Great Find (Volume 2)

$24!

We found this HUGE pink floral rug for her new room on Sunday.

Pink Pumpkins and Little Loves

Nate's mom flew in for a four day visit last week. We had a wonderful time doing our "normal" with her around. We also go to show her the house... we are officially under contract! Nate and I are so excited. We have not sat down to tell the kids yet but we are starting to think about moving and all that it involves. We have an exciting few months ahead of us and I cannot wait to get our Christmas tree up!

But... while Grandma was here, I wanted to desperately head out to this little antique shop with her and the kids. I didn't know what to expect and well, it was really hard to shop in a "glass-filled, beautiful-things-everywhere, creativity ABOUNDING" shop with three little lovies in tow in between having no public restrooms, cookies on a platter by the front door and signs everywhere telling your children not to touch... But it was still worth it!

I just adored this place... you can see why.

First Grade Journaling (Volume 2)

The last post read, "Sign up for a free trip to Disney".

See if you can read these. Grace's teacher is teaching her to journal and write her thoughts and prayer requests in her journal.

Funny Things They Say (Volume 3)

Grace woke up early (again) this morning - 6 AM. She was laying in my bed while I did some paperwork and she was talking to me. She asked me if she could get up yet and get dressed and I told her she had to wait until 6:45. She then says to me, "mommy, the clock in my bedroom takes a lot longer to get to a new minute than your clock."

Playing "store" .. any guesses?

Can anyone read what this says?

The kids were playing "store."

These are a few of my favorite things...

Linen closets that are extra deep and extra wide!

A child's bedroom with double closets!
A view from Master Bedroom - 5 BEDROOMS!

Laundry room closet - notice laundry shoot on bottom left, that is a wonderful closet

Family room bookcases with brick wall and wood beams - I love character

Basement storage and bookcases are great too

We are soo thankful and could go on and on about all the details and amazing things that have been happening with the house buying and hunting process.

We hope to have some good news about a house soon!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Volume 15)

Eat your heart out!

Real Uggs

$2

Fabulous Find!

Last Set of Photos....

Picnicing

Apple Butter - the old fashioned way

Ellen crawling around in the leaves.

Bonfire time! We bought Marshmallows at this precious little store called "Blue Moon." It is like the 7-11 of the mountains. They have antiques, pickled eggs, drinks and necessities if you don't want to go into town. The kids LOVED the "mallows."

Don't call them mallows - it bothers Nate and I!
Sam rolling logs.

Sam making apple cider at the Apple Festival with some help.

Sam stuck on the playground.

Breathtaking Views

This is just a breathtaking view of the Blue Ridge Mountains! That was also a steep drop-off which made me very scared!

The girls chilling out on the rocks.
Sambo

Happy girl. The only time Ellen was upset when on Nate's back was when we went to the ice cream shop and she didn't get a cone - she went crazy!

Hiking North Carolina

Our vacation to NC was so wonderful. We had fabulous weather - the type where you can wear shorts and a tank top but not be hot. The trees were just beginning to change to fall colors. We did hiking everyday (which is a new thing for our family), drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we ate all our meals at the house (and saved a lot of money doing that), visited little towns, found little playgrounds, ice cream parlors, candy shops and had a bonfire. The house we stayed in had a hot tub and tons of cute little toys for the kids to play with. I am goign to try to post a bunch of photos from the trip today.

Grace and Rita - wonderful sisters on a hike. They loved to run ahead of us and then sit and wait on the rocks until we caught up.

This is the coat hook in the house. It is an old log and I just loved it.
This was the front porch of the house we stayed in.

This was our first hike - we were very excited for this .7 mile hike!

This was how we did it - Ellen was on Nate's back everywhere. Sam held Nate's hand. And the girls ran ahead.

(Thank you Christy for the clothes!)

Wonderful trip to NC

Hiking in North Carolina:

Our front yard at the cabin:

Escaping for the weekend..

We are leaving to go here today!

And now I have friend in Bozeman, Montana!

On the way to Ohio two weeks ago, I sat next to a lady that was knitting. I minded my own business but, of course, I had to ask her HOW ON EARTH she got her knitting needles through security. We then proceeded to talk about knitting and crafts and I found out that in her spare time, she knits wool helmet liners for US serviceman who are in Iraq. She told me all about knitting and potholders and really inspired me to learn more about knitting. We ended up getting into this lengthy conversation about adopting, parenting, healthcare, marriage, and life in general. It was so fun to meet such a neat person on the airplane! She is also a scientist that makes vaccines which is extra facsinating. (Hi Sheri... if you are reading this!) So - what I learned about this was to never be afraid to ask questions and get to know someone. It was a great unexpected treat to start my weekend!