Beautiful Fall...

I love Fall. It is absolutely the most beautiful time of the year. It is interesting that David and I often are reminded that many losses have occurred in the Fall...the deaths of his mother and Zoe and 2 of his grandparents. However, Fall has also been a time of new life...Jonah, Judah, and Zoe. The experiences of Fall have been varied but one thing is for sure, the memories are vivid. I kind of feel like the vividness of the memories has something to do with the vividness of fall displayed in the colors and the drastic changes in scenery and atmosphere.

This weekend was wonderful. Time with friends...relaxing with my boys...enjoying the beautiful sunshine...watching the boys cuddle and play together....seeing Judah transitioning into a toddler by taking his first steps....and oh, a surprise from David. On Sunday, David treated me to a special evening with my friends, Jennifer and Casey, at a dinner theater where Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was showing. It was such an energetic and entertaining show! I had so much fun and have been singing parts of the show all week. I love surprises! I love musicals! It was perfect!

The Mounds Race...

The Smith family spent the day at Mounds State Park in Anderson. The day could not have been more beautiful. David, Danny, Nichole and Al have all been training for a 5 mile cross country race. Before the main event, there is a 1 mile fun run for the kids. At the last minute, David and I decided that I would run the event with Jonah and his cousins. Judah and Noah of course remained in their stroller while Josiah, Hannah, Moses and Jonah "competed" in the race. Jonah is amazing. His energy resembles the Energizer Bunny at times and though he expressed to me that "running races is very hard" he surprisingly ran more than the majority of the mile. I was grateful for the few times where he wanted to walk!

Following the kids' mile, the adults ran their 5 miles in and out of the woods and up and down hills. I stayed with the kids and we somehow ended up handing out water to the runners for most of the race. The kids were adorable and got so excited for the opportunity to hand water to their parents. Danny, Nichole, Al and David all finished and finished well. David even won first place in what he calls "the fat guys division". The official title of course is "the heavy-weight division". I am proud of my "barely" heavy weight champ!

Halloween Fun...

Today is Halloween. What a wonderful day at the Smiths...nothing pressing besides handing out candy to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters. That's my kind of day! Judah managed to have some fun amongst the relaxing of the day. One of his new favorite activities is called "Let's see what I can get into." Literally! One of his new favorite locations besides the pantry cabinet is inside our drawers. We have decided to embrace his exploration and just pray that he doesn't get too injured in the process.

The month got away from us regarding getting some sort of costume together for Jonah. At the last minute, we threw on Jonah's baseball clothes and got out the batting glove and mitt. Judah and I dressed up as ourselves and David actually pulled out his baseball outfit so Jonah could have some company. Jonah was so excited to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters who came to our door. Unfortunately, it took 35 minutes before the first ones showed up. After that, the stream was pretty consistent. Jonah eventually took off his baseball cap, glove and mitt and everyone kept thinking he was a Colts player. You'd think that we lived in Colts Country of something! David suggested that we just go with it and put Jonah in his jersey. So, even though Jonah started out as a baseball player, he ended as a football player. One of my favorite moments of the night was when Jonah's friend Waverley stopped by in her princess of all princesses outfit that he grandma made for her. She and Jonah adore one another!

Bonfire...

Firebon... fireplace... Jonah just couldn't seem to remember the word bonfire. It was nice to be able to enjoy an evening with friends at our church bonfire last night. I believe that we were all on a sugar high following the evening!

Bath Time...

This has got to be one of my favorite things to watch...my boys playing and having a blast together in the tub. It is so sweet. They splash and practically wrestle one another for the best toys. Jonah does get a little impatient at times because he wants "big water" and he can't have "big water" until Judah is done. Over the past few weeks (especially while my back was out) David was much more involved in bath time. I think he gets that even though it is exhausting, bath time really is fun. However, I think David has had his share of the fun and is gladly handing it back over to me=)