Last weekend our dear friends the Worleys came to visit us from N. Ft. Myers.  Of course, Missy and I have known each other since I was born and  have been friends ever since, but it is such a joy and a blessing for us to see our husbands and children become good friends as well.  This visit was their second (what I hope will be annual) October visit.  We all had an awesome time.  The only bummers of the weekend were the lack of sleep and the shortness of the visit.

They arrived Thursday evening in time for a pizza dinner.  And then the children played until bedtime and talked in their room until we laid the smack-down…hehe.  We put three yr. old Autumn in Ty’s room with him, and they went to bed peacefully enough.  Caleb and Samantha were put in Connor and Lucy’s room with them.  Needless to say, excitement and adrenaline were running high, and no one felt tired at all.  By no one, of course, I mean the kids.  Tim and I were teaching Miss and Rich how to play Settlers of Catan, and we were still hearing our little munchkins at 11PM, at which point, I moved Lucy into our room and gave my “mean” talk to the others.  Despite this late bedtime, all four of the older children were up at about 6AM the next day…sigh.  So sleep was limited to say the least.  Everyone managed to keep good attitudes for the most part though, which was quite an achievement, considering we were all sharing rather close quarters.

On Friday, Tim had to work, but the rest of us went to Possom Creek Park and played on the playground and then played soccer with the kids.  We came home for lunch and more playing and naps for the little ones.  I cooked roast pork loin with rice, Chinese greens, and homemade rolls for dinner.  Later that night we let the kids watch the old Willy Wonka movie, and then Uncle Rich and Tim went out and found Wonka chocolate bars and Everlasting Gobstoppers, which were distributed to the kids right before bedtime…not the best timing. 🙂

Saturday, we all went to Rogers Farm, a one-stop shop for all things fall, and the kids had a blast.  There was a hayride, ponyrides, slides, a jumping pillow, a petting zoo, a corn maze, and funnel cakes, deep-fried oreos, and sno-cones.  And all the kids got to pick a pumpkin.  That night we had grilled cheeseburgers for supper with cupcakes for dessert to celebrate Autumn’s 3rd birthday.

Sunday, we all went to our church and stayed for fellowship lunch, and then sadly, our company had to return home.  Tim and I were a little fearful that Rich would not be able to keep his eyes open on the drive home, but they made it safely.  Miss and Rich, if you’re reading this, thank you again for making the trip to see us.  We loved having your family here and are so thankful to call you friends.

It was difficult to choose which pictures to post in this blog, but here are a few.  For the whole album, click here.  PS I may get around to posting links to some videos.  The one of Tyler eating the cotton candy is especially cute (and scary).

Caleb and Connor

Chalk dust girls

Uncle Rich the jungle gym

Little buddies

Rogers Farm

Mini-man rockin the slide with Daddy

Autumn Marie

Aunt Miss and mini-man

The whole train

Samantha on the pony ride

Cowboy Caleb

Cowboy Connor

Aunt Miss and Samantha

Mommy and Little Lu

The whole gang minus hubbies

Amazing balloon creations

Birthday girl

Mini-man loved the cotton candy

Have I ever mentioned that all my children LOVE black olives?  I love them too.  The only one who hasn’t yet joined this bandwagon is my husband…come on, honey!  Mini-man could probably eat an entire can of the jumbo size black olives on his own.  Not only do they like eating them, but they’re pretty fun to play with too.  🙂

Mini-man

Little Lu

The bean

I just love this picture!

Mini-man and Connor-bean in their matching pjs

I recently learned that a certain wild berry that I had assumed was poisonous is, in fact, edible.  (Thank you , Hannah!)  It is called the American Beautyberry, and there are tons of them growing wild all around Gainesville.  They’re not exactly what I would call a luscious and tasty fruit.  Actually they’re not really sweet at all and they’re pretty mealy in texture…haha!  But my dear Hannah has informed me that they make excellent jam.  And, of course, their color is beautiful as you can see.  Lucy and I picked some in our neighborhood, and I’m hoping we’ll get around to making jam, ‘cuz they’re sitting in the fridge right now.

Aren't these a gorgeous color?

Little berry-picker

First present

Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne

“When I was one I had just begun
When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me
When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive
But now I am six, I’m as clever as clever;

So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.”

This post is coming late (you’re not surprised though, right?), but a couple of Saturdays ago, my firstborn son Connor Scott turned six years old.  This probably sounds a bit cliche, but I cannot believe that I am the mother of a six year old.  I feel old.  The day was filled with legos, legos, and an overstimulating visit to Chuckee Cheese’s.  For $35, we got pizza, drinks, and 3 lollipops, 2 boxes of nerds, and 2 airheads…quite a bargain really. 🙂  The day ended with cheeseburgers for supper followed by a Spiderman cupcake cake courtesy of Publix.  Connor was a bit anxious about not having a party–he thought that somehow his birthday wouldn’t be truly celebrated.  But we had a really fun day as a family.  I’m posting a few pictures below…for the whole album, click here.

Excitement over lego castle

Mini-man enjoying his first lollipop

Spiderman cake

Blowing out the candles

Blue frosting...yum!

Little Lu

Mini-man