Fall Photos

I won a free mini-photo session from a friend of mine (Lindsay Dillon) at Pleasant Knoll Elementary who is starting her own photography business.  We met her at Elisha Walter Park in Fort Mill a few weeks ago and she was able to capture some really cute and cheesy moments of my little munchkins.

Pumpkin Patch, Pretend Play, Appleseed Day, and R.A.O.K.

 Well fall is officially here! Although it was almost 80 degrees when we ventured out to Black's Farm this past weekend with a bunch of our buddies to let the kids see the animals, go on a hayride, wander through a corn maze and a hay bale maze, and take lots of photos! See for yourself! What a great tradition with our original QCP crew!

 This is such a cute outfit from Camp Nan and Pap that Riley still loves to dress up and wear as he pretends to go on "Bear Hunts" around the house. Thanks Nan and Pap for the hours of fun these props have provided for our little explorer!

 I orchestrated a pretend dress up day myself on Friday, Sept. 27th as we celebrated Johnny Appleseed's Birthday! The kids and I got dressed up in plaid shirts and jeans or overalls and put pots on our heads (Riley's was the only one that really fit though!).  We then ate all kinds of apple treats--like crockpot applesauce, apple smiles, and apple chips (the previous two are pictured below).

 Riley thought it was especially neat that if you slice an apple horizontally, you'll find a star hidden inside! So when it was time for Maggie's morning nap, he and I did some apple star stamping and several other Johnny Appleseed crafts including an Apple Tree blessing made from fingerprints, apple tree math, color-by-number, and label the parts of Johnny sheet. It was an exciting morning!

 Here's a picture of my 2 little monkeys with some masks that they found in Mommy's old school stuff!

 We did another canvas print this year to add to our Halloween decor on the mantle. Last year, we did the Boo ghost footprints and this year we did the handprint "spider" which kind of turned out looking like a cross between a bat and a bird, but oh well! We tried! :)

 Last Friday, we randomly went to the York County Natural Gas Customer Appreciation event in Rock Hill. The e-mail mentioned there would be trucks.  So Riley and Maggie wore their "trucker" shirts from last year's Come See Me Truck Event. I was hoping for at least a few big rigs, but all they had for the kids to see was 1 van and a couple of cars! So that was a bummer, but at least Mommy got free barbecue and the kids got to eat their picnic lunch I had packed along with a few free snacks from the event as well. And we met several nice people along the way! So it wasn't a total waste!

Speaking of nice people, this month's character focus that I'm working with the kids on is kindness, (specifically using kind words and actions towards others.) Two weeks ago, we wrote our mail lady a thank you note and Riley wanted to give her some candy in the envelope. So here he is with the candy in his hand and a smile on his face! The following week, we packed a goody bag for our trash collector. Riley got a little freaked out by the noise of his truck as it went to grab our trash can, but I was eventually able to get him to get close enough to hand the nice man the Ziplock bag of snacks and candy. Our neighborhood has been participating in the "You've Been Boo-ed" treat bag tradition. So we got "boo-ed" with a basket full of treats on Sunday and were able to in turn "boo" two other families. I loved watching Riley "sneak" up on the houses using his tip-toes! He wasn't exactly quiet as he crunched on every leaf possible and laughed out loud, but it was cute! 

We're going to try and visit a nursing home in the next week or so to continue our Random Acts of Kindness. It's been an important reminder to me as well that no matter who you meet or see, there's always time to be kind! 

This is a picture of Maggie doing what she does best when she's tired and wants to be held. Most of the time this pose is accompanied by loud whining and "uh, uh, uh" noises. But just this past Sunday, Oct. 13th, Maggie began to really put together 2 word phrases. We believe she is saying "hold me" (although sometimes it sounds like "hold you") and she says "help me" (minus the actual "h" sound) whenever she wants to get up on the couch or needs help getting a toy out of the toy box. She'll also sign and say "thank you" which is really sweet to see. Another hilarious Maggie antic these days is that whenever I announce the supper is ready, that girl makes a beeline to her highchair just as fast as she can! She gets a big smile on her face and says "up" (or "dup") over and over until you put her in! She's got a thing for food, who can blame her. And she must be going through a growth spurt because this child is about to eat us out of house and home! Between Riley (who says he's hungry 5 minutes after he's finished breakfast or lunch) and her, it's a wonder there is any food left!

Well, the kiddos are waking from their usual nap from 1:30-3:30, so I better put a halt to my blogging for now and actually go participate in real life. We'll make some more memories though and be back soon, don't worry!

Pirates, Playtime, and Packed Weekends

 Today is National Talk Like A Pirate Day and what better excuse to get dressed up in last year's Halloween costumes and score some free doughnuts at Krispy Kreme than that! The kids and I had a blast putting on our pirate gear, making a fake hook hand out of a plastic cup and some aluminum foil, going on a hunt for buried treasure using a pirate map, and greeting everyone on the phone with "Arr...Shiver me timbers!"

 Here's a picture of us at Krispy Kreme and Riley coloring his pirate picture. He decided he had to take off his hook for this part! Probably a good decision!

 After eating one doughnut each, we decided to deliver the rest of the 3 dozen doughnuts we were given for free to a local fire station and Pilgrim's Inn ministry.  The firemen were very appreciative and offered Riley a chance to climb up in the fire truck and take a quick tour in their garage.  It's been about a year since he got to do this and it hasn't seemed to lose any of the thrill (the picture below is Riley last year and the picture on the right is from today). My goodness, he's growing up fast!

 Maggie-licious had a great time saying "cheese" at every photo op and swinging at the playground next to one of the fire stations we went by today. She's really starting to add to her vocabulary and her favorite words are "see" as she shows you something or points to a toy and "up" which she likes to say when it's time to climb the stairs! She's had a few tumbles though, so we've had to keep a close eye on this adventurous gal! She loves to repeat words that Riley says like "wow" and "yeah!" The other day as we were practicing for my next music lesson that I had to teach, I noticed Maggie saying "stop" (more like "dop") and "go" (sometimes with a d sound instead of a g) as we walked, crawled, and ran around the couch using those words. She still gets a little confused with some words. For example, when I bring her downstairs in the morning and ask her if she's ready for her breakfast of milk, banana (as she says "nana") and O's or Cheerios, she'll touch the middle of her face thinking I said nose! Grandmama swears she said "yellow" last week and Chris thinks she's said "Riley" (instead of the usual "Ra-Ra") and "Mag-gee".

        We think Maggie might be a pretty girly-girl. She absolutely LOVES shoes of any kind. She likes to wear bows (most of the time) and is fascinated with bracelets! I also adore how she likes to sit with her teeny little feet crossed one over the other. It's just so precious to see. As you can see, our little 15 month old is continuing to keep us entertained!

 One of the things I've enjoyed a lot about being able to stay at home this year is taking the time to do crafts.  Riley has great ideas and it was his idea to make an owl and paint it brown. I found this template on Pinterest and we worked on our cutting skills and then later on that same week, we made some Owl cards for Grandparents Day.  I also love being able to do impromptu "experiments" like the one we're doing here again using baking soda and colored vinegar water. We did this same experiment a year ago as well, but I can't find the picture this time to compare.

 Our weekends always kick off with Friday night "Pizza and Movie Night". It's beginning to be a family tradition and it's one that I must say I'm loving (especially when it means I get to snuggle with my two favorite kiddos)! Then the rest of the weekend is usually a little more full. Last Saturday, we went to Discovery Place to take advantage of the free admission for teachers and their kids during the month of September. Riley loved the water station so much that he proceeded to saturate his entire outfit by the end of his playtime and had to have a complete wardrobe change. So in his new outfit, he went and tested out the science stations upstairs and got a kick out of the air lift chair. Maggie really enjoyed seeing the fish up close and personal and of course, climbing on anything she could.

 A few weeks ago, we went with Grandmama to Matthews Alive Festival! This is where Riley got one of his first prayers answered! You see, he had gotten on a big helicopter kick recently after seeing one in the sky and really, REALLY wanted to go up in the sky and fly a helicopter with  Daddy. Chris and I talked to him about possibly getting a toy helicopter for Christmas that he could fly with a remote, but he was pretty insistent that he wanted to get inside one and fly. So he prayed about it one night and sure enough, a few days later when we were at the festival lo and behold there was a helicopter ride. You can't tell from this particular picture, but Riley was ecstatic about this experience and talked about it for days!

Maggie and I were content to watch the excitement from the sidelines. Grandmama was sweet enough to treat us to SnoCones before we had to head home. It was a great day!

For Labor Day, we went to Rodger and Melissa's house for a Low Country Crab Boil and found out that someone else in the family loves eating crabs as much as I do---Riley! Except, he calls them "crabfish" and he likes to pretend to crack them, but have other people do the hard work of actually "peeling" them.

Last weekend we got together with our QCP Neighbors  (even though 2 out of the 4 families no longer actually live in QCP) and a few other close friends.  In fact, after the Warrens and Huntingtons arrived, we had 15 kids and 12 adults all in one place! Here's a picture of the Gamecock QCP Crew (Riley is still a Clemson fan, so his attire doesn't completely match).  What a blessing to have these little ones grow up together!

So whether we're grilling out at home and Riley is helping Daddy using the "clappers" as he calls them or we're riding together in the car listening to one of Riley's crazy stories about "when he was an old man, he used to drive a cement truck" or "he used to play on the playground at Daddy's school"...I pretty much can't ask for a better life! When Riley prays at night to help the kid in Dad's class do his work or for Grandma and Grandpa Condra to like their "new house" (assisted living facility), I can't help but thank God myself for such a precious family and friends that I get to experience life with!