Asher is two!!

This soon to be big brother is TWO years old today! We are so thankful for this beautiful boy of ours. He loves his the great outdoors, animals, cookies and all things musical. A true boy at heart, he is all about balls and bikes. Though he plays the shy guy while we're out and about, he is a goofball at home and has the sweetest smile and best laugh. And not to mention-awesome hair! Beloved by his brothers, he is spoiled rotten-and he knows it. 

Two weeks ago we celebrated his birthday in Fall fashion with friends and family- just in case baby girl decided to make an early debut. It was a perfect Fall afternoon and Asher loved playing with his sweet little friends in our backyard. We are so thankful for all of the thoughtful gifts and love for this growing boy of ours.

 Happy birthday Asher, we love you!

Fall Festivities

Ripe with crisp mornings, gorgeous color and memories for the making, Fall is surely my favorite season. Sandwiched in between the state Fair and Halloween, October has been packed with plenty of fun family festivals, beautiful days and wayyy too much sugar. It's our first year celebrating Halloween in Apex and on top of a few community and church events we attended, we hit the jackpot trick or treating in our neighborhood. The boys are really blessed to be living in such a safe, family friendly hood where many of the houses went all out decorating. For me, I'll call it a day with my pretty purple mum and save the real decorating for Christmas. :-)

Here's a few pics from our church's annual "Reformation Day" party, Chris' work sponsored family Fall Festival and a local trunk or treat. The boy's were swimming in candy even before the 31st! What can I say, we do it up...

Our red power ranger, transformer and little monkey had a blast walking around with friends on Halloween night after pre-gaming the night with a pizza party in our shared cul-de-sac.

Seriously, this year shall go down as "Candy-geddon"! So.much.candy. I have to note here that 2017 was our first year to actually carve pumpkins with the boys. In the past we've decorated them with sticker faces and other kid friendly craft kids(much to mom's delight!), but this year the boys were super excited to carve their own jack-o-lanterns. Where reality met the road, they were excellent at scooping out the insides, and left daddy to do the rest. Good job honey!

On the downside, having kiddos with allergies and asthma is no fun when the seasons change, especially in a state that can't quite make up it's mind about what season it is! It's been a rough patch dealing with chronic coughs, colds and scary asthma flare ups. In any case, I'll choose to be grateful in this new month of November for the gift of modern medicine and again, all the joys awaiting us still this Fall-Asher's second birthday and the arrival of baby girl just to name a few!

The State Fair 2016

The sights, the sounds, the smells...nothing comes close to the NC state fair! A hallmark of Fall, we were all excited to go to the fair this year and eat our share of kettle corn and cotton candy. As usual, it was an experience.

Over the years we've built up our own tricks and trades of the infamous North Carolina state fair. We know where we park, have our favorite fried foodie stands, and by now have developed our own family fair route of sorts. To avoid the crazy crowds, we go during the week and midday. However, as much planning you can put into a traditional outing like this, there are some things you just can't control and don't plan for. This year, it was the near 90 degree weather in October. And so, we took home pink faces for souvenirs!

Asher's first fair!

...because it's tradition.

Future pilot?? I wonder...

Mother Nature was a new addition this year

In ride news, the boys rode their first roller coaster this year. Chris said they were probably the most terrified pair on that kiddie coaster, which made their reward all the sweeter. If asked they will say that was their favorite part of the fair, and that it was "SO COOL!!!!!"

The carousel will always be my favorite ride.

 Last but not least, our traditional family photo at the hush puppy mill. We started taking this picture over 9 years ago on one of our first dates to the fair. Suffice it to say, it has changed a lot!

Another fair in the books...next year we will not miss the ribbon fries or pig races. Always something to look forward to. :-)

Happy Halloween!

Now that's my kind of pumpkin decorating!

Boo-tacular fun!

It's Halloween week, and while we don't necessarily celebrate the "spooky" side of this holiday, you just can't deny the pumpkin bucket full of sugary, Fall fun it brings.

In spite of our lingering sicknesses, we started off the week with our traditional Halloween playdate with my mom's group. It's amazing to see how this group picture changes every year! Yoda and the storm trooper had a ton of fun with their friends and came home with rosy and crisp, icing encrusted faces and pockets full of starburst.

I made the best of my efforts getting them dressed to take their individual costume pics. Star Wars for the win this year! Without a doubt the light sabers bring it home.

This face?!!! Oh my Bennett...

That's more like it...

In school news we've done quite a few Halloween/Fall inspired crafts. I found this awesome little project on the skeletal system from "teachers pay teachers" for free and it fit perfectly into the start of our human body study. Not to mention what goes better with Halloween than skeletons? We've also discovered the world of color by number, which at this point may or may not be a Pandoras box of wasted computer paper. Note to self-just say no!

Speaking of just saying no, I couldn't resist these inspired donuts a la Dunkin this morning...yet another perk of homeschooling to share a special breakfast with my big boy over handwriting and phonics work.

 Below is a picture straight from Evan's own artistic juices-he colored this 100% unassisted during his "quiet time" and was so proud to show it off. This is his "jackolantern" face. Hehe.

And the fun's not over yet. We have many tricks and treats(okay more treats) planned for the weekend...have a safe and happy Halloween friends!

Apples and Pumpkins, oh my!

 

There is no end to festive Fall activities in and outside of the classroom-just ask Pinterest!  The boys and I enjoyed exploring the new season with a small, homegrown unit study on apples and pumpkins this past week. Our favorite activity by far was making this chart above-the "Apple Taste Test." We polled our friends and family via texts, facebook and phone to see which flavor apple they liked the best-red, green, or yellow-and charted our results. As you can see, out of the 30 or so people polled -red apples were the clear winner. 

Best quote of the week -"Mmm, math is delicious!"

We also examined and drew out the parts of an apple with worksheets like this, and the real thing of course.

I ordered these Nat Geo Kids books from a Scholastic fair last year and predict reading them for many Falls to come. They are simple & sweet, and I look forward to Evan reading them to me next year. :-)

The highlight of the week was our much anticipated field trip with our local homeschool group to Vollmer farms. After a record breaking 12 days of rain here in eastern NC, a beautiful 80 degree day on the farm was just what the doctor ordered. The excitement began behind two large tractor wheels with the traditional hayride and ended with exhausted, happy kiddos and one spent mama!

 

 

After the hayride we had so much fun making butter, learning about the hardworking bees, sandpaper tongued cows and Americana chickens. And then there was a donkey, and a beautiful baby horse.

I can't imagine how many pictures my kiddos have taken in front of John Deere tractors-NC natives!

Then we moved on to the most awesome playground complete all sorts of fun slides, tire attractions, slingshots, castles of hay for climbing and this lovely pool of corn kernels. I'm sure we could have camped out there for hours.

Last but not least, we topped the week off with two words-apple pie!

Warm apple pie and whipped cream-welcome back Fall!