Halloween 20-Fifteen (It Rhymes!)

We had a fun Halloween this year, but who am I kidding?!?  We always have fun Halloweens.  It's the MOST wonderful time of the year (sung to the tune of famous Christmas tune...ahem.)

Anyways, I got to help out in Parker's classroom for their party.  That was fun. They have a cute parade, play games, and have HEALTHY snacks!  Who is this teacher?!?  haha!

Anyway, LOVE HALLOWEEN!!

Field Trippin' with my Buggy-Boo

The nicest thing about being a semi-stay-at-home mom is that I can go on field trips with my favorite kindergarten girl.  Parker and I have been to the Apple Barn for 2 years in a row now, and this year was our 3rd!!  I was delighted to be able to share this with her again! 

My heart is full.  I have so much to be grateful for in my life.  Three beautiful, healthy daughters.  A supportive, wonderful husband who is also my best friend.  An awesome family with siblings I look up to and love to be with.  My Dad, who is soldiering on the best that he can in spite of his grief.  My Mom, who I miss terribly. I wish I could still talk to her, spend time with her, and know that she is thinking about me too.  I have so much to be grateful for, but I still have these moments when I just feel so sad and empty.  Some days it helps me push on and want to be a better Mother.  Other days, I just want to cry and feel sorry for myself.  This grief is unpredictable and paradoxical.

A Trip to Grand Rapids

Mark had a conference that was in GR, and we decided to make a little family trip out of it.  We had gone to GR last year for our anniversary, and discovered how much fun it was, so we decided to take the girls out of school for a little fall break.

We stayed in the Amway Grand Hotel again.  It's so old-school, classy, and fancy.  It was fun for the girls to wander around the ballrooms and look at the chandeliers and what-not.  There were a lot of events and conferences in town so the crowds made it that much more exciting.

While Mark was in his conference, the girls and I went across the street to the Grand Rapids Museum.  There was a really cool exhibit on King Tut and we had a great time wandering around.  It literally kept us busy for hours!  Afterwards, we grabbed lunch and by that time Mark was done. 

The Comic-Con was also in town that weekend, so it wasn't too hard to convince the girls it would be a good time.

It was a really fun weekend. We don't normally do this kind of thing, but we all definitely needed a little break from reality.  It was nice to be able to escape and see new things and get our weary minds off of the every day. 

I want to make sure we do this kind of thing more.  In the end, this is all we take with us...the memories we make and the relationships with our families that we take the time to strengthen.

Fall at Dow Gardens

It's kind of ridiculous and unreal just how beautiful this season can be in these parts.  We decided we MUST get outside and soak up as much of it as we possibly could this year because we just know that it will not last. 

Anyway, on this particular day we took a stroll through our favorite Dow Gardens, and it did not disappoint.

So gorgeous.

This is actually our neighborhood, view from our front yard across the street.