:30 is now sleeping in) and I'll go to the grocery store this afternoon. I hate the grocery store on a friday afternoon... At 6 AM it's so clean and empty and freshly stocked! No running into other shopper's carts, no standing in line for 15 minutes, no crawling down a crowded aisle at a snail's pace while an inconsiderate shopper browses, oblivious to anyone behind them.....
At least I don't have to haul the Fabulous Four with me. Now that's a challenge. It's not that they're naughty in the store, in fact they're pretty well behaved, usually a rousing game of "Grocery Store Bingo" keeps them occupied. But it's the logistics of trying to push a shopping cart with four kids literally hanging off of the cart.
It's actually kind of funny, I get three different reactions.
I get the looks of empathy from other mom's who have "been there done that" and understand. They usually say something sweet like "your kids are so well behaved" or "I remember those days, just enjoy them now". I like those people.
Then I get the looks of annoyance from single men and women who have no children and can't believe you have the gall to not get out of their way immediately, or to even be in their way in the first place.
Then there's the reaction that's less common here, but that I got constantly in San Diego. That's the look of complete shock and dismay at the number of children I have! These people either gasp out "how many kids do you have?" or "are they all yours?" or they just glare at you with a glare that reads "evil over-populaters!" Less common here, but I still get it.
It's odd, because I really don't think of four kids as a large family. Maybe it's because growing up we knew a few truly large families. I don't think you really get "large family" status until you have at least 6 kids!
And now it's time to feed my hooligans breakfast, and get started on my weekly deep clean of the house so that I'm ready to tackle the store...
Cheerio!
When Shan and I visited the pumpkin patch I picked up a couple of pie pumpkins which I subsequently cooked, pureed, and froze to be used for pumpkin pies later this season. Out of two medium sized pie pumpkins I was able to get 7 1/2 cups of pumpkin which should be enough for 5 pumpkin pies. Yes, I love pumpkin and thus I begin planning for pumpkin recipes early in the year! I have already baked two pies, and shared them with friends one evening last week- along with apples with homemade caramel dip and hot apple cider. Yummm! 
".......... And will you succeed?" 
".......Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)"
