We have had a great fall! It has really been wonderful. Here is the scoop:
Back in September we attended a wedding of a beautiful young woman from our church, who also happens to be my 3rd cousin (or something along those lines). I love weddings. I mean, I really love weddings. Yes, I enjoy the reception (more on that in a minute), but I really, really love weddings. If I am invited to a wedding there is no skipping the ceremony for me! To me, that is what the whole thing is about. Two people who love each other so much, committing themselves to each other. Beautiful and wonderful. I love weddings........and receptions. I may get a little tipsy, I may dance like a fool, but they are so much fun. Really, I just love to go dancing (and trust me, I pretend no one is watching because I am not a good dancer and would be very self conscious if I thought about it, that is where the adult beverages help. :) )
Then we had a busy weekend of homecomings, both my school and Chuck's. Lots of good football. The next weekend it was off to Art Prize, a tradition our whole family is really enjoying. It is so great to see so many people in Grand Rapids enjoying art of all different kinds. I think that the arts are so very important to stimulate creativity, and with so many cuts in schools and an increased demand for core curriculum, kids aren't given opportunities to explore and imagine. It is something that Chuck and I are passionate about for our kids. We are very luck to be able to expose them to Art Prize and different forms of art.
Then we were home for a weekend, which was good because it was ridiculously rainy. We went to a yummy chili cook off at church, did a little shopping at a craft fair, and got a lot of things done around the house because......we were camping the next weekend. I love that tradition. We had gorgeous weather at Sleeping Bear Dunes. It is really nice to get away with the family and have quality fam time! The kids enjoyed climbing the dunes and playing in the campground. We had fires and watched the sunset on Lake Michigan. We slept in and relaxed. None of us were in a hurry to get home.
And this past weekend we were in Chicago to meet the newest addition to the family. My nephew is so cute and snuggly and I wish I was there right now to hold him. He is perfect and I am so glad we had a chance to go visit. Calah and Chuck and I totally fought over holding him, and even though Gabe didn't want to hold him, he did concede that he liked James "better than the Lego store". We'll take it.
Of course, that is just the weekends. The weeks have been full of basketball practice and games (tonight is the last one, yay!), soccer games, swim meets, dance classes, LMRC meetings, homework, school, doctor's appointments, meetings, and running around like crazy. Oh, and did I mention Gabe had surgery? Yup, needed to remove the tube from his ear and repair the ear drum. Apparently if tubes are in too long and don't come out on their own, it is common to get an infection (which he did) and then they have to be surgically removed. It is unnerving to watch your five year old go off to surgery, but considering it is relatively minor and I know that I am so blessed, I won't complain.
The next weeks are not any better, busy wise anyway. This weekend I am scrapbooking (yippee!) and next week are PT conferences for me (Chuck had his, Gabe has his this week, and Calah's are the week after mine), and an EE weekend. Then Chuck has his LMRC Swap Meet and then it is Thanksgiving. And we get to see the baby again! And, as we all know, Christmas follows and the craziness ensues for that. I can say that even though basketball and soccer are over and we will have dance and swimming lessons, Chuck and I have designated a family night for this winter and I am really looking forward to one night a week without running. A night for a good dinner (as opposed to me slapping something together when I get home and we eat quickly before we are out the door again), some games and good quality family time. It will be nice to slow down a little.
