One day, Jeremiah woke up early and begged to go to the office with Daddy.  By the time Joshua woke up, it was just the two of us and we had so much fun!  Usually, he plays with his brother a lot throughout the day but this day we had ourselves a little one-on-one time! :)

We spent a lot of time playing jacks but we also played a lot of tag and hide and seek. lol













xoxo

Snagging a little moment with my little guy...




Aww... this was taken before his little toofers went missing!

The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?



His shot...


Chimping...


He's the apple of my eye. {love}

For years I've wanted an image of myself with the boys like this but have been too busy or exhausted to accomplish it!  I finally attempted this summer...



It was a surprise for John as part of his Father's Day gift.  When he came home that afternoon, we took advantage of the set up to snap this one as well...



I love my family!

I was told Jeremiah was caught hugging a little girl at church. He also kissed her on the cheek and told her he loved her. Later, daddy asked him if he had a girlfriend. He said he had three. (!!!) We told him that you're only allowed to have one at a time and his expression changed to say "Hmmm, I have a problem!" It was cute but I'm not sure how I feel about girlfriends at this age! Especially kissing!

He's definitely a lover. If you like cuddly, he's your man. If you like to play Mario Kart, he might marry you...



Meanwhile, Joshua is my kid who gets excited about running around with his friends and feels the urge to smack me on the bottom.

Conclusion: I have a lover and a fighter. :)

"Final Days" sounds so sad, doesn't it? I know I'll miss the warm sunshine and my favorite part of the day, the evening sunsets. {love}

We are enjoying the cooler weather (90's!) and especially the nice breeze through the tree house. The view is just our little neighborhood but it's nice from up here!



Cozy little sitting/playing area complete with one of the boys' summer crafts: wind catchers.


Great place for mom to rest while spying on her little crazies...


Great place for the Mario Bros. Gang to hang out...


Great place to prop up your flip-flopped feet...


It looks rough and busy in our little corner of the world but it's a magical place for the boys and a great getaway for me!


My fave view: with late afternoon sun!

First thing in the morning, I crave some quiet coffee time to read, pray and get my mind ready for the day...

I have a lot of favorite people in my life - I am so blessed!

Here is a snapshot of some of my most favorite people in the world taken last summer...


We are so thankful to live close to John's parents. What a blessing it has been to have them so close! We learn from them every day and appreciate them so much. They have taught us so much through their godly living - how to love unconditionally and accept everyone with love, kindness and generosity... to give mercy and forgiveness... to always be there for each other... they are perfect examples of serving the Lord and we are thankful!

Here are a couple shots of my boys with Grandma that are old but I love love love them...

Jeremiah getting spoiled at the pool...


Joshua getting spoiled at Christmas...


And me getting spoiled just to be in her presence...


We love you, Grandma, and are praying for you.

The last chances are sneaking up on me. These moments I thought wouldn't be a big deal are turning into milestones, digging into my heart and pushing hard in an attempt to make a lifelong indention, an impression into the deepest parts of my quickly aging heart...

Today at lunch, Jeremiah suddenly looked up at me quite surprised and confused. "My tooth is broken!" My first thought was "Finally! The boy is going to lose a tooth!" I smiled at my big seven year old and asked to see his tooth. He unwillingly parted his lips a crack and I quickly gave it a little wiggle and sure enough, it was wiggly! He was very distraught at the thought of a part of him coming out to be lost forever, even after the years of my preparing him (because I just *knew* he'd be distraught about it!). Thankfully, there were several older kids eating lunch with us and they all chimed in with the excitement and fun of losing a tooth. This seemed to help a little.

Once we were home, I asked again if I could see his tooth. He opened wide this time and I saw something I missed at lunch - another tooth already poking through right behind his wiggly tooth! He said he didn't notice until today that his tooth felt "broken". He was immediately upset again at the thought of losing his tooth. This time he said he could not let it come out because it was his "lucky tooth". Since when? haha

When Daddy came home, I left him with Joshua so Jeremiah and I could take a special trip to Hobby Lobby to look for a special jar just for his "lucky tooth". I opened up the van door and he hopped out, immediately grabbing for my hand. We walked towards the doors talking about what he did in school that morning. As he chattered on, I couldn't help but notice the tiny fingers I held in my hand. The smooth, young skin, the way my hand seemed to overwhelm their tiny-ness. I suddenly wanted to soak up everything about this moment. I wanted to swallow up every detail, using every one of my senses to gather up all the goodness I could of this moment. A vision of us walking together a few years into the future flashed before me and it caught my breath for a fleeting moment when I saw that we were not holding hands and I knew that the time was near when we would not longer walk hand-in-hand together. My heart wanted to break at the thought. And so I squeezed his hand a little tighter, hoping it would make an indention into my hand to remember this time in our lives, an impression on my heart to remember the love I feel for this little guy in these moments, these last chances of enjoying my little boy as a boy. My last chances to love this little 7 year old boy and feel his love through the simple act of tiny fingers curled up into my own. Maybe if I spent more time looking at life as 'every opportunity', I would not feel the pressures of viewing them as 'last chances'. Maybe I should start now, before these fingers get too big to be held in my own. Maybe I need a little jar for my own lucky tooth so full of boyhood memories to be cherished forever...

{Yes, you can tease me for the word play in the title.}

I started with some warm red fleece from Hobby Lobby (LOVE that store!) and cut it into 2 and a 1/2 inch wide strips, I believe I used 4 strips for this. Obviously, cut it on the longest side of your fabric. I just got 1/3 of a yard and have plenty left to make some other stuff I'm Pinterested in! :) I first sewed the strips together making one insanely long strip.

I tried pinning it but then decided that was too much work when I could just jbunch it as I go. But pinning it gives you an idea of how I bunched it up to make it ruffly...


Random sidenote.... My sewing workstation makes me so happy! My Mother-In-Law's sewing machine and my grandmother's sewing table full of her old sewing notions and odds and ends. Makes me feel like I'm sewing right there with them. :)


Sewed up my ruffles...


Then I twisted up the scarf so it kind of resembled a DNA model. Yeah, I'm nerdy enough to think of that when I first started twisting...


Voilà! Now you have a cute little scarf to keep you warm...


And random thought for the day... Did you know that if you sent Micky & Minnie Mouse and invitation to your wedding, they'll send you an autographed pic of them?

I really wish I could have titled this post "We love apples!" But I think I'm the only that does. Joshua will eat them but I wouldn't say he loved them. Jey? Well, we don't expect much added to his edible "like" list anytime soon.

Regardless... I joined some other homeschoolers for a field trip to Reid's Apple Orchard this week. It was a perfect day! We picked apples then watched how they cleaned/stored the apples and learned how they made apple cider. Then we took a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch where they each picked out a little pumpkin. The best we saved for last - some free time in the play area! They have some cool things set up there including humongous slides, a corn maze and some other cool things that I have no idea what they are called. You'll just have to go check it out for yourself!

I did remember to bring my camera this year and tried to get at least a couple shots from our trip...



Shorty needed some help picking apples...

(Photo courtesy of Cherokee Parker - thanks!)

Jeremiah missed out on the fun by whining about how it smelled like apples everywhere. He also reminded us often of how he did not like apples. I finally got him to stop whining so he just walked around with this face instead...



Then he found a rock he thought was cool and that seemed to cheer him up for a bit...


I found this tiny flower and it cheered me up...


We all walked down to the Wishing Well and took a peek. I'm not posting those pics because there were a lot of kids in those images. But I did manage to capture this sweet moment before we left the area...


I asked them to sit together on a big rock and they snuggled up on their own. *swoon* Then they stayed snugly for a little bit as we headed back to the barn...



Even though we were last in the pack already, I could not resist stopping to capture the boys between the rows of trees. It was a perfect location and I'm so glad I did...



I think I need to bring them back here for more pics soon!

Cleaning and sorting the apples...




Mmm... fresh apple cider!


Picking out pumpkins...



I'm a terrible mom for doing so, but I laugh when I see these pics! Jeremiah picked up the one he wanted and then he complained about how he couldn't hold it. I thought he was just whining again so I didn't really respond. Then Joshua almost dropped his and he started to complain so I took his from him and OUCH! The stems were still very prickly! Poor kids were enduring pretty well and here I was ignoring their complaints when it actually mattered! This makes a good teachable moment... like the story of the boy who cried wolf!

I put my camera away after the end of the tour and just enjoyed some fellowship with other moms as the kids played in the play area. Fun times!