It's Here!!!!

My favorite time of the year is upon us. It's 2:15 pm and 57 degrees out. Marvelous!

It's a light jacket or long-sleeved shirt day. I'm trying not to rush the season, so I wore a short-sleeved tee and pants today, but that's not warm enough, I am happy to say. The sun is hidden behind a bunch of clouds right now, and it feels downright chilly!

Yesterday the cuties and I took a walk and began a ritual we'll continue over the next month or so: gathering and gazing upon fallen leaves. It's only just begun, but we can already find some pretty red and yellow ones.

At our house, on the front doorstep, two pumpkins are perched contentedly in a galvanized tub, welcoming visitors not only to our home, but to this most delightful season! I hope you enjoy this time of the year as much as I do! Thank you, Lord, for fall!!

Proud of my babies!

Did my title trick you? For once I'm talking about something other than my children, though I am definitely proud of those babies too! These pictures show a bit of the joy I gained this summer from growing things. I have NEVER had a green thumb. On the contrary, I'd call my thumb black, actually! But for some reason the Lord smiled upon our home this summer, and our two tomato plants went crazy! We ate tomatoes for months--and were abounding in them! I could hardly keep up with them. We enjoyed them on sandwiches and burgers and in salads and made the yummiest fresh salsa a couple of times. We even set up a "free tomato" stand one day to get rid of some of the surplus! This picture here of them all on my counter was when I had picked 17!!!! I took them to the seminary and gave some away there too! How much fun! The other pic of of our one little cantaloupe. Even that was fun to grow, though it never got to be full-size before a critter discovered it and left some lovely teeth marks in it for us.  Hubby also bought me a watermelon plant, and we got two little babies that grew to about the size of a golf ball, and that was it. They were in a mostly shaded spot, because we didn't have a sunny spot big enough for them in the yard, so I knew they would not grow. Anyway....it sure was a fun summer from our garden standpoint. I definitely want to do tomatoes again in the future. In fact, I'd like to do it every year. They were so delicious and red and juicy. When I went to the grocery store, I could hardly believe that people pay money to buy ones looking like that. (I think I've actually become quite the tomato snob!) Oh, and I almost forgot--we grew banana peppers too, and they did great also. What fun!

A Special Trip to Indy

Biggest and I just visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum a few weeks ago, and what a treat that was! We had a fantastic time. We went because we had been studying about ancient Egypt and King Tut, and he was loving learning about it. It just so happened that at the same time, Indy had a touring display of a King Tut exhibit. So we drove up, just Biggest and I, and we had the time of our lives. We were there for about three and a half hours, and didn't even see the third and the fourth floors! We were too busy exploring the awesome, interactive dinosaur area and rollicking about in the "Take Me There Egypt" part--and even walking around the Star Wars section. It was fantabulous fun. I could hardly believe I actually thought about not going because of the hassle of the travel. How worth it it was! Here are some pics of our truly enjoyable time!!! I highly recommend this place to anyone with young kiddos.

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Good, Clean Fun

There is a place here in Louisville that we totally love. It's called All About Kids. We went once last year right after moving here, and then we went again yesterday. It is a complete blast to play there! What it is is a gymnasium, and they open it up for "open gym" time where those who are not taking classes can come. There was a "Homeschool Day" yesterday where we got a discounted rate and enjoyed it with the whole family. Since sweet hubby was going to be missing us this weekend, he frontloaded us with some daddy time, and we all had a ball! You can see in the pictures all the foam pits they have. Foam pits everywhere! At the foot of trampolines, at the end of a rope swing, underneath trapezes, at the end of a bouncy runway, and even at the end of a tall slide. What fun!!! Good, boy fun, with many calories burned and much energy expended!!!! Love it!

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