I swear, my counters aren’t THAT bad!

So… I realized, in a panic yesterday, that this is our last weekend before Halloween to get out and take the boys to the pumpkin patch.  This is something I’ve really tried to do every year, and I love being able to look back at years past and see how much my kids have grown.  We went to this same farm 2 years ago, and had such a great time, I was really fun to take the kids back there again.

Plus, lately I have just been feeling the pressure, there is so much to do, and so little time, the kids are growing, and we get so busy.  I would hate for my own personal hectic schedule to cause them to miss out on the fun stuff that every kid should experience… So… anyway, after my panic we all got dressed and headed out (thanks g for humoring me!).

It was just this incredibly sunny and warm fall day, but there was a really nice breeze blowing that kept sweeping through the leaves and reminding us that it was indeed fall… It was absolutely beautiful. The boys had a really great time, and I confess, so did I

One of the highlights for them was playing in piles of hay (poor daddy is soooo allergic to hay but still didn’t complain a peep when the boys ran in their and covered themselves in hay dust, he just kept looking at them shaking his stuffy little head… I don’t think farm boy daddy sees the appeal in piles of hay!).

There is also a fun wooden maze at this pumpkin patch that the boys love.  So Owen and Gareth ran in ahead of us, and Reecey and I hung back… Reece is a bold child, but the unknown really scares that kid, so he of course had no interest in getting lost in a big wooden maze. Heres a picture of him navigating the maze:

While we were all playing in the maze, daddy stayed out with Tennyson and played in the pumpkins – he set up the perfect shot for shutterbug mommy when we finally made it out!

After all of the playing, it was time to go check out the pumpkins, so we got a wagon and went over to the pumpkin patch.  It was really fun to let the boys run around and pick the pumpkins that they wanted the most.  They must have changed their minds 800 times, and we had to limit Gareth in the size department, I think he was looking for the biggest one at the pumpkin patch.   In the end we ended up with 6, oh no actually 7 perfect pumpkins.

Then while daddy went to go pay, the boys and I went looking for a wagon because I needed to recreate a picture from a few years ago when we were there before…. check this out!

Here are my four boys yesterday and then two years ago (only minus one little guy):

Sigh… they get big so quick!

I just love this picture too – Gareth is “pushing them” I love how they are all playing their little parts even Tennyson’s face seems to be saying “good lord, where are we going!”

So… yeah, a nice family day at the pumpkin patch.  I’m so grateful we were able to sneak it in this weekend…. and grateful for so many great times together with my boys.  Since I, of course, took way too many pictures (imagine that!)  I set up a little slide show for you to check them all out .  Enjoy!

Overheard Owen from the other Room: “Oh man that was REALLY TIGHT DUDE!”

to which Reece replies “Yeah, really tight!”

Owen simply says, “Yeah, DUDE!”

Hahaha!! Welcome to a whole new world!

and wow, does this September ever feel God sent!

(I know bloggy has been woefully neglected… I decided to take August off from worrying about blogging or scrapping or making loads of kits… I wouldn’t call it a BREAK per say, because… um well, I have FOUR BOYS people! But it was nice to sorta just focus on the “real world” and let the Internet keep on keepin’ on with out me cranking the wheel for a while… goodness knows HOW it ever survived without me!)

So onward to the news at hand! IT IS SEPTEMBER PEOPLE! Which means back to reality for the Clingerman crew. Not only that, but a whole NEW reality for us! This year, we have three little men in school. Not only did our Gareth go back as a THIRD GRADER, but Owen started kindergarten, and we also signed the irrepressible Reece up for 3 days of afternoon Preschool, in order to give him a little taste of the school world and learning to be a bit more of a listener/follower before we hoist him into the public school system. (not to mention that Reece and Owen are SO close in age/such little buddies, it almost seemed unfair to have little Reece at home alone for a year after having constant companionship).

Last night we sorted/tagged/and packed up the loads of back to school supplies, and got three little back packs all ready to go… I have honestly been looking forward to back to school time, the kids were getting restless, the house was seeming small, and my endless reserves of patience were really starting to run dry (hahahaha). I’ve actually been joking about how MUCH I was looking forward to being free(er) for a bit each week, but to my surprise… when I kissed my third grade son goodnight at bed time (actually I tried to get a kiss on my cheek from him, but he just started cracking up and informed me he had completely forgotten how to give kisses!) I felt myself tearing up a bit, mostly with pride… but also with a bit of wistfulness for the days of having my young children that have begun slipping through my fingers.

Today was the big day, and of course my punctual Gareth (his dads son for sure) was awake and watching the clock at 6am. He is so incredibly self sufficient at this point, he needs me to make him a sandwich for lunch and really that’s about that… We were promptly headed out the door for the bus stop with plenty of time, and he was SOOOO excited. It really is fun to see the way Gareth doesn’t stress about new things… he’s completely cool as a cucumber, I think he’s lucky to be born with that “its all good” trait, and on firsts like today it always works to his advantage.

Here he is expressing his excitement over the third grade:

And a close up… I swear, maybe it’s just me… but I swear this kid is gonna be a heartbreaker… he’s sooo handsome!

After Gareth headed off on the bus, Owen and Reece were SO amped up… they wanted to be on their way to school RIGHT THEN… but with afternoon kindergarten and preschool we had a bit of time to kill first…. First they decided to spend that extra time yelling at me… literally… at which point I told them I didn’t want to talk to them anymore and I was not happy… So then, they spent the rest of their free time trying to make it up to me – seriously, they were bringing me “gifts” out of their play room. And Owen even drew a sequence of pictures of him and I doing nice things together (my favorite was when we were running toward each other in a field to hug )

Finally it was time to eat our lunch and head out the door to drop each of them off at school.

Reece was SO stoked… he was seriously yelling something like “YAY SCHOOL” when I took these pictures:

He had absolutely no qualms about me dropping him off, and got right down to the business of getting busy playing!

Owen, had been a bit more quiet… I think he was a bit uncertain of what to expect, and even asked me at one point why I couldn’t just stay with him once we got to school. But as soon as we walked into his classroom, he totally lit right up, he was really excited about the things on his desk and he seriously would barely make eye contact with me he was so distracted by the anticipation of what came next! Here is the one picture I managed to shoot of him in his class, and notice he’s SO not interested in looking at me!

I was surprised at how hard it was for me to leave him… even though he was clearly happy… So after he shoo-ed me out the door, I walked out of his classroom (Tennyson in my arms, Reece at Preschool, Gareth in his third grade class) and for a short second I felt a bit… lost… BUT just for a second! The school secretary saw me, and said “Oh my gosh, you only have ONE boy with you!!!” and I realized, WOW! I was free! Then she said “Hurry RUN!!! go do something before you have to pick them up!”

So, Tennyson and I went to target, and wandered aimlessly, relaxingly, quietly. I browsed the clearance isles (and no one tried to climb under the clothes racks). I tried on some shirts (and no one said anything to the effect of “ewww boobies!”). Tennyson even fell asleep in his stroller! After I felt like I’d wandered to my hearts content (and found a few dang good deals on some tops!) – I went and got a coffee…. It was divine! Then I drove back a bit early and just waited for Reece’s school to get out listened to the radio in peace and felt… well calm! Life is a good many things with 4 sons, most of them wonderful…. but what it usually is NOT is calm.

After we picked up Reece and then Owen (no busses for Kindergarten this week, but next week that starts up) we came home and Gareth met us a few minutes later after having ridden the bus. The boys all had such wonderful days they were just thrilled, and they spent a good 15 minutes in the living room with me, telling each other about their days. It was a moment for the memory banks.

Now, its a regular, normal evening around her… but it is also sort of the dawn of a new era for us…. And although not every day will be so peaceful (I do have better plans for my time on a regular basis than spending money at Target), it is nice to watch our little family evolve to this next step. I really am impressed with the ease with which all three of them are growing and changing and moving into this next phase – and with pride seeping out through my tear ducts, I can’t wait to see what is to come for my amazing little men!

Ok – so it took me FOREVER to whittle down my pictures some for a slide show – and I swear this thing is STILL massive – but we just had so much fun!

So we went to Rockaway beach, like the ONE place where we could actually find a place to stay (since we aren’t really the planning type!) but we were so lucky to find a great ocean view condo, just about 30 feet from the beach, and just beautiful! It was perfect though Rockaway is such a sweet quiet little town, and the beach felt so private and relaxing!

We took a few trips to the cheese factory, and did some wandering in around town the boys loved taking trips also to the arcade – but you will see from our pictures that the majority of trip was spent on the BEACH – and it was just heavenly!

We also took a trip to Cape Meares Lighthouse and the octopus tree, and I’m gonna have to come back and tell you more about that – it was I swear the most beautiful place ever – it was amazing!

On our last day, we decided to hit Seaside on our way home, it was funny because after a week of BEAUTIFUL sunny weather, the day in seaside was all rainy and windy and COLD, it seemed like the perfect push to send us home. So after eating lunch, finding some seashells, riding the carousel and sharing an elephant ear, we all loaded up in the van to head home….. …. …. and the van wouldn’t start. It wasn’t a dead battery because the engine was cranking, it just wasn’t catching. We must have tried like 80 times… it was awful. Eventually we had to try to find a mechanic (no easy task) and a tow truck… that had to take us to the nearest mechanic in Warrenton a whole town away.

It was a terrible feeling we were stranded and trapped and with all the kids – luckily we were at the nicest mechanic’s ever who found us a place to stay for the night and drove us there…. (the motel we stayed at was a bit on the yuck side, but it was cheap!) The next morning, what do you know, the van started JUST FINE… even after being tried so many times the night before. My dad says its just one of those automotive mysteries… and it is still working just fine. Just praying it doesn’t happen again!

After we finally got home (and stripped and showered everyone after our ucky motel experience), we got some good rest and the memory of our last unplanned night is just a distant memory, not on anyones mind anymore (besides maybe our bank account!)

All in all it was a really really great time!!!

And now for the pics! (if you scroll over the photos you can see the captions and if you click on it you can see a more traditional type slide show)

It was a fab trip! Thanks wonderful family of mine for a great birthday gift!!!