a whole new world

This pretty girl is loving the new view in her stroller now that she can sit up.

leaves

It seems all at once the leaves came tumbling down thanks to a few storms and windy days. This makes for some fun times, apart from having to rake every night. I have to laugh when I think how long our walks take these days simply because Andrew notices all the different kinds of leaves. Here is a sample of our conversations: "hey Mom, look! A big leaf! A huge leaf! Look! A red leaf! This leaf has spots!" You get the point. Each leaf is new and exciting to my son. I love how his mind works.

Robinette's

Ryan and I had been meaning to take the kids to Robinette's this fall, but it seemed whenever we would plan to go it would rain. Fortunately, last week we had two days of really warm and clear weather so we knew this was our chance. Andrew had a great time! I think we found a new tradition :)

Andrew & Ryan enjoying cookies and cider

The apples of my eye

By far, Andrew's favorite activity was climbing on the wagon and going down the slide

Isn't she lovely?

Here are a few pictures of my dear girl at the age of 5 months:

Today's activities

A friend of mine suggested that we take our kids to the Calvin College bridge that crosses over the East Beltline, knowing that Andrew loves cars. What a great idea that was. The kids had fun running back and forth, occasionally pausing to look at the cars going by beneath them. We agreed we might have to do this a few more times during the winter months since the bridge is enclosed and heated. Bonus!

After dinner Ryan and I headed outside to do some more raking.  Andrew had fun running through our piles of leaves, while Sylvia had fun just chillin' in her swing.

spaghetti face

There is something about spaghetti that brings out the best in my son:

Fall activities

The weather is changing and so now is the time to do some traditional fall activities and find new indoor activities to the keep the kids intrigued.  In these first few pictures, Andrew is playing with something called 'cloud dough.'  I didn't think it was that fascinating but Andrew loved it.  The first time he played with the stuff over 90 minutes.  When we took it out the next day he played with it for over an hour.  I think we found a keeper...at least for now.

Our next activity was carving a pumpkin.  He didn't find this quite as fun as we had hoped.  But when we lit up the pumpkin with a candle, that changed everything!  And he enjoyed eating the pumpkin seeds.  So fun!

Even cleaning up can be fun if you overload the sink with bubbles.  I love how kids can be so easily entertained.

Of course I had to include a few cute pictures of my silly Sylvia :)

silly boy

What can I say about my dear Andrew? He makes me laugh everyday, every hour, almost every minute. I can't believe what a happy boy he has become after being a rather difficult baby. Hopefully these pictures will give you a little insight as to what I am talking about.

He loves to play with chalk.  This usually means he is covered from head to toe in the stuff resulting in a change of clothes and maybe even a bath

He was so proud that he was helping Mama pick up leaves.  Note the small pile of leaves behind him :)

Still learning how to use a rake properly.  He better learn quick!  Those leaves won't pick up themselves :)

Every time I pull out a new toy for Sylvia, he has to investigate and try it out himself.  I just had to pull out the camera for this one.

silly girl

Sylvia is growing just a bit too quickly. I can hardly believe the things she can do now, and also how chunky she is getting. I guess those are two good things, right?

Learning to sit up but still needing a little practice

When all else fails, propping yourself up with your mouth works!

I look at these pictures and can't believe how big she is getting!  She loves her bath and it usually prompts lots of talking and smiles :)