Apple Pick'n in North Carolina

On our way down we stopped at good'ol Cracker Barrel to eat. The kids love the rocking chairs, big checker boards, and country store. Dan has been wanting some country grtts for awhile now. He ordered a southern breakfast for dinner and savored every bite! (We came home with Joe Trapp's yellow grits, the best there is.)

We spent Thursday night at a hotel and enjoyed jumping on the beds, swimming, and eating an awesome continental breakfast. Friday was the absolute perfect day!!! Dan research the prices of the orchards in the area of Asheville and he found J.H. STEPP Orchard where apples were 43 cents a pound! We loaded up the kids with little baskets and happily went to work.

 Check out the size of that Jonagold!

 As I loaded the small baskets of apples picked by the kids into our large boxes I noticed several apples that had been nibbled on by Abby!  Poor girl got her first bee sting, on the head, while eating an apples.

MINING FOR GEMS and MINERALS

 Chatting it up while eating some yummy trail mix. 

For seven years now we have gone to SKYTOP Orchard. They have the most scrumptious fresh apple and pumpkin spiced doughnuts. Which were followed by a fresh apple slushy! Add beautiful weather plus gorgeous view equaled absolute heaven!

We had such a great day! If only we could LIVE in Asheville!!!

13.1 miles

Dan ran a half-marathon today. He has been training for months and recruited a bunch of friends to do this with.  The race was in Shepherdstown, WV, with part of the course going through Antietam Battle Field.  Lucky for me Dan caught a ride early this morning with some of the other runners so that I could focus on getting the kids and I up there to cheer him through the finish line.  I was very grateful not to have to be out in the nasty weather with the kids for any longer than we were!  It was a rainy, windy, cold, FALL day. Despite the conditions everyone was smiling and happy!

Here are some before pictures:

Dan, Terry Geliske, Dale Franklin

Mike, Dan, Terry, Dale, and John

I ended up getting totally lost and missed Dan at the finish line by just a few minutes! Dan did a great job. His time was 2 hours and 5 minutes.  Up tons of hills, in the rainy, windy, COLD weather (high today was 56 degrees today and he started at 8AM). He rocked it!

We registered Jake, Tess, and Abby in the 1 mile kid fun run.  Jake and Tess were totally pumped to run this all week! The rain and cold didn't stop them today.  Dan ran with them while I kept track of Abby.  Abby completely surprised me, she RAN the entire time!  Everyone loved watching her little legs go and cheered her on as we passed. I so wish I had it on camera! Dan said Jake and Tess did great as well, they  were waiting for us at the finish line.  (I think Abby's personality and spunk really showed today, she loves to be outside despite any weather and is constantly on the run!)

Before 

After

We made it back to the car totally soaked and cold to the bone! Luckily I thought to bring blankets. Right as we were about to leave we saw Mike and Laura again so I had to get one last picture. Mike ran the race with Dan, and I was suppose to run with Laura. These two work with Dan and make life a lot more fun for him at the NRC (so I hear everyday after work).

More races to come, with me running too!

September Happenings

Abby is a NUT!

Jake started another season of baseball, coach-pitch.  It has rained so much here that all of the practices were cancelled before his first game.  Jake was pretty nervous about hitting the ball when he was up to bat. He did great and got a hit every time he was up to bat. Abby was the worlds best cheerleader!! She entertained us all and copied every word that came out of the coaches or other adults mouths!
GO TIGERS!

Bonnie and I took the girls to the PLAYMUSEUM in Bathesda. The owner of this place did an incredible job fitting lots of fun things to do into such a tiny space. The girls had a great time. However, in my opinion I thought it was very over priced...

The Princess Room: the girls favorite room!

The Grocery Store: Bonnie and My favorite room! Abby and Lydia were loving full control of the buggies (even though Lydia could hardly see over the handle:)!

The Pet Shop: Lydia was hilarious in this room. She wanted so badly to touch, love, and squeeze on the white fluffy rabbit! She ended up in tears!

Story and Music Time:

The Construction Site:

Fireman/Truck Station:

The Den:

Lastly. This past week I had what I hope and pray will be my last oral surgery ever. Dr. Dyzak is the best doctor I have ever been too, I wasn't in the least bit nervous for this procedure (which for me is saying ALOT!). The recovery is once again more than I had expected but easier than the past two. I'll be back to my normal self soon enough. 

And that was September.

Tess loses a tooth...

Thursday Tess and I had some Mommy and me time, thanks to the Warners babysitting Abby, it was quite the exciting time. Not only did we do a fun craft together but Tess realized she had a wiggly tooth. When she showed me I was completely shocked. Her bottom middle tooth was barely hanging in there and pushing it out of the way was a large tooth! EXCITING!

Dan was out of town so Tess wanted to be very careful not to loosen her tooth anymore so that Daddy could see it.  Saturday morning Tess was super excited to show Daddy her tooth.  Just as we were finishing up lunch Tess came to us with her mouth wide open...her wiggly tooth was gone. She then asked, "where is it"? Sadly she swallowed it! This is what followed:

A very disappointed Tess!

Tess was concerned about the Tooth Fairy not knowing she lost a tooth. Then her concern was for the tooth that was inside her tummy. (Funny girl mentioned all day that her tummy hurt since her tooth was inside it.) After a good bit of comforting and reassurance Tess and Jake went upstairs to play. Later we found out that Jake went right to work to help her write a note to the Tooth Fairy:
                                  Dear Twth Fary,
                                           Bai acsuidit I swld my twth.
                             (By accident I swallowed my tooth.)
                                                          Love Tess

The Tooth Fairy visited Saturday night. Tess was very excited to get 4 quarters and a note from the Tooth Fairy.

Poor Miss Tess got a runny nose yesterday and has an awful rash to show for it today. 

It's a whirlwind

my life these days!

I started homeschooling Tess.  

Isn't she the cutest student ever!

It is going to take me a while to work out all the kinks in this whole homeschooling thing. A couple of frustrations right now, well really just two:

1. Curriculum. After talking to friends and doing the best I could in researching online what was available, also considering the cost, I ordered books. Once I read over said books I found that I needed more books to even use said books.  

2. Abby, my second "kink". Last week started with me trying to homeschool with Abby awake and wanting my attention. Clearly that won't work. Luckily I have rearranged our schedule and now Tess will be going to preschool in the morning, rather than the afternoon during Abby's nap time. So, I have 2 hours in the afternoon to completely focus on homeschooling Tess while my blondee catches her beauty sleep. 

Yes- those are panties on my baby, not so much a baby anymore! And yes- we are total rednecks letting her play outside wearing just that.  (Dan and I were out cleaning the car for an entire 3 hours last Saturday!)

In August Abby initiated the whole potty-training thing. Since she is barely two I was hesitant to really go all out and potty-train her thinking she was still to young. She has been really consistent so I decided we'd give it a good weeks effort.  She has had a couple of accidents but really she is doing great.  She even stayed dry for 2 hours in nursery on Sunday. (Dan, serving as 1st and 2nd counselor in the Bishopric right now, was running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to keep up with everything and didn't have a chance to take her to the bathroom.) 

Dan is away on a business trip this week. The NRC keeps him busy and happy however, he is always looking and applying to new jobs in areas a bit more economical/house friendly for us. 

True to the way my parents raised me,  I am grateful to have a husband who loves the Lord and serves Him to the best that he can. These days that means that most nights are spent doing church related things whether he is at home or at our church building. Oh, and he is also training for a half marathon. 

So yes, we are in constant motion these days!