apple pickin' time

Every Fall we go to visit my parents for one purpose...to go apple pickin'.

We come home with more apples then we know what to do with....

let's see...

 apple crisp

apple butter

apple pie

applesauce

apple cake

apple dumplings...

...feel like you're watching Forrest Gump yet??

The kids get to use the apple picker...

...and eat apples till they're sick.

{jack n grandma}

After picking gets boring they just start climbing the trees...

like every kid needs to do.

Have a great day :)

The 4-Alls Project

We've been so busy with school and everything else that comes with Fall

like

transition and new schedules.

BUT we have been working hard in school and learning lots about the Middle Ages.

Last week we were learning about feudalism and I found a great project in THIS book.

It was a really fun way to show the steps on the ladder of power in those days....

We made a diorama for each tier of feudalism...the church, royalty, knights, and peasants. 

{i'm holding the cross on because i broke it off during picture taking time :)}

{the church who prayed for all}

{kings who ruled all}

{knights who fought for all}

{peasants who worked for all}

I loved watching the kids dig through their toys finding stuff to use in these. 

My kids are total hands-on learners so this was a great project!

We've {i've} got lots of projects planned for this year, so be prepared to see lots more stuff like this :)

happy learning :)

Feathering My Nest

I don't know what happens to me this time of year, but I want to change everything...move everything around...and clean!!

So...I've been doing a lot of that this past week...just nesting.

My buffet went from this....

...to this.  The birdhouses and fans went away for the fall and out came the bittersweet and pumpkins.

I love love love decorating with natural things like branches, flowers, whatever...and fall is just the time to do that.  The colors are so gorgeous right now.

This little side table got a makeover for the fall too, but I forgot to take "before" pics.

This is one of my favorite pieces of furniture...garage sale $15!

I started stripping the old paint to repaint it and my aunt came over mid-process and told me to keep it half-stripped.  So glad I listened to her! :)

The mantle got a fall makeover too....

I'm putting to use some of my Junk Bonanza finds...did you notice?? :)

I have not rearranged my living room for so long...ever since we got our piano.  So, finally, I came up with another way to arrange it with the piano in the corner.  I love it like this! Before, it was directly opposite the fireplace and now the TV is where to piano was.  It's way easier to watch TV this way and makes everything feel cozier.  Rearranging the furniture to me is like buying new stuff...but cheaper!! ha! 

Happy Fall!! Happy Nesting!!

{all this cleaning and rearranging has inspired me to purge my shelves a bit...so look for a giveaway later this week!}

lula love

I have this sweet friend. 

 Her name is Gina.

Our friendship began about 2 years ago at a party.

We were acquaintances before this, but at this party we started talking about running and about how we called ourselves runners, but didn't really do it as much as we should.

So our conversation went something like this...

"Hey, we live close to each other.  We should just run together in the morning."

"Sounds good! I need some accountability."

"Super.  See ya at 6am."

And a friendship was born.  Early mornings.  With the sun still sleeping, we were out runnin'...motivating each other.

Most mornings in the winter, we wear layer upon layers...and end up looking like this by the end of it....

...yes.  Those are icicles on her eyelashes.  I have an identical picture like this of myself...on my phone...and I don't know how to get them off of if.  Maybe it should just stay there.

We talk about pretty much everything on our runs.  Everything from husbands to movies to bible studies.

 

But up until about 9 months ago, a lot of our conversations were about the fact that Gina and her husband had been trying for two years to have a baby...and it just. wasn't. happening.

It's so hard to hear a friend hurting and not be able to help.

She prayed a lot.

I prayed a lot.

We all prayed a lot.

And guess what??

 Is she not the cutest!?!

God is so good!!

After two years and nine months of waiting....

Lula Grace has entered the world. 

She is the sweetest little thing and she almost has more hair than me!

I asked Gina if Lula had her natural hair color...Gina wasn't so sure.  She couldn't remember what it really was!!  Ya, Gina's a diva like that.

I am so so happy for Doug and Gina! They already are wonderful parents.

They didn't know the sex of the baby, so Gina's request was that Doug announce what the baby was...

boy or girl.

When she was finally out, he was so taken that he could barely make out the words.

Finally...he said..."it's a Lula Grace."

How beautiful...what a moment.

Congrats, sweet Gina.  Love you, friend!

You're already one of the sweetest mamas I know!

xoxo

Fall To-Do's

We had gorgeous, HUGE sunflowers in our garden this year.

They grew taller than the fence by far...probably around 12-14 feet tall!

I had no idea they would get that big, but I guess when you let toddlers plant your garden it just works out :)

So, they got to be so big that they were just toppling over.  They were drinking so much water, I couldn't keep up.

So...it was time to harvest.

I called Rent-A-Kid and they sent me these two sweet boys, ages 8 and 5 to cut them down.

They did a great job.

I think they were mostly motivated at by the opportunity to use dangerous tools!

{like most guys ;)}

They cleaned up and raked up everything.

While I sat back and ate Bonbons! :)

Looking at these pictures again makes me want to get to work....

Fall is transition time and there's lots I want to get done.

I work much better if I have a list in front of me, so....

Fall to do's:

• 
  
  put to use my junk away from the Junk Bonanza
• 
  
  decorate for fall inside and outside
• 
  
  buy pumpkins and kale
• 
  
  get sweaters out from attic
• 
  
  go through and organize basement storage
• 
  
  go through kids' clothes and take outgrown things to Salvation Army
• 
  
  get out fall candles, make apple cider and pumpkin bread

That should keep me busy for a while ;)

Happy Harvest, All!

Junk Bonanza part trois

So...we found some super cool treasures at the Junk Bonanza.

Of course we did :)

Here's what I found...

Buckets and more buckets.  They're super versatile for flowers, storage, or whatever.

A useful sign, just in case anyone thinks they can smoke in my house ;)

Some letters and numbers from an old drive in movie theater.  Love that!

French wine box.  Mom spotted this for me...she knows me too well!

 

This was an awesome deal...only $14!  I think I can use this for all kinds of things.

Here's a stack of some other random stuff.

I found TONS of old Bingo cards, French flash cards, and stamps.  I have lots of little ideas for these.

Big purchase of the day...my new dress form! 

I've been looking for one of these little ladies for a while now.

I'll let you know what I'm plannin' on doin' with her in a few weeks.

I think she wants her name to be Daphne...what do you think?

Now...the plan is to do a little nestin' and getting my Fall stuff out and putting all this junk to good use.

Any ideas??? I'd love to hear what you think!