Princess Hadassah

She got all dressed up for church today and we loved all the little frills on her dress. Could she get any more beautiful?

Yard Clean Up Day

Clean up, clean up...everybody do your share! We had family time out in the yard this morning. Sure, it was crazy windy and 45 degrees, but we still had fun. Hadassah snoozed inside and our yard looks awesome now, thanks to these little helpers (mostly the adult) seen below!

Raining on our Parade

The annual Halloween preschool parade was this morning and it sprinkled while the kids came out in costumes. Here is Malakai in his construction worker get up, complete with Daddy's hard hat!

Sandy In The House

My mom called this morning and wondered if we could bake cookies together. Never turn down this opportunity! So while we were baking, I got out the little "gym contraption" for Hadassah to check out. This was her first time "playing with toys" and she loved all the colors and sounds and kept smiling. The boys thought it was pretty cool too. Hurricane Sandy may have kept us indoors but we came up with some fun things to do to pass the time. Here's to more sunny days ahead!

Family Portraits

We got them done just in time before Hurricane Sandy arrives. Fall family portraits have been our tradition since Malakai joined our family. He has always been a big fan of the camera and knows how to ham it up and pose all day long. His little brother...not so much. I prayed a lot about this year's photo session and how we could convince Isaac that it was a good idea. And most importantly, not get frustrated. I've seen that attitude be destructive in photo sessions I've done in the past. I want this to be life-giving for all of us, not something where the kids roll their eyes and say, "Oh Mom!" We decided to do things that our family loves to do together. Activities make taking pictures less of a chore. First we took a little walk on the rail trail where we go walking and biking quite often. Then we went to a neighboring farm where my dad had just unloaded over 600 bales of hay the night before. And the icing on the cake was having a campfire with smores in our back yard. A very happy note to end on. All of us took a deep sigh of relief...especially my dear mom who was helping to keep everyone fed, entertained, and playing peek-a-boo behind Kelly, our awesome photographer. Back in May I had done her family portraits and so she agreed to do our family after Hadassah was born. I love the results!