Love Creek Orchard & Pumpkin Patch

This post is out of order since we went to the apple orchard BEFORE Halloween, but awhile back I promised lots of October pics. We went to the Love Creek Orchard with Paul's family. This is a place where my camera gets a lot of use... so here are some of the favsNot too easy to get all 5 kids to cooperate at onceMy kidsit was SO sunny! Ashlyn with her choice of pumpkin
Benjamin only wanted to throw the pumpkins

the pony rides are Ashlyn's favorite part! and of course the baby chicks you get to hold are a lot of fun too!

us girls

the guys

...and here it is November already!

Trick or Treat!

a Texas Longhorn Cheerleader and a Texas Football Player

(the only jersey in his size was Colt McCoy so I guess that's who he was)

Above: eating candy BEFORE going trick-or-treating

Just a few from tonight... I think we were the first trick or treaters out in the neighborhood. But we had to make the rounds to visit other family members so we could not waste any time. Ashlyn really enjoyed ringing or answering the doorbell and Benjamin was very good at saying "tha you!" and then staying on people's porches as he rummaged through the candy looking for lollipops.

I was going through my pictures...

I found several from Sept and Oct that I had always intended to post. I guess with this being the infirmary around here, I just plum forgot. Having fun together goofing around

We've been in this house over a month, and we are still living out of boxes!

this is how they watch tv... so sweet

practicing writing her letterspracticing eating Oreosconcentrating ever so hard on whatever he caught in the bug net while he was swingingThis is from yesterday- they can get along sometimes, See!

Ashlyn's sick & family pics

It seems that we have constantly had one (or both kids) sick in the the past month. Respiratory things- allergies, viruses, I even had a sinus infection last week. Ashlyn has been acting healthy apart from a cough she has had for the past 2-3 weeks. Over the weekend I thought she might be coughing more and it sounding worse. That coupled with the longevity of the cough led me to schedule yet another appt with the new pediatrician here (who we LOVE by the way!). Turns out her respiratory issues have turned into a walking pneumonia so we have been doing breathing treatments by nebulizer every 3-4 hours and she is on antibiotics. She has been hyper like I have never seen her before- which is an expected side effect of the inhaled medicine. She has also been super-attached to me even as we are at home... and I mean that she has actually been in physical contact with me for the majority of the day yesterday and today. I both love it and feel I am losing my mind!

Anyway... some of you commented on my last blog about pictures you saw from Cozy Impressions Photography. Doesn't Tanya take great pictures!?! For those of you who haven't seen yet, she has a cute entry that has a few of our pics taken last weekend. Thanks Tanya- we love them!

Well, Ashlyn is back and trying to fit in between me and my laptop... and Benjamin, who was acting so tired a minute ago that I put him down for a nap, is now screaming "MAMA, MAMA!" at the top of his lungs, as I watch him attempt to scale the crib rails on the monitor. I better go attend the monkeys.

October is here!

This is one of my favorite times of the year! I love when the weather gets cooler (hopefully it will soon!) and the colors of fall are so warm and welcoming. It is the start of several consecutive months with holidays and therefore fun new holiday kids clothes. The past few years we have done lots of fun family things in October and this year my calendar is already filled up even though we aren't going to Abilene for Homecoming this year. My 10 year H.S. reunion is going to be this month, we are going to visit the pumpkin patch, and I think dressing the kids up in costumes is so much fun. Most every October is well documented in pictures.

Here are some pictures from past Octobers and if you have followed my blog for long, then some of these may look familiar- pictures taken in October tend to be some of my favorites for the entire year:

2005

2006

2007

..And there will be many more pictures to post from this October!

Playtime

Since we have moved, the kids have been playing together more. It has been WONDERFUL!! We think that Benjamin knows that he has his own bedroom, but that he thinks Ashlyn's room is actually their shared playroom. As the pictures show, we finally had a day that we didn't have to change out of our pajamas until after lunch. Anything I can do to make less laundry!

I may have lost some readers after the long break I have taken from blogging. So to those of you who are still reading, sorry. We ARE in our "new" house now, however we still have some more work and minor packing left to do back in San Antonio.

Updates on the kids:

Ashlyn- she is enjoying Preschool now. Before the summer was over, she learned how to swim without floaties and was extremely proud of herself. Currently, she is practicing how to swing all by herself and she is learning to jump rope also. These activities consume most of her free time. I don't think I ever wrote about how we kept those 2 kittens that were found in my in-laws attic... well these kittens are the loves of her life! She carries them around as if they were babies and Roxy and Tigger are very tolerant of her. It amazes me at how very responsible she is becoming.

Benjamin- he and I have really been enjoying our one on one time while Ashlyn is at school. He is such a sweetheart. He is talking more and more, however he mostly says his words when prompted by big sister. My favorite thing he says is "I DID IT!" As we have continued to work on the house, Benjamin has wanted to be involved and is always willing to help. He can find the appropriate toy tool for whatever job he is watching someone else work on. He is so observant and very smart! Ben still has a shy side and tends to be quiet, but when he is in a comfortable environment, this boy is turning into one NOISY kid. He is just so much fun to be around.

And now for the pictures:

Roxy and Tigger with Ashlyn

Ben and his trusty drill

I forgot to mention that Paul and Ashlyn went to the Father-Daughter banquet put on by the church at the same place where we had our rehearsal dinner way back when. They had so much fun on their "date," there was a horse-drawn carriage, dinner, and dancing! Ashlyn's favorite was the chicken dance. Could not have been sweeter!

We are so glad to be watching college football again- Hook 'em!

1st day of Preschool

As we are still in the midst of relocation, Ashlyn started preschool! Anyway- she has been so excited about school for a long time. However, Tuesday morning she kept telling Paul that she didn't want to go to school today. When we got there she kept asking if I could just stay with her for just a minute. She was not acting like herself... clinging to me, crying. I finally had to just give her a kiss, tell her that I loved her and that I would be back. I left her sobbing in the classroom. If you know this girl, this is SO very unlike her! Ashlyn has never had any sort of separation anxiety, in fact I have more trouble getting her to leave and come with me than I ever have dropping her off.

This is in the parking lot. She did not want me to take her picture. She does look pretty sad.

She warmed up a little when we got closer to the doors and she saw everyone else's Mom taking their preschooler's pictures too:She did stop crying fairly soon after I left and reports that she had such a fun time. Her teacher also said she did really well for the whole day after that first minute or two. Ashlyn said she made lots of friends and even held hands with some of them on the playground. So sweet!

I think her odd behavior has to do with the state of chaos that our lives are in at the moment. Long ago my goal was to already been living in the house by now (actually I was aiming for mid August- ha!) We are still not there yet- hopefully after this weekend we will really be living in that house!

Ears pierced and our trip to Houston

Since about May 15th (see post) I have been trying to talk Ashlyn into getting her ears pierced and finally Tuesday a week ago, she agreed. I was hoping we could have 2 employees simultaneously pierce both ears, but Ashlyn assured me that she could handle having one done at a time. I explained step by step what she could expect- this approach of full disclosure works well with her, and she did great! No tears, she just wanted to sit in my lap and she was very quiet. Her account of the experience was that she was told it would feel like a little pinch, but it felt like a big pinch.

One of Paul's younger sisters and her family recently moved to League City near Galveston. Last weekend was our niece Hannah's birthday party and was a perfect opportunity to go see their new house and make a trip to the beach. We also visited the Boardwalk which the kids loved. As for our day at the beach- even though it wasn't sunny we did miss most of the rain and had so much fun!!