Just Ducky

Anna and I (ok, just I) carved open a pumpkin Monday night. I really only wanted the seeds to roast, so the front of the pumpkin didn't get carved, but Anna didn't seem to mind. It's nice when she's this age. Everything is new and exciting, so she thinks the very fact that we have pumpkins around is pretty cool. Turns out she loves pumpkin seeds, too!
Here's our little duck. We think she's pretty cute!
Anna's first score of the night--M&M's from the neighbors! What a great night! Actually, we just went over to 2 or 3 neighbors and then headed home before the rain came. Now we get to see all the neighbor kids who are braving the weather. Word from the neighbor across the street is that the Calvin kids make an appearance tonight. We'll see.

Fall Photos

We had our first frost this morning. It's getting colder. (Actually, I think it's really cold. Wonder what I'll do when we hit winter!) Anna loves being outside, no matter how cold it is. One of her favorite things right now is crunching through the leaves. We have a maple tree in our front yard that is dropping pretty red leaves. We thought we'd go out for awhile this afternoon to get a few fall photos before they all fall off.

A Birthday Celebration

Tomorrow is Aunt Jo Jo's birthday, so we all got together tonight to celebrate. After dinner at Sam's Joint (yum! ribs!!), we went back to Grandma's house for cake.

Anna got to help Grandma put the candles on the cake. Who cares if the end with the wick goes in first? This is fun!
Anna wouldn't say "Happy Birthday, Aunt Jo Jo" (at least tonight. She did say it yesterday), but she had fun telling her all about the cake. (And said, "Bye-bye, Jo Jo" several times on the way home.) It was nice to be able to celebrate together!

Princess Boots

It was actually quite a nice afternoon--a little warmer than the usual, we hear--but that didn't keep Anna from wanting to wear her new princess boots outside today. Sometimes a little girl just wants to wear princess boots, especially if they light up with each step!

Playing Outside

Until it gets too cold, Anna and I (and Matt when he's home) take advantage of every opportunity we have of playing outside in the afternoon. Anna loves playing with the leaves and crunching them in her hands. She notices when our neighbor across the street comes home. She sees his car pull into the driveway and says, "Tim" (but usually doesn't talk to him yet). She plays with her ball or her car or on her Papi when he's around and happens to be sitting or lying in the grass. We love being outside!

Pumpkin Picking

Yesterday we headed out to Matt's mom's house. We picked her up, then headed to a pumpkin place nearby. Anna was very excited about all the animals there. (She's talked about the goats, rabbits, chicks, and calf four separate times today!) She was pretty happy playing with the pumpkins back at Grandma's, too. The day was gorgeous, so it was great to be outside. Today has been nice, too. We took a drive out in the country--sorry don't know my directions very well out here yet, so I don't really know where we were. The colors are getting really nice. There are so many trees around here! Matt's hitting the books tonight. The week looks pretty good for him with the exception of a Greek quiz on Wednesday and thinking about papers that are due in a few weeks.

Catch Up

We finally got internet at home, so now I can catch up. The last blog was that beautiful, warm October evening we spent at Lake Michigan. Here's what Friday one week later looked like.

Last week we had a great visit with Hannah, our friend from Ripon. She was checking out Calvin and was able to stay with us for a few days. Anna had a lot of fun with her. We took a trip to Chicago for the weekend (to drop off Hannah and visit very good friends).

We spent a wonderful weekend attending a soccer game, hanging out with friends, and eating some great food. It was great to catch up with John and Anne and see their kids again!

This week has been very busy for Matt. He had a mid-term in one of his classes and Greek has gotten complicated. It's hard to believe this quarter will be over with in less than a month. I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving break. Matt has the whole week off!

The Big Lake

It has been unseasonably (for Michigan) warm these last few days. We headed out Friday afternoon for Tunnel Park in Holland to see "the big lake". Anna was very tentative about the sand and the water at first.
After a little while (and after seeing other kids playing in the water nearby), she took some steps in the water. She soon was soaking wet and enjoying herself. She fell once or twice and didn't like that too much, but otherwise had a blast. She ended up wet up to her armpits. (Of course, I didn't have her suit along). (We're at Matt's mom's house right now--on Barlow Lake--and thought Anna would have a blast in the water. She's got her suit on today, but won't go anywhere near the water.) It was a wonderful evening away!
On this warm October evening, the sunset on Lake Michigan was just beautiful!

All in One Day

My sister Sue, her husband, and three daughters visited on Saturday. We had a very busy day. After lunch, we walked over to Calvin. Matt showed everyone around the seminary, then we walked through the campus back home. We had to stop at the "cheese" for some fun photos. (Mom, there's Abbey with her new haircut!) It was fun to walk around and see how much the campus has changed.

Then we went to a local apple orchard to taste some apple treats and apple cider (which Anna loved). We got to see them make the cider and then bought some to take home. After a quick trip to Costco we headed home for some brats before it was time for bed. We had a really nice visit. It's nice to live so close to family that we can get together easily and often. Matt didn't get much school work done, though, so the rest of the weekend was pretty busy for him.

We tried a different church again this week. It's getting to be quite a challenge with Anna on Sunday mornings. She fusses, sometimes cries, and doesn't want to go-------with us after church. She has loved every church nursery she's been in and it has been a struggle every week so far to get her OUT of the nursery. She is not shy or scared to go to nursery, and is never in a hurry to leave. This week she was the last kid out and only came because the nursery attendant picked her up and handed her over the counter to me. It's not easy finding a new church, but it's nice that one thing we don't have to worry about is bringing Anna to nursery. She'll adjust easily wherever we end up!