SNIPPETS.

Despite our clothing attire in our pumpkin patch photos, it is indeed fall here in MN. Some days are gorgeous, with the perfect mix of cool and warm, and we spend the days playing outside, walking to the park, and hunting for the perfect fallen leaves. Some days the wind is whipping through here like nobody's business, and I have to hold on extra tight to my babies for fear they will blow away. And some days are a mix of the two, cool and sunny, yet windy enough that we don't last long outside.

Today was the later. I like the excuse to stay inside where it's warm and cozy and spend my day doing a little bit of this, a little bit of that, with really no place we have to be. But although I don't mind these kinds of days, I'm starting to notice that my kids do. Nugget has been a little extra wild the last few days, tired of being cooped up and playing with the same toys. That makes me really nervous for winter. Because there are gonna be lots of those days. But it's the cycle of the seasons and there's no escaping it, so I guess I'll just pray for extra patience. And craft projects to keep her busy.

My soul is desperately craving some me time. But you know what's funny about that? When I actually get it, I don't want to leave my kids. So I've settled for my me time being the hours after they are in bed until I crash too. It seems like I battle myself every night trying to prioritize my to-do list. And although things like blogging, scrap booking, and reading call my name, it's the mundane things like cleaning, washing dishes and doing laundry that usually win. I'm always trying to catch up, or gasp, get ahead, but somehow I always end up feeling like a hamster spinning around and around on that darn wheel and never really getting anywhere. Humph, not sure where my ramblings are taking me, or what point I'm trying to convey here, but my balance is off and I'm not liking it. Woe is me.

Anyhow, guess I've just managed to find myself some time to blog, so lets get down to the good stuff.

It's no secret we love us some projects around here. But we haven't done this one in ages. When I took the paints out half of them were all dried up and crusty, leaving us only with two color choices. But the beauty of kids is that they don't care. My littles had a ball, and Nugget said to me 'It's fun to make messes, isn't it?' You're darn right sister. Especially if you're not the one who has to clean it up!

How dirty boys get clean.

Often times when I take the kids to play outside, we wind up at a park. Which is silly cause we have an awesome setup at our house. Toys galore. I'm not sure what it is, but something about fall and our deck begging us to play here, we've been giving our own toys some more attention these days. And it feels good.

I hate blurry photos. But I've said from day one that I don't want to be a photographer. I just want to take really good pictures of my own kids. For the most part I'm pretty happy in my success at that. But sometimes even I take a blurry photo, which gives me the hunger to learn more. And learning makes me happy.

So even though it's blurry, I still want to remember it. I call this the 'Two for one'.

 Remember how much I adore Mother Nature?

I hope we'll have time yet this fall to sneak in one more bonfire...

The last of our garden harvest was colorful...

And this little fella is not my friend, but he is Nugget's. He lives underneath our hot tub cover (well, I don't know if he actually lives there, but he's usually there when we check). Nugget and Daddy like to visit him often, although I jump and scream every time it moves.

Don't you hate when you pull an outfit out of the closet for your babe to wear for the first time, and you think whoa, maybe I should have pulled this out sooner? Case in point.

Sister thinks it's hilarious to be one of the pumpkins at the grocery store. She laughs even harder when I 'pick' her. Oh, the simple joys of childhood.

We made some more pumpkin jars, but have yet to give any more away...and no, this is not her Halloween costume. Just every day attire around the Slavik house.

We made another fall craft that was lots of fun, although it required several steps and sat scattered on my kitchen table for a few days. But I absolutely love how it turned out, and sister loves it too. It's now hanging in her room, which was a good excuse to take down the windsock she made back who-knows-when.

Brother has been a little under the weather this week. It's never easy to see your kids not feeling their best. I'm overly cautious (cautious of ending up in the ER in the middle of the night that is) so I brought him into the doctor just to make sure it wasn't an ear infection or something. Those are the worst. But everything checked out just fine, which has left me to blame it on teething. I think I can see the first hints of an eye tooth poking through already. Poor little guy. They just keep coming in, one right after another.

The only good thing about having sick babies is that they want to snuggle more. The other night the only way I could get him to sleep was to rock him in my arms. The second I laid him in his bed, he was wide awake and sad. So back to my arms it was. And I sat there the whole time, drinking him in and thinking how much I loved this moment. Because the older they grow, the less they want to snuggle. And I wanted to yell down to Nick to grab my camera and come take a picture, because I wanted to remember it forever. But my rule is you never, ever, wake a sleeping baby, and yelling downstairs would have broken my rule. So I held him until he started to stir, and I knew he needed to shift positions. I kissed him gently and put him to bed, and tucked that sweet memory into my heart forever.

You can see in his eyes that something's up. And yes, we rock pink Nuks around here when all the blue ones seem to be lost. Sister's been watching, and learning, and is already a little Mother Hen.

Well see now, these pictures just done went and melted my heart. I already can't recall what I was whining about before. I'm tired. My bed is cozy. That's enough for tonight. Goodnight.



Have yourself a fabulous weekend.