Ode to Autumn

I love autumn. 

I love jeans-and-sweatshirt weather.  I love football.  I love the leaves changing colors and crunching under my feet.  I love pumpkin pie, apple cider and the smell of delicious things baking in my oven.  Nick and I got married in the fall, for all of these reasons.  Truly, if I had my way, I would find a place to live where it could be fall all the time!  And two of my favorite places to visit during the autumn season are my alma mater, Hanover College, and a pumpkin patch! 

Hanover is gorgeous in the fall.  Hanover will never be known for it's "college-town nightlife" (unless you count JR's, Shipley's or the Electric Lady...and I don't) but if you've ever visited the campus, you know it's beautiful, especially right now.  So on the weekend of our 7th wedding anniversary we decided to go back to where it all started.  We tailgated during the football game then hit up the bookstore for some new Hanover gear.  We visited the Chi Omega house (and attempted to walk through the Sigma Chi house, but couldn't get anyone to let us in!).  Then we visited Science Center where a friend and fellow alum is now a professor!  He showed off his office and ran us through is day...and I tried to imagine what it would be like to work at my alma mater.  Crazy stuff!  Before heading home, we walked down to The Point, one of the most picturesque locations on campus.

Happy 7th Anniversary, Nick!  I love you!


  Two days later, on our actual anniversary, I spent the morning at the local pumpkin patch with the girls for their preschool field trip.  We had a blast!  The girls explored (aka "climbed on") the large collection of pumpkins out in front of the general store, we checked out the squash and gourds and other yummy veggies and took some cute pictures by a festively decorated wagon...all before the rest of the class arrived! 

The rest of the class arrives and I get my first chance to witness the girls interacting with their classmates.  We took a hayride back to the pumpkin patch where the kids each got to pull their own pumpkin off the vine, which they thought was very cool!  After the kids were pleased with their choice of pumpkin, we rode the wagon back to the store up front where we enjoyed a snack of sugar cookies and apple cider...Yum! 

As the class prepares to return to school, the girls and I head into the store to pick up some homemade noodles, a couple of tasty pumpkin muffin mixes and one more (very large) pumpkin for the front porch.

 I love autumn.

Adventures in Make Up

I know I just posted yesterday, but this story is too funny not to share!

Tuesday morning we found ourselves with an entire day of nothing to do...until dance class in the evening.  Everybody woke up in a good mood, so I decided we should take off and go do something - I just had no idea what that "something" would be.  After breakfast, I went upstairs to put away some laundry and found a bag from Gymboree with my most recent clearance rack steals inside.  The receipt falls out as I'm unloading the clothes to the hamper...and Gymbucks are inside!  (For those unfamiliar with Gymbucks, it's a $25 coupon you can earn during a purchase to use later on a separate $50 purchase.)  That's $25 in free clothes!  (My husband would argue that it's also $25 I wouldn't have spent in the first place, but I'm not really interested in the technical details.)  I was not about to let my Gymbucks go to waste!   

Three kids (and one Mommy) dressed: Check.  Breakfast all around: Check.  Snacks and Bottle packed for hungry tummies and/or bribes later: Check.  And off we go to the Fashion Mall! 

Now, the Fashion Mall - or truly a non-grocery store of any kind - isn't generally my idea of a fun place to take the kids but I decided to give it a try.  We've gone before (the three kids and I) and the girls usually end up making themselves at home inside Pottery Barn Kids (because they have tons of toys out and the salesgirls think it's cute to watch them play!) and enjoying at least two trips to the super-kid-friendly family restroom and it's kid-sized potty, sink and paper towel dispenser as well as a great changing table and plenty of room for a stroller (single or double). 

We were only 5 minutes from home when I had my first snack request (it was their normal snack time anyway, so I obliged.)  I tell the girls we're only going in one store, then we'll head back home in time for lunch.  They've got their game faces on and are ready to shop!  Of course, Gymboree makes it easy when they have PBS on in the store and Sid the Science Kid happens to be the cartoon of choice at the moment.  The girls sit (relatively) well watching Sid and checking out the super-cute Halloween costumes - all of which involve a headband, wings and brightly colored tu-tu (think ladybug, butterfly, fairy.)  It's not long before I've found a couple of  adorable sweater dresses for the girls (on sale!) and some pj's for my baby boy.  Success! 

We leave the store, hit the fun family restroom and start toward the car.  On the way in, the girls spotted some giant posters of Disney villains (sadly, their favorite part of every Disney movie) and begged to get a closer look.  I promised them we would stop on our way out.  Suddenly, they see the posters again and break out  into a run towards them yelling, "Maleficent!  Cruella!  The Wicked Queen (in Snow White)!  That bad guy from Tiana!"  I was about 3 storefronts behind them, quickening my pace (but trying desperately not to run) when I see them enter the MAC store.  Ah, just what I need; for the girls to know there's more to make up than bronzer and chapstick. 

Apparently the marketing professionals at MAC are geniuses.  For as many times as I have been to the Fashion Mall, I have never been in the MAC store...until my kids when running into the store, full of excitement.  There is a display in the front of the store highlighting each aforementioned villain and her (or his) product line.  The estitician who met them at the door, with a smile on her face, had already gotten them a step stool to stand on so they could get a closer look.  "Can they have some lip gloss?" she whispered to me.  How could I say no to that?!  She let them each pick which villain (ahem, color) they wanted and got a couple Q-tips out to put it on then pulled out a mirror so they could admire her work.  A picked a neutral pinkish-peach color (very pretty, I might add) and C went with, what else, bright red (from the Cruella line of course).  Oh Goodness...I hope she grows out of that soon!


Their new friend got them some stickers, which she puts in a little MAC bag, and I finally coerce the girls out of the store with promises of green tea and a cookie at Starbucks.  No, we haven't eaten lunch yet, but baby D needed his bottle and, anyway, now that they had their "big girl" lip gloss on, I felt like we had to live it up a little :)  Watching them carry their little MAC bags through the mall was hilarious!  They looked so grown up! 

After we enjoyed our treat at Starbucks, it was time to head home for our lunch of chicken fingers and yogurt...which they did eat by the way!  (The three of us shared one chocolate chip cookie earlier - it could have been worse!) 


C looks scary in this picture, but I promise it's just because the sun was in her eyes! :)



Just finished his bottle...full tummy = happy baby!

I'm sure glad I found my Gymbucks that day - we had such a fun morning together and got to relax for a few hours before dance class! 

Counting My Blessings

Saturday we were reunited with relatives across several states at the annual Wolf family reunion.  We enjoyed food, fun and fellowship (and even some football!) and reconnected with many we generally only see once a year.  The girls had a great time playing with their cousins and some of the “older” (like 11 and 14 years old) relatives while Drew was a good sport about being passed around as the newest (and last, as far as we can tell) Wolf baby of this generation.  The day was a success!

 As the reunion was starting to wind down, one of Nick's relatives asked about Ava and her progess.  (Forgive me for not being more specific; though I've been in the family for 7 years and “unofficially” for 4 years before that, I still don't remember all the family connections!)  I started with the general, but very accurate, “she's doing great!” I took her through our therapy schedule (now 4 hours a month) and what she's working on.   I told her about the Botox injections she receives in her heel cord every 7-9 months and we discussed her competitive nature which, truth be told, is more important than anything she will ever learn in therapy because, though we have been and continue to be blessed with countless amazing therapists and specialists, if she didn't want it for herself, our jobs would be a thousand times harder.

Still, these are things I discuss regularly, with family and friends and sometimes strangers.  The difficult part came with she started asking questions about how far Ava has come.  And right there, standing in the Ginn's living room, it all started coming back – the parts I don't talk about anymore because, quite frankly, most days I'd rather pretend it never happened.  I went back to the days of 11 hours of therapy Every Week and how the case manager for our insurance company kept asking me, begging me, to reduce her hours.  Not for Ava, but for me. She was continuously worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with her therapy schedule, properly care for two kids and find anytime for myself to maintain my sanity.  Looking back, I certainly understand her concern, but at the time there was no amount of asking or begging that was going to keep me from giving Ava every possible advantage.  And I'd do it all again if I had to.  As long as our insurance would cover it, we would continue at that pace until her physiatrist and therapist convinced me otherwise.  And PRAISE GOD for providing us with the amazing gift of unprecedented insurance coverage.  (Nick's company switched provider's at the beginning of the year and now we realize just how blessed we were to have the coverage when we needed it!  Never thought I would be praising God for insurance coverage, but I am!!)

I stood there in that living room, reliving the early days of Ava's diagnosis and counted my blessings through the tears which were flowing pretty steadily at this point.  It's not often that I let myself go back there, maybe it would be easier if I did so once in a while, but when I do it still overwhelms me.  The hospital stay, the prayers and support, the inability to completely comprehend it all.

Teaching A to walk again, about a week after being discharged from the hospital

Such a happy little girl!

A and C calling Daddy at work - A is wearing her first of many orthodics on her right foot.

For some reason, that Saturday conversation came back to me last night as I was searching the house for Ava's favorite dolls and one stuffed puppy dog (which, interestingly, she was given at the hospital) at 1:30 in the morning.  She had woken up from a bad dream and wanted her toys to help “keep her safe.”  Once I located both dolls and the puppy dog, and made the monsters disappear, we asked God to help her feel safe and have good dreams and back to sleep she went.  I laid back down in my own bed last night with a smile on my face and I counted the many, many blessings that God has given us...starting with my daughter whose unconditional love for life and for other people is an inspiration to me every day.