Happy Halloween!

From Farmer Ollie...

And Pink Ladybug Lily.
This morning the biker chick and dude went cruising around the driveway. Thankfully, this weather has been perfect for playing outside today!

Carving Pumpkins

Ollie helped me carve two pumpkins this year--he really didn't care to reach inside and clean out the pulp, but loved to stir the seeds around in a bowl!

Chief of the Valley

Believe it or not, that's what my name means. My parents didn't name me 'Kendall' because it meant that...that was just a bonus.
However, I soon grew into the name. WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I tended to be a bit loud, bossy, and pretty much tried to run the place.

Fast forward to 9 months ago: Lily was born this quiet, happy little girl. Sweet (a bit loud when she cried) but oh-so-lovable.
This summer, we started noticing a bit of 'personality'...happy one moment, screaming bloody murder the next. Or this ornery look in her eyes. Or her growl that she has learned.
She has made other children (including her poor, sweet cousin) cry by growling at them.

She waves her arms and yells often.

She gets around WHEREVER she wants to go...and FAST.
As is normal for this age, we've had to start slapping her hand when she goes where she's not supposed to (like the sweet potato bucket above). Unfortunately, she's a tough cookie. That hasn't seemed to work yet.

We're realizing that she is our Chief of the Valley. This sweet, petite, smiley girl definitely has some spunk. (And look out, Ollie!)

Creativity

We've had an unusually cool fall here in Kansas. Our fall started in August, and as soon as October hit--we had winter weather! So, instead of playing outside and going for walks, we are INSIDE trying to find fun things to keep us busy.

Ollie has been very creative with his playing--here are some fun things he thought up today:

Indoor Basketball
He set the laundry basket on the washer and then started shooting.

Score!!!

Making Fire (Daddy's boy)
Wood....check.

Crumpled paper......check.

Lighter......check.

Fire!

(the only tough part is keeping Lily away...)

Puppets
He decided he was into puppets yesterday--so we decided to have a puppet show with our sock puppets!

So you see, we're keeping busy...but I'm SO ready for the sun again!!!

Reading

This is Ollie's story about fighting fires.




Yes, he said 'dolphins'.

Dressing Himself

Ollie's newest 'hobby' is dressing himself. I'm SUPER glad he can do this now, as it saves time for me each morning. The laundry, however, is beginning to pile up. He can go through 5 outfits easily.
By 9am.
If we let him!

On this particular evening, he was trying on Lily's socks and leggings.
He also loves his new fireman hat from our neighbor, Kristi. He plays with that ALL day long--in this picture, he is on his 'firetruck' as a fireman.
...or the hat doubles as his 'railerman' costume. (our local highschool mascot)
Complete with gloves, hat, and boots!

The End of our Shoe Problem

(Okay, have you ever LOST pictures on your computer? There are supposed to be 3-4 'before' pictures of this bench and area...but they're nowhere to be found...)

This is a bench that I got FREE because I asked on facebook for an 'old bench or piano bench or something'. This is our mudroom and it used to be a mess of shoes, a dresser, boxes, and whatever else didn't find a better place in our house.
Now, it looks like this! Much cleaner. I like that there is a sitting area to put shoes on, (which we covered with material and a bit of batting) and some baskets to put those shoes in. So easy, even my two-year old can put them away! And I think I spent $4-5 dollars total--free bench, we already had the baskets, so all I bought was the fabric and batting. Not bad!

Oh...and my bench story: I wanted something old/antique-y looking. I had been looking in antique shops around town, but couldn't find much for under $50. So I advertised on Facebook that I needed an old bench...and two days later, one showed up at my door...LITERALLY!

A lady from Clay Center (where I'm from) was on her way to Wichita and drove it down for another lady from the area whose mother had it in her house. Make sense? Anyway--I was so glad to see it. It was JUST what I was looking for!

My Mom and Dad...

Are incredible. Today is their 30th wedding anniversary.

I'm so thankful for parents who LOVE the Lord, and show it by their lives and in their marriage. I KNOW they don't have a perfect marriage. But to be honest--virtually all of the memories that I have of them are good:

*They are sweet and romantic with each other.
*My mom doesn't nag. :-)
*My dad sends her sweet cards. (and sold his motorcycle to buy her wedding ring!)
*They've ALWAYS gone on frequent dates with each other.

Most importantly--they have SHOWN us what a godly marriage looks like--loving each other, following God's call WHEREVER that might take them, and producing three INCREDIBLY talented kids. In fact, check out the youngest's blog for an even BETTER tribute!



Happy Annivesary, mom and dad! I LOVE you!

Allowance

We're taking Dave Ramsey's 'Financial Peace University' right now, and have been forced to think about some things. Like allowance.

Not that Ollie's that old, but we thought maybe now was a good time to start having him earn a little money for jobs around the house. He has things has still HAS to do, just because he's a part of the family (like helping clear the table, helping to clean his room, etc.)

But last week, we started giving him money (like 15 cents!) if he'd help with the recycling bins. So here he is, working for his allowance:

Putting his money into his piggy bank.
Funny story: the other day, he put on a pair of jeans from his cousin, Isaac. He pulled out a folded dollar bill and said, "Oh, trash." And walked over and threw it away! I said, "No, wait Ollie! That's money!" Apparently he's never seen the stuff! Oh the days of plastic.

Celebration

So last week we celebrated Joel's 30th birthday by having 3 parties.

For the last few days, Ollie and Lily get ALL the playdoh containers out...
They build 'candles'...
And Ollie sings "Happy Birthday" to Daddy. They call it their 'celebration'.
It cracks me up every time.