{October)

That subject line?  That's October, in a tiny lil' nutshell.  A tiny lil' acorn shell, to be more specific.  You can see it, right?  Humor me.  I'm a little loopy as I'm still dehydrated and exhausted from a bout with a stomach bug...and election night is going make for another late one around these parts.  Anyway, that's what this post is going to be, our family's month of October, in a nutshell. 

It's become more clear that Addy loves her accessories...

almost as much as she loves a trip to the park... 

but not nearly as much as she loves making a new little friend.

We had a blast eating Whitey's in the back of dad's truck, watching...

wait for it...

Cloud hoppers! (or as Addy called them, hot hair balloons)

We had our first fires in the fireplace and settled into quieter routines...starting the steady build to Christmas.

I spent some time learning how to use my mama's old sewing machine (more on that later), but I'm addicted.  I considered sewing myself a cape, people.

Addy has been loving the fall colors and obviously the leaves.  This beauty is the hard work of a leaf hunt in our neighborhood and also some abrupt stops along the side of the road on our way to gymnastics.  Picture a chinese firedrill, but I'm the only person hopping out of the car and running around like a fool scooping up leaves.  Addy's hanging out in the backseat, out of the view of passersby, giggling and gripping a bag of leaves.  Yeah, I'm that mom.

 Cohen has taken the title of King Cuddler. 

We hit some milestones...Aunt Kristen gave Addy her first haircut!  She still talks about it (we're keeping a close eye on the scissors in our house).

And Cohen got his big boy bed.  Addy was so excited to help put it together.

I love these smiley IKEA drawings.

And while Addy and Jason were hard at work, Cohen was unimpressed, reading a good book in the room next door. 

He was all about inspecting their work and seeing it all made up with his new bedding though. 

We of course made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

Addy spent a long time scouring the patch for a perfect pumpkin.

If she couldn't pick it up, it it wasn't a contender.

After she put down a pumpkin and circled back to the exact same one 5 minutes later, Cohen decided he was pretty much over it.

 The prize pumpkin?  Yeah, Jason had to fashion a stand for it to keep it from tipping over on our front stoop.  That's what we call "character."

 The sweet face of a proud pumpkin picker...

Halloween would have been the cherry on top of an amazing month if poor Cohen wouldn't have picked up that stomach bug I mentioned earlier.  Addy still had herself a blast and brother was a trooper.  She was so excited about her red riding hood costume (and my sewing actually held up!).  When we first set out in our neighborhood, she excitedly yelled after groups of kids, "Wait up guys!  I have to go trick-or-treating!"  Her honest compliments about other kids' costumes had me grinning from ear to ear.

While he might not have been a big, bad wolf, he was definitely a cute and slightly pathetic one.  He had the hoodie on for less than 10 minutes before he tossed his cookies all over it.  :(

My sweet everythings...

Bring it, November.  We're coming off of a good month.  Love!

Yup.

I hope ya'll did too!  :)

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting.

 ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Also, I'm collecting frickin' stickers today.  I'm thinking about heading down to Wal-Mart to add a smiley face to today's collection.

3 going on 13?

Tonight, this girl (ya know, the one with her eyeshadow applied carefully above her eyebrows) excitedly ran up to me with a blank legal pad and bounced around while she asked me, "Can I have this for my very own diarrhea?"  I'm still losing it (I know, I'm like a third grader when it comes to poo jokes).  And in case you're wondering, she needs a diary to write her name and draw pictures of people with large heads and limbs - no bodies necessary.

Happy Hump Day.

Geeking Out

Last weekend, my lil’ family and I joined 12,000 people to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of John Deere Harvester Works (and also the 175th for the company).  The factory tour, speeches from leadership, machines on display, and THIS VIDEO (I seriously squealed when I found Deere shared this video on youtube) left me spilling over with pride to work for Deere.  Addy officially thinks I go to work to play in corn mazes and bouncy houses, while I inhale watermelon slices and cotton candy and plan my next airbrushed tat.  The point is, sister totally understands why I’m excited about my job. J

Last week, I was lucky enough to head to Saskatchewan, Canada for Deere.  I got to run our biggest machine (the S690) to harvest canola, watched some functional testing, talked with dealers, met some amazing customers, and learned more about our product than I ever have.  It makes me all mad-crazy-excited about my job.  Bleeding green over here.  Honored.  Like totally geeking out to be a part of this company. 

Here’s a windrow of canola…

And the precious grain we’re after…

I found a random youtube video HERE of a S690 running a belt pick-up in canola (thanks “plowboy73”) in case anyone is curious.  I did this! 

I didn’t take a photo of Elmer (the farmer I rode with to harvest wheat who was on his 50th harvest), but I truly wish I had.  It was an honor to meet him.  Pretty wheat field, eh? (you know I had to throw in some Canada-speak)...

And this was something that struck me…

I’m used to seeing the machines all shiny, straight from the factory or on a display floor.  It’s not often I see this.  And this is why we’re there, because we’re “committed to those linked to the land.”

And then I got to go home to a boy who has learned to say “yeah, yeah” before he’s learned to say “no, no”, a girl who wants to rub my back while she falls alseep, and a husband who chases me around the house until I almost pee my pants.  I.am.grateful.  Confession:  I’ve been creepily watching each of them sleep (yes, this includes Jason) because they aren’t going to look like this even tomorrow. 

We headed to Stone’s apple orchard (where I forgot the card for my camera…boo!) to stock up on some autumn must-haves:  cider, apples, a basket perfect for a certain someone’s costume, and firewood.  The first day of fall had me saying, “Bring on the pumpkin patch!”

And yes, you heard that right, I’ve started the costumes (remember how much we love COSTUME-MAKING?).  Based on this pile of scraps, any guesses? J 

Happy Autumn!

**As always, these are my own opinions and views and may not represent or reflect the opinions or views of John Deere.**

Chucks!

We did Cohen a major solid today and bought him his first pair of Chucks.  I'm so excited about this purchase that I literally have nothing else to say. 

OK.  So I have one other thing to say.  I'm bursting at the seams with thoughts about the recent political conventions, but I'm deciding to keep it safe.  "Yes.  I am better off than I was four years ago.  So thanks, Obama Addy and Cohen." ;-) 

Happy Saturday!

magic

I’ve never had my cards read.  I pay little attention to sidewalk cracks (as evidenced by the amount of scars on my knees).  I’ve literally broken every hand mirror I’ve ever owned, and I’m not unnerved by it.  But, I read my horoscope each week.  It started because an amazing friend introduced me to Rob Brezsny (check out www.freewillastrology.com if you’re curious).  His writing is witty and full of the-universe-is-smiling-on-you sort of sentiments.  So I look to his horoscopes for entertainment, motivation, and sometimes to take pause to notice what’s going on around me.  Here’s an example, “Grace emerges in the ebb and flow, not just the flow. The waning reveals a different blessing than the waxing.”  That’s the kind of tidbit we can all see some value in, right?  So back to my point, I don’t typically allow my horoscopes to change my behavior (I know, it’s rather non-Pisces of me to not believe in all things mystical, but I digress).  Last week was different.  I read my horoscope and thought instantly that my ol’ pal Rob couldn’t have been more right…He said, “You need more magic in your life, Pisces. You're suffering from a lack of sublimely irrational adventures and eccentrically miraculous epiphanies and inexplicably delightful interventions. At the same time, I think it's important that the magic you attract into your life is not pure fluff. It needs some grit. It's got to have a kick that keeps you honest. That's why I suggest that you consider getting the process started by baking some unicorn poop cookies...” 

So we did it.  We made the unicorn poo cookies. 

Addy’s unicorn appears to be doing well on fiber…

And that was just the start.  We had munchkins from Dunkin Donuts.  Ask Coey, they’re full of magic.

Addy had gymnastics and a special guest came 2,000 miles to witness how excited she is to do stretches and jump on trampolines and do her first, unassisted I might add, back pullover on the bar.  2,000 miles, now that’s magic…OK, Molly might have come home for a wedding…but it still felt like magic.

The kids played in my mama’s garden, where you don’t need shoes, you can sit on top of picnic tables, the landscaping rock beds hold surprise sea shells, and you can get as messy as you want.  Any kid would tell you a visit to their grandparents’ typically feels like magic.

We took Addy to the circus for the first time, where, after her squeals and exclamations of "beauuuutiful" and "amaaazing" she was magically transformed into this lil’ tiger cub…

The Labor Day parade delivered a sense of community for me and a boat load of candy for the kiddos.  Again, say it with me now, Magic.  I mean, hello?!  The weinermobile! 

~~~

Maybe we should call it magic that I found the time to upload some photos and write a darn blog.  Anyway, here’s my challenge.  Make some magic of your own kind this weekend.  We’re only 2 workdays away, and I promise it’ll be worth the effort. :)

♥Jessica & Bobby♥

So this cake post is a little late because I had to wait for the awesome photographer's photos (I was so excited to drop the cake off and get to the wedding that I forgot my stinking camera).  Thanks for the photos, Ann Steward Photography.  And thanks for letting me be a part of such a beautiful celebration, Jessica and Bobby.  (They are one seriously cute and dangerously fun couple!)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend...we've got some rickety fair rides to attend to!