the orchard

this past weekend my brother was in town and since it was a nice crisp fall day we headed out to the apple orchard to pick apples and enjoy the day. it was a perfect fall day and the perfect activity. we road the wagon out to the orchard and had fun picking apples high and low. mia loved finding ones that were just at her height and having papa and uncle jeff pick her up to get the ones that were a little too high for her. we all loved "sampling" an apple or two as we walked between the trees. even asher loved the apples. pete handed him one and he happily munched away while riding high in the carrier. before we knew it we had loaded our bags full of apples. jeff became the designated carrier though it took a bit of convincing to get mia to relinquish her heavy bag of red apples. jeff simply kept adding apples into her bag instead of his until she decided on her own it was too heavy to carry and handed it over. she was just too precious walking among the trees nibbling her apple to not stop and take a few shots of her. after loading our apples up it was off to the little farm to see the animals. we had quite a few animals to visit: goats, sheep, chickens, cows, llamas, pigs, bunnies, baby chicks and i don't even remember what else. mia liked feeding the goats. she wasn't too sure about the calf that wanted to suck on her finger and keep licking her hand. not too sure she liked his rough tongue. =)

then it was on to the little store where it was apple cinnamon donuts and cider for all of us. yum! what a perfect fall day.

he's home!!

hooray! pete's home. actually i've been really bad about posting and he's been home since monday. we've been enjoying our family time and just spending every moment together doing whatever we want. =)

his trip was great. the first thing he said when talked on the phone was that he loved it and that we should move there. (oh my!) the people were wonderful. so friendly and laid back. the food was wonderful. i guess they don't have an organic section since everything there is organic. (how nice is that??) the country is beautiful (as you can see from a few of his pictures that are here). the trip was successful from a business perspective too. should probably mention that since technically that's the reason he went.

he stayed with the grandparents of a friend of ours. they were so sweet to host him and his business partner. both the guys feel in love with the family and felt so welcome and at home. what more can you ask for? pete got to drive on the "wrong" side of the road and saw some amazing views almost everywhere he went. he is definately a fan of the country and can't wait to go back...with me of course. =)

pete and the boys with "grandma" and the girls

he brought home lots of goodies. mostly food. =) lots of chocolate...let me know if you want any, it's great! delicious honey, jam and other sweets. he also brought the kids raro (new zealand kool-aid) which is really good and some l&p (which is their version of sprite) also quite tasty. i thought all of it was pretty fun. he brought me a new addiction as well. he went into a kids clothing store called pumpkin patch. oh my! adorable stuff. i just found their website and am trying to decide if any of it really fits into the budget (it doesn't really). it way cute stuff though. of course maybe i just like it because it comes from over there. =) he also brought me a beautiful little trip treat of my own in the form of silver jewelry. isn't he great?? we're so glad to have him home!

her own card

no plans today! acutally a wonderful thing. eased into our morning and stayed in our jammies for quite a while. after lunch we headed to the library. i've been telling mia we were going to go get books on new zealand so we could look at pictures of where daddy was. she tells people when they ask where pete is "new zealand" and they all look at me to see if she's right. i'm not sure what's stranger to them, that she knows at age 2 that new zealand exists or that pete is actually there. :) anyways, she loved getting her own card, signing the back and checking out the books. she had to carry her card out of the library all on her own and then she wanted to put it in my purse because her purse was at home (and all "cards" go in purses). i got some cute pictures but as mentioned previously the camera doesn't work with the computer. (i'm going to try to work on that)

it was a relaxing day. mia recently discovered winnie-the-pooh and so we spent some lazy time with a movie too. she actually got started with pooh by reading some books her grandparents got her that are like mini science lessons (where does the sun go at night? how do things grow? etc.) when i told her we had a pooh movie she thought that would be great. is it interesting to anyone else that the books came first?

asher had a big day however and climbed the entire flight of stairs by himself. this is a first. he's done one or two steps but never attempted the whole thing (we have alot of stairs). also on a cute note, when i went in to check on him last night he was talking in his sleep. :) at first i thought he was up but when i peeked in his crib he was all curled up with his blanket just babbling in his sleep. it was adorable!!

the big weekend

spent most of the weekend with the families. start saturday with some quick errands and leaving the house so repairs could be completed. then immediately off to friend's surprise graduation party from her doctorate program. surprise is success. lose track of time and miss naps more then intended. mia loved the inflatable jumping thing (are they called moonwalks anymore?) did not want to leave. came home and crashed. end of day one.

day two. off to my parents. my grandparents were in town and it's so nice for the kids to get to spend time with them. not sure who has more fun honestly. great grandma teaches mia the fundamentals of sewing. smile at the awestruck student who couldn't wait to get her hands on the project (which actually happened to be hand sewing a line of yarn on a scrap piece of paper). enlist my grandmother's help in hand cutting part of friend's baby shower invitations. love how much grandma loves helping me and relax and enjoy the time together. in the evening off to my aunt's parents' house (if you can follow all of that, her side of the family, no relation to us but close nonetheless). lots of people, lots of conversations, lots of chaos but good to see far off family. leave without dinner (remember chaos) so kids can get to bed on time. end of day two.

day three. start off with church. this entails shower with both children and then instructions to two year old to go ahead upstairs and start getting dressed. workmen are here finishing job from yesterday. naked two year old runs off excited to pick out her clothes. follow behind her a few minutes later to find her, not in her room, but standing naked, in the upstairs window with the poor workmen on the other side of the window trying to work. listen to her happily exclaim that "the boys are fixing my house." shake head and hurry two year old to her room to clothe her. go to church. be completely blessed that both kids go happily to nursery (this is normal but all bets are off when alone) and by amazing worship music and presence of God. off to pete's parents. have good time chatting and cooking over the bonfire. gotta love hot dogs (well, i don't actually....vegetarian and all) and s'mores. try to monitor how much sugar the two year old ingests. fail and realize she has already consumed numerous marshmallows but breath sigh of relief when she willingly switches to graham crackers. *whew* get cute new jewelry from sister-in-law's former business that she's selling 1/2 off. love that asher is mostly happy with grandma during dinner so i can assist mia and that he's totally happy with grandpa for a good long while after dinner...until he sees me. have great time and leave in time for kids to get to bed on time with only minor complaints from two year old once we're home. end of day three.

be grateful for busy days and family as distraction from the fact that daddy's not home. be just as grateful that the next day brings no plans. :)

new zealand?

yes, new zealand. pete is off on a wonderful adventure to new zealand for way too many days. we're already on day five and so far we're doin' good. how do you survive you ask when you have two kids two and under by yourself 24/7?? here's how:

spend first day husband leaves quickly loading kids into car to bring him things he forgot, then running errands for you and him of things that didn't have a chance to get done before he left. be grateful for the mini-van!!

enjoy weekend with busy schedule and lots of family (see future posts). be grateful that both sets of grandparents live in the area and are wonderful!! enjoy spending time with the kids great grandparents too and realize that no matter how wonderful family is they will never replace you in the eyes of your 10 month old ... no matter how many times you try to let someone else hold him so you can go to the bathroom alone :)

love that your husband, despite leaving, is still as romantic as the day you met him. receive flowers the day he leaves and an edible bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries and banana pieces today.

also enjoy that the florist goofed so a new bouquet is coming tomorrow courtesy of them.

find out that the camera you borrowed from your parents (since husband has yours in far off foreign country) is not compatible with your computer. no way to add cute pictures to updates this week.

take daughter to library to get books on place where daddy is. get her her own library card (thanks to my friend for the idea of bringing the camera along...mia loved how extra special that made it!) love that she tells younger brother he has to wait until he is two to get his card. realize you have likely started a tradition.

realize countless times a day how richly God has blessed us (especially when family and friends just call to "check-in" on us and see if we need anything).

miss husband terribly especially at night when the house is quiet and the kids are tucked into bed sleeping.