Pumpkin Patch

This week for FHE we went to the pumpkin patch. It had been a rainy morning, and it ended up that we were the only people there. The patch was wonderful: it had pumpkins, a little "town" for the boys to play on (complete with store and house and lots and lots of bikes), a sandbox, a cornbox, and a soybeanbox, a hay bale stack, a petting zoo, and the grandson of the owner who took the oldest for a spin in his John Deer battery-powered gator. It was so much fun. We stayed for the sunset and then drove back with two happy and tired boys.

The funniest thing was that we bought pizza to eat there and brought pumpkin cookies and water as well, but the boys were so busy running around and playing, they didn't eat until we got home, and then they finished the pizza, ate cracker sandwiches, and drank oodles of water.

Here are some pictures.

(The boys in the gator before meeting Abe.)

(Me and the boys with a pumpkin silo behind us.)

(The oldest as a scarecrow.)

(The youngest as a scarecrow.)

(The boys with their papi on the hay bale stack.)

Sweet sayings

"Mama, my Ten hurts."

"Your ten?"

"My Ten." Shows me his thumb.*

"Oh, your Ten hurts. I'm sorry."

"A' doin'?"

"What am I doing? I'm reading."

"Readin'?"

"What are you doing?"

"Sit."**

"Diaper. 'Mon." Takes me by the finger and walks me to the bedroom.***

* The ASL sign for the number ten is a wiggling thumb.

** The youngest asks this question all day long.

*** Don't worry; I'm not planning on potty training until later next year. If he is really interested, he'll start teaching himself.

Temporary Housing

We are all about temporary housing.

(A Bedouin tent while "the bug" was here.)

(A house--with chimney--for Conference weekend. The house is now aqua blue.)

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.