365Project.2016 | Week 41

We've enjoyed beautiful weather and the beginning of fall color all this week. It's been just lovely. ♥ 

Day 284. We celebrated Columbus Day at Letchworth State Park and had a wonderful time! We started and ended the day with our cousins, but we decided to explore a new to us State Park while they enjoyed their annual craft fair tradition with Grandma and Grandpa. :)

7 cousins, ages 1 to 11. :)

 Abby was so excited about the playground slide at our lunch spot! ♥

Letchworth State Park has a beautiful series of three waterfalls. I love waterfalls, and waterfalls within very easy hiking distance are even better. ♥

 

 

 

The Caterpillar. Abby's companion for about 45 minutes. I'm glad my hubby had the job of backpacking with toddler + caterpillar. That little furry friend added quite the dimension to our hike. ;)

Matthew SO badly wanted to look through one of these binocular devices, but we had no quarters available. He was thrilled when God answered his prayer by allowing a man to grow disinterested in the view before his time had run out. ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Me and my girl ♥

 

 

 

 

 

Abby-girl was determined to climb those steps! ♥ Bless Daddy for helping her up all 127 of them!!

 

 ♥

 Day 285. Leaf projects and ball fun were the highlights of homeschool group this week. :)

 

Lots. of. Balls. 

 Day 286. Kites at sunset!

Oh the stories this kite can tell ...

 Day 287. When did you last walk on the ceiling??? :)

 This sweetie loves her swing! ♥

 Day 288. We enjoyed a rousing game of Rummikub for Friday game night! :)

And then hubby and I chatted while I finished preparing welcome kits in faith for future essential oil customers! ♥

 They remind me of Easter baskets sitting there on the shelf. ♥

Young Living is offering a 10% discount on their Premium Starter Kits through Wednesday, October 19 ... so if you're interested in learning more about essential oils, please let me know--I'd love to share with you. :) I'm SO thankful for our oils .... whether it's mitigating coughs and colds, improving sleep, or managing stress, they've been such a blessing to us! And with fall upon us and winter coming, now is a great time to jump in! ♥

Day 289. It's official! Matthew is toothless! :)

But it definitely did not interfere with his enjoyment of his Sunday School party! ♥ So thankful for the teachers who invest weekly in these kiddos and then go out of their way to make days like this so special. ♥

Matthew loves flying his kite and was SO excited that kite flying was one of the planned activities for the day. :) His kite was packed and ready to go the night before the party!

However, note to self ... when your research led you to a kite that flies very well ... and a reel that supports that endeavor ... take a few extra minutes to figure out how to attach said reel to your child. Else that kite might decide to take the reel and go for a spin unattended ...

Matthew lost hold of his reel and a brisk breeze sent his kite soaring. The reel got stuck on the edge of the church roof, and the kite just flew up there by itself for about 30 minutes or longer! His teachers said that there were three hawks circling it, trying to figure out what was going on! Praise the Lord, He changed the wind just at the very end of the party and the kite dived down and was able to be rescued! Without going in the road!

 I love living in the country! ♥ Just one of the lovely views on our way home from church. ♥

 Daddy worked on building a special table for the kids to use for building with Legos. ♥

 Day 290. Mommy and Abby were having fun ...

Watching videos of this adorable doggy, Jake!! He belongs to Mommy's friend Kate, and Abby has just fallen in love with his pictures. ♥ Kate was so sweet to share a couple videos of Jake doing tricks, and Abby loves to watch them over and over. ♥

And that was our week!! Sunshine, smiles, and fall colors prevailed! ♥

365Project.2016 | Week 38

Welcome back! I would just like to observe that I have blogged 4 weeks in a row. Four. Weeks. In. A. Row. This is exciting, folks! And SO much more fun! ♥ 

Day 263. Matthew lost his second tooth this week ... with significantly more drama than the first. Think tickle fight, bumped mouth, lots of blood. You get the idea. ;) It took us quite a little while to calm down enough to capture footage of the event ...

The kids received their Kiwi Crates this week ... Matthew's was a Spy Kit. I cannot even tell you how perfect it was for him. It's been secret codes and invisible ink for the entire rest of the week. :)

Day 264. Tuesday. Tuesday shall live in infamy. That was the day I ignored common sense and did everything I (thought I) *needed* to do regardless of the fact that it was really a good bit more than any one person should undertake in a day. So on top of homeschooling and mothering, I added in Freezer Meal Prep. Now, this is a good thing. It really, truly is. It keeps me sane and saves me boatloads of time throughout the month.

 However. Tuesday also happens to be our homeschool group day.

 So, we squeezed in a few meals before lunch and a few meals later on ...

 And by the time the day was done, I'd prepped 18 meals (6 recipes x 3 meals each).

But, the real adventure lay in the fact that our dishwasher is non-functional. And Chris was working night-shift. SO ... after I got the kids to bed, I got to tackle my kitchen which had been piling up all day ...

And thus the day ended ... as the next day was beginning ... 

 Day 265. And Wednesday happened to be a very fun day in which we went on a field trip with our homeschooling friends! :)

 We visited Fort Stanwix and Oriskany Battelfield.

 We learned a lot and had a great time! :)

We learned how they prepared a cannon to fire ... 

 

 And the kids participated in a bucket brigade. :)

 

 

We learned that Oriskany was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolution. It was a sobering, but good day.

 

Day 266. Matthew's been working on this school bus for about 2 years! Wheels were the new addition this week. :)

 Day 267. Daddy and Peter spent most of the weekend in the utility room installing our new water filtration system and water softener.

 So while they were working, Mommy hung out with our littler people. ♥

 Day 268. It was so sweet watching Abby feed her bunny! ♥

 

 Day 269. And then this morning she was having so much fun playing in her kitchen! She's been preparing plates of food and bringing them to the table for us on a very regular basis. :)

 

 

 One-by-one she sprinkled her bowl with salad dressing, milk, yogurt, cheese, OJ ...

And then very, very special for today ... Hannah-bug played her flute for the first time at church. ♥ So thankful for the gift she's developing! ♥

And that was our week! A bit of this, a bit of that. Thanks so much for joining us!