tears of joy...and sadness! and adventures...

First, the adventures. We went apple picking yesterday...

With my homeschooled kids (and little Lydia!)...Jon towers over me now, and Charlotte Claire and Camille are growing up! They are 14, 12, and 10 now.


Kathryn (Aunt Kathryn!) with Lydia


Jonathan and Char.


Lydia loves apple picking. She delights that they are on the trees, and that she can take bites of them.

And then into the little store for some apple cinnamon donuts, made fresh daily, and no sir, I did not have even a bite.

Then...to Target!

Sometimes they get slushies:)






Lydia was happy with a banana.

And I was happy with an iced coffee from Starbucks, thank you, Kathryn. It was a happy drive home, with Lydia singing the entire way. Sometimes she doesn't like anyone to sing with her, sometimes she asks us all to sing along. She also sang her way through the store, she cares not a whit what anyone thinks of her, so refreshing, huh?

And...the sadness...which is also joyful...Joseph is moving out. This will be the last morning he wanders upstairs and refills my coffee for me. He is 27, and has never lived anywhere but home, except for three months in Norway a few years back. He works from home, he's an artist and does contract work. He bought a car, and a house in town, and has been moving his things out all week.

I WILL see him, he isn't disappearing, but it'll never be the same. He's making his own home, this will be a place that he'll visit. He's not a little boy anymore, but to a mama, the years go by so fast, and looking back, the memories seem like yesterday, and he was just born. I got to the hospital to have him at a quarter to noon, and he was born at a quarter to midnight, on a 95 degree day in May. He was chill from birth, he stretched those long legs right out of those swaddling blankets. He has always been gentle and mild, and compassionate. He hasn't given me a hard time about anything. He has humor and sarcasm, but goodness, too. When he was little, he was always making something, and I remember when he figured out that Aunt Cheryl, my sister, would buy him things from the craft store. He always wanted feathers, he couldn't have too many of them. He went through a very long fascination with Native Americans, and made costumes and headdresses. When he was in first grade, he made a Superman "S" to put on his shirt, and all the kids in his class wanted them, so his teacher so kindly let all of her students wear them on their shirts.

He was a funny kid. Little boys have a reputation for being wild and crazy, and he was a bit wild with Aaron and Sam and big brother Ben, and all his sisters, but in a silly way, not a violent or breaking-things way. They played in the woods, and they played house with their sisters, and they played huge games of hide and seek, and of course Run and Scream, which involved them turning out all the lights and running around screaming, hiding and jumping out at each other. This was not my favorite game.

Anyway, today, he is getting married. Last night we did some wedding set up. I'll take lots more pics today!


Abigail and Char were setting the tables.

Evelyn is making flower crowns for the bride and the flower girls. I set up the cookies and milk table, and we put some yummy rub on the pork roasts. Emily is putting them in the oven now. Evelyn and I are headed out the door soon to put finishing touches on lots of things, and put those beef briskets in the oven. So many loose ends, I forgot to buy the onions and the tomato stuff for the briskets, but oh so thankfully, Margaret is going out to pick up the donuts and the fresh rolls, so she is going to get the forgotten items. I still have to buy like ten bags of ice, but that's it, hopefully!

Bye for now, and have a very nice first day of autumn, it's chilly here in the northeast!!!!