1. Last Sunday I met up with these friends!
Amy, Susan, Shannon, Bekah, Becca, & Libby
2. On Tuesday Matt and I celebrated our 8th anniversary! WHO KNEW 8 years ago that we'd be celebrating this anniversary right back in the town where we married... living 8 minutes down the road from the church we were married in. :) NOT me! But what a fun surprise. :) As we already had our big celebration of seeing Beauty & the Beast two weeks ago, on Tuesday we went out for dinner and dessert. It was a sweet time. :) AND it didn't hurt that when I came downstairs dressed and ready to go, Anna Reaghan gasped and said, "Princess!!" when she saw me. Matt and I enjoyed a delicious dinner and a leisurely dessert at a different restaurant. We still need to take a picture of us holding last year's anniversary picture, but that would require me having a print made of last year's picture. ;) I need birthday pictures of the kids too, so at least we are equal opportunity delayers around here. In all seriousness, I am so very thankful for Matt and am amazed as each year passes at what a perfect match he is for me.
3. On Wednesday we attended the Hello Fall festival at church. We met up with my parents to walk around with the kids and enjoy watching them try different activities (and food). They certainly enjoyed the popcorn, cotton candy, and sugar cookie decorating. ;) We also took a little train ride, saw some giant boa constrictors (Asa & Matt even touched them! Asa was pleasantly surprised that they were not slimy), tried out the strong man hammer (Asa tried his very best with Matt's help on the child's game, and Matt rang the bell on the adult's game), pet some llamas, bunnies, and goats (Anna Reaghan even brushed the baby goats... and tried to brush her own hair with their brush--eek!), Asa had a pumpkin painted on his face by yours truly, AR braved a giant inflatable slide, and both of the kids enjoyed a small carousel. That was Anna Reaghan's favorite, and she rode it again and again. She is STILL talking about the "neigh neighs" (the carousel was all horses). They REALLY made an impression on her. It was adorable to watch her bop and dance around as she listened to the festival music while riding the carousel after she mastered holding on and feeling comfortable and stable on it. Asa said he wanted to ride the inflatable slide, but as his mom oh-so-accurately predicted, he changed his mind less than 1/2 way up. ;)
He was much more excited about the cotton candy than he appears. :)
Asa & Daddy trying the strong man game
She love love LOVED the carousel!!
Eating the sugar cookie he decorated.... and sitting with his balloon.
Anna Reaghan with her cookie and balloon
4. We LOVED outside time this week! It feels like Fall, and even though that might mean a light jacket now and then, it's perfectly DELIGHTFUL. We spent a lot of time playing in the sandbox, playing "Weeeee down the hill" (the kids ride their little cars down the hill in our backyard), and Asa helped Matt with yard work on Saturday mowing, trimming bushes, and collecting clippings from both. He even made himself a "nest" of grass clippings and then settled himself right in the center to read his magazine that just arrived in the mail. I love how he thinks. :) It was adorable, and he would have stayed there all afternoon if I had not forced rest time on him. ;)
This was at dusk, so it's not the clearest picture. But the kids have spent so much time in the sandbox this week... or the "san-bop" as Anna Reaghan calls it ;)
I love this picture of Anna Reaghan... bow, head bongers, and little pigtails that look just like her mommy's
Asa-bird in his nest
5. This weekend we worked to complete many jobs on our home to do list! In the living room, we cleared out the last 3 boxes, switched/installed new curtain hold backs, and hung artwork over the tv. In the study, I have cleared out all the boxes, organized (still needs a little more work to re-organize homeschool stuff), and hung a calendar (the child's kind with pieces to switch out for each day, etc.). In the dining room, I am about half way through the remaining boxes, cleared off the catch all dining room table, and hung our wedding portraits and some other artwork. Upstairs Matt installed two towel bars in the kids' bathroom. It only had two small hooks on the back of the water closet door, and we preferred more space and for it to be a little more functional and in the main part of the bathroom. This week I spray painted the frames of some prints we've had awhile and then reassembled them and hung them in the downstairs powder room and in our bathroom. The house looks SO much bigger and brighter with so many more boxes out. Even just the 3 from the living room and 4 or so from the study being gone have made a huge difference! We're allllllmost there!!
Curtain hold backs in place and artwork above the tv. When AR saw the framed art after rest time, she exlaimed, "Daddy make!!"
Wow, the iphone compression makes our wall color look odd. But here are our wedding portraits and a little wrought iron medallion to coordinate with the black iron chandelier in the dining room. :)
More dining room wall art... and boxes. Those are toys that go in the kids' rooms/closets.
A little corner nook in the study, completely with US map (Asa's first week of school prize from us--he'd been begging for a map) and the calendar I hung this weekend... and Anna Reaghan's bug chair. :)
towel rods in the kids' bathroom
6. And just because who can resist this face, here's Anna Reaghan on the way home from church yesterday. We used to bring Asa with us for the beginning of the worship service so he could sing with us, but now he's staying in his class both hours at church. Taking him out and then transitioning him back to class doesn't seem like a smooth proposition for our sweet boy, so we've missed having him with us for songs. Meanwhile, AR came with us for songs for a few weeks until her Sunday school class recruited enough teachers. She asks me to go in the sanctuary and "sing songs" every time we are at church (several times/week with Asa going to school). This Sunday we tried to hurry and grab the kids after Communion so they could be with us for the last song or two. Unfortunately, we didn't make it back in time for the songs (we'll have to divide and conquer next week instead of picking the kids up together), but we did make it back to the sanctuary in time for the band to play with increased volume ;) after the service was dismissed. The loud music bothered Asa which clearly made an impression on Anna Reaghan because she spent the rest of the day telling us again and again, "LOUD SONG LOUD SONG" (only it sounds like WOW SONG WOW SONG) quite emphatically. She LIKED the LOUD SONG, so I think next week we'll actually just get AR and let Asa finish in his class. ;)
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