It's Autumn time!

Last week the boys and I went apple picking at an orchard about an hour away. It had been highly recommended by some women in the ward, and I was excited to give the boys something to do. We drove out, picked up one 1/2 bushel you-pick bag and one wagon, and then went to the trees.

It was great. The branches were long enough that even the youngest could reach the apples and pull them off by himself.

The oldest knew exactly what to do and in about 7 minutes, we had a full 1/2 bushel.

"Let's do another," said the oldest.

I hadn't planned on buying two you-pick bags worth (I was going to get the cheaper seconds), but we walked back to the entrance, picked up another bag, and then went back to the trees. A tractor drove by twice and the farmer waved at the boys, and the boys thought it was great. They were ready to go back the next day.

That night, though, the youngest started running a (mild) fever, and he was cranky and clingy the next day, so we didn't go apple picking and the oldest didn't go to preschool (just in case it was contagious). The next night the youngest threw up, and the next day he had diarrhea. During the day he just had a runny nose and a little cough, but he didn't seem bothered. But to be safe we stayed homebound. The "bug" ended up sticking around until Saturday, when I saw two new canine teeth poking out from his top gums. Aha! I should have guessed it.

Since the "bug," the boys and I have canned 1 bushel of apples: 9 quart jars of apple pie filling (plus one that didn't seal and became a very tasty pie), 9 quart jars of applesauce (plus 2 pints that didn't get processed and became tasty applesauce and apple muffins), and 3 pints of apple butter (that didn't get processed and have been really fun to eat on everything). I have one more bushel to go, and then we might head back out to the orchard.

This week we are going to try out a pumpkin patch. If it is picture-worthy, I'll post pictures later.

CHAIRS!!!!!!!!

72 hours after putting the final coat of lacquer on the chairs (and a thin coat it was because I was scraping the bottom of the can), we have four finished wooden chairs for our kitchen table. To those of you who knew these chairs in a previous lifetime (when they were sticky green, when they belonged to my older sister or my mom), we are so happy to have these out of storage and in use. It only took 6 years to get them how we wanted.

That is another project crossed off my to-do list.

Visitors

My husband's parents and youngest sister (she's single, folks) came out for a weekend visit to see the new place and the new area. It was a lot of fun to have them here. My husband and his father replaced the small garage door that had a rotten frame. My mother- and sister-in-law helped me with some of the decorating issues (you'll see a partially finished wall behind them in the top picture--not the paint, but the pictures and placement).


Here is a picture of the family with the grandparents in front of the house. Daffodils will be going into the flower spot behind my feet. (And if you didn't know, yes, we are expecting #3. You can kind of tell from the picture.)

Swimming

Yesterday was chore day: there were no clean socks for certain professors to wear to school, so he borrowed a pair of mine; we were out of bread; we had projects that still needed completion (why is it that the last two coats of lacquer are the hardest to get on?) We retired to the basement to rotate laundry and play.

After I pulled the swimsuits out to fold, the youngest got excited. He was ready to go swimming. After I folded the swimsuits, he pulled them out of the pile and tried putting his trunks and shirt on by himself. After he had contorted himself in a few different ways to no avail (though he did get one foot and leg and his arms in), I gave in and helped him put his swimsuit over his clothes. The oldest jumped on board, putting on his trunks, and then they were off. They did laps, they jumped off several "diving boards," they had a ball "swimming" in the comfort of our basement. The only thing that disappointed them was that I didn't get dressed for the occasion.

Happy Birthday!

The oldest had his birthday this week. I invited the boy from his swimming lessons and the children from his Primary class over for cupcakes and ice cream, and we were lucky enough that friends from Georgia were visiting for a couple of days and arrived on his birthday.

When he woke up, his dad and I sang happy birthday, and he rushed to the kitchen, looked around, and the collapsed on the floor (we seem to be doing a lot of collapsing lately, but that is another story). I hadn't made his cake yet because I had no clue what shape of cake he wanted, and he seemed to think that meant he didn't get a birthday cake. After a few minutes of sadness, he told us that he wanted a train cake. So a train cake is what he got.


He also got to pick the menu: waffles, noodles, spaghetti and meatballs. His dad had new faculty orientation all day, but surprised him with his first bike when he got home. The oldest was all smiles. The youngest thought the bike might be for him to.

He got a few other gifts: everything to play store, a great bouncy ball, a sit-and-bounce, stickers. And he ate more cake and ice cream than he had All in all it was a great day! It is amazing how quickly he is growing up.

Here is a little collection of movies from the day.

Soil Beans

The boys and I drove down the freeway yesterday to go to a playgroup, and along the way the oldest pointed out the corn and "soil beans" on the side of the car. He distinguishes between them pretty well. (Not that the difference of towering corn stalks and cowering soybean plants isn't easy to miss.) It is fun to find fun words at his age.

We're not in Kansas anymore

Not that we have ever been in Kansas, but we are definitely in a different environment. On Friday we went to the county fair. Now, my only experience with county fairs were the fairs I went to in Colorado when I was about 12. My older (and very beautiful) sister and I were interested in the food, the rodeo (and what a rodeo it was!), and the amusement park portion. We didn't look at 4-H exhibits or the animals or anything like that.

The fair here we did differently. We went through the 4-H exhibits (there were kids who had restored antique tractors to pristine condition), then the commercial exhibits (wind energy, combines, etc.), and then to the barns (poultry, rabbits, horses, sheep, swine, cattle, goats). We finished up by walking through the whole fair, looking at all the different tractors on display and then the amusement park (where we didn't ride a thing).

The oldest was sad because the last of his ice cream slipped from his cone and melted on the sidewalk. My husband and I thought it was interesting to see a different side of our new area (can I say rednecks and still be polite?)

Here are a few pictures.

Just so you know, when the oldest would climb into a large vehicle, the first thing that he would do was buckle the seat belt and turn on all the switches he could, then, and only then, would he start driving. (You can see the seat belt buckled as he reaches for switches in the first picture.)

Who knows . . . maybe this is Kansas . . . or a cousin of hers. It sure isn't Georgia.