Soccer

Girls are having fun with soccer this fall, and I'm having fun watching and coaching.  Adie and Eliza are the Hornets this year, and Ashlynn's team is the Fire Hearts - love the names the kinders come up with

First days of school

 This first picture is of Saturday morning after the twins first week of school, one of our girls happy places lately is building and playing with their LEGOS and it was fun to get to let them have as much time as they wanted on a Saturday at home

 Adie and Eliza were both excited to start up again. Just like last year Adie got the teacher they were familiar with and their two best buds in her class. Eliza was great though, she likes her teacher and is having fun getting to know some of the other kids better. 

 I was worried after Ashlynn's first orientation day when her teacher (who is a good friend and we know really well) had to physically pry her off of me when  I left - so hard for me, especially when I wasn't expecting it out of my little toughie.  But, the text from her teacher in the afternoon let me know she "rocked it"  She's had a fun couple of days, I don't get much out of her but she's happy and excited to go despite the early wake up call.

 heading to the bus around 7:00, Ashlynn's first day we had 4 deer visit us but I was too slow with my camera

 Pretty sweet to get to have Grandma and Grandpa get up to see the girls off to their first days, and to have them greeting them when they get off the bus a lot of the days

 And we started soccer tonight, I'm coaching Ashlynn's kinder/1st grade team. Here she is all blinged out for practice. She was pumped to get to hang out with her friends from school. Kind of strange to not be Adie and Eliza's coach this year.  I was relieved that Ash actually followed my directions at practice, as my dad would say, she's a little "pepperpot" on the field

And then there  is Leah, she talks A LOT. I knew her and Ash were close and knew they played well together but didn't really realize how much time that allowed me to get things done around the house on days we were home. And, I really do enjoy getting her all to myself. She'll start daycare next week a couple days a week so I know I'll miss her on those day.  Seriously though, this girl NEEDS someone to talk to. All day.

 

Summer Produce

It's been a good garden/orchard summer for us.  Every year gets a little easier and this year I could actually process fruits and veggies without feeling like I needed a Grandma to come help with the girls.  By this time of year I'm pretty over the excitement of everything growing and getting to send the girls outside to pick fruits and veggies when they say they want a snack. But, I'll be thankful for it again in a few months when I can grab a jar of sauce/beans/pears when we need it.

 

 The girls have been having fun playing Little House this summer, they put the bonnets on, get out the bow and arrow Carrie gave us and can spend hours pretending they live in a cabin. They usually fight over who gets to be Laura so I've convinced them there were more people around than just the Ingalls, the books just don't talk about everyone. So now they're ok with making up new names for their play

 I assured Ashlynn they didn't have Ranch dressing back in the day, but if it helps her eat a pan of kale and tomatoes I'll let it pass

 The girls actually help save me a little time this year, straining blackberries for syrup is time consuming!

 The below picture is a good one to show what our kitchen often looks like in the summer, a huge mess, but a good mess because it's all the goods from our garden and orchard being processed.

End of summer

I feel like we have been busy this summer, but aside from a few camping trips we haven't been out of town too much.  It's been really good being home with the girls this summer, and we're all ready for the business of fall with school, soccer, daycare, subbing, and volunteering to start up.

 

I have been getting the girls canvases and kind of have to plan a day for it so that I can tolerate taking the day to let them paint - they all love it and I love seeing what they come up with

 

 I don't have final pictures of a couple of them because they gave them to Grandpa to enjoy =)

 We've had friends and neighbors over more this summer which has been really fun, lots of arts and crafts at this old table (it was the table my dad grew up eating on with his 12 siblings on their farm). I love Leah in her superhero costume with her favorite baby Jessie on her back while she paints.

 Our new bedtime routine is pretty sweet, Adie and Eliza each read a story for Ash and Leah before Ryan reads a chapter out of their choice (they're all into the Little House books right now)

 I love this picture below with the neighbor kid, so lucky to have some great kids close where we live

 Adie and Eliza are seeming old to me lately.  They're more serious (some of the time), their play is just changing. They like to sit and talk, read, write - still the sweetest relationship I could ever imagine. Even when they fight, because when they do fight it really bothers both of them and they are pretty good at talking things out by now and they don't like hurting each others feelings

               Adie's almost done canvas, she copied the cover of her book she was reading

 I have to just remember this one for when they're older. We've spent a lot of time with this friend this summer, the girls love getting together with  her and this day they made a stage and were belting out Tayler Swift songs putting on concerts for me.  Where we live I'm sure all of the neighbors could hear too - I loved listening!

Symons Family Visit

I love love love when my friends come hang out with us for the weekend.  Tristan and her kids made the trip and it was so much fun hanging out with them!

We walked the crew to the winery across the street and bribed them with an Oreo when we got home to not touch anything or make any noise while we picked out our wine

                                                        Feeding the chickens

                                                       Feeding the cows and sheep

                     Lots of slip and slide fun - Eli won most improved over the weekend

This crew loves their arts and crafts so we spent a good part of Saturday at Young At Art

We love the Symons! Big step this year as I don't think Ashlynn and Eli got into any major arguments.  Simone brought needing treats to a whole new level for me, that girls is relentless when it comes to needing a snack that's crunchy (as opposed to the plums, apples, and tomatoes I kept trying to offer her).  AND she specifically like crunchy snacks that are orange ((cheetohs))Thanks for taking pictures Tristan, and for driving your kids all over the place to hang out with us.  We love getting good time with (most of ) your family.