Full Fall Day

A few weeks ago my dad came to visit. He brought with him a little red wheelbarrow, which is perfectly Ian-sized and great for playing in our wonderful backyard. Thanks, Daddio!

We always try to get a little music session with him when he comes, so here he is playing the xylophone he gave us last spring and singing for Ian.

On his one full day here, we gave him the true New River Valley, autumnal experience. We went to The Palisades for brunch, which is an amazing restaurant tucked in an unlikely location in an old, run-down town. Seriously, I dream of their brunches. Each dish is unique and mouth-watering. It's reasonably priced, and kids eat free until they are five. Woot!

Next we went to Doe Creek Orchard, which has incredible views and a large variety of apples. We picked a whopping 84 pounds. Now, two weeks later, we only have five apples left. We used them to make apple sauce, butter, crisps, pies, chips, and then a whole lot of eating. Many bags contain frozen pie fillings and sliced, cored, and peeled apples to throw into baking and cooking throughout the year.

Ian napped for the first part of the picking and then came to join us.

He sure loves apples!!

This kid.

Ian and I picked a few more to add to the bounty that Jim & Grumps had already accumulated, and then we joined them down at the wine tasting. We didn't join in, though ;)

Next we headed to Joe's Trees, which is a wonderful pumpkin patch/Christmas tree farm between Blacksburg and the orchard. We couldn't have asked for better weather to show off our area.

Ian milked the cow...

showed us how tall he was...

and then led the way to the pumpkin patch.

Err, maybe just led me. Ha! I love this picture of three generations marching over the hill. We could have taken the hay ride, but the line was pretty long. We decided to take it on the way back.

Jim ran back to double-check on the pumpkin prices, so Grumps & Ian took some time to enjoy watching and waving to the tractors as they went by.

He was surprised to find that this one had a hole in it...

Me and my three pumpkins... that belly is growing, growing, growing.

22 Weeks Pregnant

"Hey Grumps, how about this one?"

We tried to take a few family pictures for our Christmas card. I'm saving them for later, in case we use them. But here's one of all of us :)

Me and my boy. He chose one little pumpkin to bring home.

But not after piling a whole bunch in my lap and counting them over and over again. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, two... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, two..."

Here comes the hayride!

First let's explore this tractor...

While we figured out which pumpkins we wanted, Grumps played with Ian.

Ian helped us choose a bunch of pie pumpkins to process later.

And soon our pumpkin hopped into the wheelbarrow with all of the other pumpkins to head home.

Our car was full of people, apples, and pumpkins. The sign of a harvest-full, autumn day.

Saturday Morning on a Friday

A post about life these days. Since I haven't really written about our everyday lives lately, I felt like this morning needed to be documented. I want to remember days like these; a snapshot into life right now.

Lately, the weeks seem to run into themselves as we try to make sense of a whacky and often unpredictable schedule. It used to be that weekends felt like weekends. We'd crash on Friday night, grateful for two days to relax and recover at the end of a long week. Big breakfasts have always been something we cherish and enjoy, a strong coffee always accompanying us through the first hours of the morning. Pandora stations were fine-tuned and playing comfortable, familiar music. Even though Jim had studying and I had lesson plans and grading to do, we normally made time for activities of recreation. Then Sunday evening would come and we'd gear up for another work/school week.

Now that residency has started, Jim's hours, schedule, and expectations have greatly increased. It's incredibly rare for him to have two days off in a row over the weekend. In fact, it hasn't happened in four months. We take days off and try to cherish every moment. Sometimes that is difficult because the lawn needs to be mowed or another chore has been calling Jim for a while. We try to limit those, but they inevitably come up in our household (especially when there's a handy man as talented as him). Mostly though, I try to get everything done so that we can enjoy just "being" together.

Today, a Friday, was a surprising day and one that we didn't expect. Jim is working a night shift from 6 PM tonight to 6 AM tomorrow morning. This meant that he came home last night and didn't have to get up and go to work this morning. Instead he needed to get enough rest at some point so that he could pull the night shift tonight.

Last night Jim told me he wanted to sleep in until 6 or 7 AM and then whenever Ian woke up was when he wanted to wake up, too. Did you find something funny in that last sentence? Yes, Jim wanted to sleep in until 6 or 7 AM. That's not a joke. For the last five months, with the exception of his ER month (which shouldn't even count because it was crazy the amount of days/nights and hours he pulled) Jim has been waking up between four and five in the morning, so sleeping until six and seven does truly give him extra, glorious hours.

Anyway, Ian woke up around 7:15 and also wanted to wake Jim up.  Ian's typical greeting is a "Hi Dada! Hi Dada!" as he walks, crawls and claws his way to pat his papa. It is one of the sweetest things I've seen as a parent and I know that it's incredibly meaningful to Jim every time.

After a few minutes of prying his eyes open, finding his voice, and greeting us, we talked about what we might eat for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and fruit. Yum. And then Jim offered to make it while I entertained Ian. His only request was: "Could you put on some of your music to make it feel like Saturday morning?"

As soon as he said it, I knew exactly what he meant and my heart took a sigh. He wanted to harken back to the days when Saturdays were ours. When our schedules were predictable. When life had more gaps and we had more time.

Quickly, I got my old Pandora station that we always played up and running, the one he confirmed was what he wanted. We chatted as the whole family, even Leif, hung out on the linoleum in our rental's kitchen. We ate our delicious breakfast, sharing about things we hadn't yet gotten to share, laughing at Ian's banter, watching timidly as he fit ohsomuch food in his mouth while still chewing, and wondering when he'd figure out quite how to get milk out of a new sippy cup. After we'd cleaned up, Jim then asked if we could go for a walk. It was freezing cold, so we all bundled up and headed out.

The whole morning was almost nostalgic for me. They just don't come as often or as regularly as we're used to. I don't say this as a complaint about our situation. It's truly not my intention. We actually have lots of mornings like this when he's not working, but we are in a season when these mornings really are gems in the rough.

This afternoon, as I was driving around running errands and praying that Jim was getting good sleep at home, it made my heart warm to think about the morning we'd just had. I think what sticks with me was his desire to make it a "Saturday morning." He wanted to make this bonus morning together as special and purposeful as it could be.

It wasn't fancy. It wasn't glamorous. It wasn't planned. It was real. It was us. It was a good, familiar Saturday morning (just on a Friday). And I think it will get me through to remember this feeling. We have to create these days and these moments when we have them.

Some people have commented saying, "You guys are living the dream." Sometimes that stings a little because life isn't always a dream. I understand what they mean and our life is really good. We have our health, each other, a roof over our heads, food on our plates, and we have the most adorable little boy ever. But we'll be the first to admit that life isn't always pretty and life can be really hard. This season is teaching us a lot, just as every season before it, about ourselves, our weaknesses, and where we find our joy.

I'm so grateful that we had a "Saturday morning" on this brisk, November Friday.

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend was full of gardening, walking & playing at our favorite local park, and celebrating being together and my "first" mother's day. On Friday we went to Floyd for the Floyd Jamboree and had a blast listening to music in the streets, when the rain let up, and then inside, when the downpour drove us back in. Sorry, no pictures of that event. You'll have to come visit for the true experience!

Jim enjoyed time with Leif in the yard and planting, during his study breaks. This picture shows another side of our view.

Let's talk a little about this trickster. He has adapted well to living in a place where people come and go often, and where we are not very secluded. He has also learned a bit about living with mammals much larger than himself and, fortunately, no horses have actually landed a kick on his head yet. He now knows his boundary lies with the fence, but somehow forgets about said boundary when his owners are not looking directly at him. No longer does he have the covered front porch to relax within during the day, so he spends his days inside. BUT, he knows how to open the front door and will carefully stand on his hind legs, press down on the handle, and pull back, all while stepping backward with his hind legs. Needless to say, the door remains locked most of the time. He has escaped a few times, unbeknownst to us. Too smart for his own good, but we still love him.

Sunday I went to prenatal yoga and then hit the post office, since we now have a PO box, and there was a package from Aunt Sherri (Jim's aunt from Colorado) for me on my first mother's day! How incredibly thoughtful! In the card she said it was a generational gift, since the books and outfit were from her and the basket was from Nanny, Jim's grandmother. I've only heard stories of Nanny from Jim and his relatives, but now our baby will have something from his/her great grandmother within their room.

Here's the 21 week picture. 

Growing, growing growing!!!

Jim was sweet and offered to celebrate Mother's Day, so we did by going to one of our favorite restaurants and out to Sweet Frog afterward. YUM!

Happy Mother's Day to my amazing, creative, and talented mama! 

I can't wait to see you in two weeks and then again at our favorite place, The Pinery!

I'm also grateful to have a wonderful mother-in-law who's adopted me as one of her brood.

Both of you are going to be wonderful grandmothers to Baby B!! :)

Time Well-Used

This has been an absolutely beautiful weekend! The weather has been warm enough to wear sandals, shorts, and tshirts, while also being cool enough to enjoy just sitting outside. Just plain beautiful!

After a crazy morning of errand-running, forgetting cards, basketball (Jim), back-tracking, way-to-much-driving, entering grades, etc., we spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening outside. Jim studied in the hammock, while I knitted in the adirondack chair and Leif meandered around the yard.

In the evening we sat around the campfire and ate mountain pies, while researching and dreaming about our road trip to Maine this summer. Then Mike and Lindsay came over to relax and chat late into the night.

Today's been about the same. Both of my cousins who blog, amazingly enough, wrote about doing "nothing" this weekend (in the best, productive sense of the word). They wrote about ditching the to-do list and just doing what they wanted, when they wanted to do them. It appears that we are on the same wave-length this weekend, even though the many miles separate us.

This injury, though annoying and painful, has really helped me to put the "to-dos" into perspective. I no longer stay at work until 5 PM (2.5 hours after school gets out) to grade, plan, and organize. I make my planning periods REALLY productive, and I've learned to delegate responsibilities to instructional aids and students in the classroom. It's amazing just how many things can be adapted, when you realize your limitations.

I'm reminded of a cross-stitch my parents have at The Pinery (our summer cabin) that reads: "Time is precious, waste it wisely." Too true.

Lots of rounds of fetch make Leif a happy pup!

I hope your weekend has been beautiful and revitalizing, too.