simple treasures

 We give lots of hugs, kisses, and noses around here. 

 And lots of blow fishes too. 

I love my life.

september wrap up

A few random memories from the month:

 This boy has developed a new habit of taking his clothes off throughout the day. This scene is seriously a daily occurrence. And typically it involved being shirtless too. Cracks me up.

 Kids helping me make banana bread muffins. We have been exploding with those lately, and it's most for L-man's school lunches. They go like candy around here, so we have to stay well stocked. 

 Cute new outfits from Nonnie and PopPop! Oh I can't wait for cooler weather. :)

 Don't your fingers double as spiders too?

Quick family shot on my birthday. We dropped the kids off with a neighbor and tried out a new, delicious, Italian restaurant near Uptown. 

 Neighborhood park visits, with a friend helping push the boys on the swings.

 He thinks he's a hot shot. 

 Lady-LE's preschool group. We change homes every week, and this was my particular day. So fun!

 Family outing to Plaza Fiesta. 

 This month has been pretty brutal with R's work schedule, so we were trying to enjoy him whenever we could! Whew. Feels good to have this month over. It was an awesome month, don't get me wrong. But October's schedule looks much more manageable. Thankfully!

preschool

Hooray! L-man has been waiting for this day for quite some time now, and we are all excited to get back into a routine. We had a little "tea party" they called it at his school the week before, getting to know the teachers/classroom/etc., so he was ready to go. L-man is a little funny to me, because he doesn't get crazy hyper, nervous, or anxious about new things. He is often very matter-of-fact about them. Not in the sense that he's mature for his age (because I highly doubt that!), but rather he chooses to keep his excitement levels fairly constant, saving the outbursts for behind doors later in the day when his sister takes his toys. :)

 So on the first day of preschool he wasn't over the top in love with the concept, just went about the routine and smiled for the pictures. Of course he was happy, just a controlled happy. Makes me laugh.

 This picture in particular makes him look so big to me. I can hardly believe it!

 He automatically goes for a hug whenever I ask him to stand by Lady-LE for a picture. I hope he keeps doing small things like that for a long time. 

 His preschool does a car-pool drop off, so the teachers help the kids get out of the car and walk them into the building. Seriously cool since it'd be a pain to get Lady-LE in and out of the car twice a day just for preschool's sake. I expected him to be at least a little hesitant today, or at least say something to me. But NOPE! He immediately started talking to the sweet teacher, jumped out of the car, and didn't even turn around to look at me. I guess he's ready!

For the first couple of weeks this sweet girl was so heartbroken. She would immediately ask where L-man was going, and then say, "I miss L. I sad." in a very soft, low, quiet voice. Kind of the boo-hoo voice you use when you read books to kids. She would keep repeating that until I said "Me too, baby girl" and then she would ask to hold my hand to comfort her. She'll still do it even today, but she gets over it a lot faster. 

Plus, we've been doing a little co-op preschool for Lady-LE with some friends, and she thinks she is the bees knees when it's her turn for preschool. She says, "I big girl. I go to preschool too!" Oh I love it. 

campout

Does anyone else hear the beginnings of "the lion sleeps tonight" whenever they hear kids say "campout!" together? Thank you Sandlot. So many memories.

The kids and I decided to go camping with our church group one weekend in September - without Dad. 

It was kind of a big deal.

 We ate our dinner on the drive down to the church property, but L-man asked every single person possible if he could help roast their hotdogs. 

 L-man was a crazy fire fan tonight. I've never seen his so entranced before. He literally just sat there for hours. He was burning up, I asked him to scoot back, and he said he wasn't hot at all. Just busy poking his stick in and out of the fire over and over again. 

 Lady-LE just sat in her chair eating dorritos. 

R was actually able to join us for maybe two hours in the evening hours. Perfect for snuggling next to the fire, singing songs, and roasting s'mores with. I'm so glad he chose to come for just a small bit of it! Lady-LE sat on his lap almost the entire time, talking about marshmallows and each primary song she knew. Then sadly we said goodbye so he could at least get a few hours of sleep before going back to the hospital early the next morning. Speaking of morning ...

 This was the view from our tent when we woke up.

 The light and the fog took my breath away. 

 What a beautiful world we live in.

 The night was long as it typically is when you're camping with little ones. But we were all snuggled together in a small tent, and we loved it. I was glad I had a moment of courage the day before and chose to come. The sunrise was enough reward for me!

 I may not know the correct settings of my camera still (in all honesty I haven't been studying it, so it's all just trial and error at this point). But even if this is flawed I think it is beautiful.

Classic "cheese" pose.

  The fog and mist were covering everything {soaking our tent in the process. I'm grateful that R likes to have good gear or else we would be soaked}, and it just hung above the earth like that for the first hour or so of light. Oh it was breathtaking.

 We bathed in the sunlight all morning long. It was glorious. There are many analogies of Christ and light. I am grateful to feel of His light, and the warmth and joy that comes from it. The peace and happiness that comes from our Savior, Jesus Christ is indescribable. I hope I can continue to recognize it and soak it in like I tried to this morning. 

The kids all had fun going on adventures while us adults had a delicious breakfast and broke camp. 

Would I do it over? In a heart beat. 

soccer shots

L-man has started soccer. 

And let me tell you, my heart is bursting with happiness every time I see him even near a soccer ball.

I'm overly cheesy like that. 

 And yes, it has 100% to do with the fact that both me and his daddy loved playing soccer our whole lives. I will be the first to admit that I want my children to love what I love, and soccer is very high on that list. 

And from the looks of it, L-man loves it too.  

 {forgive the over exposure. I told you I'd post pictures in all their imperfect glory didn't I?}

 Sweet little Lady-LE watching from the sidelines. It'll be your turn soon, sweetheart! Promise.

 At the end of 'practice' they have a short little scrimmage. Coach J (who is positively fantastic and has me completely entranced with his crazy abilities to coach these little kids) let them put the jerseys on themselves. Poor L's first experience didn't go so well. He accepted it and ran with it (literally) until I was laughing too hard and pulled him out to fix it. 

 And he looked just as good as the rest of 'em. :)

 End of practice cheer. I'm swooning by this point. 

 He practices on Mondays, and Ry guy gets to come with us this time! Can't wait! 

sprinkler fun

The month of September has been a full one and I have LOTS to catch up on. But first a few more moments of summer ... ahhh. Breathe it in for a brief second, because it is definitely over and the air has started changing. While it's still humid, it's not heavy anymore. And the wind has picked up, bringing in a fresh, crisp, and autumn feel with it. We love this season, and will definitely try to take full advantage of it. But like I said, let's re-visit summer just one last time for a little sprinkler-in-the-yard action. At least back to the first of September.

 It was definitely a hit with L-man. He loved it.

 Lady-LE didn't venture near it at all. She was quite content in her little pool of toys. 

(ps - I just gave them haircuts again. While I had to go short for Lady-LE, she doesn't look like a boy this time! Major success for this household, I tell you what!)

 This is her cheese face as of lately. It started just a few days before this picture, and she continues it with full force today. Where she got this idea I have no clue, but she's sticking with it!

 I think L-man was starting to get chilly?

 I love those genuine smiles.

And I love how these two get along. Of course there's fighting, yelling, the occasional hitting. But there's an overabundance of goodness that outweighs the bad. They love a lot on one another, and they are the perfect playmates for each other. L-man is crazy about telling stories lately, and she is the ultimate audience for him. She even reacts at all the right places in the stories. Completely melts my heart. Love them!