Happy Fall Y'all

I am so thankful for the variety of seasons and the beautiful things that fall has to offer...cooler weather, gorgeous leaves, pumpkin-flavored everything, and of course football, festivals, and foods like chili, buffalo chicken dip, and apple doughnuts! 

 The kids created a "Leaf Man" activity after collecting lots of leaves from the park a few weeks ago. Maggie's favorite part of any craft is using the glue! :)

 Last weekend, we went to Black's Fall Festival in York, SC with the Cason Crew. It was an extremely sunny day and the kids had a blast running around to all the different activities-hay bale maze, corn maze, 3 Little Pigs house, hay bale swings, sunflower garden, cow-milking simulation, animal gazing (no touching of the horse, goat, chickens, and cow this time), and of course the ever-famous hay ride! Here are some moments caught on film. (I guess you can't really use this expression any more if everything is digital now, huh?)

 Love this one of Riley! Shhh...don't tell anyone that they were plucking the petals of the sunflowers! 

 Almost got a smile from everyone in this family pic! :)

              Love this one of our little Maggie Pie!

 These kids are growing up so quickly! S . l . o . w .   d . o . w. ntime.  ! 

Here's this month's round-up of precious moments:

• Maggie has gotten into the habit of saying pumpkin twice whenever she sees one. For example, she'll say, "There's a pumpkin, pumpkin!" but it's more pronounced like 'pon-kin, pon-kin'.
• While checking out Chris' iPad, she noticed some icons at the top of the screen and said, "I want to touch the Cloud" which made perfect sense. Then upon seeing a plus sign to indicate a New Tab, Maggie stated, "I want to touch the church." Love that she made that connection even if it wasn't an exact symbol of a cross. 
• Bedtime traditions have always been a part of our family routine at night and Maggie has definitely added her own unique twist to the way she prefers for her order of events to go. Here's a recap of what happens on most nights-She picks a book (more about that in a bit); we read her a book and Riley a book on the couch in Riley's room, then Maggie gives kisses (sometimes on a cheek to Daddy and Riley, but often on their leg, arm, or shoulder); next she and I go rock in her room while I sing her song (she requests "Jesus Loves Me" every single night); after that, I lay her in bed and she wants me to sing "Go To Sleep" to her which is a song I created when Riley was a baby; then we have to say prayers; and finally I have to hold her hand for a minute. As I walk out the door, she always has one more request--that I come pat her back. Once finished with that, she settles right down and we usually don't hear anything else from her (unless of course, she's not tired and in which case she'll start singing and talking to herself). Riley's routine is much less complex now: book, "Go To Sleep" song, prayer, kiss. That's it! Dad however, likes to spice up the "Go To Sleep" song with ad-lib verses to which Riley always replies, "Daaaddd, just do it the regular way" (but I think there's a side of him that secretly enjoys these funny lyrics). :) Both routines are very special and even though I'm bone-tired most nights by this time, it's still a beautiful time to slow down and spend a few minutes holding, cuddling, and connecting!
• Riley has a new favorite show that he discovered (with Chris' help) and has absolutely become enthralled with every episode. It's called "How It's Made" and it features 3 or 4 different objects on each show and gives a behind-the-scenes look at how they were created. Riley loves to watch this show while he eats his dessert (right now we have certain "dessert nights" on Mondays and Wednesdays and usually Saturdays too). 
• Maggie's favorite book right now is "Going On A Bear Hunt" and she can almost repeat every line with just a little prompt from us. I think the love for this book was inspired by her Nan and Pappy at camp this summer! Her absolute favorite page is when the family goes through the forest and the page that describes the action says, "Stumble, trip! Stumble, trip! Stumble, trip!" In fact, this is what she refers to the title of the book as! 
• One of the songs that we have caught Maggie singing aloud to herself randomly is "Jesus Loves the Little Muskrats"! The "Jesus Loves the Little Children" song influence may come from me, but the "muskrats" reference is all Chris! :) 
• Maggie's verbal skills continue to develop in leaps and bounds. Today she said to Chris as they were discussing what we were having for supper, "Actually, we're going to have breakfast." And she doesn't like to feel ignored in the slightest and is often heard saying, "Dad (or Mom, or Riley), answer me!" Occassionally, she will forget something though and instead of saying "I can't remember", she says, "I can't think about it." 
• Riley has changed his mind about a dozen times now about what he wants to be for Halloween. I think we have finally decided on a Clemson football player and today as we were trying to concoct some homemade version of pads to use under his jersey, Riley kept getting tickled at how the neck pillow we were using kept getting stuck and we'd have to readjust it several times. I absolutely LOVE hearing that kid's laugh! It makes me laugh out loud just thinking about it. 
• Riley has been learning about Fire Prevention earlier this month at school and he came home all excited about testing our fire "protectors" (aka detectors) and coming up with our Escape Plan where we'd meet at a designated spot like the mailbox if there were ever a fire in our house. Riley added to it and said, "I'll go next door to Mr. Dennis' and call 9-1-1, "but wait, I don't have a cell phone!"
• Riley showed such tender care for his sister the other night. For whatever reason, he decided that Maggie needed to have a nightlight in her room like he has in his room. So he gave up one of his beloved mini-flashlights and put it standing up on her dresser so that it shined on the ceiling to create a light for her. It was so sweet!!
• Maggie made my heart melt the other night too. As we were finishing up her prayers, she ended it with "Bye, Jesus!" I'm pretty sure it warmed Jesus' heart as well! 

Johnny's Biggest Fan and It's a Pirate's Life for Us

 Riley LOVES celebrating Johnny Appleseed's birthday each year on September 26th. This year, we ate apples dipped in caramel and later cinnamon applesauce, watched the Disney YouTube video of his life, created our first Bitty Book about how apples grow, and made a construction paper portrait of Johnny's "exact" likeness! :) And I took the annual picture of Riley with a pot on his head and an apple in his hand. However, something is wrong with this one picture and it will not let me rotate it correctly, so I had to leave it in sideways. Oh well...it's still a cute one! 

 My little Riley boy has such a sweet heart! Here he is with his second scavenger hunt that he planned and executed completely on his own (he did one for me yesterday as well).  He gives me "clues" numbered 1-5 and tells me to go check different places (like the pantry, inside the microwave, upstairs in the office, or under the couch) and then on the 5th place, he hides a handmade card. This is a picture of me at the beach with a hat on my head and if you look closely, you can see that he has written "I Love You" (it's a little out of order, but it still warms my heart to the very core!). What a darling!

 Speaking of love, here is a picture of our 9 Family Ways to Show Love wall decor that I made with scrapbook paper. We are focusing on one way each month and discussing it and really trying hard to implement it as much as possible. These kind of correspond with the Monthly Memory Verses and Character Traits that we are trying to focus on as well (See the Family Activity Map image below). The Learning Board (from the previous post) has helped me organize these different initiatives and lunchtime has given me a time to talk about them in more detail.

 On September 19th, we went to Krispy Kreme for our annual "Talk Like a Pirate Day" free donuts. We dressed like pirates to get 3 dozen doughnuts and because we didn't need that many calories, we made a stop by the fire department and dropped off 2 dozen there. This year, I made a point to talk to Riley about how courageous firefighters are and to make sure to thank them for risking their lives to keep us safe. Then we dropped off the remaining doughnuts to the teachers and helpers at Riley and Maggie's preschool. Riley stayed for preschool and Maggie and I went to the Y to try and work off some of the extra sugar we had ingested!

  

 We've gotta get a better camera or a better photographer! Hmm..that would be me! Oh well, here's a somewhat blurry picture of Riley in the fire truck. Maggie got a chance to sit up there too, but the batteries died in my camera before I could snap the shot.

And finally, here is this month's compilation of humorous sayings:

• Maggie and Riley both love to have their gummy vitamins each day. However, Maggie is on the verge of being obsessed with them! She literally will ask 15 times a day (no joke) if she can have another vitamin. She phrases it like this, "Mom, I had a vitamin this week?" (which really means, have I already had a vitamin today, and if so, don't you want to give me another one!)
• We recently had an infestation of flies in our house I am ashamed to admit. Somehow, we started with one or two and I think we didn't kill them before they multiplied. So one day, I went on a mad fly swatting spree. And Riley would say, "Mom, you smashed out their gutters." I think he meant guts! :) Later on, we saw another fly and Riley made the comment, "That fly is really bugging me out!"
• While playing baseball in the front yard, Riley hit the ball really far and remarked, "I'm a slug!" Again, he was really close with his words, but I'm pretty sure he meant to say he's a slugger!
• Maggie has cute little slip-ups as well. She likes trying on Riley's shin guards that he has for soccer and says, "I need that shin garden." 
• One of Maggie's most endearing phrases lately has been that she will come up to us 3 or 4 times a day and say, "I gotta tell you a secret--(then she'll whisper in your ear somewhat quietly)--I love you forever and ever."
• Riley really surprised his teachers the other day when they were doing Calendar Time and his teacher asked them to describe the current weather conditions. The kids said it was cloudy and Riley clarified with a new word that his dad had recently taught him and said, "Those are ominous clouds." A kid in Riley's class didn't think that was a real word and Riley set him straight by saying, "Yes it is, it means dark and scary." 
• We love hearing the kids pray! Maggie's prayer the other day went like this: "Dear God, Thank you for the blessings you made. Thank you for the supper you made. And Amen!" 
• Riley and Daddy have been watching a lot of football together on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Riley is learning all about penalties, tackles, offensive, and defense. And he's even learning some of the team names...well, kind of anyway! He likes the Baltimore Raisins (Ravens), but the Sir Purr team is by far his favorite NFL team (Carolina Panthers).
• Riley saw a candy corn the other day and said, "Look, it's a Candy Crush Mountain." This might have been because his mom was playing that game a little too frequently there for awhile! 
• Chris was telling Riley how people sometimes call him Fish as a nickname and Riley decided that he now wants to be called Fish Junior by his friends! 

A Few More Adventures and One BIG Week in the Fisher Home

 One of Riley's biggest requests this summer was to go camping with Dad. So on Saturday (a few weeks ago, Aug. 16th), Chris made his little boy dream come true! He set up the tent in our backyard, complete with air mattresses and sleeping bags for a bed, a really cool lantern, some stuffed animals, books, and even a fan. Riley stayed up late listening to every creature that made a sound and would have to grab his flashlight, "go check it out", and stick his head through one of the side windows. He eventually fell asleep and woke up excited the next day that he even considered eating his breakfast (still a cereal bar and a banana) outside, but the lure of watching a TV show inside got the best of him! :)

 I'm so thankful for a father who takes the time to spend with his boy and snuggle with his girl! Maggie and I stayed inside in the cool house and slept soundly in our own beds that night. We'll plan a mother-daughter adventure soon.

 Another item on our summer list was to make a cereal and candy bracelet. The kids loved stringing the Fruit Loops, Lifesaver Gummies, Cheerios, and mints through the pipe cleaners and of course, their favorite part came at the end when they got to devour them!

 On Thursday, August 28th, Woodland PEP (Preschool Enrichment Program) had their Open House and Riley and Maggie got to meet their teachers for the year. It happened to be the first USC game of the season, so the kids were sporting some Carolina colors for Dad's sake.

 Maggie was right at home with her teachers! Mrs. Mary (in white) is the assistant in the Transitional Two's class and Mrs. Dar is the lead teacher. Maggie went right in and colored her sheet and started playing with the kitchen set while we chatted with these two sweet ladies.

 Riley was equally excited to meet his teachers (Mrs. Michelle on the left, and her assistant, Mrs. Kristina). He colored his backpack picture, found his name at the table where he'll be sitting, and met a few of his classmates. One of these days, we'll start getting pictures with Riley's eyes open but the flash gets him every time! :) The kids loved meeting the new mascot, a bear, and voting on their favorite name for him. I think Riley voted for Theodore and Maggie voted for Woodrow.

 We got a quick family picture when we got home, taken by Uncle Joel, who had come for a visit before he moves to Orlando for his new job with Code School.

 The following day, Uncle Joel, the kids, and I went to Lazy 5 Ranch up in Mooresville, NC. It took over a hour to get there, but we had a great time on the wagon ride seeing all the exotic animals! Maggie and I were able to feed most of them. Joel and Riley preferred to sit back and watch the action and the crazy feeding frenzy. The ostriches were by far the most aggressive eaters. My personal favorite was dumping feed into the mouths of the bison and water buffalo and watching their tongues curl up and then guzzle down the food. Riley loved watching the giraffes eat and I think Maggie got a kick out of the cute little baby pigs that we saw along the way. We had a picnic lunch in the car before heading to another area that contained a petting zoo with goats, donkeys, peacocks, and other birds. The kids checked out the playground before climbing back in the car for the trip home. Overall, it was a great way to end the summer!

The kids got to taste and discover the joy of their very first Root Bear Float recently and as you can see, they loved every drop! 

 On Labor Day, we went to the YMCA pool together as a family for the last time this summer before the water park closed. And the very next day (Tuesday, September 2, 2014) the kids both started "school". Here are a few memorable moments from that day:

 As I thought about how to approach our 2nd year at home together, I decided to incorporate an idea that I read about in an ebook called Steady Days about having a family learning board that highlights different topics, verses, and areas of study that we can reflect on together. This chalkboard in our kitchen came in handy for this particular project. I've since started eating lunch together with Riley and Maggie at this table, so that we can talk about their days and make mention of some of the items that I've planned for us to highlight for that particular week/month. I want them to know that learning is a family affair and doesn't just happen when they are in their seats at school. I want to add in some character training and Scripture memory work and also build on their own personal interests (for Riley--he's been all about wanting to learn about the moon and the stars more). Pictured below are our prayer boxes that we made this week. They contain Christmas greeting cards with different pictures of close friends and family that we can randomly select and pray for, as well as pictures and facts about amazing animals that we can thank God for creating, simple prayers in a prayer book, some little cards that give other suggestions for things that we can pray about (forgiveness, our church, etc.). So these are my attempts to be a little more intentional with how I approach some different goals for our family, but mostly to try and make faith a tangible part of our lives. The kids LOVE playing with their prayer boxes and I figure we'll add some fresh items to them every so often to keep them interested and engaged, but that this could be the beginning of precious understanding that God values their prayers and hears every one!

 Here are my sweet little angels asleep! Riley is in his "fort tent" that he insisted on sleeping in for 2 nights (and naptimes) straight and Maggie is cuddled up with her blankie, monkey, and paci! Love these darlings!

 Now, here's a not-so-angelic Maggie face that we call her scary face. It can actually be worse when she decides to cross her eyes while she looks up into the corner of her eyes. She loves giving us this silly face at supper and then laughing hysterically about it!

 This is Riley's version of his "scary face" which I don't think was quite captured by the camera. :)

 To finish off our big week together, Riley got to attend his first ever soccer practice and game with Coach John (Taylor and Bryant's Daddy and my friend Pam's husband) and Assistant Coach Daddy! He did awesome with his dribbling practice and got a thrill out of pretending to be a shark and get the ball away from other players. He had a few moments where he got upset and sad about someone getting a goal or the kids being faster than him sometimes. We think he'll gradually snap out of it and build his confidence in the game and camaraderie with his peers. He sure was super excited to be wearing his new shin guards, cleats, and reversible jersey and I'm pretty sure getting to eat a sweet snack at the end of the hour was a perfect ending!

And now for the funny anecdotes section of the blog:

• Maggie loves to smell things now and she usually has two phrases to describe just about everything--"Mmm, smells like cinnamon" or "Mmmm, smells like coffee." However, the other day she surprised us and said, "Mmmm, smells like chicken in my nose!" 
• Riley is pretty good about eating our Asian dishes every so often and I can count on him to ask every single time for us to give him some "su-ey sauce" (soy sauce)! 
• When reading a book, Maggie thinks we are programmed little robots so when she's reading for us to start or go to the next page to read, she commands us, "TALK!" 
• Maggie has a few more phrases that aren't quite as endearing. Words like, "Huh?" that she says even when she knows EXACTLY what you just said about cleaning up her toys and "I not" when you ask her to stop doing something and she immediately denies doing it. Another one that isn't really my favorite right now but shows how much she picks up from me is the phrase "I told you...." and she often turns it around on us in a somewhat sassy little tone. 
• One way we encourage Riley to eat a variety of different foods is to tell him about all the good vitamins and minerals that are inside. The other night, he recited the lesson to us, "Mom, I better eat these vegetables because they have lots of vitamins and what's that word, 'rolls' in them?"
• Maggie loves to walk around and talk about "Five days to my 'dirt-day' party" which means Five days to her birthday party, even though it's really not. Her birthday was in June!
• At church last week, Maggie blew Chris and I away. I went to get her a puzzle to play with and it happened to be a number puzzle. She grabbed it and immediately said, "Hey, where's that 8?" It did happen to be the only piece missing from the puzzle. I figured it was a coincidence until I started quizzing her on the other numbers. She knew just about every single one (minus the 9 and 0). I couldn't believe it since we haven't spent any time learning them together. She does however have a little pink phone that she got as a gift and carries it around as her favorite toy and it has a screen that teaches her about numbers. What a little sponge to soak it all in! 
• Our little girl is growing more sophisticated in her speech as well. Alas, no more are the days when she calls her brother "Ra-Ra". For the last week or so, she has been calling him "Ry-glee" with a subtle "g" sound right in the middle. We think it could be because her name has a "g" sound, but we aren't 100% sure. It's cute for sure, but there are days I miss "Ra-Ra"! 
• Last night, driving home from John and Ashley's house that hosted a baby shower for some friends of ours, Riley related the story of how God sent a star to show the shepherds the way to find Jesus and if I didn't know the way home then God could send a star to show us the way too. I love his childlike faith! And I don't doubt for a second that God could do that if and when needed. He is after all, the author of the ultimate GPS (God-Positioned-Star) that hung over Bethlehem!