That's My Girl!!

Dan was gone this evening, so the kids and I were hanging out. We were getting pajamas on, myself included and we realized Elise was not upstairs. The boys came down to see where she was and yelled for me to come down. I found Elise standing on the table with both of the boys' cups in hand. She had a big smile on her face. Oh, Elise! Gotta love her outfit too...we hadn't gotten past her warm underclothes yet.

LIGHTHOUSE 2011!!

Sunday night was Lighthouse 2011! The youth ministry (24/7) had a great night at Gurnee Mills Mall this past weekend. It's a fun night of music, food, give-aways, and testimonies where students can invite their friends to come and hear about the love of Jesus. This year, we had Propaganda and Odd Thomas, along with DJ Promote and the band Chicago Winter. Propaganda does hip-hop and also poetry. Here is a link to his G.O.S.P.E.L. in 6 words http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIhGxEdez98&noredirect=1 . It was a fun night and a lot of my friends also came with their kids. We didn't stay very long , as the kids were very tired and still getting adjusted to the time change. It was a powerful evening though and hopefully many lives were impacted.


Propaganda

The Velmonts

Our crew!

Heather, Becca, Lynnette

Levi and Brody

Levi, Brody, and Claire

Stades Farm

Today we went over to Stade's Farm. They have an Autumn Festival there. We went last year too and enjoy going on the last weekend they are open since all of their produce is half off! We were able to get some sweet corn, apples, and squash.
They have a lot of free things for the kids to do, and also some activities that you can buy tickets for. The boys had fun going in the bounce house and also down the big slide. Elise also went down the slide with Dan. They had a huge rope spider web that the kids could climb on. Their favorite activity (which was actually free) was the Bovine Befuddlement. It's a maze inside a trailer. The boys went through it a half dozen times and Dan, Elise, and I went through it a couple times. Instead of a sand box, they have a huge corn box. The kids had fun playing in it and it was much less messy to clean up! We did find corn in lots of odd places, including Elise's diaper!
It was a chilly day today but a lot less windy than last year. We bundled up and stayed plenty warm.

Isaac

Levi

Elise in the hay maze

Levi and Isaac climbing on the hay maze

Trailer maze

Spider web

Bounce house with slide


Giant slide - Isaac

Giant slide - Levi

Dan and I (Isaac took our picture!)

Isaac getting buried in the corn box!

Elise in the corn box!

Levi getting buried in the corn box!

Harvest Party

Last weekend our couple's group had a Harvest Party. The kids had fun dressing up in their costumes and doing a scavenger hunt. The weather was really nice so it made being outside great. There were a lot of kids there so it was quite crazy but lots of fun. Isaac is really good friends with Anna. They are in preschool together. She dressed up as Wonder Woman and her brother was also a cowboy.

What's Elise up to now?!

Elise is a very curious girl. She seems a lot more busy than even the boys were! She has discovered the toilet and loves to stick her hand in it...yuck! I have to make sure we keep the bathroom doors closed so she doesn't wander in there.
The other day, Dan was home with the kids and had Levi and Elise in the family room. He realized Elise was not around and kept hearing a funny noise. He knew the bathroom door was shut so it couldn't be her playing in the toilet :) A light went on and Dan realized that it was the water from the refrigerator. He went over to the kitchen and found her standing on a stool pressing the water button! She would press it, then let it go and press it again. She was soaked but having a grand time!!
Elise has figured out how to pull herself up onto the kitchen chairs so now she can have access to the countertops and whatever else she can push the chairs against. She definitely keeps life interesting!!

Fun in the leaves!

The kids love playing in the leaves! They have been having lots of fun this fall, especially with the nice weather!! Our neighbor Ryan likes to join them too.

Dollinger's Farm

Dan had the fall retreat for the high school ministry last weekend up in Lake Geneva. We went down to my mom's, as my dad was down in the Ozarks fishing with my brothers. The weather was absolutely beautiful so we went over to Dollinger's Farm. They had lots of things for the kids to do, such as a playground area, petting pens, animals, tractors, tepees, and of course pumpkins. The boys each picked out a pumpkin. Mom had packed a lunch too so we enjoyed having a picnic there.



Enjoying popcorn!

Paul's 40th birthday

My brother Paul celebrated his 40th birthday on October 4th. His birthday is the day after Levi's so we had lots of celebrating that weekend! Amy had reserved a party room at Cemeno's Pizza in Joliet on Sunday. I drove down with the kids and went to the party (with the help of my parents!) Dan was unable to join us as he has youth group on Sun nights. My brother has been a great example of a hard working, faithful, God-loving man.

Levi's 3rd birthday

It feels like we celebrated Levi's birthday for several weeks! Levi received his free birthday meal at Red Robin so we went there to celebrate. They brought out an ice cream sundae at the end and sang so he had a lot of fun with that.

The weekend before his birthday we had my family up for a party. It's always fun having all the cousins here. There were 19 of us in total so we held the party in the garage! It's appropriate with his entry into the world. The weather was gorgeous that day so we were able to be outside too.

On Levi's actual birthday, we went to Royal Oak Farm and picked apples. It was a beautiful fall day. We enjoyed lots of apples and apple cider donuts. We also were able to see the animals at the petting farm. Unfortunately, Levi got stung by a bee while we were there but it didn't seem to phase him too much.

Levi is a fun loving little boy who enjoys playing with trucks, motorcycles, cars, and animals. He's so cute how he always needs to carry around his "guys" and will even bring some to bed with him. When we go places (walk, van ride), he will bring some of his "guys" with him. He is getting a very big imagination and loves to play pretend. He is a good snuggler and loves to be hugged or held. My favorite saying he has right now is "I want to tell you a question." He is a great big and little brother and does pretty well as a middle child. He has a great heart and loves to share with others.


Red Robin


Lightning McQueen

Our family

Grandma and Grandpa Larson

Levi received lots of nice gifts including Lightning McQueen cars and a guitar

Royal Oak Farm

The apples were up high so Dan had to lift the boys up to reach them!