a big weekend

this was actually last weekend... but i had SO many photos.

so i thought i would share some of them and a sort little run down of this crazy busy weekend we had.

friday morning ollie and i joined eislee's class for a field trip to a pumpkin patch over in the valley. it was a blast. one of the best patches that i have been to in the area. in case any locals are interested the place is called "airlie hills farm" in monmouth. 

saturday started early with a volleyball tournament (who knew that volleyball would have 3-5 hours of games every. single. weekend. ack!), then a soccer game, back to the house for dinner and then off to a haunted house with the big kids. our local aquarium has a haunted house every year... a pretty scary one... and my big kids have been begging to go for the last three years. last year i said "okay, next year i will take you"... well, they were not going to let me forget. 

so, we went, took some of their friends, and had an absolute blast.

then sunday... my in-laws drove over from the valley on saturday with 28 boxes of apples that they had picked from their own orchard, and we pressed 24 boxes into cider on sunday (i saved a few for saucing). 

it was one crazy, amazing weekend.

where my focus shouldn't be...

we had wonderful weather this last week and i know that our outdoor work time is running out. that is really where i should have been spending my time. tidying up and tucking in my flower beds that i worked so hard on in the spring. trimming the overgrown roses and rhododendrons. the carport needs to be readied for the winter (it's purpose completely transforms in the cold and rainy months). we also need to finish up that fence extension project. 

yes, that is where my focus should have been...

but instead... 

...it has been completely indoors.

 purging and organizing bedrooms that desperately needed it. they always get into this chaotic state of disarray each summer and at some point in the fall months we must always go through and get things back in order. 

i do feel a tinge of regret looking at the forecast ahead and how small our windows of good weather are growing... but... i still think the time was well spent, and the kids are very grateful.

that little "family" display above... layla did that on her own... i helped a bit... per her request.

she chose the quote below as well. i used to have that one posted in my kitchen. i may need to put that little reminder up again.

i'm really enjoying watching the way that their rooms are slowly coming together, especially in layla's room. we have made most of the "decorations" together over time, and other things we either slowly acquired, or were gifted.  

next summer this desk is going to get a few coats of white paint and that chair will be teal... i am so nervous and excited to dive into furniture painting. i have painted a few things now, but nothing this big and extensive. 

another "inside" project i have been focusing on is some fall stamp carving.

these leaves and pumpkins are on their way to my friend summer, in exchange for some of her adorable peg people. i have traded with summer before here, and the peg family she made for us is one of my kids most loved possessions.

i am also planning to carve a few of the fall leaf sets next week and release them for sale at the beginning of november. this will be my first time doing any sort of sale that isn't a special request. i am excited about giving this a try. i feel it will work much better for me, carving and releasing on my own time. i plan to calculate my price for each set by recording the amount of time i put into each carving and of course my cost for materials. i am going to come up with a price that i feel is a fair trade for the time/money put in and i will release four or five sets for that price. i will be giving notifications on this blog, facebook, and instagram before i actually release the sets so that anyone who wants one will have a chance. i feel like i have absolutely no idea how this will go down... they could sell out immediately or sit for weeks. it will be quite the experiment. 

the little ladies' room.

their "art clothes line" is the best thing i have ever implemented in a bedroom. these girls make a lot of art and being able to display that art... on their own... in their own room... gets them all sorts of excited.

and now i'm off to press apples in the pouring rain... 

because my focus should be inside today...

 and apparently i am running completely backwards in these ways.

in the thick of it

i carved a pumpkin/jack o' lantern stamp collection. if you follow me on instagram you will know that i carved these awhile ago and have recently (as in yesterday night) finished an autumn leaves collection as well. i have been posting things seriously late on this blog, but maybe someday i'll catch up... we'll see. anyway, my little ladies have been having a blast with these stamps and i plan to share some of their creative work soon... along with that leaf collection.

was hoping to give this sweet little thing some love and a fresh coat of paint. i planned to paint it all summer, but i couldn't decide on a color (mostly because i'm just not sure where it will end up in the house). i finally just decided to go with white paint and iron hardware, but now i'm loosing the weather... once again... we'll see.

our bunny... i feel things are going well. i am constantly surprised how much there is to learn about these little critters though. example, i have been finding some strange white stuff in his litter box and thought something was wrong with him... then after some research found that this is normal they just pee out extra calcium and that i should switch him from alfalfa pellets to timothy hay pellets... but since he's still so young alfalfa should be fine for now... okay.

 the chicken tractor is borrowed from my in-laws. the bunny loves it. and yes, we do put his litter box in there. that thing goes everywhere he does so that he always uses it... we clean it out every other day. it has pet litter made from paper, and always fresh hay. did you know that they need hay in their litter box? another one of those strange things... they need it to stimulate their digestive system.

alright... enough bunny talk.

we are officially pet sitters for our big white friend. he is so sweet and so beautiful. we all adore him. i feel like it's the perfect situation. we are going to get to watch him a couple weekends a month (if it works out for us), and get our dog fix.... it really builds up that dog need. then we also don't have the full commitment of a dog, which these dog sitting visits show us we are not quite ready for. 

oh, i sure love him though. doesn't he look like a polar bear?

we are also in our second cycle of the tooth fairy.

our older two went through a cycle together... although layla does still have a few baby teeth. now though, eislee is starting the cycle all over again and i know ollie will not be far behind her. eislee lost her second tooth last night... and the tooth fairy may have forgot to come, ahem. luckily the tooth had fallen to the floor, so i pointed out that the tooth fairy probably just missed it since she was expecting it to be under the pillow and that we should try again tonight. 

this houses' tooth fairy is a bit of a forgetful type, but she has been known to give stickers if she misses two nights in a row... sometimes they almost hope for a miss. 

when my son lost his last baby tooth, the tooth fairy actually missed like five nights in a row. then, the last night before he headed up to bed, he stopped and asked me... "mom, do you think the tooth fairy will actually remember to come tonight?" with a raised eyebrow and a hint of sarcasm in his voice. i just laughed and said "hopefully" with a wink. just another reason i am learning to love my babies growing up. these kids... what would i do without them?