Pumpkin Patch

We actually went to 2 different pumpkin patches this year. The first one was an impromptu trip a couple weeks ago when we were at my parents’ house visiting. My sister, her friend Ashley, my mom, the kids, & I decided to go while the guys were watching football & grilling steaks for us.



Some of our pumpkins!



Averly picking out her favorite.



FYI-Averly looks JUST like me at her age in this picture. Don’t you think, Mom? ;0)



Ashley & Jamie!



Riley loved grinding the corn.



My pumpkin display when we got home. I love the stacker pumpkins this year!



Then Sunday afternoon we went to another pumpkin patch with Dada. It was naptime, but we still had fun & no meltdowns occurred. We even went to eat Mexican afterwards!



Averly would say “come ‘er bock bock!” to the all chickens.



This tunnel made Averly’s knees on her white tights filthy! But she loved it!



Riley was more interested in putt putt.



I hate to say it, but I don’t think we have a Tiger on our hands.

 

My beautiful babies riding the choo choo!



Now on to the hay ride to get some pumpkins!!



They were little troopers, but oh so tired.



Then we played a little more on the playground before leaving. It was such a perfect Fall day!



My boys!



We carved 3 out of our 4 pumpkins yesterday, but still have one more to do...maybe tonight! Happy Fall Y’all!

Zeke is back!!

Our dog Zeke has been staying with TAG’s sister & her husband while we were at our other house because our yard was just too small for him. We felt bad that he didn’t have much room to run so Brooke volunteered to keep him until we could get moved. Now that we are finally staying at the new house, we got Zeke back! He is such a good dog & the kids love him. I adore these pictures of them playing together Sunday before church.



Where did my baby girl go? She looks so grown up here! Can you tell she has a black eye? She woke up with it one day last week. I honestly have no idea what happened but considering the fact that she tries to do everything big brother does, I’m sure she got it honest. It’s starting to clear up finally.



P.S. Happy Fall! :0)

Riley’s 1st Day of Preschool

Riley’s first day of preschool was Thursday, September 22nd (which is also the same night that we slept at the new house for the first time-more on that later). We had been prepping him for a week getting him excited to go meet new friends & have fun at school. He was all excited up to the night before. Then morning came. Let’s just put it this way, my kids are not morning people. I waited until about 8:00 to get him out of bed & start getting ready. The school is an all day school, but most of the preschool curriculum/activities are done from 9-2. So I wasn’t too worried about him being late. Especially on his first day. I wanted to ease him into everything since this is all brand new to him.

I finally woke him up & got him to crack a smile for a few pictures. He was excited but a little nervous acting too. He knew he was going to school but of course didn’t know what all it entailed.

It was also green shirt day at school. :0)



We got his teacher a container of mints & wrote her a little note as a first day gift.



Waiting to be directed to his room!



Would you believe that there were no tears when we left him the first day?! From me or him! I felt myself want to tear up a few times, but never let them pour. I’m sure it was because he did so well that I did ok! As soon as I got home I turned the monitor on from my computer (they have cameras there, which I love) & saw him having fun & behaving so well. I was so proud. I was sure to watch him at lunch time because he is literally the world’s pickiest eater & will not go far out of his realm when it comes to food, so I was anxious to see if he would eat anything. You are not allowed to bring your own food unless you have food allergies, according to the state. So Riley will  either have to eat what they cook or starve. The first day they had baked ham, pinto beans, and macaroni & cheese. I watched as close as I could to see if he was eating anything but nope. He just sat there quietly as the other kids were chowing down. At this point I did cry. I know he was hungry & I just wanted to make him a peanut butter sandwich! I know he has to learn to eat other types of foods & this will probably be the best way--him seeing other kids eat. I’m really hoping it gets better though because every day when I look at his little “report card” I know he is hungry throughout the day. Also, naptime has been a little bit of an issue. At home he generally goes down for a nap around 1:30-2:00. At school, it’s 12:30. So if he even falls asleep, it is right at the end of naptime & he doesn’t get much of a nap in. I’m trying my best to move his nap up a little at a time at home, but with us in the middle of moving it is extra hard. We are always on the go, whether it be to Lowe’s or back to our other house to get another load of stuff. We are just usually gone during mid-day right now. I am so ready for things to settle down around here!

(It got honey mustard on it because we went to Sonic for an after school treat & he refused to put his paper down!) 



And this is what school has been doing to him at night! He completely crashes!



All in all preschool has been a good experience for him. He has made lots of friends & learned about bugs, he says. :0) Apparently they were studying insects last week. The drop off is the hardest time, of course. He is still crying that he doesn’t want to go & he wants to sleep in his own bed. TAG usually drops him off in the mornings & I pick him up. After he takes him I & turn on the monitor he is just fine playing with the other kids & doing what they do with no complaints.

I am so thankful we found such a great school for him with wonderful teachers & a Christian based curriculum. We really do love it there & I know Riley is in good hands.

I just can’t believe my baby boy is a preschooler!!!

My Little Secret/Project

I have been so MIA lately due to several things keeping me occupied—soaking up the beautiful fall-ish weather with my family, making some door hangers for friends, football games, and this:



Our new old house. Beautiful, right? I know you’re jealous.

TAG’s job that he got a couple months back is much closer to his hometown than where we currently are living so we knew that the best thing for us to do would be to move. Here. Mortgage free. That part sealed the deal for me.

It actually has some good bones under what you’re seeing here. Lots of potential for this little gem. TAG’s great-grandparents built this house back in the early 1900s & it is the house TAG lived in as a child, but after his mom passed away about 18 years ago, the family just rented it out. Due to that, it has not been taken care of & was pretty much run down. The renters left a few weeks ago & we have been cleaning, repairing, & painting like crazy on the weekends to get this house back into decent shape. It is really starting to shape up & is almost back to livable condition.

This is obviously the before picture & I will be sure to post the afters. If we ever get there! Right now we are in the during stage & I will try & post those pictures soon as well. As I said, the house has character that I love. We found some little treasures in the kitchen behind some paneling that I am super excited about! However there are some not-so-exciting things as well. Like a tiny master bedroom & bathroom. And I do mean TINY. Like we are having to sell our king size bedroom suite because it won’t fit, tiny. (Let me know if you are in the area & interested in it!) And there is no central heat or air. We have those lovely window air conditioners in several rooms. Blah! We debated putting in a unit, but honestly, we don’t want to put too much money into it because we are hoping that it will just be a stepping stone while we save up enough money to build the house we want. I keep telling myself that it will all be worth it in a few years!

The house is a lot bigger that it looks from the outside (except for the master!) but it has an awkward floor plan. You have to walk through Riley’s room to get to Averly’s room. Her room doesn’t have a closet & it has a front door out to the porch. I’m thinking this room was originally an office of some sort. We’ll make it work with armoires due to the closest situation though.

I have actually enjoyed the process of fixing up the house. We are doing everything ourselves, (nothing too major) which makes things very interesting! And we’ve had lots of help from family & friends.

And here’s the reason I’ve been so secretive about the whole thing. I didn’t know what I was going to do as far as work. I really didn’t want to leave my current job & definitely didn’t want to have to job hunt again. So I have been waiting on my boss to get it approved through her boss to let me work from home. It was finally 100% ok-ed & I start working from home next week! I am beyond thrilled about that & so very thankful! Riley is also starting preschool next week (Thursday) so I have everything lined up as far as where he will be while I work. Averly is a different story. I don’t want to send her to a daycare just yet so I think my mom is still going to keep her as needed. Praise God for such wonderful parents that want to keep my kids!!

So there it is, my latest project. I will get back into the routine of blogging more frequently soon. Promise.

Oh and PS, I actually snuck in a very much needed little girls’ night last weekend! It took 4 men babysitting my 2 kids (TAG included), but I hear they had lots of fun watching football, reading RedHead catalogs & picking out camo ensembles. :0)