It's FALL Ya'll! Let's paint some Punkins'! :)

Trey was so disappointed that there were no pumpkins at Rural Hill yet, so when Home Depot finally got some in this past week, I couldn't resist grabbing a few for the kids to decorate. On Wednesday afternoon, Doug came home early, and we took the kids outside to let them paint their little pumpkins. They did an awesome job! Carrington had a few moments of painting her hand, or her face, or putting the paint brush in her mouth (you know, the usual), but all in all they had a blast and did a really great job as painters!

Some new moments in Trey and Carrington's life include Carrington officially being in a BIG GIRL car seat! Her infant car seat has now been passed on to Doug's boss to use for his new little baby boy. I would definitely say that Carrington had a GOOD RUN of almost a full 2 years (23 months to be exact) in that infant car seat. :) I also paid my super fantastic hair stylist, Tiffany, to give Carrington her first hair cut. Note that I only said "PAID", so Carrington has not actually had the haircut yet, but it will be soon. Tiffany assures me this will help Carrington grow her hair faster, but I'm still a little nervous! There isn't that much hair there to begin with!!!! I also scheduled Carrington's 2 year well check- I still can't belive that in a month Carrington will be 2 years old! Where did the time go???? Trey is still doing amazing in his class, and Ms. Primm (his teacher) told me today that Trey is the most advanced in his class for coloring and writing his name! Where did he learn all these amazing skills? It has definitely been a reminder to me that I need to be a better Mommy and work with him at home! In his art class this past week, they did "cities" with houses and buildings, and Trey's imagination was one of the few that actually drew trees around his house and windows on his city buildings. The other fun part of school this week was when I dropped Trey off at his class on Wed. (he goes to school on Monday, Wed, and Fridays), and when we walked into the classroom, 2 of the kids started jumping around saying "Yay, it's a Trey Day!". I was a little confused, and Miss Katie told me that the day before, they were asking if it was a "Trey Day" and she didn't know what they meant until she realized that it was Tuesday and Trey wasn't going to be there, so she had to tell them it wasn't a "Trey Day". I love that the other kids love him! :)I have to admit that this year has been really awesome so far- Trey, Carrington, and Allie are all doing so wonderful in their classes and I am blessed to get to spend the mornings with them taking them into school. The things they chatter about just crack me up! It's definitely one of my favorite times of the day! Trey also had bubble gum for the first time last weekend (thanks to Uncle Brian for giving him a quarter to put in the candy machine). I'm not sure if he loved it, but he didn't swallow it, and now he's been asking for Uncle Brian to come back and give him more Bubble Gum! Ok, I'm sure there are a thousand other trivial facts I could share with you, but I'll wrap it up for now! Enjoy!

Rural Hill and a FUN weekend with Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn!

Last weekend, we were all so excited for Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn to come visit! Can you believe they hadn't been down here since June?!?! We spent Saturday morning at the kid's preschool helping paint and clean, and then we headed out to Rural Hill for some corn maize fun in the sun!!! Well... we definitely attempted the corn maize, and if it had been about 20 degrees cooler, it would have been awesome, but after about 30 minutes in the heat, in the middle of corn, we were D-O-N-E! The kids were thrilled to finally be out of the maze and ran right for the big huge bouncy castles and slides! So, we spent time flying down the huge slides and watching the kids have fun. Trey couldn't wait to ride the "little tractors", but he wasn't quite strong enough to peddle through the grass and hay, so some really sweet bigger kids helped push him. He loved it! We already miss Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristyn and we can't wait for them to come back to visit real soon!!!!

Know Your Farms Tour- 2012

Yesterday we went on the Know Your Farms Tour around the area. This is a self-guided tour of local farms, where you can go and visit each farm, see how they run, and how they benefit our local economy. It also teaches children and adults how to make healthy choices in what we eat and how we cook. It was so much fun, and definitely something we will do again next year! We went to 5 farms, which was a little ambitious, and it took us the full 5 hours- from 1pm to 6pm. We visited Perry Farms (they had 100% grass fed beef and lamb) and the kids got to see goats, sheep, horses, and cows. We then went to Coldwater Creek Farms, a farm that practices organic sustainable methods, and they are the largest producer of garlic in Cabarrus County. This was fun for Doug and I since they had chefs there preparing foods, and the kids got to climb on the farm equipment and see how they work. Next we went to Creekside Farms that specializes in beef, pork, chicken, turkeys, and brown eggs. This was probably the most fun for the kids, since the pigs were HUGE and came really close to us, we could hold the baby chickens (they were only 3 days old!), and the roosters just ran around and Trey could chase them (which was hilarious to him). Here Doug and I also got some information on co-ops in the area that provide all-natural, hormone free meat and produce, something we are definitely considering! Next we went to Dover Vineyards where we got to tour the vineyards and gardens and learn about the wine making process. The vines were beautiful, and this was fascinating to me, especially since the owner is a young girl who is doing this on her own. It is amazing how much time and effort she puts into her business, and you can see her passion in her work. The wine was free, since she is manufacturing in a profit and tax free facility. She is also employed by another wine label, where she does manufacture wine for their line, at a price. The last farm we visited was Cackleberry farm, right around the corner from our house! They specialize in hard and soft cheeses, butter and eggs. This was really cool, since they focus almost entirely on cheese and they don't sell to the public, so we got to glimpse the inner workings of a dairy farmer on a wholesale scale. Plus, the cows were HUGE at this farm!!! I know this seems a little "country" and may not be enjoyable for everyone, but it was a lot of fun for us- the kids loved to see all the farm animals and equipment, and I really like the practice of supporting our local economy and learning how to make healthy decisions for our family!

A Day in the Life of- CARRINGTON

Carrington is 23 months old, and here is a quick snapshot of her world :). She is a sassy little girl with strong opinions and few words. Although she has few words, that does not stop her from clearly getting her point across- TRUST ME! She has added a few words to her vocabulary lately: "That?" (she points and is trying to say, 'what's that?'), "Huh?" (when you call her name, she immediately says 'Huh?'), "Bow"- I think she has finally come to accept the fact that I will put a bow in her hair every day for as long as I can, "Woof-Woof" for the sound a doggy makes, and "Night-Night". So, we may have have crossed into the double digits in her word database (if you want to count "woof-woof" and "huh" as words, which I do). :) Carrington is a thousand times better about food than Trey- she will try and most of the time eat anything. We went to Bonefish for dinner the other night and she chowed down on shrimp, scallops, and tomatoes, while Trey happily ate bread. She is an excellent sleeper- still that 8pm to 8am at night, and a solid 2-3 hour nap almost every day. She is social and happy, and as long as you don't try to hold her, she is doing awesome (she is NOT a big cuddler, so it's always best to just let her do her own thing). She loves her baby dolls, and pretends to feed and rock them. Carrington has just realized/discovered that others can be sad, so when Trey is crying, or she thinks that Mommy or Daddy are hurt, she will come over and start rubbing our back or arm- it is SO SWEET, and now we want to pretend to be sad all the time, just to get her to come over and comfort us! :)She also really likes to walk like a big girl (as opposed to riding in the cart or stroller), and if both Doug and I are around, she wants to hold BOTH of our hands- so we end up walking in a line, as a family, all holding hands, fairly often. We look REALLY COOL while we are doing this too! She is hilarious, and she enjoys life and everything it has to offer!

A Day in the Life of- TREY

I wanted to write down a few things that describe Trey, at this point in his life. So, it is September 2012, and Trey is 3 1/2 years old, and this is "Trey's Life". For his 3 year birthday, I started a small book with 20 questions in it. Since Trey's tastes and opinions change constantly, I like to ask him these same questions ever couple of months. His most recent answers were: Favorite Color- BLUE, Favorite Toy- TRUCKS (Rolly is his favorite), Favorite Fruit- APPLES, Favorite TV Show- FIREMAN SAM, Favorite thing to eat for lunch- HOTDOGS, Favorite Clothes- SOCCER TEAM SHIRT AND SHORTS, Favorite Game- CARS ON MY COMPUTER, Favorite Snack- CHIPS, Favorite animal- DINOSAURS, Favorite Song- THE MOMMY SONG (this was especially funny since I've never heard this song before, and he busted out into his own made up song consisting of the word 'Mommy' over and over again), Favorite Book- TOOLBOX BOOK (big thanks to the Douglas family for giving us that for his birthday!), Best Friend- ALLIE, Favorite Cereal- I DON'T LIKE CEREAL (Ok, we'll try that again later), Favorite thing to do outside- RIDE MY JEEP, Favorite Drink- JUICE, Favorite Holiday- MY BIRTHDAY (I had to give him some choices on this one, I'm not sure he actually knows what a holiday is), What do you take to bed with you at night- MY MEASURE (his measuring tape), Favorite thing to eat for breakfast- WAFFLES, Favorite thing to eat for dinner- HOTDOGS (same as lunch, he likes very few foods), and What do you want to be when you grow up- A BUILDER, JUST LIKE BOB THE BUILDER (he also mentioned that he's gonna build me a really big house!). Trey cracks me up all the time- he has started asking me several times a day "Mom, What time is it?". Keep in mind he has no idea how to tell time! I always answer truthfully, "8:34am" or "5:05pm", and his response is always very matter of fact, "Oh, that's great, thanks, Mom!". ??? I don't understand this new routine, but it's funny, and maybe Trey is learning time? Who knows? He is also learning how to write his name, and I love it! He wants to practic constantly, and he's doing a REALLY great job! The other thing that Trey asks me ALL THE TIME is "Mom, YES or NO?". This question applies to everything!!! Can I play outside, YES or NO? Can I have a drink, YES or NO? Can I wear my jacket, YES or NO? If I didn't hear the question, or if I truthfully don't know, and I answer him with an "I don't know", he gets really frustrated with me and says, "MOM, just say YES or NO!!!!". Ha!!!! I feel so pressured to come up with an answer all the time! I could continue to write a book about Trey, and maybe one day I will, but for today, this is a quick summary of Trey's world.

Apple Picking at Carrigan Farms

Apple picking is one of Trey's favorite things to do. We took the kids for the first time last year, and for whatever reason, that event really stuck in Trey's head and he has talked about it ever since! So, of course, this year we couldn't skip going, and Trey and Carrington both had such a great time picking and eating all the apples. We were lucky that the weather cooled off this past weekend, so it wasn't a hundred degrees in the sunlight out in the middle of the apple orchard. When we got home, Doug made his "to-die-for" apple pie, and I made Apple Cake- recipe courtesy of Judi Broome, and I've spent the last week eating both like they don't actually have a thousand calories in every bite!