Rivalry

Unbeknownst to them, VA and MI have been waging a fierce rivalry for quite some time now. And no, I'm not talking football here. Michigan pretty much takes the cake and then some (Go Blue!) and that's about all I know about football. No, the rivalry I'm speaking of goes something like this: Dad will call on a Saturday morning to tell me that he's enjoying coffee on the porch in 73 degree weather, and that there's an empty chair right beside him that's just my size, and there's a rocking horse in Nana's living room begging to be ridden by the LuBird. (Good run, really...) I'll shoot back that it's no matter, I'm enjoying watching my kids play soccer in fields of green grass while the golden sun warms their faces and we throw our heads back in laughter at the way they run and kick all while gazing at the backdrop of the majestic blue ridge mountains.....and oh, by the way, after wards we are going to feast on freshly made organic donuts and then go apple picking in the Garden of Eden. (And now VA is up one....)



What Dad doesn't know is that while I'm telling him all this, Penelope is running in the opposite direction as her teammates, the field is soaking wet, and Jaxon can't stop making loud comments about the little boy with one arm, who at one point, hit him with his stump. No kidding.


And last week when Mom and Dad were visiting, Virginia graced us with the first snowfall and Michigan was leading in the game. They couldn't wait to keep reminding me that while it was snowing in Virginia, Michigan was still fall temperature perfection. The great thing about Virginia, is that even when the temps drop and at midnight you can go outside and perhaps catch a glimpse of the first snow fall, the next day it's jacket weather and you are not stuck (usually) digging your car out of ten inches of snow. It's literally the best of both worlds.....in fact my town was used by Hollywood to depict how God intended creation to be. (Evan Almighty) Take that, Michigan.



And right now I'm loving fall. Our schedule consists of 1)morning and 2) park time from right after lunch until right before dinner. Kids play, mothers simultaneously carry on conversations and keep tabs on kids. Mother's heads are in a constant state of look left, right, center, left right center, eyes dart every so often making sure 1, 2, 3, yes all kids are somewhere. We here the familiar sound of the UPS man and like a well rehearsed choreographed dance, we jump up like hens and corral little unknowing bodies away from the side walks that line the street, all the while, keeping the conversation going, and we come back, never skipping a beat. It's this beautiful dance of the omnipresent mother, we must be, always, everywhere.



Yesterday, I discovered something new. Slide pictures. The funniest thing ever.









Halloween.


Baby is gone. She's is a full fledged tot.


The proof was in the trick-or-treating. She would run from house to house, little neck strained to hold her little head out in front of her, arms out to the side, this is her running stance.


She was a rock star. Loved having a bag, didn't really have any idea what she was putting in it, but it didn't matter, she was getting stuff, and she loves tiny little things. At the second house she wasn't content to merely take a few pieces from the bowl left on the porch. Oh no, she ran around to the side door, grabbed the latch and started kicking the door in. It's a good thing she's so cute.



Actually, they all are pretty freaking cute.






It's a sad realization that baby is gone and no matter how hard I try to keep her from growing up, she keeps doing it anyway. It's weird, this phase, because it happens so fast. Baby one week, toddler next, and in a few short months, we will be celebrating her second birthday. Yikes.


Backtracking a bit, we went booing again this year. It's kind of a simple and silly concept (bring a sack of Halloween treats to someone's door, ring the door bell and run away) but the kids get such a kick out of it, I can't help but get super psyched for it every year. The fact that they get to stay out past dark is almost too much for them to handle. It's so fun. Penelope didn't really get the idea of ringing the doorbell and running away. She would hide behind a bush and wait for our friends to answer the door, and then jump out and say "BOO!". Which makes sense because it is called "Booing". It still makes me laugh to think of her crouched down in the bushes with her dress up dress on.






On a side note, my poor housekeeping makes for stunning Halloween decor...


and speaking of decor, everything except this web has been packed up for next year and we are on to Thanksgiving decorating.









...and there will be more, thanks to at second street.

And there is so much to be thankful for. I feel it everyday.