A Basket O'Toys for Oak

Oh my, this little guy is so sweet. When I am working in the kitchen he likes to hang out with me and play with his basket o'toys. There is a short little video at the end... just love those baby giggles.

A Day Lately

I kept the camera on me for a couple days to get a few updated pictures. Here they are:

Eli got a morning picture. Otto loves to snuggle and Oak is all about toys these days!

Breakfast! Eating cantaloupe with cocktail swords from Grandma Kay!

Apple snack. Oak even joined in on this one.

Stopping to watch the construction while on our way to Sunergos.

ABC (already been chewed) stroller straps. They all love em.

What's this?? Acorns. hummm. What could it mean? An oak tree of course. :) Some homeschooling worked into every walk. You know me.

Oak isn't so sure how he likes the Oak tree leaf, but I thought I would show him one.

OoooOOOoOo. MORE construction vehicles!

coco

Visiting the guys working. Tim is showing Eli how to make silly faces using a rubber band. These guys are priceless.

A board game. Sum Swamp is our favorite these days. This game teaches adding and subtracting skills. Homeschooling can be fun.

 I love him!

Monster shoes! Oh yes, and fighting with cocktail swords.

After dinner I was cleaning dishes here and had to snap a picture of what I saw... Brian and the boys are making a fire. This is something they have been doing lately a couple nights a week. The boys love it!

Brian fanning the flame.

Hanging out around the fire.

Plumbing and Festivals

As most of you know we had some MAJOR plumbing issues last weekend. It was pretty bad. Thankfully it all started on Friday night while we were watching all the kids for babysitting co-op -hahahahaha - and we also had Tim and Stephanie over for dinner. Oh man, so many people and so much water letting loose in the basement.... Tim and Stephanie were really a big help for us while Brian had to pull away for a while and deal with MSD on some details. Well, the nice thing was that Brian had the whole weekend to fix it all. He is so gifted and handy in just about everything, so thankfully we didn't have to call a plumber. The issue started in our main drain to the sewer (tree roots). Brian had to rent an auger to clean it out and after he did he decided to go ahead and clean out our sink pipe that has been plugged on and off since we moved in.... well the pipe was old and just fell apart as he augered it. Soooo he had to dig up the kitchen sink pipe and replace it. 

Well, day 2 (Saturday) Me, Danielle and Marla decided to spend some time at a festival while our guys dug a hole. 

Pony rides!

Eli and Otto both painted pumpkins.

Oak's First Foods!

Oak is now eating and he loves it! I am so glad he is an eager eater. As you can see in some of the pictures he will just grab the spoon and put it right in his mouth and eat. So far he has enjoyed sweet potatoes and apple chunks put in the mesh bag - there is a video of this here. Listen for his little squeal when he eats his apples on the video. sooo funny.

Oak in the bumbo. He likes this thing now and it is really coming in handy for an extra booster seat.

Oak Eats from capture box on Vimeo.

Going Forward

As the title shares, we have decided to go forward on the mountain cabin property!  We visited last weekend and made some final decisions. We are so excited to enter into this new chapter of making and sharing many memories here in this special place. I took a few more pictures of the cabin so you could get a better idea of what it all looks like. The last three pictures are from Aaron's Grandparent's place south of Asheville, that is where we stayed over the weekend with Aaron and Marla. The Grahams  were so hospitable to us! The pictures are from feeding the cows on their farm. We ate some of Casper the cow while we were there.... yes, it is a new world of eating when you can call the cow you are about to bite into by name. :)

Front door

Kitchen

Loft on top, bedroom below, bathroom behind the blue and red doors (which is right next to the kitchen).

Eli almost getting attacked by the Mama chicken guarding her chicks

millipedes

The next few photos are from the Graham's Farm where we stayed for the weekend. Brian and Marla here are riding around in the golf cart - we were all going down to feed the cows.

 

there's this little cabin...

Okay, here it is. A cabin in the foot hills of the smokies on 8 acres.  It is just outside of Asheville, NC, a city we visited last July and loved. We have been talking all about this place for the past month with many of you, so I thought I would put up a few pictures. We are currently in the midst of the last details of sealing the deal. We have 20 days to make any last yays or nays, so we will be visiting soon again. We hope to get a better idea on our next visit what the responsibilities will all look like from the owner, Leslie. Please pray for us as we make this decision, it is not a light one and we feel the need to explore it.

outside shower. there is an inside claw foot tub too. all the water is spring fed. there are three natural mountain springs on the property, one which is professionally tapped to feed the cabin.

spring fed pond.

OY! no cell phone service. Also, no mosquitoes - the elevation is too high for them to thrive (3500-3700) -that's when I announced "SOLD" to the lady in the brown skirt! No worries though, it is really just a few miles from a couple of towns with all the needs/supplies you can want. To get cell phone service you do have to drive a ways though.

salamander

An acre of the property is fenced in for a garden. I am talking here to the current owner, Leslie.