Road Trip to Virginia

We drove to Virginia to spend the Thanksgiving week with Joel's dad & step-mom, known to our kids as Pappy & Jan-P. The kids did GREAT in the car - seriously they were awesome. The photo above is of them napping in the car - no, we didn't drug them with Benadryl ;-) It was a 20 hour drive both ways & we split it into 2 days up & 2 days down. We even got to drive through snow on the way up. It was beautiful.

We had a great visit (except for a stomach virus that hit Em, Joel & I while up there). We went to the indoor pool at the local gym, toured a local winery that Jan's son is head wine maker at, saw Charlottesville from a birds-eye view on the top of Carter's Mountain, and spent Thanksgiving day at Jan's son's house with their family. I was also treated to an early birthday gift - a 1 hour massage - a much needed one, I might add.

On the way home we got to stop by Joel's grandmother's house & spend some time with her and Joel's uncle & family too.

It was a great break from the ordinary & we all got the chance to relax and enjoy visiting. The scenery was beautiful. We are glad to be back home now though and get into full Christmas mode now. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

(The picture below is a view from Jan's son's house out in the country that we went to on Thanksgiving day. It was great weather that day & absolutely beautiful.)

Gotta love Craig's List!

We have a new playhouse - well a new to us, used playhouse. It's actually an answered prayer. I'd asked for a playhouse for the kids with a door, window & little kitchen inside, under $50, within close driving distance from our house. Yesterday I found this one on Craig's List - all the amenities I wanted and it's not super girly so Jon can still feel like a little man while playing in it. ;-) And it was $40 & about a 3 minute drive up the road from our house!! Gotta love that! Thanks Craig's List & God!

Side note: yes, Emily is wearing her swimsuit in the photo. She, all the sudden, wanted to wear it really, really bad yesterday. I didn't see anything wrong with the request so I let her put it on before bed. Then she really, really wanted to sleep in it so we let her. Then this morning she didn't want to take it off when getting ready for her speech class. Sooooo...I let her wear it under her clothes. It's a little strange, & I don't totally get it, but it makes her happy for whatever reason & that's OK with me. It'll be fun telling her when she's older all the strange little things she did. Cute stuff.

The back half of our backyard has been taken over by bamboo. The neighbor behind us has it planted in her yard. We've tried to stay on top of keeping it from growing in ours, but have pretty much given into defeat as the stuff grows crazy fast & just keeps coming back. One plus to the bamboo forest was discovered today. Apparently Emily calls the bamboo her house & the kids love to walk through it & play back there. I will admit that I think if I were a child I'd love playing in it too. And it's pretty to look at so I guess we'll keep it. ;-)

Goat Milking Master

Joel had a life experience the other night. We were invited to dinner at his coworker's home. They have goats there & one of them is used for milking. After dinner Joel had the opportunity to give it a try. They said he did a really good job of it & the goat didn't seem to mind at all either. ;-)

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch this evening for a little bit. Thought these pictures were worth sharing. Both Emily & Jon thought the hay was pretty darn fun to play with. My nose didn't agree. The photo of them holding hands is a rare moment as of late of sibling harmony & love. Gotta document those to remind myself that they do exist. ;-)

Airplane/Flag Radar

My kids have a new crazy radar abilities as of late. For Emily it's American flag radar. She's learned the Pledge of Allegiance in preschool and is very proud of this. Now whenever we are out driving she has the ability to spot every single American flag we pass - no matter how obscure. It's really quite impressive. Once spotted the Pledge must then be recited - with authority. :-)

Equally as impressive is Jonathan's airplane spotting radar. It's truly crazy. He can pick out the smallest little spot in the sky & identify it as an airplane. Just this morning on the way to church he picked out at least 4. He announces his discovery with a very enthusiastic "air-pane!!" Then Joel & I have to visually scan the area he's pointing to & sure enough - there's a plane. This photo is of him spotting a plane in the sky. Joel brilliantly captured the super cute moment on film. Go Joel!

Pajama Season!

I love this time of year. Cooler weather is on the way. The leaves will change color. Thanksgiving & Christmas are not far off. These are all really good things. But, I also love this time of year for another reason...

Because I have a weakness for kids in their winter pajamas. A serious weakness. They're just too darn cute in those long pj's. This was the first night they both had on their new adorable pajamas & I couldn't stand the cuteness. I just want to grab them and hug them a ton when they're in them.

On a side note: the blue blanket Jon is clutching is his most prized possession. It's called his "baby" and it goes pretty much everywhere. If Jon thinks you are a really special person he'll even let you hold baby...for just a second. Because it's going everywhere with him it gets really gross, really fast & has to be washed frequently. I just hope it lasts until he's ready to move on from it. Otherwise we're all in trouble!