Halloween

This year we had Tinkerbell, an East High Cheerleader, and a Jack-o-lantern. How cute is that? The girls love to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. Most of our neighbors are retired couples and there aren't that many kids in our neighborhood so our girls get a ton of candy. It's also nice that they don't use scary decorations so all the girls have is fun! Nanny was here this year and handed out candy while we were out in the rain. Annie made a sign that said, "Out trick-or-treating, Please ring doorbell, Our Nanny is selling candy." I convinced her to change selling to giving out. She is so funny. We had a great time that night!

Taking a break from the wheel

I should blog. I know I should, but my brain is mush. Is that because I have 3 kids or because it's 4:23 in the morning and I'm at work killing time before I have to feed some munchkins? Either way, I can't think of where to even begin. There is so much to catch up on... Halloween, Nanny's visit, Jack's dedication, Annie's Thanksgiving feast at school, our visit to see Santa Claus and ride the pink pig, many Ella-isms that have already left my brain and so much more.

I have had a great week. Chalk that up to God's provision, godly counsel from some very dear friends and prayers from my family and sweet Melissa from our Sunday school class. I'm very glad to be in the middle of a much needed break from school. I think I'm more excited than Annie for this little break in our schedule. I love homeschooling her. I truly enjoy teaching her but I'm ready for a little down time around our house. Next week, no school, no dance, no Wednesday night church, and maybe even no Tuesday night Chick-fil-a!

Goals for the week: Relax a bit more, finish schoolwork, enjoy Thanksgiving (we have so very much to be thankful for), make Tomato Basil soup at least once and decorate for Christmas. I might even squeeze in a bit of organizing to make life run a little smoother when the wheel starts turning again.

Trip to Knoxville

A few weeks ago we decided to take a quick trip to Knoxville, Tn just to get away for a few days. We have such fond memories of that place and sometimes it's nice to go and reminisce about those 4 years we spent there as newlyweds. We were young and naive......stupid is more like it. We made many mistakes as most newlyweds do, but we also learned many valuable lessons, not the least of which was learning how to live completely on our own with only God and each other to rely on. It brought us closer together. Deepend our love and friendship. I think I speak for both of us when I say that Knoxville feels kind of like our home town. The girls have listened to us talk about our time there and they seem to sense how special it is to us. They love Tennessee football and the color orange will usually always invoke a response out of one of them. Mark and I remembered the other night that when Annie learned her colors as a toddler she would go through them and say...red, yellow, blue, purple, brown, black, white, green, BIG ORANGE!! So funny and made daddy so proud. At age 2 she could sing the entire alma mater, fight song, and Rocky Top. I don't think we ever got that on video. Like I said, stupid. Anyway, this trip was fun and too short. We centered the trip around food - as all good southerners do. We took a trip to the UT Bookstore to stock up on all things orange that were lacking from our wardrobe and bought Jack his first football. We made a trip down to Pigeon Forge to take Annie and Ella to the Christmas Place and Bass Pro Shops. I think they have as much fun at BPS as they do at the Georgia Aquarium.

There was one thing about this trip that was different from every other time we have visited since our move here in 2004. Leaving Knoxville is always sad for me. I almost feel an ache and a strong urge to stop by a gas station and grab a home buyers guide. But this time, I didn't feel the ache - well, maybe not as much. I feel like God has placed us where we are for a purpose. Knoxville was not a time of much, if any, spiritual growth in my life. We were regular church attenders but that's where it stopped for me. I have amazing opportunities to be around godly people who encourage me in my walk with Christ. Could this have been done in Knoxville? Sure! But maybe, since it wasn't, God decided to place me somewhere else. It has taken us a good while to really enjoy living here but it has become home to us now. Maybe someday we will move back to Tennessee, but for now I believe we are right where God wants us to be.

A day at the apple orchard...

One of the fun things about homeschooling is being able to count fun activites that you would have done anyway as part of you home teaching. Each year we go up to north Georgia to an apple orchard and pick apples (and enjoy all the treats made from the apples). The last several years we have gone to Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, Georgia which is the best by far for the ultimate apple pickin', fritter tastin', finger lickin' experience. For anyone who may be wondering, their website is http://www.mercier-orchards.com/. You pay for how many apples you wish to pick and they give you a bag. You hop on a trailer pulled by a tractor and they drive you up through their beautiful orchards. I believe they said there are 47 different types of apples grown there. You are they allowed not only to pick any apples from any trees there but you are also encouraged to eat as many as your tummy can hold. And believe me, we usually do and that's not all we eat. If the weather is nice, it is great to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy all of God's handiwork around you, however this year, the weather was not so nice so it was grab your apples, take some pictures and get going. It still turned out to be a great experience plus when you top it off with a fried apple fritter, fried lemon pie and some homemade ice cream what could possibly be bad.

I really did believe it but.............

I just didn't know it would start so early. Boys are messy they said. Boys get so dirty they said. Boys stink they said. Oh, they said nice things too like boys love their mamas. Boys will just make your heart melt. But, back to the messiness. This is a picture of the car seat minus the seat. This is the second time in 2 weeks that I have had to completely remove the seat cover and wash it in the washing machine and sanitize the inner part of the shell. In a word, gross! If you don't get my drift, think mustard. The girls, if I remember correctly, had many an accident on clothing and such that we thought was utterly terrible and disgusting but this is on a whole other plane. How could something so small and so sweet make such a horrific mess. Oh, well. I guess they were right.

We forgot to say......GO VOLLLLLSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like we have a Tennessee kicker in our future!!!

Thank you, Lord for the Woombie!!!!!

Our sweet Jack is now 3 months old. Time is just flying by so quickly! He is so precious and a generally good baby. He has started reaching for toys and holding onto things that we give him. He hated to be on his tummy until I found a toy that his Aunt Lea Anne gave him that has a pillow to prop him up on so that he can see the toys around him better. He likes this much better, as you can tell. Thank you, Aunt Lea!!!! The girls still make such a fuss over him. Right now Annie is reading to him and is also on paci duty (replacing the pacifier in his mouth when it falls out). Jack still sleeps like a champ. Thanks to the Woombie. He looks so funny in it but it is truly a blessing. He goes to sleep quickly at night around 8pm and sleeps 6-9 hours at a time and takes several naps a day in it which gives me time to do some laundry.