Glorious fall fun at the pumpkin patch

We tried out the River Maze Pumpkin Patch near Cleveland today!  We found ourselves entertained by all the fun activities there--animals, games, mazes, rides, pumpkins, and more!

Clark and Joel loved climbing on the cow train as we waited to pay for admission.

Joel really picked the right cow for him. 

Our first activity was walking/running the soybean maze.  They had a corn maze too, but the soybean maze was just the right size for our kiddos.  There were ten stations with fun facts and stickers in the maze.  So by the time we were done, our kids were covered with stickers!

We ALL rode the cow train.  The boys had a blast bumping around on the farm.

During the tractor pulled hayride, we stopped at a real, live pumpkin patch.  The boys each picked out a pumpkin.  Clark picked a big one, and Joel picked a little bitty one.  Joel held that thing like it was treasure.  He even fell asleep holding it on the way home. 

I have such a hard time taking good pictures of Clark, but today I GOT ONE!!! 

 

We really enjoyed River Maze.

Boys, Dirt, and Fun!!

My boys love playing in dirt! 

Here's Joel covered in filth after playing.

Here's my bad boy throwing dirt at me!  I love my playful Clark.

I had to beg Clark to take his picture. I told him Grandma wanted him to smile for her. That worked!! Thanks Grandma!

Okay I had to throw this picture in from this weekend.  We continued our flooring project which lead to ripping out sheet rock and subflooring because of an old water leak.  A project is never what you expect.

A Trip to the Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch Park

Today was a perfect fall day for a field trip with friends to the apple orchard!  We saw a few apples still on the trees, and we got to get fresh apples and cider from the orchard.  Clark was proud of himself for finding an apple on the ground! 

Clark also made a new best friend that he held hands with a lot of the time.

Here we are inside the apple store.  I had some delicious hot cider that made it all worth it!!

Afterwards, we all headed to the Pumpkin Patch Park and played.  We had a picnic lunch and headed home.  Everyone fell asleep in the car on the way home.  It was a great playdate.

I Have a Middle Child? EEK!!

Our sweet Joel will be a big brother in March!!  I can't believe my baby will be the " middle child". 

 I'm sure if anyone can fend for his own, it's Joel. 

I actually think he'll have some adjustment problems when the baby arrives. 

I'll let you know once we are there. :-)

This is what he did when we told him he was going to be a big brother.  JUST KIDDING! 

No this is him posing for the camera.  This is his bad boy pose. 

I'd post more pictures of Clark, but he runs and hids when I get out the camera.   So you'll just have to look at Joel until Clark gets over this phase.

And about the next baby...we're due on March 25.  So I'm 15 weeks this week.  I was sicker than I have ever been with this pregnancy.  Everything has been so different.  I felt like I lived on the couch for 8-10 weeks.  I'm feeling much better, and I'm glad to be able to clean my house and play with my kids again.   I'm a little nervous about baby three, but I've been practicing with my little guy I nanny.   Three is going to be a CHARM.  I'll find out at the end of October if the baby is a boy or girl. 

 And yes my belly is growing like crazy. 

My Dream Came True. The Green Carpet Is Gone.

In 1990s,  green carpet was probably hip and cool. 

But twenty years later, it is NOT.  It's dark, dirty, and hard to decorate around. 

I had to vacuum two or three times a day to make my house look clean. 

Here's Joel with our green carpet.  We called our living the "dark dungeon".

Last weekend, my dream came true--no green carpet.  We ripped it all up, and there was so much light in the room.   

Joel and Daddy worked hard on getting the floor ready.

Joel loved the loud noises and banging on things.

Clark didn't.  He ran away screaming in terror every time we made loud noises.  This project was pretty traumatic for Clark.  Not only did he hate the noise, he also fell through the floor and went into the basement.  He got all scratched up and itchy from the insulation.

Here's Michael nailing in the hardwood flooring.  Everyone knows we are on a budget.  So the story behind how we did this is pretty cool.  Michael bought a RC truck from a garage sale for $25, but it didn't work.   Bummer, right?  So he took it to a repair shop. The employee stole it and quit. Bummer, right again?  Well, the store bought us a new truck.  We sold that truck on Craigslist.com and bought the flooring with all the money!!!! And a friend let us use his tools!!!  God is so good and works in very creative ways to provide for His children.

Here's  our list of must haves for home improvement with little kids:

lots of yummy food and snacks

good videos

patience

EAR PLUGS for EVERYONE

Our new and updated living room!!!!  It's so light and bright and cheery!!! 

And I don't have to vacuum all day long!!!  We all love it!!!! 

Monkey See, Monkey Doo

My boys are the best of friends these days.  They have so much fun together.  I'm cherishing that because I know it will not always be that way.  Of course Joel wants to be just like his big brother.  Lately, Joel has really really wanted to go "poo poo on the potty".  He throws the biggest fit if I don't let him try.   He is no where ready to start potty training (21 months), but he has gone several times in the potty. 

This picture made me laugh, and I hope it brings a little smile to your face too.  

And of course I'll have it blown up for their 16th birthday parties. ;-) 

Cookie Jar

Our new favorite place is officially the Cookie Jar.  It's a restaurant, dairy, farm, and playground in a nearby town.  The front porch that faces the mountain range is lined with rocking chairs.  The boys immediately found rockers just their size. 

The food is good home cooking like chicken livers (YUM), fried catfish, and big slices of homemade pies and cakes.

Clark entertained himself by licking salt off his napkin.

This picture captures Joel in his truest form--a hard headed clown. 

He is something else, but we love  him.

 He brings so much entertainment to our lives.

After eating, we toured the farm and play area.  There were little playhouses along the path. 

Goats, cows, bunnies, ducks, chickens, a pony, and a donkey were some of the animals we met along the way.

At the end of the path, there was a huge wooden play fort and swing set.  Michael and I sat in the wooden swing and watched our boys.

Here's the view from our swing.

We let Clark take a picture of us which might have been his favorite part.  He got really excited to take pictures.  I think he took 10 or so in just a few seconds. 

A Week with Cousins

My sister's kids came and stayed with us for a week!  It was so much fun.  During the day, it was 6 kids and me.  I was exhausted by the end of the visit, and we made many amazing memories.  Clark and Kasmira loved each other.  He especially loved playing with her in the water.  Joel never got in the water, but he enjoyed watching from the sides.

One night, we went to a Lookouts baseball game.  We rode the open air trolley, got free hot dogs and drinks, and had a fun time.

There's my cool guys, DaShawn and Daylan.

Michael and Kasmira worked for days straight on building this roller coaster.

On the last night, we made individual pizzas.  The kids enjoyed designing their pizza creations.  Yum!

Slipping and Sliding on a Sunny Sunday

We are trying to every week have a Sabbath, a day of fun and rest (no cooking, cleaning, or working).  Today we were out of ideas for fun, and we had rested plenty.  We had a spark of inspiration.  What if we tried to make a slide with the black plastic from our basement project?
With a few snips, we had an extremely fun afternoon sliding down our sloped front yard!
Clark's favorite ride: DADDY!

They overshot the end and went into the grass!

Joel was a little hesitant, but he was happy to go with Mommy!  Then he was hooked!

Surprise landing--Clark would wait till the end and jump on my back as we slid down.

Awwwwww! Clark was serious about his slipping and sliding!

Playing in the Rain

I think yesterday was the first time that the boys got to play in the rain.  It was a perfect rain.  No thunder or lightning.  It was just a light warm steady drizzle.

Cowboy Joel

"Look, Mommy, I'm a robot!"