Apples

On Saturday we spent the day at my Aunt and Uncle's house for their annual Apple Cider Pressing Party. It was a beautiful fall day. My Uncle got 800 lbs. of the most beautiful juicy and pristine apples. Yum! They are so good. The guys ran the press and filled everyone's jugs with fresh cider to take home.

Here's my awesome Uncle Bert next to his super cool press.

Busy Guy is a serious worker! He did every job available. He is always willing to help and loves to see how things work. He is going to make his future wife very happy!

The scenery was amazing!

Busy Guy turning the crank to press the apples.

My Uncle sent us home with two boxes of apples. Yum! I made apple crisp tonight. Fabulous.

Liam was transfixed watching a bagpiper. Yes! My Uncle's friend plays the bagpipes and walked around the property playing. It was magical.

Some kids didn't want to help at all. :) But they had fun running all over and playing soccer.

Sliced apples waiting for freezer bags.

My Aunt Thonnie or "Donnie" as Sis calls her. She was in the kitchen all day turning out apple sauce, apple cake, apple pie, and caramel apples. Mmmmmmm. Oh, and we had delicious soup and other good things for lunch.

Tuba helping Nana turn the apple peeler. He loves to help too!

Sis and I got invited to a friend's birthday party. A GIRL party! Woot! Sis was so excited to go with me. We went shopping to buy the gift. Sis picked out tights for the gift. Of course! While we were picking out tights Sis spotted these "skinny jeans". She whipped them off the rack and said, "Mommy, these are just like yours! Can I have the PLEAAAAAASE?!". Sis does NOT need any more clothes but I melted. I couldn't resist her request to dress like me. You know how I love to match! So we came home and Sis got to work planning our outfits. Pretty good! She would have been happier if our shirts were exactly the same but it's close.
We had so much fun at the party. We made pizzas, played games, had cake, and played girly toys. So much fun!

Girly Room

Sis's room is so beautiful! The path to get here was long and a lot of work but the end product is wonderful. The color turned out so lovely. I don't know if it shows so well in this photo but I really like it. I bought the cube storage and it is great to get her things off the floor and organized.

Sis still has a toddler bed...which fits her little self just fine. In fact two of her brothers also still have toddler beds. That is going to be an expensive day when we buy three twin beds. Yikes!

My favorite part of the new room is these curtains. Love them. They match the stencil I have too. I haven't put the stencil up yet. I'm enjoying her new fresh walls so much...maybe I won't do the stencil. Not sure yet.

Here's a side story about the painting of Sis's room. I was feeling very compelled to paint her room. It was really weighing on me. I would try to brush it off but it just kept coming back to nag at me. I'd tell myself not to be so crazy...that I didn't have to do it right away. But, the morning I decided to paint I was feeling especially anxious about getting to the painting. I decided to just do it and get it done. So, the first thing I did to start prepping the room was to take the light fixture down. Well, the second I touched it I jerked my hand back in pain. The fixture was so hot! I turned the light off and waited for the glass to cool. I then took it down...still rather warm. When I felt the fixture and the ceiling around it I was shocked to feel how hot they were. Scary. Then the very scary part. I next took down the smoke detector. I am VERY careful to have lots of detectors and always have fresh batteries in them. BUT, as I took hers down...it had a dead battery! Oh my! My stomach was sick.

At that moment I realized that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me. Paint that room wasn't about getting a job done but about safety. I always say that you should listen to your inner voice when it is nagging at you and telling you something. It is God speaking to you. In this case I wasn't listening because I thought it was just my "project obsessiveness" speaking. Nope. Turns out I should have listened sooner. Thankfully all is well. Sis (and her brothers) are all getting new light fixtures tomorrow. An electrician is coming to put them up and inspect the wires. The old ones are halogen which the electrician....and lots of others (grandparents and friends) say are not safe. So glad I finally listened to my inner voice!

What NOT to do

Just in case your teenager ever wants to paint his/her room this color....say NO! We bought our house with this lovely color already on the walls...and ceiling. Yes, it was the room of a teenage boy and yes his parents let him pick this color.

I really wanted to get this room painted before we moved in but I didn't. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Packing and moving were a bit overwhelming. This is Sis's room. Her very own room. Too bad you need sunglasses to stop the glare of the fluorescent color!

Well, I have finally gotten around to painting this room. Sis and I chose pink. Really, did you expect something else? I have spent two days working on this room. It took 5 hours and two coats of primer and then 3 hours and 3 coats of paint to cover it. I'm not joking when I say that I'd let my teenage child dye his/her hair this color before I ever let them paint the walls this color. Seriously! One haircut versus hours of my own blood sweat and tears. Okay, so no blood.

Oh, and I'm not done. I finished the ceiling today and will move onto the walls tomorrow. You see I spent many hours choosing just the right pink only to put it on the wall and hate it! Yep. So I went back to the paint store and had it mixed with white. Now it 's much better, much more pale and I think I love it. We'll see. I'll post pics of it soon. After the walls are done I'll be stenciling up those cute flowers and butterflies that were on Sis's previous room. Then it's curtains, shelves and room decor. Oh the fun!

Pumpkin Farm

What I didn't do this weekend:
Clean the bathrooms
Laundry
Clean the floors

What I did do this weekend:
Went out for breakfast
Went to the Pumpkin Patch
Went to The Art Walk with my MIL
Went to church
Went out for lunch
Went to a baptism
Drank wine in front of the fire with my hubby

So just in case you stop by for a visit...don't be shocked at the filth of my house. You can however marvel at the gorgeous pumpkins on my front porch. :)

Oh Bubble

I've been reformed. Maybe. Probably not. But, I did let the kids do bubbles. Any of my long time readers/family members/close friends/therapist know I do NOT like bubbles. Too messy, too gooey. Blech! But, they asked and I said yes. The ground rules: Outside, in the grass, not on the deck, wear rubber boots, don't ask me for help, don't spill them in the yard. :) Don't I sound fun?! Well they did have fun. They did come up on the deck, they did spill (dump) them in the grass and they did have FUN! And aren't they cute!!

Markers

Sis loves to draw, color and write her name. I have to be VERY careful not to leave out any pens or markers...or pencils or she will get them and practice her skills...EVERYWHERE...walls, counters, face/body, blankets, dolls, etc.!

I'm very proud of her drawing and writing skills. However I am not happy about her constant need to draw on any and everything. Yikes. New house with lots of Sis markings = not happy mommy. She also loves to color her finger and toe nails. Pretty. Just like mommy's. :) She also colored the doll's nails too. Pretty. Not so much. This is one of my childhood dolls. Permanent ink. Darn.

I now have a bin of Crayola washable markers for her. All other pens/markers/pencils (did you know pencil does NOT come out?) are under lock and key. :O

Replaced!

While my great SIL and BIL were staying with us I might as well have left town. I was replaced. At one point I came outside to play with everyone and was told, "MOM, GO!" by my youngest child. Well! The kids eagerly awoke each morning and the first thing out of their mouths was "where is Aunt Cinn and Uncle Jamie?". Then they would perch themselves at the top of the stairs and wait for them to wake up. Uncle Jamie was a wrestling machine. The kids could not get enough. Jamie's back probably had enough the first day. :)

Cinn played with the kiddos too. Here she is making cards with Sis.

I got to have a fun time with my other SIL too. Sara and I went with baby (and her parents) to the Farmer's Market. Fun day. Here we are in the car soothing our sweet niece who had been crying.

Baby Time!

We had the pleasure of having my SIL, BIL and our precious niece stay with us for 5 days! It was

so much fun. They were awesome house guests. Just imagine having live in human jungle gyms with the bonus of a sweet snuggly baby! Heavenly! I REALLY wish they lived closer. :( But, there is hope for the future with them applying for professor jobs closer to us. FYI: if you two plan on any job applications on the east coast I *might* be calling them to say how terrible you are. Kidding....not really kidding. :)

We spent the days keeping track of whose turn it was to do the holding. Sis loved her time with baby girl.

Nap Time for Uncle Jamie, baby....and Busy Guy snuck downstairs to sleep too. He curled right up. Precious.

Oh! Baby Feet. What more can I say?!

This is known as my "I've had it" hairdo. Clippy and ponytail tied up says I'm tired and ready for bed. Or in this case it's morning time and I just want to sit around in my pj's and hold this pumpkin. I had a terrible cold while they visited so I didn't get in as much holding as I wanted to. Well, to tell the truth there is no such amount that would be enough.

Mr. P's turn for some baby love.

Tuba was thrilled to have a baby in the house! Mr. Busy Guy was thrilled to be in LOTS of photos. I could publish a whole book of him from this visit. ;)

Uncle Cam had to work most of the days but he still got lots of snuggle time too.

Who is missing....hmmmm....no pics of Baby George holding his cousin. Well, I guess that just tells me he's either an alien or maybe he's just plenty happy being my baby. :)

More to come soon from the visit. Lots of good pics of The Human Jungle Gym. Sorry Jamie! Some day when you have back surgery we'll watch the baby!