Falling into fall

A few weeks ago, when we couldn't ignore the piling of leaves any longer, we attempted to rake the yard. Instead of Brad doing all the work, I dressed up the kids for some good o'l family fun. Armed with rakes, a blue tarp, and a lawnmower with a bag, we headed outside. But by the time the sun set, only half of our yard was done. (I really should have learned by now that anything we do takes twice or three times as long with children.)

But while Brad's goal was to get the lawn raked and mowed, I also wanted to take some pictures of the kids.


And just like we had two different ideas, so did the kids!


Sammy really wanted to run through the leaves again and again and again. (And also sit in the leaves WHILE we were trying to rake them onto the tarp.)


And Caleb wanted NOTHING to do with raking. He did want to run after every car and truck that drove up our street.


Eventually the yard did get raked. We got some super cute pictures of Sammy. And after many tears, we decided that leaves are just not Caleb's thing!

A few days later we went to the Great Pumpkin Festival that was held in town. While it ended up being not exactly what we thought (there weren't a TON of things to do for kids our age), Sammy did get to compete in a pumpkin rolling contest.


As I cheered for her and took pictures, I just was SOOOOOO proud of her! She is such a little girl, but there's nothing she won't try to do or overcome. And even though she didn't win (or even come close) I was so pleased with her energetic and fun spirit. She persevered even though she fell over three times. (It was a pretty BIG pumpkin!) She never gave up until she got all the way to me. She finished the race, despite watching every other child finish before her. No, winning is not everything. But working at something with all your heart and not giving up is something far greater than winning every race. And Brad and I couldn't be any prouder of our little girl!