11.11.11.11mos.

Today is 11/11/11 and Sawyer is 11months old. I posted this on Facebook and 11 people gave it the thumbs up! Funny!

The leaves are falling one by one. Hurrah! Hurrah!

Halloween

We did halloween a bit more traditionally this year....mostly because our church Harvest Festival was randomly cancelled last minute. I won't go into details but we weren't too happy about that....

So, anyhoo....we did get some super cute pics.....

 Just so you know...Ella is NOT Pochahantas. She is NOT an Indian Princess. She is NOT a squaw. She is NOT an Indian for that matter....she is simply (in her words) a Native American girl.  Sawyer is a cutie pie dinosaur and McKenna is Hannah Montanna. Her costume was on super sale clearance and that kinda sealed the deal for me!

Sawyer's Dedication

This was a very special day. All of our children have been publicly dedicated at our church. Some people, baptize, others christen, some do nothing....We believe that our children need to come to their own decision of faith with Jesus. We also believe that if we seek to teach them and parent them according to God's Word they WILL choose Christ and pursue a personal relationship with Him. So....the dedication is really more for us, as parents...We are "dedicating" and committing to teaching our children the foundations of Christ, the love of Jesus, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and ultimately the Gospel. The congregation serves as our witness.

During the ceremony, Sawyer kept grabbing and pulling my hair. Finally, I switched positions with Arthur to prevent excessive hair loss. Pastor Todd discussed the things I mentioned above and said a prayer over Sawyer.

Joining us for their own dedication were the Madison's and little Riley. What a blessing to have close friends up on stage with us!

After the church service we all went to Chilis to celebrateand of course eat some yummy food.

 Is it me, or does Ella actually resemble my side of the family in this picture? I see my sister and a liitle bit of me....anyone else?

Here are Sawyer's Godparents, John and Meghann. They joined us for the the service and for lunch. John went to New Life with Arthur and they were roommates in college.

And here are the grandparents...

The men in my life...

Cheater Pants Apple Turnover

1 can biscuits

1 can apple pie filling (any fruit filling would work)

flour

1. Roll our biscuits, pretty flat. Use flour to prevent sticking and tearing.

 2. Scoop small amount fruit filling into middle of flattened biscuit.

 3. Top with cinnamon sugar.

 4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Afton Apple with the Madisons

Beware, this post is full of  fantastic photos (lots of them) of super cute kiddos! Thanks to Josh and Kendra! I'll skip the narrative on this particular post. Hopefully you all know the particulars of most apple orchards. Just think of this as a review in pictures!

I have about 4 more photos to upload...but...I have run into technical difficulties!

So, these pics will have to do.

Nerf Guns = Dorm Necessity

The girls and I visited Northwestern College for a play. While we were there we stopped by the dorms and said hello to our babysitter, Alex G.  McKenna and Ella thoroughly enjoyed seeing what a dorm looked like and how a college student lives.  Alex has a hammock in her dorm which Ella loved. She also had a large drawer dedicated to artillery! Yup! Lot's of nerf gun varieties and ammo. The girls thought it was great. I think they may want some for Christmas.

Sawyer's First Day of School!

Sawyer and I are taking a weekly class together through our district's ECFE program. I did it with each of the girls, also. What's ECFE, you ask? Well, here's a link if you are curious. But, mostly its a really fun time designated for me and my little man. We do fun games and activities and he gets exposed to other babies as well. The ECFE program hasn't made it to all states just yet. I am so glad its in MN!! I tried not to get the other babies in the pictures, just incase their moms weren't happy about it. But, the baby here with Sawyer is the son of a friend and she didn't mind. You'll see he is mouthing a toy in the first picture. The general goal is to toss the toy into a specific bin once the toy has been in a baby's mouth. Hopefully, that happens more often than not.



He really liked this mirror! I thought these pics were pretty funny.




He was trying to kiss himself!



At the snack table.