Who Do You Think R Looks Like??

In the process of packing, David and I have come across some old pictures of ourselves. It has been fun to look back at each other 20 + years ago! :) However, it has stirred up a question as well ... who does Ryan most resemble as a child? We both have our own differing answers {we are too biased!} so we need your help and opinions! Leave us a comment below and let us know your vote :)

David as a child {the little boy on the left, wearing navy pants}

Melissa as a child

Our Boy :)

Now get commenting, pretty please :) We're looking forward to seeing the results!!

Apple Picking

What better way to ring in the fall then a trip to the apple orchard!?!? None in my opinion :) So yesterday, we headed up to the "Apple Capital of Georgia" for some apple picking and family fun. Last year, we went to the Apple Festival in Ellijay, but had never been to an actual apple orchard before {by the way, I preferred the orchard much better!}

There were several different orchards in town so our first task was figuring out which one to go to ... we decided on B.J. Reece Orchards. It was a good choice!


The orchards were all U-pick meaning we got to go into the orchards and pick our own apples with our very own hands :) We just had to decide what size bag we wanted to take home, pay for it {which is much cheaper than the grocery store}, and start picking. They had a huge selection -- Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Red Delicious, Stayman Winesay, Arkansas Black, and others.

Ryan was a great little picker!!

Pull!!

There was also lots of other fun stuff to do at the orchards besides picking apples! We went on a hayride, had some goodies to eat from the bakery -- apple fritters and apple cider {Ryan probably had 4 glasses!}, and visited the petting farm.

Hayride!

Lunch time/Playtime :)

There were 8 week old puppies that R adored!

A calf ... it still drank out of a bottle :)

Just for kicks, I did a quick Google search to see if there are any apple orchards near our soon-to-be new home, and I am happy to report that there are ... one that looks very impressive actually! :) I will be looking forward to checking it out this time next year!

Weekend Road Trip

This past weekend, we took a road trip up to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit Aunt Ray-Ray and Joe, and to see their new house. It proved a little difficult to find a free weekend for BOTH of us {before we move}, but this weekend ended up working out {after Rachel decided not to go to the Clemson vs. Auburn football game -- thanks Rach!}, and we are sure glad it did because we had a lovely time!!

Joe and Rachel's new house is nice and has a great backyard, which the dog and Ryan enjoyed playing in. There is a hummingbird feeder back there too that attracts hummingbirds constantly -- it was so cool! I think we may have to get one when we move :) We even saw several deer wandering around {behind the fence} on Saturday morning!

Ryan and Boomer the Dog

A hummingbird -- they flap their little wings SO fast!

It was a little chilly and rainy on Saturday, but we were still able to enjoy the outdoors a little. We went to a nice playground at the McDowell Nature Preserve {not far from their house} after breakfast on Saturday morning, and then took a stroll down to Lake Wylie.

Boo!

Then we went to lunch at Fuji Japanese Steakhouse, and picked up some ice cream from Coldstone {or a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte if your name starts with an M} for an after dinner treat. Yum!

Throwing pennies in the fountain before lunch :)

The gang at lunch!

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing, napping, watching football, eating pizza and ice cream and cookie dough :), and watching football some more. There was some playing and movie watching in there as well, for the 2 year old in the group :)

The cookie dough girls :)

We headed home on Sunday -- in time to stop by and see Aunt Laura and Daniel's new apartment, unpack, get something to eat for dinner, and go to the Falcons vs. Eagles game that night {what a game to watch!!}

It was certainly another GREAT weekend!!

A FarmTastic Friday

Our schedule this fall is jam packed with play group, preschool, speech, sport tykes, and MOPS. We are soaking it all in while we can!! :) Today, however, we had nothing scheduled, not to mention that it is an absolutely gorgeous day, so the little guy and I ventured to TheArtBarn at Morning Glory Farm for some fun. It was FarmTastic!!


The theme at the farm today was chickens so everything centered around them -- we started off in the hay barn petting chickens and reading a story about a hen and her eggs {Dora's Eggs}. R was a little antsy during this part. He had no desire to pet the chickens {I think he was afraid of them}, and just wanted to go see the "an-mals" already.

R loved hearing the roosters crow and would say, "Mom, what's that?" :)

Checking out The Funky Chicken Coop with Miss Debbie

Ryan got his wish as we headed out to the farm after story time for some hands on time with ALL the animals. We met chickens, ducks, bunnies, lambs, goats, cows, donkeys, horses, and pigs! We got to see a farm FRESH egg, and pet a baby chick {that was only a week old} as well.

Ryan really likes horses ... he will fit in well in Lexington!

The baby chick :)

Holding the fresh egg with Miss Debbie's help

Donkeys,

sheep,

and pigs galore!

Then we painted a picture of a chicken in TheArtBarn, went on a hayride pulled by a '57 Ford tractor named Matilda, and had a picnic under the huge old magnolia trees. And before we left, R chased a beautiful rooster all over the farm :)



It was an egg-citing morning!! And as Farmer Sue would say, hawgsnkisses to you all!!

The Long Weekend

As is typical in the Army way of life {one of the GREAT things}, the big guy of the house had a 4 day weekend for Labor Day :) and we soaked up every minute of it together ...

Bowling for the first time,

Playing at the pool -- with Ellie!,

Shopping for new fall clothes and a Halloween costume for the little guy,
Watching football,

Shooting {if your name starts with a D},

Going to a 30th birthday party for old friends {while R hung out with Aunt Laura},
Packing up some boxes,

Making sensory bottles,

Watching it rain all day while never getting out of our pajamas,
A late night run to Dairy Queen,
Watching a few movies -- the best one being Something Borrowed, and

Having a cookout at Dad's.

It was really enjoyable -- fun and relaxing!! And we are already looking forward to the next one :)

ABC Song

Ryan has recently started singing the ABC Song ... very clearly!! It is SO cute!! We have been working on teaching him his ABC's, but honestly have no idea how he learned the song so quickly. We have NOT spent a lot of time singing it to him! All I can say is he is one smart cookie!! :) And as I have probably mentioned before, he seems to have a great memory!!

Ever since, we have been trying to capture it on video {did I already allude to how cute it is?? :)}, but with no such luck; however, that changed after dinner tonight ... he started singing, I got out my phone {which is how it normally goes}, and then we were some how able to talk him into singing it again once I was ready to start recording {the part that normally doesn't happen, even with bribery}.

Be forewarned that you see his back most of the time {didn't want to do anything to stop him from singing}, but you can hear him loud and clear ... and he even sings it twice!! :)

Ryan Goes to Preschool

Today was Ryan's first day of preschool at our church :) He is growing up SO fast!! He will be going to school this fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM to 1 PM. There are 12 kids in his class (all between 29 -36 months of age) and 2 teachers -- Ms. Christine and Ms. Heather. Their daily schedule is as follows:

8:50 - 9:15 Children arrive for the day
9:20 - 9:50 Playground or Trinity Hall
9:55 - 10:20 Snack
10:20 - 10:40 Diapers/potty
10:40 - 11:00 Sing along with musical instruments (and the music teacher comes on Thursdays)
11:05 - 11:40 Crafts and centers
11:45 - 12:00 Story time
12:00 12:30 Lunch
12:30 - 1:00 Bible story/nursery rhyme activity

David and I dropped Ryan off this morning {after a yummy breakfast of doughnut holes :) }, and he did great! His eyes got a little watery on two occasions, but he never cried ... and I am sure the familiarness of being at our church where he goes to the nursery on Sunday mornings and has attended VBS {in the same room actually}, comforted him. And once he gets to know the other children and his teachers, and realizes how much fun he is going to have each day, I think he will be begging to go each morning!

Walking inside to his classroom. Ryan likes to walk
on the speed bump as if it is a balance beam :)

Ryan has a renewed love for Buzz Lightyear these days so we got him a Buzz Lightyear book bag {which he has walked around the house wearing for days, and had no desire to take off when he got to his room this morning} and a Toy Story lunch box -- to Mommy's dismay ... I originally bought him an "old man's lunchbox" {according to Daddy}which I had to swap out for something kid friendly and hip, last night :) Whatever makes my boys happy, right?!?! He did look so cute this morning with the matching combo!

Our big boy with all his "stuff."

And hopefully he eats the lunch that I packed him in that Toy Story lunch box! He is as picky as his daddy, but in a different way {confusing, I know ... try fixing dinner for them!} :), and the school is nut free so no peanut butter and honey on fish bread like he eats at home most days. He had plenty of options though so I am sure he won't starve -- turkey, pepperoni, a cheese stick, wheat thins, yogurt, raisins, and fruit snacks!

Being greeted by Ms. Christine when he arrived. Love this shot!

We hope Ryan has a great few months of school, and know he will learn a lot -- academically and socially!!

On a little side note, I was dreading what I was going to do with my "extra" time this morning, but I am happy to report that it has flown by, and I have managed to find plenty to do :) I will, however, admit that it was a little weird not having Ryan here with me ... there were several times this morning that I sat here thinking he was going to walk in any second from his nap {or Riley was barking and I hoped that she didn't wake him}, and had to quickly remind myself that he wasn't here :( I guess this new routine will take some getting used to for Mommy too!

Okay, I am off to pick-up my boy :) ... Yay!!!

Update: Ryan had an awesome first day!! He never cried and loved playing with the trains, according to his teachers {which doesn't surprise me as he normally starts talking about trains the minute will pull into the church parking lot ... they must have some good ones because he doesn't show much interest in them anywhere else}. He played on the playground, ate most of his lunch, and did an art project involving hearts and the color red.

When we got home he played/watched Meet the Letters {a learning DVD} for about 30 minutes. Then I told him he either had to take a nap {he hasn't been taking naps everyday lately because they cause havoc at bedtime} or have some quiet time in his room. He immediately chose to EAT :) ... a fish sandwich with peanut butter and honey. Guess he wasn't stuffed from lunch! Then he went to his room to look at some books {which he likes to look at himself rather than be read too ... yes, we are at that stage!}, and have an hour of quiet time. A few minutes later, this is what I found ...

School was tiring!! And notice that he changed into
his long sleeve Buzz shirt {from last fall, meaning it is
too little} as soon as he got home.