Random Fall Fun

Fall has been really busy this year, which has meant I've gotten behind on the posting because we've been going constantly. Lots of fun with family and friends, busy-ness with school and church.

 

Bean and Bug have spent a lot of time with our friends out on their farm. They got lucky-- Uncle D has been building a chicken coop out there, so they've had a ride to go out and play. And these 4 know how to play hard. They have a whole magical world they've created (complete with maps), and can literally spend several hours at a time in their own little world.

This dog (who totally took advantage of someone leaving pillows and a blanket on the ground) is not getting any younger. She keeps throwing out her back any time she has a busy day, or even a busy 10 minutes. And with all the squirrels, possums, and chipmunks living in our yard, she's been having too many busy days. She also developed a cough that had us scared for a few days, but seems to be back to normal. I hate seeing the signs that she is aging.

 

Speaking of possums. . .

Note to self: when they kids tell you they figured out how to set an old trap they found in the woods, they might actually catch something. Luckily Daddy-o noticed it before he left for work because I don't think I'm up for dealing with opossums before breakfast. It took awhile, but he figured out how to open the trap without getting bit and much to Daddy-o and Molly's dismay, we let him go.

 

And when he's not out catching the local wildlife, Bug has been a pretty good big brother lately. He reads to Peanut pretty often, and helps him build lego creations and draw pictures. 

Bug and I got to go to a Japanese restaurant with his class following their study of Japan. I've been taking advantage of having my mom out here and got to volunteer in and out of the classroom several times. I've also been going to Pilates a couple times a week without having to worry about whether or not Peanut will stay in the childcare. But more on that later.

It was really fun watching the chef cook right in front of us.

Especially when he lit the grill on fire. I was a little disappointed that they didn't serve very adventurous food, but I guess playing it safe (chicken and mushrooms, fried rice, carrots, and soup) was a good call because the kids mostly loved it.

Two little monkeys in tiger jammies (the third monkey has the same ones, so for the first time, all three can match, which she loves!) This littlest monkey has made the last month or so very, very exhausting. I'm going to blame the worst of it on him having a cold, or some serious seasonal allergies going on for a couple weeks, because it was like he was possessed by a demon, and I hate to think that personality is anything close to his true self. Let's just say that everyone who's been at our house this last month has seen a side of Peanut that we don't care to witness anymore. The out of control screaming and anger and outright obstinance has taken us to a new level of parenting. Add in the fact that he suddenly decided he didn't want to go or stay anywhere without me or Daddy-o (gym childcare, preschool, church nursery, babysitters, even Rara at the house for awhile) and I've been desperate. And I thought my other two kids were challenging.

 

Couple other projects to blog about separately, but that pretty much sums up the last few weeks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Turkey (and pie) Day has come and gone once again. A few of the things I am grateful for this year:

The pies, as always. And the fact that Daddy-o makes them as well as most of the other contributions our family makes to the neighborhood feast. I only have to make the rolls, which I do the day before, and that means that I can spend Thanksgiving Day relaxing. Some years, I go for a run; this year, I didn't get out of my pajamas until it was time to go to dinner. It was fantastic and gave me a chance to work on a couple Christmas presents. I cook all year, pretty much ever day, and I love having one of the biggest cooking days of the year be my day off.

Good friends and neighbors. We live thousands of miles from our families and don't get to celebrate many holidays with them, but we have been so incredibly blessed to live next door to one of the nicest women I've met and who has been like a 3rd grandma to our kids. A few years ago, we were invited to Thanksgiving dinner with her family and friends and have been part of their celebration ever since. I love that we can make "family" wherever we are.

My family. My three crazy kids and my fabulous husband, but also my family I grew up in. My mom and brother actually got to spend thanksgiving with us this year, for the first time since we moved out here. They've been visiting for the last month since coming for Bug's baptism, and it has been so great to have them around. I hate that we live so far away, but feel truly lucky to have a mom who is willing and able to come out to see us as often as she does. Our house isn't calm or quiet, and I'm sure it gets old after awhile, but she keeps coming back :) 

We really are blessed to have good health, good food, good friends, and family. We have a safe place to live, a good school to go to, as many books to read as we want, and even a little free time to read them in. And for all of that, I am thankful.

Living Out Farming Dreams

Once a year, Rural Hill hosts Sheepdog Trials for a weekend and I have wanted to go ever since we moved here and I first heard about them. Finally, this year, we made it happen and it was a lot of fun. Bean, our farmer at heart, kept exclaiming, "This is the best day of my life!" She thought it was right up there with Disneyworld. Hundreds of dogs, both competing and spectating, a farm, and some fair food, what more does she need?

Along with the actual sheepdog trials, there were a bunch of other competitions and demonstrations. Carolina Dock Dogs were there, competing for the longest jump, some even in costume. Some of the dogs made it about 25 feet, which was pretty fun to watch.

The mini tractors were fun, too. It was such a beautiful day, which really helps everyone's enthusiasm for spending the afternoon outside.

Trying to figure the driving thing out.

The Frisbee dogs were really fun. Those dogs could really fly. This one caught the Frisbee and then soared over the 4 volunteers they'd called up. He could have easily cleared another 5 or 6.

And this last series of pictures of the height competition turned out fun. I love watching how excited these dogs get to do their thing.

The powerful beginning. . .

Reaching for it. . .

And success!

 

Seriously such a fun day. Makes me wish our dog was a little less mellow and a little more skilled, but I'm not sure we could handle the amount of energy these dogs were showing. Probably better to watch someone else's dog.

Happy, Happy Birthday

Along with getting baptized, Bug had a little typical birthday celebrating. On Saturday, he'd wanted to go to the Renassiance Faire, but it ended up being a very cold, windy, drizzly day, so we talked him into spending an hour at Sports Connection, doing a ropes course, bumper cars, and a couple other games. Sunday, after the baptism, we had a lunch at the house for everyone (which I took no pictures of--oops.) That night, it was present time.

Except our gift for him didn't make it, thanks to the total ineptitude of Walmart ship-to-store. This is only the second (and last) time we've used this option, and this is the second time we've been missing a big gift. Bug's bike should have been in a couple days ago, but he'll have to wait until some time next week to ride. 

Small disappointments are easily overcome by pumpkin pie.

This was actually the second round of pumpkin pie that day. We'd also served it at lunch. Only that was Costco pie, and this was Daddy-o pie. We all decided that Daddy-o pie is better, but Costco is a close second, and worth it for big groups.

Making a wish. I can't wait to see what year 9 holds for my Bugaboo.

 

And then there was the third day of celebrating--reading one of Bug's favorite books to his class on Monday. I love that the school has chosen a different way of honoring birthdays rather than by the typical cupcake party because the last thing these kids need is more sugar. Bug always has me read Boogie Knights, which is fitting since it can be a Halloween book. And the class sings, and he gets the standing ovation for the day. That's another awesome thing about this school. Everyday, someone is selected for the standing "o" and everyone in the class says something they like about that person. Such a nice thing to have happen to you each month. 

 

I think it was enough celebrating to make our new 8 year old feel pretty special.

His Big Day

Our little Bug isn't so little. He's 8 years old and baptized now! We're so proud of the thoughtful, loving, conscientious person who he has become. He tries to make good choices and thinks pretty hard about anything serious before deciding what he should do. He's such a great friend and a fun brother, both for the younger and older siblings (we keep telling him how lucky he is to get to be the little brother and the big brother because no one else in our family gets both roles.)

His birthday fell on Sunday and he really wanted to get baptized that same day.

 

And since all the grandparents were able to come out this weekend, we decided what a great way to make a birthday weekend extra special! We're glad he had family there to celebrate with him. I know I keep saying it, but it's the one hard part about not living near our families. We don't make it to all their special events and most of them can't come to us for ours.

Grandma and Grandpa

Rara and Unkie

Love this boy so much! His baptism was a really special meeting. The spirit was very strong. Apparently, when he came out of the water and went back to change, he was pretty giddy. He wasn't sure if it was the good feeling he had, or the fact that the water was cold, but he said he was having a hard time not giggling through it :) It is supposed to be a joyous occasion!

And love this family. We're so lucky to have these three awesome kids. Sometimes it can be hard in the nitty-gritty, everyday chaos to remember what an awesome blessing it is to share our lives with three little people, but when I sit back to think of what they bring to our home and to my life, I'm amazed. Being a parent is a beautiful (if exhausting) thing. I'm grateful for these life events that remind me.

The Month of Dress Up

We ended up with a lot of Halloween celebrations this year, which meant a lot of costumes and dress-up opportunities spread over the last half of the month. Peanut was about as into it as his face looks in that picture. :) He had fun, but didn't always want the costumes on and was constantly begging us to, "Hold me!" I think the costumes kind of freaked him out, whether they were scary, or not.

First up was a historical Halloween at Latta Plantation. They taught us a little about the history of witches and pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating, and even had a little costume contest where Bug won for Best Historical Figure with his last minute Johnny Appleseed. That pot on the head makes the costume.

Bean went for the vampire, sort of. They were warming up with the costumes at this one.

Then came the church Trunk-or-Treat where we tried out the real thing. These clown costumes are almost 30 years old--my mom made them for my brothers and I one year, and this year, my 3 fit into them pretty well, so they decided to use them for their main costumes.

We added the wig because one of the hats has been lost. I'm glad I got a few pictures with Peanut wearing it because he didn't keep it on for long, but he was so stinkin' cute!

He traded Bug for a hat. And what was keeping his attention riveted?

The live-version of whack-a-mole! He didn't want to play, but loved watching everyone else do it. That may have been the best game I've ever seen at a church party.

Pumpkin carving didn't involve costumes, but it did involve Grandma and Grandpa! They came to visit for Bug's birthday and baptism (separate post coming up), so they got to be here for some of the Halloween fun, too.

And finally, it was the actual day of Halloween. We started off with the Parade of Fiction at school. Bug and Bean have both been reading the How to Train Your Dragon series and wanted to be Vikings. Here's Hiccup. . .

Bug's 2nd grade class

Bug and a friend

And here's Camicazi (from the 3rd book) and friend

 

 Bean's 5th grade class

Silly girls

My two Vikings (and there's even a little Tum-tum Viking in Bean's arms).

The pumpkins--Bean went for a cat this year.

Bug opted for the classic look

This cute little guy who refused to go to preschool that day, so he missed out on anything fun they did there.

And with his little pumpkin.

Our one fun decoration. We really should get some more stuff for the yard.

And here they are, ready for the candy collection, with Magnum PI as a chaperone. Since no one would wear the clown wig, I put it on for awhile during the trip around the neighborhood. It's always fun to see everyone out--kind of one last hurrah before winter when most of the neighborhood seems to go into hibernation until spring yard work starts.