More fall fun

October brought nice foliage to Cleveland. This one is right outside our front door. I love looking at the mountains behind camp when they're all orange and yellow and pine tree green. 

Mid-October Avery's preschool choir sang in the worship service. This was Avery's first time performing. This is the same choir Shannon spent two years in...definitely not as it's biggest fan. Something clicked with him during their very last performance, perhaps because James made a special guest appearance and sang with them. Ever since then he he hasn't had a problem with it, and has made the transition to the elementary aged kids' choir with no problem.

Or perhaps he changed his attitude because he knew he had a little brother coming in to take his place as the village grump.

This was right before the performance started.

Once it began he had gone from blubbering to merely wary and suspicious. And definitely NOT singing. Oh well, perhaps if there was hope for Shannon there can be for this one too! A more compassionate mother might have asked him if he'd rather not sing in front of people. But that would set a bad precedent for the next two years. So I just kept snapping pictures of my child in distress.

That same Sunday our friend Keith baptized his daughter Alex Anne. They're part of our posse, so it was fun to be a part of this very important part of their lives.

If you don't go to Concord or haven't been to a Concord baptism, and are wondering what our baptismal is...it's a horse trough. Just exactly like the ones at our barn. Only cleaner, I hope!

The next day we headed over to Marietta to visit cousins and play. Lisa once again met me at the gymnastics place near their house that has open play time. We all think that place is a lot of fun. There's one trampoline that bounces so high I thought I was about to get out of control and go flying into a wall. I miss the days of having muscle control...or muscles, for that matter. I used to spend hours and hours on our trampoline as a kid and could do all kinds of nifty tricks. Now I'm winded after about three bounces. Which truthfully is all I should be allowed anyway, as the ol' body isn't quite the same as the pre four pregnancies body of my youth. Other mommies will know what I'm talking about, if you don't, the answer to your question...DEPENDS.

My niece Reagan, 16 months old.

Shannon in the foam block pit. He Tarzaned into this thing no less than 100 times.

Avery wasn't sure about the whole pit thing but enjoyed running off with the foam blocks.

"I jumpin'!"

Lisa, Avery, and Crazy Hair.

Reagan and Crazy Hair.

Jordan!

Wheee!

After I mercilessly tossed him in the pit and made him deal with not liking the struggle it takes to get out, he ended up thinking it was the most fun thing there. It really is a work out to get out of this thing and I guess he thought he was stuck. I wish I had gotten a picture of him belly flopping face first into the pit. Once he decided it was fun after all he face flopped over and over. He likes to do that off the side of the pool too.

And now for a picture we've now seen the likes of EIGHT times:

Another tooth bites the dust.

See?

While I was snapping toothless pictures Shannon decided to spike up his sweaty hair. I took the picture because he won't ever let me do this on purpose.

"Hey, let's do Avery's too!"

I took this next picture because it's what Elizabeth has been spending a great deal of her time doing lately.

She swipes the holiday toy catalogs as they come in and I don't even get to look through them. Then she oohs and ahs over stuff in them, pausing to point out favorite items.

At the end of meals she waits for me to wipe off her hands and clear her plate and asks, "Can I have a magazine?" One day I threw one away and she saw it in the trash later. She furrowed her brows and gave me a dirty look and said, "Why you throw way that magazine?" Then she pulled it out of the trash. When a new one comes in the mail it is guaranteed to occupy her for at least 15 or 20 minutes. Way longer than I look at one before it goes into the circular file.

The weekend of October 22 was busy and fun. Friday night Amelia and I spent the night at church for a GA (Girls in Action) sleepover. I decided to go to be helpful and because I figured it would be fun to hang out with some of the girls at church I don't know very well. It definitely was.

Ruth, Amelia, and Sarah.

More friends.

There was all kinds of fun, including a scavenger hunt, crafts, and a movie. What there wasn't a lot of was sleep! We were all in the gym and it echos about like our Dining Hall at camp. You know what I'm talking about if you've ever been in there- about a four second echo. It wouldn't have been too bad except Amelia and I had to get up early because James and the other three kids were picking us up at church at 7:15 the next morning. We had plans to head to Berry to see an intercollegiate equestrian team show. Two of our summer staffers were competing for Kennesaw State, and they brought two of our horses from camp that they are borrowing for the year to use in the show. Any  excuse to go to Berry is a good one for me, and it was made even more fun by the fact that we would be spending the night on the Berry campus in a Camp WinShape cabin. It's always fun to visit old stomping grounds.

There's a lot more on that coming, but it will be it's own post. I think I might can catch this thing up to the present if I keep posting them in smaller installments.

Au revoir!