I could add a lot more to that title, but it's getting a bit long!  We have had a busy week!

 

The first pictures of Ella were from "Crazy Hair Day" at Awana last week.  I thought Ella's hair was the craziest of all.  She was a little concerned at first, asking, "Mommy, are all the other kids gonna have crazy hair?"  Once she knew she wouldn't be the only one, she had fun with it.

 

On Wednesday, my mom treated the girls and I to a day at Fall Country Fun near McLeansboro, IL, along with a friend of hers and her kids.  It was a beautiful day and everyone really enjoyed it.  Ella doesn't care much for touching animals, though.  She comes by it honestly.

 

Some of the biggest news of the week was that on Thursday night, Lucy started crawling!  We were happy that my mom was even here to witness that first time.  She is steadily getting faster each day.  She is also saying more ("woof-woof" and "bye-bye"), signing more ("all done" and "thank you"), sitting up in her crib, and pulling up to her knees!  We are so thankful that her development is progressing now after such a long period of wondering if everything was okay.  All praise to God!

 

On Friday, Jeff took his concert choir (he even drove the bus!) to record two Christmas songs at the local PBS station to be played back between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I accompanied them on one of the songs.  They did a really nice job.  Their first concert is tomorrow night, along with the beginning and intermediate choirs.  I'll have pictures of that next week.

 

On Saturday evening, we celebrated Todd and Lisa's 37th birthdays at my parents' house.  Ella and Lucy always enjoy playing with their cousins, and it was nice for us to all get to see their great-grandmother as well.

 

And last, but not least, God answered our prayers for opportunities to begin making friends by allowing us to spend Friday evening and Sunday afternoon with two couples from the church we have been attending.  We had such a wonderful time being "grown-ups" (both meals were without kids!) and getting to have adult company and conversation.  God even provided both meals at no cost to us!  Can't beat that!  We are looking forward to getting to know both of these families more in the future.  What a wonderful week!

...make that THREE more family members have gotten it now.

 

(as of 10/11 - it's up to FOUR!)

The highlight of the weekend...a surprise birthday party for Jeff's dad!  As you're about to read, however, there was much more to this weekend than that!

 

Thursday morning, when I went to get Lucy out of her crib, she had thrown up!  Yuck!  Thankfully, it only happened that once, and she seemed fine the rest of the day.  So, Thursday night, our family of four headed to the city's Fall Festival as we had planned.  According to the locals, it's the second biggest street festival in the nation, after Mardi Gras!  (Needless to say, a bit different than Dairy Days, which you read about last week!)  We had a fun time, but I didn't take any pictures. 

 

When we came home, Jeff and Ella had their much anticipated "sleepover" in the living room.  Ella was SO giddy about the whole thing.  We've never seen her clean up her toys and get ready for bed so fast as she did that night.  They started their evening by stuffing the big trash bag jack-o-lantern, then got under the covers on the air mattress and told "smooky" stories in the dark.  They could only see each other with the light of Ella's lantern and the light-up necklace she got at the fall festival.  They had a memorable evening, and much to Mommy's surprise, actually stayed out there the whole night!

 

Jeff didn't have school on Friday, so we were able to leave early for a weekend at his parents' house in Mattoon, IL.  We had a nice day Friday and Jeff and I even got an hour out on our own after the kids went to bed.  The next morning, however, I woke up and soon realized I was sick...VERY sick.  I guess I got it from Lucy.  Before long, everyone in their house had left and gone to Grandma's and I spent most of Saturday between the couch and the bathroom.  Jeff started feeling sick in the afternoon and joined me.  It was pretty miserable, but we were both so thankful to have child care that day!  Ella got to enjoy some time at a local pumpkin patch and was kept away from our germs.

 

Sunday was a surprise 60th birthday party for Jeff's dad, the main reason we came.  Jeff and I made it there eventually, but we weren't worth much.  Jeff called in for a sub for Monday and we spent the rest of Sunday getting our strength back so we could make the drive.  As of today, Tuesday, we're both feeling pretty good.  Unfortunately, two more family members have come down with it since then.  Ella is still going strong and we're praying she doesn't get it.  We're glad to be back home!

Just a few things to post pictures of over the past 2 weeks. During the 3rd weekend of September, our family went to my hometown of Norris City, IL for their annual fall festival - Dairy Days.  Ella had fun getting candy at the parade and riding rides.  I enjoyed seeing people whom I had not seen for years and watching Ella enjoy it all like I did at her age. 

 

The pictures of the girls in the bed...after I did the laundry yesterday, Daddy and Ella decided to surprise me by making up the bed with the clean sheets and then having Ella hide in the pillows to jump out at me.  We put Lucy in the pillows with her and they had a big time.

 

The pictures of Lucy in the pink dress...Each month on her month birthday, I take a picture of Lucy (in the same dress as long as she fits, then a new one) and put it in a special frame on the wall.  The final picture will be her 1-year picture in the center, but this is the last of the monthly pictures.  I can't believe how fast the year has flown by!  I had a more difficult time getting a good picture this month because Lucy would cry unless she was holding "baby."  (And I didn't want "baby" in the picture!)  She's become pretty attached to this doll lately.  In fact, "baby" was her first word, followed by DaDa, MaMa, and Bye-Bye.  Only a month and I'll be posting birthday pictures!