Happenings of Fall 2012

#1. My boys have each grown 5 &1/2 feet since last fall.

 





   #2. Justin has been a bread-bakin' fool the past few months. Be jealous, ladies. Be very jealous. Not only is he the sexiest, best husband & daddy on the planet......he is amazing in the kitchen. He home-bakes most of the bread we eat now, which saves oodles of "dough" (yeah, I just said that), and tastes better. In this picture: Justin & the boys posing with some tasty pretzels they made together.

 

 

#3. Halloween happened.

The boys & their cousins went to our church's 'Trunk or Treat'. Abi was Snow White, Olivia was a kitty-girl, Aiden was a baby elephant, Jarod was a zombie (note the masterful paint job by yours truly), Titus was a monkey, Isaac was a bug, Micah was a karate-guy, and Gideon was a storm trooper. Seth was ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, and his friend, Logan, was a leprechaun-zombie, naturally. Eeek. They had a much-more-cool-party to go to, so they missed trunk-or-treating. I had forgotten to plan a costume for myself, so I decided, at the last minute, to just go as a mom of 6 boys.

 

 

 

#4. Olivia had her 6th birthday. (This should actually be #3, but I am fighting with the Blogger layout & it is kicking my tushy.) She is my shy, silly, sweet princess/kitty-cat-niece, aka: 'Yaya', and I adore her. She, also, has grown 5 & 1/2 feet since last fall.

 

#5. SweetTarts rocked the nursing home! OK....so, I know the last gig was supposed to be my last gig, but it was our lead singer's grandma's 80th birthday party. Couldn't pass that one up! But it's my last, last gig. I swear. Until the next last gig. (And this should really have been #1 on this list since it happened in September. Oh, well.) The SweetTarts have since left me in the dust, performing around the city in various cool places, gaining more popularity in the local music scene. Meanwhile, I  have turned back into the home-body I was created to be. I am still very involved in music, however, singing to my boys at bedtime, singing in the shower, and playing keyboard in the Celebrate Recovery Worship Band. I am also blessed to be able to, on occasion, go with a friend and sing hymns in another nursing home. Love it!

 

 

 

#6. The Black Plague hit our household. Every single one of us, except for Justin (who got it a week ago), were all sick with body aches, fevers, and the worst sore throats of our lives. I'm pretty sure it was strep, but my awesome naturopath (http://www.nuzumsnaturals.com/) helped us get through it with some natural remedies & such.

 

 

 

 

 

#7. Thanksgiving happened. All the local in-laws & cousins came for dinner, as well as my sweet friend, Robin. She was very, very, very brave. Justin did most of the cooking (yes....be jealous, ladies). Of course, I had to make my famous coffee cake recipe (which I stole from my mother-in-law) for breakfast, and a couple loaves of pumpkin bread & a couple pumpkin pies (which I made the day before).....but, other than that, I was able to chill most of the day. Jarod made yummy apple pies. Then he went outside with his brothers all day, to dig out a camouflaged "spider hole" so that we will be ready to defend our territory when the poop hits the fan. Thank you, honey, for watching 'Doomsday Preppers' with them.

 

 These "preppers" know how to get the job done....in comfort, and style.

After the turkey.  

 

 

#8. The sexy, bread-makin', weird-show-watching stud had a birthday. Apparently I didn't take a single picture of his party. He shares this birthday with his little sister, Auntie Jubilee. We all celebrated & went out to dinner.

 

And that was our Fall. The end.