Thanksgiving 2013

Since traveling for Christmas is a no-no this year, (little one due in Jan.) we loaded up two dogs, a cat, a NON-STOP talking toddler and drove to Brunswick for Thanksgiving.  I won't go into detail about the ride there and back, but I will say that earplugs may be required for our next road trip. Once we arrived, our visit was a nice blend of relaxing (as much relaxing as can be had with children) and playing.  Thanks for a great time, Maw and Paw!

 What's a visit to Paw's house without a ride through the woods..

 Willow and Tree spent some time hunting for birds...

 Tractor rides are a must!

 Spending some quality time with Daddy.

 ...and Maw.

 Such a sweet face..

 even when it's a silly one.

 Isn't this a delicious looking turkey?  It tasted as good as it looked!

The "big kid" table.  

A few weeks ago, our Pastor preached a sermon on being thankful.  He mentioned that Thanksgiving is quickly becoming an "overlooked"  holiday in the rush of Christmas. Think about it..didn't you see Christmas decorations in stores before Halloween was even over? How sad is it that we are overlooking a holiday in which we thank the Lord for all of our numerous blessings?  I know that I have so very much to be thankful for, including a wonderful family.  So take a moment today and thank Him for your blessings.  He (and you) will be glad you did...

I Love You Because I Do..

We celebrated John's birthday a few days ago and Audrey made him this card.  After a little prompting, this is what we ended up with.  Can you tell she is a Daddy's girl?  

Happy Halloween!

Moo!

This is Audrey's pretend family.  Guess which one is mommy.  That's right, the cow.  Daddy is the farmer and Audrey is the princess.  She has several more princesses that could play the role of mommy, but no, I'm a cow.  MOO!

Cold Day Entertainment..

In case you haven't noticed, we skipped fall this year and headed straight into winter.  With highs only reaching a very windy lower-40's, we have spent A LOT of time inside sitting beside heaters!  Really, I don't do cold and neither does Audrey.  So what do we do on these bone chilling days?  Take a look....

Placing our princesses in toilet paper rolls...

Baking all kinds of new recipes, courtesy of pinterest. 

Eating our new creations...

Building tall, tall towers...

Taking unnecessary trips to target and wearing princess crowns...

And crafts, crafts, and more crafts.  

Thankfully, the temperatures are supposed to be more fall-like next week. Hold off just a little bit longer winter! This little girl wants to play in the leaves!

Fantastic Fall!

The leaves are falling and the air is cooling.  Fall is here. We have been waking up to 40 degree temperatures outside, OH MY!  Thankfully, the afternoons are still reaching the 60's, so we are still squeezing in lots of outside time.  Yesterday we played in the leaves forever, piling and jumping over and over again.

 Jumping in the big pile of crunchy maple leaves.

It was so much fun, that the "girls" joined in! 

Unfortunately, Audrey didn't appreciate them messing up her big piles of leaves.

No worries!  Momma can make more piles! 

Cover Willow up!

Sometimes the simplest things in life bring us the most joy.

Soakin' Up Summer

Usually I am a lover of all things fall, but this year I find myself dreading the season change just a little.  Maybe it's because I know that winter follows closely behind fall, which means lots of inside play times during those cold, windy days. Ugh...

But, we are enjoying these mild summer days for as long as possible!  Here is a recap of the past few weeks.

 The "girls" are getting along well with Audrey.  The love between them is obviously mutual.

 We spent a Saturday afternoon on the New River.  Audrey helped John "look for fish", but didn't have much luck. 

 We enjoyed the cool water after our kayak ride. 

 Look what we found!  Momma may have been just as excited as Audrey to find a monarch caterpillar.  We are checking on him daily in hopes of watching him form into a beautiful butterfly!

" Hello, Mr. Caterpillar." (I love those sweet, little, dirty hands!)

We will be watching you, Mr. Caterpillar!

Gender Reveal!!

 Audrey called it all along.  Sisterly instinct. :)

20 weeks...

I gave in and took a self portrait of myself since I have put it off so long.  So this is what you get.  (Please excuse the unmade bed in the background, along with storage containers.)  Yesterday was week 20 in this go round, which means we find out what we are having next week!  Last time we took a poll on the gender so I thought we would keep the tradition.  Any guesses?  To help you along, I'll post a few details about this pregnancy so far compared to old wives tales.

:

*If you are graceful throughout pregnancy, you are having a girl. If you are clumsy, you are having a boy. BOY (Does it still count if you are always clumsy?)

*If you are carrying your baby high, it's a girl. Carrying low? Stock up on blue.  BOY

 *If your little one's heart rate is under 140 beats per minute, you're having a little boy. If it's over, get ready for your little girl!   GIRL (heart rate was 142, so it's a close one!)

*Sweet cravings means your going to have a little girl. Salty and sour cravings indicate a boy.  GIRL

*Morning sickness means a little girl.  Smooth sailing during your first trimester means a boy.   GIRL 

You have until Tuesday to decide! 

Busy, busy, busy...

Whoa, where is the summer going?  I'm finding it difficult to sit down and keep up with our blog this summer because we have so much going on.
Our garden is EXPLODING and when we aren't picking, we are canning. 21 cans of beans and still going strong.
Last week we adopted two dogs into our family, Willow and Tree. (No, I didn't name them and yes I feel slightly ridiculous when commanding Tree to sit.) Their previous owner wanted to pass them on to a good family when he found that he was losing a battle with cancer and contacted us.  They are Lucy's older sisters, and posses many of her unique qualities. Williow, the dog on the right, has Lucy's temperament.  She is a very gentle, loving dog, who is always willing to please.  Both need a little home training, but have already come a long way. P.S. Did I mention John had to install an invisible fence for these crazy dogs?

I'm still growing, a lot, and have been restricted to stretchy skirts for the time being.  I'm *trying* to take a belly shot, but am much better at taking pictures of others.  Seriously, who takes self portraits?  I've felt a few kicks and movement in the past few weeks, which is always exciting.  We find go for our ultrasound on the 27th to find out if what we are having.  Unfortunately, I'm horrible at the gender prediction thing, and haven't the slightest clue what we are having. Sorry, no insight from me, but I'll keep you posted!  

Thank God I'm a Country Girl...

Audrey loves her chickens!  She feeds them daily and helps take care of them.  In return, they follow her around the yard like a mother hen and her chicks.  This particular chicken is the friendliest and gets all kinds of lovin' from Audrey (and John).

 Pick it up easy!

 Now say, "cheese".

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