Silly Evenings

The boys get really silly in the evenings. They are also very much into telling jokes right now. They only know one actual joke, but that doesn't keep them from making up their own. The problem with their jokes is that there is no punch line. They tell one line and then expect you to laugh hysterically like they do!

Apple Picking

Last year we discovered an apple orchard with some friends only to learn that the owners are somehow related to many people we know on staff. (This is a common occurrence in Kansas!)

Today we went back with some other friends. It was chilly and the wind was biting. The four boys stayed in the van most of the time while Tina and I laughed and picked our own apples. It was a blast! There is just something about outings like this that feeds my soul!

Road trippin with four handsome boys.

The apples of my eye. *Excuse the cheesiness.

  Not a happy camper.

He rallied. But not for long.

 Summary of our trip. 

 This was snapped mere moments before I was nearly pelted by that apple. Thanks, son.

 Happy faces! We survived it. It really wasn't that bad, but the boys were total wusses, all huddled in the van. But we were tough mamas and we came home with some delicious apples.

 

A "Grand" Time

World Impact hosts a men's retreat each October and it has become our tradition that my mom comes to hang for the weekend while Ryan is gone. This year my Grandma came too! The boys were spoiled. My freezer was filled. It was a happy time all around.

Great Grandma intentionally dropped quarters between her seats so the boys could find them (all because a few were already there). Unfortunately they were all stuck under the console and they maybe found three.

We wore Great Grandma and Mama D out at Applejack Pumpkin Patch. So much fun!

I think Nate got his head stuck.

 Trike riding.

 

 Sliding

 Feeding the goat with Great Grandma.

 My little bus load.

 Nate and I on the left, Ben on the right!

 Wheeee

 Walking on the hay stacks.

 King of the hay hill.

 Brotherly love.

 Scarecrow

 We have a fascination with making our scary faces right now.

 Milo maze. The boys LOVED it.

 Second to the big slide, this was their favorite - the little train.
(Boys are second barrel from the back.)

 Pumping water.

 Horse swing.

 Can you see us?

 Great Grandma and Mama D. Heaven!

 Selfie with Nate

 These are Carter boy faces! We get these pitiful looks all the time. I can't believe I caught them both with this pic.

They got to pick their own pumpkins from a big patch.

They decorated their pumpkins with stickers and glitter glue. We made the boys wait until the next day and they had them done by 7:30am while I was making breakfast! 

My busted lip. We were watching the boys play and a little boy's cowboy hat flew off in the wind and hit me straight on the chin, busting my top and bottom lip and leaving a red line on my chin. It was startling and it hurt. But, I survived it!

 Great Grandma snuck guitars in the cart at Toys R Us and surprised the boys with them later that evening. They are still playing them first thing each morning.

I am so glad my Grandma got to visit our home. She hasn't been here since Ben was only a few months old. What a treat! My boys are so lucky to have time to know so many of their Great Grandparents. 

Growing Up

Since the boys moved into the same room,

I have wanted to makeover Nate's nursery into a home office/treadmill storage/Ben's rest area room. It took me longer than I hoped, but I think it has mostly come together.

I knew I wanted gray and blue, but I couldn't decide on the right blue. Until Ryan bought this shirt! Then I knew. I made him come with me to the craft store, while wearing the shirt, to pick out my accent paint! What a guy.

 These were the sweet walls in Nate's nursery.

 Bye bye tree and name.

 Priming and edging. Necessary, but not fun.

Here is a video tour (mostly for Candice bc she has been begging).

Eventually, I want to get a chair in this style. Maybe a solid, maybe a print. I don't know. And eventually I should use that treadmill, but for now it just takes up good real estate in that tiny room.