Fall Fun

 It was unseasonably warm this week for October in MI ... a few days hit 70 degrees!  The kids were excited to get outside to play every day when they arrived home from (their half days of) school.  And, I was thrilled to be able to use one of the days to take our annual pictures for our Christmas card.

In my more "novice" years, I often found myself waiting until closer to the holiday season before I thought about and even considered taking a picture for our card.  Waiting that long, especially because I liked having 'outside pictures,' meant that I was risking the weather and (usually) grumpy kids that were anxious to 'just get the photo shoot over.'  

Now, I plan a little more in advance and this year, the timing couldn't have been better.  

This is the picture that I used for the Christmas card this year:

And in between snapping photos on the outskirts of the woods, Jimmy took time out to play.  Just look at the strength in his arms!  He is turning more and more into his (busy) brother every day.

This summer,  Steve and Jack built a platform in our backyard and secured a "zip-line" to it.  Jack jumped on and cruised into the focus of my lens as I was snapping this picture.

I can't believe how tall she is getting; or how grown-up she looks.  She'll be 12 next month and I am still trying to wrap my head around how fast the years have flown by.

I think that we have roughly 16 pumpkins in front of our house right now.  The kids love to bring a few home from the orchard every time we go and they secured a few more from a farmer that Steve works with!  At one point, one of our neighbors pulled up at the end of the driveway and jokingly asked if our pumpkin patch was open for people to purchase.  Ha!

Pumpkins, squash and gourds!  True signs of Fall.

Our neighbors had a cute little set up in their backyard and I couldn't resist grabbing a picture of the kids again on the bale of straw.

Standing next to Steve, I noticed just how tall Sophia is getting.  Both of the girls have always stayed in the 80th percentile for height ... 

Lots of leaves have fallen in the woods and the kids begged me to let them play with them.  I couldn't resist!

Yesssss!  Is is really Fall in Michigan if you don't take the time to play in and throw leaves up in the air?!

Just two sister girls.

And this boy ... his hair is SO thick.   He was really in need of a haircut (we do these all at home now) but I love how genuine his smile is.  He asked to take a picture over by the garden -- it is in the background -- since that is one of his 'happy places' right now.

He is getting so tall too.  He will be 7 1/2 next month and I feel like he is just a year or two away from being a full-fledged teenager.  Time just needs to slow down for me!

And one more picture on the zip-line!