Autumn Entrance and Halloween Honeys

This past month has been yet another whirlwind.

Our last camping trip of the season was a little spontaneous, and last minute, but it was worth it when we got to our site and the boys ran around in circles squealing with joy for about 30 minutes straight.  Eliot, however, is not a pro at camp-sleeping yet, and Anthony was super sweet and took the boys out for a sunrise walk while I caught up on sleep.

Here they are at the dock. 

We were also thrilled to have a visit from some long distance friends.  One of my best friends in high school was a German exchange student, named Jana.  She made her way out to the states to visit some German friends in NYC and was able to coordinate it with a trip to see us!   Our good friend Gabe, was also able to take off work and make his way out here from Pittsburgh.  It was a really amazing 3 days.  13 years is too long to go without seeing such cool people. 

I know, it's like I have a carousel shot for each blog entry, but this one is special!...even if my kids are totally ignoring me. :)

At Zingerman's Roadhouse.  YUM!

Gabe was here for his birthday, so we collaborated to create a sweet-tooth cake.  And since he just graduated from dental school, he insisted on painting the roots yellow as to make it anatomically correct. 

This is Jana translating a German Dragon cartoon for Ira. I promise, he was enjoying it. 

My cousin James was visiting too since he had an interview in Ann Arbor.  It's not like he had to go to it though since while here, he got offered the job he really wanted.  Woohoo!

It feels like it's been unseasonably party season.  We've had lots of baby showers, birthday parties, Halloween parties, a Masquerade I organized for Ira's preschool, and a cookie block party at our place to get to know our neighbors better.  We've been booked.  I told Anthony that for his birthday we should make some rules that we must wear pajamas all day, not leave the house, and watch at least two movies.  He's pretty excited for it.  

Here's our Pumpkin Carving party. 

Alright, here's a closer look at what each Quinn has been up to.

Anthony

He finished fixing up the kitchen floor, which involved a lot of tile cutting and grouting.  He's awesome.  He's been busy with work and scouts, and generally being awesome about all the crazy activities I schedule us for.  He took these autumn beauts below while doing family portraits for some friends.

Sharon

 This month I was able to complete my academic requirements to become a Bradley Instructor, got approved, finished my website, and had 5 couples sign up!  We will be teaching our first class a week from today!   Here's my website if you want to check it out. http://www.bradleybirth.com/sharonquinn 

Ira

He's loving preschool.  This is him at a school field trip. Ira picked them off the tree...

and Eliot picked them off the ground. 

This is Ira and his best-friend being dragons.  

I think they look like they're on a preschooler's perfume commercial... 

 until they roar. 

Ira's also been into drawing and painting lately.  It's really fun to see him become intentional about what he's drawing.  His volcanoes really look like volcanoes, and his dragons really look like dragons, once he tells you what it is. 

Eliot

Lately he's been a bit like a destructive tornado, trapped in a very cute body with a very sweet smile.  He is reaching into more drawers, opening more lids, and spreading more junk faster than ever before.

  I seriously question my intelligence after each shopping trip with him.  "Why do I keep doing this?"  For some reason Joann's had about a million ladders out and available yesterday.  And in the time that it takes me to compare the price of two types of yarn, Eliot can make it up about 3 of them. But his kisses and cuddles make it all worth it.  His big news is that he has started nursery at church (with slight reluctance) and has been introduced to the potty.  This week he used it successfully 5 times!

He's also enjoying playing with boxes more than ever.

And of course, Trick or Treating tonight was a blast.

This is Ira's dinosaur costume from last year, that we upgraded and morphed into a dragon for this year.  It's convenient that his obsession has only changed slightly.

Eliot was ice-cream.  This is the 3rd time we've used this costume, just one of the few benefits of moving every 2-6 months.  But now that we're sticking around in Michigan, I guess I'll have to get creative for next year. 

Happy Halloween Everyone!  

Time for me to eat an unnoticeable amount of my children's candy and veg with Anthony.  

Summer's last Hoorah

This last month has been a whirlwind.  A really fun whirlwind.

We were lucky enough to have time with the Larsens before and after our trip to Utah, as they came to stay with us.  Here they are + Ira at the Henry Ford Village.

 And here are our boys at the park around the corner from us.

  I had to take this shot since the last time I saw them on a swing-set, it didn't have any swings.  It didn't seem that strange at the time since we were in Africa.  

I love those guys!

As our last Summer hoorah, we went to the beach at Warren Dunes.  If you are ever in Michigan and have the urge to climb some sand dunes, this is a great place to go.

The boys and I finished up our time with the small preschool coop a couple of friends and I put together.  Here's our last day.

And Ira transitioned to Preschool.

As you can see, Eliot was not nearly as thrilled as Ira.

Ira went right in the first day, no problem, even though it sounded a bit like a torture chamber with all the kids screaming for their moms.  He had a little aggressive outbreak later that school-day, but since has been great.  It's fun to volunteer there once a month so I can see what he's like in the class room.

And then I turned 30.  I know. I'm ancient.

Anthony and the boys wowed me with these birthday rainbow pancakes! And then we spent the whole day at Ikea picking out stuff for our family room.  What a birthday!  Anthony made a really sweet "auditory card," or in other words, a recording of him and Ira plotting fun for my special day.  It was very, very sweet. 

Our trip to Chicago went well!  We went down for a 4 day Bradley Workshop so that I can get certified to be a birth instructor.  Anthony came because he's going to teach with me.  Days were long 8:30 am-10:30pm, so we didn't have time to go into the city.  But we learned a lot, and I'm almost done with my academic requirements...sort of.  I hope to be teaching by November.

Giant bowls of Vietnamese soup.  Every meal felt like a date...

even our frugal meals eating pb&j. This was our first time buying Goober since our honey moon.  Appropriate since this is our first time away from the kids together.  Goober mini-moon!

The boys did really well.  I was pretty stressed about leaving them, but it sounds like everything went pretty smoothly, and they still loved us when we returned home.   

Not the best picture.  But this is Marian Thompson, one of the 7 founders of La Leche League.  Very cool.

And these are all the girls.  

Here we're demonstrating the relaxed jaw that all laboring women should strive for. :)

In other news, we made it back to the Village for GE's family fun day...

 

 and made it to a Tiger's game, which we won!

Can you tell it was during naptime?

Oh, also I made this cake for my neighbor friend who's birthday is the day before mine.  She's a book lover, teacher, and family history fan (thus the tree).

Anthony's been working really hard at work.

 Here he is at a morale building, really boring, mandatory meeting.  

Alright, I'm sure that I've more than covered it.  I hope every one is doing fabulously as we welcome in beautiful Autumn!