Yes!!!

The Pumpkin Patch trip finally came!! The kids were all so excited that the weather cooperated and the first field trip of the year actually happened!

Since I went too (along with some other parents & a grand-parent), Aidan rode with me. He's very good at navigating and telling me when to stop at red & go at green!(Recognize the sweater?!)

Right away, the kids all went running to the hay bales STOCKED with the pumpkins. Aidan found the one he wanted within 3 minutes of our van pulling into the parking lot!

Here's the preschool crew posing in front of the hay horse. It was sunny, but it was chilly!

After visiting the overly chatty donkeys, we went on a hayride to the patch of tiny pumpkins. During the ride is when it happened...my camera batteries called it quits.

Anyway everyone got to pick their own little pumpkin. Aidan immediately found one that was stemless. We carefully put it back on the ground and searched for one with a stem. While we were taking the prize pick to Nikki to have Aidan's name put on it, Jackson picked up the same stemless pumpkin & I heard Johanna say "Jackson, let's find one with a stem!".

By the end of the trip 2 pigs had frolicked, 5 goats had been fed, 1 chicken had been chased, 10 pumpkins had been picked & 10 kids got very muddy! What a great trip!

Thanks to Kim & Nikki for taking us!

October Garage Sale?

One or two months ago I decided that I needed to have another (YIKES! That makes 3 this year alone!) sale. I've got so much stuff left over that it has taken me FOREVER to go through everything. (The good news here? MY ATTIC IS CLEANED OF ALL PREVIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS' JUNK!!!) Anyway, I had originally wanted to have the sale a few weeks ago, but the list of things being sold has grown to include not only my things (and the other 4 humanoids that live with me) but Lorea's, Christine's, Nellie's and Nancy's. Oh my goodness! Nellie's got an attic full of treasures. Yesterday I went over and we made a substantial dent. Now don't get me wrong, if you were to go there today and take a gander, you would never know that we were there. WOW!! I will be having many more sales for her, I'm sure. Christine's got a storage bin FULL of great stuff, and Nancy's got more ebay'ish treats. I'm such a glutton for punishment. You should see my basement right now...oh dear. Anyway, it's always nice to get rid of things and buy new clothes with the garage sale fundage. I hope I feel up to shopping on Sunday because it'll be PAYDAY!

I better go for now...gotta get Aidan to bed and start reading my newest library fetch...Something Blue by Emily Giffin. I've been waiting patiently for about a month! If you haven't read it you should start with Something Borrowed and then follow it with Blue, then Baby Proof & Love the One You're With. If you don't believe me, ask Lorea & Christine...and Johanna!!!

Oh, pray for no rain tonight so we can go to the Pumpkin Patch with the preschool tomorrow! :)

Weather & Magic...or lack thereof.

This morning I tried to wake Aidan with the excitement of going to preschool and the pumpkin patch. He informed me that he wanted "five more minutes" of sleep. Finally he got up and had a great breakfast of Apple Jacks (ew), got dressed, did his morning potty (12 minutes...I think the boy's a camel), took his medicine, brushed his teeth, got his backpack and headed out the door with Dad. Little did he know that since the weather is rainy, cold and gross, the trip to the PP was re-scheduled. It rained last night and they (Peach Tree Farms) said that their tractor wouldn't be able to drive to the patch. He will be extremely sad (I didn't DARE mention the trip...maybe he forgot? Yeah, right. And I didn't think about what I want to eat for lunch the second my eyes popped open this morning. Sure.) and it will be a long & agonizing time waiting for the 23rd, the re-scheduled date, to arrive. The child wants Halloween to be here so badly he can hardly wait! Yesterday he told me that he wants to be Spiderman the first time and a Sorcerer the second time. (Apparently he thinks Halloween will come twice this year) Anyway, we were using a chopstick to retrieve a Pinky Ball from the rather tight opening to the inside of his Discovery Toys Castle thing-a-ma-bob, and he decided that it made a great wand. The chopstick magically helped the squishy ball out of the castle so it must be a wand, right?! I wish it were true...I'd magically make the weather cooperate!

Oh, in case you're wondering...the medicine is simple amoxicillin (I'm sure that Ernest Duchesne & AlexanderFleming wouldn't appreciate the word "simple") to treat an infection in a canker sore on his gum. Ouch! It was HUGE! He had been complaining of it hurting and was very whiney (see the "It's Fall, Ya'll" post). By Thursday night it was so big that you could barely tell that his nose was separate from his upper lip. Poor little guy! He's much better now that we're on day 5 of the medication. :)

Apple-y Stuff

These past few days have been CONSUMED with apples! The pies and butter you know about already. Yesterday I made the most delish pink applesauce! It's really easy and I hope to NEVER have to buy the store-bought kind again...guess I better get more apples! Anyway, while at the store to get more supplies, look what I found! It's not the same as getting a sip in those little paper cups straight from the cooler at the restaurant, but just seeing the name makes me happy!

Here are some of my apple treats.

And, last but not least here's Aidan after we read one of his new favorite books, TEN APPLES UP ON TOP.

Homecoming '08

Yes, I realize that Homecoming 2008 has already come and gone but I've got some cute pictures from the events.

Parades make Aidan silly!

And this one made Madisson not-so-happy since she's grounded and had to sit with us. She would much rather be with her friends...

First off, there are the floats:

The Freshmen (2nd Place)

The Sophomores: (3rd Place)

The Juniors: (4th Place)

The Seniors: (1st Place)

Then there's the tennis team
Then of course comes the candy...Smarties, please!

And, for future reference: stand next to some staff member types that will collect candy from the other staff/faculty members driving the cars and give it all to you!!

Next up are the Queen candidates. I was a little biased so I only have a pic of the girl I wanted to win.
Later that night at the game, the Pirates beat the Marshall Owls with a score of 33-13.

The next night brings dinner with friends and attendance at a dance in an adorable dress.

Kat and her friend at the restaurant

Kat and the Girls before dinner

My how time flies...

It's Fall, ya'll

Ugh....it's so hard to be motivated when it's rainy and gross outside. I've done NOTHING today to get ready for my garage sale this weekend. I don't think that it helps that I'm just bushed from yesterday's bake-a-thon that took place in my kitchen. Anyway. After preschool, we checked out savvy seconds in search of some costume ideas for the upcoming Halloween party that we're attending. No such luck. BUT...I did figure out what I'm going to be! Finally!!! It's going to take some serious constructing and, since it's a secret, will be "blogged" about at a later date. Kat's got a tennis match tonight and it's also Senior night so we'll be going to the courts here in a little bit. I hope Mother Nature doesn't decide to drop buckets on us while we're outside! That's all for now. Sorry it's so boring and blah. It's kinda a blah day. Oh, and Aidan's been a GEM since we picked him up from preschool. Yikes, that boy needs a nap! (I guess, in his defense, I can write a blog to vent my frustrations but since he can't yet type he just screams and acts like a Royal Pain.)

Apples!

Apples!!!

Yesterday we packed up the kids and went to Huffstutter's Apple Orchard to pick apples. We didn't necessarily need MORE apples, but we went for the experience of it all. Since we got a bunch of apples from Lorea, we only bought 1 bag from the orchard. Since the bags are only $5 each, we couldn't resist.

On the way to the trees

Look at this one!

Aidan's first time picking apples

This one takes some reaching!

Reaching far into the tree

What a cutie!

Katarina picking an apple

Madisson doing double duty

Madisson picking apples

Kat at the orchard

Look at all of those apples on the ground!

Madisson can't wait to eat this one!

The kids enjoying the sweet apples

Aidan was getting carried and fed...what a life!

Kat with one of her apples

So, here are the kids on the way back to the van after a successful "Pick". With a bag full of apples and one in each of their hands, they're totally in heaven. Aidan enjoyed his so much that by the time I took it away from him, he had eaten most of the core!

Today I've made 4 apple pies (with homemade crust...not the kind from that famous Doughboy!) and I'm in the process of making more apple butter. I've still got a TON of apples left, so if anybody knows of a good apple tart recipe, please let me know. Since I'm freezing the pies, I'd kind of like something that we could eat now. :) Also, tomorrow I'm going to attempt the applesauce. We'll see how the canning goes today. We had one of the pies for dessert...YUM! (If I do say so myself! Thanks Betty Crocker for the fab recipes!)

Stephenson's Apple Farm

Remember this treasure of a place? Oh how I miss it! My mom and I were in KC one day and decided to go there for dinner, but when we pulled into the parking lot we realized that we were the only car there. This has never happened before (there is usually a substantial wait) and we knew something was wrong. Upon arrival at the door, we saw the worst possible news: (as far as restaurant closure is concerned!) CLOSED. We were so saddened that I don't even remember where we ended up eating dinner that night. Wherever it was, it will never compare to my beloved Stephensons! No more Piggy Wiggy (the most DIVINE pork chops to ever meet a fork!!), no more apple butter, no more apple fritters, no more cold cider during the aforementioned substantial wait, no more walking past the rows of corn relish, no more green rice or frozen fruit salad...seriously sad.

But alas! I have a Stephenson's family cookbook that I had purchased years ago!!! I was never forced to make any of the recipes...it just seemed easier to drive an hour and a half and get everything made by the professionals with the accompanying atmosphere. (One room even had an apple "tree" in it...so fun!!) Given the recent events though, yesterday I made apple butter (a different recipe) and the mighty tasty apple fritters. YUM-O Rachel Ray!!! Together they are a match made in heaven...pure ecstasy! Yes, I've got serious food issues and I'm not afraid to admit it. I've got the green rice recipe but I still have to figure out how they made those pork chops so tender that the meat literally fell off the bone by saying "Man, I'm hungry for some pork chop!". You could almost get away without chewing at all...oh how I would love one of those right now.
Those of you who know and loved Stephensons the way I do probably understand the sadness. Those of you who weren't fortunate enough to have experienced it are truly missing out!

Ah, Garage Sales!

My friend is having a 2-day sale this weekend and just came to borrow a clothes rack and table. As we were in the basement, I was pondering all of the great JUNK I could get rid of and make some cash! Why must they (the sales) be so much work though? I swore off selling anything else after the last two I had this summer, but the prospect of making a measley $30 or so is so enticing!!! Why???

Well, here I go...off to the garage to pack up garage sale goodies. Wish me luck! Aidan needs a toybox, Katarina needs to pay off her tennis shoes and Madisson needs swim team dues...oh, and coats would be nice too! I guess I'll be down there for a while. Ugh...

Little Red Reading Box...I

You know, we play games every day and yesterday was no exception. The usual game of Teddy Grahams made its way to the living room floor (Aidan and his dad are playing it AGAIN as I type) and afterward, I pulled out the Little Red Reading Box that I picked up from the library. In this box, I, are books, an abacus, a CD, a VHS tape of Dr. Seuss' ABC, a mouse puppet and some wood blocks. Fun, fun, fun!

Ah, just one more reason I LOVE the Columbia Library!

Lunch with Nature

Yesterday after preschool Aidan just couldn't wait to go pick up Grandma and go to lunch. So we went to Rolling Hills Park for a nice chilly lunch. Too bad we didn't have Wendy's chili... we could have had a chilly windy Wendy's chili lunch. Anyway, Aidan ended up eating his A&W burger & fries bundled up in Kat's tennis blanket. Luckily, we were in the sun a little to help keep us warmer. After eating, it's a given that you have to play!

This is obviously the mysterious A&W fry wrapper flower. It's such a rare one that I just HAD to have a photo.

Runnin' to play!

These are lovely when they're in someone else's yard...but we brought it home anyway.

I don't think we quite get how a teeter totter works...usually best with feet on the ground!

It's sure fun, though!

Who's that following me?

Even though it was so windy, this dandelion just wasn't ready to let go.

No matter how hard Aidan tried...

Until finally, he decided to just tear it to shreds. No photos for those with sensitive stomachs. It was quite graphic!

As we were heading back to the car, we saw these two spiderwebs. What master crafters they are! The spiders, that is.

Have you ever seen such pretty purple Iris (for Barb: Iri) in OCTOBER???