Snickerdoodles with Ducky Gramma

Eli LOVES to bake and always wants to help.

Thankfully, his Ducky Gramma is one of the BEST bakers around :-)

This morning, the two of them had a fabulous time baking snicker doodles together.

Papa happily worked on a cross word puzzle as the bakers worked.

Alli and Lukey wanted in on the action too and got to help roll the dough in the cinnamon mixture.

Or "chase it around the bowl" for Lukey :-)

He was quite good at counting the number of cookies on the pan.

Such a fun morning of making memories and Garrett will be thrilled to find his favorite cookies waiting for him when he gets home from work! :-)

Fire Station Visit

Tonight, one of the men in our Life Group at church invited us to hang out at his fire station.

It was a HIT with all of the families!

All three little fish were super excited to learn that they would get to do this tonight.

They even helped make some yummy popcorn for the firefighters.

Aside from climbing all over the fire trucks and engines, the greatest excitement came from trying on the gear.  Pretty sure it's unanimous that Mark (the firefighter) is now the coolest dad in the group according to all the munchkins ;-)

The bigs thought the boots were super cool!

Alli was feeling pretty strong being able to hold up the gear and clothing.

Luke was the first one to check out the gear.  When Mark finished showing the kiddos how he gets in his suit, he told them they could check it out and ask questions.  While most people stood there, Lukey went right up to the front and said "I want to wear that hat!"  It was heavy but he assured Mark that he was "super strong"  Too cute!

Eli was enthralled with the boots and helmet, putting them on any chance he got :-)

After touring the station and having some snacks, it was time to go home, much to the disappointment of the little fish.  What a blessing to have met these wonderful people and to have these unique opportunities for fellowship.  We are incredibly blessed!

Starting School in Kansas . . .

Nothing like jumping right in!

We landed in Wichita Tuesday afternoon, had fun exploring our new neighborhood and house, and got ready to start the new school.  All three little fish are at the same school here, which is so nice.

Lukey is still going M-W-F but is now in the afternoons.

He was excited to start on Wednesday and his new teacher and friends are as sweet as can be!

Neither boy was too excited for pictures so I decided not to push my luck :-)

We got to Luke's class a bit early and he got right to playing.  

When we picked him up that afternoon, he was all smiles.  

Though, as you can see from the picture, he was worn out!!!  

He was in bed before 6:30 and slept until 7 this morning.

While Lukey was in school, the bigs had the opportunity to tour the school and meet their teachers. 

Alli and Garrett even got to buy new spirit shirts ~ Alli was so excited to have "gone shopping" :-)

 Eli chose to be introduced to his class, who are so welcoming!

The kiddos kept walking by us in the hall saying "hi Eli, I'm your new friend"

Eli also had his assessment yesterday and passed with flying colors.

He got to show off everything Miss Huber had taught him this year :-)

Alli was a little more reserved, which we expected but she was all smiles this morning.

She decided the new jumper isn't as bad as she thought initially and she looks darling.

We put in her Lighthouse hair bow to give her some comfort and she was thrilled.

Great thing is today is picture retakes at CCA so the kiddos will be getting more school pictures and will be in the yearbook ~ Alli was thrilled!

 After dropping off the bigs, Lukey and I went to Target so he could spend his birthday money ~ super heroes, paw patrol, and Legos ~ life is good!

We are now anxiously awaiting 3:45 when we can go back and 

get A & E to hear all about their first days.

Halloween 2015

It was our 8th Halloween on Rutherford Circle and it was a hit!

 Our wonderful friends, the Ellis family was kind enough to invite us over for trick or treating and fellowship.  What a gift to have neighbors who became incredible friends!!!

These kiddos could not possibly be any cuter!!!

It was a rainy and windy evening but that did not stop these sweeties from walking the neighborhood.

Alli and Emilie decided to show their independence and asked to go ahead on their own ~ super cute!

Eli could not resist trick or treating with his best buddy, who had THE PERFECT matching costume.

Doesn't get much better than Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper!

As Luke and I were about a quarter of the way around the circle, he asks me if we are done yet ;-)

I said no and asked if he wanted to go to more houses for candy but he said "no, I have a lot of candy"  Couldn't argue that one!!!  He ran to catch up with Nate & Eli and hit up 2 houses with them before deciding he really was done.  We had to go to his buddy Rachel's house to say goodbye :(

These two have such a precious friendship and we will miss their family so much!

And of course we had to stop by Todd and Stacy's one last time before the move.

Goodbyes are tough but how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends to say goodbye to.

Lukey was happy to go back to the Ellis's house to watch a fun movie and check out his candy.

These four were adorable and tired ;-)

While these four chilled, Blake, Emilie and Alli hit up the next neighborhood and came back with quite the loot for the Candy Fairy.  Though the weather could have been better, it sure was a fun last Halloween in Rutherford.

Eli's Kindergarten School Picture

Somehow he looks so much older to me this year!

So handsome but that baby face is already disappearing.

How I love this precious boy and his kind heart!!!

Alli's 3rd Grade School Picture

Where did my baby girl go???

In her place is a very beautiful young lady!

Still has the precious smile and freckles but definitely no baby face anymore.

What a joy it has been to watch her blossom at LCS!!!

Eli & Mommy Special Day

One of the things I am going to miss most when we move to Kansas is 

No Friday Kindergarden

The boys and I LOVED our Fridays with Alli when she was in Kindergarten.

Now with Eli, it is our special time for just the two of us while A & L are both at school.

Today, as much as I thought I wanted to come home and get ready for the movers 

{who are showing up Monday morning ~ YIKES!}

Eli and I spent the morning riding bikes together.

Before we left LCS this morning, I was talking to a friend about how I wanted to just focus on E and not on the move during our special time this morning.  My friend assured me he would pray for this.

Prayers answered!  We had THE BEST morning!!!

We decided to be adventurous and leave our neighborhood to check out a friend's neighborhood.

It required going on some nonresidential roads with decent hills.

It was precious to hear Eli chanting "I think I can" riding up the hills.

I loved saying to him, "I knew you could!"

He did AWESOME!!!

We had so much fun checking out some different parks and viewing nature.

This precious boy LOVES God so much and spent most of the ride commenting on how much he loves "God's beautiful creations with the trees changing colors"

His giggles while spinning were priceless.

I wish everyone had his joy for life and love for God!!!

When we got home, he told me it was time for some work on his bike ;-)

It was adorable watching him "work" on his bike.

I took it as an opportunity to teach him the difference between flat head and phillips screwdriver.

How I enjoyed our special time together this morning!!!

2015 XC Season Begins . . .

 Today was the first meet of the 2015 Cross Country (XC) season and it was GREAT!!!

Much to my great delight, all three of the little fish enjoy running so when the bigs both wanted to run XC for Lighthouse, I was happy to help coach Kindergarten with Lukey as my assistant :-)

Eli (and his buddies) were super excited for their first meet . . . 

EZ E could not stop looking at his ribbon when it was over :-)

He did such a great job but the BEST part was at the beginning of his meet ~

one of his teammates fell and Eli stopped to help him up.  I nearly cried, I was so proud of him.

His heart is so big and he tells us God gave him a heart to share Jesus with others.

YES He did Buddy!

Luke was excited for the meet too . . . UNTIL he realized that he didn't get to race.

Given that he runs most of the practices, he was NOT impressed ;-)

He finally settled for running on the sidelines and cheering on "his" runners.

He crashed when we got home so it definitely wore him out!

Alli was thrilled to be racing again and did great!

She finished strong and so loved the cheers at the end :-)

One of the biggest excitements (and surprises!) was seeing Barbie Gramma and Grandpa.

The kiddos loved their cheering section :-)

The only bummer was Daddy wasn't there but thankfully he will be at the meet next week.

To celebrate such a great first meet, the kiddos and I stopped by Menchie's for some yummy fro yo! 

"B" is for Button

Three years ago, when Eli was in the 4s Preschool class, we made 

Eli was super excited to go to JoAnn Fabrics to pick out buttons for his shirt and loved wearing it.

Last year, when Lukey was in the 3s class, he was excited to wear it.

When he found out he got to wear it again today, he was ecstatic.

The Fisher boys LOVE the button shirt. 

And the Fisher Momma is super excited with how well it has held up! 

Happy Birthday Mommy!

The 13th anniversary of 25 was splendid :-)

 Though I missed G so much, my three little blessings spoiled me.

Alli had a tough time sleeping the night before so she climbed in bed with me.

Super sweet to wake up and see that precious sleeping face first thing on my birthday.

All three were super excited to go to Panera for a "my" birthday breakfast.

Alli enjoyed a cinnamon roll, Eli a chocolate chip muffie, and Luke a cinnamon bagel.

Alli couldn't wait to give me the presents she had for me.

The card was precious and I LOVE the earrings she made me and my new "blingy" lanyard!

Lukey was extra sweet and gave me his Baby Ducky for my present ~ that is TRUE LOVE!!!

Baby Ducky is his most special lovey that he's had since birth.  

I told him I would share a snuggle with Baby Ducky then give him back :-)

It was a long day with the kiddos' activities but when I got home, I walked in to find beautiful roses from my handsome hubby, cards from family and a thoughtful gift from a wonderful friend.  

I felt so loved!

One of my early presents was an incredibly fun, bright pink bike.
I've been having the BEST time going for bike rides with the little fish!!!

Poor Eli cannot understand why I would want a pink bike instead of blue but he enjoys our bike rides.
We cannot wait to get to Kansas and go for bike rides as the Fisher Five :-)

It's been a great birthday celebration but it's not over yet . . .
The fun will continue on Friday when we have dinner with family to celebrate.