Justus' 1st Haircut

While Titus and Audra were at Kids' Day Out this morning, Justus went with me to get my haircut. He had fun eating crackers, sitting in my lap, and swiffering the floor with his pj's. He looked like a fur ball by the time it was over! Shannon loved holding and playing with him, but at one point remarked, "Ashley, what is this? Your baby has a mullet!" I think she felt sorry for him and offered to trim it up. So, here is Shannon trimming her moving target.

Bed Head!

Kumon

I'm not very artistic and I often forget about doing crafts with my kids. In the past it seemed like a lot of work and a lot of mess with little interest from Titus. When we were in Colorado my friend, Anita, said her kids love these Kumon books. I got a couple of them for Titus and Audra and they LOVE them. They spent over an hour today contently cutting, pasting, and placing stickers on these pages. They are such fun activities. I highly recommend these books.

This is what they look like if you are interested in looking for them. I found these at Target. There are several different ones to choose from.

Pumpkin Bread

I was inspired by my friends Jean and Judy from Colorado to attempt making pumpkin bread with the kids. Thanks for the recipe, Jean! Titus has been asking if we could make pumpkin pie (because we read about that in those same pumpkin patch library books). I'm a huge fan of pumpkin bread, so I decided that would be a good substitute. We're having our community group from church over tomorrow for dinner, so I thought we could make pumpkin bread for dessert and this would be a fun way for the kids to participate in serving them.


Whoa, Nellie!!! I tried to show the kids how to grease and flour the pans, but Titus floured himself, instead.

I never bake desserts. I had no idea the kids would have so much fun baking. They loved taking turns measuring, pouring, and stirring all of the ingredients. I was intrigued by how long it captured their attention. The only stressful thing (for me) was that my kitchen was coated in flour by the time we were finished. Maybe, they just need a little more practice.


Mmmm. Yummy. We devoured one of the loaves of pumpkin bread as soon as it came out of the oven. Then we had it again for breakfast--it tasted even better the second day. Is that like serving your children chocolate cake for breakfast? On Judy's blog, one of her friends replied that if you bake something in a bread pan, it can be considered a health food. I love that philosophy! Pumpkins are a vegetable, right?

Nature Walk

Beth and Nathan Saferite came over to play this morning and afterwards we went on a "nature walk" to Founder's Park to collect leaves. My kids would be the ones still in their pajamas. At noon.

Audra and Nate loved kicking, throwing, and playing in the leaves.

Peek-A-Boo!

Thanks for coming over to play, Beth and Nate!

Autumn Color

This was the sunrise breaking through the fog at 7:00 this morning! It is in the field across the street from our neighborhood. Gorgeous, isn't it? What were we doing out at 7:00 this morning? Well, the youngest Shaver decided to wake up at 5:30 am and wake up ALL the rest of the Shavers. Since we were all awake so early anyway, we took a family fieldtrip to Cracker Barrel for breakfast!



I took these pictures this morning half a block from our house! It is Founder's Park in our neighborhood. Yes, that really is the color of the trees! Maple trees are one of my favorite wonders of God's creation. I have always loved the Fall here: cool, sunny days and hillsides that look like they are on fire! I miss the view of the Rocky Mountains, but I love living in a part of the country that has four distinct seasons. It is so beautiful!

"...the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3

What A Helper!

Usually, he just stands next to the dishwasher and empties the clean silverware on to the floor for me. What a helper!?!?

Big Hair

Tonight I was getting Audra ready to go into the bathtub and took her hair down. When she looked into the mirror, she said, "Look Mommy, I got big hair just like you!" Hmmm. What exactly does that say about my hair? Should I be taking a hint of some kind?

Other Funny "Audra-isms":

For the last three weeks Audra has been calling me "Mamma Bird" and herself "Baby Bird." She got this from the book, Are You My Mother? It's pretty cute. The first thing she does most morning when I go to get her out of bed is flap her wings and say, "Cheap! Cheap! Mamma Bird!" She calls me that throughout the day!

She also does this funny thing that she learned from Awana Cubbies. In order to help the kids memorize their scripture verses they'll have the kids say it faster, slower, softly, etc. She has started doing this thing where she'll have us repeat the last thing we said over and over again in a different way (particularly when we say, "I love you"). The conversation goes something like this:
Daddy: Audra, have I told you lately that I love you?
Audra: Now say it faster!
Daddy: Ilvyu!!!
Audra: Nooow saaaay iiiiit sloooowleeeee.
Daddy: IIIII Looooooove yooooooou.
Audra: (Whispering) now say it softly
Daddy: i love you

This is repeated multiple times a day.

Audra's favorite phrase at the moment is "Oh, dear!" She does it so often that I probably wouldn't think anything of it, except that other people think it is so hysterical. It is always said with full gusto and often with her hands on her cheeks or her hips. It could be a reaction to accidentally dropping something, making a mistake, something interesting that someone else says...or just because!

Game Day

Saturday. These boys are so talented: they can watch football AND play Chutes & Ladders at the same time!

Hiking at Lake Fayetteville

The kids and I went hiking today with Kim & Jaycee Petrone and Jill, Kate, & Luke Bell. It was a crisp, sunny Autumn morning. We loved being outdoors with such great company! The only casualty was when Audra tripped and scraped up her nose and mouth (thus the pictures of her crying and my attempt at holding both her and Justus)! Thank you, Jill, for taking these pictures.