Corn

 I had never been in a corn field when we went to the Cruze Farm on Saturday. Of course I know how corn grows, on large stalks in a field, but I had never actually been in the middle of a corn crop.

 I do believe that corn is perhaps one of my most favorite crops to behold in it's natural state. All of those beautiful golden kernels gleaming in the sun, nestled in those giant stalks. It's simply beautiful!

 We went through two corn mazes while at Cruze Farms, a children's maze and an adult maze.

 The children's maze had some very interesting and educational activities along the way. The girls enjoyed pretending to be corn farmers.

 They got to plant their corn seed.

And watch their corn grow into giant stalks.

 They then looked for their very own ear of corn nestled in a stalk to harvest.

 Corn was shucked.

And corn seed was saved.

Until the next year when corn will be planted and rows of beautiful corn will grow again!

The end!

Fall Blog Header

Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze Fun!

We decided this weekend that we were going to go to the pumpkin patch. We usually wait until almost the very end of October to go to the patch, but this year we got an early jump on our pumpkin pickin'.

 This year we tried out a new pumpkin farm at the Cruze Dairy Farm in Knoxville. They had advertised heavily around Knoxville with the lure of ice cream after you went through the maze. So we decided to check it out!

 It was a beautiful farm, like the others we have been to with lots of places for photo ops, a petting zoo, corn maze for kids and adults as well as much more. It was also closer and just off the interstate near the French Broad River.

 We ran into our friends the Smithey's who had the very same idea as us. Emma-Caroline and Lydia were thrilled to see each other, but not so thrilled to pose for my camera while staring into the blinding sun!

 We made a quick stop to measure ourselves for posterity's sake.

 We then headed on down to the corn maze where we wound and twisted through thousands of stalks until we made it to the end to receive our ice cream reward!

 Yes friends, that is Howie you see there actually consuming the ice cream at the end of the maze. This boy will hardly ever eat ice cream unless it is good. And this ice cream was GOOD!

 We went for a hayride to the "pumpkin patch" after our ice cream. The only suggestion I have for the Cruze Family Farm is to actually grow some pumpkins next year and have a real patch. These were placed in a field, which is fine. The girls didn't really care that they were not in a real patch, but it is pretty neat to see an actual pumpkin patch too.

 Both Sophie and Emma-Caroline picked two very lovely pumpkins that Howie will carve  (note I said Howie will carve) on Halloween.

 This sweet girl had a wonderful time!

 And so did this little pumpkin!

 We ended our trip with a quick photo op with Mommy and then headed for some lunch.

It has been a perfect day! Now it's time for some football time in Tennessee. Go Vols! Beat Georgia!

Fancy Nancy Has Nothing On Sophie

Let me just set the record straight, we are not in the business of spoiling our girls. Whatever niceties and pampering our girls receive happen with no intention put behind it what-so-ever. SURE, you are saying about right now. No, Emma-Caroline and Sophie do lead a very charmed little life, however, that is not to say that we don't mix in a few cup fulls of humility, a heap of gratitude, and a few tablespoons of "when I was your age" speeches to balance their little worlds. All in all, I really am blessed that my girls are conscientious and servant minded children even despite a bit of pampering, which leads me to the real point of this blog post.

This past weekend, while Emma-Caroline enjoyed the UT game in style with her Daddy, Sophie and Mommy went to the spa for pedicures. It was Sophie's first ever pedicure, (of which I promised myself I wouldn't take her to do until she was in high school), and she certainly loved it!

 She picked a nice shade of bubblegum pink and did not bat an eyelash as Miss Joyce pampered our little princess's feet.

Sophie especially loved the massage chair and the teeny flowers Joyce painted on her big toes.

This little occurrence at the spa will not be a regular one, but it was sure fun for the day. It was also nice to have a little Sophie-Mommy time together in a very Fancy Nancy kind of way!

First UT Football Game!

 You always want your kids to have more than you had. You plan for it, dream about it, and then one day, it happens. Emma-Caroline has arrived. She has been to where her Mommy has NEVER been before, the club seats of the University of Tennessee's Neyland stadium.

 This little Volunteer got to live it up in style with endless banana split bar, orange and white candy galore, and any kind of gourmet food you can imagine. All compliments of one very nice alum, who gave Howie his club seat tickets for the UT Buffalo game last Saturday.

 I'd say sitting in the club seats is an awesome thing to do, except that I have never sat in the club seats at Neyland stadium. No cold-tushie-numbing-bleacher seats for Emma-Caroline. Nope she had only the best seats in the house for her first UT game.

And I am super glad she did! She and her Daddy had a wonderful time watching the band and meeting up with our friends the Taylor's before the game. Vaiden snapped the last four photos for me before they all headed into Neyland Stadium for a sure fire victory against Buffalo.

Emma-Caroline came home all smiles with lots to say about the game! She even brought bags of orange and white M&M's to share with Sophie and I. Such a thoughtful sweet girl!

Maybe next time club seat tickets are given out, there will be four of them and we can all go!

Until then, I will live vicariously through Emma-Caroline and feel happy that as far as UT football games go, Emma-Caroline has definitely been seated better than I ever have!

Go Vols!

Loving this Fall Weather!

I just got of the phone with one of my good friends, Caroline. We both whole-heartedly agreed that October is our favorite month. To quote Caroline, " I could use a few more Octobers in my calendar every year!" Yep! The month of October here in East Tennessee is a glorious month of beautiful weather, brilliant blue skies, amazing fall foliage and FUN! Emma-Caroline and Sophie have spent more hours outside this fall than I think they did the entire summer long. It's just too nice to go in! We hope you all are loving this fall weather too and that your October is as wonderful as ours!

Mums the Word!

Pumpkin Time!

Blessing of the Animals

Today we participated in one of our church's annual services, "The Blessing of the Animals," in honor of St. Francis of Assisi whom we remember on October 3rd each year. St. Francis is known as the patron saint of animals, and so therefore, each year we have a blessing of the animals in which all creatures great and small are brought into the church nave for a beautiful and lively service. Dogs "sing" along in harmony with the choir, horses whiny in response to prayer, cats screech and birds flutter, but it is all to remind us that God did indeed create all creatures great and small, and that each and every one of them are of grand importance and a true blessing. Today we brought both Lucy and Barkley as well as our doves George and Gracie. The doves were a hit and will be featured in a 2012 calendar to benefit the LAMBS ministry which helps shelter animals in our community. It was a lovely service and we feel blessed to have participated in it once again this year.

 Lucy receiving her blessing from Father Howard. Lucy is almost 16 years old. Maybe these blessings are what keeps her young in her old age!

 Barkley always looks directly at the person who is blessing him. It's as if he is connecting to the gift he is receiving.

George and Gracie in their travel cage sat quietly in the window seal of the church after receiving their blessing.

The Gift of Joy

Many moons ago (too many for me to want to share), I felt like God was calling me to be a teacher. "NO!" I replied firmly. Teaching is not for me. It doesn't pay enough and I want nothing to do with it. I knew secretly, though, that being a teacher is really what made me happy. I loved working with children and even as a little girl. I used to play teacher with all of my dolls and stuffed animals lined up on the front porch. OK, so y'all know the rest of the story, I gave in to my calling, I became an elementary school bilingual teacher, and I LOVED it!!! I remember in my third year of teaching, standing in my 1st grade classroom in Salem, Oregon at Highland Elementary School and feeling this overwhelming feeling of pure joy. It was at that moment that I got it. That total feeling of happiness is the gift God intended for me to receive through the profession of teaching. I haven't taught in the classroom in 4 years, but my love for children and watching them grow and change  hasn't left my heart. In the past 4 years I have taught Kindermusik, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and most recently become the Associate Director of Children's Ministries at our church. The gift of Joy is ever present when I work with children and watch them learn. Teaching is a gift I will always be grateful for and that I will always be blessed by.

 These photos were snapped last week in Sunday School by my friend Vaiden. Love that she loves the camera as much as I do!

 We were looking at objects in nature and talking about their uniqueness and how God made them special.
We then talked about how each one of us in the classroom is special and how God made us all unique wit ha special purpose. It is a blessing to teach these wonderful 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade children!