The girls found some of Joe's pre-wrap tape, so he made them into mummies!

 The girls like to watch the clothes spin around during the first part of the wash cycle, and today Hannah and Eliza played "I spy" with the clothes, reaching in to grab the correct clothing item before it disappeared back under the water....

 It kept them entertained for a good 15 minutes!  They are all still pretty good at finding ways to keep busy, and I have only heard the dreaded "I'm bored" a couple of times....I love these "busy" ages, although someone to follow along behind and clean up after them would be nice!

Pumpkin patch

We spent a fun afternoon playing around at the pumpkin patch with our good friends!  The kids visited the animals, climbed around the hay bale tower, and trekked all over the pumkin patch, while Kate took some great pictures of the fun...

The "big kids" at the top!

  Isaiah and Emma trying to get each other across the big pumpkin!

 Happy Boy!

Classic Eliza with a sly smile and a twinkle in her eye...

The kids had a great time at the pumpkin playground!

Isaiah was just too cute in his jeans today...

 Hannah is seriously becoming a dog!  She can move on all fours almost as fast as she can run, and she attaches a leash to her pants for Clara to take her on a walk.  She curls up on our feet and scampers all over the house, only speaking in "dog" language, so we have to guess what she is trying to say.  She often asks for her food with no utensils, so she can try to just eat it with her mouth!

 It really only confirms that we will NOT be getting a dog anytime soon!  I can barely handle my child-dog ;)

 Sweet, happy boy!

 He loves this kitchen and spends a lot of his time here learning how to open and close the doors, and taking everything out of the food basket.  Isaiah was sitting on my lap this morning at the computer, and my screen saver is a picture of Joe with the kids, and Isaiah pointed right at Joe and said "Dada, dada!"  He has started pointing at things that he wants when we are holding him, to have us carry him over to get it.  He loves finding the girls' rubber bands and chewing on them, which usually get quickly taken away!  He LOVES the ceiling fan switches that dangle from the light, and pulls them to turn the lights on and off.  He's also started flipping over during diaper changes....not a fun challenge!!

A fun afternoon of dress-up, raiding Mommy and Daddy's closet!

 Discovering some new decorations around the house...

BUSY and INDEPENDENT...these two words describe our Eliza.  She loves to be involved in just about everything, and especially loves to help me in the kitchen.  It doesn't surprise me anymore when she goes into the kitchen and gets herself a piece of bread, toasts it, butters it, and sits down to have a snack!  She also will get out the milk or juice and pour herself a glass.  I guess she learned very early that if you want something done quickly around here, you had better learn to do it yourself!

Daddy and Hannah had been talking about going on a date to get some soccer socks this weekend.  Hannah has had shin guards since Clara started playing soccer, but wanted real soccer socks, too!  She ran to get ready to go this morning, and came back dressed like this!  She is just too cute, and was SO excited to come back home wearing new BLUE soccer socks with her shin guards and with a shiny new soccer ball, which she quickly wrote her name on! 

 Daddy actually had special time with each of the four today.  Hannah had her date for soccer socks, Eliza went out with Daddy and got candy, Clara and Daddy went to her soccer game this afternoon (while the rest of us stayed home for naps and to avoid the rain!), and then Isaiah got some time watching football on the couch tonight after the girls were in bed!  Mommy got her time last night when we had a date for a swing dancing lesson :)  We're blessed that he works so hard to make each one of us feel special.....I know it's not easy when there are so many of us!! :)

Busy boy!

Isaiah has been busy...

Getting stuck!

Using a cup!

He finally cut his first tooth....a top one!  He actually has 3 top teeth just barely poking through.  Clara got her two top teeth first, also, and then had the bottom ones follow the next week, so he might go from toothless to a mouthful of teeth soon!

I handed Isaiah half of a graham cracker yesterday, during Clara's lunch at school, to try to keep him busy while the girls were eating.  He'd only had little finger foods, and I actually completely forgot that I had given it to him and got caught up in a conversation.  When I looked over a few minutes later, he had almost finished it!  Hooray-we are getting closer to self-feeding!!!



Flashlight corn maze

5 1/2 acres of corn fields, 6 mini mazes within the maze, and a 6-year-old leading us through with her flashlight....Here we are just before we started our adventure!

 Isaiah thought it was pretty fun to be outside in the dark...

 Hannah wore the head lamp and blinded us every time she looked up at us to ask a question!  She wasn't as sure about being outside in the dark maze, and held onto Mommy or Daddy's hand most of the way...

 Clara was our fearless leader, practically running ahead to find the correct path, and suggesting that "maybe we should all just split up" to find our way out....Here, she found our first (of many!!) dead ends...I have to admit that we made a few of our own "shortcuts" to find our way out ;)

 There were 6 mini maze/puzzles within the maze.  This one was called "Hop Dot" and the girls had fun hopping from one color to the next, following the correct pattern, to get to the other side. 

 Isaiah slept through most of the adventure, but woke up in time to find the exit! 

 Warm apple cider for the car ride home :)

nine months!

Isaiah has been busy growing up fast these past few weeks!  He took off crawling, and within a week had mastered cruising along the furniture.  He has now figured out how to not only pull up to stand, but also safely get back down (thank goodness, as bedtime was getting difficult!)  He loves to say "dada, dada" and make all kinds of noises with his mouth.  He has discovered he can make a nice, loud yell, and will play a game where he goes back and forth with one of the girls, yelling....that is one discovery I am not enjoying!  He is starting some serious separation anxiety at bedtime if Mommy or Daddy aren't here to put him down to sleep.  We got called home by the babysitter Friday night to a screaming baby, who immediately quieted down and started playing when we got here!  He loves to eat anything and everything and is eating whatever the rest of the family eats.  He had curry vegetables and rice, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, chicken and quinoa, and is loving smoothies with all kinds of fruits and vegetable in the mornings.  He likes to be right where the action is, and loves to be included by his sisters. 

So sweet and cuddly right out of the bath!  Isaiah LOVES his bath and splashes like crazy in there.  He screams when I take him out and tries to crawl back into the bathroom to get back in!

 He's learned to put his toy in his mouth, so he can keep crawling and bring it with him!

 He loves to bang on everything, and when he can get two toys in his hands, he loves banging them together!  He thinks it's really fun to clap his hands together when we say "Yeah, Isaiah"

 Playing in the tunnel with his sisters...

 One of his favorite places to stand and bang on the window and look outside...

 Crashing down his sister's block towers...

 and quite proud of himself!

 Loves to clear off any surface...

 Reaching for anything he can get his hands on and throwing it on the ground!

 We love this boy!