fall, Fall, FALL!!!!! (thanks for coming!)

Notice anything different about my children?

They are wearing socks, long-sleeves & pants. Haven't done that for 4+ months. I turn the AC up to 78 at night & that's usually where it's at by morning but the other day it was 69 degrees in our house! It felt a bit chilly.

I am lovin' this weather. My favorite day this week was when it was 68 degrees out, blue sky & breeze-we spent a very large chunk of time outside that day & it was perfect. Fall, you are my new BFF & I wish you'd stick around as long as possible.

I promise this kid is so close to crawling! He has scooted, rocks on all fours, sits up on his bum & pulls himself up to standing on things & loves to stand on his own for a few seconds but he just isn't crawling. I swear he'd be happier if he could move!

It does my heart good to see these two smiling, laughing & squealing/yelling together, it really is so cool..

ps My friend let me borrow the Anne of Green Gables movie, the sequel & the continuing story-how have I never watched these??? Well I think I may have watched the first one a loooong time ago, it seems familiar but I'm such a gigantic fan of the books! Who cares that they were made probably 25 years ago, right?

Down on the Farm

Voted #1 Most Favorite Park in Springfield by Hyrum & Hunter? The Farm Park. At least that's what my boys said this past week. Who knows how long it will be in the #1 slot. But I think it'll stick as my favorite. Thanks to Courtney for introducing us to each other :)

Twins, maybe?

Twins, definitely!

Duck eggs. My cowboy, ain't he cute?

A little Halloween preview-cluck, cluck

(thanks Ruth!! They fit perfect!)

Camera fun

I love my big boys!!!

Birthdays & Branson

Hyrum had two birthday parties last Saturday for two of his most favorite people here in Springfield. First, Cole turned 4! And it was all done in Super Hero style. I'm still amazed my friend made all these cute little capes for the birthday goers!

Hyrum helping tie up the villain that snuck into the party

Next up was Aubrey's 5th bday party Little Pony style. Hyrum was the only little boy invited but he didn't seem to mind or notice :) I stole a picture of the cake from my friend-she made a 6 layer cake, each layer a color of the rainbow. I'm totally copying this for Miss Emma one day.

I've really wanted to go to the Branson Landing for a while so we decided to drive down after the birthday celebrations. We ate dinner at Famous Dave's-I was lovin' my baby back ribs!

The boys favorite part was running up & down the many ramps

And playing in the fountain

We saw a couple water & fire shows

(what's going on with the underlined words?)

My favorite part was Orange Leaf frozen yogurt-oh baby! Good thing there's one down the road from my house (actually that's probably a bad thing)

Justin's least favorite thing was being strapped in the stroller

I love fun weekends!

Rite of passage

Hyrum passed a rite of passage in the Shakespear home today.

That's right. He killed his first fly & I'm so proud. ;-) With two babes to hold, wipe up after, feed & change I'm happy to pass on the responsibilities to someone else. It reminds me of the times Jeremy & I talk about how many kids we want. One per large-ish chore around the house of course. Although fly killing isn't one of the large chores, it's a start. Fly swatting today, scrubbing toilets tomorrow perhaps?!

Over Labor Day Joel, Brooke, Cole & Kylie came up from TX to play! We love cousin time!!! Lovin' Kylie's pink ATV & the tough girl pose.

Hyrum: I wish Cole & Kylie were a part of our family

Me: But they are Bud!

Hyrum: No, I want them to live in OUR house

Awww....

We also had a family picnic

And the fighting begins! At least whoever loses isn't a poor sport but just finds something of equal interest to chew on.

Pretty girl

Jeremy took the big boys bowling

One night, due to my negligence with the laundry, we just had boy shirts & girl pants for pj's. They didn't seem to mind.

Lately Hunter wants me to tell him the same 3 stories I've made up about Chick Chicks running into a scary monster somewhere & at the last minute Lightning McQueen Dragon Style saves him! Even though he's heard them lots of times his eyes still get really big when the monster comes into the story & he puts his head on my shoulder until Chick Chicks has been saved. One day I described the monster as being really hairy with purple spots.

Hyrum: He must be just like Harry Potter!

Megan: (thinking, how do you know about Harry Potter) Like Harry Potter? What do you mean?

Hyrum: Well his first name is Harry so that must mean that he's reeeeally hairy!

Hyrum was using his etch a sketch & had filled the entire thing with crazy lines.

Me: Wow! What did you draw?

Hyrum: A road that goes to Seattle

Me: How have you heard about Seattle?

Hyrum: From that song on Daddy's iTouch

Water coloring has a made a popular entrance into our home this week. I can't believe we have never done this!

What could be in this closet?

AHHHHHH!!!

Park Day

Today was absolutely gorgeous...blue skies, 77 degrees, light breeze & I couldn't feel a drip of humidity. Not a drip! We went to the Cave park & had such a nice afternoon. We've gone to the park sporadically throughout the summer but usually it's just too darn hot. I've been missin' the outdoors, I feel like we went from being inside through the Michigan winter to being inside through the Missouri summer. Fall is more than welcome here anytime! Really, please come soon.

First time swingers

And there you have it. What could say a good/happy afternoon more than a dirty bum? At least for a 2 year old boy.

As a side note, yesterday was the first day I was home alone. You know, with no body else here with me. I've left Jeremy with the kids at home lots of times & he's taken the older boys out lots of times but I'll keep the babes home with me. But I wanted to clean my house with no interruptions so Jeremy took them all out. And I must say after I got over the initial eeriness, it felt marvelous! We should do it again soon. What are you doing next Thursday afternoon Jeremy??