Fun things happen in October! Lots of fun things! Like, Babies! Halloween! Grandma and so much more!

October a beautiful month here in Virginia!  The colors here are so vibrant!  Back home, the hues are more light orange and soft reds.  Here in Virginia, they are like neon yellow, orange and deep maroon, mixed with all shades of yellows and greens.  It lasts FOREVER! Like months... If it wasn't for me being close to delivery, I may have tried taking some better pictures of it!  I will regret that someday as the memory fades.   Martin flew all across the country for interviews.  Before he left we took a family bike ride ( I waddled behind) on our favorite Huckleberry trail just behind out house.  It was a beautiful crisp conference weekend. We enjoyed listening as a family before Martin took off for California.  He interviewed at two schools, but had invitations to over five so far.  

We were sad to see him off, not only because he was going to be gone, but partly because I was hoping I didn't go into labor while he was 2,000 miles away!   

By the time he got home he had two acceptance letters in the mail.  he is hard working and very committed to this!  We have a lot of big decisions to make in the near future.  It is comforting to know that we are happy with every option on the table as of yet. 

Softball

Audrie enjoyed her first season of softball...(kind-of, I think she enjoy learning that she doesn't quite enjoy it)  But that girls is such a good sport.  Even though she didn't find it the most entertaining, she still got out there every practice and every game and did her best!  There was one game where the 9 year old girl could have easily competed well in high school, she was a beast at the pitchers mound, grunt and all.  With my experience I was even a bit intimidated!  I told Audrie to swing at every single pitch, no matter what... and that girl was the only one on her team to get a piece of the ball!  We were all smiling.  It was fun watching, and she always had the biggest cheering section out of everyone!  Her favorite was stealing the bases, she was the first to steal home on her team, and had the entire crowd and her team cheering so loud!  She did love that aspect of it! 

Because Martin was at school so often, It was up to me to lug everyone around to the games, Carlee got the most creative in keeping herself entertained!

Joe's Pumpkin Patch

I was able to take the kids to a really fun and beautiful pumpkin patch with my last burst of energy,  All the scenery here is seriously out of a movie.  It is all so beautiful, with dots of white farm houses and livestock everywhere.  The people are as equally nice and genuine.  Joe's is about a 35 minuet drive from our house.  They offered a hay ride up and over the hill to where they planted the pumpkins.  We ended up running into a few families in our ward and had a really fun time.  The weather is always so perfect it seems.  The kids loved playing on the hay bails and panning for gems!

Hokie Bug Fest

Andrue and Martin had been collecting bugs since we arrived here in Blacksburg. Andrue will tell you that the best part of moving here are all the bugs.  I could argue that one, but it has been his saving grace as it has distracted him from the hardness of new things.  He worked hard with his Dad and decided to enter the Hokie Bug Fest, put on by the Virginia Tech Entomology department.  He was the youngest to enter the competition.  They were judged on their variety, their proper use of the latin names as well as the official names, their varieties and their display.  Martin did help quite a bit, but Andrue won first place!  He felt very proud.  (I need a picture of Martin and Andrue with their impressive bug collection!)  All the time, leading up to D-Day!I just had to laugh at my self many times as I waddled from event to event with all my little ducks in a row. 

Date Night

Martin and I do NOT get out much... AT ALL.  But we have made some kind friends in our ward who offered to watch our kids for us so we could have our first and last date before Baby B came!  We were pretty spontaneous and just drove until we found The Social House Right on campus.  It as DELICIOUS. We had a fun time just chatting and talking, mostly about school and what our options are and what things we want out of his education, but it was still a great time away. 

Drum Roll Please....

She's Here!!

Baby B arrived on Back to the Future Day!  We considered naming her Marty after Marty McFly, and her dad, but somehow that got vetoed! The entire process was quite strange to me.  Never before had I been so far from family and close friends whom I knew well.  For the first time I really felt like We were "on our own".  As scary as that sounds, it really is semi liberating because you then discover how much you can actually do!  Not that you want to, but that it is possible.  I woke up to the sound of my pandora alarm clock at 5 am. Got up and out of bed, hopped in the shower, got ready, (YES!  I got ready, makeup, hair...I was a rock star, with no pictures to prove it!) I woke up Martin, we talked, He gave me a blessing, and I grabbed the keys and drove myself the mile to the hospital, checked in and get settled in my new "prison" to be for the next 3 days! I am sure it is not healthy to be in one room for so long. Nurses were in and out all morning.  I finally was given pitocin and I called martin to come join me.  Our wonderful Landlords came to the house to be with the kids, they played with them and even did their school routine with them!  Martin came, and did homework on the couch and took breaks to hold my hand during the epidural and for the delivery.  

I have awful luck with epidurals, and should give up entirely. I never lost feeling of my legs, and deductive logic can enlighten you as to the rest of the afternoon.  Before too long I was, for the first time during a labor, "verbal". Again, you can use your logic here.  Feel free to be creative. You might not be too far off.  I remember the doctor coming in and saying how fast this was moving along, that the quickness might be way it was so painful...humph, maybe? I also remember her at one point saying, "wanna take a break? It's ok, take a breath, and take a break!" Are you kidding me? How can you take a break? NEVER!  Get this baby out!  And then there she was, laying on my chest, as I felt like I might pass out, in all seriousness.  The room was spinning and I felt like I have never felt before.  But there she was crying, helping bring me back to reality.  Baby B was skin to skin for the first five hours of her life, and nursed well within the first 5 minuets of life.  It was miraculous.  Martin took off shortly after to get the kids, and I was left in the room all alone with her until Martin came back with the rest of the rascals.  They were in love.

I spent the next 2 days cooped up in that room, dying to get out, but thankful that I had so much time with her...in the quiet!  But the quiet soon became way too loud for me.  

We struggled coming up with a name, And finally ended naming her Emmeline Bonnie.

One Week

Just because.

I want to remember one day that her foot was nearly the size of my finger.

I already can't believe it.

Thank goodness for Family. Always looking out for ya. need a doll for comfort? I've got that for ya!

That doll was a long as she was!

 HALLOWEEN!

At this point I have  10 day old baby.  My kids (ahem...I) had been working on their costumes for two weeks now and couldn't wait to get out and enjoy all their candy! Martin is stuck at school with finals and projects to work on.  Needless to say my kids were bouncing off the walls to celebrate with some new friends.  Martin couldn't pull away, so I bravely left the babe by his side to let them make some fun memories for a few hours.  I am glad I did, cause we all had a blast!

Maybe 3/4ths of the group...we couldn't get everyone to sit down!  The Kachers hosted the party with pumpkin shaped pizza, and lots of "creepy" side dishes!  The Hornes and Killpacks joined the party.

      

Audrie the Avatar stayed in character almost all week, carlee loved being Disgust from Inside Out...although for the next activity, she insisted on being a princess... I was kinda sad about that...I loved her costume!  And Andrue was a rough and tough cowboy...wearing my cowboy outfit I wore when I was just older than him.  I believe it was the first time I saved to buy something!  My neighborhood friend had one, and We just had to match, although his was black.  Oh the memories running around the streets of bountiful! 

Grandma Jill

Just before the clock struck midnight, Grandma Jill flies in and saves the day!!

(I think being a new mom, even if for the 5th time, catches you off guard on so many levels...  These were the best and only pictures I have. I am not even going to take the time to edit them to make them look better.  The kids are cute enough to make up for the bad quality. Right?) 

September Shenanigans!

For the weekend of Audrie's birthday we took off and headed to Washington DC! I have to admit that my main desire to go was so I could attend the temple.  I knew once the baby cam that I wouldn't have a chance to make the 4 hour dive as easily as I would like.  So, we loaded up and took off!  I was surprised at how "deserty" the drive felt.  For the first time in a long time I KINDA felt like I was back home.  The roads seem to by much smaller here, even the highways.  Sometimes I feel like I am in a foreign country. 

We debated whether or not to go straight to the hotel, or if Martin would drop me off at the temple right away and I would catch a late session.  We decided on the latter.  After driving through the narrow streets for an hour through town in our large "mormon mobile", we finally pulled into the temple parking lot.  Things seemed odd as our car was the only one there, other than a lonely car parked in front of the visitor center. When Martin asked me if I had checked to see if it was open, I knew I should have followed that prompting over 24 hours before.  

My other drive that took me to the temple that day was to finalize my decision to homeschool our kids for another year.  I was a little disappointed that I might not find that peace by attending a session.  Come to find, however as we walked through the visitors center and visited with the missionaries there, that a peace came regardless.  It is our effort that is taken into account in situations like these I think. 

 The next morning we started bright and early on our two day tour of our nation's capital.  Our goals were simple, because we knew our kids may not last long, nor understand fully where they were or the significance of it all.  So We tried to make it as fun as possible.  I was just amazed at how beautiful all the buildings were! We felt so small amongst the towering surroundings.  

 Our first stop was the Natural History Museum. The kids loved taking their time wandering around, and picking and choosing what to discover next. Their curiosity for the "birds" shouldn't have surprised me! What kid wouldn't want to see stuffed birds from all over the nation? (not sure why I didn't have any pictures of that?)

Then the kids enjoyed this guy... They were his "helpers" up on stage.  He sang silly songs and had them doing silly things.  Kind-of like an interactive Mr. Rodgers. 

Carlee and The Hope Diamond.  Who knew it had been cut down and reshaped to almost 1/4th of its natural size?  Crazy people.

Bugs. Cam loved them! I loved this area, even though my pregnant belly caused my back so much aching around this time!  I found myself sitting on the floor looking at their indoor beehive. I think that would be an awesome, productive and unique decorating idea someday!  I would totally do it!  How cool would that be to siphon honey right from the hive in our wall? This is just the beginning of all my great ideas. 

She was scared she was going to be trampled. Can't ya tell?

I was hoping Ben Stiller would pop up somewhere if we stayed long enough!

Look how much they like each other!

We spent most of the morning here.  We couldn't decide if we wanted to stay or go on to the mall.  But we did...walk and walk and walk and walk.  

And she took a snooze at every chance she got! (she does this everywhere we go!)

Thank goodness for the shadow of the Washington Monument.

Then she chased birds for a while.

This birthday girl was such a good sport! Wait?  Did I mention it was her 9th birthday? Well it was and she was just so fun to hang out with that day!  She knew it was a special day and seemed already one year older and wiser, in just a day!  She is my right hand, and I love her!

Andrue loves sucking on his shirt!  Gross! So for this one, we all joined in!

Then we took instructions on how to pose, from Carlee.

The Lincoln Memorial was my favorite.  I felt such a strong spirit in that room.  I found I snapped at my kids to be more reverent!  I am so thankful to the leaders of our country who have stood for truth, especially when it wasn't popular or when it wasn't "financially" smart. Fundamental right and wrong has always existed. And I want my children to understand how important it is that we understand our beginnings as a nation, and how it was because of our loving Heavenly Father, and righteous men, who have provided us with such a fulfilling opportunity to have happy lives. So many sacrifices were made, and being aware of those sacrifices humble us, (I hope) to still fight for the truth. 

Um...the walk back was deadly.  Until we found this water fountain. Audire bent down to take a drink only to be shot in the face with a stream of water like something straight out of a comedy, she was soaked. So, we had to stay and play in it for a while to lighten the mood. 

Andrue insisted on carrying Cameron. They didn't make it very far.

Ahh...so much better. (That is as close to the White House as we got)

Then on to store bought cheesecake to celebrate!

They ALL slept like champs that night. 

DAY 2

 More Smithsonian exploring.  Julia childs was tall!  As well as a great example.  I would hope that all of my children myself included) develop her determination and her lack of caring of what "should be" and do something that people say is impossible or silly.  

Andrue found something that looked familiar!  He thought that was cool!

She liked this!  

Go figure.

 The Spark Lab!

This place was cool!  And the workers were so helpful!  The kids had different stations with a specific goal in mind.  They had to re-invent something that already existed in a way that has not been invented before.  They had "rules".  here they were supposed to invent something that had wheels, could carry something and could take them from point a to point b.  Simple and fun!

Carlee took her car making very seriously.  Hers looked like....a car! ;)

This car's wires were all taken apart and a worker gave them a scenario, and they had to make the car work for that specific issue.  They were asked to make this care useful to someone who didn't have any legs. So with pipes and rewiring, they were able to make the gas pedal go with a switch they could hit with finger by the steering wheel.  Fun to get them thinking!

And this concludes our first family trip to Washington DC!

It was hot, it was humid, I was 8 months pregnant, it was educational and it was a party!