The Rest of September

Our blog mysteriously stalled sometime in September.  Life just got super busy, and I never found the time to sit down and upload all of the hundreds of pictures I had taken.  Here's a quick snapshot of the other things that happened in September ...

Jack and I went on a Field Trip to Sugar Grove Nature Center with his preschool class.  It was a beautiful fall morning and we had a great time exploring the outdoors together.

Jack and I also went on a date to Chuck E Cheese together as a reward for him filling up his first sticker chart (a.k.a. bribery system, designed to eliminate his need to cry hysterically when mommy drops him off at preschool).

That just about wraps up the rest of our month of September ... now on to re-creating October and November!

Define and Design

The day that we moved into this house our couch wouldn't fit down the basement stairs. 

We told the movers, "Just put it in there", motioning towards the empty room that should be a dining room but wouldn't really be a dining room because we didn't have dining room furniture.

So the couch went in.

As we began the process of unpacking and getting settled, we quickly discovered how dangerous it was to have a newly-walking 1 year old exploring a house that we weren't even familiar enough with to have thoroughly baby-proofed.

So we moved the couch in front of the large doorway opening to the hallway and put a gate at the opening to the kitchen.

Add in a few toys and ... voila!  A giant playpen!

Jack was contained and entertained at the same time, giving us priceless time to unpack and get settled.

That's how the room developed it's purpose.  Toys lived there, it was another room to send the kids off to play, and a room to say, "put it in there" whenever we had something that didn't quite fit or work out in another room in the house.

It became the room that we would set up our Christmas tree in each year, the room where we gathered to open gifts Christmas morning.

Finally, I could take no more.

The couch went to our niece who just recently moved into her first apartment, and our room was empty. 

Blissfully empty.

I decided that I had to act fast, to reclaim the room before it turned into something else, or an even bigger dumping ground for stuff.

We painted the walls ...

Added some artwork and chairs ...

found a perfect dining room set on Craigslist ....

 

And a china cabinet that I've always wanted!

 

Introducing our new, improved, couch-free dining room:

I wonder where we're going to put the Christmas tree this year?

Fall is in the Air

Just a few short days after 100+ temperatures the weather cooled down enough for us to enjoy a backyard fire ...

And the cooler temps also inspired me to get out my favorite fall candles, albeit a bit early in the season ...

I **heart** fall!

Nope, I don't need a nap today ...

I'm not tired.

LABOR Day weekend

Mark labored for most of the Labor Day weekend ...

... and we now have a freshly painted office! 

5 rooms down, 3 to go!

Jack's 1st Day of 4 Year-Old Preschool

and his first day riding in a booster seat too!

Look at how cute Jack is when we're playing Go Fish together ...

And then look at the expression he gets when he beats his mommy ...

Precious, isn't he?

September weather?

didn't expect that today!

Guess Who?

Guess who weighs 40lbs now?!!

And guess who still also weighs 40lbs now?

And guess who can tackle both of them and take them down?

He's a scrapper, that's for sure!

Kara's new 'do

Kara liked Jenna's new haircut so much that she has been begging to get hers cut too.

I was so afraid of going with a chin-length bob for her, but it turned out darling!

(she just looks too darned grown-up without those curls *sniff*)