Perfectly Imperfect

I just love the fall season. It's absolutely gorgeous here in Wisconsin. It's been known to snow here before halloween... but thankfully this fall was pretty mild. We took advantage of it, and went on special family outings- picnics, trips to the park, and family bike rides. If you're wondering how in the world we made that happen, Jon and I both rode bikes with a kid seat attached, Celeste rode her own bike along side of us, and there was a bike trailer attached to Jon's bike to haul the other 2 kids! People did double-take when they saw us ride by with all those kids in tow!

So we went to this cute little pumpkin farm and petting zoo to pick out our pumpkins. It was a nice little family outing on a perfect crisp autumn evening... total bliss... until Jarom pooped through his pants, kids started fighting over pumpkins, and Jakey had a meltdown. Let's get real... life with little kids can be seriously stressful and out of control at times. I rarely take pics of those moments though! Haha! Only the good stuff here...

But honestly, I wouldn't change it. I'm learning that the stress and difficulty of those hard parenting moments help me to grow in patience and love. We wouldn't develop these attributes without the problems. I like this old saying, "There are no problems, only opportunities." Sometimes I get so frustrated with the kids (just for acting like kids.) But they're innocent... and not even accountable for their actions until they're 8. The bickering and whining is a TEST for us- the adults all around them. So some days are better than others and I remember to be patient and teach with gentleness and other days are not so good. But I hope I will grow in love and patience every day... and in the end, ironically, I can thank my kids for who they help me become.

I'm learning that happiness in life is all about perspecive. "Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections." -Unknown

5 little pumpkins

We went to a pumpkin patch the other day and let each of the kids choose their very own pumpkin. We bought one extra little pumpkin and hid it from the kids. When we got home, we lined all 5 of the pumpkins up and said, "Oh wait a second, there's an extra pumpkin! Who do you think that one is for?" And then we broke the news that there's an extra Hudson on the way. They were sooo excited! Jakey had no clue what the fuss was all about, but he kept yelling, "Yay!" like the other kids, and clapped his hands. Little does he know, that means he's not gonna be the baby around here anymore... and he might not be too thrilled about that. ;)

Here are a few pictures of our fun day...At the petting zoo, this goat was super eager! Most of the goats would timidly eat the food out of the cup, but this one had the right idea! He just grabbed the cup out of our hands and dumped all the food out all over his face. Smart goat!Then another goat even more aggressive and climbed up on the fence! Um yeah... that's when mommy got worried, and we decided to move on.

Ha ha!! This picture cracks me up. We told the kids to make a scary face. I just love my little trick-or-treaters.

It won't be long until it's wayyy below zero here, so we're trying to get out as much as possible while we still can. Hope you're enjoying the fall season too!

Sundays

I LOVE Sundays. It's my favorite day of the week. I feel strongly that rituals and traditions keep families united and strong. So we have established a few rituals every Sunday that help to make it a special day for our family. First, and most importantly, we go to church as a family. Then, after church we have what we call "snack and snooze". We're usually starving because our meetings last 3 hours, so we have a big smorgasbord of leftovers from the week, and then we all crash and take naps.

In the afternoon, sometimes I'll get out a "Sunday jar" full of random ideas for service and other activities for the kids that are appropriate for Sundays. (I usually get that out if the kids say they're bored.) Then later in the evening, we make popcorn together, and watch a Sunday movie about Jesus, the Bible, or the Book of Mormon. It's a wonderful time to be close and to enjoy some time together. Lastly, we call Nana and Papa and each of the kids get to talk to their grandparents. We weren't very consistent in doing this for a while, but now that we have set aside a time every week, it has really helped to make it happen. Since we don't have any family here, it's a great way to nurture those important relationships.

Tonight was especially fun because Daddy set up the big pumpkin for us. Here are a few pictures from today...

The kids love making popcorn! They go crazy whenever it starts popping! I don't think we'll ever get microwave popcorn again, because this alternative is just too much fun!

It's showtime!Our ever amusing Daddy trying to make us laugh. I love to laugh, and he loves to make people laugh, so I think we're a good match. ;)

And naturally, there had to be at least one melt down! ha ha

Here's the silly glowing pumpkin we've put up every year since Celeste was born.

Poor Jakey wasn't too sure about this enormous foreign object taking over the front yard. He was pretty apprehensive about it and he kept clinging to my leg.

Who needs to rake when we have our very own little leaf collectors?!

Hope you enjoyed your day too! Do you have any Sunday rituals or traditions?