I'm pretty sure it's just us..

Are you ready for the story?
We were both born in different parts Florida, where we lived  until we were about three, but we never knew each other. We both moved to the same part of Missouri and that's when our families met.
I thought Tessie Hamacher was the most fantastict little girl ever, but oh so snooty and bossy! Well it turns out, she thought the same of me. We kind of avoided each other whenever we saw one another, until we were both cast in Fine Linen Drama's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown when we were nine years old, both as "Lucy"..go figure. We actually became friends and one night at a rehearsal I asked her to be my pen pal - we wrote little notes to give each other at every practice, and in her first note she asked me if I wanted to be best friends forever.
Bunches of adventures and laughs and sleepovers and pictures and hugs and stories later, we're still best friends and now having a blast in our 10th show together. Isn't that a precious story? But truly. She's stuck with me through thick and thin, good and bad, has seen my best and worst, and I couldn't ask for a better friend. I love her bunches, and plan on many, many more years of being "friends forever!"

*The serious pose*

.It's a Monday.

Three Dr. Seuss shirts!(Joy, Anna, and Jenny)
It was wonderful to have Joel, Hillary, Kayla, Nathan, and Josh at church yesterday, either from college or work. The Quakkelaars had friends visiting as well, so it was a good, packed service, and afterwards, a fun time of fellowship. Good friends are such a blessing!

After church, lunch, and picking the perfect "Sweeta Potato" picture for Joy, lots of us went outside for a big game of kickball.

Also, meet Paul. Thank you Anna, for his head. He lived a good life until Anna had the audacity to eat him.

....Malachi let me wear his really nice hat.

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Joel and Ash(and Evs!) come over most Sunday evenings for supper and a fun evening together. It's so nice having them live close to us. Evan gets bigger everyday and it's such fun watching him grow up. It's hard to believe it was already a year ago we were waiting for those last few weeks before he would be born. What a big boy he is now, and very active! He likes to make as much noise as possible and is standing without help some of the time. Ash is good to update with pictures and videos on her blog HERE.

Johnny playing with big brother-in-law.

Last Sunday evening PaPa and Jeannie came up too - Evan sure had a fun time with Great Grandpa!

Look there! JOSH was able to come home too! Such a good evening of family time before the new week.God is so good.

Mr. Chubs.
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Rehearsals run in full force. The last couple weeks have been a mix of Oliver and Little Women both, but now Oliver will take a break so that the theater is open for the last few weeks of heavy Little Women rehearsals before opening night. Did I mention I can't wait for that?!

(First stages of set construction back there!) Jason(our director)'s doing his best to see if I can sprain my neck and ankle in another of his shows, having me run up and down stairs and 6ft platforms...so far, so good though. :-)

Tonight is the first full-run-through of the show. It's going to be a long, exciting practice. Full cast, full show. I can't wait to see how it's all coming together. Also, getting to see all those wonderful people all night is quite a bonus to it all!

Right now I have two little kids in my room licking clean their breakfast bowls, which means it's time for me to get to dishes and start this busy Monday. There was a beautiful sunrise this morning to bring in the new week - thank you Lord, and on to the big day!

lateliness

Nothing too new to report, other than the regulars of life around here. School goes well, and we're nearing the end of first quarter already - that's hard to believe! Fall is zooming by, and before we know it it'll be time for the annual Fall Costume Party on the farm! Everyone's busy finalizing their costumes and planning the games...the ghost apples will soon by hung on the trail, and the whole farm will get together for that grand celebration together! I can't wait..I'm especially excited because I thought I would have to miss it with Little Women, but turns out I'll be there! Now, since I can, I need to come up with a quick costume. . .looking back on the records it's hard to decide....how can you beat Dora the Explorer?!

I do have a few notable things for you:

Notable thing #1) I got poison ivy. I must have picked it up on that four wheeler ride a few days ago when I was opening the gates. I'm majorly hyper allergic to poison ivy (which is great when you live on a big farm in the woods, right?) and so my eyes are usually pretty peeled for it. I guess I missed it though, because I'm now covered in bumps and itching from head to toe. Plus side: my worst reaction is when it's burned or cut so that I breathe it it...in that case, my entire head swells to kingdom come, and I have to get on stronger medicine. BUT, this one seems to be totally external, and shouldn't cause as much trouble. And the ride was very worth it - we've had a beautiful fall and I'm glad I got out in it.

Notable thing #2) Our mother was in a commercial. That's right, go Mama! Our friends, the Hickles, asked her if she could help out with Mr.(Bill) Hickle's campaign commercial(he's running for circuit judge) and she was happy to. We all went over to the court house to watch  it filmed, and oh, no one could have handed him those documents in the same compelling manor as our mother. ;-) It was a fun afternoon and we can't wait to see it air.

Notable thing #3) our water system died. We're not quite sure what happened, but Dad's been spending the last few nights working on it. It's mainly a problem in the showers, but was beginning to bug the kitchen sink too. Dad borrowed a big sucker thing from Joel last night and we formed an assembly line. Dad inside the shower with the machine, me standing in the tub with a flashlight to holler instructions and give light to Jen, who was outside(in the freezing cold and pitch black night) turning on and off the hose. When Dad gave the word, I hollered, "GO!" to Jen, who turned on the hose...but apparently it wasn't screwed on to the spicket, cause water started spraying everywhere and soaked Jen. Family teamwork - the best! Eventually we got it to work, and hopefully now it's fixed.

Notable thing #4) Opening night for Little Women is just 2 1/2 weeks away! Rehearsals are going great and we're having so much fun. I'm really excited for dress rehearsals, when we'll see it all come together...it's going to be such a wonderful show. I got to see scene K this week for the first time, when Jo's story comes to life in her mind, and it is looking soo neat.
On Monday we had a PR shoot - Laura(our costume designer)'s costumes are amazing, and we all had fun with the photos and did some goofy ones too.

OOh, and I even took a couple pictures at rehearsal the other night, so I'll be sure and load those soon. Until then, a happy Thursday to you, my friends!

Oh, fall!

What a BEAUTIFUL fall this has been! It's definitely the most brilliant one I've seen. And such gorgeous weather, that we couldn't resist going out on the farm Saturday afternoon when PaPa called to take us on the Clifford.  It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon, enjoying the stunning colors, choosing leaves for pressing, picking persimmons, and driving a new trail PaPa and Uncle Michael just made. 

If only you could capture the real-life beauty of it! I love the country, wide open space to view the trees in full color for miles and miles. 

My nature-loving mother stopped at different places to collect all the different kinds of leaves in all the different colors to look up and press with the kids. It's so neat watching her out there...she soaks up every inch, and sees God's love written in every vein of leaf.

PaPa led us us to a couple of nice, full Persimmon trees! It's just that time. Unripe persimmons are about the nastiest thing you can taste.. Until they are almost rotten, which is when they become the sweetest, juciest fruit, perfect for making jam, or as I prefer, popping handfulls into the mouth. :-) PaPa said just a week later they would have all been gone - the possums love the sour fruit - so it was the perfect opportunity. PaPa held down a big branch stuffed with them and we grabbed as many as we could reach...about four bags full!

The four bags we collected? Well, there probably would have been five, except that I might have eaten just a few on the rest of the ride...they called it my "Hunny pot." I love some squishy, wild persimmons!

Laddie stopping for a drink...

Such a wonderful day. I hate to have the cold weather come on, just because I love being out there so much. But I'm so glad we had that good day, with the perfect weather and stunning scenes to soak it up! Now we need to find a good persimmon jam recipe and get cooking!

A Sweet 16

Gracie turns sweet 16 tomorrow!! Woohoo! Grace, it really seems like yesterday we were running through that field, hand in chubby, five year old hand! Gracie's been a true friend since infancy, and I am so thankful to have her as a cousin and dear friend. Gracie - Don't give me that face. ;-)

At the McCluskey's on Thursday evening we had a wonderful birthday party for her, and afterwards, a sleepover for the four of us girls!

After cake and ice cream, Alyssa kindly let us use her laptop to Skype with the Ohians, the Snyders. It was so fun introducing the girls to each other and it was a fantastic 45 minutes. Can't wait until we can all laugh together in person!

We headed over to the Farm House, the designated party area for the night.

Snacks, Hoopla, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and...

A whipped cream fight.

So. much. fun. Quite sticky. The stuff will not wash out of your hair. And Jen's eyes were temporarily sealed closed...

And thank you so very much, Jeannie and PaPa, for letting us use the house all night. All messes were cleaned up, and we had such a good time...though we couldn't figure out how to get the thermostat to work correctly, and it remained 62 degrees all night long...we still had fun and bundled up in every blanket we could find!
I'm so grateful for the blessing of these girls' friendship. We've been having them since we were babies, but never seem to get tired of finding the next adventure together. Onward, to another! Happy sweet 16, dear Gracie Anne!