you are my hand rolled noodles.

y'all are chicken soup for the soul. 
and not the icky, msg laden, plop out of the can with that disheartening *slllurrrp* faux-soup either.
you are the real deal.
the comments, emails, facebook notes... you helped me rally friends.
and rally i will... for there is good to be had. friends to be found. and adventure afoot.

but i'll probably cry later too. so there is that. :)

since i have spent every 'free' moment desperately searching the real estate sites for some sort of housing that we can afford and is not a van down by the river... the blog has lain neglected. 
i know. you're shocked.
so we need to play a little catch up... and THEN... FINALLY we have AFTER pictures folks. 
what is this sickness that urges me to post hideous before pictures and then never after pictures? 
it's called perfectionism. 
but moving is the force to finally finish those forsaken projects that mock my afters.
it's happening.

but first what's happening is september. and a little bit of october and perhaps a smattering of november.
okay.. so basically fall. :)  

the last weekend of summer-- the annual family whip cream fight...

it was the first year grayson didn't cry...

and the first year lucienne did.

penelope was only a week old so she didn't participate this year... but next year. it's on baby. 

it usually only takes about 3-4 years to stop the overwhelmed crying, feeling like your family hates you just because they are running, screaming  and slapping you with whip cream. 

a baby in a bed is utterly irresistible. 

a picnic at the lake while september blew warm across the water.

and mornings waking up to this. 

the changing of the seasonal wardrobes is quite the event with this many people.

sizes, seasons, gender... all to be sorted and switched and organized.

it takes all day.

this year i had a helper...

who was not particularly helpful. :)

we enjoyed the end to our summer toil on the new patio we (nate) built. 

i was very pregnant and very in charge of the choosing and directing of stone placement.

nate was my muscle. :)

to christen the patio nate hauled out the little TV to watch football.

we're classy.

well some of us watched football... others plumbed the depths of knowledge on ancient egypt. :)

and still others focused on getting as dirty as humanly possible...

since our grass had been trampled into a dirt pile through the summer work projects.

which gave everyone the ability to do the things they love most.

grayson got dirty while ari got bossy.

but eventually we did get grass.

 the friends descended, and with a lot of help from grayson, we were no longer the dirt pile people.

ari had a dream that nella could wear only doll clothes for the first weeks of her life. 

here she is modeling a faux fur coat for all your practical baby needs. ;)

big eye faces are about her favorite face. 

add in a super sassy silly voice and you have louie being louie. :)

i absolutely never get enough of being loved on by these little people.

their genuine, generous spirits bless me every single day.

i can also not get enough of our neighborhood.

oh... i will miss it.

it is the kind of place where the homecoming parade gets rerouted from main street due to construction and takes a giant left into awesome... also known as my front yard.

so of course we put out the facebook friend call.

9 am my house.

parade. coffee. doughnuts.

be there. :) 

and they were.

 this fall ari saw the neighborhood in a new way.

around the block on her own.

she had shown me how responsible she was.

how she always looked both ways. (about 9 times)

how she never stopped to talk to people, except a polite hello and then keep walking.

we reviewed the scream and kick and run scenario.

i still sent charlie with her.

and i counted the seconds at the front window until i could see her little face again. 

i am pulled and pushed.

us mommas are in charge of keeping limbs attached to bodies.

but to give those limbs space and place to feel their strength.

i teach stranger danger and then try to teach how to love your neighbor as yourself.

i am caught in the middle most days.

 and the little ones just trot on down the alley.

like they already know the truth.

my hands aren't big enough to hold them...  

but they are held none the less.

God's plans are big enough and strong enough.

even for trips around the block. 

and while the eldest was spreading her wings the baby was turning one month old.

this was when i was crazy enough to believe that i would actually remember to take a picture every month on her 'birthday'. 

psshhhh... you will never see month two... 

nor the cute photo-shopped "one month" on her onesie. 

as number four baby, nella intuitively realized this and held up her number one finger to notate for herself how old she was. i love self sufficient children.  

she celebrated her one month birthday by unloading a massive amount of spit up on her mommy and then managing to be such an adorable little monkey that i really didn't care.

and that was september.  :)