My favorite season!

I LOVE THE FALL! Okay, I know it's still summer, but fall is just around the corner! (I'm not quite sure when though.. the 21st?) I decided to change my blog to look more fallish for the occasion. I love the weather of 70-80 degrees. I wish it would stay that way for the whole 3 months of fall. I LOVE the leaves changing colors! I can't even express how it makes me feel, it's just wonderful. I also have some special events I love in the fall. My birthday, for one. That's probably why I have a special love for the fall in the first place :) It is also my anniversary, October 14, and now Jayci's birthday is in the fall, October 22. Truthfully, since I've been married, fall's been a little bit hard because Chad goes hunting a lot and I don't get to see him as much. But that's gotten a lot easier, especially since I go with him a little more now. I just love fall and wanted to share my joy with all of you!

Keeping me busy

Yes, I finally started preschool. I say that because I've been thinking about doing it ever since our realtor mentioned doing a preschool instead of having the basement rented out. At the time I just kind of thought, well, that's an idea, but I really wasn't too interested. The more I thought about it, and the more I dreaded having renters in the basement, I decided it might be a good idea. So, it's been about a year now that it's been on my mind and I've had plenty of time to stress. That's what I do until I actually start what I'm doing...stress. So I really am glad that it finally started; although, that year was a good time for me to really think it all through and decide I was up for the challenge.

I started preschool September 2. I only have one class of 6 because that's all the city allows, but I'll tell ya, six 3 and 4 year-olds is enough! I'm really glad that it is all I have. They are really good, cute kids. They come Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-11:30. One of my biggest stresses was just what to do with Jayci. But she's been pretty good. She takes a nap for an hour or so, and then comes down and plays with us the rest of the time. The kids love her and she's kind of a distraction, but they're getting used to it. I really love doing this, and am so glad I decided to. I guess I'm just a kid at heart. I love coming up with fun things for the kids to do and just look forward to helping them with it. I also teach them a little tumbling in my class. They love that, and it's fun for me, too. I don't make a whole lot of money, but every little bit helps, right?

This is courtesy of Julie. She was so nice to make some wall chatter for my preschool room. It makes it look so much cuter down there! It says my preschool name and little mission statement (I guess that's what it's called?) on it.

Jayci's enjoying the basement, too! It's so fun to have space down there for her and for other kids who come over. They have lots of fun playing on my tumbling equipment.

A hunting we will go...

So, you won't see any deer on this post...because I didn't get one. No, it wasn't because I didn't get a chance. I actually took 7 shots with my bow, but we'll just say it's harder than it looks. I was really dissapointed that I couldn't hit them. We decided that I was a good hunter (because we saw more deer that weekend than Chad has ever seen), just not a very good shot :). Maybe next year. You might be thinking, "How could she shoot at a poor, innocent deer?", but to tell you the truth, once you're a hunter it's just not that sad anymore and it's pretty fun. I actually really enjoyed my time and could understand why Chad liked it. The only difference is, he could go everyday of his life and be happy; whereas, one weekend was enough for me for the year.

Jayci fit right in with her little camo overalls.

Yum...oreos!
She loves the four wheeler. We took her on a little ride and she made four wheeler sounds.

I found this little guy while waiting for the deer. It looked just like a stick and I only saw it because it moved.

This was mine and Megan's potty that Chad's dad made for us. We got it filled up good with toilet paper and then buried it before we left. Nothing like camping in the middle of nowhere!

Here I am in my camo getup. Pretty hot, huh! I actually had little boy clothes on because they were cheaper and fit me real well.

He thinks he's a tough guy with his man beard.

The best part about hunting... taking a nap while waiting.

Megan came camping with us for the weekend to help out with Jayci. Thanks Megan, you're a trooper!

Jayci loves her grandpa, and he's pretty fond of her, too.

The fruits (and vegetables) of our labors

Here's an update on our garden. We've had so much fun growing it this year. It's been kind of experimental, so we'll definitely do some things different next year, but it's been a pretty good crop!

Our garden has grown up and has pretty much been taken over by the pumpkin plants. Now it looks like a jungle.

Chad built this lovely contraption (the wood stand you see in the middle of the garden) to put the sprinler on to water the garden. It works really well.

These were our first veggies we ate. A cucumber and zuchini. We took them to our friend's house where we ate dinner that night. (I look like a dork because someone was watching me, and I felt dumb :)

I love tomatoes! I was looking forward to this crop the most. I love this big boy especially. My favorite is cutting them up and eating them with salt in the morning with toast and an egg. Chad doesn't like tomatoes so I get them all to myself. I'm about ready to make salsa or something because I can't eat them all myself. It's becoming a little much.

This one had a funny little finger growing on it.

Our pumpkins are getting big! I can't wait to decorate my porch with them, and maybe carve a few.

This is a watermelon. My foot is by it to show the size. We thought it was going to get really big, but it seems to have become stunted when we went on a trip and it didn't get watered very well.

These crook neck squash are delicious! If anyone wants some fresh veggies, just give us a visit!

My first attempts of a ponytail

I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but it's not because I haven't wanted to. I have so many different posts I'd like to do, but haven't let myself because I've been busy getting my preschool started. I started last week and it's been really fun, but all my time is spent planning for the next preschool day. So hopefully I will soon have time to post. Jayci's hair is thickening up and getting long, so I decided to try a ponytail. Here are a few of my attempts.

Jayci loves to eat rocks

Here she is trying to feed the neighbor's goats rocks. They weren't too interested.

If you look closely here you can see her one tooth on the bottom.

Still just one tooth after a month and a half.

She stands all by herself! It's fun to watch her push off the ground and stand right up.

No steps as of yet.