our fall, in brief

With winter snapping at our heels and a crazy season behind us, I wanted to briefly catch up on a few major activities and milestones. This is Hunts on her first day of Junior Kindergarten this year. She has made incredible strides this year at school and I am thankful for a loving, academically challenging environment for her. Here she is on the homepage of our school website!


One of the fun things they do at the beginning of JK is "All About Me" day. Even though Huntleigh's all about me day fell on one of the busiest days we've had to date, Huntleigh shone like the star that she is and she ruled that classroom like the future CEO of her own business. She was amazing. She shared a bit about herself with some little props and pictures and then she led the class in shouting all the letters in her name, then she clapped out the syllables in her name. I loved being there to see her shine!


Syllable counting....


Just a bit of a timeline: We closed on our new home on September 15 and then we began our projects on the 16th. One of the most high impact projects was ripping up the nasty pink carpet in the upstairs. Beautiful hardwood floors were just waiting to be walked on underneath. We used an amazing company to do the work and they did an incredible job. I highly recommend using them for any future flooring projects.


The basement became one of the biggest projects in our house because we knew how much it would be used by our family. I put my heart and soul into making this space a warm, loving place in which to hang out. I can't wait to post pictures of the new and improved "lower level"!!


In the midst of all the autumn chaos, I planned and executed a double 60th birthday surprise party for my parents 3 days after we closed on our house. The house closing was my red herring for the party. I am always SO pleased when I can fool my mom and I pulled off the party without her even suspecting a single detail!!! We had an amazing night and I even got my brother back in town for a few days, which was awesome.


The following weekend, our girls were in their first wedding together. They were incredibly well-behaved and beautiful. Being the emotional person I am, I cried as they came down the aisle together. I am so proud of my girls and I was so happy to be a part of Johnston and Amanda's day of celebration. What a fun memory! Lucy's flower ball was about to fall apart in this picture, so her jaw was dropping right about the time the flowers were falling the floor....


I've been on a couple field trips this fall with the JK and our first one was apple picking. I love being with my daughter in her school environment. I mean look at this face. It's irresistible.


Huntleigh and her friend Florence. They're good little buddies.


This was our special meet-and-greet with a sea lion at the Saint Louis Zoo. I love Lucy's body language in this picture! I love the sea lions, but I have to admit, when you're up close to this 400-pound animal, as gentle as they are, they're still a bit scary!


Here's Hunts getting ready to pet the sea lion. She was our brave one that day. It was a great visit!




My mom and I took a whirlwind trip to Chicago for a weekend so she could attend a high school reunion and we could see a couple friends & family, and do what else than go to the American Girl Place and IKEA! Here are Hunts and my mom during our brunch at American Girl Place.


And could Lucy look any happier than in this pic? Too cute. Love all those teeth!


Halloween is a very big event in our new neighborhood. We had a great evening with Josh's sister Abby who came to trick-or-treat with Ladybug Girl and Snow White. You gotta love it when your neighbors give candy to the kiddos and beer to the adults. That's community for you! Halloween night also marks the first night we slept at our new house, and it was a great night to really call our new house our home.


Sweet Aunt Abby!


Huntleigh's 5th birthday was just a couple days after we officially "moved in." Crazy times. We had a very crazy birthday party for her with the best cake I've ever had for her. I did NOT make it, but I did design it with my new favorite cake maker in Saint Louis. Here's Huntleigh's cake and this is my parents' birthday cake. This woman is incredible.


And last, but not least, the school where my dad is Headmaster opened its doors at a new location on November 22nd and we went bright and early to celebrate with my parents and the school. We are thankful to The Journey for its willingness to extend the invitation to bring this school under its wing to be its new home for the time! We've all done enough moving this fall to last us for a long time! And that's the end of my blog post. I'm sorry if you fell asleep while reading it....Happy Monday!