Date Night

Friday nights are date night at our house. Noah and I teamed up with two families so we get to go out two weeks in a row, and then on the third week we watch the kids--all ELEVEN!

Since they're all roughly the same age, they just play and make mine and Noah's job really easy.
Now that the weather is a little colder, we're stuck inside, but during the warmer months, we play night games, jump on the trampoline, jump rope, and rollerblade.
Best night of the week (especially when you're the one on the date!)

In an unrelated note, Oliver's Snoopy bed is lit up for the holidays (you probably already guessed this from the precious pictures, still I think it's important to bring attention to the details--such as Oliver's newly acquired Charlie Brown pathetic looking Christmas tree).

The Artists in my Family

I am one happy mom today--even though I spent my morning cleaning up Oliver's poo, which miraculously found its way on two separate toilets, the kitchen tile, and his bedroom carpet (not to mention on his underwear and pants). But, all that is forgotten now because of a surprise package I received in the mail today:
Um...are you flipping out?! My wonderful [and obviously very talented] uncle Dell Blair made this breathtakingly beautiful painting of my daughter, Gabrielle. I asked him if he'd be willing to paint portraits of my kids a month or so ago after falling in love with his work at my grandparents house, and he accepted!
I wish you could see it in person, it really is incredible.

I've always wanted original artwork in my house, which accounts for one of the [many] reasons I married my husband, Noah--his dad, Wesley Lifferth, is an artist! We've dedicated our office to my father-in-law's art, which I absolutely love. This is what I see every time I sit at my desk (which, coincidentally is where I'm sitting right now):

this is one of my favorites:
This is a painting my father-in-law gave to my daughter, which she proudly hangs in her room:
now if you'll excuse me, I've got another painting to hang...

The Most Wonderful time of the Year

HALLOWEEN

My favorite holiday has come and gone. This is how it went down this year:

I threw a little Halloween party for Oliver and his preschool group.
We tagged along with some of our friends to go trick-or-treating
Gabby was Dorothy (again, I got to remember how much I really hate sewing as I once again made her costume)
the group:
I'm throwing these next two pictures in of Oliver as Dwight (from the Office), even though he was Charlie Brown on Halloween (we dressed the poor boy up as Dwight for a party earlier in the month)
Gabby as Dorothy:
Alex as a Star Wars bobble head:
And here's one of Oliver's Charlie Brown costume (which Noah made!)

Why Hello October

October is my favorite month, simply because Halloween is my favorite holiday. And this year, I'm really getting into it, and it's only just begun.

To start out, over the weekend, we ventured into the middle of nowhere to find this creepy stone head (an entire town was named after this--look it up: Stone Head, Indiana). On our arrival, Noah's truck tire went flat. sPoOky.
statue etiquette: always mimic statue poses for photo ops.
When we were finally able to get the spare tire on the truck, we ventured into the woods for a spooky hike to a run down house. This is the only picture I got during our hike:
Our timing was a little off, so on our way back from the "house" (a tree had demolished what was left of it), it got dark. Thankfully, I had been a smart mother, investing in those glow bracelets and necklaces (it's a rare thing that I'm the prepared parent) so we didn't lose a single kid!

The terrain was super rough; we had to scale ravines with kids in tow, slide down (or fall down) steep slopes. And Gabby was absolutely petrified--of everything! First it was mountain lions, then after seeing the house collapsed with the fallen tree, Gabby became convinced that a tree would fall on her at any second and crush her, then it was the fear of lime disease (tick territory, you know), and at last when we reached the cars in complete darkness, Noah honked the horn using his remote and Gabby nearly fainted with worry, assuming the truck would plow through the forest and run her over (never mind the fact that no one was in the truck).
But we made it. With dirt on our bums, we lived to tell the tale!
In other news, I've decorated my house! I kind of went all out this year (something I've always wanted to do, but never have). I finally feel at home in my house: the trim is painted, the walls have color, and now the bats are up!

Happy Halloween month!

September in Fast Forward

The biggest event that happened in our family in September was that after only a few weeks, a lot of frustration, heartbreak, and countless tears, we decided to take Gabby out of public school and try out home schooling. It was not an easy conclusion to get to, but as it turns out, it was the right thing to do.

We found K12 (a home schooling program) and are absolutely loving the curriculum. During the first week of home schooling, we read about some ancient mounds in Anderson, Indiana. The following weekend, we took a field trip and brought along Katie (Gabby's friend) and the Bjorks.
We happened to arrive just in time for archaeology week so the kids got to dig for arrow heads and make petroglyphs.
We explored the two mounds on site.

We got in tuned with the ancient spirits of the mound the only way you can--by lying on the earth

...and by doing some yoga.
We went for a magical walk on a trail around the mounds
Oliver kept asking me to take pictures of him lying on the trail--he was really feeling it.
we even found some magic mushrooms (but don't worry, we didn't find out just how magical they were).

Noah discovered the mounds were only 20 minutes away from the ONLY radio control airplane museum in.the.world. So we took a gander and visited it. Honestly, it wasn't that bad.

We found a creepy manikin:
The kids found a hands on exhibit, which was a big hit.
And to finish the visit off, we bought all the kids little planes to fly.
The best was yet to come though...on the way home, we came across this on the side of the road:
A GIANT SHOE!!! You heard me!

August, in Fast Forward

We started August the right way--with a road trip. It took us all of 24 hours to get from Columbus, Indiana to Provo, Utah. But family is worth it.
We hiked to one of my favorite places in Utah valley, Bridle Veil Falls. Seriously, it's beautiful, and the canyon that surrounds it is simply awesome.
Egon came along for the ride.
The kids got to see their favorite people: aunts and uncles (pictured below is Uncle Mish with Oliver)
We saw my beautiful and talented sister sing at open mic.
The kids got reacquainted with their old cousins:
as well as some new cousins:
We hiked to a cool place the locals call "the grotto" in Payson canyon:
And then of course there was more celebration to be had, it being August and all (Oliver's month).
We made it through the long drive home and decided to have one last hurrah before school started for the kids. On Oliver's actual birthday (August 20th), we took the kids to King's Island, which has Snoopy Planet (perfect for our little birthday boy).

Oliver was so cute meeting all his friends, the Peanuts characters. He would walk right up to them and hug them.
The rides were all geared just for our pint sized birthday boy.
And then just like that, summer came to an end and the kids started school, Gabby as a forth grader, and Alex as a first grader.