My April Snow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

My April Snow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

These earrings are so gorgeous! Check them out!

Yummy apple crisp

I saw this recipe not long ago on Donna Boucher's blog, Quiet Life, and had to give it a try. I love apple pie so much, but this recipe is quick and easy and satisfies my apple pie fix a lot quicker than rolling out dough and baking a pie! This one was made with apples purchased at the local farmer's market.

On a completely different subject, I posted some "rules" in our playroom today. They are all very positive, be kind, talk to each other, share, etc. I went over them with my kids and our neighbor's daughter and told them the rules were to help them enjoy their play time together, so they won't spend it fighting and angry with each other. So far it is working. Every few minutes one of the girls will remind the other of one of the rules! They seem to be getting along very well, which is just a huge blessing!

Sleeping Boy

Liam has pretty much stopped napping each day, even though most days he could still use one, but I still make him take an hour and a half or so of time alone in his room. He can listen to music, look at books, play with toys, but he has to be quiet and restful. There were a few days in the past two weeks that he has been too quiet and when I snuck upstairs to check on him, I found him fast asleep on the floor. The first time he had literally crashed surrounded by toys and books. The second time, he had pulled his pillow and blanket down and set up a nap mat of sorts. I am glad that he sometimes recognizes that he needs a nap and he'll take one.

Silly Faces

Peyton and Liam love to make silly faces, especially when I have my camera close by. Here are just a few examples. Yesterday I had the kids at the grocery store and as we left, we passed this older woman and her husband. As we walked by, the woman burst out laughing and was laughing really loud. I looked at her and couldn't figure out what was so funny, so I asked Peyton. She said, "Oh I was making a face at her." Then she showed me the face.

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!
Her jewelry is so lovely! Go visit her site and see how creative and beautiful each piece is!

Quiet time for Mama

I am relishing in this time while Liam is in preschool. Three mornings a week I have about 3 hours to myself! Most of that time is spent running errands, grocery shopping, etc, but I am trying to fit in some down time. I spend a lot of time with the kids, because that's my job, and as much as I adore them, sometimes I need to have an hour or so to do nothing. Today I'm at a local coffee shop, Greenberry's, using the free wi-fi and just enjoying the quiet. I wrote some letters and updated my concert band spreadsheet and surfed the blogs I like to read. I do have to run soon and pick up a gift card on my way to get Liam, but that's the biggest errand I have to do today! Ahhhh peace and quiet! I am one of those people who loves to be around others, but I also really crave alone time, time to read, or sit with a crochet project, or to listen to my ipod. If I get some time to do that each week, it really refreshes me and helps me get through the more busy times!

We have a ton of stuff scheduled for the rest of September and October. Every weekend has some family function or a scheduled event. I enjoy visiting with family and having guests in our home, but it can also be a bit stressful to know that we're going to be traveling so many weekends in a row. November looks good so far, but I'm sure it will fill soon. I think we'll probably do nothing that month except T-giving travel. Mark needs to have time to work on his schoolwork and the kids need time to rest from school, so hopefully we'll be able to stay put in November and December!

Poor Peyton

Peyton fell off of the slide at our neighbor's house on Sunday. I heard her screaming and crying and Mark took off to see what was wrong. He ran out of our back door and jumped the fence to get to her. He brought her home and we put ice on her shoulder and gave her some Ibuprofen. She asked to watch a movie so we figured she was fine. We settled her down with a movie and an hour later she was crying that her shoulder hurt. I had her move her arm all around and touched around on her arm and shoulder trying to feel if anything was broken (like I would know, I'm so not a doctor). She flinched when I touched her shoulder and she couldn't lift her arm very high so I had a feeling something wasn't right.

I ended up calling the pediatrician and asking where to take her, to the emergency clinic or ER. We went to the ER around 5pm and they fast-tracked her. She talked to the doctor and then went for x-rays. As soon as I saw the x-ray on the computer monitor, I knew her collarbone was broken. It was extremely obvious. The doctor came in and confirmed it and then they brought her a sling. She has to wear it for 4-6 weeks. We have an appointment to see her pediatrician next week to find out if we have to go see an orthopedist or if they need another x-ray. She has been such a trooper. She'll take the sling off to go to the bathroom or to sleep, but she's been great about wearing it and not complaining. She did say that she didn't like not being able to do PE! This is the same girl who for the first 2 weeks of school said PE was boring!

We were in and out of the ER in an hour and a half! The care she received was fantastic and we even saw two of her friend's moms who are x-ray techs. They didn't do her x-rays, but they came and talked to her. So our family now has its second broken bone. Mark broke an elbow about 3 years ago and now Peyton's collarbone. I think we've hit our quota. I'd be happy to not have another break!

Carter Mountain Orchard Post #2

I love that Liam is wrinkle faced in the orchard!

Just a few more pictures of our apple picking fun! We hired a local landscaper to remove the huge rock jumble from underneath our deck and to fill it with mulch. What a laborious process. They shovel the rocks into a tractor and then dump them into a truck. I'm so glad we're finally having this done. Mark started this project about a year ago and we just can't find the time to get it done. Liam has been fascinated by them and became a fan when they let him sit on the tractor! Randy is freaking out and has been barking like mad. I can't let her out so she is pacing and is just really unhappy.

Carter Mountain Orchard

We went to a wedding potluck party on Saturday near Richmond and on the way we made a quick stop at Carter Mountain Orchard to pick some apples. We picked 19 pounds of Jonagold, Golden Delicious, and Gala apples. The weather was breezy and cool and it was just a great day. Mark and I made a bunch of applesauce and I have been eating apples each day since we picked. The kids really had fun and Liam kept saying it was fun to pick apples. I'll post a few more pictures later.

We had a busy weekend and an eventful one. Peyton broke her collarbone over the weekend. I'll also post pictures of her in her sling as soon as I get them loaded into the computer. There is really never a dull moment!

Going, going, gone

Liam did not like the noise of the chainsaw

There it goes!

Mark cut down our maple tree last weekend. One of the things that most attracted me to this house, when we were house hunting, was the backyard with mature trees. Over the past year we have lost huge chunks of this tree, so we decided to take it down. We did talk to a landscaper first and he agreed that it was the right thing to do. I had been concerned that it would come down and hurt someone or something, so I'm glad we were able to control how it came down. The kids watched and thought it was pretty cool. I felt sad as Mark cut into it, but I'm glad it's down now. There are still huge chunks of it sitting in our backyard, but we're working on cutting it up for firewood. We were able to stow some large branches behind some trees in the back of our yard and they are pretty well camouflaged! They'll most likely decompose before we think about using them for firewood. We probably would have been able to finish the job, but the chainsaw started having issues so we had to quit! Now we have to decide what to plant to fill in the enormous gaping hole this has left in our landscaping!

It really is amazing how huge our yard looks with this tree gone. Not only did we cut down the tree, but we also cut down two dying holly bushes, dug out three dying azaleas, and planted two new mums and some fall pansies! Yard work really is a never ending job. There are always weeds to pull, things to plant, things to prune etc! I'm glad that we both enjoy planting new things!