My favorite month out of the whole year has got to be October. And just like that, it's over. But I must say, it was quite a fun month here in the mountains of North Carolina. Could you tell from my lack of blogging? Well, I plan on making up for that now.
We have spent plenty of time outside playing in leaves, at the park, and on the Quad at UNCA. It was there that we took our annual Fall pictures with our best friends, the Hausers. Matt went to UNCA with Mark and I and his wife, Mary Clark's brother also went there. The leaves on the Quad are just GORGEOUS this time of year, so we try to always take pictures there annually.
We have also spent a lot of time with family this month. The boys got to see all five of their cousins within a week. We babysat Tyson and Hunter one night and played with them at the park the next. Then our Canadian family came down and spent 4 days of fun with us. We spent as much time together as possible and had an absolute blast. Marcus and Sam had the best of times and he was so incredibly sad when he had to say goodbye. At least Christmas isn't too far away. :)
And finally, Mark and I celebrated our 9th anniversary a few days ago. Just like with any marriage, there have been ups and downs, I can say with all honesty, that I love that man more today than ever before. I can't imagine doing life without him.
 |
| Helping Daddy at work - Have you tried Pumpkin Spice bread yet? Yum! |
 |
| All dressed up and ready for church. |
 |
| One cool dude. |
 |
| This is Marcus' new "thing." I don't know where he got it, but he literally does this MULTIPLE times EVERY day. |
 |
| Titus was just amazed at the beauty of Fall. |
 |
| There are two cute little boys under that beautiful tree. |
 |
| Chasing Madison around the tree. |
 |
| Sweet Baby Titus isn't such a baby anymore. |
 |
| Madison, Titus, and Marcus - Oh, how my heart smiles in gratitude for these children. |
 |
| Two looking, Two not - Not bad! |
 |
| I love all three of my Schuurman boys! |
 |
| And then reality set in... |
 |
| Matt, Mary Clark (with baby Sadie), and Madison |
 |
| Love this family so much! |
 |
| Climbing trees is fun, too. |
 |
| This was Marcus and Madison last year. |
 | |
| 9 years later - stronger and more in love than ever. |
 |
| This was a "sweet" math lesson with Reece's Pieces as manipulatives. |
 |
| Play-Doh is always fun to "learn" with, too. |
 |
| These two LOVE each other and LOVE jumping on our bed. |
 |
| He wanted me to take his picture showing how big of an apple bite he took. |
 |
| Sweet overalls and funny crocs (which he LOVES so much). |
 |
| It was a fun day at the park with Granddad. |
 |
| Marcus enjoys riding bikes with Granddad every time he's in town. |
 |
| This boy looks so big here! |
 |
| Cleaning off our pumpkins. |
 |
| Titus and his pumpkin. |
 |
| Marcus and his pumpkin. |
 |
| Neither boy would touch the inside of the pumpkins so I had to scoop it all out. But they didn't mind rinsing them out. |
 |
| We had a fun day with our friend Adelyn at the Mountain Play Lodge. Titus is now big (and brave) enough to take it to the top on his own. |
 |
| Sitting at the entrance of the "tree house." |
 |
| Marcus and Adelyn - sweet friends |
 |
| Titus loves the tablet. |
 |
| We got to see Madison three weekends in a row! This was the second, when her family spent the night with us. |
 |
| Matt went to work with Mark on Saturday. They children were quite excited when they got home. |
 |
| One lap + Three babies = Lots of lovin |
 |
| Nighttime cuddles before putting them to bed. |
 |
| Hunter, my sister Olivia, Tyson, and TJ - all spiffed up |
 |
| Riverside Park |
 |
| The twins shared one swing and Titus occupied the other. |
 |
| Marcus driving the old cop car. |
 |
| He better hope he never ends up in this place... |
 |
| This is as good as we could get with all four of them. |
 |
| Putting puzzles together. |
 |
| Checking out the view at his cousin's condo. |
 |
| It was INCREDIBLE! |
 |
| Titus took a liking to all his Canadian family, but especially his Auntie and Uncle. |
 |
| Loved wrestling with this wild boy! |
 |
| Why, hello studly! |
 |
| Titus was pretty excited to see everyone. |
 |
| It was probably peak leaf season while they were here and the colors were magnificent. |
 |
| Again, his version of smiling. |
 |
| Fog in the valley one morning. |
 |
| Love this cutie pie so much! |
 |
| Gem mining in Spruce Pine. |
 |
| Titus didn't do much mining, but he enjoyed the shovels. |
 |
| Mining was fun! |
 |
| It's green, it MUST be an emerald. Right? |
 |
| Titus just liked where the water came out. And boy was it cold. |
 |
| In front of one of the mines. |
 |
| Going into the other mine. |
 |
| The reflection of the sun on the water made a beautiful design on the rocks above. |
 |
| Feeding a few fish in the big murky water. |
 |
| Don't worry, I stopped to take this picture, but it was a BEAUTIFUL drive home. |
 |
| That evening, all of us went to the pool at our gym for some baths, I mean fun swimming. |
 |
| Titus enjoyed it for a while, then was done. |
 |
| Playing in the leaves was so fun. |
 |
| Titus wanted a turn, too. |
 |
| At one point the children were going down the slide into a pile of leaves. They all had a good time. |
 |
| Fun at the park - taking advantage of the great weather. |
 |
| It's a crazy ride when this guy is pushing. |
 |
| One kid on each part of the Loch Ness Monster. |
 |
| She was such a great helper when we went out for supper. |
 |
| This was a Japanese Steakhouse and not only was the food good but it was VERY entertaining. Check out her little face! (Titus, however, did NOT like the fire) |
 |
| We made one final stop at the salon so the kids could get a quick trim (just kidding). |
 |
| Love them so. |
 |
| Fish Face! |
 |
| Crazy boys! |
