Fall Frolics

Disclaimer: Frank named this post. Please send all comments about silliness and general dorkiness of the title to his attention.

Fall has happened -- to us. We love this season and all there is to do during it. There has been a lot of activity around and to our house this month. Below are the highlights, summations and just some generally goofy photos we'd like to share.

Princess shoes -- third generation. Will the fad/obsession end anytime soon? The first pair (far left) now has holes in the toe area. The second pair is fading fast. To the right is the newest pair which Madelyn refuses to wear because, "they are too big." I give up. Disney, are you listening?

Mason snacking on one of Maddie's socks. Guess dinner wasn't ready yet.

Mason kneeling on the play kitchen. We can definitely see the differences between boys and girls these days. He's mischievous in a very naive way and will open/climb on/throw anything. Time to update the child locks.

Pumpkin patch:

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Raleigh Southern Home show and ended up talking to one of the exhibitors who sold flowers and diverse farm grown goodies. Turns out they have a farm with pumpkin patch, hayrides, catfish pond, chicken coop and other farm related goodness. So we quickly made up our minds to pay them a visit and procure our fall decorations.

Here's Maddie in the middle of the pumpkin patch, grumpily indecisive about which pumpkin should be rescued.

Mason selects his pumpkin, matching it to his size.

Three minutes after grumpy Maddie, we have happy Maddie posing with her chosen pumpkin. I love this photo. She is happy and natural and in her element. Except I had to carry her through the pumpkin patch because she didn't want to get her princess shoes dirty. Okay, she was happy and natural though!

Trying to turn the pumpkin into a carriage with her pink wand. Carrying the wand everywhere doesn't even phase me anymore. After all, there was another little girl at the pumpkin patch with a tutu over sweatpants......

Have pumpkins, will travel.

Maddie was excited about feeding the catfish. No fish at first because it took them a while to figure out that they were being fed. Then a big splash, a squeaking Maddie and there they were, about twenty apparently well fed and accordingly humongous catfish fighting the turtles for the fish food. Maddie quickly turned into a fish feeding pro.


Hangin' at home:

Just a few pics of Mason posing in his cuteness.

Skull cap: check, remote in hand: check. Ma, where's my drink??

Getting my drink on. (Don't worry, it's empty!)

Aw, Ma! Come on, it's like the paparrazi in here! Can't a guy chillax?

Haircuts:

In anticipation of a family photo session we all decided it was time to get purdied up. Maddie has got to be the girliest girly girl on the planet: Hour long screaming matches about what to wear and unbridled excitement upon mention of the word "haircut".....WTH?

At any rate, the kids were taken to the local haircuttery on Saturday afternoon.

Maddie first. It's been a LONG time since her last haircut. I think it was last fall.

Bye-bye blonde! All the blonde hair from her baby days is now all gone. Sniff....

Mason's first hair cut! Apparently he was a wiggly worm during the procedure.

I wasn't there, so Frank was in charge of two haircuts and photos. Go Frank! I was picking up a book for a course I'm taking and got hit by a tour bus en route. No kidding.

NO.......not choking the baby here......Frank said he had to hold his head like this almost the entire time. Mason looks concerned with the hand around his neck and sharp scissors nipping his head....but no one was injured during the process and his hair now looks less like a baby and more like a little boy. Again, sniff, sniff....

More pumpkin fever. We went to the State Farmer's Market last weekend and had to buy, you guessed it, more pumpkins.

NC State Fair:

As hokey as it may be seem, we have an annual tradition of visiting the State Fair. Maddie is now old enough where she can really enjoy it and so we were looking forward to showing her around.

Maddie's first taste of cotton candy. After the cotton candy she proceeded to eat her weight in other nutritious and healthful foods such as popcorn, BBQ, and ice cream.


Mason in the backpack. He stayed awake and alert for the 3 1/2 hours we were there. I think he loved watching all the "interesting" people!

Maddie's pony ride

Comin' around the bend. Actually, these ponies are well taken care of. I got the scoop on that the last time we took her for a ride.

Outside the UNC-TV (PBS) tent, Maddie found some familiar friends.

And inside the tent, she found a tunnel.

More house construction:

After the rush of getting the downstairs painted, the carpet in the living room replaced with hardwoods and the downstairs halfbath redone in time for our collective birthday party it was finally time for the big project: conversion of our deck into a screened porch. Here a few shots taken in the middle of construction. We are very happy with our contractors and the thing is turning out really nice.....much nicer in fact that we had ever expected.....nice surprise for a change. More pictures when everything is done.

And in the middle of all this it was time for our anniversary:

11th anniversary cake. Is Frank trying to tell me something??

Oma and Opa Visit and the Big Birthday Bash

Oma and Opa came to visit with us for a few weeks at the end of August and into September. As always, we loved having them here, they were super helpful, and the kids adored having so much attention.

Their visit was timed so that they could be here for Mason's 1st birthday, but there was so much more going on than just a party.....

A House Decision
Before Oma and Opa arrived, Frank and I explored the idea of selling our current house and moving into something with one more room and one more bath. Everyone's doing it right?? Through lots (and lots and lots) of discussions and some dreaming, we listed what we didn't like about our own house and visited a few larger ones on more acreage that were for sale in the area. We looked at a farm with a 70 year-old house and tobacco barns and a pond, and viewed some other houses in person and online. Nothing was move-in ready and safe and affordable. I could envision Maddie running into the road and Mason sinking in the catfish pond. Don't even get me started on the hazards of old tobacco barns.

Frank and I definitely have some different views on what we might like to live in next, but we both agreed that selling now did not make sense for us. So we decided to make our house more functional. This included painting the inside (finally!!), remodeling the downstairs 1/2 bath, and tearing out the carpet in the living room and finally putting down hardwoods. We rearranged some furniture downstairs and made a larger play space for all of us.

Frank told me I was nutty to try to have it all done before the party, but I was and we did. All those project management skills finally paid off! We love all the changes. Our house feels cozier and roomier and the kids love the extra space. Did I mention it's easier to keep clean? It is.

Having Oma and Opa here to lend a hand through all the craziness was key. We couldn't have gotten the house ready without them. I don't think they rested much while they were here, but they spent a lot of time with the kids and I guess that's why they keep coming back (smile!).

Par-tay Time

I wanted to have a party for both Mason and Frank's birthday milestones. Frank: 40; Mason: 1. Toss into the mix that my Daddy had his own milestone birthday this year -- the big 65, and it was time to party!

On Mason's actual birthday, we let him open a few presents. Here he is in jammies opening his first card....it's a fold out and I don't think he knew what to do with it. He was so funny.



Oma and Opa always give nice wooden German toys. Mason figured out pretty quickly that the balls went in the openings. The hammer didn't really work as well, but he was thrilled with the game he made up for himself.

A family photo. Notice that Mason is eager to get back to the ball game.

Setting up for the party. I was amazed and delighted that so many of my family drove from the coast to visit and share the day with us. It was awesome, even if it did rain...



Lots and lots and lots of cakes. I think it was safe to say that there was no cake wasted!

The birthday boy was not excited about the cake or candle.

In fact, he was quite upset. He cried until we took the cake away. He wouldn't even eat a slice. We tried again for days to get him to eat cake -- he wouldn't even touch it. He started crying whenever we put even a tiny piece on his tray. This kid will not even eat a cookie. Although I tricked him last night and told him I had some chicken and raisin cookie. He ate and ate and ate it. I was pretty pleased with myself. But the question remains, why is he afraid of cake?

At the party, opening the many, many presents and cards he received. We have such generous friends and family. Mason loves his presents and plays with all of them every day! Really, he does!

What I don't have a photo of is the pile of "presents" for Frank. It seemed like everyone brought him a six-pack of beer. The entire counter was FULL of beer for Frank. It was hilarious. He loved it!

And although it wasn't Maddie's birthday, she received a lot of presents also. She definitely didn't feel left out, and kept saying, "This is the best birthday EVER!"

Post party after all the guests left, we discovered an entire unopened serving tray of fried chicken legs. That's what happens when you order too much food! Maddie was in chicken leg heaven and just started walking through the house gnawing on her chicken leg. This photo cracks me up!

Time to Rest and Relax

The next day, we rested and visited our favorite local park, Yates Mill Pond. Hiking around the lake was fun and relaxing. Maddie and I added to our leaf collection. Mason had a great time hiking on Frank's back! He is such a happy boy!

Oma and Maddie throw stones in the pond.

Chillin' with Oma during a restful afternoon in the backyard. I'm not sure where Mason's diaper ends and his tummy begins in this photo. Opa taught Mason to point to his belly on command. Nice trick to impress the ladies!

Opa was lead swing-pusher during the birthday party and most of the next day. Heck, I think Opa stayed in this position for the better part of his stay with us...

Mason gets in on the swinging action...wow, look at that glare from Maddie. What's that about? Sharing is caring, right?

I love this shirt on Maddie and asked her to sit on the step for a photo. Frank and I aren't sure how we made such beautiful babies. No cheesy smiles, just all Maddie.

Painting time. Mason can now pull up to the paint easel tray and loves, I mean loves, to paint. With or without Maddie, he often crawls over, gets the brush in his hand, and mimics painting.

Here they collaborate on a Scholle masterpiece.

Maddie said her painting was of a dark cloudy sky. Not sure what Mason's vision was.