September everything else!

Carma is definitely our little night owl; this particular night she was adorably cuddling with this blanket that my Grandma Carma made when I was a baby and her bear that Grandma Pam gave her for Christmas.

 If we want to continue the animal comparisons, Carma is allllso a little fish and looooves bathtime. Even if it's not, you know, supposed to be bathtime. Even if it requires her to dive in, fully clothed, during Jack's bathtime... GRRRRR. That face though!! Saves her little life :).

 Random pictures: this was back when we discovered Carma's love of markers. We've since had to hide all the markers in the house because she also loves coloring on herself... walls... carpets... homework... etc. Also we continue to marvel at her flexibility, especially when she's asleep. Does that look remotely comfortable? Anyone? Jack meanwhile is my cutest sleeper.

 

 Carma and Jack got comfortable during one of our many trips to DI in September, the one a few minutes away from our house was getting ready to close so we hit it up frequently as the discounts got steeper ;). And a little brother piano duet picture! I usually don't go in during their lessons but I sneaked in at the end of this one; Sister Christensen is so good with them.

 Also during September, we made sure to keep tabs on the progress of the new DI haha:

So pretty right?

 Chuck's work had their annual softball game - juvenile detention vs. juvenile probation. Carma kept tabs on Daddy on the field...

 and cute little Elias off the field ;).

 The boys stayed occupied with a huge dirt pile and running around playing tag!

 And very happily Detention pulled out the win! Obviously I'll give all the credit to the super cute coach ;). (Chuck was the coach... in case that wasn't clear...)

Team Picture:

 This was the 14th year of the detention vs. probation softball game and the 10th win for detention!

 And as proof that my husband is a scholar as well as an athlete, here's a darling picture of Chuck and Will reading some Encyclopedia Brown: 

 

 I mean, I don't remember the circumstances of this picture of Carma but how cute is she???? (answer: very.)

 Sometimes you glance down and realize your son is snuggled up next to your feet on the kitchen floor... he's just a little attached ;).

 And here's Jack, warming up his birthday boy shirt a few months early. Spoiler alert: he refused to wear it when the day actually rolled around hahaha.

I found Carma a little BSU cheerleader outfit a while back at Savers and even though I knew it would still be too big, I couldn't resist sticking her in it for one of the early games of the season - which necessitated the boys getting their jerseys on too and a photo shoot with stelllllar results:

Cutest little Bronco fans ever!!

 It's possible Carma figured out how to take a selfie...

Jog-a-thon time! One of our favorite Park Ridge traditions, aka excuses to bust out the spray hair dye.

Clyde and Will both did great, and if I had blogged about this in any kind of timely manner I'd probably remember how many laps they each got!

I opted not to jog along this year (I didn't want to accidentally burn any calories) and instead focused on cheering for all the cute kids as they passed - here are some of the kids' friends from class and church and scouts!

 Chuck and I went on a date to someplace other than the temple or Costco! We were all shocked. The occasion was a library fundraiser lunch at Texas Roadhouse. We are grateful to the generous Annette for the tickets, my awesome dad for babysitting the wee ones, and our attentive waiter (on loan from the library staff) who kept the rolls and honey butter coming. That stuff lived up to its reputation!

 I'm not sure who loves legos more: me or the boys. They keep them entertained for hours on end - this was a base that Clyde built and I just thought was the cutest thing ever.

 At the end of September my dad treated the kiddos and me to an afternoon/evening at Linder Farms (Chuck had appts at the church) and we had soooo much fun... as the next five hundred pictures will verify ;)

 Turns out my dad is a bull-riding champ!

We had such a great time, thanks again Dad!!

 And just for fun, I found these pictures of me and Carma taken seriously 12 hours apart, one from 11:15 in the morning on September 10th and one at 11:15 that night when she blessedly finally passed out.

Aaaand thus concludes September which means I'm onto October which means I'm only six months behind! Booyah! (fun fact: I don't think I've ever actually said... or written... 'booyah' before... I kind of like it!)