Birthdays, Blessings and Grand-Babies

Is there anything better than when a brother has a birthday? 

Maybe if it was your birthday instead! But in reality, all of the birthdays come with tables full of food,

and cake!

Grandparents who read the new books,

and get right down on your level.

Uncles who mind meld with the baby,

and cousins to help play with all the new toys!

The birthday last weekend was so much fun, and I am so thankful to share these grandsons with our co-grandparents (Aaron's parents) and their family! We all have so much fun together!

And now we have a freshly-minted two-year-old (who "helps" with yard work),

a soon-to-be-4-year-old (who helps with yard work),

and this little guy (who does NOT help with yard work...lol), too!

I look forward to loving and cuddling them as we all watch them grow together! 

My fall has been fantastic, so far, and I hope yours has as well! As we careen into Halloween this week, and slide into Thanksgiving next month, I hope you are all holding on tightly to the ones you are thankful for and letting go of the things in your life that make it hard to see your many blessings.

In the midst of it all, I'm thankful that you stopped by today! And now what do we say? Well, Christmas and all the winter gift-giving occasions are coming, so let's all...

Knit in Good Health, friends!

Pete got a sweater for
Grady's birthday.

Baby Needs a New Hat

The baby needs a hat, because this one is really too small.

So I bought yarn for a hat. Well, I bought yarn for approximately 7 hats.

To be fair, I have plans to knit hats for all 5 grandkids, as I'm currently kinda obsessed with this Musselburgh Hat pattern! 

It's reversible!

So, if you need me, I'll be knitting hats. Some in old yarn...

...and when that new yarn comes, lookout! I'll knit around the clock tonight! I'm gonna knit, knit, knit 'til the morning light!

But first, a little party for this guy, who is 2!

Happy birthday, Grady-bug!

Thanks for stopping by, and if you knit, Knit in Good Health!

Autumn Apple Antics

How do you top a great, fall weekend vacation?

Apple Picking!!!

Yes, the next weekend we joined Jess, Aaron and the kids to pick apples, and this was our eventual haul:

It took less than two hours to put the baby's apple hat on (originally knit for one of the big brothers)

and be the first in the corn-box...think sand-box, but (you guessed it) with corn! The boys loved it!

On the way to the apples, we stopped to try our hand at hefting a pumpking (he did not get it off the ground, but the grunting was spectacular!),

and check out what kinds of apples were available!

We had to keep this little hooligan from eating apples off the ground, and we tried to show him how to pick the apple then put it in Pop Pop's bag, but...

he just took a bite out of every.single.apple.he.picked...hahahaha! Super adorable apple-eater!

The baby was mostly happy, until lunchtime, 

and the other boys were too, but by the time we got our cookies and donuts, we were tired!

So we headed out, we all took naps, and fall's beginning was deemed a success! This fall has been lovely, and Pop Pop and I are taking advantage of cool, colorful walks between weekend visits with the boys.

I hope the weather is lovely where you are, whether you are entering fall or spring (hi, Katie!), and that you are finding joy where you can. Our cups certainly overflow with joy these days, and we wish the same for you and your families!

Thanks for stopping by, and if you knit, Knit in Good Health!

(And have an apple!)

The Elusive, Vacationing Grown-up

Last Saturday, I mentioned packing for a little vacation...would I have enough yarn? Well, I am here to report that yes, I had plenty! In fact, I didn't even have time to break into the new project I packed, and didn't finish the socks I brought with...lol...but I'm not sad about that. This trip was all about spending time with these little hooligans:

Just look at the attitude on that 11-year-old!

But she can smile, 

when she wants to...hahahahaha!

To be fair, she wasn't totally in on snuggling the baby. I think she gets that from her dad...

Being the oldest cousin, however, she was the most likely candidate to hold the littlest cousin while dangling feet from a trailer decorated for fall!

Speaking of dads (and moms), the grownups managed to avoid the photos pretty well on this trip to Boyne Mountain (MI)! Other than this shot of our daughter's husband with his middle kid and our son's youngest, and that pic above of said son with his sister's littlest, 

there were very few posed photos of any of us who were over 18...maybe we'll get those at Christmas? Lol...

Maybe there aren't so many photos of the grown-ups because we just didn't have as much fun as the kids did...I mean, three of them rode horses...

All but the baby, even this little guy, got a turn in the bouncy house...

and there were so many opportunities to run and play (most of us got a turn to ride that ski lift, even though the snowy season is a few weeks off),

and lots of music to dance to!

And sometimes, when things got a little overwhelming, the middle kid just took a moment to snuggle his little brother in the grass,

and maybe give him a little tickle...lol

Besides that, there was golf for the guys,

some of the big people went zip-lining,

and the kids had fun at the indoor water park (no photos at the water park...so wet!)! 

There were fun and games,

a great condo for us all to stay in,

and lots of time with the family, 

Boyne Mountain is a beautiful place to spend time with an awesome family! It was a great time to see the colors of fall, and we had such a good time!

This weekend will be a little quieter, but we will spend some time with the boys and pick apples tomorrow. That'll be fun! How are you ushering in this fall season? I think you should snuggle into a cozy sweater and do some knitting! (Of course I do.)

BTW, I've finished the socks...

and I've started the hat now...

Thanks for stopping by this week, and Knit your way through the chilly weather in Good Health!