September

We have a love hate relationship with the corn pile in the barn.  Well mostly the kids love it and we hate it.  I'm not sure why it's fun to throw or cover oneself in fine powder which then gets into your eyes and on everything around you, but apparently it's fun because they end up covered in it almost every time they play in the calf barn and it's not just my kids its ALL the kids.

Just Uggh.  The tangles...the dust in the eyes...uggh!!  Although I have to admit it is a creative way to get all the dust off and none of the kids seemed to mind.  So what do I know?

Now this I can better get my mind around.  Still a mess, you'll definitely find it falling out of pockets for days, but I can at least see why this would be fun. 

We are always looking for ways to get the kids involved in helping around the house.  Often we end up doing things ourselves because it just feels easier but then we reflect on how important it is for them to learn to work hard and to contribute to the family.  Stacking wood is one of the newest chores they've been helping with.

There is a planter along the side of our new shed that I've never done anything with but have always wanted to plant some spring bulbs in.  It already had some daffodils in it but we had no idea how many there were.  Anyway, Brandon helped me dig up and we ended up with a wheelbarrow full of bulbs which we then decided to plant along the driveway.  Another thing we've always talked about but never got around to.   Can't wait to see if they come up and to see my planter this Spring.  We planted soooo many bulbs!

Uncle Roberts charcoal lab Roxy had her puppies!  

We do our best to never take for granted all the ways that we've been blessed.  Since having the twins we've had lots of talks about our house.  Sometimes we're tired of remodeling and trying to make things work and it sounds appealing to just start over.  Sometimes we think we can add on and make it work.  Sometimes we dream about what we could do with more functional space for our own family and in terms of serving others with our home, and then we discuss what it means to live simply and to teach our kids to live simply because in all honesty we have so much more than we need or deserve.  Anyway, we don't know what the future will hold but one of the things we consistently come back to is how this view would be a hard one to rival.  

Cooper's class went on a field trip to EZ orchards.  It was kinda strange to only have one pumpkin patch field trip this year but also kinda nice as field trips are a little tricky with the babies.

E.Z. orchard sells the best spiced pumpkin doughnuts.  We had to bring some home!