Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  

From, Ironman, Thor, the Princess and all they're animal friends (Dog, Monkey, Frog & Tiger)! =)

Hair Cuts...

I uploaded these pictures yesterday with the intent of blogging about the kids' first haircuts, but then never got back around to it.  I'm sitting here listening to football blare on the tv while the rest of the house is silent as my favorite three are sleeping blissfully.  This seems to be a regular occurrence on Sunday afternoons, and I don't mind one bit.  It gives me a chance to pick up without getting distracted or spend time at the computer; and even though a nap does sound wonderful, it rarely actually becomes reality.  I suppose I savor my alone time too much, and I generally just wake up even sleepier if I do fall asleep...

Anyway, our big boy turned 14 months this week and that same day he got his first haircut.  It's been needed for a while now, but we knew it would make him look so much older (which is always sad) and we had a few 'delay of games' due to scheduling... but alas, we sat our sweet boy in a chair, tied a pink cape around him and gave him a cracker for distraction! It was time to trim up his locks!

So. Serious. 

He's so sweet that I can hardly stand it sometimes. His cheeks are always so smoochie and his eyes are SO so blue still! 

I think he also loved all the attention he was getting from these two...

They were both a little jealous that it was Em's turn for a haircut so they pulled up the stools and watched eagerly.  Olivia demands a pretend haircut at least three times a day, so she was quite distraught that Emmitt was getting one and she wasn't. =)

I thought about leaving this picture out, but it's just too "Madi" to hide...

Rockin' the Lebrons'...

What are you doing Aunt Katie?

So, when all was said and done Olivia climbed up in the chair and got her hair cut as well. =)

She's just a little too cute, I know. 

Madi the beautician! 

And because I never blogged about it in August, I added the pictures of Madi's first trim. She had her hair done for Aunt Jessica's wedding and Katie evened out the ends first.  At the rate her hair grows, I'm sure it will be another few years before she's getting it cut again. =)

Emmitt on the other hand, will probably have another hair cut next month...

We're so lucky we have Aunt Katie to help us stay well groomed. =) 

Apples, Swings and Everything in between...

Our fall has been busy. We visited the apple farm {again} with Blake and Monica. It's our favorite.  If you live around here and haven't been to Bielke Farms, you're totally missing out.  Then we spent last Friday and this Monday making 42 quarts of apple sauce.  We had already made 28 back in September with Blake and Monica too.  

Mmmm, applesauce. 

We love everything about it. This was my first year to can it by myself (children under toe) and it was adventurous, as was expected.  Chopping, boiling, smashing, dumping, boiling again, and repeating can make you forget what's supposed to come next.  Meanwhile, the children were running around eating 14 different apples at once {because there's a giant box in the kitchen, so who wouldn't want to?!?} and hiding the fruit in places it's never seen before, like the pots and pans cupboard or the truck and cars bin.  Seriously.  I was finding apples for days, and  apple turd piles for the rest of the night, thanks to Emmitt who munches and munches and then finally decides he'll never be able to manage all that peal and empties his little mouth cavity on the ground.  I realize, I was asking for all of this when I "ignored" them for such long periods of time.  It just comes with the territory...but now we're eating sweet, yummy, delicious applesauce in return. 

 See, it was all worth it! =)

Here's last year's evidence of our apple trip. 

And apparently I sucked at blogging the year before that.  Oops. But I swear, we've been going here for at least four years now!

It was beautiful and the kiddos loved exploring the tractors. 

...and eating the apples. 

We picked Jonagolds this year because we went so much earlier than usual.  They were HUGE {like softballs, no joke} and delicious.  

And finally...

I'm a sucker for good swing pictures.  As documented 

Here

How is this girl getting so big?

This boy, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the swings if the alternative meant being FREE!!! 

AKA, running from Mama...

Hence the pictures I got of the back of him. =)

Once again, I just love Fall!!!

10,000 Reasons

The sunrises around our neck of the woods have looked a lot like this lately. Absolutely breathtaking.  I've been subbing on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Mari Linn and my 15 minute drive is a perfect way to start the day.  I've been using this time to pray for specific friends and family members and worship the Lord, but yesterday I couldn't stop saying aloud, This sunrise is amazing. How can people not believe in God? I was so distracted by God's amazing work of art.  How lucky I am to know a perfect God who literally gives me more than 10,000 reasons to worship Him...

 if only I would spend more hours of my day in worship.  

I'm currently obsessed with Matt Redman's song, Bless the Lord (or 10,000 Reasons) and my absolute favorite part is the first verse:

The sun comes up it's a new day dawning. It's time to sing your song again. Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes!

It's easy to sing this song on mornings like this. I just pray my heart feels the same way on the 100th rainy day this winter.

If you're interested, here's the youtube video.  

{Everytime it comes on the radio or ipod Madi says, "Hey Mama, is this yours favwit?"}

Yes, Madi, it's Mama's favwit. =)

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me ten THOUSAND reasons to praise you!

Our Little Gymnast...

At the beginning of September Madi started her first ever gymnastics class (and first ever organized ANYTHING, other than kid's church).  I tried taking pictures during class a few weeks ago and I got a whole bunch of dark, shadowy, unfocused snapshots of Madi standing on her head and balancing across a beam.  It was pretty much an utter failure with regard to documenting the moment.  So... after putting on the leotard and leggings this morning I forced her out the front door for a moment to snap a few pictures in the all-natural light.  

I can't get over how big she's getting.  She's almost always so fun to be around and is constantly chattering on about life.  Her favorite saying of mine {currently} is "Four is gonna happen, mom," which became her response randomly one day when I told her that I wanted her to stay three forever.  I often tell her this and she quickly responds with "Four's gonna happen, mom. And five and and six and..." Usually she starts skipping numbers and just throwing random ages at me, at which point I start to fake cry and she begins to giggle.  

Aw, I just love this girl.  

But how'd she get so big?

It's been fun to watch her interact in new situations.  She's a funny mix of being shy and completely bold all at the same time.  For example, she'll often start out class with her fingers in her mouth and her head tilted down in a timid fashion, but within five minutes she's generally leading the rest of the kids in some silly copy-cat gesture or behavior. (BIG *sigh*) Last week she had a new teacher (a boy) and I walked over about ten minutes into class to get a closer view and overheard her telling him just about every detail of life that had happened over the last 24 hours.  No joke.  "And then my dad and me, we went to the grocery store and then Emmitt and my mom..." I felt bad for the poor kid. every. little detail...

It made me really glad we've been careful to inform her that once we leave the house, NO ONE needs to know that she's going commando.  

Alright, here's to another picture overload.  I just couldn't decide which ones I liked the most. ;)

(This was my favorite, but of course Emmitt had to ruin it by sticking his head right in the way. =)

I'll hang onto three as long as I possibly can.  And even though I know she's right, I'll keep pretending that four's not gonna happen...

I love you, Madi Ann.  Thanks for being our daily ray of sunshine!