Thanksgiving in NY

Katelyn decorating turkey cookies

Titus decorating turkey cookies

Lydia eating the turkey cookie frosting with some graham crackers

Three happy faces peering over the couch.

Lydia has become attached to this night shirt of Colleen's ever since she was a baby and now carries it around as her blankie

I will crush you daddy!

All of our kids love having books read to them.

Cousin Joyce reading a Bearenstein Bears book, a favorite series of our kids.

Grammy and Titus looking at a book on the steps.

More books...do you see a trend?

Lydia bundled up

Katelyn running around the edge of the tennis court. Taking after her mother?

Lydia trying to keep up, but those little legs just can't do the job compared to her long-legged sister

Titus doing his best to keep up, quite well actually

Standing on the flower pots next to the brook

Lydia seems not so interested

Everyone loves the John Deere tractor, even the sisters....

But no one loves them quite as much as Titus

Fall

Some random shots from this past fall.

We loved this vibrant Japanese maple tree in our front yard.

I decided a field trip to the zoo was in order on one particularly beautiful fall day in November. It was the first time I braved it with the trio on my own and was thrilled with how well it went. Needless to say, the kids had a blast!

Here they are under the polar bear exhibit, watching the polar bears play in the water. It was awesome and so fun to see their reactions.

At the zoo:

We love having so many trees on our property, but as a result, had LOTS of leaves to rake this fall. A great excuse to be outdoors!

Titus

My helper, Lydia. The girl loves to help out, whether it's raking leaves, emptying the dishwasher, or sorting laundry. Just hoping that trend will continue in the years to come!

All three of my helpers:

Katelyn was thrilled to discover that she can climb one of the trees in our yard, and spent much of her time in this position.

We used a wagon to transport the leaves the backyard where we'd dump them over the bank. Lydia and Titus enjoyed the rides back and forth.

Yes, it's been awhile...

Sorry about that. While we won't try to catch you up on everything that's been going on in our lives, we'll at least give you the highlights.

We are very happy to report that after house-hunting for several years, and placing bids on numerous houses, the Lord has graciously blessed us with our own home. It was a rental and in desperate need of some TLC, but we saw the potential and are thrilled to have a place to call our own. We did a lot of work on the house, (and by "we" I mean primarily Chris) for 4-5 months before we moved in. Here are some before and after shots:

Bathroom - Before:

Bathroom - After:
Katelyn & Lydia's Room - Before:

Katelyn & Lydia's Room - After:

Titus's Room - Before:

Titus's Room - After:

Master Bedroom - Before:

Master Bedroom - After: (Not to fear, we kept the guy in the "before" shot, he just wasn't available for the "after")

Living Room - Before:

Living Room - After:

Dining Room - Before:

Dining Room - After:

Kitchen - Before: (looking towards Dining Room)

Kitchen - After:

Kitchen - Before:

Kitchen - After: (again, we kept the cute guy from the "before" shot)

Front of house - Before:

Front of house - During removal of trees:

Front of house - After removal of trees and replacement of door and windows:

There is still work to be done, primarily in the basement family room, guest room, & guest bathroom, and we will try to post updates as projects are completed.

Soccer

Katelyn is playing soccer for the first time this fall and loving it. We've been having a great time watching her and the other little ones on her team. If you've never watched 5 year olds play soccer, I highly recommend it - it's extremely entertaining. Titus & Lydia have also enjoyed the opportunity to be outside, even if it does mean having to sometimes share a seat.

The Purple Club

At the end of August, poor Miss Lydia fractured her right ring fingertip when she got it stuck in a moving bicycle chain. OUCH!! Thankfully, no stitches were required, and it did not affect the growth plate, but she did have to be casted for four weeks. We were very surprised (to say the least), when the doctor stated the cast would have to be extended above her elbow! Even though it was just her fingertip that was injured, the doctor explained that little ones are pretty adept at wiggling out of casts so they often cast further up to prevent that. Lydia managed very well with her cast, even occasionally using it as a weapon! Needless to say, we were all very thankful when it was removed. :)