Fall Fun!

October is coming to an end and next weekend we will be starting the month of November??  Where does the time go!?  We have been enjoying the past month since we got home from Colorado with lots of fun fall activities!  We went to the apple orchard two weeks ago and came home with a large bunch of apples that we used to make some yummy desserts!  I always tend to make double of whatever I make and send the second one next door to our wonderful neighbors.  We made it to 4 pumpkin patches this year!!  Last Friday I decided to take Brody out of school for the day and I took the kids to a place called "Happy Hollow".  I had read about it online and also heard about it from a friend so we decided to check it out. This place was awesome!   They had acres and acres of pick your own produce.  Obviously we live in the Midwest and the season is coming to an end so some things were out of season but we still found a ton of good stuff.  They even grow a wide variety of lettuce and herbs there.  The kids had a great time helping me pick vegetables and they also have a huge pumpkin patch as well.  We had the place to ourselves as kids are in school and it really was great. The produce was so healthy looking and super cheap, I got a ton of vegetables, a large amount of kale, 3 small pumpkins, 3 mini pumpkins and two gourds for $7.00!  I can't wait to take the kids back there next year when all of the produce is in season.  This place was located in East Moline and down the road 3 miles was another pumpkin patch so we hit up that one as well. This one was called "Shady Knoll Farm" and they had a wide variety of animals the kids could feed as well as a pumpkin patch. The kids had such a great time and came home with a wide variety of pumpkins.

On Saturday we took our regular trip to the Buffalo Pumpkin Patch. Briana is really into animals right now so she was in heaven with all the animals they have there.  There was even a brand new batch of baby piglets that were only a week old.  On Sunday we went to Pride of the Wapsi Pumpkin Patch in Long Grove with Grandma Barb, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Brett, Julia and Maggie.  The kids enjoyed all the fun activities, picking their own pumpkins and riding horses.

Things continue to go very well for Brody and Briana. We are so busy with preschool schedules and filling our days off with fun activities.  Briana has a little bit of a hard time when I drop her off at preschool.  She cries when I leave and it breaks my heart.  I know that she is ok once I leave and has a great time there but it is so hard to leave her knowing she is sad.  On a good note I have been getting excellent reports from Briana's teacher.  She is above and beyond knowing all of her basic concepts in comparison to the other children in the class.  Her teacher asked me this week for some pointers on what I do at home with Briana so she could do the same with the other children.  Briana is such a joy and makes us laugh each and everyday.  It is hard to know where she comes up with some of the things she does.  She is very animated and loves to make up songs and dance. She loves dress up and is very into playing with her dollhouse that she got for her birthday.  She is one of a kind and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Brody is doing so great I don't even know where to start!  He is such a smart little boy with such a huge heart.  He is doing excellent in school and comes home with great reports everyday.  He has made some great friends and plays so well with the kids in his class. He does have a thing for the girls and has two or three girlfriends but also plays well with the boys and had 3 boys he is very close with at school.  He is just continuing to blossom all the time and I couldn't be prouder of him.  I got to sit in yesterday on some of the preschool academic testing (testing in preschool, I know!!) and it is so awesome to just watch him and how quickly he is able to answer questions.  There is a rhyming section where you have to pick two out of four pictures that rhyme and I swear he got some of them quicker than me! :)  He is so eager to learn and I just love that about him!  He continues to love to read and we are working on his writing and writing words.  I plan on starting sentence work with him after the holidays.  He is able to write his first and last name now with no problem and his writing is very easy to read.  He is constantly asking how to spell this and that and is very into drawing pictures.  He is starting to become very interested in sports and enjoys playing baseball outside and basketball in the basement.