That's...a lot of snow!

So, we got about a foot of snow yesterday. We lost power around 7 last night. It came back on at 7 this morning, but it's out again. We are all fine. Just wanted to let you all know. You know, in case you were worried.

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Pumpkin Day - Part Two

After we got home from pumpkin picking, we put the boys down for naps. After naps we played a little and had an early dinner. After dinner though, that's when the pumpkiny fun continued. This year I let Josh do all the carving since I got to do it all last year, and because I was just too tired to shove a knife through the big pumpkins we got. Since Zeke was still working on finishing his dinner, we started with Deacon's pumpkin.

Don't worry, we made him move back right after I took this picture. In fact, in order to keep the bigger boys occupied while Josh carved to his heart's content, I put the boys to work sorting out all the pumpkin seeds.

It really went like this though. I would pull out the gunk, then sort out the seeds. I'd hand the seeds to either Zeke or Deacon (whoever was standing there waiting), who would then put them into the colander. Zeke didn't like touching most of it, but Deacon was good about diving right in this year.

Zeke was also "responsible" for throwing away the chunks of pumpkin Josh would put on the table as he carved. At one point Deacon turned to Zeke and said, "Zeke. There are pieces over there for you to throw away." As Zeke got up to throw them away Deacon then said to Josh, "Daddy. Zeke is on his way to take care of that. Okay?" Oh, he makes me laugh. He was just SO matter-of-fact about it all.

Finn, who is too young to really participate in and enjoy the carving festivities, started out coloring (Josh made that face, not Finn, but he does color with his left hand).

Eventually he got bored with that, and then ran around the house like a crazy man. Zeke accompanied him in this, in an attempt at avoiding dirtying his hands. Finn also acted as safety inspector by showing us how easily he could get his little ninja hands on the knives that were hanging out on the table. Eventually we found safe spots for them and he left us alone.

And now the finished products:

After carving was done all the menfolk went upstairs to take baths, while I stayed downstairs and cleaned up. I also washed and toasted the pumpkin seeds. All in all, it was a very good day. A LONG day, but a good day.

Pumpkin Day - Part One

Saturday we took the boys pumpkin picking. We were going to do apple picking too, but apparently that ended last week when we first thought about going before deciding to wait until this week. Oh well, now we know for next year. Having grown up in New Jersey, we decided to take the boys to the places we went as kids. Our first stop was the Cider Mill. Unfortunately, due to all the rain this summer/fall, their pumpkin crop was pretty much non-existent.

No matter how much we looked, all we could find were pumpkins that looked like this:

It was not a complete waste of a trip though as we did enjoy some of the world's most delicious apple cider (I may be a bit biased), as well as some tastey donuts.

Not wanting to go home without the pumpkins we went for, we decided to stop at Alstede Farms, pretty much right down the road. While Josh grumbled at first, saying I was a glutton for punishment, it ended up being a great idea, and we had a really good time. Especially since we got to go on a hay ride to the pumpkin field!

As you can probably tell by their faces, the boys were very excited with this, and totally made the trip worth it.

Once we got to the field, it was off to find the perfect pumpkins. Josh took the boys one way and looked for some nice big ones to carve,

while I followed Finn around, picking him up every time he fell down. Which was quite often as by this point he was getting tired. Plus pumpkin patches tend to have bumpy grounds and vines that make it very easy for little ones to trip.

Be that as it may, as the sign below says, we had loads of fun.

To end our afternoon out, while Josh stood on line and paid for the pumpkins, I took the boys to the giant haybale hill thing, so we could climb it and get out any energy the kids might have had left in them by this point.

All in all, a very good day. And for those who read the titles and noticed that this says it's Part One, that's because we carved the pumpkins later that evening, but since that involves more pictures I'm going to save it for tomorrow.

Oh! I also got some gourds. Aren't they cute? I have to admit, I never thought twice about these things until we moved to Germany and I became friends with Joni. Now they're some of my favorite things. Okay, until next time!

So, September

And now, without further adieu, a quick wrap-up of all the fun we had in September (I will do my best to try and stay on top of blogging in October).

We checked out the water park on base and LOVED it. We can't wait for next summer so we can get a season pass and hang out there quite often.

We went to Josh's cousin's wedding. (Sorry no pics for this one...maybe on someone else's facebook?)

Zeke started kindergarten.

The chapel we go to here had a picnic, complete with tug-of-war (tug-o-war?).

Josh's parents brought Peavey back to us, much to the boys' delight.

We went to a little Oktoberfest celebration at Josh's boss' house.

My mom had a birthday and we went down for dinner. Sadly, Deacon (and me a little) got a bit sick, so we had to bounce right after dinner was over. (Again, sorry no pictures.)

We went to West Point to visit the Starlings. We also got to see the Golby and the Childress families while we were there!

Soccer season started.

I had my first back to school night, which was fun. (Also no pictures of this.)

And we did a bunch of just hanging out and "relaxing" when we weren't running around.

So, there you have it! September in a decent sized nut shell. The rest of the pictures are up on flickr, again, for anyone interested.

Summer Pictures

I've spent the past week organizing and labeling my pictures from the summer. After I blogged last week, I realized I hadn't gone through all the pictures I took this summer and saw how badly it really needed to be done. So, if you're interested, and to hold you over until I blogged again, here are the links to my pictures from the summer on flickr.

June's pictures

July's pictures

August's pictures

And now I have to go and get started on September's pictures. Ciao!

There Goes Another One!

Deacon started preschool on Monday. Talk about exciting stuff. He was so thrilled to finally be going to school (he's been waiting since Zeke started school last month). He has 2 teachers and 6 (I think) kids in his class. He is having a great time, is doing well (you know, the whole 3 days he's gone so far), and really looks forward to going every day (again, the whole 3 days he's gone so far). The school is right here on base, so it's literally a 3 minute drive - at the most. It's also right across the street from where Josh works, so he's able to help drive him back and forth (when he's around that is). Deacon goes to school from 12-3 in the afternoon, every day. This is NOT what I wanted, nor is it the class I originally signed him up for (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 8:30-11:30), but due to many things that still have me a bit irritated, this is the class he's in. And since this is the class he's in, I'm trying to embrace it and appreciate it, so I don't want to dwell on what happened anymore - unless you insist on hearing the story (hahaha). It's over, it's done, and it's all good. Right? Right!

One of the good things about Deacon going to school in the afternoon is that if he were home, he'd be in bed taking a nap, so it's almost like he'd "be gone" anyway, so I don't miss him as much! An unexpected "side effect"(?) of Deacon starting school is that now Finn wants to be a part of the school action. He found his little backpack that we use for church, and insists on wearing it most of the time he's awake. It is really kind of funny watching him run laps around the house with this backpack on, bouncing all around. He also tried to get on the bus with Zeke this morning (with his little backpack on). Not yet buddy.

So that's where we're at now. Deacon has started school, so we're adjusting to that and adjusting the change in schedule it's bringing about. Zeke is still loving school, so that's good. Finn can't wait to go to school, even though he has no idea what it is, so that's fun. Josh leaves again this weekend for another trip, this time to D.C. And I'm kind of tired today so I'm going to go lay down for a bit. See y'all later!