Apple-picking!!

So we weren't sure if we were going to have time to squeeze this in this year, mais oui, we did!  It was too late in the year for cider making, but that was ok with us.  Mostly we like to run around and climb trees, and I spend the entire time taking fall pics.  Cause it's beautiful, and I have a problem.

Such lovely subjects!

Such a dutiful little mama!!

So I was running around taking pictures and realized that I hadn't gotten any of Will yet.  Couldn't find him!  Turns out he'd fallen asleep in the car and we'd left him there by accident.  Haha, I'm telling you, I am not lying about these kids.  They are crazy-busy!  :)

Found him and he obliged me with this.

So I just kept bugging him :)

What a beautiful afternoon!  And then we headed back to the Casebolt home for some chili and cinnamon rolls and ate outside on their new deck!!  It was so fall-lovely!!  We've been so fortunate with the fall weather again this year.  I'm loving it!!

Kayte's 12th

Too busy for birthdays?  No way!  Will had to leave for football shortly after 7, so we got up early and did presents at 6:30.  In the Casebolt home, presents always come first, no matter what :)

Kayte's wish list for this year was pretty much books and notebooks.  She wants to read books and write books, and that pretty much defines happiness!

 

 

Sara is such a sweet admiring sister to Kayte :)

We got all dressed and pretty and headed to Spokane for a day of fun, just the two of us!

Stopped at Hurd, and they gave her a free hot chocolate.

I have this identical picture when she was 10 and we escaped for the day.  I know it should make me sad that she is growing up, but I'm actually just loving it.  My little person.  Love her.

So.  I assumed we would be making the usual trip to Red Robin, but Kayte suggested that she might like something a little more "grown-up".  So we chose Twigs, cause they have great food, but they still seem a little more...top shelf.

Kayte, receiving birthday wishes by phone.  Family was spread out all over the place this particular day.

And Kayte did not want to order off the kid menu (even though this is her last year for the privilege), and my once-picky eater chose pulled pork sandwich.  Haha, pretty much floored me, so I had to take a pic :)

We shopped at Forever 21, I couldn't believe they had clothes that fit her!  And we dropped in at Sephora for some lipstick, which was super-fun. 

We headed back in a hurry because we were hosting another 6-course meal for her cousins!  It's becoming a bit of a tradition and definitely a highlight of Kayte's day.



 

Sara helped with the setting, and wanted to do all the place tags...

Ben is completely in his element here.  "Suit up" is a command he can totally get onboard with.

I remember her being a little quiet.  We'd had a busy day, and she seemed content just to sit back and enjoy.

They finished the day out with PJs and a dance party....I really am going to LOVE twelve!



A dream come true...

So.  One Sunday morning, two little girls showed up at our bedroom door with a silver tray full of breakfast.  And not just your usual bowl of Wheaties.  There were pancakes and scrambled eggs!  Totally edible, gigantic American-style breakfast!

They had apparently been planning on surprising us this way for weeks!  But Kayte wasn't sure where we stored the cord for the electric grill, so that took some tricky maneuvering to get that info.  Another morning they had gotten up early and snuck downstairs to the kitchen, just to find Joe reading out on the deck, in clear view of their workspace.  And this particular morning they couldn't locate the bacon (bacon!!), but they made do without.

But what especially impressed me, was the fact that I hadn't heard a sound.  I sleep like a teething baby and I can wake to the sound of a spider crawling across the floor in the bathroom upstairs.  So for two noisy girls flying around in the kitchen, this was definitely a superior feat!  I also was a bit endeared by the fact that all of the food they brought us was a product of their dad's tutelage.  I read an article on great dads just recently and I'm so glad I married one.  A dad teaching his daughter the art of the perfect pancake...ah, that gets me teary!  :)

So proud of my growing little girls!

The things I've seen...

So I pulled out the old sewing machine again this week.  (Yes, it's still Kelly's.)

I volunteered for a little straight-type sewing, and as it turns out, it can be a bit of a challenge for me. And when under-the-gun, a little bit of a disaster.  But there are three little nuggets I learned in this round that I'd like to share:

 

First, a stitch in time saves more than nine.  Some days, taking your time at the beginning might save a whole hour.

 

Secondly, your bobbin will always run out of thread just two inches before finishing the entire project.  So just plan for this.  And don't freak out.

 

Finally.  I'm a little suspicious that the queue for cutting fabric at JoAnn's is a test that all the competent seamstresses like to dole out to us lowlier types.  If you haven't got the patience to stand in line for an hour to get one yard of ribbon snipped from the roll, well then, you are certainly in the wrong line of work.  Patience is the only virtue when you finally get to sitting behind the machine.  So if you struggle to keep your temper at JoAnn's, perhaps you shouldn't give up that day job.

 

...and I guess this post wouldn't be complete if I didn't add a gentle warning.  If I offer to help you out with a little sewing, no matter how small, I suggest that you politely decline.  Some days I get just a touch big for my britches.

Autumn

Man's work:

Impromptu bonfire!

We keep saying farewell to summer, but she is oh-so-reluctant to go....which is just fine by us.

What a lovely day.