I hope you can grasp our weather with these pictures. There is ice on the leaves and just like last year, our trees are the last to drop all their leaves.

Twynns are 3!!!!!

How old are you today?

candles in pancakes...

candles in chicken nuggets...

He was so excited to have a big Lightning McQueen. He was talking big & heavy about the car...

What a sweet 3 year old smile!

Where has the time gone????

Updated Secret Santa Suggestions

As you Artze/Meyer clan know, it has been requested that there be a way for Secret Santas to find out some ideas without spoiling the surprise of who they have. So I will list some ideas here on my blog as I receive them.

Hannah loves American Girl, High School Musical, Hannah Montana, music (loves Kid Bop cds), books. She enjoys so many of the regular girl stuff and is so easy to please. She also is enjoying her softball.

Abby loves art, writing, music.

Adam is into Diego, Cars, & balls of every kind. Anything boy actually.

Jenna is into Dora, baby dolls, & pretty much anything girl.

Emma has some cd options (Audio Adrenaline, Hawk Nelson, Reliant K, Boston, Beatles), colored jeans, chocolate (of course), clothes of sorts, and some Toms.

Kevin always enjoys some Pokemon cards. He has also asked for a notebook that is out there to hold the cards.

Caleb enjoys some Pokemon cards, too.

Nicole is into horses right now.

Mema would love some wine glasses that hold more than a little bit.

Hope would like an umbrella that is small & will open with a push of a button. She also loves Hershey's Special dark chocolate.

Scott could go for some non-white underwear. :) And he loved it when he got sheets for Christmas when he was a teenager! ha!

Kika would love a helicopter for interstate commuting. Or a BB gun.

Laundry Count

Ok, I did a laundry count for 6 weeks to see how many loads I go through.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Adam & Jenna's clothes are still small enough that I can do both of theirs together. But that will soon cease because they are getting so big.
2. I was never caught up on everything. These numbers only allow me to not have dirty clothes overflowing into the hallways.
3. There are two tallies of a 'wash' and a 'fold' because in my house, they don't necessarily happen on the same day. Although it looks like over a huge chunk of time, it is pretty even.
4. Again, I reiterate, I still have laundry waiting.
5. Rewashes b/c loads were left in the washer did not count in the tally. But that only happened 3 times!!! Yeah!!!
6. It's only gonna get to be more as the clothes get bigger, the kids start sweating through practices, and when I have more time to change the sheets more often (don't ask how often it currently happens!)

WASHING (6 weeks)
Total loads = 51
Avg load per week = 8.5

FOLDING (6 weeks)
Total loads = 50
Avg load per week = 8.33

Old Man

For Chris's 40th birthday, he and I got to get away for a night while Mema watched the munchkins. We headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains. After we stayed the night at not such a fabulous hotel, we walked around the downtown area on Saturday morning. Check out the leaves...

We left Blue Ridge for a drive to see the area. The colors were magnificent! These pictures do not do justice to the beauty the Lord creates. Below is a piece of the Appalachian Mountains.

We stopped at Woody Gap for a bit. One way was a trail that was 'heavy to strenuous' and the other way was 'moderate to heavy'. Not sure what that means exactly, but we hope to have first hand knowledge by this time next year. At least that is the plan.

We had a great time!!! Happy 40th, Chris!

Bye, Mema!

Thanks, Mema, for coming up here and keeping the kids. As always, our visit was way too short. But I'm thankful it won't be too long until we see you again. The kids already miss you (as do I). You make my part of the world a better place! (And I'm not only saying that because you did my dishes and vacuumed my stairs either!) We love you to pieces!

Happy Birthday, Hailey!

We got to spend Hailey's birthday with her! Happy 8th, Hailey!

We went to the American Girl store for some fun! While we were at the mall, Abby got her ears pierced again!



We have some silly girls on our hands! Those are gumballs!

Kristine, I miss you!

Happy Halloween!

The Seven Dwarfs had a fun Halloween!!!

toothless wonder

All Abby wants for Christmas is her 2 front teeth...

Pretty Girl

My sweet Hannah. Isn't she beautiful!? They lost their game on Wednesday in the tournament. But they did very well. And the coach said that she is the most improved player in one season that he has ever seen. She loves softball and said she wants to play in the spring. She isn't happy that there's a couple months between now and then!

1st Cold Day

This is how we were dressed yesterday morning waiting for the school bus. Today the high is supposed to be 55. The trees are turning and Pearl is loving the chilly wind.

It has definitely become fall and is now leaning towards winter.

Poor Jenna

Poor little Jenna bug! Her face looks awful, but she feels fine and doesn't have fever. (I think it's Fifth Disease) If it doesn't clear up in the next day or so, I guess I'll have to tromp into the doctor's office. Darn it!

Wicked

Chris gave me a "Me Day" for my birthday including 2 tickets to Wicked (he rocks!). The day started out great, but had a major bump... I got sick. Didn't get to do dinner and wasn't positive I could do the show. But my friend, Jenna, and I went and I made it through fine (didn't have to carry my own bucket in) and enjoyed myself. Poor Jenna played 'mama' to me. She was so sweet to get me more ice so I didn't have to get up and plus she drove. Thanks, Jenna! And after sleeping all day on Sunday, I am much better!

But the show AWESOME! I hope I can see it again one day!

SECRET SANTA INFO

As you Artze/Meyer clan know, it has been requested that there be a way for Secret Santas to find out some ideas without spoiling the surprise of who they have. So I will list some ideas here on my blog as I receive them.

Hannah loves American Girl, High School Musical, Hannah Montana, music (loves Kid Bop cds), books. She enjoys so many of the regular girl stuff and is so easy to please. She also is enjoying her softball.

Abby loves art, writing, music.

Adam is into Diego, Cars, & balls of every kind. Anything boy actually.

Jenna is into Dora, baby dolls, & pretty much anything girl.

Emma has some cd options (Audio Adrenaline, Hawk Nelson, Reliant K, Boston, Beatles), colored jeans, chocolate (of course), clothes of sorts, and some Toms.

Kevin always enjoys some Pokemon cards. He has also asked for a notebook that is out there to hold the cards.

Caleb enjoys some Pokemon cards, too.

Nicole is into horses right now.

Mema would love some wine glasses that hold more than a little bit.

Hard Hittin' Hannah

Since most of you won't be able to see Hannah play in her first season, this will give you a taste!

Newest Bike Rider

We have a new bike rider in our house and it happened in total Paige style. She decided that she wanted her training wheels off. I took them off and she took off down the hill in our backyard. And yes, she did it in her pink leotard, barefoot, and no helmet. Done. It's like she just checked it off her list of things to do. She always seems to amaze me!!!!

And this was just too cute of a shot to not include. We were having yummy ice cream bars later that day (thanks, Hope!) and these 2 were cracking me up. They are such a mess!

Party Time

We went to our friend, Blake's, birthday party yesterday. It was at the fire station and we got to see a firetruck up close. Everyone had a blast!

Jenna is standing in the back seat.

Paige is driving.

Hannah & Abby decked out.

Adam puts on 2 helmets!

And we had a great time at Jenna and Frank's end of summer party last weekend. The music (live band), food, drinks, & friends was awesome! We had a blast!

Abby sat in her chair and listened to the band for a long time. Music definitely speaks to her.

I got myself a baby fix!

What a pair!

Lost Tooth

Abby lost another tooth. It's the 1st one gone from the top. Her tooth (or lack there of) is so tiny. I wonder how an adult tooth will fit. She's getting so big!

Softball

Hannah is playing softball this fall. She has gotten better and better with each game and practice. In fact, last weekend she received the gameball. She had 2 homeruns (it is coach pitch and there were overthrows to the bases), then her 3rd at bat she got a triple that resulted in her making the winning run. Plus she gort a few balls while in the outfield. Her coach is great and all the girls on the team are nice. Hannah seems to be having a great time!