Apple Pickin 2011

A tradition is born!  The boys and I, along with Brookie B, Landon, Sissy, Aunt Mal-Mal, Uncle Craig, Abby, and Nana headed to our favorite apple orchard, Anderson Orchard, in Mooresville.  It was a funny coincidence that we ended up going the exact same weekend this year as last year.

We had a wonderful time and the pictures really speak for themselves.  Joey and I were already busy baking the fruits of our picking labors and made apple crisp and apple turnovers yesterday.  Note to self:  Next year we are going to still pick a bag of our own apples just for fun but we are going to buy apples that the orchard workers pre-picked to actually bring home and enjoy.  We are not professional apple pickers and thus brought home two pecks of very sour, not quite ripe apples :)

Landon was not overly amused by the experience

Beautiful Aunt Mal-Mal

My idea of heaven...surrounded by my favorites!

My siblings:  Michelle, Me, Mallory, and Craig

Nana and her grandbabies

Just Nana and the boys!

We've Got The Fever

The boys and I headed down to Conseco Fieldhouse last Thursday night (on a school night - gasp) to watch the Indiana Fever and WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings take on the Atlanta Dream in game one of the WNBA Eastern  Conference Finals.  We were spoiled rotten with a plethora of excellent seating options and spent the pregame down low in the first row behind Dean and the first half of the game up in a suite with my coworker and his wife and new baby boy.  The boys had a great time and were dissapointed when I made them leave at halftime.  The game ended with a Fever victory...and a trip to the ER for Ben.  Shortly after arriving home and falling asleep, Ben awoke with a terrible, barking cough and trouble breathing.  I took him to the ER where he was diagnosed with croup, given a dose of a steroid, and we were sent on our way.  Never a dull moment.

GOOOOAAALLLLL

The Big Brothers Club--Creighton, Cale, Ben, Josue, and Kaden

Joe's biggest fan

It has been suggested to me that I should share more pictures and less musings.  Here you go.  Soccer has been great so far with Ben scoring several goals and Joe Bug scoring one.  Lots of fun is being had regardless and I continue to love watching my boys in action each Saturday morning.

An Apple A Day

I could not stop laughing this afternoon while watching the boys eat apples as a snack afterschool.  Joey chose to have his sliced and with peanut butter (I joined him) and Ben wanted a whole apple.  I think Ben was a bit suprised by how hard it was to eat an apple when missing your two top front teeth and two on the bottom as well!  He ended up pretty much gnawing on the apple like it was corn on the cob.  Joey and I thought this was hysterical.

First Day in the Threes

Joey started another year at Opportunity Day today, this year in the 3's with Miss Kim and Miss Missy.  Once we established that he was in fact going to school and not Disney World (see post below) he was super fired up and ready to go see his friends. 

We snapped a few pictures at home before heading out to school...but the sun foiled our efforts.

We arrived to school about 10 minutes early (don't worry, that will never happen again; I have no idea how we were running so early...especially considering my sweet new puppy girl ate one of the shoes I was planning on wearing today while I was in the shower...grrrr).  Joey wanted to snap some more pictures and this time he insisted on posing! 

I finally convinced him to stop preening for the camera and head inside!  We met up with Drew, said hello to his teachers, and he was off and running! 

Joey was asleep when I picked him up at the end of the school day.  He was pretty quiet on the drive home as we headed to school to pick up Ben.  He did say that he had a good day and the best part was playing downstairs with all the new toys (especially the new green bike).  I anticipate another great year ahead for the Joe Bug!

Hi ho, Hi ho, to Disney World we must go

Joey has a new obsession...Disney World.  He asks approximately 13 times a day when we are going to go.  Can we go today?  How about tomorrow?  It started with this blog actually.  Ben and I were looking at old pictures on the computer from years past.  I played the Disney photo videos that were shot during our last (and only trip) in 2007 when I was about 7 months pregnant with Joey and Ben was 3-1/2 years old.  Joey watched the videos over and over and over again.  Dean then suggested that we get out the video camera and hook it up to the television so the boys could watch the hours of video footage we shot during that particular trip.  Joey has hooked.  He is both indignant that he didn't get to go last time (we can't convince him that he was there, albeit in my tummy.  He says he was probably "scared because it was dark in there!!") and overly enthusiastic about planning our next trip. 

This morning Joey asked his usual 6:30 a.m. question...."What are we doing today?"  He asks this as he walks out of his bedroom, bleary eyed and yawning.  This morning I replied "Today is your first day of school!  Yay!."  Joey was quiet for a minute and then said "I don't want to go to school today...I want to go to Disney World."  When told that wasn't an option he said.  "ok.  Can we go tomorrow?"

Obsessed I tell you. 

So many questions...

I have loved this little monster since the minuteI knew he existed...but that's not long enough for him, evidently.

Lately Joey has been asking lots of questions about "where he was" during different momentous occasions.  He has asked a couple of times "Was I at your wedding?"  When I tell him no he gets upset and says "Why not?  Was Ben there?" When I tell him that he wasn't even alive yet he gets very confused.  So yesterday we had a conversation through my rearview mirror (always a conduit for our best talks) during which we had the following discussion:

Joey:  "Hey mommy, were you always my mommy?"

Me:  "Yes baby, I have always been your mommy."

Joey:  "Well, when you were a little girl were you my mommy?"

Me:  "Well.  No.  When I was a little girl I wasn't a mommy."

Joey (in a paniced voice):  "Well then who was my mommy?!"

Me:  "Well, sweetheart. You weren't alive yet so you didn't have a mommy."

Joey (in a loud, squeaky voice):  "I was DEAD?!?"

Oh gesh.  I don't even know how to answer this kids questions anymore.  He gives me a headache.

Good Times in August

Still playing a bit of catch up since August went by in a blur like it always does.  I was looking through pictures and came across these of some of my very favorite guys.  We love our little Yannon; he is growing and changing every day.

We enjoyed our annual visit to the Indiana State Fair on a hot evening.  We ate our way through the vendors and the boys visited the midway for the first time and both played games and won "fabulous" prizes!  The Fair is one of my very favorite summer traditions; it never dissapoints!

Silly Faces

I love my Joe Bug.  No one makes better faces than him....and I love them all!