I saw this idea on a website and thought it was so cute, so I used orange vinyl to write "trick or treat" on our door...if anyone else would like a door sticker...just let me know. I'm sure I won't be using orange vinyl for much else!!

Ward Camp Out

Our second campout in a month! Unbelieveable! and unbelieveable that I'm not so sleep deprived that I can't function anymore! This weekend we went with our ward to Susquehannock State Park...it is a beautiful place, but busy this weekend! Laynie had a tough time falling/staying asleep-but as you can see from the picture, it didn't affect her energy in the morning.

Addy got a kick out of holding this turtle found by one of the teenagers there, although I think he liked the turtle a lot more from far away. Turtles were not the only wild life we saw- there were several frogs, a preying mantis, and I swear I heard a turkey in the middle of the night.

This picture was taken on the way home from the camping trip...at 10:00 am! Laynie was totally ready for a nap after waking up before 6am, and Addy told me later he "just needed to close his eyes."

Canning Days

Just in case any of you have recently sat back to wonder "what does Annie do with her extra time?" I thought I'd share my most recent time consuming activity: my attempt at food storage. Now, I don't want to deceive anyone, so I will admit that the peaches and apple pie filling are totally left over from last year, so really all I have done this year (week) are the jars of tomatoes and raspberry jam. There are quite a few jars of tomatoes and tomato sauce due to my mother's habit of buying large quantities of produce at the ever famous Pennsylvania produce auctions...Kelly has informed me that "man cannot live on tomatoes alone"--but if it came right down to it, he probably could.

First Day of School!

I'm not sure who was more excited for school to start, Addison or me...I have to admit that I was counting down the days when my afternoons would be just a little more quiet. Addy has school in the afternoons on Monday Wednesday and Friday, and Laynie and I have nap time!! Actually, I haven't quite made myself take a nap yet, but Friday is looking good!

Fall is Here!!

Addison and I raked the first pile of leaves today....the first of hundreds. I'm not really kidding, we have three HUGE oak trees in our yard which, in the summer, provide amazing shade and save us a little money on A/C, but in the fall are work, work, work. Leaves would be one thing, but acorns are another. Our drive way and side yard should be marked as HAZARDOUS AREA! acorns fall at a pretty serious speed, and if one isn't careful, injury is sure to occur. I can't tell you how many innocent neighbor children came to our house last fall and slipped on the acorn blanketed driveway; there were many a tear shed due to acorns! Kelly is determined to create an oak tree birth-control, but until then we'll invest in hard-helmets!

Proof that Laynie is my daughter...

Not that I need proof that Laynie is in fact mine...where else could she get her stubborness and her will to get her way-- but here is just one more evidence that she takes after me: she's eating a lemon, and lovin' it!

A Day at the Park

I decided to be brave and take Addy and Laynie to Hershey Park all by myself! They just opened "The Boardwalk", supposedly America's largest water park...or something like that. The kids had a great time, and it was all I could do to keep one eye on each of them! What ever will I do when there are 3??!

Camping Fun

This Labor Day weekend the family ventured out for our FIRST EVER camping trip! We went to Rickett's Glen, PA. What a Gorgeous place! We hiked for 3 miles and saw 20+ waterfalls! The kids loved our hike, especially Laynie who didn't have to hike at all! There was only one tragedy the whole trip...Addy dropped Lightning McQueen down the last waterfall.

Kelly had to scare away some pesky raccoons during the night...thank goodness for his bravery! He rescued our peanut M&Ms! How would we have gone hiking without them?!