Apple-Dandy Day

Today we went to Steele's Orchard in Cullman, AL, to pick apples with friends and have the "journey of the apple" tour. It was SO precious! It started with a lady in a bumblebee costume teaching us all about bees and how they work (turns out I didn't know diddly about bees). Then we learned about apple trees and how the orchard works, and then we picked apples (which you don't get to keep- you buy them in the store after they are washed) and then learned how they wash, grade, and store the apples and make cider and apple pulp, and then it finished with us tasting different types of apples (from a lady in an apple costume) and learning about which ones were sweet, tart, crunchy, soft. We had already gotten ready for this tour by getting several books from the library about apples and Johnny Appleseed (his birthday was last Saturday). Julia's favorite book was perfectly named Tucker's Apple-Dandy Day.

"Johnny Appleseed" fell in love with Tucker and offered to hold him while I helped my big kids pick apples. He even helped Tucker find a baby-sized apple to keep. The people at this orchard seemed to genuinely love children and to delight in sharing their orchard with us. I suggest you go if you can- and call ahead and reseve a tour!

And so it begins....again

So we had our first fall soccer game tonight. It was so chilly and felt so "fallish". Marky had a blast and scored all of our team's three goals! It was such an amazing difference from last year.

Guess who's coaching (again)? DADDY!

Most importantly we have a bigger cheering section this year with the addition of Tuckerboy! (Pay no attention to him putting my car keys in his mouth- he is the third child and has to make do with what he gets) :)

Tucker throws on a fleece and hits the turf. GO Super-snakes! (name of team as voted on by 5-year-old boys)

Sunday Swim party

Today we went to a birthday party for one of Marky's best friends. It was a lot of fun- and if you think the pool looks like the state of Alabama- it does.

It was a really special day at the Governor's Mansion. All the boys from his kindergarten were there for "water wars" with water guns. Even their teacher came. Special memories for sure.

P.S. Here's a peek at the sunroom:

Symphony Friday

Today we went to the Explorer Concert with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. It was so much fun. It's a concert tailored to kindergarten to 2nd graders and they show the kids each of the different sections of the orchestra and play familiar songs like "are you sleeping", songs from swan lake and Sousa's march . I was very excited because Marky has hit a rut in wanting to practice violin- he complains if I even mention it. I think watching the huge string section play today reinforced how "cool" it is to play violin. If you are sad you missed this concert- they have several "family fun" concerts coming up you can catch.
BB has been here this week and it has been WONDERFUL! Tucker had his first ear infection earlier in the week and Julia got some fever virus as well and Marc is swamped at work- so I've had my hands full. BB is a BIG, HUGE help. She kept Tuckerman and let him nap today while we went to the concert. Then we went and got them and we all went to the mall and rode the carousel and went to the Disney store and ate a yummy lunch at Olive Garden. BB also went with us to take Tucker and Julia to storytime at the library on Wednesday. It's been so much fun to have a partner in my adventures. Thank you BB for all your help!

Let's kick it....

Everyone knows I adore this silly little girl- she is tough as nails (she never cries when she gets hurt- and rarely gets hurt) and loves to run around with her brothers and their friends.

Underneath it all, though, I do think she is girly. Exhibit A: look at her place at the breakfast table- pink, ponies, princesses....she's got the girl thing down. And I work very hard at keeping her dressed like a little girl, which necessarily means wearing dresses.

I don't know how she does it, but almost EVERY time I put a dress on her- she kicks out the hemline. Here she is this afternoon coming home from moms-day-out. See the hem? What is the deal? I just had four dresses repaired and their hems taken out and today she brings home this one torn.

So I put it in the laundry room with "the others" that need repairing. Does anyone else's little girl do this? Isn't this odd? I do have a sewing machine, and I guess I could learn to fix them, but I'm afraid it won't look right. I just don't remember doing this to my mom.

Good thing she's so sweet and loveable- it's a lot of work keeping her dresses hemmed! And no, I won't stop putting her in dresses- she is my only girl after all! P.S. the other day at her little kiddie Bible study they went around the room and said "everyone say your name" and she was last and had her head down being shy and they said "can you tell us your name?" and she looked up and quietly said, "Sissy." We love you Sissybug.

All Aboard the Cookie Train....

Today we went with some other families to Bud's Best Cookies and did the factory tour! It was so much fun! They gave us all cups full of cookies to eat on the train. They were still warm from the conveyor belt.

Julia wasn't sure about the hairnet or the "twain", but all her concerns subsided the moment she saw cookies....after all "day are so yummy".


When we left they gave us all a bag of animal crackers and a Bud's Best coloring book that has kept Marky busy most of the afternoon. Sadly, Tucker had to stay home with a baby sitter because he has his first ear infection and is super lethargic, feverish and pitiful.



P.S. The tour is free and Bud's Best is a precious, Christian-based company that came up with the recipe for and manufactures "Famous Amos".

Pondered in my heart

Quotes from today:

While explaining original sin to Marky and how Adam and Eve lost the grace of God that was within them and were going to have to die and had lost heaven and perfect fellowship with God not just for themselves, but for all of us who came after them, I said, "so what did we need?"

Marky: A Savior.

Mommy: And who was that?

Marky: Jesus- now we can have God's grace in us and he opened the gates of heaven.

Later we happened to read the Christmas story at bedtime and he said, "those shepherds were happy because He was fixing what Adam and Eve did."

Putting Julia to bed tonight:

Mommy: "What can we thank Jesus for today?"

Julia: "The cross."

Tuesday Update

Caught the kids being sweet and had to take a picture. I love it when there is love in the house.

Now this picture of them reading was taken after I caught Juliabug giving the baby a jar of open vics vapor rub which he apparently rubbed all over his face, hair and exersaucer. I mean, I leave the room for one second.......minute......a bit..... just to get on the computer and I come back to Mr. Shiny.

In case you are wondering about potty training (I get asked about it by somebody every day) we haven't made any progress. If I even mention big girl underwear tears start to flow. Not sure how we will proceed. In other news, I started 100 Easy Lessons with her, so she may be the first kid I've known who could read before they were potty trained. I figure we are at least moving forward with reading if even if we are stuck in pull-ups. Now I'm off to get ready for our first soccer practice for fall.....what with being a soccer mom and all I have to keep up appearances.

Taylor take me away

Yesterday afternoon I was talking on the phone to a friend and in the background of my house you heard the clear sounds of pandemonium. Tears, fights, hungry babies.....everybody was losing it. I, on the other hand, kept chatting cheerfully and said, "it's fine- I'm out of here in one hour." It's amazing how knowing that you have a night out gets you to handle the present chaos so much better. I did get off the phone and handled the various crises. I just had a happy spirit about it because I knew I was off to Surin and to the Taylor Swift concert with Shana (my birthday presents from her). Thank you Shana for an awesome night out! To hear about the concert check out Shana's blog- she's the one who had a camera.

What is good is always beautiful

Tonight we were watching the Duggars as they helped the Bates family build a house. They came and camped out at the Bates' family home for weeks and literally built them a house. The boys labored outside while the girls cooked and socialized. They had over 50 people sharing one bathroom and somehow none of them were walking around talking about how stressed out they were or how ridiculous is was to make them work for this other family. It was such beautiful, joyful selflessness. We were taken by what character these children had.

After it was over we flipped to TLC where they were showing Toddlers and Tiaras. Oh my goodness- what a stark contrast. Marc immediately said, "these little girls have never had to serve another person". That may not be true, but it is definitely true that they are told they are super special and they need to "rock that stage" and make everyone look at them in their "western wear" and then get to pout if they don't win the whole thing. We also noted how nobody comes to watch in the audience except the parents and this is because there is no value in what they are doing. They are not exhibiting any special talent or skill- they are just prancing around dressed up all "glitz" and dancing suggestively. One little girl said, "I'm gone win this thing" and wore a shirt that said "I love to sparkle". What sparkles should be her precious, gentle spirit, not her lipgloss, spray tan and fake teeth, fake eye lashes and fake hair. After all, she is five years old.

A life changing quote I heard in college at just the right time was "that which is beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful." The Duggar children are joyful, talented, selfless and as Marc says "they are the ones who sparkle." I'm not all against pageants per se, I would just love to see these tiara moms really concern themselves with their children's character and then their inner beauty would shine through and we wouldn't need all this coiffing and western wear.

Labor Day in Pictures

See him move his foot out of the way? That's the second animal that inspected his little baby toes. They do look yummy.

Julia loves "dese sheeps".

(Last day for white sandals?) After this pic the sheep turned around and head-butted her- she didn't care. She still loves "sheeps".

Oak Mountain lake....

The view from my chair-

Julia wears her puddle jumper ducky.

T-man loved to walk in the water.

Afterwards we all relaxed in the shade with a cool beverage. Happy Labor Day!

Football Feasting....

So "Big Grandpa" came in town this past weekend. He was on his way home to Florida from his 50-year high school reunion in Ohio. We had the best time getting to visit. It's sad that we only see Marc's parents a couple times a year because of the distance. We really want to treasure our time. We did swing by the bowling alley on Friday afternoon and Grandpa wouldn't play because of his back . Then at the last frame, he said he would "give it a go" and bowled about 6 strikes in a row (he bowled for several of us). He's still got it.
One of the many great things about Marc's dad is his cooking skills. He loves to cook and even owns his own catering BBQ company in Florida. On Saturday night we FEASTED on pulled pork (and special sauce) with corn on the cob fresh from Ohio corn fields. I made a few casseroles and brownies and we had a great time watching football with friends. Grandpa even had "special" pepperoni/swiss cheese/cracker appetizers. Why can't he live closer and cater my events?! :) P.S. Marc claims his Irish heritage on his father's side- if you are thinking that Grandpa looks like the Godfather and brings pepperoni and clearly isn't Irish- I get where you are coming from.

Julia was showing off her new puzzle skills and her new ability to say "NO" right to my face. I can't understand why she chose to act so rebelious right when she had her grandpa who she rarely sees. She was actually a very easy 2-year-old (as far as 2-year-olds go), but she has saved her strong will deep inside and now she's showing us how she can say "No" with the best of them. It's so embarassing. The good thing is that this is not my first time around the block- and I know now that consistency WILL pay off. She's still our sweety pie and the sunshine of the house, but she is definitely bucking authority a little. And usually in front of other people (like a realtor today) in order to keep me humble. And to think I thought the late potty training was keeping me humble already......

Falling for Fall

Oh how I LOVE fall! It MAY be my favorite season- football games, cute sweaters, cookouts, children playing outside, NO mosquitoes- it's just AWESOME! And since it is now September officially- I am free to begin my fall transf0rmation of the house. I have a lot of fall things, but I have to bring them out slowly because it would get boring to have the exact same stuff for three months straight- I mean, we have to make this fall thing last 'till Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, I've already begun changing the candles to "fall" candles.

We've already planted mums all around. And I bought a big fall wreath today that I guess I'll hang in a few weeks. I've basically finished getting all the kids fall clothes too- I just couldn't wait.

P.S. If you are looking for something to keep you child occupied for HOURS at a time that they will think is awesome- look no further than these peel and stick mosaics. I got the box with four in it and Marky has done one each day and they take a LONG time and are great practice for fine motor skills. He's finished the cat (for Julia) and dog (for Tucker) and now he's 1/2 way done with the parrot- I think they'd be cute framed in a playroom too.

Are you homeschooling or what?

You may be curious about why I said Marky was in a K5 class when I've said other times that I was homeschooling. The truth is we are kind of in between this year (and this year only) for a multitude of reasons. Marky goes to school from 9-1 M-F. Then I pick him up and bring him home and put the other two down for naps and then we do homeschool. We have always done homeschool during nap time. Last year (when he was 4) we did a primarily kindergarten curriculum with a few subjects ahead. This year we are doing mainly 1st grade work although I still call it "kindergarten" because that's his age. I signed him up for school in January when I came home from the hospital with Tucker and said "THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS HOUSE" (it was dead of winter you know). :) But now things are calmed down and I see that I can handle three kids (who'd have thought?). Why keep him in then? Well, I tried it out at the beginning of the year to see how it went and here's the benefits I found:

1.) Juliabug has always been kind of left out of the academics around here and I really wanted a year to catch her up and work with her and give her one-on-one attention (which she has needed since Tucker got here). So far, that is GREAT. She can now do puzzles that I thought she couldn't do. She has learned all her upper and lower case "wetters" and their sounds. And I get to sit and read to just her for as long as I feel like. She is thriving during our mornings and she is not focused on whatever it is Marky has in his hand that she wants right that second. (That's how things are when he is home). :)

2.) Marky has no "off" button. He is on and ready to go and do and learn and go and go and go ALL the time. He is NEVER tired or ready to just "chill". It's wonderful because he's so easy to teach, but it's hard for me to keep him occupied during the day. K5 is letting him play with other kids a little (and he's VERY social and loves to play), run around outside with boys (and our neighboorhood has no boys), get computer, Spanish, creative movement, catechesis, and chapel (which I don't really do here (besides catechesis)). Therefore he comes home having gotten some energy out and he's ready to learn. And this particular class goes on a LOT of field trips, which I'm excited about.

3). This particular class was tiny- just 10 students with TWO certified teachers. (They are working on their masters). They get a LOT of one-on-one instruction and they even promised to get Marky his own set of reading books so he could stay at his pace. And they don't have an attendance policy, so I am still able to take him out whenever I want and also go to the homeschool co-op field trips.

4.) I really wanted to do a mommy-and-me class with Tucker b/c I did one with the other two as babies and there is one that Julia, T and I can all do and I'm so tickled about that.

All that said, I'm LOVING our new schedule. P.S. This does not take HOURS. Don't think I'm sitting and teaching day in day out. Julia may be just 20 to 30 minutes of floor time with mommy and Marky is usually right around an hour or so and we cover a lot of different subjects. I'm still not sure if I'll keep M in school after Christmas- we're taking it one semester at a time. Just wanted to explain what we were doing in case it was confusing folks.

IN OTHER NEWS....

"Me? Use a potty? How dare you sir, you are gross."*

Julia got kicked out of moms-day-out for failing to potty train. I told you this would happen! haha I don't care- I love having her with me and she seems to need extra cuddling since she lost her spot as the baby. I have hired AWESOME "Miss Kelly" aka the UAB student across the street to come for four hours on Monday so I can get my appointments and errands done. She puts T down for his nap and does art with Julia that I don't like doing (i.e. magic noodles, finger paint). I then get Marky and he goes with me on my once-a-week grocery run, which he thinks is a special treat for big kids.

*That's a Michel Scott quote from The Office.