Random

Here's a random shot Reed took of himself - I thought it was pretty darn cute, and that's my only excuse for posting it :)

The boys are with their Gram & Papoo staying in a hotel in Asheville for a couple days - a super special treat for them, as they love their grandparents, they love hotels, and they love to not have to drive out of town. I miss 'em of course, and am also savoring these last few times I'll have good chunks of no-kid time... Because in a couple months, even when the boys are gone, we'll have a new little squirmy lovey bundle in the house to keep up occupied!

Now if I can only get motivated to actually do something productive...

Edited ::: Thought I'd share the cute photo Gram just sent of the boys and Papoo in the hotel pool - nice!

Christmas

I do believe this was one of the loveliest Christmases we've had in a while. First of all, it's dumping snow outside, and still coming down! We decided to take the present part out of Christmas. Of course the kids would be super sad if there were no presents at all, so we just did them a few days before Christmas. That way Christmas day can be about family and LOVE and not about "stuff".

We woke up Christmas morning to lots of fresh snow!

We stuffed ourselves with eggs, bacon, oranges and homemade cinnamon rolls ... yum! We kept the woodstove going all day while the boys watched movies, cut snowflakes and drew pictures next to the warmth of the fire.

Reed worked on his new puzzle:

We had wanted to go see a movie at the theater, but didn't trust the road conditions. We did have lots of fun building snowmen and sledding ramps in the yard! Hopefully we'll go see that movie today (writing this on the 26th). We got more snow last night, and here's the view out the front window as I write this (looks like someone wants to come in from the cold!)...

Stay warm everyone! Love, Julie and the boys

Wintery Goodness

A couple weeks ago, we got our first snow. We had our friends Shonna and Leah over and made some graham cracker houses and played in the new snow. Thanks to Shonna for all the great snow play photos!

22 weeks

More than half way along now. Got to see an ultrasound yesterday, and little Baby Bealle was hanging out with it's knees to face, and feet straight above the head - yoga baby!
A big yawn - picture looks kinda weird, but it was pretty cute to watch baby do it :)

~ Week in Review ~

What a beyond beautiful week we've had in the mountains!! Perfect weather for driving to neighboring towns to check out their skate parks:
Clay rockin his ollie:
Got the kids to help rake the yard, which they made into a fort of some sort, with bedrooms and such - I'm a little confused by the whole thing, but hey - at least they raked.
While I relaxed and checked out the remaining Autumn leaves and the clear skies...
All that raking meant finding lots of sticks, which of course (for boys at least) means FIRE!
Reed got a great find at the thrift store down the road. We had a smaller version of this wooden marble run, we found a HUGE set still with the box and instructions for $7!
And in case you didn't know, or just thought I was eating too many donuts, I am indeed cooking a lil' bun in my oven :) This week I am 21 weeks, so just past half-way!
Love, julie

Halloween!

I really do like this holiday, even though I gripe about all the candy-begging that goes on :) I'm a big fan of costumes and parties and apple bobbing and all of that - so all of my friends should stop calling me a party pooper already! The boys rocked out their costumes this year. My sewing machine is being used by the Homeschool Co-op right now, so the boys were left to their own devices for costumes, with mainly the use of the hot glue gun. Clay made an awesome zombie and Reed did a spooky mummy (okay, I made it, but Reed certainly helped :)

The trick-or-treating kid crew:
Part of the grown-up crew:
The hot and tired trick-or-treaters sorting and feasting!
For the last photo, I'll leave you with the fairly disturbing image of Clay eating a warhead candy haha! I think he nearly cried...

Happy Halloween!!

Hunter's Moon

Basking in the chilly nights of the Hunter's Moon and I LOVE this season! Leaves changing, warm soup, apple cider, halloween parties...

Our homeschool co-op had a great halloween party this year. There was a bounce house, a bake sale, a costume contest, scarecrow making, cupcake walk, face painting and more that I'm probably forgetting! It's good for us to have this a few days before halloween, or else I will literally put off making costumes until Halloween Eve (if not later)...

Reed won "Most Mummy-ish" in the costume contest:
This was my contribution to the party - a "feelie" box with all sorts of random foods inside - leaving the kids to guess if it was actually brains, or maybe just a boiled cabbage (the smell gave that one away for sure :)
Awesome cupcakes made by a homeschoolin' mama for the Cupcake Walk game:

Another day we went to the Eliada Home Corn Maze with the Homeschool Co-op... the kids had a blast, especially burying each other in the corn box:


A not-so-great thing about the season is it brings to an end the farmers markets. The one in Black Mountain had an end-of-season Harvest Party with demos of sheep herding, mozzarella cheese stretching and more. The kids got to hold animals and milk a goat!

Midwest

Took a mini-vacation to Nebraska to visit with family this weekend. You can't even mess with the corn mazes out there - I was so impressed! We went to Skinny Bones Corn Maze if you ever are in the Omaha area, I highly recommend this place in the Fall - HUGE corn maze, beautiful scenery, lots of extra things to do including a nerf gun war zone :)

Corn!!

Even haunted outhouses - the kids had a blast!!

We stayed with my mom and one of my brothers. Their dog is the funniest I've ever met, he can do this trick, as well as play fetch with himself by lying on his back with the ball in his front paws above him, roll the ball down his legs, catch it in his mouth, and do it over and over again... so cute! (and Reed's new best buddy :)

We went to the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, which is a must-see if you are anywhere near Omaha. It's one of the top rated in the country, and does use the reciprocal zoo pass, if you are a member of another zoo. It has a rainforest area, which included these funny tapirs:

A butterfly and insect house, with great benches for photos with Grandma!
And a really neat aquarium (the boys were SO excited to have sharks swim over them!)

Will post more soon! Lots going on around here ~ Love to all!

Laying New Roots

We moved again! (just can't get enough of it apparently!) The boys and I are still in Asheville, just moved in with a most wonderful man :) I apologize to all my friends I've been ignoring this last month (yep, that's all of you - I'm lame). Big changes happening!! After 5-1/2 years of providing childcare out of my home, I've called it quits. I was ready to head a new direction, and have been feeling that the boys were getting their homeschool activities put aside in leiu of toddler nap schedules and such. So, the new house is bigger, even with bigger yard destined for fruit trees and backyard ducks and chickens and lots of new goodness! The boys love it! I'm still getting settled in, a little bit living out of boxes, but glad to be in a comfy spot and feeling the love...

I hardly have been taking photos lately, but remembered to grab my camera when Bobby and the boys made a new skate ramp in the back yard this week.
Boys lending some body weight:

Love you all! I'll try to update sooner than later.

Carolina Hemlock

A beautiful day to go on our first tubing trip of the season. We went down to the South Toe River and tubed at the Carolina Hemlock campground. I went here several times as a kid, and was so glad to re-explore the land and share it with the youngins.



Taking a watermelon break with a friend:
Reed tries to catch minnows:
A good swimming hole was found:

And then back to do a little more tubing before heading home:
Always plenty of fun happening in these parts - come out for a visit!
Much love, Julie & the boys ~~~