Canadian trip 2015

Fall is my favorite.  I love so much about it.  It is a time when I put my garden to bed.  A time when chile gets roasted and tomatoes get canned.  The bees are nestled in their winter digs as we nestle in our cozy sweaters and boots.

One of our favorite things to do when he leaves start to change is to visit Canadian.  They have a Fall Foliage Festival every October.  Though we don't attend the festival, we do like to make our own day to take in the beauty of the change.

This year, even though we went later than normal, we were too early for much color.  But it was still a fantastic time with our family.  And, of course, I always take pictures.

  

Greens and grandbabies. (For the family)

My herbs are in pots this year.  I decided not to fight the Bermuda.

Beans!!!

That little bed of lettuce, carrots and onions.

Faithful squash.

Broad-leaf Rosemary.  I am sure there is another name for it.

Tomatoes and peppers were purchased this year.  I did not have the energy for seeds.  I did manage to get all heirloom varieties!

Onions!!

I posted some of these on FB but these are for the family!

Zaddok went to the zoo with his class.  Yep, that's a lion.  Small town zoos rock.

The Kinder class.

Our last hoorah before the baby.

As a fun treat for our family, we decided to take a little vacation.  Well, our initial plan was to take a last BIG vacation but due to lack of planning, we settled for a small vacation.  We drove to Oklahoma City to spend a couple of days in a nice hotel and to enjoy some kid-centered fun.  We did some really fun things while we were there.  But of course, the highlight of the trip was the hotel pool.  We treasure our time together and are glad we were able to do it before I get tied down to nursing for hours on end.  :)

My Ashy-man.

She is growing up so fast.

Be still my heart!  I love these boys.

Super-Zaddy!

This may or may not be a dunking attempt. 

Crazy kid had no fear of the pool.

Splashing brothers.

Levi planning his next move.

My goal is to get another Healthier Steps blog this week!  See you then.  -Little Wife

Finally...

It is that time again!  Time to become better acquainted with the dirt.  But first, I have to show you something that we did this weekend.

This is the sweet little chubby hand of my 2-year-old.  He is feeling the popcorn kernels that we grew in our garden last year.  They were so cute!  But I questioned if they would actually make popcorn.  We got brave and decided to give it a try.

It worked!  The popcorn is not like what you get at the movies.  They pop up tiny.  It is much more like a grain than a fluffy crunchy snack.  We still ate it with butter and salt.  It was very good!  I was just so pleased that we were able to grow and pop our own popcorn.  Thanks Papa for giving us the seed!

Okay, back to the dirt.  We have had a very early Spring sneak up on us.  There are blossoms on the trees and the grass is coming back to life.  I always get kind of sad when this happens because I know we will have another freeze or two before Spring is really here.  So we pray that our little apricot tree will hold off a bit longer!  The warm weather did make me realize that I had not planted my early garden.  So yesterday, through the blowing wind and dirt, my family and I got some things in the ground.  I do love this part!  This is the front bed with our tiny onions.

I know this looks like a mess but it is really beautiful pink tulips!  You will see.

 

This is where the lettuce, carrots and green onion will come alive! 

 I can't wait to have fresh greens.

 This little guy was thrilled to get his first time to play with the hose this season.
 I was not so thrilled because I had to seek refuge in the house. 
He was determined to get me wet.

 SEE!!!

 I guess I can't blame him.  It was pretty fun!

 Plus, the joy in his little face is contagious. 
(He has his Daddy's smile wrinkles already!)

 My older boys were content with bikes and Rip Sticks. 
Asher is perfecting the cool factor of Rip-Sticking.

 Zaddy is doing bike tricks and hair tricks.

 Our Daddy, who still loves to play, got a Rip Stick for his birthday.
 He is just one of the boys.  I love that about him.  It keeps us young!

 He keeps us young and these guys keep me happy!  I love you babies!