Every Morning...

as i walk bean to school...

i see a little boy who wants to be just like his big sister. he brings his own backpack. he holds her hand or sometimes he carries her lunch box for her. and he is always a little disappointed that we don't go in the building.

they are the cutest when we are walking to school. :)

My Weird Kids

this is what was going on in the backseat on the way home from the apple orchard.
i think they were trying to see who could make the best faces... or something.





where did these goofballs come from?? :)

Fifth Annual Apple Pickin' Extravaganza!

yes! it is that time of year again. the leaves are starting to turn, the nights are getting chilly- FALL is in the air! this means it is time for picking apples! hooray!

for the 5th year in a row we headed out to the orchard with mommee and her gang. i can't believe it has been that long, but clearly it has because we have 5 kids between us now. :)

the kids always enjoy picking the apples... um, i mean eating the apples. yeah, that is their favorite part. i don't blame them though, i like to eat them too!

and for the second year in a row we had a child refuse to be in the group picture- sprout i'm looking in your direction. yes, you. sigh. son, you are such a STINKER! ;)

it was a really beautiful day but some how we always manage to pick one of the warmest days to go out to the orchard. that sun was HOT today. but sunny blue skies are good for the soul, so i won't complain too much. ;)

it was another wonderful day with friends. another beautiful day out in nature. another day of fabulous memories.
now, off to make some PIE! mmmmmmmmmmmm, pie. nom, nom, nom! ;)

Unforeseen Issues...

yeah, you all thought i'd forgot about you already, didn't you?! well, i didn't. let's just say that the first week of school didn't go as smoothly as i imagined. oh, don't get me wrong! bean LOVES school! LOVES IT! she has made new friends and everything. and it isn't me either. i kinda like having her gone most of the day. (gosh that sounds horrible! akk!) but it is true. it is peaceful, i can get stuff done, and i appreciate her more when she gets home. soooo, what's the problem? one word- sprout.

sprout has NOT enjoyed having his sister at school. he misses her terribly. he moped around all last week. even looked at me at one point and said "i miss 'bean' all day!" :( he used to play on his own ok but not since bean started school. he follows me from room to room if i'm trying to get something done and when i do try to play with him... well, let's just say that mommy doesn't play the right way. i tried doing special things with him, like going to the wetlands to look for birds...

and letting him have some computer time at the library...

and playing at the playground (the eating snacks at the playground was his favorite part!)...

one day he even decided to take a nap!!!! OMG!!!

but none of those things was quite the same without his sister. well, except the nap thing... OMG, he took a NAP people!!!! i'm sorry, i still can't get over that one. ;)

today was a little better. we kept busy with grocery shopping, taking a walk, playing in the bath tub, watching sesame street, and playing with trio blocks. we made these insect like creatures that we called "battle bugs". they would fight each other until one broke, then mommy would pop it back together. he was having a lot of fun...

he laughed a lot. maybe mommy is finally learning how to play like a kid... or maybe a boy? eh, all i know is today it felt like maybe i finally did something right!

it will probably still be a few more days before he settles in to our new routine completely but i think it is starting to work. here's to more days like today, little man! :)