Surviving September

We did it! We survived September! We survived a month filled with volleyball, gymnastics, book club, Sparks & Cubbies, band performances, play dates, coughs & colds, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, and other assorted meetings, appointments and practices. We joined a homeschool group and a food co-op. We picked apples and raspberries, and had dinner with friends on a couple occasions. When turning the calendar over to October today, I noticed that all but 2 days in September were filled in with activities, appointments or other things. Oy! But we survived.

For me, the month was even more of a challenge, because my thyroid crashed again. It was about 4 months after Ashlyn was born that I was first diagnosed with thyroid problems. So I wasn't surprised at the end of August (4 months after Josiah was born) to learn that my thyroid was crashing again. I spent the month battling extreme fatigue, among other symptoms. So despite the impressively long list of all the things we did in September, there is an equally long list of things that didn't get done.

But I won't bore you with what didn't get done. Here are some photo highlights of what we DID do this month!

At the end of August, Dakota and Emma spent a couple hours filling bags of food for Meals From the Heartland. While working, they had to wear hairnets, which Emma thought was awesome. Never did I realize how many purposes a 6 year old could find for a hairnet! Here is a picture of Ashlyn wearing one, while the girls use clothes pins to turn the other into a hammock for their dolls.


A little later in the month, the girls decided the grass was greener on the other side and they wanted to switch sides of the fence! Emma wanted curly hair, and Ashlyn wanted straight. (Isn't that the way it always goes?) I set Emma's hair in braids the night before so it would be curly in the morning. And then in the morning, I went through much toil straightening Ashlyn's hair. It took some work, but the girls were happy with the results!






On another morning, Ashlyn picked out an outfit that had been one of my favorites when Emma was her age. I remembered taking pictures of Emma in the outfit, and thought it would be fun to take some of Ashlyn to compare. Here are both girls at 3 and 1/2 years old.


And not to be overshadowed by his big sisters, Josiah learned a trick or two this month. The most recent and impressive being sitting up on his own.


He turned 5 months old in September, and is most definitely the cutest and happiest little boy we've ever met.


Watch for more posts and pictures about our other "Septemberings." I promise, they're coming soon!