Fall Review

Yesterday, snowflakes returned, unofficially marking the end of fall.  Somehow, perhaps because of the unseasonably warm weather, it seems to have come and gone in record time.  Or perhaps that is just the way of life when every day is full to the max.  As they say, the days are long but the years are short.  So true.  

This post is dedicated to summarizing some highlights of the past few months...

School days:  here I am in my glory looking over somebody's math. 

I turned 44!  Yoyo lovingly brought me breakfast in bed, but I was already up. So...  Breakfast in the chair in our bedroom!!

Uncle Ashley came to visit and brought along his sons - some of our favorite cousins!!  

Joy turned 15.  Um... What?

Our good buddies visited from Pittsburgh and the kids put on a 'FOM' in the garage (a fake prom).  So much fun:

Yoyo turned 9.  Here she celebrates with ballet buddies at Smoothie King.  Crash and I tag along:

Basketball season has begun!  Spike has 2 tournaments under his belt, and the team is looking great in spite of 2 of the best players being on the 'injured' list.

Joy works at a local dance studio, so we signed Crash up for her 3-4 year old tap class.  He loves it.  Here they are on Halloween!

Goofing around in the parking lot outside Friday afternoon homeschool art class.

Friday may have been the last day of summer-like weather...  So Crash, Grandma, Pada and I spent some afternoon time at the park.  Pada may have gotten busted for climbing he equipment himself:

Daddy, curiously absent from all the pictures, has spent a decent amount of time traveling to various medical conferences and serving as expert witness in trials.  We'll be glad to have him home more in coming months.  

Bring on the snow!!

New Wheels for Fall

1998 Winnebago Rialta

A fall walk

Our first dinner in the camper while parked in the ballet school parking lot.

Me and my camper-loving Dad

For years I've been joking that I just need a camper. 

All our kids' activities are several days a week and on the other side of town.  Most days, we spend several hours away from home.  This year, we made a decision to send one child to school half days, and another child has a need for ongoing occupational therapy...  all of which are also 30 minutes away from home. 

We prayed for help and were provided with 2 young adults who are available to help me with driving.  But still, we were spending so much time in motion, it was becoming difficult to complete all our school lessons and eat meals at reasonable hours. 

So, I started looking online for small campers.  My dad helped me with the search.  We found one...  a 4.5 hour drive away.  We needed an older model to fit both our budget and the size of our garage.  This one fit the bill. 

So, my faithful father and I set off on a trek to check it out.  It has a little rust, but has been very well taken care of.  So, I drove it home. 

In it's first week home, we drove in it every day.  It is comfortable, has a table for schoolwork, and even a little bathroom for emergencies. 

We can't wait to take it on a real camping trip.  And, for the record, my anti-camping husband is fully on board.  He loves and tolerates me -  crazy ideas and all.  God bless him.