time

I swear these blog breaks aren't intentional. I mean, I guess they sort of are, but it has nothing to do with blogging itself. I actually have several posts half-written.

See, the thing is? I've been working on myself a little bit lately. And one of the things I've been working on is... as my favorite 4th grade teacher would put it... "using my time wisely". I've realized that everything I spend time on, that we all spend time on, can be justified. Blogging? "I need to document my family's life so these moments aren't lost forever." Watching TV/playing Candy Crush/catching up on FB? "I need the mental break or I'll go crazy." See how that goes? All decent excuses... but it's still going to take up time.

Just about every one of us complains that "we don't have enough time" to do certain things. But all of us get the same amount. We all get 24 hours in a day. It's what we choose to do (or have to do) with that 24 hours that makes a difference.
So I've shifted priorities a bit. Not because I think blogging is a waste of time, but because I have a crap ton of other things that need to be done first. If I find myself with a few extra minutes of time during the day, and all that other stuff is done? (HAHA) Then I'll blog. But lately, I'm getting to the end of the day, and I decide I'd rather watch New Girl. Or go to bed early, because I'm freaking exhausted.

This time of year always gets insanely busy, for everyone I think. Target is gearing up for Black Friday, which of course takes up Brad's time. And people want their pictures taken for Christmas cards, so my photography biz has picked up. I'm already planning for next year, business-wise, and the many changes going on there (which frankly has me both nervous and excited). Noah is ready to be potty-trained, we have therapies to go to, morning/evening classes at church started back, my kid is a pro at trashing the house, and throw in the regular fun Fall stuff... it's a lot.

But the funny part? EVERYONE and their dog suddenly wants to get together. It's kind of becoming comical. And I don't mean my regular friends. I mean like one of my childhood friends' mom messaged me wanting to get together. I adore the woman and would LOVE to catch up, but it makes you wonder where these people were 6 weeks ago?

Anyway. That's what's going on in my head right now.
I literally just brain dumped on the page. There was no plan for this post. I just sat down and let the words fly. Or flow. Probably fly, since this will most likely have zero flow to it.

 

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Fall Kick-off

I swear, I was trying so hard not to let the hot weather here spoil my fall fun and make me think it was never going to get here. I mean, 90+ degree heat in October is just wrong.

But thanks to a tropical storm, last Monday brought cooler temps and happy vibes.

So on to what we've been up to...

(which I kind of feel is starting to become a little redundant to blog about since I post pics on FB... but whatever).

A little over a week ago, we took a little day trip up to the mountains. Which is weird because technically, we had to go down to SC, then back up to NC. Apparently that was the quickest route.

Anyway... Brad, Chase, Noah, and I decided to go apple picking. There's an amazing farm in the mountains that, according to every (local) friend I have on FB, is the place to be. The only down side was that it was hot. But other than that, I think it was the coolest apple orchard I've ever seen. Watching Noah and taking decent pictures is proving to be a very difficult feat lately, but I did the best I could. This kiddo is b-u-s-y.

The place had three rules:
1. No eating apples in the orchard.
2. No throwing apples.
3. No riding on the wagons.

The only rule we didn't break was the third one, and that's because we didn't grab a wagon.
But at least the one doing most of the rule-breaking is really cute... and can't read.

The guys tried to give me a hard time for dragging them almost two hours away to trek through the mountains picking apples that we could've just as easily bought at the grocery store.
And they have a point.
But dangit, I was going to have my perfect Fall apple-picking memory even if it was unseasonably hot and out of the way. And so what if someone spotted a bear hanging out near the Jonagold trees. Or that Noah had a fit on the mountain because I wouldn't let him run into the woods.

The guys may have had a fun time picking on me, but I think they were surprised at how fun it actually ended up being. Especially when all the really good apples were up high, and they had to figure out how to get them down.

We went home with an insane amount of apples, some apple-cinnamon butter (which btw, you paleo peeps should make... no added sugar, and it's amazing), apple jelly, and apple cider doughnuts. I'd never actually had apple cider doughnuts before, and I'm glad they only seem to exist in remote areas, because I could've devoured that whole box. Thankfully I had three boys to fight over them with, so I only had two. :)

The whole day was awesome. Definitely worth it. And the apples were way better than store bought. Even the guys had to admit it.

Our church recently had a big "Family Fun Day". We didn't get to go last year, because it was all rainy and Brad had to work. So I was really excited about this year. They have an enormous field for soccer, relay games, etc. Noah's obviously a little too small for all that, but they had some big blow up slides and bouncy houses for the little guys.
Any time we go anywhere crowded, I usually put Noah's autism shirt on him. It's amazing how people are immediately so sweet and patient with him once they see it. The girl at the top of the slide helped coach him up the stairs, and in order to get him to go down the slide, she counted down 3-2-1-GO. Worked every time.

He's getting so so good at waiting in line (which he really doesn't like), taking turns, and learning to be patient. He still gets annoyed when he has to do it, but he does it regardless. I'm so proud of how far he's come even in just the last couple of months. And no, I didn't hold him in line the whole time. lol. Just long enough to help him wait and go over the whole "First her turn, then Noah's turn" routine.

I usually come prepared with snacks for Noah at events like this, since I know he won't eat meals like BBQ or mac n cheese. However, when the three of us adults went through the line separately, we all grabbed Noah a bag of his favorite chips, not realizing the others did too. Yeah, he's not spoiled at all.

 

I love seeing how Noah handles himself now when there's too much sensory input for him to deal with. Instead of having a meltdown, he calmly finds a spot to chill for a little bit. Some days he's all about being in the middle of the action and plays with the other kids, and other days he needs to just hang out on the sidelines.

As long as he's having fun, that's all I care about. :)

Happy Monday!

adventures in wedding photography

I second shot for a photographer friend of mine over the weekend at a wedding. The couple was super cute (and the bride was sweet), the reception area was pretty, and the bridal party was a lot of fun... it really had the potential to be perfect. But because it was not my wedding, and because I don't want to accidentally offend anyone, everyone will remain anonymous (so no pictures)...

So here's the ridiculousness that ensued: 

- I tried to get a cool shot from above of everyone dancing at the reception. The problem? I stood on a FOLDING chair. You can figure out what happened next.

- At one point, every single groomsman was twerking on me. I screamed.

- One of the groomsmen apparently had a crush on me. He stalked me all night, asked me to take a selfie with him, and told me to add him on facebook (thank the Lord he didn't even know my name).  Me and my friend stayed together and she refused to let me walk to my car alone afterwards.

- They put a keg on the dance floor and proceeded to turn people upside down to drink from it. I don't have much experience with keg parties, but I kind of figured women in dresses wouldn't want to participate. I was wrong. So very wrong.

- The groom kept trying to dance with my friend while she was working, and the bride kept having to rescue her.

- By the end of the night, the whole bridal party was so gone that they didn't even bother doing a fun exit. That actually made me a little sad for the bride. But she looked like she was having a good time. haha

The plus side? I took home free cake. :)
And also made lots of hilarious memories with a new friend.