Apples, Pumpkins and Smelly Shoes

Wow!! I'm a lazy blogger. It seems things get so busy this time of year. We have been to the Ellijay Apple Festival and Burt's Pumpkin Patch since my last blog. The weather is wonderful for fall festivities now and we have even watched Mark carve a pumpkin.

The Apple Festival was so much fun. We went with our Sunday School teacher and his family and another couple with their kids. There were fourteen of us in all. Lots of fried food, face painting and fun activities for the kids. Mark was nearly peer pressured into riding a mechanical bull but decided against it what with todays instant fame on YouTube. Cameras were primed and ready to go. Annie rode a pony and Ella talked about riding one but when it came time to mount she freaked. They enjoyed a funnel cake and hot dogs and played on a jumpy. Mark ate some sort of Louisiana dish which he said was not authentic and had a rather large hunk of chicken swimming in the broth which was unappetizing to say the least. The highlight of our trip was the marshmallow gun that all three men purchased. They and the kids spent quite a while in an open area shooting each other. I however couldn't seem to make it work. That night while Mark was watching football I decided to practice. I sneaked around the corner and nailed him right in the eye. Once we decided he was going to make it I had a nice laugh.

We made our annual trip with the Kirschner's to the pumpkin patch up in the north Georgia mountains. We all had a great time. There are so many pumpkins there it is unbelievable. The hayride is great too since you are in the mountains with all the beautiful trees.

Here is the funny story I promised my Mom: A few weeks ago at Sparks on Wednesday night Annie told me that during Bible verse time her shoe fell off. She said, "Mom, I got down to get it and I smelled it." I said, "Honey, please don't do that in public." (Thinking she did it for a laugh with her friends) and she say to me "It's okay Mom. Nobody saw me do it." I then asked her what it smelled like and she told me strawberries. (Rotten strawberries, I guess) The disturbing part of this story to me is the fact that she did this simply for her own enjoyment! What have I done?

Today Annie has Sparks and she has finished the first book already and is ready to review the entire book tonight so that she can move on. She can say all the books in the Bible and knows all the verses so we'll see. Tonight is Pastor night so she is excited to give Pastor Johnny and Mrs. Janet money. I think she thinks they are going to go on a shopping spree despite me trying to explain that they use it to tell others about Jesus.