an assortment...

i bet you thought you'd check my blog for a quick look around...probably expecting there to not be much to see...after all, every other time you've been by lately it hasn't been gratifying...and then now you check and i have posted like a million pix and vomited photos all over the screen...it's feast or famine around here...

bella at ballet class at o2bkids... check out the look of concentration below...

ok warning**this next photo is of zuzu's incision--she came through surgery like a champ and all would have been well if she hadn't split her stitches open a few days later. now she's all stapled up and those will be removed this wednesday and hopefully she can resume her life of sleeping, escaping the grip of the children, and begging for sandwich crusts...

ty got on a kick one afternoon to make a mask for himself (with daddy's help)...i think it turned out quite nice...

every week while bella has ballet at doxa (yes, she has two ballet classes a week...don't judge), the boys and lily wait patiently for her to finish. which means every week i must conjure up new ideas for keeping them entertained for 45 minutes...last week was letter writing practice (but now they're on to me, so i have to think of something new)

oh, pumpkin patches...how i love them...this one was at trinity umc (where they used to attend school and i taught) and it delivered as promised...gorgeous orange, green, white,  and golden pumpkins, and a bounce house...

i was blessed to attend the women of faith even in tampa with some of my dear friends...we heard sheila walsh, nicole c. mullen, dr. henry cloud, and some other amazing speakers and singers...it was nice to have a couple nights of "me" time...

and then i drove to v-town after for the grace preschool auction...this was the first year i have been able to attend, and it was a ton of fun! i love getting to mingle with folks from my childhood--and they all have kids at my mom's school now! is that weird to have your kids graduate from the same preschool where you graduated?

and here is sweet bleu...he is 14 now and barely getting around...but he smiles (i genuinely think labradors can smile) and wags his tail and shoves his face between your legs for you to rub his ears...what a sweet boy he has been and i pray for him to not be in pain...

some of our best buddies came over for our weekly play date (although we haven't made it very consistent yet this year...but we're working on it) and we made some tasty treats--candy coated pretzels with assorted sprinkles...we all ate our fill and even saved a few for daddy

the october madness has begun and i feel like we are on this ginormous slide that deposits us out on new year's day...again, i remind myself--savor, enjoy the moment, kiss the kids--they will be older tomorrow...