celebrating fall

With hikes, friends and apples...

I have to start this post by talking about how much I love fall in the Midwest. When we moved back four (has it really been that long!) years ago I was newly pregnant with Luke and very ill. When I could get off the couch and out of the house I spent time walking along the lake through the fall foliage. It was my salvation. I was able to escape my misery long enough to feel home in the Midwestern fall. I knew that I had, indeed, come home and it felt important to be here while starting our family. This part of the world will always be home. No matter where we go next, I am glad our boys were born here.

There is something so absolutely right about fall in this part of the country. My most potent memories of growing up are of fall. I find the colors and smells slightly intoxicating. I could live through a million Midwestern falls. This is how I picture heaven.

On our friend Darren's suggestion we headed west to Parfrey's Glen on Saturday morning. We had a rough night on Friday night with little No-no and so it was good to get out of the house and stop thinking about how tired we were.

It was a perfect suggestion. The hike was perfect. Luke walked without complaint the whole time and loved being outside. We were rewarded at the end of the hike with an incredible waterfall. So fun.
Luke loves this sweatshirt that Grandma Barb got him. He wears it to school everyday no matter how warm it is outside.

We called our dear friends, Christian and Barb, last minute to see if they could join us. We were thrilled when they said yes.


Are you tired of these shots of Noah in the backpack? I feel like I have to take his picture too. But, he's always doing the same thing on our hikes.

I came home and turned this into applesauce to share at the R.S. broadcast (wasn't it great?) and then bubbled the rest away into apple butter. Fall cooking is aromatic. I wish that this picture was scratch and sniff because boy oh boy did my kitchen smell good.


Nat snuggled our little fusser on the couch. He's just had a hard time these past couple nights. There is something to be enjoyed about these times though. It's nice to hold and comfort your little one. He's not as snuggly as his brother and so these times are nice in a way.

I hope you are all out celebrating what fall has to offer!

What a difference a summer can make...

This picture was taken in April...

I took this one today.

This baby is on his way to toddler. Don't blink he'll be in preschool before we know it.

Another nature walk

I can't believe that it's Thursday and I haven't posted since Sunday. It's been a busy week-- turning 29 can do that to your week. 29 is hard to believe. I thought that I might feel a little more grown up at this point in my life. Having a second child maybe should have done that to me or even a first child. But, I feel the same. Just plain old Carrie. Birthdays are an appropriate time for reflection though. Nat and I had a nice run on my birthday and when we were done I looked at my two beautiful boys in the chariot, my handsome (albeit, sweaty) husband and was struck by how blessed I am. Seriously, aren't these boys the best?

We went for another really nice nature walk on Sunday. Noah was the star of this one. He squealed with joy almost the whole walk. He's at a great age. He has been signing a lot this week and started giving hugs and kisses. What a little lover!

Luke LOVES his nature walks.

Noah loves them too. Click on this picture and look at his funny teeth. He has three on top and three on bottom. He's a little lopsided. We keep waiting for the left teeth to appear.

My three greatest blessings!

Introducing Little Miss Ellie

A week ago today I called my dear and very pregnant friend to see if I could come and get her boys so she could take a nap. Her heavy breathing upon answering the phone made it apparent that she would not be taking a nap but that I would, indeed be taking her boys. She was very much in labor. They brought the boys over, went to the hospital and this little sweetie popped right out (literally-- she was in her room about 20 minutes before the baby was born).


Today I went over and took a bunch of pictures of the little one and her big brothers. Here they are:

Congratulations Lisa, Jon, Tal and Jackson!

Noah gets his license

I Noah proofed the porch yesterday (it involved dumping the sandbox-- this didn't make Luke very happy) and he had a great time wandering around exploring the outside toys. He was especially interested in this little car.



I find that we spend a lot of time on the porch in the fall and again in the spring. Time goes so much faster when we are outside.

On Wisconsin

Grandma and Grandpa came to town to see the Badger game this weekend. I am not a football fan (read: I can't sit through it). Noah and I ran errands while these four enjoyed the game. Luke ended up with a sweatshirt and little Bucky Badger doll that plays the school song. So, in his mind it was a total success. The report was that once he got something to eat he was really good. I asked him what his favorite part was and he said it was getting Bucky. When I asked him what his second favorite part was he told me it was when the Cubs scored (he knows where his true loyalties lie).





We went out afterwards to a little diner. It's the kind of place you wish every neighborhood had-- good food and even better pie. Doug was in heaven with his meatloaf and ham and scalloped potatoes. We got dessert to go and Luke was thrilled to see that they had red cookies with the letter W on them. It seemed like the perfect way to end the day.

Like a dog...

Luke was pretending to be a dog when Noah spilled a timely glass of water. I wasn't quick enough on the draw and Luke had licked it up "like a dog" before I could wipe it up. Where will this boy's imagination take us next?

been so sick

Sorry about the absence. I've been on the couch, sick. On Tuesday I woke up in the night with a headache and couldn't fall asleep again until I got up and took something. I then spent all day Wednesday and Thursday mothering from the couch. It involved me saying, "Luke, go check what your brother is getting into" multiple times and then allowing the boys to play with whatever they wanted as long as it couldn't break or hurt them. Nat worked a 13.5 hour day on Wednesday so it wasn't a really great day for me to be sick. I just kept visualizing him walking in the door and me handing off the kids and shutting myself in my dark room. It didn't happen like that exactly because bedtime around here requires all hands on deck if we're going to get them in bed on time. But, I did go to bed when the boys did. I had the chills, aches, fever, earache, throbbing headache-- which made me throw up, and a sore throat. I finally went to the doctor last night and they did a rapid strep test which came back positive. Here I am 29 (almost) years old and getting strep for the first time. Yuck.

The good news is that I have resolved to be more grateful for the fact that I am really healthy most of the time. And Luke learned to help out more around the house.

Lest I publish a post without pictures here are some we took Sunday before I got sick.

in love

I know that I am biased but is this the most beautiful little baldie you've ever seen?

Some garden talk

Most of you know that I have fallen in love with vegetable gardening this summer. Here are some images and quotes from my backyard plot:

This was a seed at the beginning of May:

Luke are I were harvesting carrots this afternoon for our evening soup and I told him to just take the greens off and we would take them straight to the compost pile. He said, "You're right, mom. We just want the oranges."

Speaking of our compost pile...

I went out to throw away the stems from the basil that I had just turned into pesto when this caught my eye.

I have about six volunteer basil plants growing around my compost pile. We had a few plants go to seed earlier this summer and so we threw them in the compost and started over in the planter. Next thing I know I have more basil-- the thought almost makes me giddy. What a gift!

I am planning on cutting back the volunteers and making and freezing more pesto tomorrow. It will surely brighten some lonely winter evening to thaw it out and enjoy it over some homemade pasta.

Here's another set of volunteers a little closer to the actual compost:
Happy harvest to everyone and let me know if you need basil!

Lukey does preschool

This is Lizzie, the pet turtle at Luke's preschool. We met her at the back to school night we had last week. She will become an important part of the story that follows and so I thought I would introduce you to her early on.


This is the story of Luke going to preschool by himself (sniff, sniff) for the very first time today.
Nat stayed home a little later to walk to school with us. We loaded the boys in the chariot and walked the ten minutes from our house to school. Luke was feeling a little nervous. He held hands with Noah to make himself feel better. He has been really excited to go to preschool all summer long. He did start telling me yesterday that he was a little "concerned" to go to school.

We paused out in front of the classroom for a quick picture. He wasn't very interested in looking at the camera.
We then went inside and found where we were supposed to turn in all the additional forms and dixie cups and the plastic baggie with his change of clothes for "just in case". We then found his cubbie and left his fish backpack there. Luke was getting increasingly clingy through this whole process. I didn't take any pictures during this time because I wanted to make the process as quick and unemotional as possible. I told Luke that it was time for me to go and he started to cry. Mrs. T came over right then asked if Luke wanted to read a book. The answer was no. Then Mrs. T said that Lizzie hadn't had breakfast yet and would Luke like to say good-bye to me and help her feed the turtle. Yep. Luke immediately stopped crying, said good-bye and walked away. Nat and I followed suit and left Luke feeding the classroom pet.

I then stood outside the door, clutching my heart and fighting back tears (cut me a little slack, he's my first and my snuggle buddy). I felt much better when I found that I could watch through the window. I allowed myself a few minutes of Luke watching and then Nat rode off to school and I walked Noah home.

My hesitations were short lived. Noah went down for his nap as soon as he got home and slept the ENTIRE time. I had to wake him when it was time to pick Luke up. I decided that I could get used to this kind of alone time. I cleaned, did laundry, and checked my email in peace.
I went back a few minutes early and talked to the other parents outside the door while the kids finished up. There are several moms who I really like and it was nice to chat about our little ones. When it was time Ms. Linda opened up the door and the kids flooded out to find their parents. It was very charming. I loved hugging my little man and feeling his sense of accomplishment as he told me what a wonderful day he had. Mrs. T confirmed that he had a great day and didn't cry at all. When I asked what he did at school he said, "whatever Mrs. T told me to do." He'd had such a great time he tried to go back in. Tomorrow sweetheart, tomorrow.


I have been magnifying my parental calling to badger him about details of his day. I am getting bits and pieces and am slowly starting to get the picture. He painted at craft time, made a friend named Paul, played blocks with a friend whose name he doesn't know, learned that Jesus loves you even when you are having a bad day, and ate teddy grahams and pretzels at snack time.

I couldn't be happier with my choice of preschool. I love the women who are taking care of my little guy while at school. This is going to be good, really good for all of us.

I almost feel like a grown up

Little Lukey starts preschool in the morning and I just sat down to make sure that we had everything ready to go and to see what else we needed to get together. Something about that scenario struck me as comic. It was like playing house-- pretending to be a mom. Only, it's not pretend. I have a preschooler. When did that happen?

He's been just mine for so long and I am having a hard time thinking about sharing him. I guess he's not the only one who will be learning to take turns...

Labor Day Weekend

Noah:





Luke:

All of us: