The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Okay, so it's a little early for Christmas, but I love this time of year. The crisp evenings {or crisp all days, as we've been having}, the beautiful leaves, pumpkin carving, apple cider sipping. Ahhhh. I just love it.

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We've been busy enjoying the little things.

Pumpkin Patchin'

Soakin' up the last of the beautiful sunshine

Riding the cow train ;)

Swingin'

Feedin' the Chickens

Playin' around in the new house ;)

And, of course, scoopin' out the mushy squishy,

Oooey, Gooey, Guts of Pumpkins

And turning them into . . .

Masterpieces ;)

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Hope you're enjoying it all as much as we are!

Wordful Wednesday ~

We're back! Didn't even know I was gone, did ya? {Except for the fact that I haven't been able to visit my favorite blogs for the last several days!} We took a quick trip to Southern Oregon to visit some family and celebrate a wedding.

We had such fun watching the little ones play.

Kam's cousin, Sonoma, is 5 months older, and hasn't always been too impressed with Kam ;) But last weekend they were inseparable. Holding hands, playing, laughing, and dancing. It was so sweet to see them together. I wish they lived closer so that they could play together all the time.

Until they can move closer {fingers crossed}, we'll just have to cherish our visits.

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For some Wordless Wednesday fun, head on over to Miller Racing Family! :)

What Do You Get . . .

. . . When you try your hardest to get photos of your little ones {for Christmas Cards}

. . . and one of the littles just happens to be {almost} 21 months old, and wants NOTHING to do with the camera?

About a half million pics just.like.this.

Sigh.

House Update

Time for another house update!

I'm feeling like we're getting somewhere ;) The electrical wiring is done, insulation is in, and we are smack dab in the middle of sheetrock. Hopefully by the first part of November it will be complete, and we'll be moving on to interior painting, hanging doors, and putting up trim. After that we'll have cabinets installed, then flooring, the banister, and then . . . we'll be close to being ready to move in! Funny, when I say it like that, it sounds like we're almost done. We're FAR from almost done, but things are moving along quite nicely. Our goal is to be moved in by the middle of January. We'll see.

Since it's been awhile, I thought we needed some photos.

Have y'all seen our exterior color? I couldn't remember . . .

In the above pic you can see just how close our current home is to our new one. Crazy, huh?

These were taken last week as the insulation was installed.

And these were taken yesterday after sheetrock walls went up and the first taping and mud took place.

It was almost impossible for me to get the pictures I wanted. I'm not trying to be a whiney baby, but I REALLY want another lens. My 50mm is just not cutting it in tight spaces. Anyway.

Hopefully you can still get an idea. It is AMAZING how the sheetrock has changed the whole look of the inside of the house. No more "walking through walls" ;) It looks so much bigger.

You can't really tell, but this is our living room.

And this is our back porch that my dad and Jeremy are working on. Aren't they doing a FABULOUS job?! I LOVE it! We're using cedar for the railing and pickets and a composite for the flooring. I can't wait to set up my table and chairs out on the porch, and enjoy a beautiful sunset while eating dinner. Ahhhhh.

I'm hoping these next few months fly by! :)

Mish Mash

I've come to the realization that I don't ignore my blog because I have nothing to say. I ignore it because I have TOO much to say! :)

So, where to start?

♥ Kam is doing well. Thanks so much for the sweet comments and emails. The first few days were tough, but she is now sleeping so much better. YAY! It amazes me how quickly children grow and change.

♥ We took Tuesday afternoon off of homeschool and headed to the Pumpkin Fest. Oh we had so much fun. When we first got there, there was only one other Mama and her two little ones. We met our friends, and another new friend there, and had a lovely lunch, and lots of play time. Our weather has just been gorgeous! Of course, that is about to change. We even found a beautiful garden in which to snap a few pics. Kam was not having it at all {I had almost forgotten how tough it is to get photos at this age!}. But I got a cute one of my big girls ;)

And some ADORABLE ones of my friend's youngest son.

He's a cowboy, ya know :) Isn't he sweet?!

♥ And this weekend we are headed south to my aunt's wedding reception. We don't make it down there often, and we are very excited to see our family!

♥ We are looooong over-due for a house update, aren't we? I will have one coming soon. Insulation was installed last week, and we are finally to the sheetrock stage! It's coming along so nice. Now I just need some pictures to show for it! :)

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Alright, lay it on me. What have y'all been up to? Anyone else trying to cram as much as they can into these last few gorgeous days? Rainy season comes to the Pacific Northwest tomorrow. And then we can expect to say good-bye to the sun until next Summer :(

Hugs~

Liz

{Late} Wordless Wednesday ~ The Little Things

Milestones

I'm tired.

And I want to write, but the words aren't coming to me. I hate that.

Anyway.

I mentioned before that it's been a long few days. I've had very little sleep, and we're going through some changes around here. And because this is a journal of sorts, I wanted to document, so that I don't forget. Because, let's face it, I'm forgetful. It's due to that lack of sleep, don'tcha know ;)

A few days ago Kameryn stopped nursing.

And I don't know how to feel about it. This wasn't her choice, by the way. It was mine. I just felt like it was time. She has gotten into the habit {really for the last few months} of waking to nurse 5 or 6 times in the middle of the night, and I got to the point where I just didn't think it was healthy for us to continue on like that. She wasn't getting sleep, I wasn't getting sleep. Not good. So, we quit. And it's been hard. And good. All at the same time. There is a little part of me that is sad. And a little part of me that is relieved. So I'm choosing to be happy about it. And before I'm asked ~ yes, I do realize that she's not a tiny baby anymore. ;) I'm not here to debate or defend extended breastfeeding. It works well for our family, but I can see how it wouldn't work for others.

There you have it. We're on our fourth day, and going strong. She still cries {a lot} when it's time to go down for a nap or bed, but I'm there to cuddle her until she drifts off, and it's getting easier and easier each time. She still wakes up several times in the middle of the night {though not 6, yay!}, but now instead of taking 30 minutes to get her back to sleep, all she needs is a little snuggle and a pat, and she's off to dreamland.

I want to remember this important step into big-girlhood for Miss Kam. My sweet baby girl.

Next step: Potty Training ;)

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What kind of milestones are your little ones reaching? They grow so fast, don't they?

We ♥ the Pumpkin Patch!

It has been a VERY looooooong couple of days around here. I will most likely be blogging about that soon. But I don't have the time, the energy, or the focus it takes to do much more than upload a few {adorable} photos. For the time being, anyway.

As you probably guessed, we went to the pumpkin patch this week! I ♥ the pumpkin patch. It is an outing I look forward to all year. I love Fall. The gorgeous leaves, the bales of hay, sunflowers {awwww, I just love those happy flowers!}, pumpkins, and apple cider. Ooooh, I love this time of year!

We set out for the patch on Wednesday. My mom came along and we met up with our dear dear homeschooling friends, the Kishpaughs. My dad even stopped by for some of the fun!

There was a gorgeous store with beautiful decorations, delicious treats, and the best apple cider you've ever tasted. Seriously, it's that good. I could have spent hours in that store.

But alas, the slides and swings and mazes were calling.

Kam made good friends with Amanda's youngest. Aren't they the cutest?

This little guy {Billy the Kid, if you must know his name} received much attention from the kiddos.

Kam LOVED the swings. She's not so sure about the swings we have at home, but these ones? She loved them. {And can we not talk about the fact that she does not even slightly resemble a baby anymore? Mmkay.}

Kenners liked the swings too.

And the slides were a favorite. But not for Kam. Lesson learned.

Yep, I'd say everyone had a pretty good time.

How about y'all? Any of you been to the pumpkin patch yet?

Wordless Wednesday ~ Guess Where We Went Today

Mini Me

Someone has been watching her Mama . . .

. . . I'm not sure she'd recognize me without my camera permanently attached ;)