Snow, Snow Go Away...!

Saturday brought our first round of snow.  While I was less than pleased to see the white flakes flying in the sky, the kids were beside themselves excited!

Quinn, Sullivan, and the neighbors eagerly put on all their snow gear and headed outside.  Boy were they pleased to see the most massive snowflakes in the sky.

While the dusting of snow was not that massive, it was a sign of things to come.  It created slushy roads and crazy drivers.  But to put things into perspective, our 2 inches paled in comparison to Sioux Falls 14+ inches this week!  I truly have nothing to complain about...!

Welcome, Winter.  Try not to stay too long!

Occupational Hazard...

While practicing her gymnastics a couple of weeks ago, Sullivan encountered an occupational hazard.

Poor little girl jammed her finger doing a cartwheel round-off.  It instantly swelled and turned a funky shade of purple.  

While it hurt her a ton, and a few tears were shed, it hasn't deterred her from getting back in the swing of things with gymnastics.  She's as daring as ever.

Decorating...

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas 'round here.  

We decorated for Christmas last weekend.  Our house is full of stockings and ornaments and decorations galore.  

It might be the earliest weekend on record for us decorating, but that's fine by me.  I can't tell you how excited I am for the holiday season!!  Bring on the merriment!

Indiana Geography

Quinn's class has recently been studying Indiana geography as part of their social studies unit.  She has been coming home with all sorts of information on the different regions of Indiana (there is three!) and the different lakes and rivers.  It is evident that Quinn knows FAR more about Indiana than I do.

Here is the map that she completed as part of her study guide...

After passing the geography test, her class got to make cookie maps.  I was unsure what a 'cookie map' was, but volunteered to help with the activity to learn a little myself.  

Turns out that a 'cookie map' is really a cookie in the shape of Indiana!  Each child was given half a tube of cookie dough and then had to sculpt it in the shape of our great state.  

The cookies were baked that afternoon.  The following day, the kids got to decorate the cookies.

Each region had to be a different color of frosting and each of the toppings represented something (hills, cities, capital.etc.).  

The final project turned out well.  Quinn, along with all of her classmates, had a BLAST making these cookie maps.  It was such a fun and creative way to learn about the state's geography!

School Pictures....

This year's school pictures are back...and they turned out beautifully!  

Here is Quinn's 4th grade pictures...

I say this every year, but can't help but say it again.  

She looks SO grown up! I think this year more than any.

And Sullivan's 1st grade pictures....

She also looks SO old.

  

Poor baby had a fever and was sick on picture day.  She was INSISTENT she was going to school for pictures because she wanted to wear her new dress.  Despite being sick, she still looks great! 

My babies are growing up.  I love and hate it all at once!  

Great Friends

Great friends are fuel for the soul. We were fortunate to have our dear friends and former neighbors from Sioux Falls come through Indianapolis last week.

They are moving to N. Carolina to start a new adventure and chapter in their lives.  They were sweet enough to make Indy a stop on their 20+ hour journey eastward.  We were sad that Jaime and Harper weren't able to join the rest of the crew in the car, but certainly understand traveling with a 2 year old presents its series of challenges.  I would have opted for the plane trip too!

But we were thrilled beyond belief to have Jon, Gabby and Livy stay for the day....

The four girls picked up right where they left off - certainly a sign of a great friendship!

They played and played and played their hearts out until bedtime.  

The next morning they quickly found each other again and soaked up as much time together as they could.

We were so sad to say goodbye to them, but blessed that we had the time we did.  Seeing them was so wonderful - we can't wait to make more memories visiting them out east!

Shine Bright....

This pretty much sums it up...!  Sunshine makes me happy, and boy have we been blessed this past week.  Like blessed with a capital B, y'all!

Here is Quinn and her friend Cole soaking up the sun and reading a great book after getting off the bus.  They are all things books right now, as they are in the middle of a book challenge at school!  

What book isn't better when enjoyed in the sun with a good friend?!

And if that day wasn't enough to fill my November sunshine bucket, we were again lucky the following day.  So lucky that Sullivan and Quinn, along with the neighbor friends were dressed like this...

That's right.  November 4th and they are in their swimsuits having a water balloon fight!  How sweet is that!?

I so desperately wanted to hit a 'pause' button on that weather and see how long it would last.  But all good things must come to an end, and we are once again back to Fall!

TJs

Anyone and everyone who knows us knows how much we love Taco John's.  It is a little bit obnoxious, really.  I think it has to do with wanting what you can't have.  Indianapolis doesn't have Taco John's (yet - they are coming though!!).  So we look for the opportunity to have Taco John's whenever we can.

I had done a quick Google search before we left for Nashville to see if there was any TJ's on the way.  No luck, unfortunately.  Ryan did a search too unbeknownst to me, but came up with different results.  So when he told me we were having Taco John's for lunch, I was shocked and happy and instantly salivating.  

Ryan handed me his phone with the directions pulled up and asked me to get us there.  We navigated the route, followed the directions and came across a HUGE shock just minutes away....

Yep!  The Taco John's were behind the gates of Fort Knox.  Given the fact that none of us were in armed services, we weren't getting past the gate.  So so so close, yet SO far away.  We were bummed to say the least.

Halloween '15

Halloween was a big success this year... the girls chose a super cute idea for their costumes and I had a hoot making them over the past few weeks.  Quinn chose to be a snow cone vendor and Sullivan chose to be a cotton candy vendor.

Coordinating costumes - score!

Quinn was invited to trick or treat with a friend this year.  While I realize that this is a normal part of growing up and maturing, it sort of broke my heart to let her go.  I have always loved Halloween and having the girls dress alike and trick or treat together.  But all good things must come to an end.

Here is Quinn with her friend, Hailey...

I thought Sullivan would be phased by her sister's absence, but really she was just fine.  She loved going around the neighborhood with Ryan.  She had herself the best time and got a load of compliments about her costume...!

Here is Sullivan with her trick-or-treat partner....

After coming home from trick-or-treating, Sullivan sorted and counted and sampled all of her candy. She definitely got her fill of sampling that evening!  

Despite missing Quinn, we had a fabulous Halloween this year!

So Telling

While in Nashville, we made our way down to Franklin to stroll through the shops and see the sights.  It is a quaint little city with great eclectic shopping in the downtown area.

After shopping for a bit, Ryan made a pit stop into a store leaving us ladies sitting on a park bench waiting for him.  I asked the girls to get together so that I could take their picture. This is what I got...

Tired of asking them to act serious and smile nicely for what seemed like 286 times, I put my camera away. I told myself to forget capturing the moment.  As soon as I put the camera away, the girls begged me to take their picture.  I was over it though, which seemed to irritate Quinn, who huffed and puffed away.  Sullivan was fine with it and was all smiles.  The tale of two personalities.

This picture was so telling..

Sullivan is all smiles, despite not getting what she wanted.  Quinn, not so much.

The situation was short lived and after moments we were all smiles again.