Fall or Winter?

This weekend was really strange.  First of all, we had no plans.  None.  And thank goodness for that as Mother Nature dumped her winter wrath on us.  But I have to say, as the snow flakes fell and we had a fire going in the fireplace and the PSU game on TV with a pot of white chili cooking on the stove, it didn't feel so horrible.  Our thoughts were certainly on those whose plans were altered, or who were doing something important this weekend that were inconvenienced.

Saturday I accomplished the unthinkable.  I actually had a 3 hour period of time where I could honestly say that all of the laundry baskets in the house were empty- clean, dried, folded and put away.  And those three hours were glorious.  I'm pretty sure that won't happen again in my lifetime, at least not my lifetime with little children, but I surely did enjoy it while it lasted.  I actually considered putting the kids to bed in their play clothes just to keep the streak going for the overnight hours.  (I'm kidding.  Sort of.)

We were thrilled to be up and about on Sunday, since Joshua was finally feeling pretty much back to 100% after a week of ick.  We headed to church and the kids went into their classroom (this time without a single tear from Lauren....amazing!) and I got to enjoy another sermon.  What a blessing it is to go to church and actually get to be in church.  The past two years have held so few uninterrupted services for me that I'm really appreciating being able to participate.  It won't be long until I start my nursery running again, so I might as well enjoy this while it lasts.

Here were a few pictures from the weekend.  Please don't miss the food all over Lauren's face in the close up.  But I was so happy to see them both eating a good dinner on Sunday night after a horrible week of neither of them eating much at all besides popsicles. 

To say that Joshua was ready for school this morning was quite an understatement.  First of all, it's Halloween.  And, for whatever reason, Halloween seems to rank right up there with Christmas for our first born.  He couldn't wait to get up and get ready this morning to be able to go back to school to see his friends.  To add to the fun, we went on his field trip this morning to a local farm.  I'm pretty sure when this was planned, the teachers weren't figuring on the thermometer reading 27 very chilly degrees when we pulled out of the school parking lot this morning, but we soldiered on.  The kids had a chance to see some animals- horses, cows, goats, pigs, sheep and even a few (quite large) turkeys.  A few of the parents and I decided that today really was the deadline for seeing a real, live turkey before Thanksgiving.  That was a little uncomfortable for me.  The kids got to have a snack and go on a hayride and then pick out their own pumpkin to bring home. 

We had some seriously frozen toes and noses by the time we got back home, but I think the kids had a good time.  For Joshua, I think he was just happy to be back with his friends and be feeling well enough to go to school.

 Here's the whole K4 class...all bundled up!

 This was on the hayride.  And I can't honestly explain why Blogger won't let me put it right side up.

We're ready for our family Halloween celebration tonight--- Mummy Dogs for supper (Joshua's favorite!) and then some Trick or Treating at the church's Trunk or Treat.  We'll see how warm everyone is after that and maybe head back into our old neighborhood (just beside the church) or come back to Turbotville and trick or treat around the neighborhood there.  Either way, cute costume pics tomorrow!  Can't wait to see everyone else's cute kiddos!!!