Mark's Melon Patch!

Saturday was the day the kids had long been waiting for...a trip to Mark's Melon Patch to pick out their pumpkins and take a hay ride. It was a bit hot and sweaty, and the gangs of gnats have been relentless around here, but it was fun.






The day was sunny and bright, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful sky. It was gorgeous blue and really made the sunflowers and pumpkins shine.

Katie Mei had her first hay ride. She wasn't thrilled about being awakened from her short nap in the car, so she played Ms. Grumpy for the first ten minutes or so. She also wasn't really sure about sitting in all that pokey stuff. Dad's lap was the place to be for starters.

But once she got the hang of things, and had a little straw-throwing fight with Jacob (courtesy of Daddy starting things), she warmed right up.

After the hayride, we sat down to drink some juice and sodas. Then Merrilee and Jacob checked out the not-so-scary "Spooky Trail". After listening to their bravado of how it wasn't very scary, I told them to pretend they were scared for the photo. I have to admit, they did a pretty darned good job of making like they were scared--if you click on the photo and look at Merrilee's face up close, you'll see she's pretty convincing. Maybe acting careers are in both their futures. Just what I need...kids who star in horror flicks.

We spent the next twenty minutes trying to get good photos of the kids with the pumpkins. It was a hard-fought battle, as the gnats were so obnoxious that the kids kept swatting and slapping. I got very few photos with a picture of all three kids with all six hands down.

Katie Mei and Daddy found some fun in the wheelbarrows used for hauling pumpkins. After a few rounds, Merrilee had to join in the action.

Before we left with our pumpkins, we found a pile of discarded green plants. Upon closer inspection we saw that they were peanuts. It was nice to be able to give the kids an up-close view of peanut plants with the peanuts still attached. I think they thought peanuts grew on trees like other nuts.

We're going to wait a couple more weeks before we cut into our pumpkins. With the weather still in the upper 80s and the over-friendly gnats, I don't think it would be wise to gut our orange friends just yet.

Later ya'll,

Petrie

Still Digging Out

Seems folks yearn for a new home, a new beginning, a time to start afresh. I've had someone ask to see pictures of the house. Yeah....it's not really a good time for pictures. I've been holding back on showing off my new home or inviting friends over. Here's why:

There are still a few boxes in the living room, some of which are blocking the front door entrance.

There are still some boxes and junk cluttering the bedroom.

And I haven't really gotten around to unpacking the thousands of books in the office.

I also have a friend (and you know who you are) who has pool envy. My dear friend, I want to help you overcome the sin of covetousness. These photos might help.

Even on days which are too cool for us to use the pool, there are always swimmers.

Look closely. They are good swimmers, but they cannot overcome the power of a strong filtration system. From what I've come to learn, snakes also enjoy a good swim and end up in the skimmers now and then.

And this little guy is lucky. I can pull him out and throw him into the lawn and he hops away. It's the other ones, bloated and lifeless, that I've had to pull out and toss in the burn pile that gross me out. It's really not the corpse that bothers me, it's the...well, never mind. If I tell you, you won't come to our house and swim in our pool.

Hope todays blog satisfies everyone's itch to move to a new home and get a fresh start. ;-)

Hugs,

Petrie

Moved and getting settled

It was a long trip, and the trip report is long overdue. But we're finally settled in and getting a feel for the lay of the land.

We got here 12 days ago and arrived at night time. We stopped by the house and dropped off our poor cat (who had me sneezing for the 14.5 hour drive!) and briefly checked out our new home. I noticed a few differences from what I expected...pine wood floors instead of oak, and formica that appears to be granite rather than real granite counter tops. None of these were the fault of the seller...I guess I had just thought that's what they were from the photos and never thought to ask.

We spent the first couple nights at a hotel while we waited for the movers to get everything in (It took two days of unloading two big trucks! Packing it up alone took three days and one extra morning. Waaaaay too much stuff!) We were surprised on our first morning in GA to find that the mall parking lot across from the hotel had been turned into a Cole Brother's Circus. It was kind of weird sleeping with camels and elephants right across the road! We didn't go to the circus, but we enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes action that took place during the show. Finally, on the third day, when the movers were gone and our beds were set up, we stayed the night at the house.

The house is beautiful and spacious; wonderful for the size of our family. It has taken some getting used to with the kids upstairs and us down. When Katie Mei wakes up in the middle of the night (often to the tune of four or five times!) it's a long trip to get to her and return to bed. She's learning that Mom doesn't dig waking up that often to adjust her blankets, so she's getting a little better about trying to fix her own blankets at night.

We are still neck-deep in boxes and packing paper. I managed to get the kitchen cleared of boxes after four days, and the kids' rooms and toy room/homeschool room are about done. But the living room, office, dining room and master bedroom are a disaster. I am really going to be glad when we are at the end of unpacking.

The kids and I have enjoyed our pool quite a bit already. The first week here was hot, in the 90s, and we were so glad to have a pool. This week has been cooler, in the 70s and low 80s, so we haven't used it as often. I'm hoping the weekend warms up so the kids can swim. The "pool guy" and the pool store told me that around here people swim until the end of October and sometimes into November. We'll see if we're thick-skinned enough for that!

We live in a quiet neighborhood, but that's mostly because everyone works during the day and the kids go to the public school. There are quiet a few children here, and fortunately they are our own children's ages. Merrilee has a few friends who live across the street already, and I met the father of the five or six kids who live next door. They have three boys and two or three girls, one of whom is Katie Mei's age. It will be so nice to have someone for all our kids to play with. Jacob didn't have many male friends in Maryland, and now he's got several. Hopefully he'll learn to play more sports, because the kids next door are very sports oriented.

We've been out and about, getting our Sam's Club membership, getting library cards, checking out the local shopping scene, and trying to figure out the streets and where everything is located. It's pretty easy to get around here and I have no problem going out by myself. We have a Publix grocery store, which is wonderful, and a Wal-Mart which is not so wonderful. I don't think I'll be crossing the doorway of that store too often.

The library here has "Crafternoons" on Tuesdays at 3 pm, and we stopped by for the first time this week. The kids made things with fabric fall leaves. Merrilee made a scarecrow and Jacob made a dog. Katie Mei and I just enjoyed being in a library again after our dry spell with no library books. We are now well-stocked again and the kids are enjoying sitting on the couch reading books again. Next week I'm hoping to get Katie Mei to the Laptime story time for the little kids.

Today we went out and gathered some pecans from the yard. It's still not quite time for them to be harvested, but many have fallen from the trees. We have at least ten trees in our yard...the entire property used to be a pecan orchard. The kids have been bringing me handsful of nuts and asking me if it was enough for me to make a pie. Today I gave them a baket and told them to fill it up. They happily obliged. Luckily, the previous owners left us a pecan picker. Those things really do work. You just pop it down on the nut on the ground, and the nut slips between the spring-like wires into the picker. (Okay, I confess, I did have to look it up online to figure out what to do with a picker.) When you have gathered a good many, you dump them into your basket. Katie Mei loved collecting them herself. And the really great thing is...the kids don't have to ask me for snacks anymore; I just send them out into the yard to find their own snacks. The pecans here taste awsome! Better than any I've ever bought from a store!

I have so much more to tell about this place, but I'm tired of sitting on this box of books with the computer at chin level. I've got to get us a new computer desk chair. Anyway, I'll fill you all in on more details later. You've got enough to enjoy as it is.

Hugs and much love to all our friends,

Petrie and the gang

Apples!

Of all the plants in our yard and garden, I think the apple trees we put in ten years ago are going to be missed the most. As far as I know, you really can't grow good apples as far south as Georgia, so I guess we're going to have to settle for pecan pies from now on.

My kids, in the few short years we've had them, have grown up having apple trees. September means "apples" and it's been a tradition for the kids to pick them and for me to clean them. Those trees are like family, and we're going to miss them.

We've had four varieties of apples: Empire, Fuji, Granny Smith, and Winesap

Teaching Merrilee to pick apples four years ago

We even have crab apples

This year's bumper crop

Picking apples this year

We love homegrown apples!

Scenes from the Family Reunion

Last week we headed up to Indianapolis for the family reunion. It was Aunt Irene's 80th birthday and she celebrated with all her children and their children, along with her neices and nephews and their families. It was the first time we've been back for a reunion in about three years, so many folks in the family had only seen Jacob once when he was a toddler, and only two family members who were there had met Katie Mei at Jay's Change of Command ceremony. It was fun to get all the kids together again, including another cousin who was also born in China. Lily and Merrilee are eight months apart in age.

Our kids with Aunt Irene

Stopping to pose for a picture with Lily

Merrilee and Lily playing volleyball

Kids' play

Petrie hanging out with cousins and catching up

Katie Mei hounded Jacob for his cake...

and he gladly obliged..


again...

and again.

The bean bag toss was fun for the kids.

Even Katie Mei enjoyed dropping in the bean bags and retreiving them.

After the reunion we stopped by the church we were married in so I could get a few photos from the outside. I never did take any pictures of the church because I was too busy getting married. It's Tallwood Chapel in Indy.

The day after the reunion we power shopped at the Prime Outlets in Edinburg. Then Jay took us to White Castle for lunch. It was a fun afternoon. Two members of our family were completely wiped out afterwards. Merrilee and Jacob and I went down to the hotel lobby to play a card game and left these two to sleep off the effects of a busy day.

Two Posts in One Day!

As promised, a picture of Merrilee with her finished solar system. We don't have a fancy way of mounting the planets yet. I think I'll wait until we move and then we'll get something a little more sturdy than egg cartons. She is enjoying her astronomy course, and absolutely loves keeping a notebook to write in and illustrate.

Katie Mei was the official snack-maker today at snack time. This was her first foray into the world of food services and she seemed to like it a lot. I thought she'd be putting food in her mouth, but she was self-controlled and very focused on making the snack to share with "Mao-Mee" and "Deeka". I did catch her stuffing one little peanut butter-covered raisin in her mouth when it got stuck to her fingers, but otherwise she was quite hygenic. A good quality in someone who might become the lunch lady one day!

Merrilee and Jacob enjoyed their snacks and were praiseful of Katie Mei for doing such a nice job.

On our trip to Indy this past weekend, Merrilee lost her third bottom tooth. Today the fourth one came out. She has yet to relinquish any of them to the tooth fairy. I keep trying to encourage her to do so, but she tends to have a fondness for her removed body parts and likes to know they're still around. We'll see if she will finally give in to the desires of the fairy tonight.

And lastly, a video to show you how wonderfully smart my amazing baby is! Actually, she's just doing what she's supposed to do as a toddler...learn. And I'm always happy to see progress. Here's a snippet!