I love fall!

It's official! My favorite time of the year is fall.

We went to the "Apple Pickin' Jubilee" in Ellijay this past weekend with some friends from church and had a blast! The kids had such a good time with all the activities. There were pig races, pedal cars, tractor trikes, hay ride (okay, there's no hay, but that's what they call it!), zip line, playground with massive in-hill slide, petting farm (with the cutest puppies, kittens, chicks, lambs, goats, and even a calf you've ever seen!), you can milk a real cow, a bee demonstration, cloggers, singers, and of course apple picking.

And really, is there anything more delicious than hot apple cider donuts with cold apple cider to wash them down? YUMMY!!

We picked a huge amount of apples. So far we've had apple slices (obviously the easiest to manage!), made homemade apple sauce (which John declared was the best part of Monday's dinner), and apple bread (which all the kids except Halle declared they did not like. Oh well, more for me and Halle!). I'm going to attempt to make apple butter and apple jam. I just have to get the neccessary tools for such an undertaking.

It has been wonderful smelling the cinnamon in our house for the past few days. That plus having the windows open has sealed in my mind that the best season is, and forever will be, fall.

Nasty Camel Crickets...

...or any bugs for that matter.

Madison has this intense love for anything creepy and crawly, or cute and cuddly. It doesn't matter. She just loves animals and bugs. Go figure that I would have a daughter that loves nasty little creepy crawly things. (Well, I do love animals too, just not the bug thing!)

So as I'm sitting here checking my email, they find a camel cricket which is quickly named "Hoppy". They run upstairs to get a container and before you can say jump, "Hoppy" is living inside. I did make them release him outside. Madison actually cried as she said, "Farewell Hoppy. I will miss you and your jumps. Don't ever forget me. I love you."

She's so weird!! Gotta love her!

Wow!!! I actually remember how to do this!

Okay, it's been WAY too long since I've blogged. I guess I just got lazy. So, I'm back and now let's see what I can blog about. Um, oh, I know, my mattress story...

So, the other day Cooper is sleeping (yeah) and the others are playing nice and quiet in Madison's room (yeah again!!). I was so in need of some quiet "mommy time". I'm relaxing, reading, enjoying my time. After about 45 minutes I think I should just check on the kids. They're not being "uh oh, it's too quiet" quiet, it's just time to check.

I open Madison's door and am staring at 4 naked children with Madison's mattress hanging off her bed. It takes me a minute to focus. Then I notice they are wet. Hum, wierd.

Me: "Where's the water?"
Them: Silence
Me: "Where's the water guys?"
Them: Silence
Me: "Last time, where's the water guys?"
Them: (all at once) "It was Madison, it was Marshall, it was Halle, it was Emma."

'Whatever', I think as I reach over to pull her mattress back on her bed. When I do this I realize it's SOPPING WET!!!!!

They were sliding down Madison's mattress when Marshall got the idea that it would be "FASTER" and "FUNNER" if it had water on it, like a water slide. They were naked because they knew they'd get in trouble if their clothes got wet...true, but I don't understand how that concept couldn't be transfered to the mattress...kids.

Oh, and then Madison decides that's the perfect time to hand me a bucket full of pee. They were having such fun they didn't want to leave the room to go to the bathroom. Great. Nice. Thanks. I was assured that none of it was on the floor or mattress. Again, great. Nice. Thanks.

Such is my life. Oh, and did I mention we've started homeschooling these little loves?!