October 14

Audrey has been talking all day about the two firetrucks that came to visit Sprouts this morning. (It was a planned visit, not an emergency visit!). Listening to the fireman talk and hanging out with two of her favorite people: Lindsey and Elliot.
Audrey got a little scared when the fireman put on his hat and mask. Even though the point of him putting on his hat and mask was to teach the kids NOT to be scared of him. That part of the speech went over Audrey's head.
Sprouts buddies: Elliot, Audrey and June!

October 13

Operation Remove the Rotten Tree from our Backyard concluded today. I took advantage of the tree guys' lunch break to take some pictures this afternoon as they were wrapping things up. We wanted a picture of Audrey sitting on what was left of our tree, but she didn't think that sounded like too much fun.



A few hours later (and $1200 poorer) this is what our yard looks like.It's so empty and bare and way too sunny. We are planning to plant a new tree in the spring, but you cant just go out and buy a fully grown 50 year old tree. The good news is that raking the backyard should be pretty easy this fall!

October 12

This may be the worst picture I have ever posted on this blog. I wanted to get a picture of the tree being removed from our yard today. But I didn't want the tree guys to think I was some weird stalker, so I was afraid to take it while they were around. I took this one through the window in the kitchen...but even then I was afraid they would see me. By the time they left for the day, it was too dark for a picture.

Tomorrow the tree should be completely gone, so I'll take a picture of our newly empty backyard and post it then. =(

October 11

Happy birthday to me!! I took this picture at lunch today (with the new flash I got for my birthday!!). Audrey and Daddy were cracking each other up!

Our day began with Audrey throwing up. This is the second time she has thrown up this weekend, so we're thinking she might have some kind of stomach virus. Or maybe she just had too much junk food this weekend and chugged down too much milk on an empty stomach this morning? Who knows?? All I know is that I was queasy all morning after watching her throw up...I don't do vomit. We did have to cancel our babysitter and my birthday plans tonight, because I didn't want to risk her spreading germs to anyone else. For the most part, she is acting pretty normal. She hasn't had much of an appetite, but she did eat more today than yesterday.

At one point, I had a whole post in my head that I was going to write today about turning 30. But right now, I'm not much in the mood to dwell on the fact that I am 30. So we'll save that for another day!

October 10

I didn't take any pictures today. Instead, I'm going to share my favorite pictures from the pumpkin patch trip yesterday (at least they are my favorites so far...I'm still working on editing them all). It's my blog, so I can change the rules sometimes if I feel like it, right?

Audrey loves our friends Adam, Lindsey, Simon and Elliot. She talks about them all the time, and she is hardly ever grumpy when they are around. Audrey and Adam play a game that they call "Woo, woo, woo", where Adam holds Audrey up high in the air and she cracks up laughing. Audrey was kind of a grump in the pumpkin patch yesterday, but after they played their game, she was all smiles!!

October 9

Today was our big Martha Stewart Fall Fun Day! Here's a quick summary of all that we did!

8:00 am--leave home
9:45 am--arrive at Curtis Orchard: see goats, see horses, watch Audrey go on her first horse ride, eat apple doughnuts with apple cider, watch kids play, see goats again
12:00pm--outlet mall shopping!
1:30 pm--lunch hosted by Lindsey at her parents' house
3:30 pm--arrive at The Great Pumpkin Patch: look at pumpkins and decor, go with kids through four different mazes, eat pumpkin ice cream, deal with a grumpy Audrey who only had a 10 minute nap, look at the chickens, goats and llamas, go to the actual pumpkin patch to see more pumpkins, take pictures in all of our favorite spots
6:00 pm--leave The Great Pumpkin Patch
6:45 pm--stop for an incredibly healthy dinner at McDonalds on the way home
8:00 pm--arrive home

Whew!! After all of that excitement, I am way too tired to get all of my pictures edited and uploaded tonight. Here is just one picture of Audrey riding her very first horse! She really liked it. I thought she was going to be scared, but she was perfectly happy on the horse. Later on the ride, she even got brave enough to let go of Daddy's arm.

October 8

Tonight we went over to Jon and Heather's house for what I thought was going to be a game night. It turns out it was a surprise 30th birthday party for me (my birthday is on Monday). Despite the fact that I really don't like surprise parties, it was a really great party. Heather put everything together so nicely (her decorations were way cute!), and it was fun to hang out with friends and eat good food and play games. And I was totally surprised; I didn't have a clue that they were planning all this for me.

I'm not too sure what to think about turning 30. I'll have more thoughts on that on Monday.

For now, I need to go to bed. Martha Stewart day begins tomorrow at 8 am!!