It's Fall in Indiana

When I was younger (cause I'm so old now), I used to think I would live in Illinois forever. It had everything for me. It had family, friends, open spaces and big cities. Now it seems like a lifetime ago that we were there. Except for that brief foray behind the Cheddar curtain, moving to new states is fun! We have been here in Indiana for six and a half years. Yes, it's really been that long. And right now, it's the perfect place for us. When we moved to Noblesville, it was this nice town that had a couple of good stores, the requisite fast food joints and little else (to our eyes.) Now it's growing in leaps and bounds. They just opened a new road that connects two major highways. That may not seem like much to y'all, but with that open road, they're now building a HUGE new mall. Most of the things won't be open for another year, but we now have a JCPenney, we're getting a new movie theater and a ton of other stores that are fun to browse but I probably won't buy anything from. I'm hoping for more casual dining restaurants and some night life. Not that our night life consists of anything more than putting the kids to bed and watching network television, but you never know... having options means we might actually leave the house and stay up past 10!

Fall officially came to Indiana on September 23rd. Someone forgot to tell mother nature that. It has been a typical fall here: record-setting sweltering heat on Monday and winter coats, hats and mittens on the kids yesterday. We're in the 50s again today, but we're supposed to get temps in the 70s on Monday. Can't we split the difference and have some 60s? And whoever thinks that Chicago is called the Windy City cause of the wind has never seen the wind down here. And I do mean seen, not just felt. When the trees in the front yard are horizontal and it's considered a light breeze, that's just not right! I did read in the paper today that they are predicting a warmer than usual winter this year. Yay! After last February, I think we deserve a winter where I don't have 6 feet of snow to shovel off the driveway. Of course, this year we have a snow blower, so maybe it won't be so bad.

Well, I'm off to make some hot tea, cause the thermostat may say 68 degrees, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Haven't set up the house for the winter yet, so the wrong vents are open. Not that it would matter in this house as we're having problems with the efficiency of this house, but that's a whole other can of worms. Have a great day and I hope y'all get to go out and see the beauty of the changing leaves.

Fun Run

This morning, Piper participated in a Fun Run. She's been staying after school two times a week and "training" for it. This morning, kids K through 6th ran the cross country course at one of the elementary schools. They split them up by age, so Piper ran against other second graders and third graders. The photo above is from the beginning of the race, while they were lined up at the starting line. They had to make two trips around the course for one mile. And she did great. She didn't come in the top ten, but she was booking! Of course, I wonder about the name: "Fun Run." To me, that's an oxymoron.

Here's Piper after the race, all hot, sweaty and holding the ribbon she got for participating. We'll see if she does it again next year.

Caelyn's locks of love

Caelyn has been growing her hair for years now. It is three quarters of the way down her back and beautifully blond. {sigh} I remember when I had hair like that. But I digress. At her new school, they have a club based on the Locks of Love charity. Locks of Love is where you donate at least 8 inches of your hair and they weave it into wigs for those who have lost their hair due to chemo and such. All she has to do is keep growing her hair and agree to have it cut and donated over Spring Break. I can't wait, just because I'm tired of all the hair brushing and combing that's done by me. But it does look beautiful. I've added a picture of her just to give you an idea of how long her hair already is. Plus she loves to pose and I haven't emailed any recent pics of her to anyone lately. Unfortunately, the camera can only take 4 pictures at a time and I didn't get a really good picture of how long her hair really is, but I'm pretty sure you can see it.

First blog

My sister-in-law Julie insists that I need a blog. She says it will help family and friends scattered around to keep up to date on our family. Isn't that what the phone is for? Email? Snail mail? Wait, is snail mail even around anymore? It must be because my credit card bills keep showing up here...

As soon as I figure it out, I'll post photos and perhaps even videos. Photos cannot do justice to the Larkin froggy dance. Trust me!