september

September was a really great month! The end of September marks the end of Brennan's fiscal year at work. We didn't do a very good job of using up his vacation this year so he had quite a bit left that wouldn't be eligible to roll over. This resulted in lots of random days off with nothing huge planned, just extra time as a family. Part of me really regretted not using his vacation for an exciting trip but part of me really enjoyed just being able to have him around for our normal activities. I think the kids especially enjoyed it.

One day we headed to Wickiup Hill, a nature preserve close to us. This was, pathetically enough, our first visit. And we were very pleasantly surprised but what we found! It's kind of like a mini children's museum inside but free and way closer than our actual children's museum.

We did two of their walking/hiking paths outside too. It was a beautiful day. They had a cute nature scavenger hunt for the kids to do. When they got a bingo they got to turn it in for a little prize.

One of those moments worth capturing so you can remember during the less than pleasant moments. They were getting along beautifully and loving on each other hardcore.

Checking out a woodpecker. It was really fun to watch them.

The noise was a bit of a creepy mystery for the kids at first. Declan seems to still be a little nervous in this photo.

More indoor fun. The water pollution area. They wore these raincoats and then at each station they spun the wheel and it would tell them what happened and they would either have to add pollution to the velcro on their jackets or take some off. At the end they could see how clear or not clear the water would be at the pollution level they were at. Kind of fun.

Emry breaking the rules while I took the older kids to the bathroom.

Making faces in the wetlands.

Emry kept leaning her head back on me like this. It took a few times for it to dawn on me that she was probably getting tired. As soon as I turned her around in the carrier she laid her head on me and fell right to sleep. Poor tired girl.

We cooked up some hot dogs and s'mores when we got home.

And Declan had quite the time pulling faces for the camera.

Tatum decided to join in on the weirdness.

One Saturday Emry woke up at the crack of dawn. Kind of her MO lately. Brennan was a lifesaver and got up with her and threw her in the bike trailer for his bike ride so she wouldn't wake any of the rest of us with her loud demands.

I'm not sure how this game of throwing the ball on the roof started on this particular Saturday but it seemed to get pretty intense between grandma, Brennan and Tatum haha.

Look at her little face. Intense.

This boy. No words.

Meeting a new friend. :)

I'm so glad I captured this! Declan is constantly doing this to Emry. He finds her cheeks completely irresistible. Any time he walks by her he reaches out and touches her cheek and he often seems completely unaware that he is even doing it. It drives me crazy, mostly because it's starting to drive Emry crazy, but surely it's one of those things I'll look back on and think it was funny and cute. And now I've got a photo to help me remember! :)

We checked out Wilson's apple orchard for honeycrisp weekend. It was mostly a disappointment. It just isn't like the good old days anymore.

Tatum loved hunting for apples with uncle Rich.

Declan being a lion. Letting off some steam, hopefully.

"Papa, let's hold hands and run." I love when I overhear little lines like that.

Apparently he did let off a lot of steam. :)

I signed Tatum up for a free online school here in Iowa. I've abandoned almost all of their curriculum already but I figured it was worth a shot. This is most of what they sent me. I couldn't believe how much they sent for kindergarten. If I did it all it would sort of defeat the purpose of homeschooling for me. It is just way too much.

Passed. Out.

Photography by Tatum on a Sunday afternoon. :)

Pretty good shot, T!

Another good one, don't you think mom? :)

Another day off for Brennan found us at the Children's Museum. This was actually the first day of school for us and the museum was our afternoon field trip. I might have been converted to be an afternoon museum-goer. We had the place to ourselves essentially.

So we can count this as a family photo, right? We are all in it, after all. Pretty rare.

Concentrating artists. Love Declan's tongue sticking out.

Little Miss Trouble. You forget how much work this stage is.

Hanging out at a cross country meet.

Another completed cross stitch. This is one I "sold" at a service auction we did at church back in MAY. Better late than never, I guess. :/

The kids were loving playing with their duplo train in the middle of the kitchen floor for some reason. And Emry was bothering them of course so they barricaded her out.

I had to laugh when I saw it but she obviously didn't find it so funny.

Declan started soccer. He was so excited for this. I really see very little value in putting kids this young on teams but I think we all really needed him to have something, even if it was pointless in every other way haha.

And he's off! Brennan was awesome enough to sacrifice the last month of ultimate frisbee in order to coach Declan's team. He was really great with the kids and I so appreciate him putting his kids first like that. He's a pretty awesome guy.

He's the boy by the goal doing a high kick for some reason. 

 Tatum looking way too grown up while we watch soccer.

 One day I hadn't left the house all day and didn't realize how chilly it was. Luckily I happened to have a sweatshirt of Declan's in the car that Emry could borrow. :)

Emry turned 11 months! She's the best. I'm not sure what else can be said about her. :)

"Where's Emry?"

"There she is." :)

We looked at puppies. These were borderdoodles, half border collie and half poodle. Unfortunately, we took too long to decide we wanted to do it and they were all gone. :( It was fun to play with them though. 

Trying out some Halloween costumes.

Emry hated the Jack-Jack costume.

Awwwwww.

The kids got to watch Up! and have popcorn with dad while I went to the women's session of General Conference. It was a win-win-win situation I think. :)

Loving each other. Sometimes those moments seem to be too few and far between.

Sorry for the graphic picture but some moments just need to be remembered. Declan is a horrible eater, particularly when it comes to dinner. It's a struggle we've had since he was about 16 months old. No joke. A pattern has emerged over the last year or so that is not fun. If he doesn't eat dinner he wakes up the next morning very pale and tired and he inevitably throws up once. Then his energy slowly comes back as he eats more and more and he is completely fine the rest of the day. We are thinking it is low blood sugar but need to get our hands on a monitor so we can test it next time it happens. It's no fun for me or him.  

Playing at the park on 90 degree day late in September. 

Declan was so tired one Sunday afternoon and just having a hard time being good. So Brennan took him in the other room and read to him out of the book he is reading about Abraham Lincoln and he fell right to sleep haha. 

And he was impossible to wake up later! I sat him up, spoke to him, tried tickling him. He just kept snoozing. 

The kids helped me with the leaves in the backyard one day. They used little snow shovels and it was surprisingly effective. 

Declan has been working on spelling his name. Things are so different between Tatum and him. Boy vs girl, oldest vs second child. I don't know what it is but this is a big stride for him. He is getting better at it every day!