Happy Halloween!

What a lovely evening! We could not have asked for better weather this Halloween. When we left our house at 5:30 it was 64 degrees! It stayed pleasant entire evening! We started our evening at the Hart's. We enjoyed some pizza and cupcakes. The girls got some special treats from Grandmom and Grandad. We suited them up in their costumes, took some pictures, and head out. We stopped at Great Grandma Magnus'. She thought Cassidy and Cailin looked adorable as a cowgirl and a butterfly. We visited with Grandma and Uncle Ed then headed out to Abe and Shirley's. There, Cassidy and Cailin received some more special treats and then they helped hand out candy. We stayed and visited with Abe and Shirley, which was nice. Caleb stopped in and so did Cameray and her friend Christa. It was a short but enjoyable Halloween.

Have a great weekend! Don't forget to change your clocks!

Kentucky & Louisville Zoo

This weekend we went to Louisville, KY to visit Lucas' brother Derek and his wife Emily and to root on the runners in the family during the Louisville Marathon and Half Marathon. It all started on Friday...Lucas took a half day at work, so we loaded up the Tahoe, dropped the dogs at the kennel, and settled in for a 7+ hour drive to Louisville. After listening to Barney for about 4 hours, a couple naps, pit stops, and a little crying we arrived in Louisville. We had decided to stay at a hotel, so we checked in and Lucas took Cassidy for a swim (she was a little wound up from the ride!). We relaxed after that long, long drive. On Saturday morning we headed over to Derek and Emily's house for some bagels and coffee. Then Lucas and I took the girls to the Louisville Zoo. We met up with my parents and had a great adventure. The Louisville Zoo is very nice and we went early enough that most of the animals were out and about.

It was great afternoon. After the zoo we went to Cumberland Brew's for lunch, which was nice. I had a delicious grilled chicken salad with apples...yum! Then we went back to the hotel so the girls could take a nap. They were quite tired from our morning and afternoon. My parents visited for a bit and then headed home. After naps we met up with the Hart family and headed to Wick's for pizza...we enjoyed the Big Wick, which is a ridiculous 10lb. pizza.

On Sunday we headed to downtown Louisville to watch the finish for the marathon and half marathon. Caleb, Vickie, Janette, and Christine participated in the half marathon. They all did really well. Bill and Tom Ryan participated in the marathon. Bill had his best marathon time ever and qualified for the Boston Marathon. Yay! After the race we headed back to the hotel for some naps and then headed to the James' for a birthday celebration for Bill and Vickie. We had a lovely time. The food was great, especially the birthday cake! Yum! What a lovely evening. Then it was back to the hotel for bed. We woke up early Monday morning, packed up our things, and headed back to Michigan.

7 hours later...we arrived home, unpacked, picked up groceries, and relaxed from all that driving...

Pumpkins

Happy October! I have to say that I absolutely love summer and warm weather, but Fall is such a beautiful time here in Michigan. There are colors everywhere and the weather is crisp and clean, with occasional smell of someone burning leaves. It is apple season too! YUM! With that being said, we took the girls to Johnson's Giant Pumpkin Farm. We had never been there before so we weren't prepared for all the activities. We are planning on taking the girls back...maybe a weekday evening, so we can enjoy some of the activities. They have a tractor train, a soybean maze, a small petting zoo, warm donuts, and cider. We just walked around and picked put a couple pumpkins. I think Cassidy would enjoy the tracto train, so we may go back during the week when it is a little less busy. It was a fun experience though.

Last night we had Sunday dinner with the Hart clan, the Ryan's, and Perla (Aunt Vicki, Uncle Terry, and Cameray's exchange student). Aunt Vicki made a roast with potatoes and carrots. Then we had apple and pumpkin pies! Yum!

It is the last week of soccer. Lucas' last game is Thursday, October 9th. It seems like this season took so long, but flew by at the same time...

Have a beautiful day! Enjoy!

Doors and other things...

Mom of the Year moment: Yesterday, the girls and I were at home and I stepped out onto the back porch. I went out to fill up the dogs water. While I am waiting for the bucket to fill I hear the back door shut. No big deal, Cassidy had this thing about making sure all doors are shut. I finish with the water and go to the door, turn the knob, and can't get the door open...yep...Cassidy locked me out of the house. Now, if you are familiar with Cassidy you know that she likes to be outside. We live on a very busy road, so I have to keep the doors locked/deadbolted at all times so she doesn't get out when she is not suppose to. Well she apparently learned how to lock the deadbolt. So I look through the window of the door and see Cassidy looking at me. I say through the door, "Cassidy please open the door for Mama." She responds, "No, mama!" This goes on for about 30 seconds. Since it doesn't look like she is going to open the door I start thinking about how I am going to get into the house. I will a.) convince Cassidy to open the door, or b.) have to break into the house with as minimal damage as possible. So, I finally get the screen popped out of Cassidy's room and cram myself awkwardly through the window. To make matters worse, the entire time this is going on I can hear Cailin screaming because she is stuck in her high chair...yep...great day!
Apparently our high chair has magical powers of sleep!

Overall, things are going pretty well here in F-muth. Lucas is wrapping up soccer. He has two weeks left. He and Caleb are pretty excited about that...they enjoy coaching, but it makes for a long September. The girls and I have been busy. We joined a Wednesday morning bible study. I get to enjoy some time with other Moms and the girls get to play with other kids. It is a win-win situation. We also had our second MOPS/MOPPETS and it was quite fun. I enjoyed a lovely speaker about the adventures of motherhood. Cassidy and Cailin enjoyed some more kiddie time.

This weekend Lucas' friend got married and he stood up in the wedding. Unfortunately, children were not invited and family members were unavailable to babysit, so I stayed home with the girls. We had a nice Friday and Saturday. Friday we hit up a garage sale and scored big on winter pajamas. Then we visited with Abe and Shirley and got to hear about their trip to Portugal. (It was great!) Then Abe was kind enough to make us some delicious spaghetti. I took the girls home, gave them baths, read a few books, and put them to bed (only Cassidy wouldn't go to bed...that is entirely different story.) Yesterday (Saturday) we played outside and a did a little fall decorating. It was a beautiful day!

Cassidy in her jammies watching out the window.

8 months

Cailin Marie Hart was born 8 months ago today. It is amazing how much she has grown and changed in such a short time period. Recently, she has started pulling herself up to the furniture. She is also really crawling now. For awhile she just slide herself across the wood floor.

She fell asleep while chomping on zwieback toast (she is teething).

Up on all fours waiting to get into the bath.

For the most part she is a happy baby, but she doesn't like to sleep which doesn't always make for a happy mama! She loves to watch her sister in action, cuddle, and play in the water. I think bath time is her favorite.

I want the camera!

Here is a look at our 8 month old baby girl!

Fall

September is here, so that means it is soccer time in the Hart household. Lucas is coaching Frankenmuth JV boys again this year. Soccer started in August, but the season officially got busy starting in September with a couple games during the week and two weekend tournaments. This means the girls and I don't see much of Lucas but the season is over in early October...not too much longer.

Nothing too exciting on the homefront. I am just enjoying spending time with the girls. They are growing by leaps and bounds. I can't get over how these two little girls we have been given. Cassidy is talking in beginning sentences and repeats everything you say...we have to be careful of how we speak! Cailin is getting so strong. She can walk herself in the walker, and she has started pulling herself up to the furniture. Last night she pulled herself up inside her crib and was so proud of herself! They are really starting to play together. Well...Cailin watches and chews on toys while Cassidy tries to play with the toys.

I have joined the local MOPS program (http://www.mops.org/). The girls go with me and participate in MOPPETS (supervised play groups). We have only attended the first meeting, but I think this will be a very positive experience for us. We are also looking into joining the Mothers In Touch bible study which is on Wedneday mornings. The girls would be able to have play group that day as well. I am acting as co-leader to a Junior Girl Scout troop again this year. We have an exciting year planned. We had ou first official meeting last night and it went very well.

Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

Cassidy colored her face with permanent marker! Playing with the dollhouse.

Cailin "Walking" in her walker...with some help from Cassidy!

Presque Isle - Labor Day

What a weekend! We had a great adventure. Friday evening we packed up the Tahoe, loaded up the camper and headed 3 hours north to beautiful Presque Isle. We arrived at the campground around 9:30pm, met up with Lucas' parents, and set up our camper. We let Cassidy run around a bit. She had slept a portion of the trip, so she was pretty wound up once we arrived. We enjoyed a campfire for a bit and headed to bed.

Saturday morning, Janette made breakfast. It was delicious. (I think everything must taste better when you make it over a fire or on a camp stove!) Then we headed out on the bikes. We went to the Old and New Presque Isle Lighthouses. While we were at the New Presque Isle lighthouse, we saw they were advertising a free-will donation picnic, so we decided to have lunch before we biked back to the campground. It was a lovely picnic lunch of hot dogs or brats, potato salad, baked beans, lemonade and brownies. It was quite nice! I think Cassidy's favorite part was the swingset. We couldn't get her off the swings. After our picnic, we biked back to the campground, packed up a bag, and headed to the beach at Grand Lake. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the beach. The girls both went swimming and Cassidy played in the sand. After a lovely afternoon at the beach, we headed back to the campground, got cleaned up, took Cassidy to the playground, and got dinner together. After dinner we relaxed by the fire and enjoyed the beautiful starry night.

Sunday morning we had breakfast with Abe and Shirley aboard the Loon-A-Sea. Shirley made a delicious breakfast which included sausage gravy and biscuits (my favorite!). After breakfast, Lucas and I took Cassidy and Cailin back to Grand Lake while Bill and Janette went canoeing on Lake Esau. After canoeing, they joined us at the beach for lunch and relaxation. We enjoyed another perfect day at the beach. Afterward, we headed back to the campground. We enjoyed another biking adventure (with ice cream), and then made foil dinners. After dinner we relaxed by the campfire and enjoyed another starry night. Cailin wasn't sleeping well, so I sat with her by the fire and we saw a shooting star. What a way to complete our beautiful weekend!

It was a wonderful end to our summer....now we are planning our fall camping trips!