A jumping good time

It's not autumn without some good leaf jumping, right?!  Some of the neighbor kids raked piles of leaves and took turns jumping in the piles.  Yet again, great photo opps :)

{Mac & "Weah"}

{Ashlyn, Elizabeth, Maguire, Peyton, Leah}

{Leah, Elizabeth, Peyton, Dane, Ashlyn, Maguire...raking a huge pile!}

{Mac taking the leap}

{Elizabeth}

{Ash mid-air}

{jumping and leaf-throwing = <3 }

{Peyton}

Robinettes

Every year I look forward to Fall and everything that comes with it!  One of those things is our trip to Robinettes, a local apple orchard.  This year was no different.  There aren't a whole lot of bells and whistles at Robinettes, just good apples, good donuts, good pumpkins, good photo opps and great memories!

Frederik Meijer Gardens

In the peak of the autumn colors {and some gorgeous Indian Summer temps}, we spend the afternoon at Frederik Meijer Gardens with my parents for some fun and some photo sessions.  How in the world have I missed out on all this gorgeosity all of my years living in west Michigan?!  I could've spent all day wandering the gardens, however, we spent much of our time in the Childrens' Gardens. 

The giant horse {it's definitely a boy!}

Under the hoof {apparently I didn't realize we weren't posing "nicely"!}

Papa and Ash

Squinty but still cute

The kids loved playing instruments with this sweet older gentleman

One of Maguire's favorites - the Great Lakes

He got SOAKED floating the little boats around.  Good thing we had an extra shirt!

One of the gorgeous Chihuly sculptures

Another Chihuly - I {heart} these sculptures!

Mac "ruining", and yet totally "making", the pic!

My Daddy and me

My cute little parents!

Thinkin'...

Most days are filled with funny or special quips from my kids here and there...and I'm terrible at documenting them!  Kyle is much better--he keeps a notebook of funny things they say, and sometimes we even remember to write in it ;)  Today I had some very distinct thoughts/experiences with the kids that I want to document. 

{ASHLYN} While driving along this morning I passed a lovely pond reflecting the gorgeous fall trees.  I thought how beautiful it would be to live near and look at such beauty every day.  Then, a sudden panic hit me square in the chest.  While most of life just goes on, every once in a while I'm nearly paralyzed with the memory of my little girl at the bottom of the pool a little over 2 years ago {read about it here and here}.  Even though the house I grew up in was on the water, I don't think I could ever live on or too near water now.  I would constantly be worried abouut my kids and any other kids who came over.  Maybe I'll get over this fear someday, but it'll be a long while.  In any case, sometimes I think God sends things like this to me to remind me how blessed we are to still have Ashlyn with us.  I think of all the things we would've missed out on with her life if a few more seconds had passed on that July afternoon in 2008.  Thank you, Lord, for every day you give me with my sweet girl!

{MAGUIRE} After picking Maguire up from school this afternoon, we had some errands to run.  Usually I slightly dread running errands with Maguire because he has SO much energy and never wants to stay in the cart.  Instead he prefers to run circles around me...literally.  This afternoon he was so helpful and just so darn cute!  First, he shared a few of his french fries with me, which was fantastic since I had a salad and was needing a little fat and salt with my lunch ;)  Then we headed to Goodwill to drop off a load of stuff and...who am I kidding?!  I can't go into a Goodwill and not look for some great bargains!  I didn't find anything to sell on ebay {check out my stuff if you're curious}, but I did find a few things to try on for myself.  We walked around for a bit and Maguire said, "Let's go to the tryer-on room so we can see how cute you look!"  Once we got in there, he had definitely opinions about the things I tried on, which I found adorable :)  He said of one shirt, "That looks so cute on you, Mom.  It'll be cute for Christmas."  He wouldn't let me take all the things in at once, so after each try-on, he went back out to the cart to trade one thing for the next.  Before I tried on the last sweater, he told me he didn't think it would be very cute, but once it was on, he said, "Hmmm...it's a tiny cute.  No, I was wrong--it's very cute on you!"  When we came out of the dressing room, there were a few women there smirking and holding back chuckles.  He even wanted to pick out earrings that would look "cute" on me.  Everything was about me looking cute :)  It was a surprisingly fun and special afternoon with my sweet, funny little buddy!  Another reminder from God to treasure the things about Maguire that sometimes make me sigh in exhaustion {non-stop talking/questions, desire for independance, definite opinions}.

Thank you, God, for these special reminders.  Help me to see them daily!

Say Cheese!

Since you never know how the "official" school pictures are going to turn out, I decided to do mini photo shoots with both Ashlyn and Maguire on the afternoons of their picture days.  I'm still getting used to my new fixed prime lens, but I think they turned out pretty cute.  I just can't believe how old my babies are getting!

Ashlyn Estelle {5} 

Maguire James {3}

WWW2

For the second year now, my sisters-in-law and I have given my mother-in-law the gift of a WWW for her birthday.  Our Warmington Womens Weekend was such a hit last year that we knew it had to become an anual tradition.  Last year we met up on St. Louis to see Phantom of the Opera at Fox Theatre, shop and spend time together without the husbands and kids {since that NEVER happens!}.  This year we decided to add a spiritual element to our weekend--we met up in Chicago to attend the Beth Moore conference.  It was perfect!  Normally her conferences take place over two days, but this one was telecast, so it was just Saturday, which worked perfectly since Courtney was flying in on Friday afternoon.  We shopped til' we almost literally dropped Friday night at Gurnee Mills, then went to dinner after we closed down the mall.  Saturday we woke up bright and early to get our praise on and learn about the "law of kindness" from Beth.  That woman puts on a fantastic conference!  Let me tell you, if you haven't been to a live Beth Moore event, you don't know what you're missing!  Not only is she passionate about Christ and will give you a whole heck of a lot to think about, she's hilarious to boot!  A blonde ball of fire.  It was really neat to attend something like this with my sisters- and mother-in-law.  It gave us some great things to think/talk about and took our relationships a step deeper.  Way too cool!  After the conference, we closed the mall down once again.  And on the way home, we stopped in Michigan City at some outlets and {gasp} shopped some more!  I love these annual WWWs and look forward to WWW3 and beyond!

 Heather {Kyle's sister}, Courtney {Kyle's brother's wife}, me

Judy {my mother-in-law} and Heather