At the Pumpkin Patch, version 2014

Last year I posted pics from our visit to the local pumpkin patch, and I have enjoyed going back to that post many times over the past twelve months!

I’m at it again, if for no other reason than to keep my gorgeous, yet still so-very-silly, teenagers right at my fingertips and front and center on my computer screen…

Just a few months after our 2013 trip to the pumpkin patch, I discovered yoga. This post is not about how significantly that discovery has changed me, so I must force myself to stay on task, but suffice it to say that yoga now trickles into all facets of my world, even pumpkin patch pics.

First up is a very willing big brother, serving as a leaning post to Angel Girl’s Hollowback Handstand. Next up came crazy ol’ Mom, attempting a Forearm Stand Stag:

From there, we abandoned yoga practice and opted for plain, simple fun.

And finally, a few with Mom…

To say I adore these two is a grievous understatement. We often have this conversation:

Me: I love you!
Babies: I love you more…
Me: I love you the most!!
Babies: You always say that.
Me: That’s because you can not possibly understand how full my heart is of love for you. One day you will look at your own babies, your eyes will tear, your voice will be thick, and your heart will threaten to burst. And you’ll call me and say, “You were right, Mom, you loved us the most.”

Because no one can love as much as a mom. Or a dad. Coach agrees: these two are the purpose for which we live, the greatest gifts we could ever receive, and they have our all. They are by far our very best accomplishment, and, beyond our marriage and dedication to each other, they are our greatest source of pride. We will be by their sides forever and always, revealing reason, encouraging effort, offering opinions, giving guidance, and looking on with love.

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.'” – Luke 15:31

The afternoon’s icing on the cake was The Runaway Pumpkin, our very-favorite-of-all-time-Halloween story:

It is a priceless (to us, anyways) picture book written by Kevin Lewis and illustrated by S.D. Schindler that SonShine received in a kindergarten book exchange back in 2005. Every year since then, the three of us make sure to sit down and read The Runaway Pumpkin together leading up to Halloween.

It’s a tradition that makes me smile and one I fully intend on continuing long after these two are out of the house, out of their teens, and out on their own beyond college. Some moments are simply worth it!!

And now for the photo outtakes…oh my!!