Pumpkin Patch

Before we left for vacation we took a little trip to a pumpkin patch. I found a deal on groupon for 2 admissions for $10. After my Mom bought her tickets I got a $10 credit and got ours with that. So we all go into the pumpkin patch for $10 total! Last year we went to a pumpkin patch ran by the same people just in a different city. We wanted to try the other one this year. My Mom and Brandy and Brilyn came along with us. Afterwards we went and ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant that we have been wanting to try for quite a while.

Here are some pictures that I stole from my Mom's blog:

Vacation

We are back from a short vacation that included LOTS of time on the road.
We started off last Thursday at naptime. Both girls were asleep before we got on the interstate (only about 5 min from our house!). We made it a good 2.5-3 hours before we had to stop. We stopped by Dustin's parents' house for dinner since we were passing by that area of the country. Then at bedtime we drove until all the way to Fort Campell, KY. It was about an 11 hour drive that day. We got a few hours sleep at a friends house before checking out the area, having lunch, and then driving on to Nashville. We were looking for something fun for the girls to do and found a cute little place called Monkeys Treehouse. It was PERFECT! The girls had a great time playing and it was a good break from the amount of time we had spent in the car. While we were there a lady told us about the Loveless Cafe & Hotel which we ended up eating dinner at. It was delicious southern food! Elvis filmed there too and the walls were covered with pictures of famous people who had been there.

On Saturday we explored Nashville a little before heading to the Army football game. They ended up losing to Vanderbilt but it was a fun game. We also went to the official tailgate beforehand and got a little free food which was much better than the expensive food inside the stadium. I put pictures on facebook of the girls in their Army gear!

Sunday morning we got up and hit the road again. This time we only had a 3 hour drive down close to Atlanta. We finally Dustin's brothers family. While we were in Japan his brother got married and now they have a little girl who is already 19 months old (who is SO cute!). It was so great finally getting to spend some time with them. Hopefully it won't be this long before we see them (and their new little boy!!) again.

On Monday we visited the Tellus Science museum and Grace got to dig for fossils and pan for gold. Anything that involves digging or water she LOVES so this was the highlight of the museum for her. Then we drove about an hour to Atlanta and visited the World of Coke. Grace loved the sampling room. She would tell us which one she wanted to try and we would put a little in her cup. After she took a little sip she poured the rest out and then picked another one. She tasted one that she really liked and went to pour the rest out and I told her she could drink it all and didn't have to pour it out. She was excited about that and then wanted more! We enjoyed seeing some of the products that we saw on an almost daily basis while in Japan. Things like Georgia coffee, Aquarius, and Qoo. We even saw a Japanese vending machine!

After we left the World of Coke we headed for home. We made it to Memphis on Monday and then finished the drive on Tuesday. We had thought we would break it up a little more and find things to do along the way back but we were all ready to get home. Olivia spent about 15 minutes laughing once we got home she was so excited!

The total driving time (not including driving around Nashville and Campbell) was about 30 hours. Next road trip is to Houston at the end of the year for a friends wedding!v

Dirt!

Grace loves dirt. Just this afternoon she even told us that she loves dirt. She loves to play in dirt piles. She loves to dig in the sand. We finally got her a sandbox last weekend at the post wide yard sales. We had planned on waiting until Christmas but we were driving by a house that a big green turtle in the front yard and couldn't pass it up.

And it didn't take long to figure out that she is not the only child who loves sand and dirt. I think Olivia is learning from her big sister quickly!

(and, yes, that is a sprinkler and we have been watering our dirt. We are slowly growing grass in the area that wasn't sodded. We even watered the weeds and then pulled them!)

Seven!

I am late posting this but Olivia is 7 months old now! She turned seven months about a week and a half ago. I took these pictures that day but just got around to putting them on the computer and then getting them on here.

We didn't get as many smiles from her this time because all she wanted to do was play with EVERYTHING. She is starting to not stay still long enough to get a good picture. Or at least when there are things (such as her blocks or teddy bear) around to play with.

She is my little grabber. And everything goes to her mouth. She loves my hair and necklaces the best I think. If Grace wants to get her to laugh she will scream "boogers." It works every time! And Grace loves to tell Olivia not to smile or laugh, or that "it's not funny" The more Grace says it the harder Olivia laughs!

She is growing up too fast! I am already putting her in a lot of 9 months and even some 12 month clothes. But she is still my cuddly little baby!

Picking Pears

During our first week of school we were looking for an apple tree. We never found one. The Saturday of that week we were coming home and saw a tree with fruit! Dustin went and asked the people who owned the land if we could pick some of the apples off their tree. The guy told him they were actually pears but to take as many as we wanted. The next evening we took a walk to the pear tree. Dustin went to let the people know we were there to pick the pears. He talked to a lady this time who told him that is was an apple tree!

After finding some we decided they were really pears.

On the way back home the girls enjoyed their pears!

Pictures of Olivia

I thought I would post a few pictures of Olivia.

Olivia loves to play on the floor. And Grace loves to cover her in toys, blankets, and loveys.

This was a dress I wore when I was a baby (well, I think 1 year old). Grace wore it when she was 5 months, and here is Olivia at 6 months in it.

Olivia is a grabber! If she sees something she wants she reaches for it. She loves reaching for our food so one morning we shared our muffins with her.

She loved it!!

Here she is sitting in Grace's squeaky chair with a baby doll Grace gave her. Grace loves to share her things with her sister. She even shares her little lamb which has been her favorite lovey since we bought it while in New Zealand!

Over Labor day weekend we went to OKC to check out the new outlets and go to Babies R Us. Olivia rode in the cart for the first time!

Week 1 of Homeschool

We decided to start a little preschool program for Grace this year. She is almost 3 and knows her letters, numbers, colors, shapes, etc. so we thought a little structured learning would be good for her. And we were completely right. She loves doing her schoolwork! We started right after Labor day and plan to go until Memorial day.

We started by learning about the letter "A." She practiced writing, cutting, gluing, matching, counting, read about Johnny Appleseed, and learned how apples grow. We wanted to pick apples at the end of the week but couldn't find a tree that produced fruit this year (the buds got hit with a freeze) so we improvised. My Mom hot glued apples to her tree in the front yard!

As soon as Grace could see the tree she was excited! She immediately started picking the apples when we got out of the car. Later we found a pear tree so last night we took a walk and picked a bunch of pears. Grace and Olivia both enjoyed eating pears on our walk home (I will try to get those pictures up later this week... or probably more like next!)

This first week of school was pretty busy for us. We try to take a walk around the neighborhood at 8. When we make it home it is almost time for Olivia's morning nap and that is when Grace starts school. On the first day she told me she wanted to go to school in her pajamas. I didn't let her that day (I wanted some cute pictures but she ran from the camera) but later during the week she got to wear pajamas to school. We are also going to the library on Wednesday mornings (after naptime) for their story time. We listen to a story and then do a craft. Afterwards I pick out books for the following week of school.

And probably the biggest accomplishment of the week was Grace learning her memory verse. She had it memorized word for word by day 3!

"All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Romans 3:23"