Apple picking

Whenever we are back in Germany, my boys fondly reminisce about apple picking.  We have eagerly awaited the start of apple season, and it's finally here!



Lavella thought that picking the apple up off of the ground was an acceptable form of harvest, so we had to monitor what made it into our (re-usable cloth) bags.




Andrew and Elijah each picked a good bunch of mostly sound apples.


As you can see, there was some tasting and putting back that happened.






Isaiah didn't pick his share of apples, and I think that Hannah's going to have to talk to him about his work ethic.


Andrew was pulling this wagon with two bags full of apples, and it looked like he was having a hard time with it.  I asked if he needed help, and with a strained voice (leaning diagonally forward to pull), he said "No, I think it might be a little too heavy for your back."




Andrew, trying to keep Lavella from picking crab-apples.












Lavella was very tired by the end of our trip, but all together it was a fairly productive day.

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Belly: 24 weeks

NOTE: Photo credit for the two shots of me teaching the children a few posts ago were taken by Uncle Bob.



It has been brought to my attention that I haven't shown you all my belly much at all during this pregnancy, and the scope of my bulbous growth in the first day of school picture came as a surprise to some (Greg, Jom).  Jill (Greg's mom) just happened to take these two pictures of me the other day while I was spinning in their kitchen, and as they show my belly to great advantage, here they are:





Just to round things out, here's a cute picture from today of my three children playing with Joel and Rachel out on our little playground in the backyard.


And then here is Rachel coming home from school on her 2nd day (she rides the bus home by herself every afternoon since everyone else stays behind for sports practices of all sorts).


Andrew ran out to greet her, then wasn't sure what to do because it was all so emotional, so he decided to fling himself down on the lawn.  All kinds of drama.

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Labor Day fair

On Monday, we went to the Labor Day fair in my parents' town.  Lavella was supposed to be with us, but she ate some of my moisturizer just before we walked out the door and started throwing up (3 times total), so my mom stayed behind with her.  Lavella's fine now.  As it turns out, if you puke it out of your system post-haste, crisis is averted.

I was appalled at the price of rides, but allowed the boys 3 each.  Because really, what's the fun of a fair (when you're 3 and 5) if you can't do any of the rides?

Elijah chose this first one, and Andrew graciously allowed him to sit in front.


They went in the Jumpy Castle with Rachel.  This was kind of a bad idea because it was almost impossible to get Elijah back out after the alloted amount of time; I was afraid that I would have to go in after him (that would have really drawn a crowd with the unsteady footing in there and my big belly!)


Their total favorite though, was the ferris wheel.  It was the smallest one I've ever seen (the view from the top was, I'm sure, not even quite over the tailors surrounding the rides area, but apparently very thrilling when you're their size.  (You can just barely see the boys if you look carefully at the top left car.)


Of course, there was also cotton candy...


And pop corn...


And then hot dogs were eaten for our "real" dinner. 

The boys also spent a good long time tiring themselves out on the playground there, which proved to be one of the most entertaining parts of the day for them.  (Isn't it funny how the free things often end up being the very best?)


There were to be fireworks later on in the evening, but we were too tired (and I was hungry for something other than fair food), so we went home just before dark.

By the time we got home, Lavella had recovered fully, and we had a good peaceful bedtime.

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Birthday Boy and our first day of school

Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bob stopped by for another visit, this time staying overnight. Since today is actually her birthday, we celebrated on Monday night when they were here. My mom baked two blueberry and rhubarb pies, and we put a candle in one to sing Happy Birthday to her.




Entirely unrelated...

I'm not by nature a very organized person. This is not to say that I don't enjoy organization -- I love it, actually, and an organized life is one that leads to far more productivity and creativity. However, the things in my life tend to fall more to the disorganized state of things unless I purpose to the contrary. For this very reason, I've decided to "formally" begin school with Andrew, starting with Kindergarten. I know that I could just teach him simple math and how to read in a here/there hit-or-miss style, hoping for the best by the time he's 1st grade age (next year!!), but I don't really trust myself enough for that.

All of my school-aged siblings had their first day of school on Wednesday, and as it was the day of Andrew's 5th birthday, and he finds the idea of school very exciting, we (I) decided to take the plunge.



Elijah's attention span is a good bit shorter than Andrew's, but I figure that he'll just absorb whatever he can at this point and learn as we go along. Once we get back to Germany I'll probably set aside some time to work especially with just Andrew on certain things, probably during part of Elijah's naptime, but we'll have to work that out later.



It's going to be a challenge, and I'm certainly not committing to K-12 Homeschooling or anything, but we'll just take it year-by-year and see how it goes. Mostly I'm just concerned with keeping them at least on level with their age-appropriate grade, for whenever I do decide to actually enroll them in school.

We did handwriting, phonics, science, and of course the ever present home economics (making red velvet cupcakes).

Since it was also Andrew's birthday, we of course also spent some time opening gifts.





Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bob gave Lavella this precious pair of pink shoes, but unfortunately they are size 3...and she's currently a size 5-1/2 or 6. Lavella had a fine time trying to put them on herself though for about a half-hour, and if this baby is a girl, I'll be sure to put them on her little feet the moment they can comfortably fit her.


Grandma Claire and Grandpa Mark also stopped by with new clothing for the children. Here, Lavella is modeling a new dress that is actually sized for what she'll be next summer, but we let her model it anyway for a little while.

Isaiah was very amused by all of the excitement.


We babysat Isaiah for the second half of the day so that Hannah could go to work for a few hours, and he was, for the most part, a delightful fellow.




We ended our day with the Red Velvet cupakes -- each person put a candle in their own so that we could all have the opportunity to blow something out.


Happy birthday, Andrew! I love you so much, and can't believe you're already five.

Andrew's 5th birthday party

For Andrew's 5th birthday, my in-laws graciously offered to host the party at their house.  Everyone had such a great time.  To view all of the pictures in the set at their full size, click here.

One of the high points of the day was the slip-'n-slide that Pete and Jill had set up on their hill, extending it with 4 or 5 tarps. 




I ordered an ice-cream cake from Pat Mitchell's.  Joy's 17th birthday had been the day before the party, so I had the cake decorated with her name as well as Andrew's, and both of their favorite colors (green for him, blue for her).  Pat Mitchell's did a great job; it was beautiful, their ice cream is great, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all.





Joy REALLY enjoyed it.




Some random shots from the day:




Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

Grandma and Grandpa D.


My mom, Jill and Aunt Norma taking on the water slide (from this picture it would appear that they were going very, very fast.  That was not so.)


Lavella with a tackle-box full of snacks (from Pete and Jill).


A bunch of little cousins (and Christopher).


Andrew watching very carefully as Pete lit the candles.


Lavella, after my dad fed her ice cream cake.

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