Apples of my eye

We have lived in this city for nearly 6 years. And we finally made it to the popular apple orchard this weekend. The cool weather came out of nowhere and immediately put me in the fall mood. I absolutely love fall!

We rummaged through the closets to find some warmer clothes and headed up the mountain to this beautiful place.

The twins were well behaved.

Our cousin Mathers, an Alabama girl, is living with us this year and enjoying Virginia's change of seasons.

We picked some delicious apples, sipped hot apple cider, took a hay ride, and finished it off with some apple cider donuts.

Caleb refuses to bite his food and instead shoves huge chunks of food into his mouth.

A wonderful first visit. And definitely not the last.

Final Piece

Well, the final piece of our family puzzle {at least for this year} was safely put into place last week.

Congrats to my sister Kate and her husband Oscar.

Welcome Camden Beau Heidbreder.

What a cutie!

My parents are in Texas now visiting little Beau and loving on mama Kate.

Let the good times begin!

Firsts

Well, the time has come. It's official. I now have a child in school.

I have kind of suppressed the thought of school since it mostly reminds me of Robbie's absence. He would be going to 1st grade!

We decided Eveley would go to preschool this year. She turned 4 in April and seems ready for a classroom and learning environment. Call me a nerd, but I really enjoyed school and believed Eveley would as well.

I signed her up for Transitional Kindergarten at a church preschool where she will be going 5 days a week. This is the first church we joined after moving to the area, and these people have become family. Their children's programs are phenomenal and the staff is full of beautiful, godly people. We are very blessed to have this opportunity for Eveley to be loved and nurtured by such wonderful influences.

Eveley had a bit of separation anxiety from her mama after the twins were born. Who could blame her? But VBS was a great training ground, and we have really encouraged her about school over the past month.

Yesterday, she decided she wanted me to write her teacher a letter. So she dictated the following

Dear Teacher,

I love school, and I'm not going to cry. You are the bestest teacher in the whole world. I will not say 'Oh my God' or 'Oh my heck' and I want to learn how to read.

From Eveley Joy

Umm... so I didn't write the note exactly as she wanted me to.

This morning, she woke up excited about school. On the ride there, she piped up from the back seat, "Mom, you know I am never alone because God is always with me."

"You are absolutely right, Eveley!" I said.

Then she proceeded to quote her Bible verse from Sunday school.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Robert 3:5".

With the hundreds of Roberts in our family, it makes perfect sense! I couldn't bear to correct her. =)

She then told me she wanted to do the drop off! (This means, I will just pull up to the curb and let a teacher walk her into the school.) And she did. Without even looking back.

This is a HUGE turning point in our family's life...or that's the way it feels right now. We are losing a bit of our flexible, pajama-filled days. And the schedule requires us to be out of the house by 8:20 each morning. Do you realize what this means?

By 8:20, I must:

wake up. start coffee. change Jack. drink coffee. nurse Jack. put Jack in swing. kiss Caleb and Eveley good morning. tell Caleb to step away from Jack. wake up Ryan. change Ryan. nurse Ryan. tell Eveley I can't answer questions until I've finished my second cup of coffee. move Jack to bouncy seat. put Ryan in swing. fix Caleb some waffles and milk. fix Eveley her PB&J and milk. shower. (hopefully). dress Caleb. dress Eveley. dress myself. fix Eveley's hair. fix my hair. drink coffee. pack the diaper bag. pack Eveley a snack and drink. put on some mascara. pump. find car keys. find everyone's shoes. put Jack in car seat. find Jack's paci. put Ryan in car seat. find Ryan's paci. carry twins downstairs to garage. yell at older kids to come on. wipe sweat from brow. fill up travel mug with coffee. put twins in car. remind Eveley to buckle. buckle Caleb in car. remind Eveley to buckle. remind Eveley to buckle. drive away smiling and singing, "This is the Day," at the top of our lungs.

Fortunately for me, God is very wise. He knew that this would be impossible. So, without my knowledge or advice, He orchestrated a beautiful plan that included having my neighbor offer to take and bring Eveley home three days a week and supplying us a live-in nanny! (more on that later...)

He Loves Her. He Really Loves Her.

My darling Caleb is 2. Enough said.

He is overflowing with spunk and syrup. I love him to pieces.

But he made the transition with the twins quite difficult. As any 2-year-old boy, he wanted to push, poke, and prod. Leaving him unattended anywhere near the twins was just out of the question. This made maneuvering through the house almost impossible.

We instructed him to "pet" the babies like a kitty cat. That was the best I could come up with. Words like "gentle" and "baby" just didn't register with him.

But he has turned over a new leaf and is a little smitten by Miss Ryan.

 

 

 

Wish I could say the same for her.
(camera phone photos!)