Bye Bye Leaves :(

 Well, we hit peak leaf season this past weekend.  The kids and Kev amused me by going out to the lake to view the scenery from our fav. overlook spot. It was beautiful, but the pics don't really do it justice as the sun was setting and we were losing daylight quickly.

 We had a nice fancy Wendy's lunch...Hays wasn't too amused to be eating out in the cold weather after a long day of ballet, but she didn't complain too much :) 

 Awwww, lil' buddy loves to snuggle his Hailey. 

 Such beauty in this autumn season...I'm gonna miss it when the dreary winter hits :(

 Playing on the playground...

 She takes such good care of him :)

 My goofy big guy and lil' girl playing around :)

 He's not so sure about this slide :)

 Hailey took this...check out the various colors...love it!

 Love them!

 A pic of the fam...we look tired don't we...we are!

 Poor buddy...getting tired of the cold and giving me the glare, but still lovin' his Hays :)

 My babies :)

And a pic we took by the road.  It's awfully blurry, but I thought it'd be a fun pose anyway.  Someday we'll have a professional do this of us. 

Anyway...I just wanted to post this today b/c I'm grasping at the last remainders of fall after a very dreary, rainy Indiana day.  The leaves are just about gone.  Before I know it, Dec will be here and it'll be gray every day with lil' traces of the white stuff.  Not my fav, but I am trying to be optimistic about this winter and the fun it will bring with our sweet boy as he discovers snow and ice and cold. We'll see if he's a fan.  He LOVED autumn that's for sure...I think he'll be a little more constipated in winter due to lack of leaf-eating-fiber! :) heehee :)

Poor Lil' Pumpkin Boy!

 Yes, I'm the mom that saw this idea on the internet and had to try it with my 10 month old. I was super excited when I found this HUGE pumpkin at our church pumpkin patch.  We have never had one this big, but I knew I'd need a jumbo one to fit our jumbo boy!  He was not all that amused at the idea of sitting in a rotting fruit on Saturday....

 ...thankfully some puffs put him in better spirits...

 ...and he grinned for his mama...and looked mighty handsome with his pumpkin body :)

 ...it was almost too big for him (and, yes, he's wearing his sister's lacy brown leggins...I am that far behind on laundry :))

I had to try on the famous green hat that Auntie Joy made us.  It made a nice "sprouting top" to our lil' pumpkin boy :)

Oh, the things my kids have to endure due to a crazy mama :)  Gotta love them!  I sure do!!

Merci!

Another shout-out of gratitude is overdue for our favorite French friend, Nathalie!  Check out what she sent our French-loving-girl, Shelb, last month!  Shelb was just thrilled with her new authentic Paris goodies (and she just happened to be wearing her Eiffel Tower pj's this day too for our school's pj day--thus the curlers in her hair as well :)).  Nathalie wrote her a couple notes on postcards and sent some beautiful scenic pics, and check out the cool Paris pen and the cute little French dolls.  And the stickers convinced Shelby that croissants are big over in Paris so she has now been begging for them for lunch and dinner.  What a blessing it is to have a friend in the European city we love so much.  Merci a million times over to our friend, Nathalie who brings such cheer to our family.  We will have to put together a fun little American package for her!  Bless you, Nathalie!!

Perspective

I think it stinks that sad news sometimes is what forces perspective in life.  There seems to be sadness all around me right now.  A friend lost a mom to cancer last night, another lost a baby, another is having family trouble.  It all weigh on my shoulders.  I want peace for my friends, my family.  I feel uneasy when this is not the case even though I know it's part of life.  But, it does put it into perspective what's really important in life and what truly is not. Little stresses are just not. I kept this in mind today. I let my house go, I let the dishes sit, the fish tank is still green scum, the laundry is a mountain we are climbing over.  None of it got done.  Instead I spent time with a friend.  A sweet new friend who is a lot like me...but who also set stuff aside today, like a not-so-perfect house, and had us over to hang out.  It just reminded me of what's most important.  People, not things.  I know this all too well, but life distracts you sometimes and you forget.  I want to be reminded every day.  I am reminding myself tonight after a very crazy evening of running from activity to activity (4 to be exact) and feeling very rundown by a baby who needs constant attention today.  I need to look at a picture below and be reminded of what's really important in my life.  My family, my friends...my healthy children.  I am hugging them a little closer tonight. 

Trick or Treat!

Couldn't let another day go by w/o a funny little pic of our trick-or-treating gang on Nov. 1.  First time we've ever trick or treated in November, but it was well worth it. Perfect weather and tons of fun. 

Happy Belated Halloween from Thing 1 (Hailey...Thing 2 was her friend Audrey who trick or treated with us), Storm Trooper (Star Wars-Dylan...or maybe he's a clone trooper...I have no idea what the difference is), Ariel/Little Mermaid (Ash...yikes to the crazy red haired wig!), Audrey Hepburn (Shelby who put together her costume all by herself!) and our lil' Mouse-in-a-trap (Logan) :)

Steg "Slow" Days

Why is it that even slow days for the Steg house still equal craziness and so many undone things.  I really had high expectations for relaxation today...especially since it came with an extra hour of "fall back" time and we were all home together as a family.  I guess by now I should know to have NO expectations for anything...even relaxing/extra-hour days.  If you asked what I did today I think I could only tell you, "I went to church!" :)  I have absolutely nothing to show for the day.  The house looks just like the disaster it was this morning, very few chores were done, I think there is still laundry in the washing machine from yesterday, homework didn't get fully done, the things I tried to get done on the computer today were a bust (websites for registrations weren't working) never went outside to enjoy the day today.  I saw some beautiful foliage but didn't have time to really enjoy it...I never read with Ash even though her read-a-thon ended today...we never cleaned the fish tank (poor Bow in his green slime)...and I really just wanted a nap...I almost thought I'd have time to take one.  Never did.  Bummer....

But in the spirit of trying to be positive I am going to make a list (at least in my head) each day of things I did do...so, here's what I'm glad we did do this weekend....

-enjoyed a wonderful night of belated trick-or-treating with our neighbors/friends and a big ol' group of kids on Friday night.  Kids loved hoarding candy and Logan was the hit of the neighborhood with his costume.  People were coming out of their houses to see him and take pics on their phones :)
-we were blessed to serve alongside our church family early Sat. morning at Carefest sorting clothes for Honduras.  The kids did amazing helping and giving of their time.  Even Logan was a lil' trooper volunteer!
-we enjoyed dinner at the lake at our favorite scenic overlook. It was a bit chilly and windy, but the changing leaves were amazing to see.  Such beauty in this autumn season.  My fav. part was watching the kids run around with such abandon.  I think they were actually picking on each other, but if you drowned out the arguing they looked almost like they were having fun :)  I love especially how Logan clung to his Hailey and played on the playset.  He adores her. 
-I love and appreciate how Kev and the kids amuse me with my love for changing leaves and family photos
-I love to be home with my family.  Even though we got nothing done today, it was just nice to all be under one roof and not have to run too many places.  I'd love more days like this and maybe even once not go any where in one day.  I know it's not likely to happen, but there is the occasional snow day that might force us to :)
-I did successfully register D for Upwards bball at our church for the new year (yikes...thinking about January already?) The younger girls have yet to be registered for ice skating...but hopefully that computer bug will be worked out tomorrow.
-D disguised a turkey as Mario.  Yet another 2nd grade project done.  That boy can't focus to save his life.  Next project daddy can hold his hand :)
-we did clean the nasty poopy hamster cage
-Shelb got to have yet another sleepover with a friend...she is the friend-magnet lately...she loves seeing her friends A LOT!
-I was in and out of Kroger in 20 mins.  This is blog-worthy b/c it's so rare...and also b/c I did it w/o any kids with me.  This was my me-time today :)
-Kev and I watched a movie last night...and tonight the kids watched one.  Love movie nights :)

Well, I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's making me feel better to put all that in writing so I feel somewhat accomplished at the end of a weekend.  Tomorrow will be a bit of a crazy day with watching 2-3 extra kiddos and also starting up a new activity (indoor soccer for D).  But, Tuesday should be blissfully quiet with no school due to Election Day.  Can't wait to stay in pj's most of the day. 

Halloween-re-do

Well, today is November 1st...and also our Halloween.  Weird.  The kids even said so.  It was strange to not dress up yesterday and roam the neighborhood for candy :)  It actually wasn't even terrible weather during trick-or-treat hours.  But, we did get some scary thunder later in the evening.  So no mounds of candy to show for our day yesterday...but Ash and I did do some baking of cookies and making of some cheap ghost milk jugs to pass the time.  We roamed around Bloomy a bit and took some soppy pics outside of Logan's 1st Halloween.  I even made him put on his costume at one point. Poor kid :)  He amused me.  D had a fun lil' party at school...and did great presenting his pumpkin (Fly Guy) project.  Shelb was bummed to not have a party in her class (apparently 4th grade is cut-off for holiday fun).  Hailey went to ballet as usual all evening.  And it seemed very strange to still be working on a Halloween costume on Halloween night.  But, Logan's "contraption" is done and we're ready for trick-or-treat re-do tonight.  I have to admit Kev and I are in a fog.  I actually thought yesterday was Friday for some reason so today has really thrown me off.  I did however get some half off deals at Target that I can use tonight...one good thing about celebrating a holiday after it's passed :)  I feel as though I've been through Christmas already and we haven't even officially made it through Halloween.  Eek.  We've gotta slow down.  I hope Nov. can bring some solace before the storm of Dec :)  Here's to happy trick-or-treating for our 5 rascals tonight and some rest for the weary parents this weekend...