Our Chicago Birthday Trip

This was Calvin's first year to have a trip for his birthday rather than a party.  It was weird to not have a birthday party. 

Weird and sad.

I think I need to just go crawl into a ball and deal with these emotions for a few...

Why is it the things that can make us the most stressed are the things we end up missing the most when they are gone?  Here I'm talking birthday parties.  Last year I couldn't wait for the thing to be over...the party favors, the food, the decorations, I was feeling pretty burnt out from it all.  I was thinking that a break would be nice but here we are a year later and I am already missing the parties. 

Sigh.

This year Calvin wanted to go to Chicago and spend the night downtown.  He is so adorable and loves big cities with all of the lights. 

So that's what we did!  I was a little apprehensive because, with Calvin having Autism, some things he may really, really want to do end up being way too much for him and it ends up disasterously.  I think him wanting them that bad and then them not working out is what makes matters that much worse in the end. 

So let's just say I had my doubts that this would work out.

We took the train to Chicago.  We were going to drive until we did the math and realized it was going to be at least $70 to park our car at the hotel. 

So we decided to take a train.  It was a fun experience for the kids and it was super easy to get into town.  We got off the train, hopped into a waiting taxi and $4.50 later we were at our hotel.  Easy peasy! If you live somewhere that you want to go to Chicago but not drive INTO Chicago I highly recommend the South Shore Train Line. Easy and cheap!

Let me just say, our hotel was amazing!  Nick upgraded us to a suite and it was so nice to have the kids in one room and us in another!  We also had a dining room table and a full kitchen.  It was super fun! Not to mention that our hotel was adjacent to Eataly so it was a perfect excuse to stop and drink loads of amazing hot cocoa and coffee.

After we got checked into our room we decided to try to make our way to Dave and Busters.  We do not have one by us and Calvin has been begging (BEGGING!) to go there since I don't even know when.  So Chicago was a nice location to go.  I say nice but it was 6 degrees outside.  And it is called "The Windy City" you know.  So we decided to set out and see how far we could make it before we needed to hail a cab but by golly we walked the entire way.  I was so proud of us! 

And at Dave and Buster's let me just say, I was so proud of our kids!  We gave them each a power play? card and let them loose.  They didn't ask for more money or complain or anything.  They are just the best kids in the world!  And they had the best time!  Calvin loved playing two-player games with Nick while Emma spent the majority of her time at the skee-ball because that is what she loves. 

After a couple of hours we were done at Dave and Busters so we walked our way over to the kids' favorite part of the trip...cupcake ATM! 

It was so much fun to get to choose birthday cupcakes from the atm and then watch on the screen as the machine fulfilled our order.  The kids LOVED it and I thought it was so adorable!  The cupcake ATM is at Sprinkles.  If you get the chance check it out.  I can vouch that the chocolate peanut butter cupcake was incredible!  Emma got strawberry and the birthday boy got Smores.  They both said they were amazing too!

After gourging ourselves on cupcakes we made our way to do some shopping.  We bought a lego set for Cal's birthday, meandered through Dylan's Candy Shop, and then decided it was high time we had some Chicago pizza.  We went to Gino's which, by the way, is our family's favorite.  There are a million different places but that is our fave.  Supreme with the patty sausage please and thank you!

By that time it was the late hour of 6 in the evening so we walked back to our hotel but not before getting some more drinks at Eataly.  Nick and I were about to crash so caffeine was definitely in order.  Can someone please tell me why we were so tired at 6? 

The kids then wanted to go swimming but not before we vegged in our living room watching the Lego Movie.  So we spent the night watching movies, snacking, swimming, and then repeating the whole process.  It was a perfect night for our family. 

When it was time for the kids to go to bed Nick was trying to find a light for them as a nightlight that wasn't too bright.  Calvin said "it's okay Dad, we have the city lights for a nightlight."  That boy melts my heart, he is just so cute! 

The next day we left our hotel at about 8:30 and walked to the American Girl store. Oh and by the way, it was now a frosty 2 degrees.  I thought we were going to die.  Emma and I always have the best time there! The best Jerry, the best!  Even though this is a no-spend year we surprised her with $30 to spend at the store.  For those that know American Girl you know that that barely buys an outfit. One outfit.  But Emma was so taken aback.  "That's so much money!"  She said.  She was so surprised!

It was a lot of fun to shop with her and to pick out an outfit.  In the end she picked an adorable outfit from Kit's collection (we have Kit) that she thought was a good choice because all of her other dolls could wear the whole outfit or parts of it.  I love how she is so thrifty like her Momma! 

After the American Girl store (and yet another trip to Eataly!) we went to lunch at Harry Carey's Nick's very favoritest restaurant. 

It was an incredible way to end our fun weekend before hopping back on the train.  We were all exhausted but a perfect amount of exhausted: we were all ready to get back to our home and decided we had just enough fun. 

And that was our trip!  Hope you enjoyed visiting Chicago vicariously through my photos :)

Week 1 Recap of Our No-Spend Challenge

This was a pretty tough week to be thrown into for our first week on the no-spend challenge. 

Although the weekdays went pretty smoothly.

Monday

We started school back up and that prompted Nick and I to have the discussion about how/if the challenge would affect the way we do our schooling.  We had said it wouldn't really before in our talks but it came up again when I introduced a new "motto" for our classroom to the kids.  Nick said I should enlarge it, laminate it, and hang it up in the classroom.  That prompted the discussion on if that was in fact a need or simply a want. 

The jury is still out on that one so we'll have to see what I decide.  It may in part be decided by the price of making the poster.  $20 for a poster?  No thanks...

But I think we kind of narrowed down that in terms of what the kids are learning and the core of what they need we absolutely will not waiver.  The fluff stuff we may reevaluate and see what we could use that we already have.

Tuesday

Calvin threw a wrench in our plans by declaring that instead of taking the train to Chicago for his birthday as planned, he wanted to go to LEGOLAND.  So after calling Nick and having him approve the change, I frantically hopped on line to try to track down as many deals as possible. 

In the end it proved to be way too much money to change our plans so we decided to stick with the original plan to go downtown for his birthday.

Wednesday

My best friend and I took all of our kids to Sky Zone (a trampoline park) to get the kids to shake out all their wiggles!  What a fun time we had!  It is so fun to have a friend with kiddos that my kiddos love! 

I know, I know SkyZone is in no way a "need" but thankfully the kids got giftcards to there for Christmas so we used those to go.  Hooray for fun things to do!

Thursday

Why do companies feel the need to try to get you to spend money after you just had Christmas?  Besides the fact that everyone went out and spent tons on gifts I know that we do not have any more room for more STUFF! 

These catalogs always get me!  Lakeshore Learning, an educational store gets me every time.  I always ooh and ah over all of the stuff that is in there.  Surely if I get all of this stuff the kids will learn more, right?  I rationalize to myself.  But the truth is that even though we've decided the no-spend year will not affect our schooling, we do not need any more supplies.  I've over bought as it is. 

American Girl was a difficult one (for about half a minute) to toss.  I don't want Emma to miss out on childhood because of the no-spend challenge.  But then I remembered that the dolls themselves are what make childhood so great, not the shopping, so I tossed them.  She needs to be grateful for the 4 dolls she has and not be shopping for more. 

Ulta always kills me. Do you see that?  Do you?  The one day sale thing makes me want to almost get up and run out of the house.  Almost.

I must buy the things!  But it is an almost feeling and so I restrained myself.  But it was hard! 

The Weekend

This past weekend was a blur!  We went to Chicago on the train to celebrate Calvin's birthday.  He turned 9!  How did this happen?  Can anyone tell me, please? 

I still feel like I am about 25 and have no clue what I am doing with motherhood.  Or Autism.  Or mothering a child with Autism.  There is still so much to learn, but anyway.

We realize that a trip to Chicago is not a NEED but we have a son who has talked about this trip for basically a year so then telling him last minute that he doesn't get his birthday trip due to his parents' weird challenge was not an option. 

We did however go through this weekend with a clear idea in mind of what we were going to buy and what we were not.  While these trips usually end up with us finding "deals" and stocking up on every little thing we see, this time, we did not. 

Dylan's Candy Shop?  We let them get a tube of candy and a small little something else.  Calvin got to pick one thing out at Lego as his gift.  We got Emma something at American Girl. 

For Birthday cake?  We decided on a couple of cupcakes from the Cupcake ATM rather than a whole cake. 

I saw SO MANY awesome things I wanted to buy mainly because there were gobs and gobs of things marked down on Christmas clearance. And it was really, really hard but we didn't get anything we hadn't planned. 

We had a lot of fun throughout the weekend, everything we got was a deal or at least a planned expense, and we were able to come home and not feel completely janky because we had spent way too much. 

It was a nice feeling. 

One of the not nice things about this weekend was how my view could get so a skewed by all of the nonsense of the stores in Chicago.  We stayed downtown so there was plenty of walking past stores like Cartier, Tiffany's, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and more.  We came back to our hotel after a night of shopping and I couldn't believe how burdened I felt about those things.  Was it Jealousy?  Envy?  I don't know but after talking about it with Nick I boiled it down to the fact that when we are at home I feel content with what we have but when I am in Chicago I start to realize everything that I could have.  Do you know what I mean?  It was not a nice feeling.  In the end I reasoned with myself that that could forever be a never ending cycle.  If I had a new Tiffany ring I would want a Cartier or a newer one or a bigger one.  This could go on forever. 

---

So I am learning from this that it has to simply be the fact that you have to make the decision to be happy with yourself and what you have whatever that may be.  Sometimes it is a lot easier said than done.

I can't believe in the short time of one week how dramatically altered my viewpoint has been. I now go through our home looking at things with hushed tones and gentle fingers...it's all a reminder of how amazingly blessed we are. 

And while I could probably say, "let's go back to how things were, we're changed already" I don't think I can say that yet at all. I want to go through a hot, sticky day and teach kids the value of cold hose water; the joy of hard work and how good it feels to lay in bed after a long day and feel content and pleased with the work you've accomplished. 

It was a great week.  A difficult week at moments but a week that made us feel perhaps even more grateful for gifts and possessions than we would have.  For that, the difficulty has been worth it. 

Calvin and Hobbes Birthday Party

Well this was it.  We had our last big hurrah as far as Birthday Parties with family go. 

Eight is your cut off here in our household.

For Birthdays from here on out the kids can choose to have a party with their friends or to go on a small weekend trip. 

So for Calvin's last big party he wanted to have a Calvin and Hobbes party. 

How stinkin' adorable is that? 

I was super excited until I found out that there isn't much in the way of traditional "Calvin and Hobbes" Birthday decorations. I love getting kits from Etsy to support local moms and to have unique and fun decorations I can personalize and print off as needed.

But there were none of those kits either.

So we got a little creative.

And by the way I was able to spend next to nothing when it came to this party.  I didn't set out for it to be that way but it's amazing when you look back and think "thank you Lord for putting this idea in my brain that didn't cost one red cent."  Can't wait to share with you!

So first of all, I found a long sleeved striped shirt from Gymboree  back in Autumn and it was completely a Calvin and Hobbes shirt.  Not to mention it was on sale for only $8.99 and then I had an additional 20% off coupon.  Who doesn't love Gymboree? 

After that I had invitations made at Shutterfly.  With a January Birthday, invitations had to go out the week before Christmas.  In November I was emailed a Birthday gift (my Birthday's in November, yo!) for $20.00 off anything and free shipping.  So I ordered Birthday cards. I think the total for 25 cards was about $10 with tax.  Woohoo!  I love saving money, ladies! So my advice is if you get a coupon code or a freebie from somewhere, think of upcoming events you could use it for. 

Then in December Tiny Prints sent me an offer of 5 sets of address labels for free!  If you are not members at these places you really need to create an account.  They send you some of the most amazing deals!  So I was able to make adorable Calvin and Hobbes address labels for the envelopes. I used one of their address label templates where you can put a picture in and then downloaded a picture of Calvin and Hobbes together to put on there.  And as luck would have it Tiny Prints had the Calvin and Hobbes type font so it looked perfect!  Plus I got Valentine's address labels and two sets of regular address labels.  But let me tell you about my awesome out of the box idea:  I was racking my brain while looking at these address labels trying to figure out what other cool things you could do with them at the party.  Think about it: stickers for water bottles, on napkin bundles: the options are endless!  But then I found their wrap around labels to put around the corner of an envelope and I thought those would be perfect to put on the goodie bags for guests! Voila! Again I chose a label template with a photo option and imported a calvin and hobbes photo. 

In the books Calvin liked to make sandwiches to run away from home so I thought simple paper bags worked for the goodie bags.  Those were super easy as I have a million of those already.  I love using things around the house that makes things way easy for me.  Plus it was Calvin approved.  Our Calvin.  He spent weeks researching everything for how the party should be by looking through the books and books of Calvin and Hobbes comics that he has. 

I have to tell ya, I think I stink at the role of party mom.  Cute craft kits or something remarkable you are guaranteed not to find in our goodie bags.  Nope, throw some food, candy, and a toy or two in a bag and there ya go.  I know, I know, I'm lame but I figure I could be worse, right?   I put fun dip in there (because who doesn't love fun dip?) Cheetos as tiger tails, Birthday Cake M&M's and some googly eyes to play with.  Done and done.

Once goodie bags were in the bag (ha!) we started with some decorating.  Guests first saw the Duplicator box and the Time Machine box on the porch.  Are you kind of getting that these decorations are cheap?  Um, cardboxes leftover from Christmas were free, 'yo.  I am a frugalista after all here. And seriously if you were short on cash this would be a perfect party theme to go with!

Emma made snowmen that we put in the foyer for people to enjoy.  Many of them are trying to slaughter each other.  She got the idea to recreate the snowmen made in the comics so I gave her a slab of clay and let her go to town.  She's cute like that :)

Nick free handed some of the snowmen with signs and we put them in the windows of our foyer and solarium so people could see them as they walk up to our home.  There were three of them.  They were so funny.  I would have loved to of made some of the actual snowmen but alas, we were short on snow that weekend.  Boo.

I decorated Calvin too! Isn't he adorable?  I think I just showed you this picture but I cut his darn feet off so I wanted to show you the whole ensemble.  He had black chucks on, a Calvin and Hobbes shirt, and jeans.  We spiked his hair and he had his Hobbes with him.  I love this sweet boy so much!

We decorated a little bit around the house.  I love the Christmas Tree Shop and got all of our decorations from there.  If you have one around you I am sure you love it as much as I do.  Things are do cheap there!  Decorations?  $2 a pack.  Plates? $1 a pack.  Calvin was insisting on everything being red and black so that's what I bought. Red straws, red and black balloons, red and black. If you don't have a good party supply store near you I have linked everything to Amazon so you can find everything I've used. 

We put the pom poms and the spiral doo-hickeys all around the house.  I also bought crepe paper.  I am totally old school and believe crepe paper to be a party must.  In the 80's I remember every party having crepe paper.  I'm here to bring it back folks :) I bought LED lights for the fire place from the dollar section at Target.  They say "Happy BDay!" and are so cute!

For food we had lots of snacky food and then we ordered Jimmy Johns sandwiches.  I think we ordered 45 sandwiches.  Calvin as I said researched for the party and found that Calvin seemed to always be eating a sandwich.  Plus Jimmy John's is our Calvin's favorite so it was a perfect fit. This picture was before the sandwiches were delivered but you can get the gist of it.  I used newspaper as the table runner on the buffet since Calvin and Hobbes was in the newspaper!  We had "tiger tails" and "chocolate frosted sugar bombs" from the comic.  We also had chips, rice krispy treats, and then pasta salad and cannoli bites that my amazing Mother-in-Law made.  Oh, and the fave, my sweet sister-in-law brought white chocolate mix, or white trash or whatever you call it.  Yum! 

For cake I really had this doozy of a story.  So our neighbors decorate cakes and we've always gotten our cake from them.  Then I realized (duh) that we have been trying to keep Cal off gluten so I was going to make my own cake for him so I was able to order just a fondant topper.  Then after much debate we decided to let Calvin have what he calls a "gluten day" so he could eat regular cake and the bread from Jimmy John's.  But by then it was too late to order a cake. 

So we got a cake from Costco and I did the handwriting on it and we put the fondant topper on it. I put the message on it Calvin asked for.  If you have a kid with Autism you know that sometimes they like to have things exact.  I do have to put in there that this was some janky looking cake from Costco.  See that wave of frosting on the bottom edge of the cake.  I mean, what the what?  And the frosting was riddled with cake crumbs.  Weird people just weird.  It was yummy though!

I also made gluten free cupcakes.  I found this ladies sweet website and decided to try frosting these.  Mine don't look nearly as amazing as hers but Calvin thought they were neat and that's all that matters.

We all had such a great time at the party!  We had one very happy boy after he opened all of his gifts.  We are so truly blessed by all of our friends and family members.

So I hope this helps you with planning your own party.  I know there were about three parties I oogled over on Pinterest with a Calvin and Hobbes theme.  Feel free to use any of my ideas!

Happy Planning!

Tigers and Bridges and the Randomness of it All

Sometimes life is a bit odd...

Like maybe you have a tiger for dinner.  

His name is Hobbes by the way.  

He wasn't thrilled with us not having tuna but he was a trooper and stuck around. 

There are some deep conversations going on.  

Deep. 

And then there's this girl.  Oh my, she has our whole big heart.  This girl is now a Junior Girl Scout.  No brownies for us around here.  

Sniff, sniff.  

I usually can make it through things pretty nonchalantly.  

Like sands through the hourglass...so are the days of our lives...

But this was taken during bridging ceremony which had me tearing up.  I think specifically because I kept remembering this silly girl in a blue daisy vest who had no problem wearing pigtails wherever she went.  

Where have those times gone?  

She just looks so grown up, I can hardly stand it!!!  

Aah!  

So that's the gist of what we've been doing in these parts.  

Oh and traveling.  

Lots and lots of travel.  In the last month we've been to Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.  Whew!  I'll blog about those sometime but not now.  

Now is built for randomness.  

Along with randomness comes random thoughts and here ya go...

 I was thinking about this past year that happened. I know that is something that generally people do around the first of the year but I am a late bloomer so here I am. 

I am just in awe of how God has shaped my life.  I have made peace with things I've struggled with for years.  FOR YEARS!  Things that you want to talk to people about and wrestle with and fret over and then it just eats you up .  Anyway, I finally took the plunge and answered God's calling to make things right and you know what?  It really was no big deal.  I mean it was a big deal but not nearly as big as my worried mind had made it into over the years.

I've also made things right with someone I was mean to in the past.  Do you have those people where you think about your past with them and kind of cringe?  Am I the only one who has done that?  Anyway, this person isn't really in my life anymore, but thank goodness for Facebook and its reconnecting ways!  I was able to reach out and apologize and I felt so much better.  Whether it was accepted or not I at least tried to make things right.  And you know what?  They forgave me and we were able to move past it which is so amazing.  God is just so good!

And on the other end of things I was able to finally bury the past with someone else who it just didn't work out with.  Someone who we had tried to make things right with and it was not reciprocated.  Shortly after we decided to cut ties (by we I mean Nicholas and I as we try to make decisions together) I read this devotion about not being close with everyone.  It gave the example of David not being all buddy buddy with Saul when he was trying to kill him but fled.  So I have felt such peace with the need to flee after a season of trying.  

And that's just the way God is.  I am so reminded of Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

And I could go on and on with other examples about how God has helped us in family situations or I've seen God stand up for me.  In things with our house and car and traveling mercies, so much God has done this past year.  God is working everything out for our good.  It's so awesome to know that and have the peace that that brings. 

And so whatever you are going through, whether it has to do with having tigers over for supper or big girls walking over a bridge towards you and their future, just know that God works it all out for your good.  

Love you friends! 

Dear Mama, Babies Don't Keep

I am in the middle of creating my annual photo calendar for my grandmother.  While looking through photos to select I found these and realized I never posted any.  Here are some, just to document that these blessed children of ours are, in fact, growing up entirely too quickly.  

Yowzers! 

This creek turns into a waterfall a little down the way and has a very special place in my heart.  I played here as a little girl during church picnics and later splashed through it as I ran a cross country course.  And now my babies are here, with their long legs and good balance, ready to take on the top of the waterfall.  

Swoon. 

 This girl is getting so big!  I have another picture to illustrate her lanky legs but she always takes the cutest pictures with her Grandma Peg.  They are just adorable together and I love watching their relationship grow.  Plus, Emma is sillier with her Grandma than with most others :)

Cal looks like he's sneezing but really he's just goofing off. And this is Emma's "I'm tolerating my brother because he's my brother and I have to" look.  But look at her.  Why does her face look like she's 17?  Excuse me as I go cry...

Okay I'm back.  I'm okay.  But seriously, she is gorgeous.   

Look at this big girl.  She is so grown up!  I just can't deal.  She does the foot pop thing on her own.  It's like she screams "my cousin's Miss South Carolina y'all". Geesh, ya try the crown on and you turn into a model :)  Thanks Caro for apparently giving this girl staging advice or something!  :)  

Our babies aren't babies anymore.  But I love them.  I think I'll keep them :)  

I'm just trying to savor each and every day a little more.  They will be out the door before we blink.  

Dear Mama, Babies Don't Keep

I am in the middle of creating my annual photo calendar for my grandmother.  While looking through photos to select I found these and realized I never posted any.  Here are some, just to document that these blessed children of ours are, in fact, growing up entirely too quickly.  

Yowzers! 

This creek turns into a waterfall a little down the way and has a very special place in my heart.  I played here as a little girl during church picnics and later splashed through it as I ran a cross country course.  And now my babies are here, with their long legs and good balance, ready to take on the top of the waterfall.  

Swoon. 

 This girl is getting so big!  I have another picture to illustrate her lanky legs but she always takes the cutest pictures with her Grandma Peg.  They are just adorable together and I love watching their relationship grow.  Plus, Emma is sillier with her Grandma than with most others :)

Cal looks like he's sneezing but really he's just goofing off. And this is Emma's "I'm tolerating my brother because he's my brother and I have to" look.  But look at her.  Why does her face look like she's 17?  Excuse me as I go cry...

Okay I'm back.  I'm okay.  But seriously, she is gorgeous.   

Look at this big girl.  She is so grown up!  I just can't deal.  She does the foot pop thing on her own.  It's like she screams "my cousin's Miss South Carolina y'all". Geesh, ya try the crown on and you turn into a model :)  Thanks Caro for apparently giving this girl staging advice or something!  :)  

Our babies aren't babies anymore.  But I love them.  I think I'll keep them :)  

I'm just trying to savor each and every day a little more.  They will be out the door before we blink.  

Thankful For My Babies

What a rollercoaster of a year this has been!  

As we roll into the week of thanks, I find myself particulary thankful for these precious children of mine.  

So blessed God chose me to be their Momma!

As we go through life doing this super, crazy busy life, I am thankful for the opportunities God has afforded us...that I can stay home, that I have such an amazing husband, and such a great family network surrounding us.  It's just amazing.

Not sure how much I will be on here this week with Thanksgiving preparations under way.  So in case you don't see much of me I hope you have an amazing holiday with your family and stay safe!

Count your blessings, name them one, by one, count your blessings...

Family Fall Festival

 Happy Fall, Y'all!  Yesterday being the first day of Autumn around here, we decided to pack up and have our traditional trek around to welcome the season!  Every year we visit a local mill for a tour, have a picnic, then go to a nearby Orchard to pick apples.

 These are the kinds of faces I get from Cal these days :)  Silly goose.  This was before they sang their fall songs for Daddy and I.  We've been working on songs about leaves and Autumn all week.  Seeing as we homeschool this was a family day/fall party/fieldtrip all rolled into one cute little package of a day!

 By picnic I mean we got take out from Panera.  I know, how planned of me.  But seriously we love their soups, it was a crisp, good day day for soup, Sunday.  And Daddy treated them to these cookies from there...yum!

 I had to document this as this is the most stubborn little boy I've ever met.  Seriously...ever!  Anyway, the boy won't even try to tie his shoes because he doesn't know how, or so he claims...Here he is tying his shoes.  He got most of it on his own and then Emma helped him finish.  But seeing him actually try to tie his shoes is a very rare photo indeed.

 Here are Emma and Daddy exploring the Dahlia garden...gorgeous, right?  By the way, this girl is looking too tall next to her 6 foot 4 inch Daddy...I'm just saying :(

 Hi Baby!  I love you!  This is the picture we always take, with the Mill behind us.  I'm pretty sure Nick thinks I'm insane that I always make him take the same pic of us every year :)

 These two...sigh.

 And these two together.  I called them my Puffy Vest Fellas.  These two go at it like cats and dogs with each other.  But here's how they really feel :)

 Then it was inside for a tour of the mill.  It wasn't on when we got there, the kids were bummed so this kind man who worked there turned it on and actually took us through the steps of how the grain is made.  That's right folks, it's a gristmill that still works!  We buy our year's supply of cornmeal there everytime we go and this time I picked up some bread flour too.  Excited to try to make wheat bread with the kiddos.

 The kids really enjoyed watching the stones grind the cornmeal we were able to take home!  Nothing like learning where your food comes from!

 Then it was onto picking apples!  Seriously, how cute are these kids?

 It's all about the outtakes, right?  How silly!!!

 Emma picked the biggest apple of the day and then proceeded to bite it before we could slip her a smaller one.  Not kidding, the four of us split that apple and it took us about 45 minutes between the 4 of us to eat it.  GINORMOUS!!!

 I think we ended up with two more bushels on top of this and then we were ready to go.  Momma's got lots of apples to make goodies with!

This was his proud moment when Daddy finally let him have his turn with the fruit picker.  He carried the apple in the basket all the way to the scales to pay.

So that was our day, hope you all are enjoying your fall!  Our house is all decorated for the season and we are loving the crisp weather!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

First Day of School Photos

Our first day of school was Monday.  It was...interesting.  While Cal's been around the whole homeschool thing for sometime now, he was in a formal preschool setting so I never pushed him to participate too much as I didn't want to make him go through countless hours of schooling.  This summer he did school with Emma but I had him on a Kindergarten program.  The kid can read and knows numbers and can add and subtract.  Colors, sizes, community helpers, the definition of a noun, the Gettysburg Address, he's got it down.  So I decided he was ready for first grade.  Or some version of that.  We shall see...

Our Kazoo is in third grade!  Age wise she should be in second but she's always been so advanced.  Love her and her passion for learning.  

 How cute is this???

 Emma lost her top tooth last night and when I told her to smile, this is what I got...um, that's not smiling... She is too funny! And speaking of funny....I simply had to show you the progression of Cal's pictures I got...

 Last but not least, finally a smile was in there!  I think we are going to have a super fun school year and I can't wait to see what is ahead for us :)

This past week...

This past week we didn't have anything really planned but somehow all of our days were suddenly taken up with being busy.  Busy, busy, busy to be exact!  

We are in the thick of things with T-ball and I will not be shy telling you that I CANNOT wait until it is over.  Thankfully we have one more week and then we are done!  Praise the Lord we have made it! Both of the children are on the same team with my hottie of a husband as their coach.  So when I say we are doing t-ball, we are DOING t-ball.  Something fierce :) 

 Here's Emma in her infamous dress jersey!  I promise the girlie is wearing shorts :)

  I don't know what it is and it's fine if  you think I'm nuts, but there is something really sexy about watching your husband as a coach.  It's that fathering thing but with other people's kids.  Very handsome :)

 Poor Nick.  One of the only kids he has trouble with is his own.  It's hard for him I know but I'm also glad he's there to give him direction.  This is how the two of them look most of the time on the field...

 Emma is really starting to enjoy the game and has been busy practicing her skills.

And in other news we started painting the house.  By we I mean Nick.  Do you think he planned to wear underpants that match the new paint?  Ooh,lalala!

I love the paint color and we've had neighbors tell us they like it too, which we are so glad about!  Last year the neighbors behind us painted their house a color that can only be compared to the color of dried vomit.  And while I've somewhat gotten used to it, still It's just gross.  We didn't want our color to be to the likeness of that for people :)

You'll have to forgive me for not writing often.  It's summer and a lot of time we are away from the computer trying to get ourselves into trouble!  We are still doing school (supposedly) which is really hard when all you want to do is be on summer break.  Still, we are persevering and trying to finish up.

Hope you all had a great week this past week!  Can't wait to see what fun things this week has in store for us!

Back to School After Graduation

Cal graduated last week.  I know, I know I am late in getting the pictures on here.

Check out Mr. Graduation...

Isn't he adorable?  This little man has grown so much in the past two years.  I mean he had JUST started talking when he started preschool.  He's come so far in such a little amount of time!!!  

And I gotta be honest, it was really hard to watch him graduate.  I literally had a really hard time leaving the church he went to preschool at because I kept thinking, I leave here and I no longer am a mom of a preschooler.  All of my kids will be in grade school.  Sad, sad stuff for a Mom.  Baby steps out the door :(  

During the graduation our leading lady was busy taking care of Baby Grace.  Emma is so beautiful.  Love this girl so much!!! 

 Here I am with my little babies.  Who had to be tickled because we couldn't get smiles out of them!

And then I get these faces.

I think in this picture he's saying "what do you mean I have to start Kindergarten next week?"

That's right folks, this kid started homeschool Kindergarten on Monday.  He did great.  We are basically just working on writing and getting improving his reading skills.  Not too hard.  He did pretty great.  I'm hopeful at this point for the rest of the schoolyear.

So that's how we are doing this week back to school.  I am really pushing Emma in 2nd grade.  I want to get done and go to the beach, yo!

Everyday You Astound Me...

The title is what I found myself telling Calvin on vacation.

I told him this while he smashed on my laptop keyboard.

I told him this late at night.  After just brushing his teeth and then proceeding to shove a piece of cake in his mouth. And for the record this happened in our hotel room while on vacation celebrating Emma's birthday...we don't usually make it a habit to have cake hanging out around our bedrooms :)

Anyway, after eating the cake I said " you goof!  You just brushed your teeth and then you ate cake.  You are going to have to brush your teeth again!!!"

And what do you think his response was?  "Um, maybe we could just keep this a secret?"  What a little stinker.  Every day he astounds me.

A lot of the time it is a matter of astounding me because I didn't think he could misbehave anymore but here he is surprising me.  But usually it is a matter of astounding me because he has proven to be smarter or kinder or more loving than I ever thought possible before.

Those are the moments that astound me.  That let me know that God didn't mess up when making me this kid's Mama.  That we are going to be a-okay.

On vacation this boy of mine picked me flowers.  Beautiful sunny dandelions.  He was so proud.  And I was too.

Everyday sweet boy, you astound me...

Puddle Jumpers

By nature I am a clean person.  I don't like mud, being wet, or standing out in the cold.

But my children are different than me.

They enjoy mud and puddles and exploring.

Sometimes I need to let go of my inhibitions and just embrace the children's desire to explore and test the waters.

Ha!  Get it?  Waters?  Oh dear, I kill myself with this stuff.

Ba-dut-da...

So last week it poured...POURED!  But there was no lightening.  So we headed on out for a walk in the rain  with the dog.

So two excited kids, a jumping black lab, and lots of mud and puddles...yeah! What could be more fun?

 Emma is a puddle jumper!  Can you tell?

 Here's Emma falling in the mud.  I love her sense of adventure and willingness to get dirty.  Really, really dirty.

 Calvin in the same mud puddle is a little more demure.  This is about the extent of his jumping.  He likes to do what Emma does but isn't quite sure sometimes just quite how messy he wants to get.

 Thankfully when Emma joins him he becomes a little more adventurous.  We finally got a jump out off cute mister frog boots.

I love these two.  I love their hearts and their relationship with one another.  I love this stage of their little lives; they find so much joy in the simple things like jumping in mud puddles and taking your dog for a walk in the rain.

They challenge me as a mother and a person every day.  I always hope that they can change me with their joy rather than my personality ever turning them away from that joy.

Now to find some more puddles to jump through...

It's a Fun and Silly Time We're Having Here

Well I've been posting my blog series about Disney but haven't blogged lately about our day to day life.  Here's just a peek at what's been going on around here...

 What can be more exciting than Sonic's happy hour?  Not much according to these little guys.  They love strawberry slushes...I love Dr. Pepper with Vanilla added.  Yummy!

 This guy has been over the moon lately about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  He went to a Birthday party where he got this headband which he wears ALL of the time.  The other day his Lego magazine arrived and was so excited that it had the Turtles on it!  Turtle Power!

 The other day Emma was hanging out on her bed and I was tossing her clothes for her outfit of the day.  As you can see, this is what happened....poor dear :)

And so of course when Daddy came home she had to tell him about it.  As a result, they both thought at bedtime it would be hilarious to put unders on their heads.  They came downstairs for story time looking like this, singing a song they made up called "we love underwear".

Oh dear.  I love these two so much.  So cute!

Hope you have a Happy Weekend!