leaves, leaves and more leaves....

Leaves....do they ever stop falling from the trees??? We have been tackling the back yard for weeks. Last weekend we spent all day outside raking. The girls had a blast! We would fill up the tarp to pull to the street... the girls would jump on and go for a ride! We got quite the workout but they loved it! What cute pics of fall fun!

whos kid is she.......

She is just to much!!!! Gotta love this spunky kid!

scrapbooking....

this picture was taken the day before we checked in to the hospital for surgery.

I will transfer over my journal entry from that emotion night to the right page.

I just go back from 3 days of scrapbooking with 12 other women. It was so great! I LOVE getting things accomplished. I came home with 80 pages completed in the girls albums. YEAH!!! One of the things that I love the most about scrapbooking is taking trips down memory lane. Many times this weekend I found myself just frozen staring at a picture replaying all that I remember about that particular event. I have gobs of photos from this last year and everyone is so special, telling its own story. I loved journaling to my girls about how special they are, how much they are loved and what I hope for their futures. I pray that they will always know just how they make my heart smile... on the good days and the bad. When I got home I was so excited as they wanted to sit and look at all of their new pages. They LOVED looking and talking about all of the different memories. Later Jed wanted to sit and look through it all. It was so fun to just look back at the girls in the last few years. We commented about not even really remembering the details of when they were that young.... the mom fog gets in the way. I remember the daily activities the cute things they did, but until I see a picture I forget the way that the cheeks dimpled, the hair parted, the nose dripped.... thank God for the gift of freezing those moments on film. They do grow to fast..... I used to think that people were crazy when they would visit us after just having one of the girls. I would be holding a little 6 pound peanut wrapped up in a preemie outfit and they would caution..."before you know it she will be heading off to college". I would do a little "give me a break" in the back of my mind... again the mom fog! And now......uuuggghhh 6 years old already. Sob, weep. I asked Olivia last night with a sense of sadness in my voice when she got so big. She replied, "mom its just the way life goes"!!! Jed and I died laughing.

So to all of you none scrapbookers, do your kids and yourself a favor.... do something special with your photos. Don't keep those precious moments stuck in a computer or in a shoebox. Print them, share your heart at this time in your life. Journal for your kids. I laugh so many times when I read entry's from earlier. Days when I talk about just how tired I am, how the fighting and whining is going to make me go over the cliff.... and then there are the days that you read about the kids that played together...nicely! The entries about tender conversations between two sisters sandwiched together in a hospital bed after Madison's surgery.... things that would be forgotten had I not taken the time to sit and record and capture! Let the dishes go today for they will still be there tomorrow!!! Instead grab your notebook and write what you love about your kids, what drives you wild and just how much you love being the family zoo keeper. Your kids will thank you!

enough sap.....

grandparents day....

Friday was Granparents day at Madisons school. She was so thrilled to have all 4 granparents there! I am always sooooo amazed at how much they can learn and memorize...... She did great!!!

halloween...

The elephant and the bee.... we had a great time last night with the girls... we went trick-or treating right at 5 so we could beat the crowds... also made stops at the grandparents and great-grandparents... Madison was so sweet with Olivia. Olivia is kinda shy (would you ever guess that??) Maddie would hold her hand and be so sensitive... what a great big sister!

Great Grandpa Cronk

Great Grandpa TC Smith

throwback to the 80's....

so we took 2 trips down memory lane this week.

Trip #1....

I put the girls hair in the old school sponge rollers. It was like I was sitting I on the floor in the Mogion (?) Drive house.... this is just what us girls looked like on Saturday nights!! Kori and Heidi do you remember it?? I chuckled when the girls complained about it hurting when they laid down... I remember that too!!!

Typical late night melt downs...gotta love that I got it on film!!!Ok..so it really is bedtime...

then trip #2...

We stopped out at Steve and Janans house after janan had gone through the garage. She had just found some boxes with the kids old toys. Jed was so cute looking through it all and rembering so many great times... these were a few of his favorites!!

i miss danielle....

Madison came downstairs the other day holding something close to her body...she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she turned around the object and revealed a picture of her and Aunt Danielle. "I miss her and it is not fair that she lives so far away and I never get to see her". We talked about it for a few minutes. I tried to make her feel better by telling her that they were coming for Thanksgiving. She looked and me and said " can I watch TV? I think Cartoons would make me feel better"!