Update

OK, I've let two weeks go by without posting our goings on, and a lot has happened. Here is a quick (or not so quick) re-cap of the past 14 days:

1. We visited the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm for a fun-filled day packed with hayrides, pumpkin decorating, animal feeding, and of course, lots of photo ops!
Finn was fascinated with the tractors, and I couldn't get him to look at me for more than a half a second, so most of his pictures include a tractor and the back of his head. He spent the majority of the time sitting on a variety of antique tractors, to which I snapped about a hundred pictures before I noticed the sign right in front of me stating: DO NOT CLIMB ON THE TRACTORS! Audrie had to take in every bit of the farm, and busied herself trying to complete each and every activity that was offered. She especially enjoyed feeding the animals and showing her brother how to do the same. Finn's animal feeding consisted of offering the goats some grass, as well as his fingers, and ended with a quick rescue of pointer and middle from the tightly clenched jaws of a very determined goat.We left the farm with pumpkins in hand, covered in hay, and a little sunburned.
It was a good day.

2. Audrie attended the last two classes of the Children's Book Illustration course I was taking and ended up presenting her own illustrated version of The Tortoise and the Hare to the whole class. She is well on her way to achieving her goal of becoming an author/illustrator.

3. We went to the annual fall festival for our homeschool group where I was in charge of the football toss game. While Audrie ran around playing games and accumulating candy, I spent the majority of the time chasing footballs thrown by kids who must have eaten their Wheaties that morning! If I'd known I would have been running so much (while holding a toddler), I would have skipped my morning workout and slept in. Thankfully Finn fell asleep after an hour, and I was able to enjoy watching Audrie in the production of The Pilgrim's Arrival: The First Thanksgiving. She played a Separatist, and although it was a non-speaking role, she had me convinced that she was truly enjoying the feast of plastic food!

4. While Daddy stayed home from work to watch Finn, Audrie and I went on a field trip with our homeschool group to the Blue Moon Glassworks Studio. While there, we were taught how fused glass pieces and stained glass windows were made, as well as shown a demonstration of glass bead making by one of the artists. We also created our own glass pendants which will be fired in the kilns and returned to us when ready. My pendant reveals my passion for the color red, while Audrie managed to fit a hummingbird and a flower on a 1"x2" square. Her creativity never fails to surprise me!

5. Finally, over the weekend we were joined by some of my favorite people for some fun, quality time. Spending time with my mom, mother-in-law, Aunt Susie and my daughter always yields lots of laughs, inspiration, and chocolate intake! This time, between talking, eating, laughing, bubble blowing, eating, and more laughing, we managed to junk three pumpkins and a gourd for Halloween. The result?? Pumpkinstein, Ghoulie, Broom Hilda, and Mebraska the cat.

Whew! So there it is....a quick update.