Weekend Trip to the Mountains!

This past weekend we took a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 4 hours west of us in North Carolina. Micah had bought a trailer (see pics below) on eBay and had to pick it up. So we decided to make a weekend of it and left Saturday afternoon. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A (my favorite) and the boys played on the playground in there (a highlight of theirs). Then we went to a hotel and swam in the pool (another highlight of they boys'). The next morning we drove around the mountains (see pics below). It was sprinkling/raining so we didn't get out and hike anywhere but we found some neat little roads that winded around some great views! I couldn't find the camera I packed, so these pictures are on my iPhone. I am thankful for my iPhone but it doesn't do the scenery justice; It was stunning! Then we picked up the trailer, after stopping a cute craft store for me to look!, and headed home. It was a great time!

Micah has already done some cosmetic stuff to the trailer, so it looks even better than these pictures! GREAT deal!

Two Reasons I Hate The South

Snakes. Thankfully, I haven't actually seen one in our yard, except for a teeny tiny one Micah found. And thankfully, this snake was already dead, laying in the road! I HATE SNAKES!

Spiders. We have Brown Recluse, Black Widows, and Wolf spiders. I honestly don't know what this one is, but these nasty, big-butted spiders were constantly making their webs on the side of our house. It got the point where I was killing at least one a day. Thankfully, it's gotten cooler here and I haven't seen any for a week or two! I am pretty brave with spiders and have killed over a two dozen of these nasty things. But if I don't have a broom to knock them out of their web, I curl up into a little ball in fear! ;)

Opening Uncle Allen and Auntie Kelly's Card

Opening the Charlebois' Card

Opening Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Bruce's Presents

Happy Birthday to you!

Anna Walking, sort of!

FINALLY...a family picture!

Birthday Fun!

Opening Peterson's presents.

Opening and reading the Birthday card from Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Dennis.

Opening the card from Memaw Screws

Opening the card from Memaw Screws.

Happy Birthday Malachi!

Basket Cases!

Pumpkins!

So, we do not celebrate Halloween like the majority of people do. We allow our kiddos to do some fun stuff without the terror, scares, witchcraft, and evil stuff. They are allowed to carve pumpkins and we hand out candy to trick-o-treaters with christian literature stapled to them! The pumpkins can only have christian 'symbols' or happy faces. The boys opted for happy faces! We love fall and the beauty of Autumn, like leaves changing, pumpkin and scarecrow decorations, and the cool weather, and Micah would add...deer hunting! We just don't believe Halloween is godly and we would rather obey Jesus than get dressed up and scare one another! Witches, sorcerers, and demonic stuff are all very real things-and sadly, things that get idolized and even worshiped on Halloween. I still can't get images out of my head from horror movies I've watched way back when, or from past Halloweens. I don't want those same troubles to "haunt" my kids! Eat candy, carve happy pumpkins, love Jesus...this is our Halloween!

NC State Fair

We went to the NC State Fair last Sunday, and it was cold! We had jackets, sweatshirts, long-sleeve shirts, hats, and mittens! Woa! It was in the mid to high 50's (I think) and it was windy and sprinkling. But, it still was a GREAT time at the fair! The NC fair is about 1/3 or 1/4 the size of the MN State Fair. It was good it was small, cause then we got to see everything! But, we are spoiled Minnesotans, and were expecting a little more. There was no alcohol, or Beer Gardens, which I thought was nice! There was a section of garden/old time/ forestry/ milling, that we particularly liked. The boys rode some kiddie rides, and another highlight was holding baby chicks and ducklings! Here are the few pics we managed to get!

The boys rode on one ride together, and their faces were great! It was a little roller coaster and they were laughing the entire time! This is Malachi on a ride he picked.

This is Zach on the ride he picked. He was real brave. He went all by himself-literally! There was NO one else on the ride except him! So the controller gave him an extra-long ride! There was a button that Zach could push to make his elephant go up and down. We was having a blast and was in his own little world. He hardly noticed us down on the ground waving and yelling his name...he was just in an excitment/thrill haven!

The set up! Micah pushing the double stroller with Anna in the back and one of the boys in the front. I was pushing the umbrella stroller with the other boy. We were loaded down with layers of clothes, blankets for Anna, lunch, a diaper bag, and freebies. We got a lot of stares and a few comments, to say the least!

An "after" shot of the fair. They all were sleeping within minutes of getting in the van! A fun day at the fair: Mission Accomplished!

Malachi, Zach, and Anna Playing Together

Zach singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Anna the Peanut

Ms. Anna Malia is almost 10 months old now. She is pulling herself up and walking along things. She has no teeth yet, and although she has gained a significant amount of weight since she's been eating table foods, she is still a peanut- in 6-9 month clothing and some 3-6 month clothing. She is like Malachi and Zach, in that she has short legs (3-6 month pants) but a longer torso (6-9 month shirts!). But she is not roll after roll, like they were at her age. She is sweet, and knows the word "no". She also can say, "dada" and "mama" but not very often on command, and usually in a whisper. :)

She loves her brothers, especially Malachi, because he is the one always in her face trying to make her laugh and smile. She loves attention and being entertained, and doesn't like to be alone! However, she does like to explore solo, crawling anywhere and everywhere! She gets frustrated and cries when she wants to follow the boys from room to room, but isn't fast enough. And once she does make it, they have left to a new and more exciting location! She is a joy and we love her dearly!

Jambba's Ranch Petting Zoo

Okay, This was so much fun!! Micah and I took the kids to a petting zoo south of Fayetteville. The ranch had a ton of animals you could hand feed!! The boys loved it, and Anna was very wide-eyed...most likely in fear, but she felt safe because she was either on my or Micah's back the entire time. Here are some of the animals we got to hand feed: turtles, chickens, llamas, camels, goats, donkeys, cows, a fawn, horses, an elk, and the best of all- a buck! We also saw buffalos and we got to feed a big brown bear, but with pincher-things, not with our hands. It was so much fun!

Playing Together

This is mainly for the grandparents, who may miss just seeing their grandkids doing everyday stuff. The boys and Anna can all play blocks together, and they have fun doing it...except when Anna goes after the boys' towers! I like this movie because of the dynamics of the kids. I like watching Anna watch the boys, and Anna throw a block over her shoulder. :)

NC Zoo

The kids and I took a trip to the zoo a few weeks back. Here are the pics from our adventure. I would have more, but as always, I am trying to juggle all the kids and can't really seem to get the camera out! The boys and I did get to feed a giraffe! It was awesome! Our hands were about 2 feet away from the giraffe's head and mouth. But again, in the moment, no pictures. It was a beautiful zoo with all it's trails in the woods. It felt very foresty/junglish. The animals weren't plopped into a cement cage either. They had very real looking areas for animal.

Daddy and the Boys Volcano

Playing Animals 2

The Kitties eating together!

Zach, or "Eee Eee Kitty" laying on our cat's blanket.

Malachi laying on George (our cat's) blanket.

Malachi and Zach lounging on the couch, just like our cat does...in all his favorite spots!

Playing Animals

Here is the most fun game we've done in a long while! God gave me this idea while I was praying the night before about our upcoming day. It was a great idea, Jesus! :) The kids loved it! Play it with your kiddos, moms!

Zach being an elephant!

Malachi being an elephant!