Ok, I know it has been too long since I have blogged, so I will update you on the last month:

I have been getting very excited about fall. I am a big fan of this time of year. I love the colors, smells, and foods of fall. Some of my favorite fall things are:

1.Apples from the local orchard

2. The rich red of my burning bushes

3. Pictures of my kids in the leaves

4. The smell of burning leaves

5. Pumpkin soup ( and all of the other comfort foods of fall)

Here is an update on the girls:

Haylee started 1st grade. She is at school all day now): She loves it and her teacher is a young energetic lady. The best part for Haylee is that she earns "Hutch bucks" for good behavior and can buy something with her "bucks" on Friday. This reward system works great for my kids.

Haylee has also started back to soccer and gymnastics. She is getting older and therefore is in the bigger girls gymnastics and she actually has to play a position in soccer. Her games are very exciting to watch now, although I feel like I am losing my voice from cheering so loud (Yes, I am an obnoxious soccer mom)

Kenna is still in preschool and she is doing her preschool at her daycare this year. She loves it. Her daycare provider lives in our neighborhood, but her house is set back from the road in some woods. The kids get to take hikes and look for nature treasures. They are learning about what kind of protective covering animal have (ie. feathers, quills, fur, etc.) Kenna is growing up so fast. She is also in gymnastics and soccer. She is really good at gymnastics, especially the bar, but soccer is a different story. As one parent put it, "it is like a goat rodeo at this age". It is funny and sad to see 8 four year old girls clustered around a soccer ball moving in a big heard. They start crying every few minutes because they fell down or someone took the ball away from them and I am never sure of the score because they always seem to be kicking the ball into the wrong goal. Let us hope the it gets better. I am enjoying being able to be home with Kenna and Claire all day on Tuesday and Thursday. We go to library time and have fun play dates.

Claire is really active now. She went from crawling to cruising in a matter of days. This girl really wants to walk. She is still a terrible sleeper, but she is growing well and talking baby babble all day long. Hard to believe that she is 9 months old already.

We had a recent scare at our house that turned into a funny story. A very thin, sick looking kitty showed up at our door two days ago. I felt so bad for the cat that I gave it some food and after much thought decided that if it kept coming back, I would take it to the vet and give it a new home with us as an outdoor cat. Well, yesterday Haylee scared it and it bit her. Not knowing where this cat came from, I called animal control and they told me to quarantine the cat and call Haylee's doctor. We locked it in the garage as to take it in to animal control on Monday. Last night when I went to feed it, I realized that the cat was declawed. Because I had originally thought the cat was a barn cat from nearby, I realized that it probably belonged to someone. On a hunch, I asked some neighbors if they had a cat and sure enough, it was theirs. Yeah! It turns out that the cat is 18 years old with dementia,deafness, and possible kidney disease which is why it is so thin and sick looking. (and probably why it bit Haylee)

Well I have written enough for now. Hope everyone is having a great fall.