It's Pumpkin time!

We finally made it to the pumpkin patch to pick out a good carving victim. Holland stood still for about 4 seconds, so it was difficult to get a good picture of her. Rowan was very compliant, but as you can see, enjoys exaggerating about the "cold" weather. It topped out at 62 degrees while we there. Hardly a reason for a winter hat, but who am I to say. As I watch these two Barnes children, I am amazed at how incredibly different they are in personality. They both have wonderful qualities and they both teach me new things every day. Mostly I am learning how important my developing patience is. This concept, although not a revolutionary one, strikes me as one that many mothers for a long time have realized is the key to raising children. Well, there are MANY keys, but patience seems to be an underlying factor in almost all other areas. What I've seen is that the stronger my patience is, the more fun we all have!

For those of you who think I can make this stuff up...


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For those of you that I thought I could make this stuff up...





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10 year reunion

I think I mentioned that I would be attending my 10 year high school reunion while I was in Chicago. Well, I survived. At first I thought I would never be the type to go, but since I was there and I didn't have to go all the way out to Wheaton for it I thought I'd give it a try. It was a great reunion experience. It was at a bar, so it wasn't stuffy (far from it actually) and it was really nice to see people that I hadn't seen or talked to in years. Although I'm the same age as everyone that was there, I felt old. Not too many of them had children. But it was great to reconnect. In fact, there were so many people there I didn't get to talk to everyone I wanted to. Here are some pics for those of you who remember my high school friends.

Chicago...........

We had a great girly trip to the windy city! After many delays on Thursday, we finally made it to the city. A few highlights include: The Art Institute, shopping on Michigan Ave., Wicked the musical, more shopping, architectural boat tour, lots of tasty food, great girl fun, a short visit with Shannon, a very short visit with my mom and dad, and I survived my 10 year high school reunion. I can't believe it! It was sad to leave Quin and Mindy who we rarely see, but we're already thinking about the next trip. Ha, ha, ha! I'm not sure our husbands are up for this again for awhile. All the kids did great and we're happy to be home with them again. Now it's back to reality! Still waiting on pics. Will post them when I have them.

Apparantly Holland is no longer satisfied with horizontal movement. She's moved onto the next level of vertical movement. Last Saturday we found she had climbed into the dishwasher. On Sunday she had climbed onto the ottomon on the sunporch. She sure is a lot of fun and keeps things interesting! She and Rowan have been playing together a little more and keep each other entertained at times with giggles and chasing each other wherever there is room. It is such a delight to watch them together, wondering what their relationship will be like as they grow up together. Our prayer is that they stick together no matter what.