Did I forget to tell you?

On November 20th we had an ultrasound.

With babies 1 and 2, we opted for a surprise about the gender (which is fun and I totally recommend)!

With 3, 4 and 5 we decided to find out ahead of time (which is fun and I totally recommend)!  But this go around it felt like a particularly big deal to know whether or not Austin was going to get a brother.

When all the kids were together, they got to open this box.  They would know if the baby was a boy or a girl by the color of the stuff inside.

PINK!!!  We have another baby girl.  I was completely surprised myself.  Three girls and two boys made so much sense that I didn't even spend time thinking about the possibility of FOUR GIRLS!!

We are so totally happy.  Austin will remain my one-and-only Favorite Boy in the World.

And we will have another daughter.  Win-Win.  I mean, common, what's not to love about daughters?!

2 years of Hannah, Hannah, 2 years of Grace

Color-full from before she was born.

Dawned at first light.

Yes, those eyes.

Sweet restful child.

Eager for independence.

 Graced with the presence of both her namesakes for her first birthday.

A tad messy at times.

But a lover of beauty,

which comes naturally.

A faithful supporter.

A very bright star.

Of the purple cloth she is.

A few bumps and bruises along the way...

...but, hey, it's all good!

Now she's two!

Far more generous with her smiles.

A favored sister.

A bit more silly than most would suppose.

A treasure in every sense of the word.

We love you Hannah Grace!

one other cool thing in October

One day Elia and I were discussing her progress with reading.  She was discouraged and said, "I can't even read you and daddy's bibles."  A moment of silent surprise caught me; I had no idea she had even tried to read them or was remotely interested in bible reading.  

For better or for worse, Michael and I do not insist that the kids have "bible" time in our home.  We own a full set of the Kid's Power Bible, which I completely totally utterly recommend AND which they totally dig.  We read those from time-to-time.  But that's it, there's no structured "wordage" for them around here.

Recovering from my surprise, I explain that different bibles are written for different reading levels--from advanced to beginner.  The ones she had read were most definitely adult level.  So, no wonder she felt discouraged!  But I leave the conversation at that.  A couple minutes later she pops outside and asks, "Hey mom, can I get my own bible?"

Oh the heart swell!  Suppressing my total delight that she is choosing for herself the right time to begin her relationship with the Word, I reply casually, "Sure hon."  But the story doesn't stop there...it gets better!

We finally make it to the Christian book store, eat some free cookies and make our way to the "youth" aisle.  There is a much bigger variety for her reading level than I expected.  I made a couple suggestions but left the choice firmly in her hands.  She chose a nice one--small, with a pretty cover.  

We leave bible shop and pop over to the store next door.  While I'm shopping she sits down to explore her new book.  Bewilderment kind of settled over her then a bit of frustration.  I knew right away what the problem was--the words were tiny.  Before I said anything she looked at me and said, "Mom, this is not the right one.  It's too hard to see the words.  Really, I just chose this one for the cover."  Me, "So you want to take it back and get another one." "Yeah."

Whoa!  I could not help but be surprised and delighted with the maturity of her processing.  She decided in this case function was more valuable than aesthetic.  And we agreed it would be much cooler to make her a special book cover anyway...

She picked the fabrics...

...as well as a few buttons from the treasure trove of my grandma's button collection.

See what we mean?  Little high on the cheese factor, right?

She designed and cut.  I sewed.

And voila! My gorgeous Elia and her eclectic-cool bible.  Word!

still in October...

Halloween was so pleasant this year!   I think it was--in part--because the time had not changed yet.  So though we left at our usual 5:45 p.m. it didn't get dark until we were finishing our round.  

Michael and I actually have fun doing the trick-or-treating trail. Not only do we get to see our kids and neighbors' kids blissed-out candy happy but we also get to see where many of our customers live.  We meet tons of "neighbors" at the shop but don't have a reference for where they actually live in the hood.  Halloween creates a quirky opportunity to connect a face with a house.  We like the neighbors, kids like the candy.  Win win.     

Most of the Halloween pics are already on a facebook album, but here are a few more...

Emerson and Hannah did t-o-t at their school as well.

There are only five kids in her class, which is something I like about her school.

Han was a bit clingy and anti-costume that morning so she hung out with me instead.

Cousins came trick-or-treating!

Love these little Vaclavs.

Ah, the first borns.

The 2012 T-o-T Crew.

Ninja

Greek Goddess

Kitty Cat

Unicorn

They did so well.  They usually do, but this year in particular they were really well behaved and miraculously did not eat that much candy.  

A super pleasant Halloween for all.  Who knew?!

Front Yard Wonder

I occasionally have a pangs of sadness about the fact that my kids don't have a proper yard to play in.  You know--no grass, no fence, no tree house or mud pits.

But occasionally we have days like this where the kids get to romp in the puddle-lucious wonder made possible by the lack of grass and fence and mud.

Puddles are simply awesome...

...especially with rainbows in them.

Double rainbow!  

It was quite the celestial display.  Experiencing it felt like a serendipitous encounter akin to stumbling upon a spontaneous street performance.

And then clear skies.  Nothing sad about that.