Apple Picking

We LOVE apple picking season. Carter's Mountain Apple Orchards has got to be one of our favorite fall traditions here in Charlottesville. Apple cider, apple donuts, fresh apples right off the tree and then going home and eating bags and bags of fresh apples, making apple pies, apple crisps, apple butter, apple bread....it's all so fun. But the actually apple picking is the best part.

Carrying the apple picking stick up to the Fuji apple section.

Then Abby decided to carry it all on her own...go girl!

Gavin would sit on the ground by all the fallen apples, take a few bites of one, put it down and move on to the next.

We picked Fuji and pink ladies...Zachary, Gavin, Bret and I liked the pink ladies and the girls liked the Fuji best.

Mint Springs

10 minutes from our house we have this great little lake with hikes around it. Bret has recently deemed it his personal office and spends several hours here every Thursday morning reading and working on projects.

A few weekends ago he took the kids there one afternoon while I worked on things and Gavin took a nap.

They had a great time but a highlight was the leaf fight.

McKenna's Photo Shoot

I took McKenna out one morning for a little photo shoot a few weeks before her baptism. I love the way the pictures turned out. It turned in to more of an adventure then we bargained for when I soon realized I locked my keys and cell phone in the car. So McKenna, Gavin and I went on a nice little walk knocking on strangers doors to borrow their phone and call Bret. Thankfully we were close to home and he was home working so it didn't take long for him to come rescue us.

This is the one we ended up enlarging and getting framed.

Welcome Home Dad

Going through my pictures recently I came across these pictures I had forgotten about. Earlier this month Bret had a conference in Philadelphia. He was only gone for a few days, but man oh man do we ever miss that guy when he's not around. The kids were so excited to go pick him up at the train station and spent a large part of the Saturday creating their own "Welcome Home" signs to hold up.

I was a little nervous waiting so close to the track and kept pulling the kids back, but when it came by it was pretty cool to be that close.

I missed capturing the dog pile of hugs that Bret received the moment he got off the train...but it made me think that I was so glad these kids realized how great their dad is.

Zachary...my little man.

Gavin and Claire

Claire is the daughter of our good friends the Evans. These two play every Monday. This week I just wanted to take a picture of them together....

It started out like this...

progressed to neck squeezes...

And then Claire tried to give him a little kiss....he's totally blurry but don't you just adore his expression anyway!

He didn't resist for long...he was kissing her right on back. She did however have the "head pull" technique down pretty good! :)

After each kiss they made these expressions...

And then ended their little photo shoot in a nice big happy hug...

I'm sensing definite wedding video potential with these pictures! :)

McKenna's Almost Slumber Party

McKenna had an "Almost" Slumber Party for her birthday this year. She invited eight of her friends over and man oh man...eight 7/8 year olds sure do have A LOT of energy. Don't really know why this surprised me so much. That's why I love this picture below...the movement of the girls just captures the energy of the whole night!

During the week I made each of the girls a pillow case. When they came they decorated their pillow cases front and back with the pattern they wanted out of tape. We then took them to the back yard and Bret spray painted them for them. They turned out really cute and I wish I would have gotten a picture of the finished product.

We played classic slumber party games like telephone, musical pillows, and hot potato with a slipper. And of course there were some fun balloon games too. I do have to say that with all the energy these girls had Bret saved the day when he took them in the back yard and organized a few games of cops and robbers.

McKenna invited: Molly, Kelly, Ashley, Emilie, Kate, Coraline and Hallie

We wrapped up the evening by watching 20 minutes of a movie....this way they were nice and calm for when their parents came to get them. :)

Happy Birthday Party K-K

Today With Gavin...

was not a good one.

I had such great intentions for the day...cleaning and catching up on my blog among other things.

Instead it felt like my day was one BIG time out.

I was yelled at countless of times.

I was hit multiple times.

I was bitten twice...or at least the attempts were made. (I need to insert here that Zachary and I are the only infrequent recipients of this type of behavior...the hitting and biting...from Gavin; maybe that means he loves us the most.)

My great intentions went undone.

I messed up my Friday Treat recipe which I've made so many times I have memorized because I was constantly back and forth to time outs. Luckily the kids can't taste a difference, just the big kids like me and Bret.

And now all energy is officially zapped from my body. It's emotionally draining I tell ya.

And I think...so grateful he's in bed. That we both survived this day, and that tomorrow is a brand new one.

Don't get me wrong, this horrible, no good, very bad day did have it's moment's of tenderness, however fleeting they appeared. Such as the sweet "sorry mommy" 's, the random "I love YOU!" 's, and quality time spent reading books together on the couch.

Now the house is quiet, Bret is out on a Daddy-date with Abby and I could tackle some of those great intentions....but nope, I don't want to. Instead I'm going to curl up on the couch with my comfy quilt, and read. Maybe I'll even top it of with a cup of hot chocolate! :)

Parents Night at Ballet

I love watching Abby dance for two reason. First she has really surprised me with how graceful and beautifully she dances. And second because I can see such progress in her dance just in the short year she has been taking ballet. When she started a little over a year ago she couldn't touch her toes, in fact, she was very far from being able to do so. Now not only can she touch her toes but she can put her forehead down on her knees! And with how tall she is this is no small thing for her to be able to do.

She's being doing a lot of bar work and really enjoys it.

Love this facial expression! It's so Abby, focused and working hard.

This fall Abby started doing ballet twice a week. Ballet has been a real blessing in her life. I'm so grateful she's been able to find such joy in doing something all her own.