All in a Weekend

It is better to be busy. At least, I keep telling myself that. Things have gotten pretty busy around our house lately. But fun too. This weekend is a perfect example. First of all, this is the busiest time of the year for Anthony so I consider myself a single-mother for at least the month of October. He works from 7-8 in the morning until about midnight, at least 6 days a week. So everything I do I have to do by myself - with 4 boys in tow. Fun.

On Saturday morning E and C had their last soccer game of the season. Yay and bummer. They really loved soccer and are both getting to be pretty good. But it is getting pretty cold out there on the soccer field so Mama is glad it's over! Their cool coach gave them awesome medals - thanks Tom!!When that was over it was costumes on and off to Boo at the Zoo. Anthony's bosses were super kind enough to give us a 2 year family membership to the zoo!! Yay!! Definitely one of the families favorite places so what a great gift. We are going to make the best of it, starting with Boo at the Zoo. It lightly rained most of the time we were there, which was fun, but the boys didn't care and had a great time. I should mention how awesome they were, too. Totally stayed by me and I didn't fear of losing one of the even once! Wow.

As you can see, this year we have 2 commandos, one purple dragon, and one cute pumpkin. All of the boys have worn the pumpkin costume so it's special. We got home after dark that day (couldn't miss Captain America and Iron Man's talk about recycling!!) and everyone fell into bed. On Sunday morning we were invited to a baptism for a friend's baby. Yeah! Very nice baptism (from what I could tell between hauling the boys outside - it's hard to keep 4 boys sitting still by myself!) and then really, really yummy cake afterwards. We stopped at home long enough to throw a potluck dish together and we were off to the airfield for a kids day at the airport. A very nice couple from church invited the kids out for a ride on their plane and they were super excited. I didn't realize, as I had missed church for the baptism, that the airport excursion had been expanded to anyone from the church and soon many of our members began to show up. Needless to say, there wasn't enough time for everyone to have a ride. :( It was very sad. C was the most excited when the planes started up and flew by. He waited and waited for his turn but I kept saying, just wait, it's almost your turn.

W was invited by one of the other kids to go on the first ride - along with an adult member, her adult son, and his girlfriend. Wait, wasn't this for kids? Then another couple and their grandchild - who didn't go to our church? Then a family, who were kind enough to take E. Then another family from church. Then - wait - is that a group of the older adults from church. Huh. Ok, next time C! Oh, that's the last ride? I felt so bad. The couple that was offering the rides had promised the plane to someone else later that day and so we had run out of time. They felt really bad and have offered to take our family up sometime, but it wasn't their fault. However some of those adults could have made sure the kids had gone first? Maybe? Sigh. He handled it like a trooper - but I still feel bad. I need to learn to be more aggressive! Or something.

As close as J got to an airplane. :)

W after his ride. I couldn't get a good one of E because he took off running after some bug as soon as he could get out! But we have pictures JUST like that from when we were little. :)

It was a fun weekend. But tiring. And as this is Halloween week, every day is pretty much like this. Who said parenting was boring??

Apples, Apples and more Apples!

Any of you who are also followers of my sister's fabulous blog will already know that the boys and I visited Grandpa and Minka last weekend and had a great time! It is always fun to be home and especially when we find fun things to do. Actually, to be honest, it can be a little exhausting for mama to try to keep the boys contained in one area of my parents large house and yard, while keeping them settled down and nothing broken. But still, it's their favorite thing to do. Between my mother and my sister, we were fed yummy food, too - always the best part!

So my sister and I got the bright idea that we'd take the boys out to pick apples. Of course, it was probably the coldest day so far, but they don't care! So we bucked up and hauled them out to an apple orchard that allowed you to pick your own apples. They had the best time! We tried mightily to get them to pick apples that would be good for baking or eating, but basically they just picked any apple that was at their level and looked interesting. 26 pounds of apples! YES. They loaded up their bags until they couldn't carry them any more. And then Mama had to carry them. Of course. Which didn't stop them from picking.

We also were able to get some great pictures of them. There truly are few things more beautiful than an apple orchard in the fall.

At the end of the day, we made classic apple pie and a 'Becky Original' apple pie, both in my parents convection microwave - an interesting experience. But still fun. And yummy! I also made apple crisp and STILL have apples left... Fall is such a fun time of the year!

Oh, and the boys spent Saturday helping Grandpa move my sister's family into their new house. They worked so hard and Grandpa said they carried lots of heavy things and didn't quit once. He was so proud of them (me too!!).

Ready to go apple picking!

The boys' cousin with his apple.

My sister and baby checking out the apples.