Big, Happy, Crazy Fall Lovin' Family

We have this tradition in our family.  Every year in the Fall, we find time to travel North to a famous pumpkin patch near us.  We take the scenic route to Burt's Farm (I'm talking a real, deal pumpkin patch) through the also famous North Georgia Apple Orchards, then go back through and stop for apples on the way home.  Pumpkins and apples in one day.  Two for one!  It's like Fall on crack.

Hey, I'm a working Mom, and we have baseball every Saturday, so we have to work all this in on a Sunday when we can.  The kids are 7 and 3 and enjoy the heck out of this trip...and so do we.  

I usually can hardly wait to get home and go through the pictures and relive the day.

Each year, I get a little relaxed with the picture taking process.  I keep reminding myself to let the kids enjoy the moment.  I'm not trying to get a perfect pose.

Cause all those other crazy parents are trying way too hard.  They dress their kids like little pumpkins, with pumpkin hats and pumpkin booties.

And they are walking around with their big cameras, desperately trying to get the perfect shot for their facebook page.  Oh, and getting their big rears all in my pictures.

We're not like that.  No way.

I only have 500 pictures of the kids sitting around, on top of and carrying pumpkins.  Ahhh shoot, I'm totally guilty.

Oh no.  I just realized something.  My rear is certainly in the back of some sweet pumpkin baby's picture.  Oh no.  My rear is on someone's facebook page!  I'm so terribly sorry.

It's just part of it.  Most everyone is friendly and happy in the crazy picture making process.  We understand each other's craziness and accept it.  Like one big, happy, crazy Fall lovin' family.

My angels are just busy watching the happenings around them and picking out their pumpkins.



Every year, we have to get one of these "wart" pumpkins.



Jesse likes the white ones.



We like all of them really.



Orange is classic.

We did have a little unfortunate situation this year.  Jesse girl decided to throw rocks at a sweet pumpkin baby holding family waiting in line for tickets for the hay ride.  The Dad turned around and said, "What's goin' on?!"  Of course, he was playing around with her, but she puffed those cheeks up like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.  Busted girlfriend.  Busted.

We quietly continued forward in the hay ride line after apologizing for the rock throwing incident.  Gosh, she's such an angel.  She never acts this way.

If you believe that, well, you are a sucker, but anyway...

Here we are waiting for the hay ride.  Jonah loves this part.

It was a special treat this year seeing pumpkins in the patch.  I was so excited, I wanted to jump out of the trailer and grab a blanket and spend the night and wait for the Great Pumpkin!

They had a front seat, just behind the tractor, with Aunt Kelly and the two of us just behind.



Ok, so I want a pumpkin patch of our own.  I really do.



Every year the ride pauses in front of a couple of talking pumpkins that welcome you to the patch and say things like "Glad y'all came."



I hear that these voices are the actual owners.  I wish I knew them.  I wish I could move in next to them and help out with the pumpkin harvest.



I wish I could make these cheeks stay forever.

I'm so glad that he doesn't mind this trip every year.  I know he wants to jump out and stay in the pumpkin patch over night.  I just know it.  He didn't say it, but I know he was thinking it.

I'll be.  A picture of the two of us.  Thanks Aunt Kelly.



I just sat and stared at them through the ride...anxiously watching every turn for what was in store.

And when the hay ride is over...that's when we get serious about our pumpkins.  We get the wheelbarrow and start picking out our favorites.  We don't get the $50 or $75 or $100 dollar prize winning pumpkins...just the simple ones.

Old Timey Great pie pumpkins.  I should have bought one and made a pie.  Has anyone ever made a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin?  I should add that to my to do list.

And here's Aunt Kelly.  Gosh, they really look like her, don't you think?  Beautiful.



Hey there Jesse girl.  How many pumpkins did you get?



This looks perfect!  I love them all.



All the signs of Fall are here.  It's perfect.



They have this covered bridge that you walk through to get to the patch.  I've always wanted to try to get this shot.



Now, they never really fully cooperate, but...



isn't this soooo much better than the perfect pose?



Time to load the pumpkins and go have a picnic.



What is it about eating outside at Burt's Farm that is so dang exciting?  I don't know, it's just fun.



My love made steak sandwiches the night before that were perfect for our picnic on this day.



Can't have a picnic without a football too.



What is this face?  He totally hit me on the head with the football a few minutes after I took this picture.



And that was it.  That was Burt's Farm 2011.  As we left, I snapped a shot of these beautiful flowers lining the entrance.  I need some of these.



And look at these beauties on the way to the Apple Orchards.  Look at me!  I'm Pioneer Woman!



This was the first year we actually picked apples.  Rome Beauty.  What a beauty.



The kids were all into it.



Shaking their booty and all.  What is it about the booty?  My kids really like to shake it.  I do not know.  I do not know.



Maybe I need a pumpkin patch and an apple orchard?  Aunt Kelly recommended a vineyard.  Bingo.



Rome Beauty trees.



Me...tired of taking pictures and handing it over to my love.  I'd rather pick apples.



Me, so freakin' excited about a fried Apple Pie!  Hello!  Come to Mama!



And on the way home, we made a mess eating those apple pies in the Tahoe.  And we stopped at  a scenic view point on the way home.  I wish you could have seen how fast my love drove through there.  It was pretty funny.  Something about a Falcons game?  Anyway...

Fall is great.  It might be defeating Spring as my favorite season.

Later that evening, we carved our pumpkin.  It would be crazy, insane to post those pictures here.  Next post.  Next post.

Happy Fall.  Big, Happy, Crazy Fall.  Enjoy it.

Thinking outloud - Part II

Sometimes when I sit down to blog, very random thoughts land on this page.  I start writing the post forgetting that someone else might actually read it.  And then...that very sweet and honest someone else that actually read it is like, "I just read your blog, and I just have to say....What you talking about Willis?"  I look back at the blog and say to her, "Oh my, pretty bad ha?"  I think to myself that it made perfect sense to me the night before.  Then I make the same excuse that we engineers like to make...Oh, I'm an engineer, not a writer.  I even think of adding a disclaimer somewhere on this site.

I should say, BEWARE: ENGINEER BLOGGING.  I think I'll even add this line: Please forgive me, I should obviously be solving simultaneous equations instead.

But tonight I realized exactly what I was thinking.  At first, I was dreading work the next day.  I was wondering if I made the correct career choice.  I often wonder if I should work at all.  I go back and forth on this one.  Is there something else I can be doing to really make a difference in this world?  Would my angels be better off if I stayed at home?  Am I cut out for that?  AKA, what's my purpose?

Then, I think to myself, I should be proud in this day and time to have a job to go to.  Maybe I will make some progress on my task this week.

Then, I think to myself, I'm so lucky to be alive.  (This thought is always random and usually comes after a negative thought.)

Then, I look down at the big pile of clothes on my bedroom floor.  Then, I remember there's another big pile on the bathroom floor.  Then, I remember there's another big pile on my closet floor.  Then, I remember that all these piles are not in the laundry room because there are several big piles in there.  I refer to this sort of thing as the "shit."

Then, I think to myself, I'm so lucky to be alive.

See what I mean!

Then I remember something great my Jonah did that melted my heart, and I wanted him to know about it.  I took a picture of his letter in case it got lost some day.

Then, I think about work again.  I think about the best part of my work day...running with my girlfriends...and I am proud.

All through the post, I am thinking about my love and how much he means to me and how I couldn't breathe without him.

And in the end, I remember that someone might read it the next day, and I think to say thanks.  Then, I remember it will only be a small group of people that I love, and I think to just tell them I love them.

Then, the next day I realize that it didn't really come out that way, and I'm so glad just a hand full of people might have read it.

And lastly, I'm thankful for my friend.

Everyone deserves a friend that sends you a line like, "What you talking about Willis?"

And that's it.  I'm scattered.  So much goes through my mind on a regular basis.  Am I being a good parent?  Did I choose the right career path?  How will I ever get all these clothes washed?  And most importantly, will my angels ever possibly comprehend just how much I love them?

I tackled the clothes tonight.  It's a small dent, but I'll get there.

I can't promise this won't happen again.  You have been warned.  Good night :-).  

Thinking outloud

Does anyone else wonder what their purpose is in life?  I often wonder.  I regularly wonder.  I look at my kids with the deepest compassion.  I want to give them the most that I can.

I am beginning to wonder if I am normal.  Is it because I have experienced death so young in life?  Does anyone else breathe in the air so deeply and actually look at the sunrise and sunset and make it a part of them because you just wonder if you will ever see another one?  I don't know.  I don't know if it is a blessing or a curse.  I don't know.

All I know is all the little shit just doesn't seem to matter to me tonight.  I am so happy to lie here next to her.  I'm so happy to wait for my love to walk in the door after having to work on a Sunday night and grab some chocolate cake (I totally know he can't wait) and play with Luke and jump in the middle of the bed tonight next to me.

I'm so proud of my best boy upstairs too.  I'm proud of him for writing a letter to his little sister this weekend that said, "I'm sorry this happened to you.  You will fell better tomorrow.  And, I know it hurts.  Love, Jonah"  She is starting to have really chapped lips just like he had last year and the year before.  He truly understood.

Jonah, I can't tell you how I felt when you brought this in to her.  Tears, joy, disbelief.  You are so caring, my sweet boy.  Never, ever change.

I'm so proud of you.  You are rocking this baseball season too.  Totally rocking.

I don't know what I'm supposed to do except to tell these two children that I love them every single day, and that I am proud of them.  I know that I should teach them to be proud of who they are and to never compromise.  That's about it.

And I know I need to run with my girlfriends to make my head really clear for this sort of thing.

And I know that I could never do any of it without the love and support of my husband.

And I know...I need some rest to be able to do it all tomorrow.  Good night and have a blessed week.

And, thanks...really, thanks for stopping by.  It means a lot.  I love you.

Clearing the Rough

Jonah, your Dad took you to a football game on Friday night.  He says you loved it.  He says you got to play around with a bunch of kids on the field after the game.  He says he enjoyed every minute of it with you.  He was so proud that you got to experience that.  He was so proud of you.

I'm eventually going to install a hidden camera on your head to catch photos from such events that I am unable to attend.  Your Dad is lacking in that department.

He makes up for it in other ways though.

Which leads me to all the excitement from the rest of the weekend.  You know...Luke is gonna get really, really big.  He needs a place to roam and play. This weekend, you and your sister began to help us clear the rough and prepare for a fence.  At first, I felt really bad about this.  So much work on Fall Break?

But you didn't seem to mind.  In fact, you didn't want to stop.  It was a huge adventure.



You guys got along so well.



Gosh, who knew?  All this time, all I had to do was give you two a task...a mission...a common goal.  I'll be dang.  Who knew?

My love told you that you were in charge of Jesse.  When I joined you, you were quick to relay the news to me.  I believe you liked the responsibility.  Jesse just liked that you were paying her some attention.  Amazing.

"You guys are doing so great!  Dance for me!"



Ok, but no singing he says.



"I like to move it move it."



"Move it!"



I forgot kids.  This is hard work.  We got all these fallen trees from previous tornados and such to clean up.



Ok, so that's ok.  Have fun too.



"How many licks does it take to get to the center of this log?"  Fun predictions here.

Jonah, I had lots of ideas of what I wanted to do with you this week.  You have no idea.  I am coming to realize that just staying home and hanging out and helping us out wasn't a bad fall break for you.  Thank you for getting excited about that.  Thank you for treating your sister so well today.  Thank you for bringing so much joy to your Daddy's Friday night.  Thank you for reading to me tonight.  Thank you for using toothpaste tonight too.  Thank you in advance for not peeing on my toilet tomorrow.  (I know you can ring it buddy.)

Now, back to school tomorrow.  Sorry kiddo.  I love you.  You're still my best boy.

Fall Break

This is my boy since school started.

He's only in second grade.  When and why did it get so hard?  I'm pretty sure when I was in second grade that I just came home and ate a moon pie and played in the yard.

We will have moon pies, but we will have more work to do.  Daggumit.  But, we will not focus on a grade and we will not let the system tell us we are "gifted" or "slow" or "not this" or "a lot of that."  We are individuals, and we are all special and have strengths in certain areas.  It boils down to what gives us passion.  Anyway...

It's Fall Break and we haven't done any of this all week, and it's been so good.  I don't miss it.  I plan on completing the weekend with as much fun as possible.  It's my passion.

I'll share this with you soon.

Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger and Sorry Rocket Man

I feel really guilty.  My love really wanted a cheeseburger from our local Cheeseburger Bobby's this weekend, and we never made it there.  Then, he had to go out of town.  After he left, I was running errands with the kids all day today.  They were hungry.  They really wanted McDonald's.  I just couldn't force myself to go trough that drive thru line.  There will always be a time when I just have to have McDonald's fries, but today was not one of those times.

I'm sorry my love, but hello Cheeseburger Bobby's.  Oh, it's so good.  We also got that custard you have been wanting to try.  Oh, it's so good too.  I'm so, terribly sorry.

The kids were thinking of you and wanted to send you a funny picture.  So, here they are.

They miss you.  I do too.

Jesse sat at the tall bar table and didn't fall down!  I'm so proud of her.

And here's your boy. The kids are driving him crazy.  I think you were right when you said he hides under the ottoman to get some peace and quiet.  Poor buddy.  Just look at him.  That's pretty bad.

It also didn't help that he didn't get to go to Cheeseburger Bobby's.  He really needs you to come home.  He thinks you are the only person that gets him.

I'm totally going to find you and Luke sneaking off to Cheeseburger Bobby's next week!

That's OK.  I guess we deserve it.

Come home Rocket Man.  We love you.