The Great Pumpkin

Well, it's finally starting to get cool around here. I went last weekend to the big children's consignment sale with a friend and stocked up on jackets, pants and long-sleeved shirts for the boys. I even managed to score a Halloween costume for Jacob - Blue's Clues.

I took Jacob to the Dr. this week since he was starting to wheeze again. It turns out that his lungs sounded fine, but he is taking an antibiotic for some impetigo around his nose. He is a hot mess right now! Hopefully this early trouble with his asthma isn't telling of the way this year is going to go. We bought a new humidifier for his room that doesn't require a filter, so hopefully that will help him stay healthy now that the heat has been turned on in the house. Both boys had haircuts yesterday in anticipation of school picture day in a couple of weeks. I took these pictures of them this morning wearing some of their new clothes. And attached a video of Micah being a good big brother and helping Jacob get dressed to go outside this morning. We have a church hayride/fall festival party to attend this Saturday and we are looking forward to that.

A Busy Fall

Reddies come in all sizes

Some big shoes to fill

Micah and Jacob display their Halloween crafts

'lil slugger

"Play hard, have fun, big brother!"

It's been a very busy couple of weeks. This weekend is Homecoming for both universities so the town is hopping! We are in the midst of Jacob's teething issues (he is waking up multiple times each night and needing teething meds and to be rocked) but managing to get the things done we need to and the other things, well, we just let them go :-) When our lives get so busy, it is easy to get overwhelmed with the day-to-day responsibilities. Sleepless nights force us to focus on what is important, to go into survival mode. That's not always a bad thing. Perspective is important.

Micah has enjoyed his t-ball season and has one more game to play this coming week. He is doing well in school and has a good grasp on his sight words and letters. It will be exciting to watch him grow into basic reading over these next few months. In just a few weeks he will be 6! Jacob is enjoying his class at school and learning more and more how to express his wishes whether that be "No, go that way, mama!" when it comes to where we take our walks, or "One more?" when it comes to night-night kisses and hugs. :-) They challenge the limits of our patience and fill us to bursting with love on a daily basis.

Dan has completed and turned in his tenure portfolio and is entering his new role as vice chair of an Arkansas theatre organization. (This is a volunteer position, not a new job.) He will be traveling to university theatre shows and "responding" to them,  a process that involves a professional analysis of the shows. All Arkansas universities with theatre programs participate. Luckily, this only means an additional few weekends a year of local travel and is a good thing for networking. Mostly he will be coordinating others to respond to these shows. We will hear about the tenure status in March. The waiting is long, but we are fairly confident that things will work out. Just getting the information submitted is a huge weight off of Dan and we are very proud of him for all of his hard work and accomplishments!

My university has hired a new VP to be over my division (and the search in underway for the new boss) so things are looking up there. I am liking my new role with social media and writing and hope that continues to develop as we get more direction in our department.

Fall is my favorite time in Arkansas. The weather is perfect, there are lots of activities going on locally, and we usually have some visits from family, which are so important to us. I hope you are enjoying this season too.