Country Livin'

So when you live on 3 acres of land which has trees all over, you have what we like to call a "slight leaf problem"

Here we have before and after shots of our back yard. Raking up the leaves ourselves wasn't really an option unless we wanted to grow old doing it. I finally gave up on the idea that we could do it ourselves and hired a company that would take care of our "slight leaf problem"

In order to complete our job, this company had 2 guys with blowers and another driving a tractor which plowed the leaves into huge piles. With all 3 guys working continuously, it only took them 4.5 hours to complete our job. Seriously.

Keeping Busy

Eric just sent me a text saying that he was getting on the plane, leaving Afghanistan. We are so excited to have him home and tomorrow won't come quick enough. This morning though we are just passing the time waiting for daddy to return.

Savvy has been practicing her walking so that she is ready to show off for Dad. Neelah is just looking cute with her curls and all.

The girls play so well together. No one can make Savvy laugh like Neelah can. They love to wrestle and tease each other. I hope that their sisterly love lasts through their teens.

Stepping Stones for Savvy

This last week has been a big one for my baby. She not only started to walk but she has simultaneously started using 3 words. MOM, UH OH and HI. I can't say that one of these was her "first", they all happened at once. She is the most darling of all darling babies. So tender and sweet. Neelah was that way too at this age...

I know this is sappy but I can't help but be a little sad that my baby isn't really a baby anymore but more so a toddler. I love that she sleeps through the night and can eat mostly anything that we eat. I love that she is self-entertaining and yet also enjoys playing with her brother and sister. But she doesn't need me like she used to and that is just the tiniest bit heartbreaking.

She is seriously just TOO CUTE!! This isn't the best video of her walking but as always when I get out the camera, the action stops.

Halloween 2009

We really missed Eric again this year. This is the second Halloween he has missed because he is in the Middle East. But celebrate we must! Some friends threw a family Halloween Party tonight and so off we went!

Mom and her Ladybug.

Neelah was a bumble bee for the second year in a row since it fit her better than the ladybug.

Here is Finn's Pre School class all dolled up for the holiday. They paraded around the parking lot and all the parents took pictures and then passed out candy. It was great.

My homework assignment was to make a "house" for the kids to trick-or-treat to. This is my rendition.

Savvy loved watching all the kids parade around while munching on her pig-in-a-blanket.

Neelah also enjoyed the event.

Summers Farm Fieldtrip

This month Finn's preschool class took a fieldtrip to Summer's Farm. It was so much fun to spend one of the last warm fall afternoons outside. Here are his class and teachers

Being a farm that has corn fields and a corn maze in the fall, the experience would not be complete without playing in a GIANT vat of corn kernals. Finn and Max quickly turned them into deadly weapons and yet still had a blast.

Savvy didn't quite know what to do with all the corn...should she eat it???

Of course Neelah enjoyed herself, that is, until she fell over like she always does.

Hay Bale slides. These were fun, even for me!

Finn definitely has his moments of being an excellent big brother. Savvy's life is not complete without slides. She has found that they are the best thing besides her blankie

Finn, Savvy and Max in the giant rocking chair. Neelah is absent in this picture since she thought the chair was too scary.

The farm had all these piglets and Neelah just kept yelling "WILBUR!!" at all of them.

Neelah Angel vs Neelah Terror

I love this girl...really I do. But sometimes I just don't know what to do with her!! How can you not resist her long dark eyelashes? Or her curls or giggle. The way she wants to cuddle and how she asks to have her arms and tummy tickled.

Then she goes and does something like this....

and I don't care how dang cute she is. She snuck into Tyler's room today and swiped a Sharpie marker off his dresser and proceeded to re-decorate her room to her liking. She wrote on the wall, the carpet, her bed, Finn's bed, her sheets, her picture frames, stuffed animals INCLUDING HER LOVEY, the door, her new clothes and her feet. Basically everything she could see she drew on. Then she asked me to clean her lovey off. SERIOUSLY?

Birthday Boy Turns 5

Finn had his birthday a few weeks ago. I can't believe he is 5. He has become such an independent little guy. He is really getting into using his imagination and is asking all sorts of questions about how things work and why they are. I love getting to experience his mind opening to the world.

The other night, he asked me "when can we go to the moon?" I explained that only astronauts go to the moon in spaceships. He asked if he could be an astronaut. I told him about all the school and told him that he could do it if that is what he really wanted to do. Then he asked me if when he went to school to be an astronaut, would they give him an astronaut suit. Because it obviously isn't worth it unless he gets a suit!

Since Brinn and her fam were here, and it was Eric's last weekend before leaving for Afghanistan, we kept the bday party small and chill. Finn did invite the neighbor boy Max who he goes to school with. We decorated pumpkins with random facial parts that I cut out of magazines. They turned out pretty well if you ask me.

Then we ate Mummy Dogs and had cupcakes.

Finn and Max

Brindlefly and Family

I love having visitors!! I love having a house big enough to accommodate them. Brinn and Michelle and kids made the treck from Kentucky to stay with us for a few days. It was PERFECT weather and so much fun!!

I am such a quality instead of quantity person, especially when it comes to friends. I always welcome meeting new friends and getting to know them however, I cherish friends that I can really open up with and who I know will accept me for me. I am lucky to have some girls here in Maryland/Virginia who were with us in Hawaii and they definitely belong in that group. Brinn has been my "kindred spirit" since we met. She forgives me my ODC and I forgive her sometimes tardiness. We have loved each other through births and deaths, many boyfriends, elementary, middle school, high school, college and marriage.

I can't wait until we are much much older and can hit more milestones together such as maybe grandkids, hotflashes, depends and dentures.

Having my 3 kids and her 3 kids was CRAZY but so much fun. We tried to eat outside most meals because it was so beautiful and to minimize the clean up. We have (L to R) Neelah, Brooklyn, Kabren, Finn, Brielle and Savvy.

Here is the entire gang at the park.

All the kids sitting together was such a feat. Getting them all to look was too much to ask.
Savvy, Finn, Brookie, Brielle, Kabe and Neelah

We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum while they were here. That was pretty cool to see all those planes! Behind the kids is the fastest plane in the world!

I love this picture. Michelle was such a great influence in my life. I am so glad that she came too! It was such a great way to end the summer. Bring on the fall/winter weather!

Grantsville, Maryland

This past weekend we took a roadtrip. Eric has been wanting to visit this bridge since we drove the U-Haul past it on the move out here. It was a beautiful fall day and the perfect family event.

The day isn't complete until Tyler does something ridiculous. We love having him living with us!



Savvy loved crawling around and playing with the leaves.
After 3.5 hrs in the car (we had a small detour) Finn and Neelah were ready to get out and run around.
At first I was very skeptical of this trip...it was very spur of the moment and all up to Eric. But I learned my lesson because it was a beautiful bridge with great photo-op's and so much fun!