Another Year, Another Leaf Pile

We've arrived at that time of year when we have a seemingly endless supply of fallen leaves. So before they get mulched, a leaf pile is in order! 

The veteran...

The rookie... Not very interested in this whole leaf pile business. 

Evelyn requested to be "buried so that you can only see my eyes and I can surprise you."

 Happy Fall!

One and a Half

Little Miss is 18 months old! 

We had her checkup today--she's now 24.5lbs and 32.5".

Besides being all over the place (up and down the stairs, on all the furniture, climbing everything at the park etc), she's working on her vocabulary. So far, her words include yes, no, hi, buh-bye, dog, ball, bird, uh-oh, steps, baby, car, all done/all gone, and da (for dad--no mama yet). 

Annalie can point to her ears, eyes, nose, hair, and belly button. She also loves going to get her shoes to go outside! Her favorite destination is any park, where she loves to swing and slide. 

Favorite toys include any stuffed dog, baby dolls, and play doh. And the roomba--she'd have it running all day if the battery would last that long! She's getting very interested in books, especially lift the flap ones. 

I may be biased, but I think she's just about as cute as ever :)

It's Pumpkin Time!

Today we met Grandma Jean at the church pumpkin patch! It was a perfect fall day.

So many pumpkins to choose from!

 We also brought home a bouquet of zinnias.

Annalie took the task of filling the wagon with small pumpkins very seriously. 

Wheelbarrow ride (or Grandma's workout?)

And two pictures, since they couldn't manage to get their faces into the sunflower cutouts at the same time :)

September Happenings

Here's some of what we've been up to this month...

Enjoying the back yard

A morning at the arboretum

Evelyn and Tom took a trip down to Champaign with the Schwerhas

Gigantic tree!

Phillips Park Zoo

Sliding sisters!

The new familymobile!

Girls in blue

Here are some pictures I took of the girls recently... 

Love that crooked smile!

Evelyn is big on posing lately.

A favorite activity: stepping off of things

Yet another pose

Annalie photobombing

Every now and then I get a natural smile!

Stick delivery

Being Four

We do our best to keep up with a few birthday traditions--this is a new one! Here's Evelyn's 4-year-old interview.... (note: the sound goes out for a bit, but it comes back)

We also did a paper version, and she had some great answers!

And for her official 4-year old stats:

Height: 43.5" (98th percentile)

Weight: 44 lbs (93rd percentile)

July Recap

We are pretty behind on July happenings, so we will just condense them all here :)

We visited Blackberry Farm in Aurora, and had a lot of fun! Evelyn loved the pony ride, and the train was also a hit. 

We spent the Fourth of July with the Nelsons, because Uncle Frank was in town! Annalie had a blast rearranging the rocks in Grandma's garden--Maggie the dog enjoyed eating them.

She put herself in here.

Evelyn invented some game involving "Bad Guys" (Grandpa Wally and Maggie) and running back and forth through the yard... 

The game also required a lot of "making plans."

The following weekend, Auntie Kirsten was in town! Annalie was a big fan :)

Amazingly, a family photo!

Look who else showed up!

Evelyn is OBSESSED with mermaids right now. This is her homemade tail, made from a pair of my old pajama pants. 

Backyard fun...