Apple Orchard

We made it to the apple orchard today.

had the tractor ride all to ourselves -

don't the children look thrilled!

(They don't really appreciate group picture time!)

Really they had fun!

She enjoyed the ride

Farmer Evan -

I am pretty sure all farmers support Star Wars attire.

As much as the big kids

LOVED the corn maze

she did not!

I took this one right before some almost tears came about-

she did not appreciate the mud getting on her shoes

nor the ruff terain for her little feet

It is hard to tell, but she was giddy with delight

when daddy cleaned her up!

She was happy again!

She especially enjoys her beverages-

apple cider slushie

They did not want to leave

I love it when kids get to enjoy good old fashioned fun!

Upside down

I was taking a few snaps

of the girls in Lydia's room.

The light was fading and most

of the pics turned out dark and blah.

But

these 2

turned out to be my favs in a long time!

It was after bathtime

(which was my purpose to capture Aliza in

her hippo towel)

but they did not turn out too well...

who knows?

Oh and we did manage a ring around the rosie dance

With another baby coming we are going to have to move the girls both into Lydia's room.  Which means Aliza will be coming out of her crib soon - all my other kids just stayed in their "big bed" so easily and we moved them young, this girl I am not so sure about!



Lazy and Scrappy Day

I have been neglecting this poor little girl...

I forgot to grab an outfit upstairs this morning -

I did not get her out of jam bams.

Well, then she decides to spit out her granola at one point -

Cyrus told me "Mom Aliza is throwing up"

Me - "No, she is just spitting out...errr"

Well the jam bam shirt came off

(apparently couch cushions have too)

and that is how it was.

Then Cyrus tells me -

"Umm, mom, can you get a shirt on her

because it is really weird"

Cy's zoo this morning

and his building -

can you see how old some of those blocks are?

They are from my childhood, they probably have lead in them

or something...

Took a pic of our dining room table we are trying to find chairs for.
It is a family piece on my husbands side, while I am not
a huge oak fan, it is nice to have.

I would like ladder back chairs - in French or English country style,

but yikers, new or old they want so much for that style!

These beauties are across the ocean:

but I want them really bad

only 1450 GBP's for 6, plus $500 USD's to ship!

Well, kiddos are home for the day - I am off!

First Day of School

They were ready to start school!

Ready for 1st Grade

Ready for 2nd Grade

My girls!

Aliza ended up being soo sad the SECOND we dropped

Lydia off in her classroom!  Oh, she cried the saddest little cry as

she knew her big sister was staying without HER!

My Crew!

Cyrus asked today, "But are they coming back?"

It is always a little bit harder for the younger ones.

On another note - yesterday was Dad's birthday.

Here are my mad cake decorating skills!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I had to ask Evan (to double check) how old he was!

He knows our ages better than us!  I think I am in denial how old I really am!

 

Rollo Pencils - Who Would Have Thought!

I tell ya, some people are so creative.  I saw these back to school treats LAST YEAR and I have had them in the back of my mind since!

Rollo/Hershey Kiss Pencils

With yellow and pink paper, a little foil, and 2 sided tape, they came together pretty well!  I plan on putting sneaking them into the kids lunches tomorrow for the first day of school - a little surprise for them!

Hope everyone has a great day back in school!

I think our family is ready for more structure and to get back into the swing of things!  Although we will be quite busy with activities - soccer, football, and gymnastics!  I keep thinking how the heck are we going to get 5 kiddos places someday?! 

Spiderman Boy

I am not sure if it is right for me to say this, but gosh I think 4 year olds are my favorite age.  They are in their own world - this line between real and make believe and they do not care WHAT SO EVER what ANYONE thinks of them! 

he is "stuck" in the baby pool

while big brother and sister can go in the big pool

but he is ok with it

doing his own thing

How old are you Cyrus?

I love his Spiderman gear

hope he likes it for awhile yet

Cyrus can you stay 4 forever???



Buttermilk Pancakes

I stopped buying pancake mix at the store.  Pancakes are easy enough, I figure I can just make 'em from scratch - being the Susie homemaker I am!  ha, ha! 

I have pinned a few pancake recipes on pinterest like
this one - anything with cinnamon I am all over!
and this one (kiddos did not love em - little too healthy)
or this one - have not tried - who has pastry flour on hand?  is it necessary for the recipe?

Anyhoo, these were pretty good -basic.  It uses 1/4 cup brown sugar which is a little different.  I never have real buttermilk on hand, so I always cheat with vinegar and skim milk. I am sure buttermilk would make a valuable difference, but I don't want all the extra calories on top of all the syrup we use!

But, the recipe I use most of the time is from the all recipes website.  The recipe actually calls for milk + vinegar - love that!  It is easy peasy and super yummy and fluffy!  Try it!  I sometimes add a little coconut oil to my griddle - very yummo! 

Beach Holiday

We went on holiday...

(I love to say that verses "vacation")

traveled to Florida, by car from the heartland,

it really was not too bad, we only went to the panhandle.

I took waaay too many pics, like 600 -ridiculous!

And I have this problem, not being able to delete some, even if the shot is sooo similar to the next one. 

Here is Lydia holding a jellyfish!

With red snowcone "lipstick".

All this pics are unedited - cept for the last one of our fam - cropped and "auto" fixed in PSE!

my little model!

Evan loves the beach, waves, shells, etc

Lydia loved the noodle-

she went under with this one though!

We had some big waves on some beaches!

loved, loved the boogie boards too.

The house we rented had a couple of them,

she was a little leary as it was a "boy" one, but

she soon got over it!

this one quite liked the beach too!

not too shy,

kept getting more and more daring.

She wanted her daddy

 to keep taking her in the water to "jump" the waves!

This guy waaay shy about the water,

(he fell in a hotel pool in April - daddy was right there, but he swalled a couple of good mouthfuls and has made him scared ever since)

but did not stop him from finding all kinds of treasure!

tons of finds

had to show me everytime.

every time.

This boy drinking a chocolate milkshake

that we were all "sharing", told his brother,

"Cyrus, once you put your lips on it,

you just can't stop"

needless to say it disappeared quickly!

Loved my pirates.

Doesn't being on a play wooden ship

turn you into a pirate!

my beach boys. 

they were being so cute-

I love it when everyone is getting along-

beach/holdiay atmosphere helps!

I just wanted to yell at that guy in the background-nobody

else around and he has to stand right there!

Didn't he know I was trying to capture a moment!!!

she did not want to stop

once she got a taste of this

Pretty sure she was thinking,

"hey, I want to ride more why did it stop?"

Here we are-

almost got everyone looking!

I started off wearing my swim cover as being pregnant in a swimsuit

is not all that fun for me, but eventually it was hot, and I just wore the darn thing (maternity suit)  - I never wore one with the others!