Where did September go?

September went by way to fast.  Other than really not wanting to deal with the uncomfortableness and pains of pregnancy anymore I haven't really been in a hurry to get this baby here.  I am happy for him to come when he is ready and life this month has been for the most part rather peaceful.  It might have something to do with my practically perfect husband who has done more than his fare share of dishes and tending lately.  Last night I got home from the General R.S. broadcast (our ward ordered Olive Garden for dinner before hand at the stake center and then had the broadcast - fun night!)  anyways, when I got home the house was spotless (including the bathroom!!)  the last load of laundry was in the dryer, the kids were asleep and Mark was enjoying a bit of college football.  I told him I wasn't sure I deserved all of that!! (he may have agreed - haha).  I snuggled up to him and watched the game until halftime.  

I have been enjoying home school also.  I hate having other people (like the school bus) dictate my schedule to me.  I love waking up in the morning, getting a yummy breakfast on and having morning school with the kids after they are done their morning chores.  There is no rush to make it to the bus on time and no nagging at the kids because they are going to be late. 

(although this has been a work in progress for me to relax and just let the day flow)

I love our "morning" school of learning primary songs, reading the scriptures and family prayers.  Then the kids check their charts and start on their school work.  

Obviously some days are better than others and we are still learning. 

But we are having fun doing the learning. :)

Zina did request that we do more art.  It is her favorite subject. :)

Every wed. we go to the Residency med mates play group.  We love this group.  They do fun things and help us get out of the house.  Here we are at Verhages Apple farm going on a hay ride around the orchards.  Then we had donuts and apple cider.

The fall leaves are slowly starting to appear.  We LOVE them!

And of course we can't complain that Mark's endocrine schedule has been with an older Dr. who doesn't work that much anymore.  He worked 2 full days and 2 half days. That's IT!  And he had every weekend off.  Glorious.  Here the kids are attacking the "pillow monster."
:)

Along with crisp mornings and evenings, and a few rainy days we have had some beautiful sunny afternoons.  Greg came over to wash his car before trading it in and it turned into a big party!  The kids loved helping Mark scrub down the vehicles.  

(I think they (the kids and the cars) were maybe dirtier after the fact, but it's all about the memories right?)

 I may have supervised instead of helping - and tried to find some fall leaves in our trees. 

Soccer season has officially started, but these are the unofficial soccer pictures.  On top of the community league that they are both in Zina and Wilson spend hours outside playing soccer together.

On the condition that Mark and I are outside reffing.  Otherwise things get a little (or a LOT) to heated. :)

I LOVE the looks of happiness (and competitiveness) on their faces.  Half the time they are running around giggling because they are enjoying each other so much.  (unless of course the ref isn't there - then they are yelling at each other)

 Mark made them soccer nets out of PVC pipes and bird netting when we lived in Utah.  He was worried that it wasn't worth it at the time, but they have been SO worth it.  The kids LOVE to play soccer in the backyard.

One of these days I'll get the official soccer pictures up.

But for now I am very grateful for a peaceful, happy September.  I'm grateful for cooler weather, red, yellow, and orange leaves, pumpkins, golden sunlight, craft night with some fabulous women, upcoming general conference, an amazing husband, and sweet sweet children.

So excited to meet our new little bundle. 

whenever he is ready to make his debut into this beautiful world.

Zina's 7!

What a great day!  

I love my 7yr old, and I'm not going to lie - it's not that hard to believe she's 7.  Sometimes I feel like she's 10 instead!

Zina at a glance:

- She is a huge help at home and when I ask her to do something she is quick to obey.

- She requested pancakes with homemade buttermilk syrup for her birthday breakfast.

- and her traditional homemade macaroni and cheese for birthday dinner.

- She loves to read.  The books in the picture below are the books she read in about 5 days.  During the summer we were at the library twice a week to keep her stocked up on books.

- She loves her barbies (but wishes she had as sister to play with her).

- She loves to play soccer outside with Wilson and Papa.  She is also playing a community league and is having a lot of fun and learning lots about the game.

- She loves home school.  She is easy to teach and very self motivated.  The only thing I sometimes have to coax her into doing is journal writing.  But once she's done it I love to read her entries.

- Sometimes when she's really mad you better watch out.   It might be rare but when the fire gets roaring it's really really hot.

-  She has to be tucked in bed with a hug and a kiss every night - and I always have to make sure the closet doors are closed or else I will be back in for another hug and kiss and tuck.

-  She does not like to get up early.  Hence, part of the reason she loves home school. :)

- Her favorite song is "Call Me Maybe."  She rocks it just like a teeny bopper and knows every.single.word.

- She has a great memory and is always the first to recite the articles of faith or give answers in primary.

- Don't tell, because she'll get really mad, but secretly we still call her "Herzione"  after her favorite Harry Potter know-it-all character Hermione.  The similarities are sometimes just to striking. :)

For her birthday Zina's only request was that the boys leave and her and Mama spend the afternoon together baking/making her birthday cake!

What a sweet girl!  

She picked out one she liked online and then we went to work creating her desired red velvet fondant cake.

I have zero experience with fondant but we had fun watching you tube tutorials on how to make flowers and color it and listened to our favorite music.  

The finished cake and the birthday girl!  

She designed it exactly how she wanted it.

Mark and the boys had fun at the park and had time to mow the lawn (Wilson ran about 30 laps around the yard) by the time we were done!

She was super happy with it and the red velvet was surprisingly good!  

(I just had to mentally forget how much red food coloring it actually called for - yuck!)

She was very happy with all of her presents, barbies, books, and her very own soccer ball.

Since we didn't have friend birthday parties this year we let the kids pick a birthday activity.
Zina wanted to go to Gull Meadow Farms which is about 2 minutes from our house.

So the day after her birthday we invited Zina and Wilson's favorite friend here in Kzoo and headed to the farm.  I was hoping it would be cooler fall weather but we all got sunburns and were exhausted by the end of the day.  They had tons of fun activities and yummy apple and pumpkin donuts that we all enjoyed.

Even the big kids had fun. :)

After her birthday party on Friday Mark was feeling guilty that he hadn't spent that much time with her (she did request a "girl only" afternoon) so he sat and visited with her while tucking her in bed.  He said she was practically bubbling with all the wonderful things that had happened to her that day and told him about 30 different things in the span of about 15 minutes. :)  

That makes me smile. 

 Zina is easy to please and for this very pregnant Mom a girls afternoon spent baking and crafting was just what the Dr. ordered.  

Happy Birthday Zina!  

I love you forever!

Sleeping Bear Dunes Camping Trip

We spent the first bit of Sept. (labor day) recovering from August.  Then on Monday when everyone was heading home from their labor day camping trips we headed out to start ours.  It was so fabulous to be driving one way and everyone else driving the other way!  The campground was nice and quiet and traffic was great.  We drove 4hrs north to check out Sleeping Bear Dunes National shore line.  When we got there we set up camp and headed for the beach.  

Sammy didn't like the cold water. ;)  Even though it was a gorgeous day for swimming and laying out on the beach.

Here's why poor boy.  He spiked a fever and fell asleep in our makeshift shade after we drugged him up. :(

This beach was a lot rockier than any others we've been to and the kids had a great time collecting the most beautiful rocks they could find into piles.

The whole family and 35wks prego!!

When Sammy woke up he felt so much better.   I love these pictures of him playing catch with dad.

This is my view when laying on my back. :)  Can't wait to meet this little boy.

Some well deserved relaxation.

Love me some campfire - but not so much the hotdogs.  Next time I hope I have the energy to make something yummier.  I was missing Grandma Nancy's dutch oven Wendorff stew.

Sam and Wilson were pretty pleased with the s'mores for dessert.  

Unfortunately Zina also had a fever and chills at this point and we drugged her up and put her straight to bed. :(

Home sweet home!  We decided at the last second to put the rain fly on and boy were we glad we did.  We stayed toasty warm and nice and dry during the thunderstorm that hit during the night.  Every time the lightning would flash and thunder would boom Sammy would sit straight up and say, "I'm scawred."  It was fun to snuggle him close and sing his scary's away.  Zina and Wilson didn't even know there was a storm!

Breakfast time!  And no more fevers!

Mark enjoyed a nice run while I cooked us up some yummy scrambled eggs, bacon and hot chocolate and then we hit up the sand dunes for a "little" hike. 

We somehow missed the info about it being a strenuous 3 1/2 mile hike to even get a view of lake Michigan.  At the top of the second hill Wilson had had enough.  (not gonna lie I don't think the prego could have made it up another hill either)  So while Mark ran up the trail to see the view the rest of us ran down the hills pretending to keep the treasure away from the pirates.  The kids loved it and by the time we were down we were hot, sweaty, hungry, happy, and ready for the beach again!

So naturally that's where we went after a yummy picnic lunch in the historic Glen Haven village.

Sammy still not feeling to great, snuggled with Mark for a nap while the kids and I went to explore the village.

Zina's favorite part was the old mercantile with old fashioned candy (we bought some to share with Mark and Sammy) and Wilson's was the blacksmith shop where they both got some hooks that they watched the blacksmith make.  

On our way out of town we took a detour to see the scenic views.

Nothing like standing on the edge of a 450ft sand dune cliff looking out over lake Michigan.

It was really beautiful and I'm glad we went, but I think next time we will stick a little bit closer to home.  4hrs was a long drive home and then about 3 days to recover. :)

Sammy requested that Mark carry him to the van like this. :)

Pretty cute boys and so nice to have a taste of summer with our dad!