Love it

We live about 15 minutes from this beautiful place! We love taking the kids there and on this particular day, Brad was teaching drivers ed, so I decided to take all 3 by myself to hike. They did great and listened to directions well. Carsyn was able to climb the first 175 stairs by herself. For all of you who don't live in Georgia, this is a different place than the last set of pictures. We are so blessed to have all these beautiful sights around us to visit! One of the many reasons why we love living in Georgia!

I am off to take the kids to the beach for 6 days and than off to my parents for 4. Looking forward to the vacation. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving spending it with people you love!

A favorite place

Last weekend we took the kids down to one of our favorite places near our house. It is a pull off on the side of a road that we found many years ago exploring. You can hike down to the river and watch fishermen or take some beautiful pictures. We have taken many of our Christmas pics here over the years. That day some fly fishermen were busy catching fish. The kids enjoyed watching them. The county has recently build a path down by the river for people to walk or run on.

A first

A first for Carsyn....

OUCH! Let's just say she was following her big sister and jumped backwards off a hard surface!

It's beginning to look a lot like....

there are more leaves in my yard than I can rake. No I am not singing a Christmas song just yet, but I will tell you that since it is November I would tease you with a beginning to a song. We did spend a beautiful afternoon in our yard raking and blowing leaves. It's quite a job at the Kudlas house considering how large our yard is and that we are in the woods.

Here are a few other things we have been up to...

Brenna had her Hallelujah party at school with her new class. She is fitting right in and has made a great transition. Here they are decorating some pumpkins.

Our yearly tradition on the 31st is to go to some of our friends parents house, have some yummy dinner and than take the kids trick-or-treating. They have 3 girls all right around the same age as our babies, so it makes it even more fun. We realized it is the first year that neither Kate or I have been pregnant. Hooray for that! Here is the gang ready to go out. You can see it in Aidan's face. "I would like to go get candy and not take pictures, please." Aidan, aka Dog and Sydney, aka Dorthy are 5, Brenna, aka fairy, princess, butterfly is 4, Addyson, aka Arial is 3, Carsyn, aka ducky is 18 months and Rylin, aka chicken is 7 months.

Not only was it freezing last night, but it was raining. The kids didn't care, but we had to add extra clothing to their costumes.

I almost forgot the important make-up.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of Rylin in the stroller.
After church today we went out to a local horse farm to watch an equestrian competition. Brad likes to support all his students in their different activities and the kids like going to see all this fun, different sports. I don't know much about English riding, so it was fascinating to learn more about it. The kids got a kick out of petting the horses and watching them jump.

One of our riders getting ready to head out.

Brenna getting a good view.
Love this picture with their daddy even though they all got bit dirty.

Have a great week and soak up all the sunshine!

Fall time

Autumn time is my favorite season! It was not always this time growing up, because with fall came lots of snow and cold to follow. Living in the South the weather stays much more pleasant for a bit longer, so we are able to get out and enjoy it. There are many fun events that we love to do in the Kudlas house...here are just a few....

Fall means that the kids get to wear costumes, even to gymnastics. Carsyn was able to spend the last 6 weeks in class with her buddy Hamilton J. Although they don't look happy here, they are having lots of fun.
Fall means we get to go to the pumpkin farm.
Fall means that we get some of the most beautiful colors living up here in foothills of Georgia. This is the drive down our road. We love to drive around and enjoy all the scenery.
Fall means apple picking and pie making. Yummy!

What are you fall traditions?

18 reasons

Carsyn Joy turned 18 Months last week and I thought I would give you just some of the reasons why we love this little bug!

18. I love that the first thing she says when she wakes up in the morning is, "Moooommmmy." The two other kids always said , "Daaaadddddy."

17. I love the way she loves her big brother and big sister. She watches everything they do (which is not always a good thing) but, Aidan and Brenna brighten her face every time they walk into a room.

16. I love how she hold a spoon or a fork at meal time with her right hand, but eats with her left. (I hope she is a lefty like her daddy!)
15. I love how she blows kisses!

14. I love how she is learning to run faster and faster. Just as long as it is not in the middle of the grocery store or down the driveway. You know that toddler run when their head is leading their whole body and it is only time until they fall, but you don't know when.
13. I love that when she gets out of the car the first thing she asks is "Where JJ?" (our dog)

12. I love her independence.

11. I love her hands, feet and her precious red, curly hair.
10. I love that she loves to color.

9. I love her curiosity...that is only when she is not standing on the counter in the kitchen after climbing up on the bar stools screaming...."moooommmmmy."

8. I love that sweet diaper bottom. (I will love even more when she is out of diapers.)

7. I love that she loves to snuggle.

6. I love that she is becoming more of a "daddy's girl." Her big sister still claims him most of the time.

5. I love her giggle.

4. I love her "Buddha belly" as we like to call it.

3. I love how she makes us all laugh everyday.

2. I love that she loves to dance.

1. I love that she is our sweet miracle baby, that God has given us and we feel so blessed to be her parents.

It's 4 time!

Happy Birthday to Brenna Caroline, who turns 4 today. Brad and I looked at each other many times today and would say, "Is she really 4 already?" Looking at this picture as we walk up our stairs everyday reminds us on how fast the time really goes. Before we know it, we will be saying, "Is she 18 already?" For now, I will take all these wonderful days with her and bottle them up! On Sunday afternoon we had a little party at the house for some of her girl friends. Because this girl loves her bags and purses, we thought of decorating some bags and having a purse cake. She had a blast with all her friends. The glitter still around my house proves how much fun they had. Thanks to everyone who were able to make it and make her day so special. I pulled out all my aprons, so the girls wouldn't get paint all over their pretty outfits. Brenna's purse has finally dried and she has been carting it all over the house.
The group of girls plus big brother Aidan, minus one who was not in a picture mood. :)
My mom and dad with the birthday girl. My brother Drew was able to take the day off and come over as well.

Oh how we love this girl! Happy 4th!