Around Our House This Fall

Happy Fall :) As always, there's lots going on in the Kell household this "season."  The boys, as always, are keeping me in stitches!  

Westin is... dare I say it... doing SO well with potty-training.  We are just almost there :) [finally!] We're still working on nighttime, although last night was a completely dry night, and have an occasional accident here & there, but he is finally officially out of diapers & I couldn't be more thankful.  Don't ask me what finally made it "click" because I have no idea.  You know how they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over with no success?  WELL... apparently, if you keep doing the same thing over & over with potty training, you eventually get success. At least it appears that way :) Call me insane.  I won't be offended :) 

Tucker is, as Westin says, "a super delight!" I really didn't know they made such great babies.  He has such an easy-going, delightful personality.  He loves people, and they love him!  He eats great, sleeps great, is happy nearly ALL the time, and has a WINNING smile... that he most certainly got from his daddy :).  In fact, it amazes me all the time how much "Kreg" I see in him.  He has started rolling and scooting himself all around... I know I will be chasing him around all too soon! He's grabbing for everything these days, mostly food.  I just finished telling you how easy-going he is, but any time we're eating, he squawks LOUDLY until someone gives him something.  So, earlier than I would have probably liked, I'm making baby food! (not that I don't enjoy making baby food... I do... I just REALLY like nursing & I know the sooner they start solids the less I'll be nursing.) So far, he has enjoyed avocados, home-grown carrots, and apple sauce.  He also loves gnawing on whatever anyone will give him-- pretzels, crackers, pizza crust... you name it. I'm really enjoying my "Beaba" :) the babycook does it all... steams it, purees it... I just have to chop it & serve it!

I really love fall decor.  Kreg gives me a hard time because I L.O.V.E. Christmas decor, but I really love fall also-- it goes so nicely with the colors in my house!  Here's a little look around our house this fall:

Kreg & I always have a "house project" we're working on. Our latest completion is the new media room/playroom area (the "great room" downstairs).  I had decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed more room for the play room... I knew it wasn't going to get any smaller, so I had to figure something out!  I decided to switch the media room & the playroom around, which worked out really well.  When you first walk down the stairs, you walk into the media room, rather than the playroom-- much more aesthetically pleasing, trust me :).  I took the door off the hinges at the bottom of the stairs which made it feel SO much bigger, I couldn't believe it.  We went to Wal-Mart and bought a bunch of cheap shelving and constructed our own little entertainment center, which I love.  I nearly splurged on one from IKEA & I'm glad I didn't... even with the great prices at IKEA, this was somewhere between 75 & 80% less than what I would have spent... and I think it works just great! AND, that little savings freed up some extra money for Kreg's RECLINER!! 

I love this chair.  I feel guilty I get more use out of it than Kreg does :) We found it on clearance at Sam's Club (already a great deal) and talked them down just a bit more in price to where it was a really great deal.  It's real leather, a rocker & a recliner & it goes great in this room! We were proud. 


 I'm still working on the playroom, but it's just too much fun.  I had this idea for a storage solution that I'm really proud of-- I took old laundry detergent, ice cream, and epsom salt containers & painted them with chalkboard paint.  They work great for keeping small toys in & Westin enjoys coloring them :) plus, I can label them & erase them every time I re-organize... which it seems like is constantly. 

I had to harvest all of my tomatoes last week... they decided Colorado was getting just too cold for them.  So, I have all of these paper bags full of tomatoes sitting in my kitchen-- hoping they will all ripen!  If so, I will probably be doing some salsa & tomato sauce- making in the very near future. 

Halloween was more fun this year than I can ever remember it being-- I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the holiday.  I don't like "scary" & I never really enjoyed trick-or-treating.  Westin had a great time this year, though, so I did too!  I wish I had been more creative with our costumes this year, but it kind of snuck up on me & finding little boy costumes last minute is kind of next to impossible.  We ended up with a little elephant & a little pumpkin this year.  They were very cute!  They got a lot of use out of them, too-- we spent Friday night at the church's Fall Festival, where Westin played games & won candy & played with all his little friends.  

Then, Sunday night we went to "Boo at the Zoo" with a family from church that has three girls-- Westin loves them all & they all love Westin! It was great to spend time with them and Westin had a blast trick-or-treating at the zoo.  Tucker was mesmerized by the giraffes!  I realized that I really love giraffes.  I just think they are such cool animals, and they're so sweet.  I love their pattern & their long eye lashes and the way they walk... just sayin'.  God is just so creative. 

Monday night Kreg took Westin trick-or-treating around our neighborhood & then we headed out to LuLu's frozen yogurt, where my sister is manager.  We got a discount for dressing up :) Kreg's costume cracks me up... I just really don't have any words for it.

I hope you all had a fun Halloween & are gearing up for THE holidays :)