Jackson's Orchard

One of our Fall bucket list activities is always Jackson's Orchard and we try to hit it up the week we are off for Fall Break.  If you have to head to Jackson's on a Saturday, be ready for insane crowds of people.  But if you go during the week, it's sooooo nice. We were so glad we were able to make it during the week.

We've been trying to get Granna and Grandad to go with us the past few years, but it seems like something would always come up to where it didn't work out.  But not this year!  We were so excited they got to come along, too.

Ah, the Cider Slider is a perennial hit with the kids....old and young.  This is also where it pays to come on a weekday.  Kids can go down the slide as many times as they could possibly want during the week, but when it's so super busy on Saturdays, the lines get extremely long.  Hadley and Grandad raced Granna and Canaan down the slide.  Not sure who won all the different races, but I know they had a ball.

I got out of the slide this year since I'm pregnant.  Believe it or not, the Cider Slider can be rather bumpy and I'm not sure the baby would've appreciated that too much.

Feeding the animals is another bonus of coming to Jackson's on a weekday.  They aren't stuffed from the hundreds of people trying to force feed them, so they are actually hungry and more than willing to interact with the kids. 

The tire climbing wall was a new addition to the Orchard this year, but it was super fun, too.  

And I how I love these pictures of Granna and Grandad on the rope swing.  Now are they cool grands or what?

I always get a slight gerbil in an exercise wheel feeling when I see these things, but kids seem to love being pushed and rolling and flopping around in these things.  They seem painful to me, though.

Granna had to work hard to keep Canaan inside.  Somehow he kept almost falling out.

After snacking on some delicious fried apple pies and apple cider slushes, we took a tour of the apple barn area and watched the assembly line of apples coming through after they had been picked.  Granna got a big bag of apples to make some of her fabulous homemade apple pies, which we enjoy as our winter dessert when we visit at their house.  Well, it was another wonderful day full of fun times at Jackson's Orchard.  Hadley gets to head back here in another week or so for a field trip, which will even include a hayride trip down to the pumpkin patch.  Thanks for a great day, Jackson's!

Gatlinburg 2015

Our annual Gatlinburg trip with my family was a much anticipated event in our house.  Staying in a cabin with my whole family and having cousin camp in the mountains is just too much fun.  All five of the big cousins slept together in pallets on the floor, just as they did last year.  It won't be long until Lawson and Jude join their bigs and make that pallet even bigger and wilder.  Trying to get that many kids to sleep at one time is no easy feat, I can assure you.

Most of our meals are eaten at the cabin, which is a great money saver and it's hard to get seating for as many people as we have in our crew now anyway.  So we usually hit the strip after supper for some fun times with the whole gang.

My Uncle Mark's family was able to come at the same time as us this year, as they have been doing the past several years.  So he and Aunt Susan's two grand babies were with them.  We absolutely love having Nana and Grandaddy with us and they love getting to watch their greats and spend time with them.

There is no shortage of food in the cabin, as my mom starts making food days before our trip.  We have soups, nachos, enormous breakfasts, and desserts galore. 

We affectionately called this the stroller mafia.  When my cousins, Matt and Robbie, joined us with their kiddos in strollers, things got really crazy.  My how things have changed for us!

The highlight of my Saturday was an awesome hike in the park.  It was gorgeous and it was so nice to just be outside, walking alongside an amazing creek, and breathing in all that mountain air.

I even got to wear my special Halloween shirt this year.  The kids got the biggest kick out of seeing the little baby skeleton.  

Next year on our trip, our 3rd little Stinson baby will get to join us and I can hardly wait for that!  In the meantime, though, I am soaking up wonderful memories with my sweet family of four!  Already looking forward to our Gatlinburg trip next year!

It's Fall Y'all!!!

It's no secret that Fall is my most favorite time of the year.  I look forward to its arrival months ahead of time.  Heck, I start going to Hobby Lobby in July just to smell the fall candles that have already made their debut.  I also love to add some Fall decor in and around our house.  

We love marking off our Fall activities as we complete them each year.  Each and every thing on the canvas is a special tradition for our family and Fall just isn't complete until we've accomplished each activity.  

I found this nifty countdown calendar at Jo-Ann's Fabrics this year for super cheap.  The kids loved moving the ghost each day, as we got closer and closer to Halloween.

  I love trying to make each changing season and Holiday special for the kids.  Hopefully it will be a memory they look back on fondly.  But in the meantime, we are ready to have a ton of fun this Fall!

And then there were 5....

Guess what???!!!  I want to shout it from the roof-tops!!  We are so excited to announce to everyone that we are expecting another precious baby in March of 2016.  The past year was tough on us as we experienced two miscarriages.  I was trying to come to terms with the fact that maybe God just didn't have it in his plan for us to have another baby, even though my heart's desire was to grow our family again.  But then...when I least expected it, God completely shocked me when I found out that we were actually expecting. We are over the moon with excitement and just marveling at God's graciousness.  Can't wait to meet our little tie-breaker!

Happy Birthday Nana

On September 18th, my Nana turned 80 years old.  A couple of weeks later, my mom and her brothers threw her a big ole' birthday party at my parent's house.  I loved this sweet childhood picture of Nana on the cake.  She and my grandfather are amazing people and I love them dearly.

Most everyone ate outside on various tables, so the kids played and had the biggest time.  This would be why Canaan's face is so dirty and looks like he's been rolling around in the dirt.

All of the kids in this picture are great grand-children of Nana and Grandaddy, except for the three adults, obviously, and Lydia (far right) who is just a regular ole' grand child like myself.  Oh, and Tiffany's two girls aren't even in the picture for some odd reason.  This would bring the great grandchild total up to 12.

Nana and Grandaddy with all five of their children.  They have been so very blessed.

We had a great night celebrating Nana's 80 years.  We were so thankful for all the family and friends who came out to celebrate her life.  We love you Nana...and Great-Nan!

Canaan's 3rd Birthday

Our tractor-loving little guy turns three years old today!  How can this boy be three years old?  He has the most fun, outgoing personality of any three year old I know.  I could say it a million times and it not be enough; I am SO glad God blessed me with all things boy with our little guy.  Can I tell you how much fun I had planning a John Deere tractor themed birthday?  It was a ball!

I was able to use things we already had around the house or in storage to decorate for the party, which made it one of the easiest parties we've had.  I did spend a lot of time making the fabric banner, but it was a fun way to unwind, tying all those strips in knots onto the string.

Mums are already in abundance since Fall officially begins in a couple of weeks, so yellow mums were a nice floral addition.

Look at all these cousins!  Jill and Patrick's girls were staying with Granna and Grandad for the weekend so they got to come and my brother and sister's families came bringing all my other nieces and nephews.  I have 7 nieces and nephews now and they are SO fun!  Cousins are built-in best friends and I'm so thankful my kids have a bunch of them!

I had green kool aid for the kids and called it tractor fuel, Milo's sweet tea, and homemade lemonade.  I stuck with the yellow, green, and brown color scheme even for the drink station.

The food for this party was so nice and simple because I just did shredded pork, grilled hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, and individual bags of my favorite potato chips (Miss Vickie's).

Cow tales, iced sugar cookies, cupcakes, old-fashioned individual pies, and milk were nice sweet treats to round out our big lunch.

Canaan got some toy tractors and other boy toys that tickled him to death.  He wanted to play with everything, as soon as he opened each gift.

Perhaps Canaan's favorite gift of the day was from his Ma: a bubble lawn-mower.  This boy absolutely loves mowing grass with his daddy, but he loves blowing bubbles, too.  So when you combine lawn mowing and bubble blowing, you have created magic for Canaan.  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for a birthday party.  We were so blessed with all the family and friends who came from near and far to celebrate with us.  We are so thankful for this little guy's life.  Happy Birthday sweet Canaan....we love you to infinity and beyond!

Our Highland HERO

We were so excited when Ms. Feese sent a note home with Hadley saying she had been selected to be her class's Highland HERO for the month of August.  Our guidance counselor came up with this program, which recognizes students for showing honesty, effort, respect, and optimism.  Each homeroom selects two students per month, throughout the school year, to recognize for showing these outstanding behaviors.  Justin made sure he worked things out so he could see Hadley get her certificate when she got recognized, and I already get to be there so it worked out perfectly.

We hope our girl continues to model these behaviors.  Congrats to our little Highland HERO; we couldn't be prouder of you!