October 31st

Windy Hill Apple Orchard

Our Bible study moms and kids journeyed to South Carolina for a little apple history and fun at Windy Hill Apple Orchard.  We heard the story of Johnny Appleseed (the Gospel message even made it's way into the story!), watched the apple cider mill, hopped on the hay ride, stuffed a life-size scarecrow, saw the pigs and goats, and ended with filling our goodie bags with pumpkins, apples and apple cider.  What a day!

Goofy Guys!

Tait and Grayson are never afraid to be goofy!  And if it's not initiated by their daddy, there's another main source--an uncle!  So thankful to have Uncle Matt here for his fall break.  It worked out well for this mama too because Chris was out of the town that same week.  Uncle Matty Boy was so helpful (and fun, of course)!  Lots of baseball, wrestling and shooting (result: one dead Terry, the squirrel).  I did ask Matt who was more excited for Chris to come home--him or me? :)

Wisconsin Visitors

We were thankful to have Papa Jim and Grandma Jeannine come down for a visit.  They took care of the boys while Chris, Ellie and I headed to Atlanta for a leadership conference with our church (check it out... called Catalyst.  It was amazing!).  Eating Costco raspberries with Papa, visiting the pumpkin farm and playing with new legos were some of the boys highlights.  I think Papa had to take a few naps!  Papa and Jeannine squeezed in the the Nascar race with Uncle Matt and the CROP walk for hunger with our church.  Fun! 

Ellie Crawling

Campfires in the Fall

Some of our favorite desserts--roasted marshmellows and/or s'mores over the fire.  I don't know who likes them more, this mama or her boys.  So as we are slowly having cooler nights, we look forward to having fires.  Thanks, Auntie Shorty, for the cool fire pit!  We use it a lot!

Riverbanks Zoo

We had a fun road trip to the zoo.  Charlotte is a growing city, but has yet to have its own zoo.  So with 6 mamas and 17 kiddos (yes, wow!), we spent the day at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina.  It was a great adventure, well worth the trip and craziness!  Feeding the giraffes and watching the noisy, active monkeys were two of the highlights.

Knight in Shining Armor

Here's to Raising a Modern Day Knight!  (For those of you who don't know...that's the title of a great book that Chris highly recommends.)  Careful for the underarmour!  Ha--why does this not surprise me...Grayson is a goofball!

Rainy Day Fun

What do we do on rainy days...get creative!  The boys got out their costume box, wrestled (even with Ellie) and played super heroes.  Always an adventure!  (Thanks, Cousin Tyler, for sharing your old costumes!)

Mmm, Mmm Good!

Ellie is loving the new world of food.  She's happy to try anything!  She's pretty good at opening her mouth and swallowing now too.

September Fun

Ellie joined her Mama and Dada in Charleston for a wedding.  While we enjoyed a weekend away, Uncle Matt held down the fort and chased the monkeys.

Making pizzas with our big buddies, Jamesy and Sage.  Jamesy and Sage got to spend the night one weekend---and Tait and Grayson followed their every move:)!

We had another buddy, Dylan, with us one weekend.  Tait was showing off his skills, reading the BOB book.

Milestones for Ellie

Ellie learned how to sit all by herself this past month.  After a little practice in the green bumbo seat (below), she's on her own now.  




Ellie is on the go.  Thankfully, not crawling yet; however, she can make a pretty quick 360 on her belly!  She's even trying to climb her brother's chair (photo above).  No more playing legos on the floor, Tait and Grayson!  (We've already caught Ellie tasting a lego piece a few times--ut oh!)