Trick or Treat

Last Saturday morning the kids dressed up like the weather....

 

a very primitive version of a raindrop, rainbow & the sun

 TAKE TWO:

Saturday morning we went to Glen Ellyn to their annual Saturday morning "trick or treat" at area businesses.

below: we just think Jay is the cutest thing in the whole world

 below: TRICK OR TREAT!

The weather was perfect! It wasn't too cold and it was fun to walk around to the different businesses. Jaybird caught on right away and was soon chirping "Trick or Treat!" along with his big sisters.

Some place was handing out hot dogs so we counted that as lunch. We timed our trick or treating so we wrapped up at 1, which was exactly when we had to drop Calla off at a birthday party. A schoolmate of hers was having a 6th birthday party at an indoor playzone in the YMCA at Glen Ellyn. Calla wore her raindrop in (it was a costume party!) but I helped her get it off right away because she thought it might get stuck in the sliding board! ha!

Jonathan and the two youngest and I went home. Jay and I took a nap. ha. Kelsey Mae and Jonathan did not. Then Jonathan and Kelsey Mae went and picked up Calla from the party.

We had some down time at home (quite frankly I can't remember what we did!). We gave the kiddos dinner and baths and put them to bed. They had no idea Brie was coming over to baby-sit. If they did, they would have NOT been happy that they were asleep!

Brie came over at 8:30 because Jonathan and I had a costume party.

below: Phil & Kay from duck dynasty. Not a flattering costume, on either of us, but exceedingly comfortable. ha!

Sunday morning I got to hang out with these adorable faces:

It wasn't my week to work in Jay's class but they needed help. It's good practice for Jay to wear panties (undies!) at church because I always keep him in a pull-up when he's with other teachers but switch him to undies when I'm there.

After church we came home and had a day of rest. (-: I've been taking that especially literally these days. I thought the second trimester was supposed to feel peppy and energetic?

It was so sunny outside so I sent the kids out to the swingset after Jay woke up after his nap but they just got too cold! Fifty degrees is too chilly for the Brusts. Well, for the girl Brusts.

Sunday night Jonathan had a high school event at church so he was gone a couple hours. He returned in time for some "family worship" time and to put the kids to bed. Kelsey is still requesting "Call Me Maybe" during our singing time (we say no) and performing elaborate interpretive dances to what we do sing. Jaybird has started dancing too, which I am not sure is a good thing.

We had such an interesting week so far because Jonathan quit his job this past Friday and starts his new one on November 4th (this coming Monday). It's been fun to have him home! *Catch up tomorrow*

Helping in Calla's Class

Last Thursday I felt like a schoolbus driver. We piled in the minivan drove Calla to school. Then we headed to BSF. Then we stopped at home for ten minutes, then got back in the car to pick up Calla. Then took Kelsey to preschool. Then went to a birthday party. Then came home for an hour. Then got back in the car to pick up Kelsey from preschool. It was just a lot of driving! haha

 

At BSF I helped in childcare, which was a first for me. (They have each small group help once a semester.) They didn't put me in Kelsey's or Jay's classes on purpose and so I was with the 3-year olds. I did have to agree with Kels that the story was pretty long. The teacher was the same one who taught Calla yesterday and she runs a tight ship! i can see why Calla loved it. Personally, I had my eye on the clock. (-:

 

Later we dropped Kels off for her second day of speech preschool. She is working on the "sk" sound and my there is a lot to be learned. haha. She would have been disappointed if she knew we were heading from there to my friend's daughter's 2nd birthday party! We kept that on the down low! Calla had a fun time playing with her friends and Jaybird enjoyed celebrating "Bitty." {her nickname} That night before bed he suggested singing "Happy birthday to Bitty" before bed along with his regular nighttime song list.

 

We got home and Jay fell asleep at 2. I snuck in at 2:50 to wake him up to pick up Kels and look how adorable he looked! I was sad to have to move him:

 

 But it turned out that Jay is still a newborn at heart. I wrapped him in a blanket and he stayed sleeping! Please do not employ this carseat technique at home:

Jay got in an extra twenty minutes of sleep bc it took us ten minutes to drive to and fro and then another ten waiting for Kelsey to walk out of her class. He woke up once we got home. We cuddled and read books for a half hour bc he wasn't thrilled about being woken up.

below: hard for a man to get a good nap around here....

The rest of the day we just hung at home! I needed to make a pumpkin pie for Calla's class so Kelsey helped me make it. Calla was planning on it but then she got distracted with a craft. Crafts always trump cooking in Calla's world.

Then I made dinner and Daddy got home at around 6:30. He gave everyone baths. After I put Jay in his pajamas, he found Calla's muff.

He thought it was a hat?:

 Now you got it....

The kids were pretty tired after their big day/bad nap. I snuck into the girls room after they fell asleep and discovered the like this! It is just the cutest thing:

 Last Friday i had a busy morning because I volunteered in Calla's classroom! This is my last Friday doing it this year. The little ones and I dropped Calla off and had about an hour and a half at home before we got back in the car to pick up Stefani. I'm so glad it suits her schedule to watch them during the day because Kels and Jay love hanging with her.

I was in charge of the "taste test" in Calla's classroom and it was fun! The kids all taste-tested pumpkin pie (the one I made), pumpkin bread, and pumpkin seeds. One of the kids took a big bite of the pie I made and said, "It tastes just like chicken!" I told him I was going to send him to the principle's office for that kind of insult. Just kidding.

 below: I took a pic of Calla filling out her "taste-test chart."

The "Friday centers" (which I was helping with) ended at noon when the class ended, so I could just take Calla home with me. We ate some lunch after we took Stef home, and then I got a text from my friend Kate that her daughter wanted to do a playdate.

So we picked up Kelsey Ann and then the three girls did their own "taste-test" of the pumpkin pie! Ha!

below: Calla and Kelsey-squared

Jay slept so he missed the taste-test. He took a monster nap. In fact, the girls played on and on for two hours while I did the laundry and took a nap. (I took the nap in a prominent spot so as to keep "one eye open" on the playdate. Well, my eye wasn't literally open but I like to think I would have sprung to my feet if anyone would have gotten in an argument or injured ha.) Jay woke up and Kelsey Ann was already gone! Oops sorry Jay.

At 5 we headed over to Luke and Jenny's. Jenny invited us over for dinner for pizza and I thought we were just picking it up so I didn't even offer to bring anything and hear she had made the whole thing from scratch. And paired it with a delicious salad, apples and apple dip. And homemade cupcakes. She is like Martha Stewart.

below: Dane and Jay wanted to share a kids-seat. It worked out better than you'd think since Jay is a leftie and Dane is a rightie. No elbows knocking!

The kids played until 7, when Jenny and I bundled them all up and Luke and Jonathan took them to the Wheaton high school football game.

below: Jay bundled up. He LOVES wearing this hat! It is white so you'd think it's unisex but the scalloped edges might give it away that it belonged to his big sisters.

Jenny and I stayed back at their house with Britta and ate candy corn and talked. It was lovely. At 8:30 I went to pick up all the kids at the game because Jonathan said our kids were freezing. The Moo kids were not even cold but our kids were falling apart. I think my girls need to realize that if you run around a bit you will warm up!

I dropped the Moo kids off at their house and took Calla, Kels and Jay back home and put them to bed. Jonathan and Luke stayed for the entire game and when Jonathan got home his clothes were still emitting cold air! It feels like the end of October around here!

Jayism~

~ Jay's song requests before bed (in no particular order): "Jesus Loves Me," "B-I-B-L-E," "I'm in the Lord's Army," "Happy Birthday" (usually to himself, then to Kelsey, then to Calla, then to Daddy, then to me), "Trust & Obey," then "Barney & Blue" (a song I made up about two of Jay's favorite things).

Uncle Caleb Visits, It Snows, & Kelsey Starts Preschool

Last Monday morning I should make mention that Uncle Caleb was in town. Well, he got into town late Friday night. But he spent Saturday and Sunday downtown, so we weren't planning on spending any significant amount of time with him until last Monday night, when I invited him and Brie and his two friends Calvin and Gabe over for dinner.

 

Monday morning we saw him briefly before we took Calla to school. Once we got back, he was gone (to Wheaton campus) and so Kelsey and Jay played around and then after a bit we got their Halloween costumes together.

 

I may have mentioned that Calla had a vision this year of being a rain drop. She wanted Kelsey to be a rainbow, Jay to be the sun, mommy to be a dark cloud, and Daddy to be a lightning bolt. So on Saturday (I think I forgot to mention this in the blog post yesterday...sometimes I forget these things), I took Calla and Kelsey to Hobby Lobby to buy supplies to make their costumes. It wasn't cheap. Ah-hem. I think it would have been cheaper to go to Hobby Lobby and let them pick out whatever costume their heart desired. Who knew craft supplies were so expensive?

 

below: Kelsey standing with the sun. HA! (the naked sun)

 

 

 Every year, my girlfriends and I get together at Cosley Zoo to take a group shot of all the kids in their costumes. I had to pick up Calla, so I was a little late to meet up but fortunately we made it before they got the big group photo.

below: the moms setting up the photo.


You may notice that Jay seems a tad upset. Okay, make that very upset. He started the tears when I stood him on the opposite side of the hay bales, next to his friend Maggie who was disgused as a unicorn. He got scared of her costume so I moved him to the other side.

As you can see, it wasn't far enough:

 below: Can you spot the weather-related costumes? haha

 

 Jay kept calling the unicorn an "ugly cow." Which I guess was a good description of it, if you thought it was supposed to look like a cow.

Jay could barely get his composure, and I had driven over my friend Kris and her kids and her youngest was crying, so we decided to forget touring the rest of the zoo (it was freezing after all) and go back to her place.

We ate some lunch and the kids took off their costumes and played and Jay forgot about the ugly cow.

The girls and Jay and I left at naptime and I put Bird down. Then I took a nap. And woke up and put together a lasagna. It was so good that if you wish you can click here and it'll take you to the recipe link.

below: Jay woke up and ate some Craisins while I put the salad together.

Jonathan got home at 6:30 and our guests arrived shortly after. It was such a fun time!!

below: left to right
Gabe, Calvin, Caleb and Brie

I pulled apple crisp out of the oven after we were done with dinner so it'd be nice and warm. I have had the oddest obsession for apples lately. This is it least the third time I have made apple crisp this fall. And I always have the frig stocked with apples because there is something about an apple in the middle of the afternoon that satisfies me like no bowl of ice cream could. And let me tell you that I would never write that sentence if I wasn't pregnant haha.

Caleb and company hung out for a couple hours. While they were here, Calla wrote a letter and made a bracelet for Ada, who is Gabe's niece (and my high school friend Hannah's daughter!). Gabe lives near Hannah in Idaho so he promised to deliver it. Calla wrote a lot of "I love yous" on the card, which is especially sweet since she and Ada's relationship is only a few hours deep (they only met last fall when Hannah was out here visiting Jericho).

It was hard to put the kids to bed, but Caleb and Brie and friends left so the girls calmed down and we got them tucked in.

Tuesday morning Uncle Caleb was asleep when we got up to take Calla to school but he was up once we got back.

In fact, Kelsey waited at the door while he took a shower. I am sure he appreciated having a screechy voice asking him a million questions while he tried to get ready for the day.

We said goodbye to Caleb shortly later. We will see him at Thanksgiving so the goodbye wasn't too painful. (-:

At 11 o'clock we headed out the door for Kelsey to attend gymnastics. While we were inside the gym, it started to flurry! What?!?? It was still flurrying when gymnastics ended and we drove to pick up Cal-Cal from school.

below: Calla (in pink coat and muff) running through the "snow"

Well Calla was beside herself with excitement about the snow. Kelsey was pretty pumped about it too. Calla asked - "Why is it acting like winter in the fall?" That, my dear, is a good question.

I dropped Calla off at gymnastics and then Jay accompanied me across town to take Kelsey to her first day of speech preschool.

Kelsey began "speech preschool" on Tuesday afternoon, and it will take place every Tues/Thurs. from 12:30-3pm for seven weeks. Then she gets seven weeks off, then will start another round of seven weeks in the spring. That is just how they run the program.

The "preschool" is set up similarly to a regular preschool, except there is a strong emphasis on a "sound of the week." For instance, last week the sound was "sk" so everything - craft, games, snack, story, songs - all include "sk." They also get to do "fun stuff" like practicing "sk" words on flash cards with Miss Trish, their teacher, and listen to "sk" words in big headphones. I knew all this prior to the start of preschool because I had a stack of paperwork a mile high all about it.

Kelsey was beside herself with excitement about the whole thing. Fortunately I had bought her a backpack when I ordered one for Calla and so she was all set. She and Calla helped me buy her school supplies over the weekend.

below: First day of preschool! Her speech class is at Madison Elementary, which is just about five minutes from our house. I'm glad it's so convenient, because it's the only elementary school in Wheaton that offers speech. (There are twelve elementary schools in Wheaton and not all of them are very close to my house!)

I went back to gymnastics to pick up Calla and then we went home to give Bird his nap. For some unearthly reason he took forever to fall asleep (I could hear him over the monitor playing "choo choos" on and on) and so he probably only slept an hour before I had to go in and wake him up to pick up Kels.

Calla and Jay and I went in to the hallway where we wait for Miss Julie the teacher to walk the seven preschool students out to us. There is only one other girl in her class so I hope she likes her. The five boys include two who look really young (they both cried on and on at the first drop off). All seven of them sound, well, like they have speech issues. Miss Julie is so sweet and she must have the patience of a saint to do her job.

We drove Kels back home and she didn't wait until we were out of the car to throw all her crafts around the van, showing off her work. We will probably have been responsible for the death of an entire forest by the time this preschool class is over - she had about 7 or 8 coloring pages of "sk" words just from the first day! Not to mention a skeleton made up of Q-tips, of course.

We didn't have any big plans on Tuesday evening, which was nice after a busy day. I thought Kels might be tired after her big afternoon but she did not seem affected at all. She and Calla played and played, only stopping for dinner. After we ate, Daddy gave the kids a bath and we put them to bed at 7:30.

Wednesday mornings I have a tradition of making cinnamon buns. Oh, not from scratch. Just the kind from the Pillsbury can.

below: Jaybird gets pretty pumped about them. I found this pic on my phone of him waiting for them to get out of the oven. It must have been compliments of Kelsey Mae.

We took Calla to school on the way to Bible Study. Kelsey Mae is starting to get the hang of our fall schedule. After we dropped her off and turned left out of the school parking lot instead of right, Kels said "are we going to church?" yes, ma'am.

We picked Cal-Cal up on the way home. It's very convenient that school is so close to church.

Wednesday afternoon we hung at home. I put Jay down for a nap and Kelsey too. I may have dozed off myself. I usually ask Calla to read a book or work on her rainbow loom for some downtime.

below: once Jaybird woke up, he watched Calla work on her loom. Notice the golf clubs nearby. They aren't golf clubs around here; they are crutches. I can't tell you how often Calla and Kelsey hobble around with those under each arm on their way to the "hospital."

 

 Wednesday evening we ate our early bird dinner at 5 and headed to Awana at 6.

below: rough job here in Puggles. (not really)

My Puggles co-leader, Mr. Jay, and I like to treat each other to hot chocolate so that's always the highlight of my evening haha. Jaybird likes to go with me to pick it up.

We got home at 8:30 and everyone was in bed by 9. It's always a late one for Awana but it's so worth it. The girls love their Cubbies/Sparks programs!

Calla's First Fieldtrip

Last Friday Calla had her first school field trip! I volunteered to be one of the "drivers" (I am also the "room mom" in charge of field trips so I have to go to all of them...fortunately, there are only three!).

 

We got up early that morning because I decided I wanted to vacuum out some crumbs in the car before picking up Donuts and the baby-sitter (Stefani), who was going to watch Kels and Jay while I was at the field trip. So we left the house at 7:50 (!), went and vacuumed out the crumbs...while I was taking all the car seats out of the car, some sort of unrecognizable liquid fell out of a carseat cup holder and turned our normal-smelling car into sort of trap for trash-can-like vapors. It smelled disgusting all the sudden.

 

So much for vacuuming. (And truly, why was I vacuuming crumbs out for the sake of six-year olds? Who make crumbs?) The donut place was near the car wash place. We picked up our donuts and then we swung by Stef's house to pick her up. She and Kelsey and Jay and the donuts went indoors and Calla and I drove to the school. She was pretty excited that I'd be along for the field trip.

 

I had dressed Calla up for blizzard-like conditions because it was a high of 48 degrees outside, which sure felt like a blizzard when you are standing outdoors looking at animals for two hours.

 

The field trip was to Cosley zoo. Calla didn't seem to mind that she'd been there twenty-seven times before. (-:

 

below: lined up, waiting for instructions

 below: Calla and two of her favorite friends, Aubrey and Charlotte

The zoo was a lot more fun with a tour guide giving the kiddos fun facts about the animals. (-:

below: checking out the pigs

 below: seeing where the goats sleep or something haha

There were a few other moms along so it was fun to get to know them.

We drove the kids back to school and they had an hour more until school let out so I ran home to relieve Stef and hang with Kels and Jay until noon. We picked up Cal-Cal and headed back home.

After our busy morning, we laid low on Friday afternoon. We had a 1pm meeting at Madison Elementary so i could sign some paperwork to enroll Kelsey Mae in speech preschool. I brought the kids along and a coloring book and they colored while I spoke with "Miss Julie" (Kelsey's new speech teacher).

After we got home, the girls played and Jay napped and I straightened up the house. At 5:45, a new baby-sitter came to watch the kids while Jonathan and I went to a Chris Tomlin concert with friends. The kids were excited to have a new sitter...thank goodness, or otherwise it would have been a little stressful. The girl goes to Wheaton College and was super sweet. Jay didn't even notice when I left.

We had a great time at the Tomlin concert. We went to his concert when he came in the spring and Jonathan said it'd be fun to bring friends next time.

below: our friends the Adams, Linengers and Westons and us

 

 Everyone came back to our place for some dessert after the concert. Before we knew it, it was midnight. yikes.

Saturday was a chilly fall day! Jonathan stayed home with the kids while I went and worked out. Calla LOVES to lay in bed for a long time on Saturday mornings and remind us it's her only day to "sleep in." The kids played in their pajamas most of the morning.

below: Jay shooting hoops. He drug his chair all the way from the kitchen to get a "leg up" from the competition.

 

 

Saturday afternoon I took a long nap on the couch and woke up to Calla and Kelsey rehearsing Kelsey's numbers. Calla has been trying to homeschool her. 

Sadly, Calla lacks in empathy. They ended this particular schooling session with Calla throwing up her hands in disgust and exclaiming, "You don't know anything!" Poor Kels.

Saturday evening we had another baby-sitter coming, which I felt bad about. But the sitter was Stefani, so I felt less bad. The kids are always happy to spend time with Stef. We left at 6:30 to meet Jenny and Luke Moo and another couple from our small group for dinner. The other couple is new to our group and new to attending church, so you can be praying we are a good testimony! We had dinner at Arrowhead, the public golf course in Wheaton. It was such a fun time although 9:30 rolled around and I felt like I was going to fall asleep at the table. I don't think I've EVER felt sleepy being out with other people! This pregnancy feels like my body was hijacked by a toddler on a 14-hour sleep cycle.

Sunday morning was uneventful, except I helped in Jaybird's class. I need to start listening to Uncle Steve's sermons consistently because I keep missing the service at church. I am only supposed to help in Jay's class every other week but sometimes I am needed in the off-week.

For lunch, our friends Bry and Ali invited us over for the Bears game. We picked up lunch and brought it over there. The Adams fam was there too and the kids just had a blast playing in the basement. They also appear at halftime to put on the "halftime show."

below: the show. ha! (check out Chase in the front, wondering why in the world he is standing there! Chase is two days older than Emily. He walked at 8 months old. I think he should be in the Guiness Book of World Records.)

We left at halftime so Jaybird could come home and take a nap. I didn't mind missing the second half because they lost anyway (I took a nap).

Sunday evenings we've started our own little traditions around here. We do a very lengthy family worship time before bed...lengthy because the girls always request song after song before the Bible story and it's just hard to turn down girls so eager to sing at the top of their little lungs to the Lord. Then we put the kids to bed and Jonathan and i have our stayte night (date night at home). we skipped the steak (usually Jonathan grills for stayte night) and ate milkshakes for dinner instead. If that's not a pregnancy move, i don't know what is. (-:

Last Week

Last Wednesday was one of our typical Wednesdays...you know the drill. The mad rush out the door in the morning, drop off of Calla at school, Bible study at church for Kels and Jay and I. Then afterwards we pick up Cal-Cal and head home.

Jay took a super short nap that afternoon which is a big bummer because Wednesdays are usually the one day I don't have to wake him up because bedtime is always so late because of Awana.

Well we made the best of it I guess. I don't really remember. I do recall leaving the house for Awana extra early because we stopped at a Jimmy John's sandwich place on the way to church because they were doing a fundraiser for Wheaton Christian Grammar School. (Henceforth known on here as: WCGS). 

We ate at the church with the kids found delightful.

below: Here we are, just sitting down to eat. Approximately one second later, Kelsey and Jay decided to use the bathroom. What's about sitting down to eat that makes kids suddenly have to use the bathroom?

 below: My friend Ali gave Kels this "twirl" outfit (it says twirl on the top) bc her daughter outgrew it and I know Kelsey would wear it 365 days of the year if she had her druthers.

At 6:15, we walked Calla to the gym to drop her off at Sparks and then Kels to Cubbies. Jaybird and I headed down to Puggles.

I love being in Puggles w Jay but I don't really get any quality time with him because this lovely little child on the left in this pic needs very constant care:

 below: playing in the sink. By far the top activity of the night. If the kids are happy, I let them linger. I may owe the church some soap.

The little girl cried and cried until I got the idea of quitting all the comforting and cuddling and laying it to her straight. I told her if she was crying then she must be tired and I would have to lay her in the crib (there's a crib in the room for "evacuation purposes"). I started to put her in it and she quieted in a hurry. She had a few relapses after that but every time I carried her towards the crib, she stopped. Problem solved.

In Puggles we have the luxury to taking a walk to the "cafe" every evening to get hot chocolate. My other "helper" Mr. Jay and I are big fans for the hot chocolate. This particular night I offered to treat him and then I counted up my cash and realized that not only did I not have enough to treat him, but I didn't even have enough for mine. So I had to borrow his. HAHA. Not my finest moment.

below: buying hot chocolate. Jay thinks it's for him.

After Awana we headed home...there is no car ride in our week as loud as the car ride home from Awana, because the girls are talking over each other to tell me all their favorite parts of the evening.

It's always a rough transition to quiet time before bed.

Thursday was BSF. I took a pic of Jay because as soon as I dropped him off in his class he made a beeline for the craft table and drew a bunch of blue lines. Anytime he draws a straight line he refers to it as a hockey stick.

below: Jay running away after drawing his hockey sticks

After BSF we drove to pick up Cal-Cal. Then we had plans to meet Jenny and her kiddos at Chick-fil-A. I haven't eaten there in awhile and it just always hits the right spot. Eriksen and Dane sat with my girls and then the four of them played in the playland (Jay tagged along). Jay just adores Dane.

Jenny and I got to sit and talk with Britta (well, she didn't talk back) and we pulled out of there at close to 2. Jaybird was probably pooped! On our way home we picked up Kelsey Ann and Maggie to come over for a playdate for a bit. I had invited them over bc I had some cleaning to do and I love having Kelsey Ann and Maggie over when I have cleaning to do because the four girls play so nicely together.

Jay took a nap and the four girls holed themselves up in their room and played "house." I cleaned the house and after Kels and Maggie went home, my girls helped me make some apple crisp. We were hosting small group that evening and I decided to make some apple crisp because, quite frankly, I wanted to prepare something easy! (and fall-ish)

Jonathan wasn't getting home until after small group began so it was just me flying solo to feed the kids dinner and clean up the house and get them all in bed before 7:30 when our small group guests arrived. Calla was still awake so I let her say "hi" to everybody. She gets a little intriqued when we have small group since I am sure she thinks her bedtime is "everybody's bedtime." I am sure she did her best to lay awake, straining her little ears to hear us.

But we were watching to a Tim Keller video from his "Reason for God" series so I am pretty sure that put her to sleep in a hurry! (Not because it's boring. It'd just be boring for kids. ha)

I was going to catch up from the weekend but I think I am going to fall asleep instead.

Visiting the Apple Orchard

Monday morning Pops gave the girls a ride up the elevator to the 16th floor of the hotel. They were thrilled. It's the little things in life ha.

Mimi and Pops and Grandma and Grandpa and the girls showed up at the house at about 9am with a box of Dunkin Donuts. Jay was probably the most grateful. ha! We talked about our day. Pops and Grandpa decided they would stay at home and fix the leaky faucet in our bathroom (they are the best) while Mimi and Grandma and the girls and Bird and I drove out to the middle of nowhere to go to an apple orchard.

It was about a 45-minute (maybe hour) drive to Honey Hill Farm. We still aren't sure where the "hill" was that they were referring to (Illinois' version of hills are pretty much slopes), but it was a nice drive.

The apple orchard was definitely simplistic, but I think it was perfect for my kids. They bring no expectations to the table. 

below: pumpkin posers

It was a high of 60 or so and definitely chilly! The kids warmed up racing around on top of hay bales and in the hay maze thingie.

We then went pumpkin picking. It took awhile to select the perfect pumpkin. You know - not too small, but not too big that it's a pain to carry.

below: is this the right one?

below: toting apples

below: a comfortable seat

below: a very unflattering photo of Jaybird

below: Got it!

We ate some BBQ pulled pork and some popcorn for lunch. It was delicious. I would have been tempted to try some apple-flavored dessert if I wasn't so full after the sandwich.

We hung out with the animals in the petting zoo. Grandma used up her nickles and dimes on those little feed-vending machines so the kids could feed the goats. Jay wasn't sure he wanted to feed the goats.

After playing in the hay some more, we stood in a long line for the bathroom and then headed home. I thought for sure Jay would fall asleep on the way home but he complained in his seat instead. Just what we wanted to listen to.

We got home at about 3 and I put Jay down for a nap. I had to wake the poor child up an hour later because our evening plan was to put the kids to bed at 7:30 and then go out to eat. (Grandma and Grandpa would stay and watch them. Well, not literally watch them sleep but be in the house, available to watch them. )

Calla raked the leaves outside and Kelsey sat in a chair and watched. Grandma sewed on a million Awana patches. Bless her heart. '

I showed Dad an issue with an exterior part of our house that leads to the crawl space and he soon was nailing wood and covering up a tiny crack that I was worried mice were going in. These are the types of projects that always come to mind when Pops is around.

At about 5:30, I served baked mostaccioli to Grandma and Grandpa and the kiddos.

below: cheese

After dinner, we put the kids to bed and then Jonathan, Mimi, Pops and I went out to The Ivy for a birthday dinner. 

below: Even though we were technically celebrating my birthday, I let Jonathan open a present from Mimi and Pops too.

below: I got to open presents from Kim and Kelly and Rin too! Thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you cards are in the mail! (....eventually!!)


It is so unusual that we get together with just my folks since most of our visits to Pennsylvania are planned around big family gatherings. It was a lot of fun! And delicious! I ordered pork chops which is so random but for some reason I always have a taste for pork when I am pregnant. I remember that started back with my pregnancy with Calla!

We got home and Mimi and Pops and Grandma and Grandpa headed back to the hotel. I felt bad they had to drive late at night but they were such good sports about it.

Tuesday morning everyone but Pops (he had a breakfast meeting with a LeTourneau friend) was at the house at 8:15! They were all there to accompany Calla to school!

below: the school girl

below: support staff

We parked the car and walked Calla to the door, and her teacher Mrs. Olsen was so kind to invite Grandma and Grandpa and Mimi to take a sneak peek into the classroom before class began. I'm so glad they got to do that! We also got to see Calla's locker. 

School was starting so we quickly said goodbye and headed out. Back at home, Grandpa hung out with Kelsey and Jay while Mimi and Grandma and I quick drove over to one of Mimi's favorite gift shops in Wheaton called Serenade. I picked out all my Christmas gifts. Haha, well not really but close! 

Once we got home, Pops had the car packed and was ready to go! Everyone took one last sip of water and used the bathroom and then we said our goodbyes. Thankfully we will see them in one month at Thanksgiving (no pun intended). 

We waved and watched them go and felt bad they had a long roadtrip ahead of them. We know what that feels like!

We didn't have too much time to think about it because Kelsey had gymnastics at 11. It is just the highlight of her little week. I probably write that every week. She got done, we picked up Calla, and she had her class. I'm glad Jaybird has plenty of little buddies (other friends' little siblings) around to play with or otherwise the "hallway" where we wait may get a little old! I usually bring a ball or two.

After gymnastics, my friend Ali invited Cal and Kelsey Mae over to her house for a playdate with her daughter Anna. They were so excited. It always feels weird to just have Jay! I laid him down for a nap and then worked on a marketing project. He didn't take a super long nap, and so by 4 we were driving back to Ali's to pick up the girls.

Tuesday evening we didn't have any big plans. We ate some dinner once Daddy got home at 6:30 and then he gave the kiddos a bath. The girls were ready for bed early after their big day! I think I was too!