Leaves and Fall Things

 

I'm a huge lover of the 4 seasons. There are things that I love about all 4 of them. Growing up in Indiana gave me that great appreciation for them and I am trying to instill that in the boys. Instead of being bummed when it is raining, we throw on our rain boots and open up our umbrellas. We swim ALL summer long, jump in the leaves of a fallen tree and make snow angels. I must say, though. Fall may be my very favorite.

My husband sometimes laughs at me as I am decorating for whichever holiday is coming up. Not only do I have tubs of home decor, I have tubs of festive apparel and accessories for the entire family. He REALLY laughed at me when just a week ago as I was about to order mine and the boys' Christmas jammies I casually mentioned that he too would have Christmas jammies this year. The laughing gave way to a very serious look and a snide comment I won't repeat.

I ordered them anyway.

Jace and Adam are such good sports and while hunting for the perfect Halloween shirt for Adam at the worst store in the entire universe (more to come on my pure hatred for Wal-mart) I was full of pride when my 3 year old said, "These shirts just won't cut it, Mom. Let's go to Target." And so we did! Jacer is sporting a bib made by Grandma Linda. We have one for each of the cool weather holidays. Adam was very excited when we tied this one onto Big Baby.

The corn moves inside when the fields get plowed. Adam and Dad scoured the field behind Grammy and Pap's house. They came back with a huge bag of corn and acorns to play with. I am all for this creative imaginative play, that is until I find corn kernels all over the house. I keep telling them it belongs outside. They keep ignoring me.

OK, so this is a huge love of mine. The leaves call to me. Beg to be raked and jumped in. And so I oblige, raking and raking and watching while the pile gets messed up and spread out and then I rake and rake some more. Adam and Jace love to play in the leaves. You know, they are pretty normal, most kids do. And the lovely part. The big tree in the front yard hasn't even really started to shed its leaves! I am super excited we will get a few more fun days, Brocky is super bummed. That means for him a  few more trips on the roof to clean out clogged gutters!

Jacer had a ball. This was his first time really getting down and dirty, and dirty they both got! Adam is really very good with Jace. But Jace is often brought into the rough housing with Dad and Big Brother. Because of this he plays quite a bit rougher than other babies his age. His poor buddy Kolton often leaves our house with bumps, bruises, and even a fat lip. Although, he is starting to hold his own and is beginning to give it right back to the big bully.

Brotherly love!

 

Adam was a really big help actually. Well, that is after we told him to ditch the tiny cup he was using to fill his wagon! After that the process went quite a bit more quickly. I love watching this as it reminded me of when I was young and my siblings and I would play in the leaves in this very yard. Instead of a red wagon though we had a big red recycling barrel (remember when Monti had those?)we would fill. Our old dog Millie was always out with us and we have photos of the dog in the barrel. Yes, she could jump in it.

Fall brings a very special birthday, too. Laine Ryan is now 5 going on 15. Bittersweet as we are so enjoying watching her grow, but feel like it was just yesterday we were taking her Mama to the hospital. Love this little girl!

Fall also means we get to break out the warm hats! This one Jacer has on made its way all the way from Ireland. Thanks Aunt Miss and Uncle Shaw! It also means Mama got to bust out the old Levi's. I'm thinking that this may be the cutest little blue jean butt I've seen in a couple of years! Love the baby Levi's.

Riding with the top down on a warm fall day would be nice as well. Too bad the adults couldn't fit in Lainey's new car. Adam had a big time at Laine's party. He was the only boy this time, and took a spin with all the little girls there!

This fall brought Jace's first trip down the slide. And of course that led to the second and third and so on as he kept crawling up there. Super fun to watch this first. Reminds me of big brother!

We so enjoy the "bottom" at the City Park, and in true Adam fashion our first stop is the water. We usually spend most of our time at the bottom. We throw rocks, look for fish and frogs and just try to stay dry.

We love fall and the "sweatshirt and jeans weather". Hoping we get a couple more weeks of it, but you can never tell here in Indiana.

I love pictures like this one. When I am too far away to hear what is being said. Something interesting and smart no doubt. Dad always comes up with cool things.

We also made it to the big slide on the big kid side. JB was super pumped to be up there and oh so proud. "Hi, Mom"

So since there are two slides we had to have a race. Everything is a competition with Dad and Adam. Obviously you can tell by Adam's victory dance that he won!