Field Trip to the Apple Orchard

Brooke's first class field trip this year was to an apple orchard about an hour away (by school bus anyway). She got to ride on the school bus for the first time ever, and although I didn't take a picture of her ON the bus....I think that might have been the favorite part of a lot of the kids. There are 17 kids in her Pre-K class and the Kindergarten class of 14 went too, which means 31 kids to herd, I mean help get around. It was chaotic, giggly, entertaining, lots of "don't do that" was said, etc.....and although I have always appreciated what teacher's do, trying to help in these situations makes me realize what treasures the teacher's are!

Most of my pictures on this post were 'snap and grab' shots because with that many students us parents were all put to work too!

The only negative thing about the field trip was the initial smell. I am not sure if it was rotting apples, or them actually making something....but mix that with Brooke's already flared up allergies and nearly every shot I took you will see her nose crinkled up. She is probably sniffling. Just chilling in an organized moment.

Standing in a line (I never said straight line) waiting on their taste of apple cider, fresh honey, and getting a lady bug to release.

Getting a lady bug. One of the dad's was kindly putting them on the kid's for them to walk to the orchard and let them fly away. I giggled because if I were trying to put it on Brooke she probably would have been squealing, but since everyone else was doing it....she did it too with only a few giggles.

Walking it to the orchard....nose crinkled.

"It flew away Momma!"

On the hay ride.....yep, we learned she is probably allergic to hay, insert "AH CHOO" about 30 times....BUT she had a blast. She made room for me to squeeze in beside her for which I was grateful because the rest of the parents had to walk....and it wasn't a short trip!

I was assigned Brooke and this sweet little girl, Emma to help pick apples (or more accurately keep up with). We walked through the orchard picking apples, checking for worm holes, and of course TASTING as we were picking. This is an organic orchard, so we could just wipe the dirt on our shirts and chomp down. I think Brooke ate 3 entire apples yesterday.

This picture is from another Momma. I am sharing it because their actions at age 4 already crack me up. They are officially young little people, not babies. Their conversations are adorable, how they handle situations is so fun to watch. This is Brooke just chatting with her friend Paige.

Paige, Kayleigh and Brooke.

It was a fun day. I am very thankful that Steven makes it possible for me to go on these adventures with Brooke. I get very emotional at how blessed I am!!

American Beauty.

I don't pretend to be a photographer, I do however love capturing pictures of my definition of a true American Beauty. I know I am partial.....and always will be, but I think a few of these could be in a fashion magazine....scary!! This is about 20 feet from our driveway....

I couldn't get her to look at the camera at all because the sun was shining, so you take what you can get! She loves her hot pink 'cowgirl boots' so expect to be seeing them a lot as the weather keeps cooling down.

A typical kid, kicking dirt....

Probably my personal favorite....you can actually see her face, and love the background.

Just chillin'

Do you think they like each other?! Macy has been a really fun addition to our family. Her and Cooper are now officially inseparable. They play, chase one another, cuddle together and hate to go outside without the other one....and it's only been a week!

Brooke FINALLY wore her New Home Leopard t-shirt I decorated for her. I think she will wear it a lot more now because of all the compliments she got on it at school.

Brooke has never minded when Momma is sick or just not feeling well, and here is why.....more quality alone time with her Daddy. Our cowgirl, got herself dressed Saturday morning to go get her flu shot.....and yes, she wore the cowGIRL hat all day long. If you call it a cowboy hat expect to be corrected immediately. ;o)

Too late already....

It is too late already to say we aren't attached to this sweet little girl Macy. Even Cooper is attached and vice versa. When Brooke or a lap isn't around for Macy to rest in, she is right beside Cooper. We were afraid at first that her growling at him was going to lead to trouble, but after about 24 hours here she stopped and is fitting in perfectly. Brooke is begging to get her a pink and purple "girlie" collar.....and I think I will gladly oblige. Miss Macy wasn't around for the crazy toddler years, so she follows Brooke around and wants to be by her all the time. This picture was during Saturday morning cartoons....who do YOU think enjoyed it more?!

We have a busy next few weeks in front of us, a good friend's wedding, teacher appreciation week, field trips starting already, etc... I am praying and pumping vitamins down us like crazy because after a disappointing weekend in football (except Bama of course), Brooke slept ALL afternoon yesterday, went to bed early and STILL woke up crying this morning about being so tired. I am hoping little missy is not running down already! This was the first morning she hasn't been ecstatic about school and was hugging on me, acting like she didn't want me to leave. Here is to wishing everyone a wonderful, WELL week!

Our little guest.

We have a new guest staying with us. Meet Macy, the adorable ratt terrier on the right of my big foot in this picture. She reminds me so much of our first dog Bandit. She is a very sweet little lady who is always welcome in our home, whether it be full time or part time. Brooke woke up this morning asking about her. Cooper is finally leaving her alone enough that they have actually been playing together instead of constant butt sniffing.

The story behind Miss Macy is that a dear friend of ours is going through a rough time right now in having to put his mother (aka Macy's mom) in an assisted living home. That has got to be one of those dreaded decisions no one really wants to have to make for their own parents, but sometimes it has to be done for their own safety. We might get to keep Macy, we might not. That doesn't matter to us. What matters is that our friend's mother is where she needs to be and we will love on Macy while she's here no matter how long that is!

Another picture to make you smile....Brooke STILL won't wear her New Home Leopards t-shirt, even after I bling blinged it.....but I have found her some really cute red and black options courtesy of Target! If you look closely, even her toenails are red and black....haha. Love my girly girl!!

TGIF everyone! And here's to hoping for two really good football games this weekend! Go New Home Leopards and Go Red Raiders!!

School picnic.

Yesterday at Brooke's school the parents were invited to come have hot dogs and sit outside with their kids. There were tons of parents there, and it was nice to get to meet the few I hadn't, as well as see Brooke's huge class all together. Brooke very sweetly took me around and introduced me to every single classmate, and her social skills totally crack me up. Social butterfly for sure (just like her Daddy)!

The first three pictures are courtesy of Miss Kayleigh's Momma. Brooke and Kayleigh.

Posing again, Brooke and Kayleigh.

Momma and her sweetie pie. No, I didn't intentionally match my child.....just happens....a lot.

I was trying to get Brooke to actually LOOK at the camera, but she was having too much fun playing....you take what you can get!

It was so much fun to get to see her in her newest element. She is thriving and already learning so much, as well as polishing up on things she already knows. The thing that makes me giggle the most is that she now knows the Pledge of Allegiance in sign language......ummmm, I don't know even that! They got to meet a fireman yesterday and practice dialing 9-1-1, as well as learning Stop, Drop and Roll.....the best part is seeing her show me when she gets home.

Busy, busy, busy!

I realized I haven't been taking NEAR the amount of pictures of my sweet Brooke as I normally do, and I totally blame SCHOOL for that! The only picture time we have is while eating breakfast, while getting ready for bed....or the in between time when she is exhausted, but doing homework or eating dinner!

Here is Granny reading a bedtime story to a freshly bathed Brooke, in her new handmade bathrobe courtesy of Nana.

And, this morning at breakfast. Love my princess, even when she is dramatic, whiney, exhausted, indecisive, etc.....and would NOT trade her for the world!

Posing....

She had her first 'spill' at school yesterday right before I got there to pick her up. She biffed it on the play ground and has two skinned up knees and two skinned up palms. It was really dramatic last night. She couldn't even WALK....., but this morning....miraculously enough, after a good night's rest and a good breakfast she could RUN into school again!

Tomorrow will be another pep rally day, followed by another home football game that we will walk to. I am learning the rules to six man football, learning that if they are getting beat by 45 points or more at halftime they use the skunk rule and the game is over.....so, here's to hoping for a FULL game this Friday evening with points on both sides of the scoreboard!

Another Before and After.

This week with my folks visiting us for a few days, we really didn't know what to do without Brooke. It's the first time in over four years that it's been just me and my parents, and yes we missed the constant chatter and entertainment, BUT my mom and I found something to keep ourselves busy. Insert another room with wallpaper that just wasn't our taste.

We tried peeling, we tried covering, and in the end WE won. I had primed over this Southwestern wallpaper a couple of weeks ago, so all we lacked was the faux finish on top!

Before picture of our guest bathroom, sorry for the picture quality. It's hard to take pictures of a small area!

And, some After shots. We took white construction paper, wadded it up and wahlah.....our new white walls. I love it because if I get tired of the stark white I can do a faux paint finish over the top!

As for the decor, I am still playing.....so it will be rearranged lots I am sure!

It feels great to have another room finished and looking more like US!

School Days....

Everyone warned me about how tired Brooke would be at the beginning of her full time Pre-K school year, but no one warned me about how tired WE parents would be! Our weekdays consist of earlier than we've ever done rising, during which I get told that she just wants to wear her covers because she is too sleepy to get dressed for school; which led to earlier bed time that I was warned about, but thought I would never need to put her to bed THAT early.

After I get Brooke off to school, one would think I would have time to catch up on bon bon eating and Oprah....but that has been FAR from the case. I have been blessed with some new clients to add to my book keeping business, for which I am grateful. Maybe, just maybe I can get enough of this stuff going to keep me from having to get a 'real' job that would take me away from Brooke's whopping four hours a day at home before bed time.

Since I miss my girl terribly, I thought I would make myself a 'to do' list to keep me busy while she is away at school. I have been busy enough that I have yet to cross any of those things off!

And, for those of you who expect pictures. Since our days consist of SCHOOL and resting from a week of school, here are some schoolish pictures.

Brooke at her first pep rally. If you can't spot her, start at the mad girl on the left and move your way right until you see my girl waving.

Most days after school it is all we can do to get Brooke to eat dinner and do her homework before she is ready to crash for the evening, but this particular afternoon she decided to venture outside and help Daddy with his piles of dirt. Then she griped because her hands were dirty and rushed inside to find the soap. She cracks me up.

Another pep rally day, which also happened to be on the weekend of Tech's season opener. Man, I love these two. They will never truly understand how thankful I am for them.

That brings us to this morning, another pep rally day. Which also happens to be school picture day. Yes, I will ask about NOT having the two together next year. Our child was the only one in Pre-K dressed in her red and black this morning. All of the other kids are more appropriately dressed for pictures that will go in the yearbook.....but after whining and arguing I caved and let her wear her new cheerleading dress Granny made her, with the understanding that she might have to get her picture retaken....haha. She was far more worried about being dressed for the pep rally than pictures! Side note, I also didn't feel like arguing when she wanted to eat her applesauce with a shrimp fork this morning. It went in her mouth right?!

Our little Leopard cheerleader all ready for school pictures. I KNEW I should have kept this hidden until game time!!

We plan to be full blown Leopard supporters and will be attending our first New Home six man football game this evening! Off to finish up her red and black tutu!

A Tradition in the Making.

As parents, one of the many fun things we get to do is we get to pick and choose which family traditions we want to pass on to our child. We also get to add new things and try to make them meaningful. The simple things in life are things that we normally seem to overlook as 'tradition' but this last weekend, Brooke helped us realize that is just what we've been creating. Brooke loves the farm, the tractors, and the garden even more. Last year due to weather and weeds we didn't get to have a garden out there, but this year there has been a great one and Brooke asks about it every weekend! Every single year we have taken her out to the garden to help plant, water, weed, and of course PICK the veggies as well. She enjoys this a lot, and it is also special time spent with her Daddy.

Insert the tradition I have been referring to. Picking and Shelling peas.

Not quite old enough to pick them, and not so sure about shelling them either. Her first year of pea fun, 2006.

2007 was her first year to get to pick them with us. This picture shows what might have been her first discovery of farm dirt.

And she was definitely more interested in shelling them that year as well.

2008, picking peas in the hot sun. This was the first year she filled her own sack.

And this year, 2010. I haven't shot any pictures of her in the garden yet, I will do it soon though I promise. Just a fun shot of how much she's changed through the years. And that Daddy can now say he's done something I am sure few have, which is shell peas with a princess!

Who was concentrating harder here?!