The Pumpkin Patch

This summer we've had several different activity days for the children at our church. Yesterday was a picnic at the Pumpkin Patch park. It's this awesome wooden playground that is huge and has so many different things for the children to do. For starters, they have a zipline that all the kids had a blast gliding across!

They also have this enormous slide! I think that is Lily sliding down it.

Here is several of the kids trying to slide down it together.

Daniel figured out how to fly down that slide. He was cracking me up.

They also had an area for smaller kids to play. This choo-choo train was one of the things to play on in that part.

And of course, what's a gigantic playground without a sandbox? When I first saw this, I thought..."Seriously?! My kids are going to be filthy when we get back on the bus." But, I couldn't believe it....they played in it and weren't even that sandy!

Here's Daniel and his little friend Sebastian from church posing for a picture!

The kids had a blast, AND it was free! I definitely think we will be visiting the Pumpkin Patch again in the near future!

Thursday

Yesterday turned out to be a great day! I actually got completely caught up on ALL of my much needed cleaning....AND the kids were very co-operative during the process....AND during nap time, they actually ALL fell asleep!! Then to top it all off, I got to get out for a little while last night to go to a little home show party for a line of children's clothes. I like children's clothes...a lot....especially girl's clothes. Anyway....while I was gone, my awesome husband and children decided to walk to the park. The park is about a mile from our apartment. I guess since they actually slept this afternoon, Jason was trying to burn some energy before bedtime. So, I stopped by the park on the way home and picked them up. Here they are at the TOP of the monkey bars. Yes...Austin's at the top. Granted, he did have a little help from daddy, but that was only to prevent a fall. I really think he could have made it to the top solo. Anyway...hope you have a great Friday!

FCA Camp

This week is FCA camp at Rhea County High School. Basically, it's a sports camp for kids in the community that the high school FCA leaders and teenagers lead. This year our little Daniel is old enough to go.Basically they divide the kids up into groups; and they rotate between lots of different sports....volleyball, baseball, football, basketball, dodgeball, soccer...and I'm sure I'm missing some. They also have a Bible study time and a worship time. It's such a fun time for the kids and the workers! Tuesday the other 2 kids and I decided to go hang out up there for awhile (Jason has been spending the days up there hanging out with the teenagers and watching Daniel).

However, today...I'm at home with them.....blogging about it. Let's just say that since our kids love to run all over the place....especially right in the middle of a basketball or volleyball game; we decided our time may be better spent at home. (p.s. Do you mom's out there ever feel like you just have those weeks where your kids DON'T LISTEN? I mean they really are good kids most of the time....but then all the sudden they have a week of terror? Well, it's been one of those weeks for us). Ok...just needed to get that out. So FCA camp has been super fun for Daniel! He's definitely not ready for it to be over!

And I just really needed to add this cute picture of Austin. He's wearing our friend, Courtney's sunglasses.

And look at that face! Such a cutie!

The Journey of the Tree Seed

This is a seed to a random tree at the Dayton walking track... And this........is a picture of Austin laying on Grandma's kitchen table.

And why, might you ask, is Austin laying on Jason's grandmother's table crying? The answer is simple. Because we took him over there yesterday around lunchtime to see if she might could help us dig the above tree seed out of his nose. That's right....HIS NOSE!! It's a great story actually. We were at the walking track, and Jason began to get all educational on us. He was getting different seeds from the trees and explaining to the kids how the seeds fall off the trees and make new trees. So he gives each of the kids a seed. So a few minutes later I look over at Austin; and he has his finger up his nose and is saying, "Get it out." I look up there only to find....the tree seed. Within about 30 seconds it was beyond our reach. Well, our pediatricians office is open on Saturdays, so after taking him to Grandma's to double-check that we couldn't retrieve it ourselves, we headed to the pediatrician. He tried a number of things to retrieve the seed. He knew tweesers wouldn't work because the seed was too round and smooth. He tried sticking a tool up there to get behind it and pull it down...that only turned it. He tried taking a giant syringe full of water and squirting it up his clear nostril...hoping that would shoot it out. That only made a giant nasty mess. He tried using a snot-sucker (for lack of a better term) to get it out. That also didn't work. And all the while of course, little Austin is being more and more traumatized. So after all that, we all come to the conclusion that we will have to head down to Chattanooga to the T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital Emergency Room. I had no idea when we put this shirt on Austin that morning, the extent that he would try to prove this true.So, we headed down to the ER and waited there for awhile. The doctor came in with a long q-tip looking thing that they use to test for the flu. Basically they had taken the opposite end of that and twisted it into a little spoon and stuck in right up there and scooped it right out! It looked so simple! And, while Austin did still have to be held down for the procedure, I would most definitely say it was much less traumatizing than the visit to the pediatrician's office.So, now our little Austin is seedless again! I am really hoping this little incident will prevent any future nose-implantations! Only Austin... ;)


Oh, and by the way...guess who was bright-eyed and ready for church early this morning?Yep...little Lily girl was the first one up this morning. So Jason got her dressed and she headed off with him to early service! She felt so special getting to spend a little alone time with daddy! Plus, I only had to get 2 kids ready for church alone this morning! Alright!! Hope you were able to have a wonderful time worshipping our great God in the presence of other believers this morning!

Backpacking Trip

Well I am finally getting to blog about the most awesome backpacking trip that we took with some of Jason's family. It was so much fun. There is this little place right here in Dayton called Pocket Wilderness. There are all kinds of trails, a couple of campsites, and some waterfalls.....it's beautiful. It's quite a shame that we really don't go up there more, but I think after this little trip we will most definitely be going more often. Here's the group of us that set out to go...The man on the far left is Jason's dad's cousin (his son in front of him). The two couples in the middle are 2 of Jason's uncles(Scott and Steve) and their wives (Diana and Angie)...and of course our family. Although Austin did not go with us. We really wanted to take him, but it was about a 2 mile hike in, so we felt that even taking Lily may have been pushing it (since she often still enjoys being carried herself). Here's the 4 of us getting ready to begin our hike.

Taking a break....notice the double hats and sunglasses on Jason's head...

Me and my little boy...

Anyway....I've been backpacking before, but never on an overnight trip. It was quite different trying to pack everything we'll need for overnight...and for 2 kids....in a backpack. Especially when we didn't have all the cool lightweight stuff that Uncle Steve and Aunt Angie had. But it was a lot of fun hiking in there and getting all set up and cutting our own firewood...

...and swimming in the creek...

...and cooking our dehydrated dinners (which were suprisingly tasty) over the little propane stove that Uncle Stevie brought. (There are no pictures of the marshmellow roasting and smore making, but we MOST definitely made room for that stuff in the backpacks).

And Daniel pretty much adored Uncle Stevie the whole trip. I loved the picture above of him b/c this is literally about as far as he ever got from him...plus he rarely took his eyes off him. We also popped some very yummy popcorn over the little stove. Then the kids took the bag around to let everyone get a handful.

This little lightweight hammock was one of the really cool things that Aunt Angie brought and I think she definitely agrees it was WELL-worth the 3 lbs. that it added to her bag. Uncle Steve and the kids (esp. Daniel) spent most of the evening in it.

And this....would be the little tent that we decided to bring with us backpacking. "Oh...it will be so much lighter than our 4 person tent," my husband tells me. Well....there's a reason for that....its TINY!! To his defense, we didn't know Lily was going to join us on the trip til last minute. And it was funny because we did have to sleep rather close and at one point Lily said, "Mommy turn on the air!" But, hey...it was just one night! And it really would have been harder to carry the bigger tent.

Gathered around talking before bed...

And here we are the next morning getting ready to head out! There is smoke blowing in front of us; and Lily is saying "Ow" in the picture since she touched a piece of wood from the fire.

And here we are headed out. That would be my pack that I carried...the sleeping bag hanging from the bottom. And Lily about carried that bag of peanuts the whole way out too.

All in all, it was SOO much fun. The kids weren't ready to leave. So later that week we actually ended up driving to a little campsite and taking Austin with us. They definitely enjoyed that a little more....just the whole idea of camping without walking....and getting to sleep in a 2 room tent verses a 2 person tent. :) Yay for camping!!

Tea Time

This is my kitchen.....And this is my new favorite part of my kitchen....

On one of my visits back home my mom got me very addicted to drinking hot tea. But then I had to go back home....tealess. See, she found this little store (Teavana, I think), and they sell all sorts of teas. And the little teapot you see up there has a strainer inside it so you can put the tea leaves right in the pot and steep it. They are so good. Anyway...when I went home, I decided to go to the store and just get some flavored tea bags so I could at least have some tea. But then my birthday came. And my wonderful mother went to that little store and got me everything I need to make myself the perfect cup of tea every afternoon! As my friend Charlee told me, I have become a snobby tea drinker. :)

Oh, and on a different note, here are a few pictures of our fourth of July this year. We had dinner at Jason's grandparents. We laugh everytime we go over there because I think they have these set of blocks, a set of wooden blocks, and a train set that's about 30 years old; and the kids stay entertained for hours!

Oh, and I had to get a picture of the lovely tower they built.

Oh, and here's the picture of our fourth baby. Although baby Snow White didn't sport her red, white, and blue!

I was so disappointed that I didn't get more pictures on the fourth, especially a pic of all 3 kids together. And hopefully I'll get some pictures on here of our AWESOME backpacking trip which took place July 5th and 6th. Hopefully that will be coming soon!

Library Days

So, I am extremely behind on the blog, again, due to lack of internet access. So I will probably be posting a lot today about the things that have been going on the last couple of weeks. I seem to be starting with the most recent things and moving back. Anyways...just thought I'd share that little random thought.

So, every Wednesday we go to story hour at the library. It's funny that I say "every Wednesday"; because really....we haven't been in over a month. Our June schedule seemed to be pretty booked, and we never made it. Anyway, so we showed up this past Wednesday only to find out...that they take the month of July off. It was our one week that we not only made it, but also made it ON TIME! Bummer. But, we still had a blast! The kids love going to the library even when they don't have story hour. They have computers that the kids can play games on; plus they love picking out books to check out. For Lily, at least one Fancy Nancy book is always necessary (or Strawberry Shortcake).Austin sometimes doesn't get into the whole book-checking-out thing, but this time he found a book about a bicycle. Let's just say that book has gone everywhere with us this week.

And Daniel usually always wants some sort of superhero book. However, we had been to a friend's house earlier in the week who had some Clifford books, so he went for Clifford this time.

They always love sitting on the little mini couches and chairs for a little while and reading. (And for Austin...I do mean LITTLE while...then he is made to sit there to prevent him from running up and down the isles).

Then, the library ladies (who happen to be members of our church that the kids really like) decided to clean out the fish tank. So the kids (esp. Daniel) had to wait to leave until they were finished so they could watch the whole process. I really do love taking the kids to the library. I love that they have such a " little-kid"-friendly section. And I love that the ladies are so understanding about kids being kids. I mean, it's not like they can run wild in there, but if they start getting a little loud, or Austin does start running down the isle; it's not like I get those evil glares or the rolling of eyes that all of us with small kids sometimes get when our kids get a little un-ruly. Anyway....saying all that to say, hooray for library day!

Rock painting.

Yesterday was Jason's weekly day off. I love when it's his day off. Usually we take off and either go somewhere fun, or run errands, or catch up on projects around the house. But not yesterday...yesterday we just hung out at home all day. And since life has been so busy and crazy lately (in a good way though), we just decided to take it easy. Jason's mom got the kids a rock painting kit when Daniel got his tonsils out and we never got around to that during his recovery. So yesterday we decided to bust it out. So we sat them out on the front porch and just watched them work. The older 2 were very particular and careful at first....and really Austin did fairly well to start out.

But it wasn't long before he just had to do what Austin does best. And notice the table, and his strip of colors off to the side there.

He's so funny. Lily was very careful and precise the whole time. Quite frankly, I think she could have painted all day long. And notice how her colors stayed un-mixed....she was very good about washing her brush each time she picked a different color.

Daniel really did good the whole time. But I guess after seeing how much fun Austin had getting his hands all dirty, Daniel decided to have a little fun too. Of course, he called his mess finger painting.

All in all, the kids had a great time and we had fun just sitting outside watching them.

Oh, and remember this little cutie and how he gets into EVERYTHING??

Well, he still does occasionally. On Sunday morning (yes, church morning), I left the bathroom to go get dressed, and Austin came in carrying my makeup bag saying, "UH OH!!"

At least he knows what to do with mascara....I think. He sure makes life interesting!