Pumpkins

Happy Halloween! Last weekend we decided we needed to hurry up and get some pumpkins if we were going to have pumpkins at all this year. We found one farm that was open on Sundays and got there 10 minutes before they closed (we're AMAZING planners, as I'm sure you can tell.)

There were only a few pumpkins left, and they weren't in the best shape, but luckily our kids didn't know the difference and still had a lot of fun picking out pumpkins and gourds. Their most favorite part: getting their own wagons to lug their pumpkins back up to the van. 

Oona enjoyed (I think) getting to meet some cute sheep at the farm...

Finally we got home and spent the rest of the evening carving jack o'lanterns! 

Tonight we're excited to spend the evening eating and trick-or-treating with good friends!

30 / 52

Portraits of my children, once a week (mostly) for a year.

Olive - my poor girl has her first cold of the season. Keeping a close eye on it, as her colds have a tendency to settle in her chest. 

Silas - needs new pants - so many growth spurts this year!

Oona - also growing at super speed. She's in 18 month clothing already!

I Won't Let You Down

OK Go's music videos never fail to make me incredibly happy. ("White Knuckles" is my forever favorite.) So I was so excited to see their newest release, "I Won't Let You Down" and was blown away by the music video! These guys are so creative!

Most Awkward Post You'll See Today

Last Friday Matt and I got to go see Josh Garrels in concert at Calvin College. (If you don't know who Josh Garrels is, please do yourself a favor and look him up immediately. He's good.)

Matt and I rarely get to go out at night by ourselves, so I tried to dress up. I'm probably not alone in feeling this way, but when you've had as many children as I've had in the last 5 years and are still in your 20s, it's hard to know how to dress. I don't want to look dowdy because hey, I am still pretty young, but I've got this kind of maternal body going on now if you know what I'm saying, girls? Why am I even having this awkward conversation? (Is anyone still there? Taps mic...)

What with all the changes my body has been through in recent years, not to mention having braces on my teeth (holy moly) and seriously crazy post-partum hair that doesn't know what to do with itself, my 20s will definitely be remembered as a highly awkward time. Sometimes I get a little down thinking about it, but you know what? I am so lucky to have a healthy, strong body and I am so thankful it allowed me to have my three, healthy children. In the end, I really have nothing to complain about, and awkwardness and all, I want to celebrate and enjoy what I got. :)

Sweater: ASOS / Skirt: GAP / Shoes: TJMaxx / Toddler: Mine! 

#winningatlife

Yesterday was a doozy. (Why does the word doozy sound so weird to me right now. Am I using it properly? Is it even a word??)

Quick backstory to defend myself: we have been majorly busy the last week (month really,) and Oona has been going through one of her notorious sleeping strikes and we are exhausted. 

So with that in mind, yesterday was all kinds of cray-cray from the very start, with Matt having an appointment out of town in the morning. He got back just in time for me to run out to an orthodontist appointment. Then I had another appointment in the next town over right after my adjustment. Run run run. I'm hungry, I'm tired and my teeth are flippin' killin' me.

I finish my last appointment and start rummaging through my purse for my keys...

Yup, locked them in the van. SMH. (I think that means "smacks my head" but I'm old, so I could be waaay-embarrassingly off course...)

I also locked my coat in the van, so of course I immediately felt like I was freezing. And I suddenly had to pee. And I started to hyperventilate that I would be late getting Olive from school. And then I started wheezing realizing that Matt couldn't pick me up because I had the car seats. (I'm only over-dramatizing slightly.)

After a long, long and I do mean long time, I was able to get in touch with my sister who hadn't left for work yet and she agreed to pick me up under the condition that I buy her a coffee. (Good thing I hadn't locked my wallet in the car, geesh.)

Time seems to go by incredibly slowly when you're cold and locked out of your minivan, so I started wandering around downtown Zeeland (trying to look cool and collected and instead looking suspicious and crazy.) I stood and studied this giant pumpkin for an awkwardly long time.

And then I sent about a 100 extremely melodramatic video snapchats to my sister in NC, which I'm sure looked totally normal to passersby.

Then I found a coffee shop. It shares a door with a neighboring store, which took me way too long to realize and I am sure I looked totally normal walking past the storefront 5 times before I figured out the door situation. (SMH again. Unless it doesn't mean what I think it means...)

It was a very nice coffee shop and I decided to treat myself to a cafe miel (latte with cinnamon and honey) but when I asked the sweet barista if she could use soy and not make it as sweet as normal, she looked at me suspiciously and said "is this your first time here?" So of course I related the WHOLE story to her, expecting sympathy and understanding but all I got was an "oh." (I'm pretty sure she was relieved when I finally left. Especially since I remembered just as I was about to walk out that I needed a coffee for Grace too, and ordered another latte.) 

^ Feeling the joy of winning at life. ^

FINALLY Grace came (she got lost on her way over. I kid you not.)

Luckily she cheered up when I gave her the coffee and all was finally well again.

Like I said, it was a doozy (doozie? Doozay??) of a day.

The end.

Worn // Dressing Room Adventures

Dress: Cherokee / Boots: Passed down from my sister

I haven't done one of these in a long time. Yes, they're silly and self-indulgent, but since I love seeing what other people are wearing around the internets, I occasionally (maybe once a year, ha) like to do a little "what I wore" post too. (You know, just to shake things up once in a while in case you start getting sick of looking at pictures of my kids and fall leaves!)

I'm going to just be honest here and state that I love clothes. I love how confident I feel when I am wearing something that makes me feel pretty. I love experimenting with styles and shapes and colors. I've been thinking a lot lately about loving clothes, though, and whether or not it's a good thing. I guess I've come to believe it's fine and well to enjoy getting dressed and caring about your appearance, but I do recognize it's an area that I can easily obsess over and being too focused on it is definitely a bad thing (for me.) So somewhere a line needs to be drawn to protect my mind and my spirit, and it's hard to know where to draw that line. I am really fascinated by the idea of capsule wardrobes, and paring down my closet to just the things I really need and love. While I don't have a very large wardrobe, I definitely have more than I need. 

I had a little fun today trying on some out-of-my-comfort-zone pieces at Target, like a blazer (loved it!) and a tuxedo-style white shirt (which unfortunately showed off my permanent baby bump a little too prominently. Oof.)

I didn't buy anything this time, but it was fun just trying some new things!

Sorry Not Sorry

This is going to be nothing but tree pictures, which is probably pretty boring to everyone but me, but I am obsessed with all the color changes around here and can't stop myself from trying to take pictures of every beautiful tree I see.

Since you made it this far, I'll reward you with a few cute-kid photos *wink*...

29 / 52

Portraits of my children, once a week for a year.

Olive - Knows all the continents and almost has her two times table down. She adores school.

Silas -  My introvert. This week he survived a much needed haircut, a day without a nap, grocery shopping (with Oona too) and a meal of spaghetti (he hates spaghetti nights.) Overall he was a real trooper.

Oona - Oh, that grin! She has us all wrapped around her chubby little finger. She's catching on that all it takes is one heartbreaking Oona-grin and we're her willing servants. 

Quick Weekend Roadtrip

It had been a long time since we had been on a road trip, so when the opportunity came to drive 5 hours southeast to celebrate our nephew's 16th birthday last weekend we decided to go. It actually felt good to be taking a trip again - it helped that the kids did exceptionally well. They watched an awful lot of "Busytown Mysteries" while Matt got to have uninterrupted conversations. I also got a lot of knitting done.

Pit stop selfie. 

Our nephew got a car for his birthday! It was fun watching him be surprised.

On the drive back home, Matt stopped at Pistacia Vera to buy a big box of macarons to take home.

He knows the way to my heart, that man. :)

As always after any trip, it's so good to be home, sleeping in our own bed with our kids on their proper nap/bedtime schedules. We were nervous taking a long trip with two kids in diapers, but it went really smoothly. I think we'll be ready to do it again at Christmas time! 

Crisp Days

There's such joy in colorful trees, crunchy leaves underfoot, warm jackets, and sipping a hot drink while walking in crisp air. I always mourn the brevity of this season and feel rushed to enjoy it as much as possible before it's gone.