October!

Wow! What a month we had! October positively flew by. We made a lot of fun memories.

Our beautiful maple turns a vibrant red every autumn. It is my favorite tree!

We had our first snow of the season! It wasn't much, but of course the girls wanted to go out and play in it for a little while. 

Ryan worked from home one day. I left Dallin home while I took the girls to school and came home to this cute photo op.

Sessie made darling hats for the girls to wear this winter. She also made some for Dallin. I love that she shares her talent with us!

And of course, ample new hairstyles this month. Brianna's hair is supposed to look like a candy corn and Maya had a Dutch braid.

Brianna's preschool class took a field trip to Something From the Farm. We got to pick out a pumpkin, see chickens, and enjoy the sunshine! (This was just a few days after the first snowstorm. Colorado is awesome.)

As we went through the corn maze (which was really just a path that you couldn't take a wrong turn on) Brianna liked to point out the corn on the stalks.

More hair!

I nurse Dallin four times throughout the day. The girls are very patient and understand that's when Dallin needs to eat and that I'm not as readily available during those times. One evening I was getting him ready for bed and Brianna wanted to hang out. I told her she needed to be quiet, so she went and got a book and looked at it while I fed Dallin. Moments like these warm my heart and make me so grateful to have these little people in my life.

Hair. I'm working on perfecting the messy bun.

The girls and I were cleaning up toys in the backyard and as I was walking back inside I noticed this mysterious line of cantaloupe seeds on the door frame. I got a butter knife to scrape them off (it's also lined on the other side that you can't see) but they were stuck on there! I quickly determined that they were NOT cantaloupe seeds but instead the eggs of some insect. Ryan googled it and we are pretty sure they are katydid eggs. I did end up scraping them off and putting them down the drain, but I think Ryan was kind of disappointed that we wouldn't get to see them hatch. Might have been kind of cool, but I have no desire to have katydid larvae that close to the opening of my door. 

We got a new 10-person dining room set and sidebar. The old one is now in our kitchenette.

Another Mommy-is-feeding-Dallin activity. Painting nails! 

One day after school I got out a few canvases, acrylic paint, and sponge brushes. The girls and I each painted a picture of a fall tree. It was really fun and a nice way to spend an hour with them. 

Brianna's is a little less put together, but she had a blast nonetheless. 

Oh look, more hair!

We took a little trip to Bartel's Farm with our friends. It was chillier than I expected it to be! We wandered around a little, the kids played on the park equipment (there was a field trip there that day so it was PACKED - thankfully everyone left not long after we got there), and had a picnic lunch. 

This is our little friend Landon. We get together for play-dates with him (i.e. I get together with his mom) every week or two. Our other friend Stratton was there as well with his mom, but off looking at a tractor at this moment. They are the two friends we see the most. 

Maya was mad that Brianna got the hole that was higher up.

I do love doing their hair.

One evening Ryan was busy with work so the kids and I went out just for fun! It was different to not have any place we needed to go. We got in the car and I said, "Okay. Where do you want to go?" We wound up at the Halloween City store for a while and then we walked to Five Guys for dinner. After dinner we walked back to our car and stopped at Crazy 8 for some kids clothes, as they were having a 90% off sale. Then we went to Papa and Nana's house to visit them and Holly for a few minutes. It was a fun evening!

Dallin eats his dinner at 6 PM too.

My work had a company dinner in Boulder. I took Dallin with me and he was loved so very much by my coworkers!

Side note about my work: I'm not really working anymore. When I was ready to return after maternity leave there wasn't a spot open for my limited availability. So I do "special projects" whenever someone needs help. The month of October I worked 3 hours. And you know what? It's perfect. I am realizing that trying to work anymore would have made my head explode. I'm pretty much unofficially no longer with the company, but I'll hang around as long as they will let me!

I made my monthly Costco trip and came home with these beauties. Chocolate covered bing cherries. They're amazing!!