Pumpkin Patch & Pumpkin Carving

On Saturday afternoon we visited the pumpkin patch. Ella and Juliette each picked their own pumpkin to bring home.

On Sunday afternoon we carved the pumpkins and baked the seeds.

Here are the finished products!

Karis is such a smiley baby! 

During quiet time Ella likes to feed her baby. Ironically, her baby is also named 'Karis'.

Quiet Time

Hudson spent the day with us last Tuesday. Ella and Hudson were very happy to spend "quiet time" together. At one point I heard Ella say "Momma, we are resting". I peeked my head around the corner and saw them snuggled up on the couch.

I could sing of Your love...

Ella and Juju love singing worship music. They get on their "stage" just like the worship band does at church.

Some of our favourite things about this video: when Ella says "everybody have a seat" (just like at church), when Juju says "how do I sing?" (she says this when she doesn't know the lyrics), Juju's pencil microphone, and Ella and Juju swaying to the music.

Karis is 4 months!

Karis is 4 months today. She has such a sweet disposition. Karis loves to smile, wriggle, and coo. She often squeals in delight and giggles when she is tickled under her arms. Karis loves to do tummy time and is getting a very strong neck and arms. Just last weekend, Karis started to grab toys. She likes to play with the toys on her bouncy seat.

Last week Karis started "Roots of Empathy". Momma and Karis will be visiting a gr. 2 classroom every month until June. The students will study Karis: how she grows, her temperament, her milestones, etc. The program helps students learn about babies and learn how to show compassion. I also did this program with Ella when she was a baby. The program likes June babies so that they can have a birthday party for the baby at the end of the year.

Karis loves her big sisters, and they love her too!

New Hiding Spot

The girls love to play hide-n-seek. They ask us to count to 10 and they go hide. This usually consists of them going to the same spot over and over. This spot used to be in the corner of our living room, but the other day they discovered that the closet is a great hiding spot.

Baby Hailey

Last Friday our friends Keith, Melissa and Hudson welcomed a baby girl into their family. Her name is Hailey and she is beautiful!

When we visited Hailey at the hospital, Karis looked very big in comparison. 

While Keith and Melissa were at the hospital, Hudson had dinner with us while waiting for his grandparents to arrive. As usual, he got along very well with Ella and Juju. He was sitting next to Juju at dinner time and they decided to hold hands.

Happy Fall!

We have entered the rainy season here in the Lower Mainland. It has been so sunny and beautiful for the past few months that we actually started to miss the rain. The past few days have been very rainy and it's been kind of nice. 

On Friday the girls wanted to go for a walk with their umbrellas. Juliette said she wanted to carry her's "this special way" and held it by the very top. Not very useful, but it's how she insisted on carrying it. 

Juliette is a quick learner and held her umbrella properly at the end of our walk.

Momma's Helpers

With 3 kids all 3 and under it is hard to get much done and keep up with certain tasks. The girls have become excellent helpers! They love to help fold laundry (Ella is great at folding towels and blankets), clean the floors, and get some of their meals ready. We often have leftovers for lunch and the girls like to scoop it onto their plates and heat it in the microwave all by themselves. Ella is very good at pressing "3-0-start". She then watches as her plate spins around until she hears the beep. This process is very exciting for a 3 year old.

The funny part about when the girls get their own lunches ready is after they eat, Ella gets a big smile on her face and says "thank-you for lunch, Ella". Then Juju says "thank-you for lunch, Juju", and they giggle hysterically.

Visiting Friends

A few days ago we had a visit with the Lungs. The kids had a great time together. The girls were very excited to see that Jonas had a shirt with snails on it, so we played him our song "Sammy the Snail".

Happy Thanksgiving

We had some friends over to do Thanksgiving crafts last Thursday. Melissa brought the supplies to make turkeys out of cups. The finished products were very cute. Pictured above: Hudson, Ethan, Ella, and Juliette. Ethan is 18 months old and he is the son of our friend Juliet. Ella calls Juliet by her full name, "Juliet Teeter", this way we aren't confused over which Juliet / Juliette she is referring to.

On Saturday we went out to visit Great Grandpa. We met "cousin Alex" and Steve there. Ever since we've explained to Ella that Alex is Dadda's cousin, she calls her "cousin Alex". Karis was very happy to have a snuggle with cousin Alex.

Ella and Juliette were very excited to get new backpacks! Great Auntie Jan left these backpacks at GGrandpa's for the girls. Ella has worn hers every day since receiving it. Thank-you Auntie Jan!

Ella was happy to give her turkey to Great Grandpa as a Thanksgiving / birthday gift. Ella said "happy birthday thanksgiving" to him as she gave it. (Juliette gave her turkey to Grandpa Rob on Sunday).

The girls enjoyed trying out G. Grandpa's green chair.

On Monday evening we had our own turkey dinner at our place. It was a nice thanksgiving!

Musical Juju

Juliette loves music. Anytime there is a song on, she either tries to sing along or dance to the music.

Ella's Verses

Ella has been working on some memory verses. She has done very well at memorizing a paraphrase of John 1:12-13. Here she is reciting them, very enthusiastically!

"For anyone who says yes to Jesus
For anyone who believes what Jesus says
For anyone who will just reach out and take it
Then God will give them this wonderful gift

To be born into a whole new life
To be who they really are
Who God always made them to be
Their own true selves
God's dear child"

-John 1 :12-13

An Interview with Juju

3 on a Playmat

There is no lack of attention and love for Karis...

Last Week

Karis loves her bouncy seat / rocking chair. She kicks her legs and gets it rocking, she seems to have really good rhythm!

Last Friday, Keith and Melissa went on a date and Hudson spent the evening with us. Hudson, Ella, and Juliette were laughing hysterically at dinner time. Hudson would say "thank-you Mr. Ferfer" to Spencer and they almost fell off their chairs laughing. The same joke was repeated several times and each time it was just as funny.

Momma's helper. Now when company comes over and the carpets don't look clean, Ella was responsible for this.

The other morning Juliette picked her apple shirt to wear and said that she would like to be "matching with the computer" (we own a Mac). We had a good laugh about this!

Yesterday, Karis had her debut in the Jolly Jumper. She was very sturdy in there and Ella and Juju were impressed with her! Video coming soon.