Apple Picking

We have 3 very lovely apple trees in our backyard. And this fall we have about a gazillion apples. We have made applesauce, apple crisp, dried apples, enjoyed them plain, shared with neighbors and we still have about 500. So I had this semi-fabulous idea, if I do say so myself, that I would take about 20 or so, and throw them out front to feed the deers that we see from time to time...

... In no time at all I made a new BFF when a little buck starting visiting our yard at dawn and dusk. The kids loved it! And then a week or so later, my BFF brought a buddy--a big-daddy buck and we just loved checking in on them twice a day.

Cue the bunnies.

Now we have 7 or 8 of the most adorable bunnies rotate in and out of our yard at any given time munching on the apples. So the twins and I pick a bag full of apples every day and feed them to our buddies. And then we watch them. Or the twins play in the yard while the animals munch away and watch us.

Today I wanted Brian to snap a few pics of us doing our favorite fall routine. But the twins just wanted to be dork-fishes. Man, I love them.

For the love, the Swishers will be on a farm in no time.

Mark my words.

Autumn

Autumn is definitely here in the NW. And by the way, Brian + I decided that we are going to start calling Fall...AUTUMN. And teach it that way to the kids. Just because we like the way it sounds. (We have had nothing but time on our hands this past week people!)

Moving on--

Well the biggest news in our house over the past week is Brian's knee surgery...

You're welcome for this lovely photo. And for those of you who know Brian, YES!, there is skin under all that hair. Who knew?

The reason for the surgery...

...the giant (non-cancerous) tumor that was causing so much pain for him over the past year. (That would be the gigantic black hole on the left side of the picture.)

So as he hobbles around and tries to recover, I've decided that I never, ever, ever want to have knee surgery. Or any other kind of surgery. Thankyouverymuch.

So as we have been laying low this week, tending to the patient, we are going a little stir crazy. So I bought some games. Candyland + Memory. So this is a pretty hysterical experiment playing games with 2 year olds

I also take them on 'Fall Autumn walks' just about every day. And we collect beautiful leaves. (And then I try to throw them away when they are not looking.) On this day, their Halloween package from Grammie arrived. That was definitely a very fun surprise.

Oh yeah, that corn was from my garden. So the kids thought is was super-fun to cut it down and decorate with it. I love gardening.

I also tried growing pumpkins this year. But, SURPRISE!, there wasn't enough sun. But 2 of these lovelies were from our garden. Can you guess which ones???

Speaking of no sun, Lila + Lincoln tell me almost everyday how much they like the sun. 'I can't like rain Mama, I like the sun.'

You hear that Brian? Just checking. *wink*

A little surprise I found tonight....

...now I didn't see who did this, but I would bet top dollar that Miss Sneakypants was responsible. Lock up your medicine cabinets when the Swishers roll into town. This girl will check it out. For reals.

My mom sent me these gigantic pine cones. And I immediately thought glitter. Because glitter, I can't quit you. Chocolate, burnt orange and golden yellow were the colors I chose. And they look gorgeous. If I do say so myself.

Lila loves to color. And she is getting pretty good at smiley faces. But this past weekend she drew me. And then I died...because she drew me people.

Check it--

You guys, I'm so beautiful. 2 eyes, a nose, a kinda-smile, gorgeous hair WITH a crown, ears and 2 skinny legs. At a castle.

She's 2.

That's right 2.

Excuse me, I'm going out to buy a frame.

:)

October?!

A.) How in the world can it already be October???

AND....

B.) What happened to September???

I mean, I feel old. Because this is exactly what old people say all the time. Young peeps definitely do not think time flies. It takes foooorrreeevvvveeerrr to turn all the most important ages. You know, 16 and 18 and 21. And then BAM! You have a couple of kids and you can't even keep up with how fast you need to turn the calendar pages. I'm pretty much expecting hot flashes and a colonoscopy any freaking day now. (And let me tell you I have had my fair share of hot flashes before, and I'm not looking forward to them.)

But I digress...

Blogs are infrequent around these parts. Does anyone still read this I wonder???? It's not because I don't have things to say. It's just busy all day. And flat-out exhaustion at night.

But let me tell you that I love being a mama. I just love it so damn much. (Sorry mom.) It is amazing how much joy and pride my little turds can bring me one moment, AND have me on my knees begging for mercy, {most likely in tears,} the next. 2 year olds are awesommmmmeee. For reals awesome. I wouldn't change anything about this age. (Except that it goes way too fast.) And I wouldn't change that I get to spend all my days with them. Even if I can't get all the new fall boots I want.

Well Brian did tell me I could get them all...

...If I get a job.

BAH!

Lila Pearl is nothing short of awesome.

She is girl-y. I'm talking obsessed with all things beautiful. A lover of prettiness. Which why it is so awesome that she is a part of boy/girl twin-ship. Because she also loves to play monster trucks, any sport with a ball, bike + scooter riding, bug collecting, dirt-digging and the like. She would just prefer to do it with a ballerina dress on thank you very much. She loves to sing and knows every single song I've ever taught her or that she has ever heard.

She also makes up songs frequently and likes to shake her booty. She loves to help in the kitchen with an apron on of course. I know every parent thinks their children are beautiful, and we are no exception. Sometimes I look at our Lilee P and she simply takes my breath away. So dang pretty and so dang sweet. She's all-out precious. She makes me laugh until tears fall down my face. She is my very best girl.

Lincoln is my buddy.

Our most favorite dude. Fun-loving to the core of his skinny little body. Likes to be silly and make his sissy laugh. Which is mostly done by saying poo, poop, poopy, etc. ALL THE TIME. Which is a no-no in this house. Which is why sissy laughs. Which makes me and the big guy crazy. He is strong + coordinated. Sweet + sensitive. Careful + brave. He likes to figure things out + do things on his own.

There will be times I look at him and see nothing but Brian. I mean it is frightening really. And then sometimes I look at his little face, and see my own when I was his age. Genetics are such a mystery. This guy loves to dance, and will stop in the middle of any task if hears music to shake his groove thing. I melt for our stud. Absolutely melt.

The Fair

We did the Puyallup.

For those of you from Washington, I just sang that catchy little ditty for ya. For those of you who live elsewhere, it's Pyou-al-up. And I'm pretty sure it's the biggest fair in our state. And yes, it's in September.

And it was fun, fun. I'm not quite sure what Lila + Lincoln were expecting. We told them mostly about the animals they were going to see. They were so wide-eyed the entire time. It was pretty special.

First ride--the race cars. MY GOODNESS, was it adorable to see their faces light up when the ride started. They have never done anything like this so it was just flat-out awesomeness.

And oh yes, they were convinced they were driving.

Lila found the purple car. Not surprising. Lincoln named his car Scoopa de Fuego. Also, not surprising.

And then we checked out the animals. And let me tell you, I could totally relate to this mama-pig at one point in my life as a mother.

Watching the stilt-dancing-clown people.

The helicopter ride was the one they immediately talked about when they woke up this morning. Brian + I eavesdropped on the monitor about how much they liked this one.

Giant pumpkins are awesooommmmeeeee.

We left the fair without consuming any fried food. Yay us!

We did find some delicious barbecue though. So very, very good.

Canoes.

Lila wouldn't ride the spaceships because they were too noisy. But Lincoln thought he was sooo very cool riding it alone. We don't do guns. At all. Yet. He didn't even know what these were...he thought they were rockets and he blasted them into space.

Lilee watched and waved every time he went around.

And then we got them cotton candy. We asked they make especially small ones for us. THESE ARE SMALL?!?

Lincoln was in heaven.

And Lila didn't even quite know what to do with it.

And then they got a sugar high.

Holy Moses were they wild.

Brian and I shared a scone and left with happy hearts. These are certainly some of the most fun times to be a parent.

Fall Rules!

Apple-Picking Time

I love fall. I don't love that it started in August here this year, but now that it is October, I love it. Our new house has 4 apple trees and they gave us tons of apples this year. This week we picked the apples and made applesauce. The twins helped every step of the way. And they have said 'applesauce' about a gazillion times. Does anything smell better than making fresh applesauce???






By the way, our Pearl did enjoy the applesauce, but not nearly as much as eating the apple whole like a big girl. Whole apples are her new favorite snack. Check out the work she does on them...