summer to fall

we had another saturday with nothing on our plates. i am simultaneously grateful for these days, and also feeling like a slacker for not planning anything on them. this one though was nice, as i'm still not feeling 100%.

we had a meandering morning that culminated in me taking addie to lily's house to play. i had several stops to make, but decided to make just two, to old navy and ross. going easy on myself. :)

matt washed and washed and washed the truck. not a cleaner truck in all the land, i can guarantee. then frankie and i headed off to johnna's avon open house where frankie won a door prize (she wrote frankie michelle ray on her entry) and we had a nice time visiting.

after that we went to cvs. it was 75° and absolutely beautiful all day. and then we came out of cvs and it was like a whole different day. it was windy and the temperature had dropped at least 10 degrees. and we weren't in there that long. a cold front blew through, and it blew through hard.

when i'm sick, my body craves healthy whole foods, so matt picked up some salad mixins when he picked addie up, and when f and i got home he'd made a lovely green salad for dinner. after dinner i went to shut the one last window that was open and caught a glimpse of the sky.

"oh my gosh! everybody head out front! hurry!" the sky to the west was the most gorgeous warm pink color. to the east it looked like it was going to storm, but no need to snap that.

pictures don't even come close, it was seriously so pretty.

we watched tarzan for family movie night. i put my foot down and demanded a classic disney movey. they tried asking for a bunch of sequels, but no. there is only so much garbage tv a mom can semi-listen to while doing 18 other things. classic disney or nothing. they begrudgingly chose tarzan, and then loved it.

then on to baths. after, addie put on my robe and was pretending to be me. then franks climbed into bed with her and we joked that we should trade beds for the night. so they all cuddled so nicely. then when i went to get a picture, litte miss uncooperative wouldn't chill out.

it was either "look at me!" or under the covers. i showed her my disapproval by not rubbing her back during scripture time. teach her a thing or two.

speaking of her, (again, but really she's around the most) this is how she often gets babysat by bubba. laptop, in the front room, with candy, and toys, so bubba can watch something not appropriate for the 4 year old on netflix.

it's amazing she's as well adjusted as she is.

and also, this is how she's been playing with wikistix lately. half cool, half creepy.

 

addie and i have only a few more chapters till we finish anne of green gables. i am feeling so sentimental lately, and cry through half of my reading time. addie doesn't even give me the side eye anymore, she just rolls with it. i just love it so, and i love sharing it with addie. only one more chapter till matthew dies, and oh my, i will have the tissues ready.

franks looks and feels a million times better. she definitely needed some momma love. her lip was awful and she doesn't like to take her medicine, but mommy magic is real. bubba has been knocking crabs today, and lexi and i texted back and forth. busy big kids.

more stuff, but mostly delaney, and mostly at jump bunch

addie read the girls a book before school one morning. moments like this make my heart happy.

one day at jump bunch the kids did cup stacking.

and like her big bro and big sis before her, she loved it.

so far jump bunch has been a hit. if only they could remember that i am always right. if only, if only.

they got to stack them however they wanted and then knock them over with a ball. d stacked all 6 up in a tall tower and she found that 1 tower was harder to knock down than it might seem.

at the end all the kids built a giant pyramid with all the cups and got to knock them down. building said pyramid took forever. the kids accidentally kept knocking cups down. coach reggie has the patience of a saint, I tell ya.

super fun.

one last zoo shot from alecia. :) oh, and we did the zoo without a stroller. second big outing sans stroller and it's kind of awesome. not that Delaney didn't cop a ride in the stroller when she saw an opportunity, but you know.

franks got paint in her hair at school one day. another exciting event in the exciting days of our lives.

aviator readers! except addie's is missing and I need to email about it.

we went to dinner at mccombs one night and Delaney sweet talked laura into not only making muffins, but letting her help laura make muffins. lucky ducky.

speaking of numero cinco, she's the best shoe putter away'er. when she's in the mood (about 50% of the time) she'll stay in the mudroom until every shoe is with it's pair and they are all neatly in their cubbies. she's pretty impressive.

she can also stuff a lot of food in her mouth. when she wants to.

and she loooooves her lovey. this is a staged picture (can you tell?) but she had literally just kissed her lovey goodbye, so I made her do it again and this awkward shot ensued.

and this day in jump bunch news they played leap frog.

and look, I took a picture of our trolls date!

catching up.

stuff

delaney climbed into bed with me yesterday, and since i magically wasn't contagious anymore, i let her. and when d wants a pic, d gets a pic. one day (pre-strep) i said to her "come here please," and she said "okay, m." when i asked why she called me 'm' she said it's because i call her 'd'. fair enough.

anyways, this picture was yesterday, and then today i felt well enough to shower. apparently delaney took notice. i had to call the school and talked to lorrie for a minute, and then when matt and i went in (after he'd dropped d off) lorrie told me that she could tell i wasn't feeling great, so she'd asked delaney if i'd been sick. delaney said "yes, she's been sick. but she's feeling better today, she even took a shower." thanks, laney-love.

today was mrs. g's birthday and even though i didn't do what we'd originally planned, i still managed to bring a card for the kids to sign, give the kids treats (not my best teacher birthday move, but i blame it on brain fog), and present the gluten free cake another mom had picked up. we looooove our mrs. g, so i hope she felt the love.

tonight was the big Eagle Scout Recognition Dinner at the church. it was quite lovely. the rs room was decorated so nicely and everything looked amazing. the dinner was 5 courses - cheese and meat appetizers, butternut squash soup, salad, chicken cordon bleu, and 2 different parfait style desserts.

chris made fun of me for snapping a pic of my soup, so i snapped one of the two of us.

the cool table.

at the end of the evening they had all the eagles stand up and tell about their eagle projects, degree, and profession.

it was great and interesting.

from surgeon to pilot to banker and some in between, pretty distinguished group of men.

we had arden over to babysit and all were happy and all went well. good night.

last saturday we had the opportunity to volunteer with our interfaith council food drive. the opportunity came up midweek and i thought instead of asking someone, since i was free, we could do it. i had to take the girls since matt was gone to a youth planning breakfast, but it led to a good conversation on why or how kids might not have enough to eat. and for picky little eaters like mine, i know they can't really even fathom that. i can hardly fathom it.

the girls were pretty well behaved. it was super chilly and there wasn't much to do. they made some fun with the other two kids that were there, niece and nephew to a nice pagan representative named rachel. we had an interesting discussion about what she believes, which is so fascinating to me.

i'd say i'm 75% better, for which i am grateful. now i just need to work past some reflux (fun) and the general feeling of exhaustion after an illness. and then tackle my house. the dishes are done and the kids are happy and that's all that matters. the rest of the house, notso hotso. but that's ok, i am still grateful. 

election zoo day

i almost put a slash there, but then i realized it didn't really need one after all. firstly, i voted. after the day was done i listened and read in shock and disbelief as the results came in. i just couldn't sleep. i was surprised at how uneasy i was left feeling when it became apparent that trump won. matt would roll over and ask how it was looking and i'd tell him incredulously, only to do it again in another hour. i just don't know what to think, but i do know that america has always been great, and it will keep on being great. one person just doesn't have enough power to make it not so, not that i think he'd even try. enough on that though.

alecia had asked if i'd like to go to the temple (always yes) via the zoo (always yes x2). these two kiddos, whose mama's shared a baby shower, have literally known each other since before they were born.

one day our dinner convo was all about lexi and what her new last name will be (big news!) and that lead to "what if i marry (insert every male friend's name here), what will my last name be?" including, but not limited to, curtis. just sayin'.

we met up with leisa and her crew too. these 3 little friends were so cute together. not as cute is delaney's obsession with skirts. we had made a deal that the next day (zoo day) she would wear jeans. so i got her dressed (under duress) and then out she came with this ruffly green skirt that matches next to nothing. and you know what? i just don't care. also, i just noticed frankie on the left side of the pic pushing the darrows stroller like a mad-woman.

curtis sandwich.

we followed the elephant prints in search of a nice lunch spot. but we decided the elephants were a tad too stinky to be a good lunch spot.

it was the most gorgeous day! perfect, perfect.

and it was a best for a lot of things. like panda encounters. this little bao-bao was soooo funny. he climbed and played and almost fell, all right in front of us, it was so fun!

and these seals were pretty darn fun too. the kids would move their arms and they'd follow, it was so great. leisa said she's seen them to do it better, but unless i'm just forgetting (entirely possible) i never have.

my girls loooove the zoo sign and could play here for hours. so we just had to stop here on our way out.

cute preschool friends!

and one last of my baby, because she asked.

then some last minute tree climbing as we raced back down the hill.

fall deliciousness. every time we drive anywhere i tell the girls to appreciate the beauty all around them, because when you live is a desert you get none of this. and i love it soooo much.

from the zoo we went to leisa's, where we dropped our kids off with leisa, who is a saint and offered to watch them for us so we could go to the temple. it was 2:52 when we raced out of the house to try to make it to the 3:00 session. alecia's speedy driving got us there right at 3:00, where we played the "7 kids with a babysitter" card to get them to hold things for us. if it wasn't so true i might feel badly, but as it turns out i don't, not at all. it was a wonderful time in the temple with a wonderful friend, and all made possible by another wonderful friend.

we picked up our kiddos and headed to dinner at cafe rio. duh, duh, duh. my gps and i started out on the wrong foot with it making me do a square maneuver and attempt to turn left on the busiest street known to man. so when it started telling me that branch ave exit was closed i said, oh no, you silly thing, i'm not falling for your shenanigans again. only i should have. i really should have. branch ave was closed and my non-listening added at least an hour onto our trip. we were all tired, hungry, and bored by the time we finally rolled up to cafe rio. and i'm still dreaming about their delicious salads.

meanwhile, bubba and his surrogate family went to a Caps game. fun. :)

the rest of our trip home was uneventful. thank goodness. so much excitement for one day.

veterans day

we love our small town veterans day parade. helps that we've had participants in it the last few years, but you know.

all the years we've had walkers (4?) matt has walked with them. he's such a good daddy.

i thought this group of soldiers was awesome.

and this guy, who i thought was governor larry hogan, but matt let me know was just county commissioner todd b. morgan. close enough. and after he gave each of the girls a fist bump they talked about how hard his fist bumps were. love these girls.

clydesdales.

our daisies! franks is in the back on the right.

there she is!

we sat on the wrong side of the street and it was sooo sunny!

and also, i can't read weather temperatures anymore and i dressed the girls like we were heading into the arctic, and then it was warm. i didn't worry about them wearing red, white, and blue cause i didn't think they'd take their coats off. doy.

dorns sat by us and chelsea snapped this one so mama could be in it. that's nice and rarely happens.

this girl and these glasses were the hit of the parade. everybody commented on them. she loves 'em.

and some of our daisies pre-parade.

cute girls!

maybe one of these years i'll walk with them, but for now i'm happy being an observer. :)

also:

*one day we picked the girls up from school and told them we had to go clean the church, only us, no other families from our awesome team. they were all kind of like ….oh, ok. then we surprised them and went to see trolls, which i thought was silly and cute. they loved the surprise.

*we've spent lots of time outside soaking up the last few days of this gorgeous indian summer. every time i say to myself, we've got to enjoy these days, they won't last. and to my delight, they have.

*chris still spends almost every night (but not the whole night) at brian's. bri-guy is prepping for his mission to taiwan in december, so there's a good deal of hoping and praying that he's rubbing off on chris.

*the said duo also taught "an amazing" eq lesson on sunday, complete with a microwaved lightbulb object lesson. we'll skip the part where they went to target before church to buy the lightbulb.

*and we also did lots of other stuff. the end.