Musgrave Apple Orchard

The Musgrave Apple Orchard is just right out of town and I finally took the kids to check it out on an extremely gorgeous fall morning. There was a nice little pond at the bottom of the orchard that Hayden loved.
Unfortunately Jason was unable to go with us since he was in class. We went with this mom's meetup group that I joined and one of my friends took this picture of us in front of the barn and a bunch of apple trees
Here's Hayden being super sweet to his little sissy. Behind them is the building where they make apple cider. Hayden was just enthralled with all the big equipment they used to make the juice. He still talks about it.
Maya is the funniest little thing. She is incredibly animated and has started to talk quite a bit lately. In this photo or in any photo really you can tell her to say cheese, and well here she is saying it.

Recent Pics of my Babes

There are many times when we are driving around when I'll look back to see my sweeties holding hands from their carseats. I love that my two little kiddos can love each other so much!
Every Saturday we will take Hayden and Maya to the Saturday market. It has turned into a ritual for us. We will buy a small bag of kettle corn and two containers of organic grape tomatoes since the two of them will eat one whole container just as we walk around the market. I love that my little kids love veggies so much! Hayden will also require that we buy him a little bundle of fresh flowers which he is holding on to so dearly.
Here is a cute little photo of my dear little scowling Maya as she sits outside the Saturday market.
We recently took Hayden and Maya to the county fair which they both loved. Hayden got to ride a few rides which Maya was just envious of. She was just too small to get on any of them. Just being there was excitement enough which is shown in this cute sponge bob photo.
This was a photo taken shortly after their first eye exam. Suprisingly enough they were both dialated so they gave them both these eyeglasses to wear outside the builing. In children they use different drops so their eyes were dialated for a whole 24 hours. Poor Hayden was still squinting in the sun the next day. Luckily they both have perfect vision. I guess they were lucky enough to get my eye sight. They still looked pretty darn cute in their makeshift sunglasses.

Hayden's First Day of School

Hayden has been excited about going to school forever now. I think it was the last final push to help him get potty trained since he couldn't attend until he did so. Here he is walking proud with his sweet little penguin backpack equipped with his swim trunks, snack, and water. Unfortunately I was under the impression that since his preschool was at the YMCA that they would provide them a towel. Well, when I went to pick him up all the kids filed into the locker room wrapped in a towel and poor little Hayden was shivering...toweless. I was pretty ticked off since the facility has plenty of towels and they could have gotten my poor little boy one since his mommy wasn't smart enough to pack him one. Needless to say I won't forget that one again.
Maya seemed every bit as excited as Hayden. She acted like she wanted to stay there with him, but I know as soon as I was out of sight she would start screaming her little head off. She still has problems with me not being around. Someday I will be able to go work out without being called out way too early.
This was quite the hot item. As the tiny little children poured into the classroom, several of them ran for the macaroni including my two dolls. We were only there a few minutes with them but by the time we left, half of that macaroni had made it's way to the floor. Those poor teachers.
Here's my sweet little boy, or I guess I should say my BIG boy since that is how he refers to himself now. After all he is potty trained and going to school. Luckily he absolutely loves it and looks forward to going every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I have to admit that Maya and I are enjoying those three hours together as well. How easy it is when you only have one to watch over! Hopefully he continues to love school as much as he does now.

Hayden's Soccer Debut

Now that Hayden is three we were finally able to put him in soccer. He began in the spring and just finished up with a week long British soccer camp. This was before his very first practice. He was excited but also tired, which made for a pretty interesting 45 minutes.

Though Hayden loves soccer it was difficult for him to focus his attention on the game for more than just a few minutes. Here he is looking cute just passing the ball on by. Several times during practice he would just sit down on the grass, follow a butterfly flying by, or join us on the sidelines for yet another drink break.

Here he is stretching out getting ready for practice. Don't want to pull any of those little muscles while you're running down the field.
This was the last kick into the goal for the summer. The gal standing in front of him was his coach and was so great with Hayden. She just loved him and was always there behind him to coax him along. She also kept telling him to quit sucking his fingers too which was fantastic.
They gave all the kids at the end their very own trophy. Hayden was so excited, that night he asked if he could sleep with it. He call's it his "prote-mean". We love you little buddy and hope that you continue on playing soccer!

Last week was Jason's birthday and we spent the afternoon at the Charles C. Deam wilderness area. It is very close to Bloomington and it is absolutely gorgeous. Jason's favorite place to be is the outdoors and this area was perfect.

Since we weren't even allowed to use the stroller on the trails within the wilderness area, we went slightly south to a trail that would allow it. When we arrived there were several horses and when their owners met Hayden and Maya they just loved them. One lady took Hayden from Jason and asked if she could show him her horse. She gave him some carrots and treats and let Hayden feed the horse. Hayden was just thrilled and Maya couldn't stopped staring. They both loved it!

At the start of the trail there was an old church that was built in 1881. Inside there were pews, a piano, and bibles. It looked as if this church was probably still in use. I don't know how anyone could stay in there very long though since it smelled horribly like mold and mildew. Right next to the church was an old graveyard that we walked through with tombstones dating around the same time.

I made Jason an eyeball cake for his birthday. I thought it would be appropriate since he just finished his first year of optometry school. Anyone who knows Hayden knows how much he loves "happy cake" and his daddy was sweet enough to let him blow out his candles. Happy birthday sweetheart, we love you!!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day we decided to check out another beautiful Indiana state park called Mccormick's Creek. There was a short two mile loop that we took with the kids. Maya traveled in the Kelty carrier and I pushed Hayden the majority of the way in our Jeep stroller. We had Hayden get inside this tree that was completely hollowed out at the bottom. It was amazing that it was still gigantic and healthy.

We tried several times to get a decent shot of the three of us and this was the best we could do :) It's still a cute shot of my two little sweeties but them again they always look good!

We chose this hike not only because it was shorter but also because of the cave you could enter. The cave actually goes all the way through the hill but we could not of made it without flashlights. I think the jogging stroller probably would've had a tough time as well.

One thing that Hayden wanted to see when we got to the park was a waterfall. It was a smaller one but still gorgeous. He sat and threw rocks in the water with his daddy, which made his day. He really is such a little nature child.

This was one of my favorite pictures of the trip. Now if only Maya could've been thrown in there! I just adore my two children. What a fantastic Mother's Day. I love being a mommy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAYA!!!

This is my little girls first pinata and she just loved hitting it. I guess it was really me who was hitting it, but I had a great time as well :) I decided upon a butterfly theme so of course we got the butterfly pinata. It's so sweet I wish this was a picture from the front (both the pinata and my little girl).






I got all the kids little butterfly nets to put the candy in once the pinata was broken. Maya must've been pretty excited because this picture was taken right as she pushed herself up from the ground to standing position for the first time! The next day she ended up taking five steps too!

I decided to try and decorate a cake for the first time in my life, and it didn't turn out too bad. Maya seemed to like it anyway.










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I guess she ate her birthday cake too quick to even drop any on her bib. By the time she was finished there wasn't even a crumb that fell on it. That's the first time that has EVER happened!










Happy first birthday my little darling, I love you soooooooooooo much!!!!

It has been ages since I've posted but I had to get these sweet little pictures of my angels up. These are the most recent ones I've had taken of the kids. Maya's birthday is coming up and I will take her in for her last photo shoot. She is finally turning one! Thanks mom for getting me started on this every single month bit. I can't believe that you did it with six children. You are amazing! I would go nuts if I had to do this any longer. It's very sweet though to see the month by month change as well as the comparison between my kids. They are almost identical at the same age.

The Indianapolis Zoo

Last week I took Hayden and Maya to the zoo. Hayden had been begging me to go and I couldn't resist his pleas any longer. Here he is next to one of his favorite animals, the bear. He loves animals so much he could've spent the whole day there. I think we were there about 3 1/2 hours and Hayden walked the entire time. He couldn't miss a thing!

Lovin my boy

Me and my little boy. I can't believe he's already three! He is just the sweetest little thing I don't want him to ever grow up :)

Maya's Admirer

Ever since Drew has met Maya he has had a hard time keeping his hands to himself. The first time we went over to his house, she even slapped him for constantly bugging her. He is still trying at the zoo when the strollers get close. It was cute because earlier that day he leaned over and gave her a Cheerio!

Sharkbait

One of the greatest things about this zoo is the tank full of sharks. You can just reach over the edge and touch them. Hayden just LOVED it! There are so many in there, they constantly swim past. They are of course gentle and will not bite :)

Indecent Exposure

This was the funniest picture out of all of them. I set the kids up so I could get back to take the picture and didn't realize till afterward what was going on in the background. I'm glad I set them up to watch that!

The return of Hayden's dolls

I have been taking pictures of various silly things Hayden does with his dolls. The other night I was cleaning and vacuuming when I moved the rocking chair and discovered Ernie and Mickey Mouse swaddled together in a corner. I don't know how Hayden went to bed without them!

Doll Family

Here are all the gang up on the couch watching television. He will let them take up most of his room on the couch and in bed.

Super Grover

Of course who could forget super Grover. He has magnetic hands and feet, so Hayden likes to have him hang from his hair.

So It Does Snow In Bloomington

Last week we got hit with almost a foot of snow within two days. It was almost impossible to get out of our subdivision to pick Jason up from school. If I didn't have all wheel drive I wouldn't of been able to. It was actually kind of nice to have it around since it's been absolutely freezing anyway.

Hayden In Snow Heaven

Once Hayden saw how much snow was out back he begged me to put his winter gear on so he could play in it. This was the first time all winter he's been able to do that. One more similiarity between him and his dad; they both love to be in, on or anywhere near the snow.

Helping Baby

Everytime I feed Maya Hayden will drop what he's doing to come and help me. When he gets a bite of food into Maya's mouth and she actually eats it he screams at the top of his lungs. He gets so excited he won't let me do it without him. It ends up taking twice as long so I try to distract him away from the feeding process. It is so darling how much he loves his "baby".

Hayden's Dolls

Hayden has fallen in love with his Elmo, Mickey Mouse, Ernie, Super Grover, Cookie Monster, and Kung Fu Panda. He talks to them, has me swaddle them, feeds them, and has to sleep with them (all of them) every night. Last week I went into his room to check on him and he had stuck almost all of them between the rails on his bed. It is hilarious how all of them are facing backwards with their arms out. He cracks me up!

I took this picture of my little girl before we left on our trip. We had just put up her first Christmas tree and she was all smiles. I just can't get enough of my little Lulu Bear!