Fall-ing

We went to a few different farms this fall; partly so Brent could compare apple ciders but mostly so I could get my fill of pumpkin donuts. That's why there are no pictures of me. I have the camera in one hand and two donuts in the other.

Our Zoo

Every time my dad calls our house he asks, "How's the Portland Zoo?" He claims that is what it sounds like on the end of my line. He's probably right.
His joke inspired my idea for our family costumes this year for Halloween. I'm kicking myself for not getting pictures of Brent and me. I was a Zebra. I found ears, a tail and a zebra dress (don't worry, I kept it classy) at Goodwill all for $7. Brent was the Zookeeper. He had plenty of fishing and camping gear to complete his ensemble.
I did get a few shots of the kids before heading out the door.

Cole is the alligator and Keith is the shark.

Ally was originally going to wear Cole's old lion costume but since she climbs onto and gets into EVERYTHING, I decided it was more fitting for her to wear Keith's old monkey costume.

Happy (late) Halloween from our Zoo to yours.

Birthdayness

Fall is a time of pure "Birthdayness" at our house. Ally kicks us off in August and we all follow suit in each succeeding fall month. September was my month. I may or may not have entered a new decade that starts with "T" and rhymes with "squirty." I spent the first half of 2010 denying said birthday but by the time it rolled around, I had fully embraced it. I finally feel like I've arrived into adulthood. I think we spend most of our twenties figuring ourselves out: what we like, what we don't like, what comes easily to us and what we should stop pretending we can do (ahem...like cooking.)
So, anyway I'm enjoying this new decade as I have embraced who I am and have stopped stressing about who I am not.
One thing I am, is crazy about my entire family. For day one of my birthday celebration, we went to one of our favorite places: the Zoo.
And can I help it if everywhere I go people stare at my beautiful children? I mean, who wouldn't? (See what I mean about 30? Now that I don't care what anyone thinks I'm just saying it like I think it.)




Days 2 and 3 of my celebration were spent with Brent in Leavenworth for their Autumn Festival. It was a great time to be there to kick off the spirit of fall and most importantly spend time together without any interruptions. I didn't even take my cell phone. Our families helped watch our kids so we could get away. Of course, we both left our cameras with our kids so, no pics. I was so mad! I actually did my hair and had makeup on, but oh well. So it goes...


We celebrated Brent's birthday in October. Brent spent it fishing with his Dad at a special river that I cannot name for fear their sweet spot will be known to all those fishermen out there who frequent my blog.
The boys are OBSESSED with blowing out candles. (Apparently pyromania is inherent in the Y chromosome.) I can't count how many times we lit the candles...




Keith and Cole celebrated their 3rd birthday this week as we entered November. Can anyone else believe that it is November?!!!
I must post many pictures or run the risk of losing my inheritance and being thrust out of the family circle of trust. You wouldn't believe the scathing emails and voicemails I'm receiving from my sisters right now...
So, here goes...





















The boys are thrilled with their Buzz bikes. They spend all their waking moments in the garage trying to figure out how to pedal. They are doing way better than I thought they would, so it's only a matter of time before we're out on a family bike ride.





































































The only problem with that is that until the boys' birthday, Brent didn't own a bike. Don't worry, Brent took care of that. He decided to come home on their birthday with a little something for himself. Doesn't this little baby look awesome parked in our garage? It's currently sandwiched between his brother's dirtbike and his dad's dirtbike. I am told they will not all be hanging out in the garage forever. Don't worry, I stopped believing him long ago...:) I'm a mature adult now, remember?
One problem about this bike is that we might have a little trouble pedaling to keep up with him, you think?

I feel I must defend Cole's ridiculous pajamas in these birthday pictures. He absolutely insists on wearing pajamas all day and all night and not just any pair, it's either his dinosaur ones or these penguin ones that were in a pile to go into the attic because they are a size 18 month. Once he saw them of course he had to have them. Wait. Let me rephrase that: once he knew I didn't want him to have them, of course he had to have them and now he wears them 95% of the time. But, since he's officially doing this...

I can't complain. He can wear just about anything else he wants as long as he's wearing underwear. And the helmet? Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go--no time for particulars. :) (We made him hold the towel since this is a family-friendly blog)


These pictures were taken the morning after Keith and Cole's birthday. I eat birthday cake for breakfast the day after my birthday. Why shouldn't they? If you look closely, there is a banana in the photo. I tried...

It's all part of the birthdayness celebration.

Stay tuned for more on Halloween and other fall festivities. I know you're all on pins and needles...