stoneyridge again...this time with the whole family!

today Jonleft work at early so we all could go to StoneyRidge farm together. Sam hadn't been yet and the weather was great (cold but clear) We got mini donuts and cider and had a grand ol time!

Sam had to get her shot

and the group shot

We picked some apples this time!

all in all it was a great time except for the lady at the cash register when I went to buy my apples. I set them on the counter and one rolled off and broke open. I told the lady that it's all bruised and set it aside. She grabbed it and put it with the rest of apples and weighed it so I had to buy it...with all the rotten apples left out there it kinda put me in a pissy mood not very good customer service. Good apples though!!

Western Oregon University

This past weekend I spent it in Monmouth, OR with Emily, Sarah and Dave. Emily seems to really be enjoying college life. We had a great time. Football, food, cheese farm, winery, bike riding, went to a movie and we stayed at the cutest little B & B!

getting a new helmet at sports authority!

~Left Coast winery~

In front of MaMere's Bed and Breakfast!

bike riding

In front of her dorm (I think its the fourth column 2nd floor)

I still can't believe she's in college! It seems like just yesterday she was 6 weeks old...

Cloud Mountain Farm

The field rips I have taken so far here in WA rule! Tuesday I went with the first grades to Cloud Mountain farm. I t was fabulous! They grew a whole bunch of different stuff but the apples are what they are known for. Sam's class have been learning a lot about apples and all the different varieties (2500!)

These are Kiwi but not the fuzzy kind. They were so good! I want to plant some in my yard now!

They had a two of these plastic covered rooms one was full of peppers and the other tomatoes. They said they have been picking both since June!

Some Peppers!

They got to pick an apple off the tree...lift, twist and pull!

then we tried 3 different varieties of apples...my favorite was the ellastar!

StoneyRidge Farm

Last week I went with the Lynden MOPs group to StoneyRidge farm! It was the best pumpkin patch/apple orchard I have ever been too. They gave us a little lecture on how the apples grow (all geared towards kids) it was great!

Sydney had to have a picture by herself!

Looks like we will be going back every year just so they can get there pictures taken! I think Jon is going to take them all again on Friday after school so he"ll get Sams shot!

They had a a corn maize that the girls loved. we even got a little lost even though it was small!

they got to pick out a little pumpkin too!

it's so hard to get Courtney to look at the camera!!

a Pumpkin tree!

a cool looking rooster

a donkey

chicks!

Goats in the air! They had a little food converyer belt at the end of it where you put the food in a little bucket and pull the rope up to the top and it falls out so the goats like to come up and eat!

what a morning...

Samantha has always had a hard time waking up for school. I have to wake her at least an hour before she has to leave. This morning I woke her at 7:10 for the 8:10 bus pic up. I noticed the pants she set out last night were really dirty so I told her she couldnt wear them. I went and took a shower and came back around 7:30 and she was still lying in bed. Told her she 40 minutes until the bus was coming. At 7:45 she was still not dressed and she tried on about 5 different pairs of pants which were all over her floor. We just bought her new jeans on Sunday which she tells me now she doesnt like because they are to long and she doesnt like the way they look rolled up! At least she will grow into them but boy am I not looking forward to the teenage years if this is how she is acting at 6! She finally made it upstairs for her breakfast at 8 so she has 10 minutes to eat, brush her hair and teeth plus get her shoes on! What a mad rush!! Thankfully the bus has to go down the street because she wasnt ready when it came by but made it 3 minutes later when it came the other direction!! I tried not to talk to her because I was so mad at her slowness this morning that every time I said something I was yelling at her to hurry up!!

a good night...

Last night Jon went to Seattle to see some old friends from work. Wednesday nights Samantha and I go to WOW (Word on Wednesdays) at church so I took the twinks too. They just played in the childcare while Sam and I went to our classrooms. We got home and they all got ready for bed and Sam even read her two books that she has to read every night to them. I dont know why I didnt think of that earlier! She has been reading to either me or Jon and the other would read to the twinks! She is becoming such a good little reader! Sydney and Courtney decided to sleep in the same bed and Sam went on down to her room. At around 11:30 Sydney was crying but she didnt know why so I brought her into my room to sleep with me. (Almost regretted it when she started snoring loudly though!) This morning around 5 Courtney came in crying because Sydney wasnt with her. Then she saw her and crawled into bed and all was right in the world. When Syd woke up she realized she took Courtney's teddy bear, Strawberry. She felt really bad but then she saw Court sleeping there and snuggled Strawberry into her arms. It was all rather precious!

Pumpkin Patch

The twinks preschool had their first field trip today to Boxx Berry Farm (where we picked Blueberries and Raspberries during the summer.) They had a great time of course!

snack of apple cider and apple slices!

51

Uncle Lance had a birthday last week so the girls and I baked him a cake!

Pioneer Pride Award

aka Student of the month

Samantha and her friend Kendal were the two students picked from Mrs. Brandts class to receive the Pioneer Pride Award for the first month of school. She was so happy!

Lifechangers

Awhile back I answered a few questions online about how overwhelmed I was with this parenting thing on Dr. Drew's new TV show "Lifechangers." They called me and wanted me to do a daily diary on the challenges throughout my day. They also said they wanted Jon and I to come down to LA and be on the show. It was all kinda funny but I did like 4 or 5 days of the diary then just stopped. They never called back and never sent us to LA so I didnt think anything of it until today. They posted a promo of todays show on Facebook and I happen to be in like 3 times! The funny thing about it was after I did this the girls were angels. I think when I consciously think about what I say and do the yelling goes away. But when I get lazy about the parenting thing the yelling starts again. So even though Jon and I didnt get our free trip to LA this little experiment worked for us. It also helps that Sam is in school all day and the twinks are in preschool 12 hours a week!

Hell Run!

Saturday was the Hell Run! Jon and I headed down to The Hughes Friday night. Papa watched the girls Friday night and Lance came over at 7:30 am to watch them! They got the World's greatest Grandpa and Uncle awards! We had to be in Carnation around 8 for our 9 am start time!
What a blast it was! The obstacles were fun and some were really muddy. We started it off with a wade through a muddy water pit and then had to climb up a wall. We had to get waist deep into a rushing river that was freezing cold. Afterwards my legs just felt like pins! There were more wallls and some barbed wire! There was also a tunnel that we had to crawl through on our hands and knees and came out into a waist deep mud pit. The we jumped over fire and ended it with a foot deep of mud with barbed wire so you had to crawl through it! GOOD TIMES!

BEFORE!

After it was all over we got a free Alaskan Pale Ale it was cold and springily so we decided to head to a cute little town, Duvall and finish with some cocktails and apps. It was a super fun day and can't for next year!!