Random Shots of Life

So this post definitely has no definite title cause it really shows the randomness of our lives. To start us out, here is my favorite little chunka munka - Lias - doing my favorite activity - sleeping. What is it about little babies when they're sleeping?? They make you want to cuddle up to them , smell their sweet little milky breath and gently kiss their squishy cheeks. I did all of these, right after I took the picture.




The peaches are (were) back. I've decided I'll only use 2 yr old boys to help me can from now on. It's right up their alley - sticky, messy and you get yourself covered with it.





And who's my lucky helper this time? Conner Deluca (one of my old roommates from college) cute-as-all-get-out 2 yr old, who rode all the way from Kentucky strapped in his car seat to see me. He brought his mom Kristen and dad Adam along with him and they stayed at the Genho Bed and Breakfast for 3 nights, 4 days. We drug them to DC, made them bounce around the farm in the truck with no air conditioning on one of the hotter, muggier Virginia summer days, and took them along to a lawn party down the road at the house we lived in when we first moved here. And Conner got to celebrate his 2nd birthday with cupcakes and candles and a tractor present. Kristen wrote me to let me know today he crawled over to their door, got his play keys, and told her that he's coming back to "wimmie's (lynnie's) house". I think I'll take him anyday.


And for all his hard work and effort I sent him home with 10 jars of peaches (out of the 21 we canned this time).



Speaking of big kids, here's our all grown up 4 yr old on her first day of preschool. We bit the bullet this year and enrolled Ava in Catholic preschool down in Culpeper, a 30 minute drive away. So every Tues and Thurs we start our day at 6:45am (groan...I am NOT a morning person and neither is Nathan) to get everyone up and fed and out the door by 8:15. She's loving every minute of it and told me after the first day that "I forgot all about you and Nathan and Elias while you were gone". She's already telling us all about her new friends and singing little ditties from class, and she's only been twice.

Really random shots - this was what I saw when I stepped out my front door on Tuesday to head to our first day of preschool. I guess the heifers all wanted to say good luck to Ava also.

Since we're in town anyway, I decided to take Nathan over to Culpeper gymnastics and let him blow off some energy. I had looked into signing him up for story time at the library, but then decided (wisely) that he's more of a jumping kinda guy, rather than a sit still and listen guy. We went today and he wasn't quite sure what to make of all of it - especially the having to follow directions part. I'm required to go along with him to help him and he wasn't too nice about letting me know that he didn't want to do what the rest of the class was doing. That is, until he saw the big trampoline and then he got very cooperative. He blew the teacher away with his jumping - as soon as he got on she asked if we have a trampoline. "No, but he's been on a few" I let her know since he was jumping 3 times higher than any other kid. Sweet Lias laid on his blanket the whole time kicking his fat little legs and cooing. I think Nathan really needs and enjoys the one-on-one since Lias came so this will hopefully be his special time this fall.

Really, I only signed Nathan up for gymnastics cause I felt guilty that the rest of the time I'll be dragging him along shopping. Just look at the find we came across at the local thrift store this week! Here's Lias modeling our $1 outfit.







I think he makes a rather pretty girl baby. I'm not quite sure what I'm gonna do with these since I don't have a girl baby to wear them, but they were too cute and cheap to pass up. John tells me I have a problem but I'm sure I'll find someone who needs them. I told him to beware cause our shopping bill was gonna jump with me having 3 hours 2 times a week to do nothing but shop.


And last but not least. I was vacuuming the kitchen last night at 10:30 after the kids finally went to sleep and what did I come across but this.


I yelled for John, who was sitting 10 ft away working on his computer and he quickly came to my rescue. Actually, I'm really not afraid of snakes but under my vacuum induced hypnosis, he caught me off guard. And he was right in the middle of all the shoes by the front door - I can only imagine the drama it would have been had he been in my shoe the next morning. He was only about 12 inches long and quite cute, if you like snakes. It's cricket and grasshopper and beetle season out here and that means they're out in droves. I think he came in looking for one to eat. The kids loved him this morning and then we turned him loose to grow up big and strong and eat all the mice around. Here's a picture of his mom from last fall.


That's all the way up in the columns of our porch and she's at least 6 feet long. We're not sure how it got up there or how it got down but we found it a few days later in our bushes.

The end of the randomness - for now. Good night.