An Apple a Day...breaks our budget

Apple Picking at Eckerts...($27 in apples later)

Ryan and my sister, Tara. The funny thing is there was almost the same photo taken about 10 years ago when Tara was three or four, with Ryan holding her up to get an apple. Give it another ten years, and it could get a little awkward.)

Tara

Our friends Andrew and Laura accompanied us also!

Our trip to the Apple Orchard ended up with a total of 8 people, in 2 hours, 4 bags of apples, for about $70. It was the girls' first long awaited trip apple picking. For months Anna has been asking when it was going to be Fall so we could go pick apples. Glad the moment could finally arrive for her! Everyone left happy. Warning: homemade applesauce is going to be attempted soon.

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First Day of Preschool

This week was our First Day of Preschool! We are doing a Preschool Co-Op once a week with a friend of ours and her son. We use the curriculum Before Five in a Row, a literature based study. We pick a book to read every week and do various activities associated with that story.

Here are some of the things we learned, along with some pics:

ABCs & London Bridges

Read Yellow Ball by Molly Bang

Played games with a yellow ball

Used watercolors for the first time to re-create the cover of Yellow Ball

Cheese and Crackers Snack in the shape of a (what else) yellow ball

Free Play

The Letter "O" and various learning games with "O"

Learning manners on how to open gifts politely, complete with a gift for everyone to practice with (what was inside? a yellow ball!)

Science lesson on Floating and Sinking. Their own yellow balls floated just like the ball in their book

watching a video about the letter "O" on our FAVORITE letters website- Starfall.com

We can't wait until next week when we study Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?!!! This time Ms. Sara is the teacher and Preschool is at her house. What fun we are having!

Blackberry Heaven

Lots of memories are made at Grandma and Grandpa's House. Picking blackberries is one of them...

(By the way, these lovely photos were taken by a family friend named August Jennewein. Check him out at http://www.augustjennewein.com/)

Party Princesses

Party Animals threw a fabulous joint birthday party for Anna, Naomi, and Abigail. If you are looking for a stress free party, check them out. They are great! Here are some of the pics. Having three girls, of course, we picked the Princess theme!

2 boys in the Barbie jeep- I love it!

A BLUE Birthday

Naomi's favorite color is blue. All day, everyday, I have to hear about BLUE. 

So for her birthday, she wanted blue cupcakes with blue icing and blue candles. Well, she got it!

and here is a fun snapshot of these three goofy, giggly girls:

Chocolate Anyone?

Getting ready for Bible Study. It's a little too quiet. Smart moms would wonder. I did- for a second and then went back to what I was doing. Anna came out of her room. Licking her fingers. Brown goo all over her face and clothes. Look of horror. Anna is confused. How did she know? Mom's know everything. Smart moms and not so smart moms both know everything. And the messy face helps a little. I enter their room. Naomi and Abby look like Anna, or maybe a little worse. In the center of the room is a tub of dipping chocolate. Smarts mom put up chocolate. Not so smart mom left a closed container of old dipping chocolate next to the trashcan to go outside.  To make myself feel better I say to myself, 'well, it was in a closed (very jumbo sized by the way) ricotta cheese container. No remnants of chocolate. What kid would want Ricotta cheese?' Abby would. Abby did. I'm sure she was delighted to find that the ricotta cheese had turned rather brown and very sweet. Her sisters were happy too.  So happy that they ate the whole thing. This was a LOT of chocolate. The floor is brown. Their clothes and faces are brown. There rocking horse now has brown hair. Late for Bible Study. Smart moms and not so smart moms both love chocolate. And apparently so do their kids. 

These are the Days We Don't Want to Forget...