October, 2014

I set on organizing the girls' shoe collection, which of course meant that it was time to play shoe store.  Sigh!  Ha!!!

Enjoying some Chipotle with my very pregnant seeeester!

We've really enjoyed having a membership to the Peoria Riverfront Museum.  Nothing beats hanging out there on a rainy day.

If you go there during the week the place is practically empty.  So.... you get to do things like monopolize a kayak for a very long time.

Grandpa got some new laying hens which meant it was time to teach Grandchildren how to wash eggs.  Elena was thrilled when he gave her a dollar for her hard work : )  The dollar, of course, made me laugh at the differences between my Dad as a Grandpa vs. Father.  It was expected that we children clean the eggs just as part of our normal service, and now the grandkids get PAID to do it!!!  Haaaa!

And then came that fateful day, when my dear sister went into labor.  She was having a tough time, so she asked for pictures of her nieces and nephews to make her smile.  I obliged.

and eventually, Mr. Samuel Graber was born.  Auntie Steph loved him from the start.

as did these two.

Back at Grandmas, the girls learning how to make Grandma's famous oreo milk shakes.  Yum!

Love that Grandma!

She's not tired.

Uncle Greggie took this lovely photo of my Elena.  She looks so grown up!

The girls and I made a trip to Costco and got caught in a huge rain storm!  Instead of waiting it out, we decided to make a run for the car.  We giggled the whole way and enjoyed the heater on the drive home!

Elena has ballet on Monday nights, so Anni and I go next door to Mission Mart to 'play'.  We have a blast and have gotten many a good deal.  I only have to put up with a *little* whining when we leave the store!

Nate and I took a weekend away to St. Louis to visit our friends, Eric and Elizabeth.

The weekend was like Steph's perfect weekend, as Elizabeth and I have very similar taste.

Tea and scones, O my!

A lovely walk in the park.

We stopped in the art museum located behind us just to see a few paintings.  Lovely!

We visited their church on Sunday, which was also a wonderful experience!  I can't wait to go back!

We were bored one sunny afternoon, so I decided to take the girls to Ackerman Farms in Morton.

Mmmmmmmm.

Delish!

We had time to kill, so we decided to try out the corn maze.

The Ackermans hid clues to a secret message all around the maze.

If you found all the clues and interpreted the message you could win a prize!

We found enough of the clues to figure out the message!

So we went home, suckers in mouth!

Oh look, another beautiful niece for me!!!!!  Welcome Miss Gwendolyn!

I took care of Lincoln for a night while Tim and Melissa were in the hospital.  Of course, this meant taking him to bakeries and loading him up on sweets!  Hee!

We also managed to swing by the zoo with a few students from Lingua Garden.

I went on a weekend retreat with two friends of mine from church.  Here we are, relaxing and playing my very first game of Settlers of Catan.  I won!  Although I don't believe I've won a game since.  Beginner's luck.

If you ever need a place to relax and retreat, check out the Chiara Center in Springfield.  It was a wonderful place and very reasonably priced.

Beautiful church on the grounds.  I went to Mass on Sunday morning and it was just what I needed.

May Peace Prevail on Earth.

Wow, we had a great October!  We took a fun day and skipped school to visit Auntie Diane in Bloomington.

Oh, and go to the Children's Museum!

Halloween!!!!!  Nate is posing with a friend of ours who is actually German.  Bavarian even!  They looked cute : )

Halloween itself was freezing cold.  We trick or treated in Greg & Mary's neighborhood, with Grandpa driving around my car so the kiddos didn't have to walk in the cold.  It was really fun!!!  Note:  for some reason my children wanted to be evil villains this year (vampires).  Maybe next year we'll be back to princesses?!!!