The Reitz Family: November 2010

Fall is my fave. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. And again. The part of the country we live in is blessed with heavenly weather this time of year. The kids play outside without coats, and the skies are bright blue, cool and calm. Lovely. October always has so many fun things to do, and the kids had a great time doing them.

At preschool, Asher had a Harvest Festival, and that particular day happened to be his 'Special Person' day, so we made sure he was good and ready. I made the vest and chaps(first time ever costume experimentation), added a few things and he was yee-hawing all over the porch while I tried to snap a few pictures (no, really, he was jumping all over the place). He was a pretty darn cute cowboy, I must say! On his 'Special Day' he is supposed to bring an item from home to put in the 'guess what bag'. His item du jour was his prized White Pillow. I tried to suggest some other super cool toys to bring and show off, to which he said, "OR, mom, I could bring my white pillow." He had me there. And who am I to say what's cool for a 4 year old to show with pride? I had to smile as I watched him proudly show all of his classmates his pillow...he took it all very seriously. So funny.

Balloon Fiesta this year was beautiful, as usual. I always LOVE the weeks before and after too, since more balloons than usual are dotting the sky every morning. The kids never get tired of seeing them. Never. I don't either. What a unique thing to see balloons out our window almost every morning, all year long. I hope I don't ever take that for granted. Jen and Josh were in town visiting his us and his fam, so they spent a morning at Balloon Fiesta Park with us! We hit a Mass Ascension on a weekday, which I highly recommend. We are used to gargantuan crowds down at the park, but the day we went we ended up scoring rides on golfcarts down to the park, no lines at the gate, and the kids had enough space to run around without us panicking and worrying about where they were every second. It was great! Weekends are overrated.

We did get to see Corey's parents for a surprise last minute visit. One Saturday afternoon in early October, Corey was called to be in the Bishopric, so he called and asked them if they could possibly, hopefully, maybe come down for the ordination. They came, and we were thankful they could work it out to be a part of his day. (As for the pics below, Corey had already changed his clothes after church and his mom wanted some photos to remember the day. He agreed, but didn't bother putting on any pants, so here is what we have...a cropped picture, and the reality...nice, right?:))

Every Saturday this fall has involved a soccer game, and every one of them has been thoroughly entertaining. Love those U5 players! We've watched little boys chase butterflies, fall all over each other, run in circles, stare at a ball sitting 2 inches outside the goal wondering what to do...you name it. It's been great, and Asher has actually improved a lot! It's been so fun to cheer him on. Beck's a pretty smart dribbler too, whether because he's watching Ash, or because the ball is just the right size for him to effortlessly walk and have the ball move along in front of him. We had to buy another ball to avoid contention...and to entertain Beck during practice and game time.

We headed down to Wagner Farms for Asher's field trip. We've gone there before for our pumpkins, maze, etc. We maneuvered the maze easily after the hot tip from the preschool teachers..."no matter what you do, stay to the right." It worked like a charm. The kids picked out some pumpkins, played in the corn, ate apples, and fed the animals.