love Fall, well except in our back yard

Just look at the 'sea of leaves.' You can't even see the grass, that's how many leaves have fallen! And the front yard is just as bad. I just dread this time of year in our yard, as it seems like endless weekends of raking.
I can't wait for the boys to grow up so I can make this their responsibility... As I have fond memories of my parents making me rake the leaves on the weekends!

Fortunately we don't have to bag them, just put them on the curb. Our last pick-up is coming Monday, so you know what we will be doing ALL weekend. Anyone feel sorry for us and want to stop by to help????

Timothy in the future?

Yesterday we attended an open house at Timothy Christian Schools. Hence the shirt Zachary is wearing, "I love TC," as every family received one. He walked around wearing it the rest of the day, despite the fact it came down to his ankles.

Even though we are a few years away from Zach officially staring Kindergarten/1st grade we are in the beginning stages of trying to decide whether we will send Cameron and him to Christian schooling. This will be a difficult decision for us, as Mark grew up in a Christian school system and I am a proud graduate of Naperville Public schools. I feel there are many pros and cons to both, so this will be a decision that will take a lot of thought and prayer. I know this is an issue that several of our friends will also be wrestling with, so it makes me feel better that we aren't the only ones in this boat. We will see what the future holds....

first playdate of many

Yesterday we had our first play date with Zachary's little friend Max. As many of you know Max is the son of my close college friend, Sara. Sara & her husband, Bas, are moving here to the western suburbs after 5 years in Amsterdam. We are thrilled to have Sara back in our neck of the woods! Her and Bas are in the midst of house hunting (which is such a joy in pricey Chicagoland), so we volunteered to keep Max for the day, so he didn't have to tag along for a full day of in and out of the car.

The boys (who are 2 months apart) had a blast playing together. They are boys thru and thru, as they spent many hours chasing and playing trucks and trains. As well as enjoying a leaf fight, which was hilarious, until they turned on me and chased me down. Which by the way, Sara, was Max's idea...

blah blah blah blah blah

Nothing to blog about....

I have been struggling to find things to blog about as we have just been going about our weekly routine. Which is pretty much the same thing every week, Mon-Thurs - school, Little Lambs/MOPS, school, spinning class at the Y, and then a free Friday for playdates.

One exciting addition to this week's routine was watching my friend Megan's almost one year old, Hailey, on Wednesday night. Zach had a great time with her and I think she enjoyed her first bath with a boy! Well, it may not look like is in this particular picture,but she did.

Cluck Cluck

What came first.... the chicken or the egg?

Happy Halloween!

Who dun-ith?

Zach was so proud of his painted pumpkins and quite sad when he discovered that one was half eaten during the night. Apparently the stem had broken off, which opened it up for some little critter to make a meal out of it! Yuck!

We are just hoping it wasn't eaten by a mouse/raccoon or something that is now living underneath our front stoop...

Phoenix, nothing but a good time..

We had another wonderful time in Phoenix. It was great to spend time with my mom again, see my sister, and for Zach to spend some days with his cousins. They had a fun playing dress up with Nana's dress up box. It was a little strange seeing Zach in costumes that I wore when I was his age. He loved being the crocodile and butterfly. Zach also accomplished a big milestone on this trip. He now jumps into the pool on his own and is no longer afraid of putting his head underwater!! Now we just have to work on getting rid of his armbands and learning to swim without them.

I also surprised Mark by having his younger brother, Paul, fly in from LA for two nights. Mark was completely shocked and couldn't believe I had pulled it off. I too was a little surprised that I hadn't let it slip prior to his arrival, as I came close several times. We had a great time visiting with him, as we hadn't see him since Christmas, and Zach became quite attached to his 'Uncle Paul' . He actually wanted to know "why he didn't have any kids?"... which is what we are all secretly wondering... just kidding Paul!

Once again I took too many pictures and couldn't decide which ones to post, hence the need for another slideshow... mostly to be enjoyed by the grandparents...