our welcoming committee

When Steve comes in the door after work, all activities in our home come to a halt as our children rush to greet him.They beam with love and adoration.Owen is not satisfied until he lands a bear hug around daddy's neck. Here he is moving himself into position.There go those little baby arms around his neck! It's the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Frolic ensues on the floor, and Owen goes in for another hug. I am so grateful for my family. As Ava explains, "I love you and you love me, and that means that we love each other."

The words from Psalm 30 summarize my thoughts:
"You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." Psalm 30:11-12

Chili and Chilly

Chilly:
We finally had our fist snow today! It consisted of a long bout of flurries that didn't add up to much accumulation, but it was pretty! Ava was so excited!

Chili:We feed our baby Chili, and he loves it. It's turkey chili, sans the hot sauce, but I think he would probably still go for it even if it had the hot sauce on there. I just feel squeamish at the thought of letting him have it. The kid loves him some meat! He went straight from the high chair to the bath tub this evening. Callie loves lurking below the meat-eater's high chair.
In other news, Owen has really taken off with the walking the past couple of weeks. He really motors around the house!Until he gets tired. Then he lays on the kitchen floor, waiting for me to pick him up.

Bubbles

Like all young kids, my children love bubbles. They are so marvelous and beautiful and fascinating, those bubbles. Just like young children. We have a little $3 bubble machine that creates a lot of excitement over here. We took it out to play, but it was a bit windy. The yards in our neighborhood are not fenced, and this creates a mighty wind tunnel down our block.
Our backyard makes up the end of this long, windy tunnel. All that wind just added to the excitement over the bubble machine. Ava tried to catch them, but they were moving pretty fast that afternoon.
Owen tried to eat them, but they all got away. But they caught each other for a wind-swept hug. It's amazing how much they love on each other. I love watching it. Well...except that Owen usually ends up getting bonked or knocked over or squashed. Refereeing that gets a little old, but O typically shakes it off and hugs right back.

Briggs & Al's Run

Today Steve competed in the Briggs and Al's Run. The whole family registered to participate, but that fell through. I was planning to walk the 5k with the double stroller while Steve would run the 8k, but it was freezing and windy, so we scratched that plan. Plan B was for Steve to go by himself, but Ava was really excited about the race. This is because she had her own xs t-shirt and racing number to pin onto that t-shirt, so plan C prevailed. Ava braved the cold and rode in the jogger stroller for Steve's 8k. She cheered "Go Daddy, go!" starting from the 5 mile marker to the finish line. Thanks to all that encouragement, Coop completed the 8k in 36 minutes and 39 seconds, placing 369 out of 3,185 runners. Good job, Coop!

Apple Picking

Last Sunday we went apple picking while Papa Cooper and Grandma Smith were in town. We lucked out on the weather! It was a sunny, warm, beautiful day! Ava really got into the process this year, and Owen really got into eating an apple. He worked that thing for an hour and a half! Here are some pics from the day!

Free Standing!

Owen has been free standing briefly for a little over a month. At first he would only do it on accident when he was busy looking at a toy. But recently he's been standing for longer amounts of time, and digging it. When he's done, he slowly bends at the knees to lower himself to the floor. He's pretty stable. The little guy also cruises all over the house along the walls, like someone learning to roller skate. It's cute!

Hello, October!

Here are some pics from a pumpkin patch/apple orchard we went to on Oct. 1.
This place had some animals we could feed.
We also learned that for $5, one of these baby bunnies could come home with us. We quickly said "No, thank you."The pumpkins liked the pumpkins.
I'm pretty fond of this pumpkin.
And this pumpkin.
O-boy likes this pumpkin.

I love how much they love each other. Watching them together has been another unexpected blessing of parenthood. And here are some apples from our very own apple tree in the back yard. We ate some for lunch. yum. We also made a trip to a local pick-your-own apple orchard last weekend when grandparents were in town. Pictures of that outing to come!