Fall is here!

I know it is winter where most of you are, but for us the leaves started turning and the temperatures start to dip during November. It is so nice to have a break from the heat and humidity for a few months. I love this time of year! But certainly not the extra laundry from bulkier clothing (on load #6 for the day), and most definately not the virus's that find there way to my house. Both Jacob and I have had a cold that has lingered for the past two weeks and I am so happy to say that as of today I have only used 5 tissues so far. An end in sight! Jacob has been better for a few days now, I am so happy as his poor nose was so sore by the second week. He definately had the worst of it, as before he had the cold he broke out with a mouth full of sores. He could hardly eat or drink. So happy that is over! Being sick hasn't slowed him down too much as he is perfecting his airplane sound affects, figuring new ways to tell me what he wants (the grunts now has specific sounds for different things), and stacking anything in sight...

Oh yes, and figuring out ways to make more work for mom and dad everyday =)

Spencer has spent most of his days mastering his bike. Yesterday his back tire popped for the second time due to his excessive skidding habits so I brought the seat down on Maren's old bike and had him try that, and within an hour he had it down. He keeps telling me "it go'd Fastest mommee".

I love that it doesn't even phase him that it is bright pink.
(Dave has plans for that up his sleeve)

His other loves these days are "Go, Diego, go"( I think he has watched every episode on Netflix instant play at least three times now), and the movie "How To Train Your Dragon". He has one toy from the movie that he tells us is his "breeding bire dragon". He really didn't care much for Toy Story 3, but the rest of us loved it. Even Jacob got into it bringing us the Buzz light year toy during the movie to show he was paying attention.

Maren finished off the soccer season with a bang, she got over whatever was holding her back and really played well. She only had that one goal the whole season, but in the last few games she had multiple runs for the goal, several assists, and a few really close shots every time she played forward. The best part was watching the smile on her face and her concentration increase as she succeeded. She also has been working really hard on her reading lately and it is fun to see her get more and more confident as her skills increase. It is hard to be in Amanda's shadow when is comes to academics, so I am proud of the hard work she puts in everyday. My favorite quote comes from her this time around, she loves doing her math homework, and after I ask her why she tells me "It's easy as a lemon squeezy!" Gotta love that attitude!

I got to go eat lunch with Maren at school this week, it is so fun to have her all to myself for a few minutes!

Amanda got her cast off, and is busy plotting how to injure herself next! Ha ha! Dave offered a reward for not injuring herself for three weeks, but alas she came in with a really sore knee two nights ago after tripping in their fort. Hoping it is just a bad bruise, and not a sprain....seriously what do I do with her!!! She has been working really hard on a social studies report that she based on mythology, due to her love of the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" book series. I will blog more about that later, and she is so excited to turn a decade old next week! Just wish I was as excited as she is to turn 3 plus decades!

We took this picture on day trip to the zoo we took for Veterans Day, doesn't she look right at home? It was wonderful way to spend the day with my soldier and kiddo's. I am so grateful for those who serve our country, and give so much. So that we have so much to enjoy and live for. And even though our time here is ending soon, I am so grateful for those who put up with the deployments, frequent moves, and dangerous work to serve our country for years and years. They are amazing men and women and I have so much respect for who they are and what they stand for.

And a little Frankenstein to boot...

I didn't get any pictures of Jacob in his costume for the last post as it was just too HOT to put him in it, but it cooled off this weekend, just in time. He is LOVING his first taste of candy, and enjoyed his walk around the neighborhood collecting his goods, as he let me know when we passed a house without putting something in his pumpkin.

We opted for painting our pumpkins this year (the carved ones get pretty moldy around here). It was so much easier, and the kids had a blast coming up with ideas, I especially loved watching Spencer paint his, he was concentrating so hard.

And finally, we had a great weekend with Dave's brother and his cute family. They have moved within driving distance so we will all enjoy this year of spending more time with them. These cousins had a blast...I think Dave's brother said it right said it right when he said "it is like having three sets of twins" (plus one), they played so hard together.

I had to do a double take when I looked at this picture, as I can see a bit of family resemblance between these two.

As I am typing this post, with Spencer on my lap, Spencer tells me "that is MY cousin". He really enjoyed having some other boys around to play with.